{Changes}

Well, it's been a few months since I posted last, and I've decided to make a change to the name of my blog! I actually took a step back in September & started up an Etsy Shop. I chose the name of my shop to be, "Made with Love that can be Felt" and I figured that I would modify my blog name to allow for continuity between the two pages. 

Here's my shop description as copied over from my shop:

"The name of my shop originally started as a funny play on words about 4 years ago. At the time, I dabbled in making greeting cards for friends and family with felt cut outs on the front in various shapes, patterns & designs...of course, when working with felt, "made with love that can be felt" has a pretty specific (and slightly corny) meaning. 

Over the past few years, though, while my aesthetic and skills have also been growing. The meaning of "Made with Love that Can be Felt" has really evolved into more of an idea that items can be handmade with quality, care and love that can really be felt before the item is even received! 

My passions are currently in quilts for babies & children, but I am also venturing out into the wonderful world of baby supplies (pacifier holders, changing mats, burp cloths, etc.)

I appreciate you visiting my little corner of the crafting world, and hope you find what you're looking for!" 

My problem is that I haven't taken the step to actually list any items yet! I've been struggling with the pricing aspect; worried that I may sell myself short & not make a profit, or that I will end up charging too much. 

Mikhal & I are on vacation (again!) right now visiting his sister & her family, and his brother in law in Missouri, and I plan on posting some items (burp cloths, binky leashes, etc...)  AS SOON as I get home. No more procrastinating! As a few friends have encouraged me, even if I don't get my pricing exactly right on my first few items, at least I'll be getting myself out there! :) 

I went back through & updated a few of the quilts I've made recently, the one I'm most excited about it is: 

A Panda Quilt for my brother in law, Danny! :) His 16th birthday is later this month, and he had been asking me for a panda quilt for YEARS! (Almost as long as we've been married). I had always kept it in the back of my mind, but couldn't figure out how to put it into practice without making it look like it was for a baby. For instance, I could have done embroidery, or applique, but I just didn't think either of those was right! I finally had the idea to try a linear/abstract Panda, and this is what I came up with. :) 

SO SO SO happy with the results. :) (And so is Danny! We surprised him this week with a birthday party & his quilt, which he had NO idea about!)

I had to do SO much math to figure out the layout of his face, though. I have pages & pages of notes. I think that is one of the reasons I am so excited about the finished product. There were times when I was working on this that I really felt like giving up, so it is that much more rewarding to finish it, and to have it turn out like I planned! :) 

Anyway, in other news, I feel like I need to start putting a little bit more time & effort into this blog! I was thinking about all of the things I really enjoy doing, but don't feel like I am GREAT at (photography, crafting, writing, etc..), and I think that getting some of the details of my crafts down in words & pictures would be helpful to help me get better at all of them! I also always really envy the stay at home moms that are able to make such great blogs, so they are my new inspiration! 

Until next time... (Which hopefully won't be too far down the road)

{Quilts}

Over the years I've made quite a few quilts...and while I've tried to do a good job of documenting & keeping track of them all, I think I certainly could do better! I've decided to try & re-create a list of all the quilts I've made, and the approximate timeline (I'll do just years for now, because it's hard for me to remember the months in most cases!)

Here we go:

