An Ellie, For Ellie

Every year I brainstorm to pick out or in this case create, the perfect present for everyone, especially my nephews and neice. This year was no exception, however, I decided that I wanted to make as many gifts as possible. Accordingly, I came up with this for my neice Ellie with the help of a pattern from Wee Wonderfuls.

A note for Ellie to read before opening her gift.

I tried to package the doll to remain comfortable while in a 20 day slumber until she's opened on Christmas Eve.

Oh look, Ellie's awake from her nap in her comfy (and minky-fabric-lined) sleeping bag.

Good Morning Ellie! What a great hair day you're having!

No jumping on the bed Ellie, goofy girl!

Ellie pats her cat, Paws, before heading out to school. I used a lot of velcro on the clothes since the feet and head are large.

Ellie grabs her backpack and she's out the door to catch the bus.

Oh, go figure it's raining! Ellie puts on her angora hoodie and shoes. (I love recycling sweaters!)

Wow, it's time for bed already. It is 1:17 A.M. as I'm writing this.

Goodnight Ellie.

Baby McKinney Quilt

My lovely and beautiful co-worker Sarah is 11 short days away from having a little baby girl. During our many talks about what type of bedding she wanted, I showed her Heather Bailey and Amy Butler fabric. She instantly fell in love with Amy Butler fabric, and soon we were talking up plans of making bedding for Baby McKinney. Last night I finished the quilt and a pillow. Here are some pictures of my 4th quilt/blanket.

We picked out a soft minky fabric for the back.
I was happy with how the diagonal design came out with the squares.

Here's the pillow I made while guessing measurements and making up my own pattern. Maybe not perfection, but practical.

I can't wait to meet Baby McKinney and have her try out her new bedding!

Super Secret Craft Project Revealed...

When Jay's cousin Josh passed away at 35 years old, I knew I wanted to do something. I wasn't sure what I could do, what words I could say to help ease his family's painful loss. So I made a quilt, a quilt of prayers. After a lot of hours of work I completed the quilt around 1:00 this afternoon and gave it to Joy (Josh's sister) at his memorial service. I hope it serves as a way for memories to be cherished in weeks, months, and years to come for them, especially his young daughter Gracie.

Here are photos of the quilt of prayers, otherwise known as the "Super Secret Craft Project."

The hearts were individually cut out and appliqued on for people to write on.

I'm so happy to be a part of the Tichy family and to have the opportunity to get to know such wonderful people.

Sneak Peek: Erika and Matt

Last week I took some engagement photos for my friend Erika and her husband-to-be Matt. Here's a itty bitty sneak peek:

X and O's

For Timm (singer of Owen Hart and guitar player in The Helm) and Timmie's wedding, I decided to make them a gift. Timm is straight-edge (no alcohol, no drugs, etc.) but Timmie does drink. Straight-edge is often symbolized by people drawing "X"'s on their hands, so accordingly, Timm received two X ovenmitt's and Timmie received the O's!

The bride and groom each received a special dish towel embellished by me! Timmie's isn't quite done yet. Here's Timm's, he likes metal music in case I left that part out..
Here's a close-up of Timm's mitts!

My husband Jay showing off the mitts. He was pretty excited about this gift. Perhaps if I make him a set he'll be more likely to cook?

Here is their full gift along with a gift card to Trader Joes.

Congrats Timm and Timmie! (Pictures of their wedding to potentially follow.)

Nona Jo

A few weeks ago our friend Becky came into town with her beautiful daughter Nona, whom I hadn't seen in at least a year. I had no doubt that she would be taller, bigger, but wow, so beautiful and full of personality. Our plans of taking photos at the park didn't materialize, but we still had fun and I still got some pictures. I hope they visit again soon, this time with Josh (Becky's amazing husband.)

Here's Becky. We met in 2001 in our Environmental Science class in High School.

Nona enjoying yummy vegan goodness.

Nona got wide-eyed everytime the flash went off in her face but she loved pushing the camera button to take pictures of mommy and Barney!

She choose to listen to me when I nicely asked her to sit next to her friends. She has a stubborn streak like her mom!

Nona eating again.

Nona and mommy!

Family is Forever

A month or so ago, I had the joy of spending the day with my two nephews and my neice. Before leaving, I traced their handprints and had each of them write their names. Here's what I finally did with them:

I didn't have a pattern so I made it up as I went. Both tan fabrics are actually old sheets.
I put soft, minky brown fabric on the back which matches the heart on the front.

Jay and I took the blanket over to her yesterday and she seemed really excited about it. I hope it's a great reminder of her wonderful family, we're all very blessed.