Saturday, November 29, 2008

check out my etsy

seriously. go take a look. i'm in love with my two new mei tais! they're so pretty... so instead of boring you with more "anna maria horner is a genius" speeches, i'll show off my work instead.







and then we're off to go see the opening show of the children's musical which dave did the musical direction and arrangements for and stars and drums in. my husband is pretty amazing. and hot. and all sortsa good things.

Friday, November 28, 2008

delay

no mei tais today. so sorry. i was so close to having them finished, but then joon decided half an hour was long enough of a nap and required my attention. so i won't manage to get the mei tais done before the sun disappears (which is like now and it's 2:45pm) which means no pictures which then means no listings. bleh. i'm not happy.

anyways, by the time most of you get up tomorrow there'll be two new beauties on etsy. promised.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

pinks and blues...

are what's keeping me somewhat sane on this otherwise very far from festive thanksgiving day.
and that's pretty weird, because if you know me, you know that i'm so not a pink and blue kinda girl.

anyways, wishing you all a happy turkey day if you're celebrating thanksgiving or just a happy thursday if today is simply a thursday to you.

the pinks and blues are well on their way to becoming two toddler mei tais and should be ready to make their appearance on etsy tomorrow (yes, on crazy black friday).



preview? there ya go.



Wednesday, November 26, 2008

i blame church

yay! i found yet another thing to blame church for! ;)

growing up as a baptist church pastor's granddaughter did have a few advantages... everyone knew and loved us. or they had to love us, which is probably closer to the truth. anyways, one of our church members was in the textiles industry. i believe he had a fabric business. he always gave us big stacks of little fabric samples to play with. so as a young child i had this kid sized plastic suitcase filled with lots and lots and lots of silky fabric samples in all shades and colors and for years that suitcase full of scraps was my favorite thing to play with. i'd dig my hands in there and swooosh! throw them up in the air and let them rain down on my head. i'd sort them, stack them, tie them, swooosh! them again.... sigh!

why am i telling you this? because i just spent half an hour shaking my booty to old school no doubt and rearranged my neatly folded garden party fat quaters in every way possible, by print, by color, by color in a different way.... it made me think of that suitcase and helped me understand why it is that i'm so obsessed with fabrics.

i took close to one hundred pictures of it all. does that make me a fabric nerd? i need something to hold on to when all these beauties have been cut, turned into pretty things and have lovely new owners. speaking of cutting, that's what i should be doing. cutting those fabrics. seems i'm avoiding having to do that by posting endless rambles on my blog. yes.

so anyways, here are all my pretty new fabrics lined up and there's a shot of the totally non-traditional christmas wreath i made for our front door the other day. i needed to make something random and random it is. oh, and i thought i'd include the view from our bathroom window at sunrise a few days ago. i loooooove snow! at least this year.











and now i'm off to working on mei tais again. finally!!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

bleh

it's been a very unproductive weekend.

i'm still waiting for my fabric orders to come in and until then mei tai production is on hold which is very frustrating to me right now. i had just reached such a good flow of productivity and now i'm left to sit here waiting.
i've managed to prepare four sets of straps though, two are even attached to the inner canvas layer already. so i should be getting the next couple of carriers finished unusually quickly.

this has also given me time to think about where i'd like to take my carrier designs next which led to serious consideration of making joontoons slipcovers, podeagis and the possibility of changing one small feature (the hood loops) on the mei tais. i'll most likely do some testing on all those ideas in the next few weeks.

there's been more time for sewing for my family which was nice. joon now has two super soft new pillow covers for the big girl bed she's about to get, dave has a fancy new pillow, joon's neck is finally warm enough because of the ridiculously pretty scarf i made from my last garden party scraps and some comfy fleece and i started working on an upcycled sweater kimono jacket for our new baby. yay, yay, yay!

now here's hoping that i get my fabrics tomorrow because i'm afraid if i don't i'll have too much time to think of more things i want to create.

oh, pics? yes. tomorrow. hopefully.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

hokkaido dolls mei tai now on etsy

just a quick lil' note to inform you that i just listed another mei tai on etsy.