1. Pinwheel Quilt (Approx 2005 With Mom & the Quilting group from the church I grew up in--they created this quilting "monster".)
2. Scrappy Quilt (2005 That I keep with me in my car)
3. American Flag Quilt (2005 Christmas present for one of my best friends, E!)
4. Red & Black, "Checker" Quilt (2007 Christmas present for my then fiance, M.)
5. Fall Colored Trains & Trucks Quilt (2008 Baby Present for my nephew, LK)
6. Eagle Quilt (Dad's Birthday Present, 2008)
7. "BlueBerries With Sal" Quilt (Mom's Christmas Present, 2008)
8. Blue, Green & Brown Dinosaurs Quilt (2008?--Paying customer!)
9. Hippie Flowers Quilt (2008? --Paying customer!)
10. Pink & Purple Flowers Quilt (2009 Baby Present for my niece, HL)
11. Nursery Animals in "windows" Quilt (2009 Baby Present for my neice, MF)
12. Nursery Animals in forest Quilt (2009 Baby present for my nephew, DK)
13. Pink & Blue Boxes Quilt (2009 Baby Present for my niece, AF)
14. Russian Animals Quilt (2009 Baby present for my nephew, IK)
15. Flannel Dinosaurs Baby Quilt (2009? Gift for co-worker's Son)
16. Animals in Boxes Quilt (2010 Baby Present for my nephew, JF)
17. Russian Cars/Trains/Trucks Quilt  (2010 Baby Present for my nephew, MF)
18. Butterflies in Silk Quilt  (2010 Baby Present for my 2nd cousin, MT)
19. Trees Quilt (2010 Baby Present for Coworkers daughter, AR)
20. "Aren't you Far more valuable to God than they are" Quilt (2010 Baby Present, LJ)
21. Blue/Green/Brown Flowers Quilt(2010 Birthday Present for my sister, J)
22. Zoo Animals (Printed) Quilt  (2010, 1/2 of the set of twin quilts for JF)
23. Zoo Animals (Pictures) Quilt (2010, 2/2 of the set of twin quilts for JF)
24. Elephants in Brown Quilt ("Happy Day Present" for a friend's daughter, AJ)
25. Butterflies in Purple Quilt ("Happy Day Present" for a friend's daughter, RJ)
26. Caterpillar in Pink Quilt (2011 Baby Present for Friend's daughter, MG)
27. Young Life Wall Hanging (2011 Young Life Auction Item)
28. Pink Boxes Quilt (2010 Baby Present for my niece, MK)
29. Big Blue Polka Dot Quilt (2011 Baby Present for my nephew, TF)
30. Giraffe & Friends Quilt (2011 Baby Present for my nephew, IV)
31. Green & Brown Flowers Quilt (2011 Baby Present for 2nd cousin, AP)
32. Fishing Scene Quilt (2011 Baby Present for my nephew, ML)
33. Frog on Stripes Quilt (2011 Baby Present for my nephew, CD)
34. Purple Zebra  (2011 Happy Day Present for my sister in law, MF)
35. Manly Flannel Quilt #2 (2012 Quilt for Husband, Late Christmas Present)
36. Fall Colors with Fuzzy Tree Quilt (2011, Christmas Present for my niece, CB)
37. "The Bears" Football Quilt (2012 Baby Present for my co-workers son, EG)
38. Brown/Green/Blue "Paisley" Quilt (2012 Birthday Present for my friend, CH)
39. "You are my Sunshine" Quilt (2012 Baby Present for my niece-in-law, HN)
40. Fuzzy Elephant on Polka Dots Quilt (2012, 1/2 of the set of twin quilts for PM)
41. Fuzzy Owl on Polka Dots (2012, 2/2 of the set of twin quilts for PM)
42. Manly Flannel Quilt #2 (2012 for a sick coworker)
43. Neon Green, Pink & White (2012 for my new niece, SPF)
44. Fearfully & Wonderfully Made (2012 for my neice, DK)
45. Denim Quilt (2012 for my friends baby, Baby Graham)
46. Panda Quilt (2012 for my brother in law, DF)
47. Neon Green, Blue & White (12/2012 for my new nephew to be born 01/02-2013)
48. Princess Quilt (LM's Niece 02/2013)
49. Pink/White & Green Chevrons (FOR SALE on Etsy)
50. Brown & Blue chevrons (Niece born 01/2013, SF)
51. Army Memory Quilt (03/2013 For my brother in law, YL)
52. Girly Jungle (Scarlett B. 06/2013)
53. Green/Gray/White & Black Chevrons (LW, 08/2013)
54. Pink/Yellow & White Chevrons (LVF 02/2017)
55. Garden Fence (Entered in Puyallup Fair, 09/2013)
56. Hello Kitty Quilt (MO 09/2013)
57. Blue & Brown Elephants (01/2014 approx. VF Baby #8)
58. Colorful Zoo (04/2014 - EB)
59. Scrabble Quilt (04/2014 - K&J M Wedding)
60. Primary Colors Zoo quilt (EB, Due 07/2014)
61. Volleyball T-Shirt quilt (LR 10/2014)
62. Girly Jungle Quilt #2( 10/2014 - Gifted to a friend's baby, IB 02/2017)
63. Ruffle Quilt (10/2014 - Gifted to Neice, to be born 04/2017)
64. Boxed Hippie Flowers (10/2014 FOR SALE on Etsy)
65. Circus Animals Quilt (2014 -Sold in 2017 for MP's co-worker)
66. Blue/Mustard Arrows (10/2014 for HS)
67. Denim & Cars (11/2014 FOR SALE on Etsy)
68. Blue Polish Elephants (01/2015 for Mom's Co-worker's baby)
69. Green/Grey Houndstooth (04/2015 for LS Baby #2)
70. Blue/Grey Houndstooth (04/2015 for CG baby #1)
71. Audrey Hepburn Funk (05/2015 for JF- Living Room)
72. Primary Colors/Airplane (05/2015 for Friend's Second son, OG)
73. Blue, Teal & White Birds (06/2015 for Neice, NPF)
74. Colorful Living Room Quilt (J&EH - Living Room 01/2017)
75. Green/Grey/White & Yellow Animals (NAF 02/2017)
76. Black & White "Crosses" Quilt (For AS & LS's 3rd son, IS 05/2017)
77. Black & White Scrappy Quilt (Gifted to PH & SH for adopted son, SH 12/2017)
78. Lizzie's Nursery Quilt (07/2017)
79. Fun Neutral Triangles (For TH's Son born Fall 2017)
80. Boho Baby Quilt (To be Sold..?)
81. Bow Ties -Green, blue, grey and white (J&EH's Baby boy, due April 2018)

