Cases Anyone?

I was shopping for felt the other day for a custom order and decided to grab a few extra sheets while I was there. I randomly decided to make these iPod/iPhone cases and I love them!





Then I made a iPad sleeve too...

These can all be customized in your favorite color or made in different sizes to fit your phone, Nook, or Kindle.
Then today I wanted to make some camera cases so I put a little twist on the normal cases I've made before by sewing a pattern on the linen. I love how they turned out...I think I might do this to my next clutches too!


Everything pictured here can be found at my etsy shop www.dreamingofdandelions.etsy.com

Homemade Gifts

I know, I said I wasn't going to post about my Christmas gifts until after Christmas but I don't think these little recipients frequent my blog so it will be ok...
So, these are for a very cute teeny tiny one your old. Have you ever heard of BabyLegs? A company that makes baby leg warmers that I think are absolutely adorable so I decided to make my own!

And this is for a very imaginative two year old. I've seen so many variations of these types of things...so here is my version...



Hopefully this inspires you to get started on your own homemade gifts!

Holiday Update

Hello! It sure has been awhile. I have just been working away getting my presents made and custom orders done :)
I've been busy putting new items on etsy...still not much luck on there. Facebook continues to be my main source of customers which is just fine by me! Although I haven't gotten much attention on etsy I did manage to catch the attention of the creative editor of Simply Handmade Magazine. She sent me a product request asking that I submit some items for their summer issue. I feel like I'm jinxing it just talking about it but since there is no guarantee that I'll make it in the issue I might as well celebrate this now :)So woo hoo!
I thought I would share two new holiday crafts I did this year.
Advent Calendar
I was inspired by this amazing advent tree from Sunset magazine

I wish mine turned out that great...I decided to only use what I had on hand. I got out my trusty Cricut and cut out my tags and numbers. I decided to write a bible verse on the back of each tag that we could look up together as a family each night. Then I made little "ornaments" for my son to hang up in place of the tag we take down each night. The ornaments are simply asterisk's cut from felt. I wish I would have gotten a picture because they actually are pretty cute.
I had a vase and twigs leftover from these adorable decorations we made for my grandma's 90th birthday last month...

so I just hung the tags all over that...I looks a lot more crowded and messy then Sunset magazine's version..oh well my 4 year loves it just the same :)


I also made an upcycled wreath...the form is from a wreath I made previously, the yarn is leftover from a project, and the ruffles are made from old tshirts...

M.I.A.

I may seem to be MIA for a little while. It's officially Christmas time and I need to get started on all my gifts (which I won't be blogging about until AFTER Christmas for obvious reasons). I already finished one and I'm really excited about it! I'm still working on uploading all my items to Etsy and I have a few more things I want to add that I haven't quite finished yet. I have five pages in my sketch book full of new items that I can't wait to make but probably won't be able to until after Christmas...so that's something to look forward too :) I pulled my beads out of the box yesterday to work on my jewelry a little bit...hopefully I have something in that area to share with you soon! Well, that's my little update for now. Hope everybody had an awesome Thanksgiving because I know I did!

First Boutique

I did my first boutique last Friday and I would say it was a success. I learned A LOT. Mostly about myself. I was so hard on myself for not getting everything done that I wanted but I was just being crazy...if I had done anymore it wouldn't have even fit on my table!
The boutique was a lot of fun. It was exciting to get instant face to face feedback about my items. It was great to meet other like-minded people and network and it was awesome to talk with more experienced vendors and get some advice.
I was not too happy with my displays..they were fine but not amazing. I was planning on doing that the day before but I was sick on the couch instead. Oh well..there is always next time.
Having never done any boutiques or craft fairs before, I did not know what to expect and I think it was a great day. I went into it thinking if I made my money back and got my name out there I was going to be happy but I ended up with way more sales then I expected and my stack of business cards were almost gone so I would call that a success.

Crazy for Pinwheels

In preparing for the Holiday Boutique I did last Friday I made a few more of those embroidery hoops that I shared with you awhile ago.
This one I did was my absolute favorite. I was actually a little sad when it sold.