more toddler mei tais coming very soon. i promise! ;)


oh, and because she's cute...



joon right after her nap today sporting her fancy new hat that grandma got at the pow wow.

ouch




motrin has issued an apology and is pulling the add from all media as soon as they're able.

but, i think this is a good (or bad) example for how companies with financial gain in mind shape public opinion.

my truth about back pain and babywearing is that i no longer have backaches because i've carried joon every day for more than a year taking advantage of the great baby carriers that are out there. now at seven months pregnant i hardly carry her anymore, but i'm still backpain free! when i was pregnant with her my back was killing me most days.

so maybe that's why motrin ran this add, they've noticed a drop in sales along with an increase of sales in quality baby carriers. ;)

Monday, November 17, 2008

babynames

so i'm somewhere around the 30-weeks mark now, i guess and we've yet to find a name for our new baby.

she's gonna be an eleanor, that's decided, but we're not sure if that'll be the first or middle name and we need another name to go with it.

suggestions? we're glad to take them. seriously! please post your suggestions!
how often to parents-to-be (-again) actually ask for babyname suggestions? this is a rare opportunity for you, take advantage of it and give us lots and lots of name ideas, please. and don't fear going really far out there, i'd kinda like something exotic.

oh, and just in case our girl turns out to be a boy we'd also like to have a boy name prepared... the initials need to be M.D. thoughts?

preview

here's what i've been working on the past two days. it's a baby size mei tai and i've been so eager to get it done, but a nasty headache is forcing me to call it quits for now.
hopefully i'll get to finish it tonight, it's so frustrating to be like an hour from having a project finished and then having to take a break. anyways, this should go on etsy tomorrow!


Sunday, November 16, 2008

sharing the fabric love

this month has so far been a really fantastic one for many reasons (Yes, We Did!).

one of my favorite things about this november though has got to be the fact that i managed to kick the greyness in the butt by purchasing ridiculous amounts of gorgeous fabrics which are sure to brighten my days for the rest of the grey season and will hopefully make the recipients of the final products feel happy, bright and colorful as well.

so here's what i got most recently...



mainly intended for mei tai bodies, but these fabrics are kinda whispering "make me into a bag" into my ear.



this pint one is ridiculously bright, but i just had to get it. i'm not quite sure if it would work as a mei tai, but i just may have to try. one of my favorite aspects of making clothing and carriers is that bit of suspense not knowing what a pattern will look like until it's made into a garment or carrier.


straps, straps, straps. the orange is so yummy it made me crave sweet potatoes all day yesterday. german stores are closed on sundays, but i'm set on getting some tomorrow and then i'll probably eat sweet potatoes all day!


i loooooove these quilter's weight cottons! so soft, i'm seriously considering making bedding from the one on the left.


yes, this is a stack of fat quarters. yes, it's garden party. it's twenty-eight of the fourty-four anna maria horner prints and they're on their way to me. needless to say thinking of the day that these beauties will arrive in their new home, i feel like a kid that's just been told she could spend a week in disney land and have all the free candy she wants.
check out sewlovefabrics on etsy for a great selection of ridiculously pretty fabrics!



i've been drooling over "groovy guitars" for months now and finally managed to order some. it's on its way over here from luckykaerufabrics along with some of my favorite alexander henry prints and my first ever echino (gotta find out if it's worth the hype).






all that should really be enough, i know. but there's more! my sweet wonderful mother-in-law went shopping at joann's yesterday. i got to join her in spirit and i'm sure she picked out some treasures for me. i just have no idea what's in store for me... yay! fabric surprises!

