Gettin' Crafty

I love what I do, I love to sew and create all kinds of doggie fashions. However, I have been feeling really in a rut lately. Like all I ever do is sew the same things. Over and over. And over and over. My creative juices were screaming to get out and simply coming up with some new designs wasn't going to fix the problem.

So, I started with this:

I got the idea from Pinterest and made some adaptations of my own and soon I had this wonderful little garden to greet me as I go in and out of our home. That should be enough to keep me for a while, right?

Well, it did keep me happy. For a while. Then I was back to wanting to do more. It is sort of my release I guess you could say. So next, I created this:

I am really happy with this one. I also got the idea from Pinterest. Just looking at it makes me happy. I love my family.

But then I got thinking. I need to add the dogs! This would probably make the whole thing rather large, so instead I went with this:

I have this one in my studio. It just makes me smile. The idea comes from a super talented lady by the name of Vanessa Campbell, who writes a blog entitled The Sew*er, The Caker, The CopyCat Maker. I contacted her to see if she could send me a file with the "My Dogs" print and before I could name all four dogs, it was sitting in my inbox. Now THAT is wonderful service. You really should go here and see the instructions for this project. It is super easy!

The last project I have to show you is my new message board. I have been wanting to create this to put by our kitchen phone for quite a while now:

I knew I wanted to paint it with chalkboard paint (yes, I am still strangely attracted to that stuff), but I also wanted it to be magnetic. I had an old frame that I painted white. I checked with Shawn the wonder guy and he had a piece of sheet metal that fit inside the frame perfectly. Yay!

Slap some chalkboard paint on that baby and Wah Lah! I have the perfect message board. I used my Silhoutte to add the title at the top, just in case someone was unsure what the whole thing was for. I found the little shelf at Goodwill for $1.99, painted it white and now I have the perfect spot for the chalk and eraser.

The Chihuahua magnets that I purchased here a while back work perfectly on the board.

This has all been so much fun, but now it is time to get back to the sewing machines. While I was busy painting, Shawn the Wonder Guy cleaned and tuned my machines while they were getting a day off, so now they purr like kittens and are raring to go!