There is just something about pinwheels that I love. So cute and simple...and you don't see a ton of them around these days. After staring at it for awhile I realized they would make cute hair clips too so I made some last minute and they turned out to be a hit so I made some more to sell on etsy.
Ok, I got a little carried away with how many I made because they really are fun...

So look for these soon on etsy...

That's Life.

Ugh. Tired and feeling frustrated. My days have not been as productive as planned. I had a busy week last week getting ready for my Grandma's 90th birthday party (which was a lot of fun) and had some family in town. Now, Jack has been sick since Saturday (like 104 degree fever, er visit, strep throat, wants to cuddle on mama all day sick) and I've been sick too. So needless to say Dreaming of Dandelions has been on the bottom of the list and I haven't gotten anywhere near what I planned on having done at this point. With the Holidays coming up I really planned on having a ton of things ready but that's life I guess. I'm trying my hardest to be happy about the things I do have done, rather then focusing on all the other things I also wanted to accomplish. I have to remind myself over and over that I always planned on doing this in what little spare time I have and to stop being so freaking hard on myself...one of these days, right.
Ok, now that my venting is done it's time to get some rest :)

New Clips/Brooches

I know it's a bad cell phone picture but you get the idea. I'll have these plus a few more colors available at the St John's Boutique on Friday and on Etsy next week.

Yah for Cuteness!

D of D Jewelry!

I've wanted to do this for so long...

This was my first time using dye and I'm so happy with the colors! I'm excited about finally giving jewelry a try!
I have a busy few days coming up so I'm hoping I can get some done in time for the St John's Holiday Boutique on the 19th!

I've Been Busy

I've made a few new fabric flower pins. Available in Olive, Marigold, & Teal





The flowers on these four are removable and can be worn as a pin...

I also have three totes in the natural linen fabric done, they are just waiting for their embellishments. Oh, it feel good to finally get things done.

Happy Day After Halloween :)

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween! I woke up this morning feeling in the Holiday Spirit already! Thanksgiving and Christmas are my absolute favorites!
Well, I should have some clutches to share tomorrow or the next day because I'm planning on some sewing tonight!

Other Things That Have Been Keeping Me Busy

My youngest niece turned one and her party was last weekend. I made her a cute little tutu for her party and then this little fleece beanie for the upcoming cold months...


Once I was done I realized how much it looked like Hello Kitty so let's just pretend that I meant to do that all along, ok?
I also made treat bags for my little Batman and his Batgirl...


So glad I have obscene amounts of felt on hand at all times because these were pretty last minute :)

New Totes!!!

My favorite color combo lately...
Think this

Plus this

transformed into a tote bag...
The Pin-Up


and The Ringmaster



For the life of me I could not take a good picture today, but you get the idea. I really want to keep one of these for myself :)

These two will be available at the St. John's Holiday Boutique on November 19th. All of my unsold items will be added to etsy after the boutique.

The Hero Factory

Ok, so this is not craft related at all but it's coolest thing I've seen online in awhile...
If your child loves super heroes like mine and is old enough to enjoy some computer time this is perfect. This website allows you to design your own hero and choose their powers. Jack has been obsessed with this for the past two days so I thought I would share.
http://cpbherofactory.com/
Here is one of his many creations...

He even made one for me that was holding a grocery bag that "shopped for groceries for me lightning fast." Too funny.

St John's Holiday Boutique Info

For the life of me I can't figure out how to upload the PDF Flyer so here is the info:
Friday, November 19th, 2010
8:00 am - 1:00 pm

Walker Hall Dining Room at St. John's Church & School
154 S. Shaffer Street, Orange, CA
Walker Hall is located at the corner of Shaffer and Almond Streets
You may enter the dining room from the stairs located on Almond Street.