Quilts in the hopper at this moment:

Quilt for Baby Frolov #3
Pretty Floral
Scrap/Stash Busters 

I know for sure I'm missing some...but I'll make sure to come & update it more frequently from now on. :) 

Until next time! 

{Busy Busy Busy}

I've been super busy recently working to finish (3) quilts before leaving to Alaska to visit M! Here's how they turned out:

The first two are for twins that my co-worker & his wife just had! They wanted to be surprised on their genders, so I picked what I thought was a cute, but still gender neutral theme! 

I used cotton for the piecing, and then "snuggle" flannel & "minky" for the applique. :) I LOVe how the 3D parts (elephant's ear & owl's wings) turned out! 

Then the third quilt I made for a friend of mine who has been sick & in the hospital for the past month! Made entirely of quilter's flannel, this thing is SO cozy. It's kind of a weird quilt to present in the middle of July when we've been having 80 degree weather, but I think he liked it anyway. :) 


Some details:
Started this on June 23rd, finished July 10th. 
Approximate Dimensions 7"x5".
Fabric used: Quilters Flannel (next time I'll write down the collection/designer!) 

I ended up quilting this one instead of tying because I wanted a more grown-up, masculine feel, and while it was quite a bit of work to get it through my standard machine, I think it was well worth it! I did realize that I need to get a separate "walking" foot for my machine though, that will help immensely when quilting my next project! Since I quilted this monster (well, big for my tastes, it was only a twin!), I feel like I don't really have an excuse not to practice my actual quilting on some of the baby quilts I'll be working on in upcoming months. :) 

But first--vacation! I'm leaving tomorrow for 10 days in Alaska, and I still am not quite packed! I'll try & update on the goings-on there while I'm there if I have time, or when I get back. :) 

Until next time! 

Seems like a good time for an update!

So a few of my friends have recently started up, or updated their blogs, and it has inspired me to get back into the swing of things over here! I think this blog has exactly (19) views right now, and I'm pretty sure most of them are me, accidentally clicking the wrong buttons & ending up viewing it myself. (Still not quite used to this platform!)


So here's what's been going on since I posted last...only 6 months ago! *Sheesh!


School:
I ended up getting in touch with the advisers at the community college, getting it approved through work, & enrolling in Accounting 201! I actually just had my final earlier this month. It was a basic accounting class, which I really think is just what I needed. Part of it made me super excited about the prospect of going further in accounting, and part of it made me really nervous about the idea. I got an "A" in the class, and really did enjoy it, but I'm perplexed about what to try next. I had thought that there was a "Business Administration" degree/certificate plan that I could pursue, but I'm having trouble finding all the necessary information, and the advisers I've spoken with don't seem all that well equipped to deal with a student that also works full time. 


