Before Lucy was born I was a sewing mad woman. Things have *ahem* slowed down since then. The desire is still there, just no time. One of the things I HAD to finish before she came was a diaper bag. I put this little ensemble together for our diapering needs. A diaper bag, a changing pad and little bag for my stuff. The changing pad was a towel that I died to match the fabric and quilted it sorta. If you can call that quilting- adding some batting to the back and sewing fabric on the other side. I love it when she’s on it cause it seems so comfy, but it’s too big and takes up most of my space. I’m also afraid to wash it cause the color might bleed into the fabric.

The bag has tons of pockets, I like that but it’s a little too floppy. I made it from some left over ikea curtains we used for our craft room at church and some floral fabric I found at Walmart. I also made the straps so I could remove them and just slip the bag into another bag and still have all the great pockets. Yeah that didn’t work so well. Again, too floppy. darn. Oh, the detail on the pocket is from an old shiny head band I had. You know me, gotta have my bling!

The little pouch for my things is the only thing I’m really in love with. I carry it with me everywhere. I even made a little side pocket for my “business” cards. Brian made me some Bloom cards so I could give out my number when I met a new crafting friend. I also love the bead on the side. It just gives it a little vintage somethin’. I am already designing a new bag in my mind with some Anna Maria Horner fabric that will be bigger and better! We’ll see when I’ll actually get to that…

Here it is guys.. only 3 min long. Enjoy.

I thought I would share this knitting mistake I made last year. So that you don’t get the wrong idea that everything we make here at Crafty Daisies is “perfect”. I would even like to think that everything I make is incredible. But lets face it, not every project turns out great or even close to great. And that’s a good thing. Because sometimes my head gets big enough to almost fit into the hat you’re about to see. So let this be an example to you of what not to do.
Lesson 1: When knitting a hat, use a pattern or your hat will turn out like this.

“oh no it’s too big, I don’t think it will work. Maybe if I felt it…” she thinks to herself

Lesson 2: never felt wool knitted with acrylic yarn or you’ll get this.

Yes, the knitted pizza. It is flat as a pancake.

Lesson 3: use a freekin’ pattern, Joy!

PS. I’d like to also say, thank you all for your kind comments on our work. You make this fun blog worth while! We love you!!

Bill Dooley October 20, 1953 – February 24, 2004

” Bill Dooley was the first missionary Bruce knew: “I remember thinking, this guy is NEAT-he’s so real and personal.”

“conversations with ABWE missionary Bill Dooley inspired and motivated Beth to consider missions as God’s specific will for her life.”

I would like to introduce you to Bill Dooley, my dad. He was a missionary for 14 years in Chile and later a recruiter for the same missions agency. He encouraged many to know God and love Him. At 50 yrs old, 3 years ago today he flew away leaving us with a hole in our hearts that would never heal. He was a great man and we miss him so much.

I wanted to share with you what I have made for my family so we will always remember him and keep him near. He wore this great sport coat all the time. He looked great in it. It was his favorite. For my mom’s birthday I made this bag for her from his coat. I attached his name tag he wore while he was at conferences and a great picture of his teethy grin. Love that smile!

I made the inside out of the shirt they got on their Alaska cruise their 25th wedding anniversary. The tie tips were a few of his favorites. The blue one he wore at our wedding when he married us. She loved the bag and it’s nice to know that a peice of him is still close to her.

I really started missing him a lot when I got pregnant and wished Lucy could know him. It kills me that they won’t get to play together. So I made her this Lion. (I have a slight obsesion with lions thanks to the Chronicles of Narnia) Papa the Lion is also made from the same sport coat. Recognize the tie? same one. This is the only way I know to keep him close. When you loose a loved one won’t you do the same? Don’t throw all their things away but make something new and keep them close. It’s all we have left of them. Thanks for letting me share this with you on this very special day to me and my family.

Ok, I am so excited right now. I have been dying to tell you about Anna Maria for a long time! I am soo obsessed, addicted and crazy over her stuff. There are few blogs you really want to read every word and go back to posts and look at the pictures again and again. This blog is just like that. Watch out if you’re not careful you’ll spend hours there! I feel so privileged to tell you about this amazingly creative woman. When I get this excited I have trouble sharing my thoughts. My mind goes faster than my hands can type so bear with me here.

Thing is I totally want to be just like AM when I grow up. She has 5 kids and still finds time to craft! Be sure to take a look at her bio, for I am sure to leave something important out. Her daughter Juliana who just turned 15 is adorable. She helps her with all of her big craft projects. My favorite is the younger kids play room they designed together. I can’t wait to be able to do stuff like this with Lucy! So fun!

She is a fabric designer among other things. Take a look at her home studio. She has her own line right now called Bohemian. She just came out with a new line called Chocolate Lollipop, which will be out in April or May. I can’t wait to get my hands on it! Oh my gosh super cute!!

some of her fabulous pillows. (she has made so many her husband has threatened to put them in storage!)

Be sure to check out her great technique for making super circles. It’s so great I want to try it right now!
and a few more reasons why I love Anna Maria….

We are getting ready for the fair coming up in April. I’ve been going crazy trying to make sure everything is in order. The idea was much funner in my head. Pulling it off is going to be a miracle. I know it will all be worth it. To chill I just sit and knit.

I came up with this knitted bag pattern that is super easy. There are two things I hate – purling and seams! If I can come up with something where I never have to purl a row or stich something up when i’m done then i’m thrilled!! That is just what I did with these bags. I used the Peaches n’ Cream cotton yarn and double stranded the solid color to make it more sturdy.

