iheartfaces winter wonderland

This week at iheartfaces.com the theme is winter wonderland.

For as many snowy pictures I have, my favorite has to be my son's first experience trying to throw a snowball and wondering why it kept sticking to his gloves.  It was like the ultimate comedy routine.

-meghan

Please Bring Lulu Back!!

Here is a very sad story. . . Lulu is the name of the doll from the last post who I made the clothes for. Unfortunately, due to my procrastination I did not get the clothes done until after dark on the night before Christmas. I wanted to wait to take the pictures during the daylight so that they would have adequate lighting. So I borrowed Lulu and the clothes back last weekend so that I could take the pictures. Mary's dad drives my husband to work each morning (my husband uses a wheelchair, so he cannot drive). So I packed up Lulu and all of her new clothes into a paper grocery bag with handles. My husband was going to give the bag to Mary's dad when he picked him up that morning. As we were leaving for work in the morning I brought the bag downstairs and set it in the lobby of our condo building next to my husband. He had to wait for about five minutes for his ride to show up.

Two days later my sister politely told me that Mary kept asking for her doll, and could they have it back. After a very confused discussion we finally established that Mary's dad had never seen the brown bag. So what happened to it? The bag was sitting on the far side of my husband's wheelchair, so Mary's dad could not see it. After five minutes of waiting in the lobby my husband forgot to mention the bag. They walked away and left it sitting right in the middle of the lobby.

I had just taken the pictures of Lulu, so I have posted a missing poster in the lobby with a plee to my neighbors to please return the doll. So far, she has not been returned, but I did get a call from a man who said that he saw my husband and Mary's dad walking away from the bag, but he was in a hurry so he did not say anything. He also said that the bag was still sitting in the lobby when he went through at 3:00. I got home a little bit after 4:00. I did not see the bag in the lobby when I got home. So frustrating!

Here is a brief reenactment of Mary's reaction:




Where is Lulu?



Please bring her back!

(please disregard the huge mess in the background!)

- Laura

SMILE! (at iheartfaces)

Ok, it seems like I can keep up with one photo a week themes at least!  This week's theme at iheartfaces.com is "smile."

It's another one where I had a lot of favorites, but this is the photo that makes me smile every time I go back through my files.  These brothers are twins and have a great relationship.  One brother has down syndrome and his smile is incredibly bright.  The other brother was actually harder to get a genuine smile out of, but when he gets to be the tickler, I saw it pop through!

-meghan

I'm Back. . .

You may have noticed that all of the posts lately have been from Meghan. . . Sorry for my recent absence. I have been so busy with my masters classes that I have not had much spare time. I guess that maybe I am a summer, winter break, and spring break blogger at least until next year.

Anyway, I have a project to share. My niece Mary got a new baby doll for her birthday recently. This is a side note, but with everything being manufactured in China these days my sister wanted to find a doll that was made in America. She could only find one company that still manufactures their dolls in America. Interestingly, the dolls come in parts and need to be assembled by the owner. It turned out that the doll was very easy to put together, and she was able to choose from many different face and body styles to personalize the doll. Here is what she looked like when she was done.




Hmmm, something is missing... She needs clothes! She had one outfit that my sister found for her around the house, but part of the fun of a new doll is changing her clothes. So for Christmas I made her some new clothes. I found this vintage pattern on sale at my local sewing store for only $1. You can't beat that!

I was hoping to make a few more items, but I only had time for the slip and diaper cover, a dress, and the jacket with the matching bonnet. They all turned out pretty well.





I love green, but when I choose the fabric for the dress I did not even think about the fact that Lulu has beautiful green eyes. A happy coincidence!





I think that the jacket is my favorite. It is so elegant.







The pattern also came with three different doll sizes which is nice, because now I can make clothes for any future dolls too.

Stay tuned because I have a few more projects to share. Maybe I can get them posted by this weekend? I hope everyone had a great holiday!!

- Laura

iheartfaces.com, favorite face

I've taken a lot of pictures this year.  When looking back to pick out my favorite, I have to say it would be this one of my octogenarian grandfather at his 60th wedding anniversary to my grandmother.  They are both so filled with love for each other and their families I feel honored not only to know them but to be related to them.

This picture he is holding back tears while looking at some artwork I drew for him and reading a card from our families.

Be sure to check out the other entries at www.iheartfaces.com !

The playmat is a big success!

I hope everyone had a great (and maybe handmade?) Christmas!  Hopefully everyone's grievances were aired properly and massive quantities of refined sugar consumed.

The highlight for me was setting out the playmat on Christmas morning and having my son run out to see it.  He stopped and just took it in.  Then he started pointing out all of his favorite places!

"My house!  D's House!  Cupcake store!  Library!  Fire Station!  Market!  I go to market now, mommy!"  And he handed me invisible fruit bought from the image of the market stand.

I was so proud.  I ended up finishing it with a quilt binding that he unknowingly picked out at the fabric store last week. He told me he wanted something made with orange stripes, so that's what he got.  Here are a few pictures of him enjoying the project!

Also, since I already sell maps over on etsy, I added a listing for a custom play mat over there as well.  Because every kid totally needs one of these!

-Meghan

The playmat has landed!

I am SO excited!  The playmat that I designed for Henry just arrived!  It's a snow (or cold, rather) day from work and he's napping so I ripped open the package and took some pictures of it.  It is amazing.  Yeah, it could use a good ironing but whatever.

The fabric is cotton twill and the cars on it will be part of his Christmas present (he's getting some plan city cars).

 

I can't wait to give it to him!!

-Meghan