Dreaming of Dandelions will have:
-Women's Clutches, Totes, Aprons, Accessories (Hair Clips, Brooches, Fabric Flower Belts)
-Embroidery Hoop Art
-Kid's Notebook & Bag Gift Sets and Girl Hair Clips and Headbands

There are a few more things that I hope to have but not sure if time will allow :)

I will have items under $15...even items under $5
Spread the word...tell your friends and family! Hopefully some of you can make it on a Friday morning!!

New Game Plan

Well, I've had a bit of project A.D.D. going on. I think it's time to clear my head and change my game plan. I am too easily sidetracked. I have like eight different things I'm working on plus thinking about taking all the pictures I need to for Etsy and then actually uploading everything...blah! When I have a lot of things going on I can't really seem to get much of anything done. I need to kick the A.D.D. and get more work done because I have not done nearly what I wanted to do to stock up for the Holidays. Also, with Anthony's crazy work schedule, I haven't had the free time like I thought I would. Instead of getting a few things done, then wanting to put them on etsy (and never getting around to it), and then starting another project, then another, then another I am going to focus on steps. Right now, I'm working on cutting EVERYTHING out that I need for ALL my projects. Then, I will get ALL of my sewing done. Then I will get ALL of the assembly of the other things done. I'm hoping this works for me :) I'm hoping this cuts down on the mess that I tend to spread around my whole house when I work too! I signed up to do a Holiday Boutique at Jackson's school next month so my goal is to have everything ready for that. THEN, the items I have leftover will be uploaded to Etsy. And then I can focus on Christmas presents for my family and friends :)
(Now, this doesn't mean things are not for sale just because I'm not putting them up on etsy yet...I will still post things as they are done and you can still contact me if you are interested.)
Oh and here are some of the shoe clips I was talking about earlier...still can't get the cream colored ones to upload.

Sick Boy=Gifts

My boy stayed home from school today with a cold. I always feel so bad for him when he doesn't feel good so I made him a little gift to cheer him up.

It worked :)

I think I've mentioned before that he is notebook obsessed so I've had this in the back of my head for awhile now. It's essentially just a cover for a composition notebook with handy pencil/marker holders. I was thinking they would make good gifts to go along with the kids bags I'm going to make (Yes, I'm still planning on make some...I just need to get to it haha) so this was a good trial run too.

Presents for a Little Lady

My oldest niece turned 10 yesterday. I knew she wanted hair clips so that is exactly what she got. I also made her a hair clip holder out of a 10 inch embroidery hoop..super easy and I think it turned out really cute.

I painted the hoop pink and used some scrap fabric. I used thumb tacks in the back to hold the ribbon in place.

I wish I had a picture of her wearing the clips...she is too cute.

I love giving homemade gifts. However, Jackson does not like it at all. He thinks that since I make the gift it is solely from me, not our family. I knew Hope wanted magnets for her locker at school so I knew that would be a perfect little gift from him. He really did most of the work, he even picked out the colors, I just helped to make sure things came out as neat as they could.

(The glue still wasn't completely dry in this picture so they did come out a lot clearer then this)
He was really proud of them and really excited to give them to her. He sure loves his cousins!

Boo

Well, I was hoping to come on here and say that I have added new items to Etsy. I finished some shoe clips and took the pictures. When I went to upload them they would not upload at all. So frustrating. I feel like there's always SOMETHING wrong with my technology these days. Oh well, I suppose I should just be thankful that my other 75+ pictures from the past week uploaded just fine. I will try again tomorrow. In the mean time just try to picture little chiffon flowers in grey, plum, and cream.
For now I can just share a little Halloween craft we did today. Jackson has been asking for the past few weeks to decorate for Halloween. My husband and I are not big Halloween lovers but for some reason we produced a little boy that just can't get enough. So I finally gave in today and made a small sign with him.




I was deciding between fabric and paper. I went with paper because Jackson wanted to help me and he wouldn't get to do much if the sewing machine was involved. He was in charge of the glue and the glitter and I'm shocked that there wasn't a huge mess after! I was planning on making a few more flags but Jack wanted to hang it on the door so we could only fit the three flags.
I think it turned out pretty cute and Jackson was really excited so that's awesome.