I've learned that I really love bookkeeping & data entry too much to ever be an accountant. It seems like that job revolves around reviewing information, rather than getting your hands dirty with it! That's why I'm thinking business administration might be a better fit for me, but again..I don't feel like I have enough answers yet to make a final decision. I'd like to be able to work towards a bachelor's degree, but part of that might just be my own pride--I'd like to graduate again, and feel like I didn't cut myself short by "only" earning my associates. I'm hoping to get a lot more of this sorted out this summer so I can jump in again come Fall quarter! If I'm going to do this, I want to start taking at least 1 class per quarter, so I'm not 70 by the time I finish! I really am kicking myself for not taking advantage of my company's reimbursement program earlier! I could have had 3 years worth of classes under my belt. :) Oh well, live & learn!


I'm hoping to also clarify if a business administration degree/certificate would give me the information I would need to run my own small business!...Hopefully this is all sorted out soon! I'm the type of person who loves having a "road map", and knowing exactly where I'm going! Measurable goals are important for me! :)


Crafts:
Well, I am in the middle of (4) quilts right now...yikes! I really love quilting, but I hate when it happens like this & I can't pay attention to one at a time. I started the first one of this set a while back when everything was so quite that I had the funny thought to finish it & try to sell it. But then, people started having babies and whatnot, and that plan went out the window! That quilt, and two others I've also started since then are going to end up being gifts to babies/new moms (can't wait to finish), and the one I started most recently is going to a friend of mine who recently received a pretty serious diagnosis & is spending quite some time in the hospital. I think a homemade, flannel (sooo soft) quilt might be just what the Dr. ordered! (Although I do need to call the hospital to make sure patients are allowed to have personal items like quilts in their rooms...I'll make  myself a note to do that tomorrow) 
Then I also have (2) additional quilts that I'll be starting once this wave is complete! I really do think I need to do a better job of keeping track of all the quilts I've made.. even counting them, maybe! I remember I tried to piece it all back together once from pictures on FB, but I don't remember the # at that time, or how many I've done since then! (Hopefully this blog will help me sort that out.)


Other projects I've started/finished/worked on since my last update are:


Kitchen Table turned Computer Desk
Oh, Mikhal & I had a great time with this table refinishing project! We started out with an old white & pine kitchen table that had been in my family since I was about 9 years old. We received it as a hand-me-down from my Mom when we lived in the apartment, and it served us just fine as our kitchen/dining room when we lived there! Once we moved here, though, we needed something bigger to accommodate the four of us, and the HUGE parties we plan on having. :) 
Instead of disposing of this one & searching for another computer desk, we simply decided to give this one some new life! Mikhal helped me with the sanding, staining (oy, the staining!) and the painting, and we ended up with a realllly cute table. 
The top is stained pretty dark, because we wanted it to match our bedroom furniture set, and the legs were painted a shade of red to match the accent colors in our room. :) All in all, I am really happy with how it turned out, even though we thought it might have defeated us a few times. :) 
We're still trying to figure out how to get the chair seat stained the same color to match.. :)


LOVE art for our bedroom
I had seem some neat wall art projects on pinterest, and decided to incorporate a couple into our bedroom for the big empty wall we had near our bed. I've always loved the "love verses" in 1 Corinthians, so we used that for our theme. I purchased big wooden letters that spell out "LOVE is..." and then glued tiny wooden letters onto (3) separate canvases with the rest of the verse. Again this was a DIY project that got a way from me a little as far as cost & time put into it, but I'm so happy with the end result, the long nights spent painting all the individual letters feel so worth it! I had a couple of the letters fall off the canvas during the moving/hanging process, so once I glue those back on, I'll make sure to get a picture posted here of the finished product! 


