Desert Bloom Fabric Tour

Hi Friends! It's been a whirlwind these past three weeks. I had my twin babies - Jackson and Rosalie, and I must say, life has definitely changed. One thing that hasn't changed is my desire to create things even if I know I have no time at the moment. I can't stop thinking of new creations to sew!

Before I gave birth, I was asked to be part of the Desert Bloom Blog Tour for the talented Amanda Herring a.k.a The Quilted Fish for Riley Blake Designs. Her new line is bold and beautiful, and it was a pleasure to work with her lovely fabrics. I think I'm going to move onto more bolder fabrics for future projects and Desert Bloom was a great choice to start with.

With babies in mind, I decided to create a bottle cooler bag (if you follow me, the last blog tour I did was with Elea Lutz for Strawberry Biscuit, I made a diaper bag). 

Here's what I made:

 

Bottle Cooler Bag

Cooler Bag with removable straps.

Top of bag. Red zipper contrast.

Can fit up to 3 baby bottles and an ice pack or snacks!

Detail shot of cooler bag.

Here's how I made the bag:

I took measurements for 2 baby bottles and 1 water bottle and created the size of the bag off of those dimensions. I chose Desert Bloom blue poppy, hexies, and the grey text fabric from the line. I added red piping to the bag for a nice contrast. I used red cotton webbing for the handles and a bold red zipper for the opening of the bag. I added tabs for a removable adjustable strap in red cotton webbing.

In design phase

If your wondering "where the heck did she get insulation for the cooler bag from?", well there is this magical $1.50 store here in Southern California called Daiso. It's Japanese and they sell cute, useful, and weird stuff. I saw the roll of insulation and bought it!

Cooler bag insulation from Daiso.

I also created bibs using the Desert Bloom Birds in blue, pink, and multi from the line. I contrasted it with the Desert Bloom hexies in blue, grey, and pink.

Detail of Desert Bloom bib in multi print.

Handmade bibs in the Desert Bloom birds prints.

Other side of bibs in Desert Bloom hexies print.

 And here are my beautiful baby twins - Jackson and Rosalie. 

My beautiful babies!!

Thank you friends for following the Desert Bloom Blog tour! I hope to see you real soon with new crafty blog postings and maybe a secret project too! Be sure to stop by Sedef Imer's blog today at Down Grapevine Lane to see what she did for the Desert Bloom Tour. I'm sure it's fabulous! 

Next up on the Desert Bloom Blog Tour tomorrow is:

Yvonne Fuchs at Quilting Jetgirl
Marissa Fischer at Rae Gun Ramblings

Be sure to check out these creative gals projects for the blog tour too!!

Warm wishes,

Karen

Twin Boy Girl Nursery

Hi Friends! I'm less than a week till my due date (yippee and yikes)! I've been taking it easy, but still sewing a couple of things because I'm bored just sitting around waiting! 

I told you a couple of weeks ago I would share my boy girl, gender neutral, whatever you want to call it, twin nursery. I made a couple of things in the room, like the curtains, quilts,and such. My husband actually designed the room. He has a flair for design, which is strictly modern. I on the other hand like everything cute, dainty, and girly. I wanted to paint the walls pink and blue, but he said uh, no. So he came up with this abstract triangle wall decal in pink, blue, and grey (he added a little to pink to make me happy). 

I am prepared as I can be (maybe not mentally), but these kids have everything they could ever need as I plan on not leaving the house for a couple of weeks or months lol! 

So here it is:

My twins nursery for boy and girl.

Detail shots of cribs, books, giant Miffy nightlight, changing table.

I attended Hello Kitty Con 2014 and had this poster. Thought the colors would be perfect for the nursery.

Handmade cross stitched sampler, made by me - Snow White and Hansel and Gretel.

Detail shot of changing table.

I ended up making the changing table cover because I couldn't find a cute one (that fit my standard of cuteness) in this size. I used Japanese fabrics.

The shelf was custom made by husbands friend who is an AWESOME woodworker. We purchased the crates from Japan and he custom fit them into the shelves. Yes, that is a giant Miffy night light! It's so cute right? The panda I bought for myself a couple of years ago in Costco, because I like toys.

This is my nursing/reading corner with Duffy and Shellie May sitting on the rocking chair. I handmade the quilt on the chair.

Details of the handmade quilt. I used Atsuko Matsuyama fabric. 

Handmade twins crib quilts. I used Faraway Forest from Birch Fabrics. I used the entire collection because it had pink, blues, and greys.

I hope you enjoyed a tour of my nursery. Now the countdown begins! I'll be back next month for a secret project I've been working on. I actually completed it but, can't post it just yet!!! See you soon friends!

Karen

Strawberry Biscuit Blog Hop! Here's what I made!

Hello Friends and welcome to the Strawberry Biscuit Blog Hop! I have to say, it's been a while since I've blogged, a long while. There's a good reason I've been away so long. I'm about 33 weeks pregnant......with TWINS, a boy and a girl! I've been over there on that Instant thing...yep, Instagram. What can I say, it's fast and easy. But it's been enough time where I've decided to blog once again. Instagram can only show snippets of projects, where as here I can show you the whole process without blowing up your feed! So, when I was asked by the lovely and talented Elea Lutz to join her bloghop for the release of her new fabric line "Strawberry Biscuit" for Penny Rose Fabrics, I couldn't turn her down (third trimester and all!). I'd have to say, this line is so cute, dainty, inspiring, and was such an honor to create with. There's been some beautiful creations out there with Strawberry Biscuit. I can't wait to see more!