Friday, November 14, 2008

whoa

i am so tired it's hard to put in words. but i'm at least as happy as i am tired and being happy is far more important and way more fun to think and write about.

so yesterday was my 20-something-th birthday (seven? i think so. no. six? whatever.).
it was absolutely fantastic! if fact, it just simply could not have been a more beautiful day! which i must admit caught me by surprise, since the last birthday i remember i really enjoyed was more than fifteen years ago.

yesterday everything was perfect.

i got to sleep in as long as i wanted to. when i forced myself out of bed to get started on some sewing work i walked into a tidy living room (you know that we have a seventeen-month-old chaos machine living with us, right?) and found really cool handmade by my superhero husband birthday decorations. joon and i snuggled on the couch while dave made me a huge mug of coffee and quite possibly the tastiest banana pancakes of all times which he topped with lots of nutella and a candle. yum!
i got to do all my online catching up and then dave took joon out to the playground and i had a few hours to sew in peace. i soaked up every minute of it and had a great time.
eventually i managed to put my project down, got ready for company and then most of my family came over for coffee and cake. i got some really great gifts (handknit socks for joon and new baby, big ole basket of organic fruits and veggies, yummy beer shampoo from lush, cash for sewing notions, an ikea gift card so i can get some storage boxes and lamps and such for my workspace, a really cool teapot and a candle thingy to keep the tea warm, a crazy looking felted flower vase which i have to take a picture of and show you tomorrow, a storage thing for my threads which dave made for me last minute and i should also show you a picture of and oh yes, my sweet old pfaff machine), lots of pretty flowers and most importantly everything was just totally relaxed and full of love and appreciation. i looooooooooooove my family!

in the evening we ordered pizza and hung out some more until eventually everyone left and we got joon to bed way past her bedtime.

dave and i hung out on the couch a little longer, i ordered some fancy designer fabrics on etsy and we went to bed very happily and blissfully unaware of how crappy the rest of the night would be. and that's why i'm tired and getting ready to go to bed early tonight.

yes, the perfect birthday. thanks so much to dave who really is the best husband and father anyone could ever wish for, joon who's most certainly the cutest kid on the face of this planet and keeps getting cuter by the minute, my family whom i could not be more blessed with and my sweet friends who sent "happy birthday" messages and let me know they were thinking of me.

love, love, love!

more craft stuff tomorrow. promised.

listing on etsy in just a little while...

the first joontoons baby mei tai is ready to be listed in a few moments! i'm stoked about how it turned out... loooooove it.

more blogging later tonight, gotta get the etsy stuff done and then spend a fun afternoon with the kiddo and her sweet lil' friend. :)

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

long overdue

i made something for myself. yes, myself. i've been trying to remember when i last sewed something just for me and i honestly just don't know... it must've been a while.

so i finally put the bag i've been dreaming of for weeks on top of my "things to sew" list and finished this morning.










yes, it's more "garden party". i'm still completely obsessed with that collection and i'm checking my etsy every five minutes or so hoping to finally make a sale so i can buy more a.m.h. fabrics. turns out she's coming out with a new line in january and i just saw the first pics of it on her blog... must have all of them. now!

anyways, i had originally planned to make the actual bag from the darker "table cloth" fabric but after two mei tais i didn't have enough fabric left for this enormous tote so i went with the green instead. the bag has four inside pockets which will hopefully keep me from having to search for keys or cellphone for ten minutes while trying to keep a newborn and a toddler happy. i went for the totally oversized look knowing that i'll soon be carrying around necessities for two kids in cloth diapers. we'll need looooooooooots of room! i also made sure the strap was long enough to fit around our stroller's handlebar so that i won't have to carry it when i'm wearing our new baby.
the blue inside fabric is a really heavy ikea home dec cotton and i'm hoping this big beauty will be my faithful companion for a long time.



so much for the bag. the black backround btw is the new enormous chalkboard dave made the other day. it serves as canvas to joon's recently discovered creative outpours and the top half will hopefully help us improve on scheduling our day to day activities which we've been shockingly bad at lately. too much to do too little time and as always way too many ideas.



one last thing, i've been wanting to write about one of my favorite german traditions, "st. martin's fest". st. martin's day is on november 11th and it celebrates the memory of some dude on a horse who cut his cloak in half with his sword and gave half to a poor man in the street about to freeze. the poor man's life was saved and martin became a saint. or something.
anyways, there's more to it of course but what matters to me is the fest that comes with that story...

