I have been incredibly busy lately. I do a fine job at always having somewhere to go or someone to visit. When I do stay at home it is usually to catch up on house work and rest. Tuesdays are usually my catch up days.
Today started with the usual 6 am wake up call by Rohan. Fed and changed him, then started on laundry. I completed 10 loads of laundry today. I believe that is a record! Normally on Tuesday I only have 4 loads to do and that is pretty much the only day I do laundry in a week. I have to wash diapers on Fridays as well, but I don’t have any other clothes to clean. Today was record high because Nick has been sick, so I had extra loads of blankets and sheets to do. While I was washing all these clothes I was cleaning the kitchen, baking a cake, cleaning out Rohan’s too small clothing, folding loads of clothes, working on some sewing that I have been procrastinating on, and of course playing with Rohan.
On to some of my crafty adventures. I have gotten back into swaps on Craftster and I am having a lot of fun doing them. I have been able to complete a quite a few swaps without buying supplies. My current goal is to use as much of my stash as possible, so I can have more fun with the nice fabrics out there. I have finally completed the 3 table runners I started while away at Nick’s aunts house in February. I went to work on some quilting projects and use her expertise on the subject to guide me along the way. I also completed one additional table runner in that time using some fabric scraps I acquired at her house.
I have also been playing with my embroidery machine. I have spruced up some pants that I have made in the past as well as some t-shirts for Rohan. On a non-sewing note, I have gone through some of my paper and made cards to send with my swap packages. And I have been playing around with digital scrapbooking to make some awesome pages of Rohan.
So business as usual here on the home front. Another busy day almost done, all to get some rest and begin again tomorrow. So, I sew.
First I finished up the Kitchen Swap and sent that today. I can't wait for Classybroad to receive. I hope she likes everything I sent. Even after 10 swaps I still have swap anxiety. The thought of are they really going to love what I spent so much time on, or are they just going to put it to the side and say 'it's ok'. There has been so much stuff that I really love when I receive it, but I'm sure that the part I love the most is not always what the sender meant for me to love the most. Anyway she should be getting it within 2-3 days, so I will find out then.
The final project of the day were some magnets. I found a blog today that said to use the thumbnails from the back of your old calendars to make buttons. I need magnets, so that is what I decided to do. I used my 2008 Kim Anderson Calendar and the large clear craft rocks. I cut out the pictures and then glued them on with Diamond Glaze. Once the glue was dry I used E6000 to attach the magnets. I love how they turned out. I dug out my 2007 Christian Riese Lassen Calendar and cut all the pictures out for those too. On these I used my Xyron Sticker Maker to attach the pictures to the rocks. It was less messy, but we will see if they can handle the weight or not. I think next time I won't use as thick of magnets. I am not too fond of how far out they stick. 
I have received two of my Sweat Shoppe Swap goodies. The 'Scrabble Tile Pendants' and the 'Cris Cross Coasters'. The pendants are very cute and will make cute charms. The coasters match what Kaymadben made for me in the Christmas in July Swap (an apron and placemats). I can't wait to see what else I get. The other three things are sort of surprises. I know what they are, but not what colors I am getting.
might change if I make more. I made them all interfaced and lined for extra stability. They are all cotton, except for the flannel Mickey. I want to make some more for quick and easy gifts. They were great for using up smaller pieces of fabric. Each used up less then 1/2 a yard of each color. I will probably do these for quick gratification projects.
I also made a really cute 'Market Tote' this week. I found this great gray corduroy fabric with light pink polka dots at Joanns when I was looking for Pink Swap stuff. I couldn't resist buying it. I also bought some pink and gray ribbon to go with it. I knew when I bought it I wanted to make this bag, but I didn't know when I would get around to it. I went roller skating with the 6th graders on Thursday and needed a new cute bag to take my stuff in. It was a very quick project, as it only took me 45 minutes from cutting to finish. I lined it with some super cute bright pink polka dot fabric I have had for awhile, which made the lining super fun. The ribbon on the front and back are only sewn partially so that I can adjust the size of the bag. the ribbon can be tied in the front or around the sides. This bag is huge, measuring 18"x18". I love how it turned out and have lots more planned for the future. I think I want to add pockets to the next one. Or maybe some pouches to match. All the choices.
I got my crop-a-dile today, and I already put it to use. I made another coffee cozy with eyelets. I was hoping it would be reversible, but the eyelets I used are not pretty looking on one of the sides. Oh well I prefer the look of the cozies with eyelets and ribbon over the Velcro. This is one I made over the weekend. I didn't have the crop-a-dile yet and the eyelets were a pain. I swore I wouldn't make another. Then Siobhan showed me the one she just got and I bought one that day. I will probably put eyelets in more things now. It is way too easy not to use it for nearly every project.