I'm also going to continue with the "Love" theme for our room. I think it matches up so perfectly with the red color we've got going for our accents. :) 
Some other ideas I've got bouncing around are to do some kind of "love" related throw pillows (for both the loveseat & couch), and maybe a wall hanging or framed embroidery project with some "love" related lyrics. I especially love Warren Barfield's song, "Love is not a fight". 

More to come on these projects, I'm sure!




Misc. Household improvements with M
M & I were both really feeling antsy about the lack of decoration in the house, so for a while her & I (or her & Mikhal during some work days) went out slowly started finding things to help make it feel more homey! We ended up getting new curtains for the dining room, living room & "library", as well as a new table cloth, new art work, new shelves, new lamps, etc... basically, the place is looking much more lived in, and loved! Everyone is always so impressed when they come to visit. We even invited the landlords over, and they were really  happy to see that people who loved the house as much as they do were living here & taking good care of it. :)


Real life "pinterest" board
Part of our household improvement project was me finally getting some kind of boards up in the green room to organize my upcoming art projects! I found both a white board & bulletin board, and Mikhal hung them up for me on the wall! I am able to switch them out so I can keep the one that I'm using most often at eye height, with the other hung below. It's pretty neat! I've already got quite a few things listed to work on when I have time. :) 


Doiley Coasters
This was another idea I got from pinterest. When L, C (Friends) & J (sister) and I were up in Seattle a few months back, we stopped at the "Re-store" where they sell old building materials, and I picked up some cute 4x4" tiles, with the intention of turning them into cute coasters. :) Finally this last week I picked up some paper doileys, & spray paint to finish the project! I really think they turned out pretty neat. 
{Updated to include pictures!}

 All my supplies 

 I sprayed the doileys with my quilting/basting glue, and it held them on perfect while I was spraying, but released just as easily when I was ready for them to come off! 

These are just two samples of how they turned out. I had others I liked better, but I think they are on a different memory card! 

Personal Life:


Well the biggest piece of news is that Mikhal is currently living in & working in Alaska! He's been gone 2-3 weeks (it feels like forever, so it's hard to keep track of how long it's really been), and will probably stay on up there until 1) he gets called back by the union, 2) his brother in law runs out of work for him. His brother builds houses, & got quite a few good jobs for this summer, but needed help to finish them, and Mikhal could certainly use something to do (and we can always use extra $$!!). Luckily I'm going up to visit him for a week next month, so it will help break up the fact that he will be one for probably 2 months once this is all said and done! The only good thing I've found about him being gone so far is that I've been able to spend some good quality time with girlfriends I haven't seen in a while! It's been great! :) 


In other news, I'm only 2.4 pounds away from my goal weight! For those of you who don't know me well, I've lost 35+ pounds over the last 16 months or so! It's been a LONG process, but I'm so close now, and I've really been motivated these last few weeks to finally break through to goal weight! I've got my weigh in (Weight Watchers) tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes! I'd been pretty 1/2 hearted on the program for a while, and was getting frustrated with myself for my yo-yo weight gains & losses (1-2 lbs a week). Hopefully this is the week! Then I can start my 6 weeks of maintenance, and then on to being a free lifetime member! :) It's a pretty exciting prospect. I think once all is said and done, I'll probably be in the best shape I've ever been in. I'm already seeing muscle definition that I've never had before. Just going to take a big more fat burning to uncover some more. :) *haha. I'm both excited, and kind of horrified at the idea that I'll be able to post a before & after picture up soon! I've got the exact "before" picture in mind, and will take an "after" in the same place in similar clothes, etc. Stay tuned! ;) 


Well, I think those are the biggest updates so far! I'll do my best to get better about taking pictures to go along with all these facts, I know it makes for a LONG read without something to break it all up, but I appreciate you staying with me. :)


Until next time... 

The Brown, Cream & Red Room...

One of the projects I've been working on since moving into this great house of ours, is our bedroom! I guess I was never really inspired to be all that creative in our two bedrooms before this one--but I just LOVE this room! We're thinking that before they remodeled the house, our room actually used to be two rooms side by side, but then they decided to break down a portion of the wall in between, wall off one door, and viola--you have our room!