So, here's what I made!

Handmade diaper bag in Strawberry Biscuit!

Two front pockets that can hold keys, cell phone, toys, and more. 

Two front pockets that can hold keys, cell phone, or a 
Strawberry Shortcake Doll!

Backside of bag. Large zippered pocket that can hold a tablet,
changing pad, and more.

Backside inner zippered pocket in grey main rose print.

Strawberry Biscuit key chain detail.

Inside of bag which can hold plenty of your babies needs.

Since this might be my last big sewing project for a bit (wait a minute, I still have two baby quilts to make ahhh!!), I decided to go out with a bang and create a diaper bag for my twins. I truly love making bags. It's one of my most favorite things to sew. What I love most about Strawberry Biscuit fabric, is that the colors and details in this line can do double duty for girl and boy creations! So, I decided to go with the blue and red tones.

Detail of front pocket flap.

Detail of backside of bag.

Bottom of bag I turned into oilcloth using Pellon 
Matte Vinyl Fuse, to keep the bottom of the bag 
clean and sturdy.

Detail of side pockets that can hold bottles, toys, and, more.

Detail of side and top zipper. I love this zipper!

Detachable strap with brass swivel hooks.

Here's how I made the diaper bag:

I wanted the bag to be heavy duty since I'm going to be stuffing it with twice as many bottles, diapers, and clothes, so I decided to use thick Pellon Flex Foam interfacing and quilted it to make it extra sturdy and cute of course! This material truly is a dream to work with if you are looking for a lot of body for a bag. 

My process usually begins with the outer panels, specifically the

front, as this is the start of inspiration and design for the entire bag. I added a large front flat pocket, that can hold little books, keys, cell phone, pacifiers, etc. I added some cute lace details to maintain the dainty look and held it with a magnetic button enclosure. Next I made the back. I decided to keep it one color/style of fabric to make it cohesive. I added a large pocket with a zipper that can actually hold a full tablet or a changing mat. Lastly, I made the sides, top zipper panel, and bottom. I added elastic pockets in a contrasting red fabric that can hold baby bottles and such. I sewed these all together to create the outer bag.

Front, back, and side panels.

Now the bottom, which is my husbands favorite part (yes, he gives great input to all my projects!), I used the grey main rose print and added Pellon matte vinyl coating so to make the bottom durable and keep clean. I use this material when I want to add an oilcloth finish to any of my favorite fabrics for a special project. 

Bottom of bag made with Pellon Matte Vinyl Fuse for oilcloth finish.

My favorite part of the bag is the zipper. I used a heavy duty plastic YKK jacket zipper in baby blue to pick up the colors of the bag. I think this is my new favorite zipper to work with because it's strong and easily sews onto fabric without puckering. 

Heavy duty zipper in baby blue.

I then proceeded with the inner bag. I used the aqua birds print for the entire inside. I added elastic pockets to both panels so it can hold numerous bottles, diapers, wipes, clothes, and more. I also added a zipper pocket to hold a wallet, keys, and such. Finally, I sewed the inner bag, attached the inner to the outer, and hand stitched along the top from the inside.

Inner bag panels with elastic and zippered pocket. Finished inside details.

Drawing and inspiration for my design.

Thank you for following my progress on my secret project! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did making it. Strawberry Biscuit Fabric is super cute, fun, and a joy to create with and I can't thank Elea Lutz and Penny Rose Fabrics enough for letting me be part of this super fun Blog Hop! Strawberry Biscuit is available now in stores, so get some and make some cute things! 

I can't wait to see what all the other lovely gals have created with Strawberry Biscuit! 

Be sure to hop over today April 18:

  - Sedef Imer over at www.downgrapevinelane.com
    Instagram @downgrapevinelane

Next on up on the Strawberry Biscuit Blog Hop tomorrow April 19:

  - Angel and Amy over at www.tadacreations.blogspot.com,

    Instagram @tadacreations

  - Lindsey Weight over at www.fortworthstudio.blogspot.com 

    Instagram @lindseymweight

Hop over tomorrow and see what they made! I'll be there too!

I'll be back on my blog in a week or so to showcase my twin baby nursery so stay tuned! I handmade some parts of it and I think you will like how I created it with Gender Neutral / Boy Girl in mind! See you soon friends!!


XO,
Karen

Sneak Peek Strawberry Biscuit Blog Hop!

Hi Friends! I'm participating in the Strawberry Biscuit Blog Hop this Monday, April 18! Be sure to check back here Monday morning and on my Instagram feed via creamcraftgoods!  Here's a little sneak peek for to you to enjoy this weekend!!

See you soon!

Karen

Hi Friends!

My blog is currently in construction mode. For now, please follow me on my Instagram @creamcraftgoods. I'll be back soon with some new and exciting stuff! 

Here's what I've been working on so far:

Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you soon!

Best wishes, 

Karen