Look What I Did!

I downloaded a trial of the embroidery software Embird and I'm still learning.
I am making my cats no-sew fleece beds and I wanted to put their names on it. I finally figured out how to combine each letter file to make one file that my machine could stitch out. It turned out AWESOME! I'm so pleased with the result. :)
No more stitching one letter at a time and re-hooping, resulting in uneven letters.

Happenings

I haven't had much time to sew lately. Joe and I left for Wichita on short notice last Tuesday. His grandpa wasn't doing to well and he wanted to say his goodbyes. We got home late Monday and I still feel exhausted.
Despite everything that happened, I'm glad we got to go to Wichita and see most of Joe's family. I know he doesn't get a chance to see his parents or other family very much and it's nice seeing him interact with them.
Joe's grandpa passed on Thursday morning and we spent a few days more with his family. We also got to spend a couple days with my mom and little brother in Oklahoma City. It was nice. :) We had planned to make a trip to OKC over the holiday weekend but since we were saving up to get a new place we had to push back the trip indefinitely. Even with the unfortunate events it was good to spend time with both of our families this past week.
Joe always tells me to just go with the flow of things, but being a control freak makes that kind of hard. I'm a planner. And I feel most comfortable planning things well in advance...and letting go is HARD! But I'm getting better at it...at least I like to think I am.

Sorry for no pictures...wasn't exactly a picture taking trip. :)


Alayna

New Design

So I'm updating my blog layout. I'm not done yet but hope to be soon!
I'll post soon what I've been up to after I get the layout done. :)


Alayna

The Park

 I took Joe on a surprise picnic a couple weeks ago. We went to Challenger Memorial Park, it's the park where we first met. :)
To make it a surprise, I had to blindfold him. He didn't want fellow drivers looking at him weird so he opted for a beanie over his eyes to make it look like he was sleeping...dork.

Joe's artistic abilities with the camera. He found that  phrase funny...

Alayna

Flashback!

 I wanted to share with ya'll some pictures of my siblings and I over the years. I only have a few, so here are pictures with all 3 of us in them.

We have myself, Alex, and Dillon. I just turned 9 a couple months prior to this photo being snapped. Alex was around 7, and little Dillon was only a few months old. He was born April that year and this was his first Christmas. I look like such a proud big sister. Although, I'm pretty sure me and Alex had just gotten into it before we talked to Santa. :)

Next up, a picture of when I was in 8th-grade. I believe I was 13-ish, maybe already 14. Alex would have been 12, so he was still totally uncool and still in little elementary school, haha. And Dillon is around 4 or 5 (depending on when the picture was taken). In this photo we were at the local skating rink. It's where all the cool kids hung out, ya know. (I still give people bunny ears.) :)

And lastly, here we are all growed up. This picture was taken in May of 2011. I was 21, Alex was 19, and little ol' Dillon had just turned 13. We were eating at my all time favorite restaurant back home, Ted's. It's a Mexican place that has amazing tortillas! Oh man, I miss it so. Alex and I (as well as Joe, he's just not in the picture) had taken a trip back home to see my mom and we meet her parents there to have lunch before we left back for Houston. :)

 It just goes to show...the older you get, the funnier faces you make. 

Alayna

A New Bag!

So I was feeling adventurous this past weekend and decided to whip up a new purse. Ohmigosh...it was a lot harder than the instructions made it seem...

I got the instructions and patterns Here.

This is definitely not a beginners bag. The only thing I found difficult about this project was that I had no idea what I was doing. I had never made a bag before... plus, these instructions are very vague and left a lot of (what I feel) important steps out. 

BUT! I did get it completed (after 2 days of ripping out seams and ripping out hearts).

 The Front

The inside showing the pocket.

 And the inside showing all my goodies. 

(Why, yes that is a pamphlet on knitting in my bag. You never know when you might need it...)

I got my exterior fabric from Hobby Lobby. It's a printed duck fabric by Waverly and it's gorgeous! The lining is made of quilting cotton, I got it at Jo-Ann awhile ago so I forget who it's made by.

I decided not to add the little bit of trim (or whatever you want to call it) between the top two layers like in the tutorial. But, after all the hard work and turmoil, sweat, tears, and a few minor injuries...it was definitely worth it. Heck, Joe even said he was impressed and the man is as manly as they come.

Mission accomplished. :)

Alayna