Because the space is SO big and wonderful, we decided to break it into the two halves (unofficially), and make one side our "sleeping" side, and one side for more of a "sitting room"/"office". :) We found a really nice love-seat & ottoman set on craigslist and it fits on the "sitting" side, perfectly! (Although sometimes the ottoman ends up on the "living" side, covered in stacks of clean clothes...*smile*)


I had found, and had hung some cute flowery red/brown/cream colored pictures/paintings at our apartment in various rooms, but thought they would look cute in our room here, so I hung two in our room on opposite sides of the window across from the bed, and two in the "sitting room" side, one by the door, and one by the "office" corner. I was again inspired, this time by the red accents, and I think I am going to start working them into more of my decorating through-out this room!

For my other red accents, I've got a super cute rug, and then made my own cream curtains, with really cute red lacy under-lay. The only thing I wish I had done differently is to make the cream curtains a bit more full. They're made out of pretty stiff upholstery type fabric, and they look a bit rigid. That was one of the reasons that I decided to add the underlay, to make it a little more flowy. :)

Anyways, that's the basic plan for our room decorations!

In other news, I did finally work my way up to e-mailing the department chairs (for accounting & business) at our local college to see if I could get some guidance about going back to school! (As far as which of the two I should focus on, and which of the different programs within each I should set my sights on. I haven't heard back yet, but I am getting more and more excited thinking about the idea! Reading through the course descriptions, I think accounting might be the way I want to go, but I think getting to talk with both ladies will help me decide! 

As for my other crafts--I'm currently in the middle of two different quilts, with a couple more in the "hopper" for production as soon as I finish these two! I'll try & post pictures of the two quilts once I finish them for your viewing pleasure! :)

Until next time...

The Brown, Cream & Red Room {Part 2}

This is a handy little diagram I made up a while back to help explain the layout of our bedroom. I had sent it via text message to the blog a while back, but had forgotten to ever update & publish it! In the coming posts I'll do my best to document the personal touches I've added to the room in the last few months that have really made it feel like ours! 

New Beginnings

I've been tossing the idea of starting my own business (making & selling crafty items) around in my head for a couple of years now, and I figured the start of this new year (2012!) was a good time to stop just thinking about the idea, and instead--get the ball rolling!

For those of you who might stumble across this blog, without knowing me personally--I'll give you a quick bio. :)

My name is Anne, and I am the youngest old person most people have ever met. :) I'm 22 years old, but most people guess I'm older than that when we first met, and once they know me better--know that I must be an old lady stuck in this younger body.

 My friends at work helped me come up with this list of reasons that brought us to that conclusion:

•  I love cats...and have three of them. (Shadrach, Meshach & Abby )
• I wear a lot of sweaters (Cute, modern, looking ones--but sweaters none the less)
• I love wearing pearls. (Earrings & necklaces, mostly)
• I pay my bills the "old fashioned" way with a check and a postage stamp--rather than "e-pay".
• I love doing crafty things like quilting, sewing, scrapbooking, etc...
• I got a traffic ticket once for driving too slowly...

I'm sure that list will only grow longer as I actually get older, but for now, that's all we have. :)

And now back to my bio...I got married 3 1/2 years ago to my "highschool sweetheart", Mikhal. (Pronounced: Michael)
We don't have any kids yet, but do plan on having a family someday in the coming years. That's actually one of my motivations for wanting to start a business. When we do decide to start having kids, I plan on retiring from my current job to take up the call of "Stay at Home Mom", and while I know I will certainly be busy--I'd still like to have something to work on in my down time that is fun, and that can help contribute to our finances.

Other than that, there's plenty to know about me--but not enough time in the day to write it all out! I'm sure it'll come out on it's own during the coming blog posts. :)

Oh, one thing I should mention is why I named my blog what I did. Mikhal and I recently moved into a rental house with his sister, M & her husband, A. (We call it "MAMA's house for short.) In this new big glorious combined house of ours, there is a beautifull bright green room that M & I called dibs on for a craft space! I was inspired the moment I walked in, and knew that I'd be able to create beautiful things in there. This blog will be used to help document those things. Pictures, Notes, Tips, Tutorials, etc... as well as my progress toward my bigger goal of owning & running my own business!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you're able to stick around and see where this takes me! :)

--Anne