each year around november 11th all german children make paper lanterns and then they gather one evening and go on a little parade usually led by "st. martin" on a horse with a cloak and a sword and some sort of knight helmet thing which is usually made from plastic and looks really cheap. there's usually a small brass ensemble and then there's lots and lots of children and lots and lots of parents and they walk through the streets with their selfmade lanterns and sing songs. in the end they gather around a fire, drink hot chocolate or "gluehwein", eat a particular st. martin's bread and just look happy and peaceful and... i love "st. martin's parade"!

this year we missed the festivities in my old part of town which i always went to growing up. it's by far the best one out there, i'm sure! (no, i'm not biased.) but for some reason it was held super early this year so we didn't get to go. instead we went to the one in our new neighborhood which was also fun but nowhere near as romantic. joon had a great time though! that's what matters most.

and it reminded me of why it is that i didn't really mind the long dark and cold season in germany as a child... it was because i constantly had really fantastic reasons to craft! starting with german thanksgiving ("erntedank"), then st. martin, my birthday, my two brother's birthdays, st. nicholaus on december 6th, the whole time leading up to christmas, my mother's birthday, christmas, new year's and by the time that rolled around we already got to get excited for spring again!

so this fall and winter and all falls and winters from now on, i'll make a point to create! to take the time to sit down and really focus on small crafts, drink yummy tea, use lots of glue, surround myself with colorful materials, bake cookies, all the good stuff.
i love love love summer and being outside constantly! but the cozy cooped up in the house aspect of winter i love just as much. i just haven't been aware of it.

Monday, November 10, 2008

babywearing in the early 1960's

this is just about the coolest thing i've seen in a long time! so much for "oh, i wish we had had those things when my kids were little!"...

more craft stuff and such tomorrow. it's way past my bedtime and dave is finally home so it's time for me to go to sleep.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

woohoo!

one of the lovely crafters in my awesome etsy street team crafting in color put together a really pretty treasury full of fun colorful goodies and i get to be a part of it.

come take a look at orange cic by sweet zoewoods and check out my fellow team members!

this really brightened up an otherwise incredibly grey sunday morning for me... go soak up some orange! i promise it'll make you feel good.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

what a week

we have a new president! well, you do. if you're american. does the rest of the world get to call him "our" president? in this case i kinda would like to call him that. at least for now. anyways, he's not really president yet. so i guess that statement was just all wrong. america has a new president-elect! there ya go. what i meant to say is, i don't remember the last time anything "politics" made me this happy!

unfortunately the elections took two complete days out of my crafting week. tuesday our midwife came over, we went on a great outing with dear friends and prepped the house for a little election party. then i stayed up til almost 4a.m. which left me useless the next day and i thought i'd better not set foot near scissors or a sewing machine til after a good night's sleep.

i got caught up though, mainly thanks to my butt-kickin' husband who btw is for sure the greatest dad to have ever walked this earth! i love you, dave. :)

so here are the results of a semi productive week...


green toddler mei tai going on etsy tonight












"very berry" baby mei tai unfortunately not going on etsy because it's flawed. i love this thing and i hope maybe it'll find a home somehow. if you're interested, drop me a line and i'll give you all the details and make you a great price! ;)





one more thing about this past week... it's just shocking to me how grown up my "baby" has suddenly become! baffles me every day. seriously. here she is "getting dressed".

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

celebration

yay, yay, yayyayyay! for obama and the american voters!

i'm so excited it's impossible to put in words. and it'll take a while for all these good news to really sink in.

in the meantime i just feel like celebrating and decided to put everything in my etsy on sale til sunday.

wooooooooooooohoooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

joontoons' first made for etsy mei tai



fabrics for body are all part of the gorgeous "garden party" collection by anna maria horner. the straps are double boxstitched to an inner layer of thick home dec weight canvas and reinforced with far from perfect but very pretty stitching on the outer layers. straps are super sturdy yet soft to the touch brushed canvas in eggplant. please check out my etsy for detailed measurements and such.

of course this carrier is completely one-of-a-kind like all joontoons items! but i'm already thinking up the next carrier in my head and i'm hoping to list a mei tai every week or so until my pregnant belly gets too big to fit between myself and my sewing machine(s).

enough talking, more showing off!