I started by casting on 40 stiches on a size 7 and knit in garter stitch for about 5 or 6 rows. Then I picked up the stitches around the edge ending up with a total of 90, give or take a few. At first it is too narrow to put on one circlular needle so I knit with 2 circulars as you would with double pointed needles. I knit the rest of the bag in the round. Adding the verigated yarn about half way thru and finishing up with the rest of the solid color. I made the strap by casting on 100 stiches and knit about 6 rows of garter stitch. I used some fabric I had left over from some Ikea curtains to line it and made a button with fimo. I love the way they turned out. I’m working on a green one now. So i’ll have my little collection of 3 similar ones for the fair.

It’s nice to know I just used some random stuff i had around the house for this. I didn’t spend any money on this and they will sell for at least $15. What would you pay to benefit a ministry in Mexico?

I thought this was a fun Valentines idea. It’s Paper CD sleeves used for cookies. You can stamp them any way you like & add tags. This gives me a chance to introduce to you one of my favorite crafty blogs, Kiddley where I found the idea. Tons of great craft ideas for kids. I can’t wait to try some of these when Lucy gets old enough. Hope you have a wonderful Valentines day with your loved ones. Happy Valentines Day!

Did you find some cool V-day ideas? do share.

Ok, so the secret is out. I’m. addicted. to. stencils. i can’t help myself!! They are soo much fun and so easy. You can make a special personalized gift for anyone with this great idea.

I love this picture! Two of my favorite people in the world. For Christmas this year i gave my best friend Kim a T-shirt that read: Lucy *heart*’s me and a onesie that said KiKi (what Lucy will call her one day) *heart*’s me. Along with the shirts i gave her a coupon for a photo shoot of her and Lucy. We got some great shots. This was one of my favorites. you can see the shirts really well and Lucy looks like she is flying.. AHH love that kid!

The way i work my stencils is i print out what i want my stencil to say, trace it on the Freezer Paper, then cut it out with an exacto knife. Or sometimes i just draw up some silly design on the matte side of the paper & cut it out. Here’s what they looked like after i ironed on the design b4 paint. (if you are trying this, be sure to iron on another piece of Freezer Paper on the inside of the shirt, shinny sides facing each other, so your paint doesn’t bleed thru.) Then i just use any fabric paint, usually mix the glitter fabric paint in pretty much every time! I’ve said it before- love the bling Just peel off the stencil as soon as your done and voila!

This is one of my favorites, a onesie for a friend’s baby. Her name is Vienne. Love this font, thought it was kinda french just like her name..

The other thing i’ve enjoyed is the dye resist. Some of these onesies i dyed and then stenciled with paint. Some of them i stenciled b4 the dye, applying dye resist, as i would paint. When you put it in the dye bath that area doesn’t dye to the intensity as the rest of the garment. (i’m sure you could get the same effect by applying bleach on a colored garment) The bottom 3 are done this way. It looks super cool. Hope this inspires you to start stenciling.

So maybe my craft room doesn’t look like this but it works for me. My husband and i live in a 2 bedroom apartment which we love! We actually sold our house that was too much maintenance to move into a more manageable space. (I know it sounds crazy but, i’ll tell you that story another time) At the time we also had no plans of starting a family. I had the entire spare room all to my self and my crafty mess. But when we found out we were expecting i had to do some switching around. This is what i came up with.

By day it is a changing table with her goodies on it.

and by night (or nap) it is my craft table.

I absolutely love the tile top for all projects, especially cutting fabric. You can just get your scissors right in the groove to get a straight cut. The table is so easy to clean too. Get yourself one! My dad got this one at a yard sale. I painted it turquoise my new favorite color and looks great in Lucy’s room. What I love about this set up is it forces me to clean up when I’m done.
I use the little drawers for her things, but kept one for me, to put my sewing things in.

Some of my fabrics i have no idea what i’m going to make with them. I used the one on top to line my diaper bag. Don’t you love the $1 bin at Walmart??

And of course my trusty freezer paper and fabric paint. Tulip glitter one of my personal favorites. Gotta have some bling!

And last but certainly not least my sweet knitting. This is my bag i take everywhere with me. Pictured here next to the couch where i like to knit, while i’m talking with Brian or he reads to me. I have some knitting rules i follow. I always knit while i’m with people. I’m usually working on such easy projects, that if i’m alone i just can’t bear to sit and knit by myself. I also try to finish each project before starting a new one. This is my current project, another bag for the craft fair. The first bag is peaking out. I’ll post that soon. It turned out super cool. Also, if you have never tried Denise interchangeable knitting needles you MUST! i’m hooked. I’ll never knit with anything else EVER. Just ask, Erin, Deaven or Jen. They know what i mean!

Also for more ideas on setting up your craft space take a look at what whip up had to say

I love making something new from something old. We found this dress in Jen’s attic in her husbands costume collection. I loved the green and said it would make a great bag. Donnie (her husband) just mentioned joking that her birthday was coming up. So I decided to make her a bag.

I just love the detail in the top part of the dress. I decided to use the elastic section at the top of the dress and just detach the sleeves. The dress was so long i used the rest of it to line the bag and one of the sleeves for a pocket on the inside. It turned out pretty cool. I loved it. I’ve got some of the dress left over I might just make one for myself. It seems all i want to make from old clothes are bags. What have you made from old clothes?