Bath Salts

As a coordinator to help with crafts at our local Mom's group one year we decide the ladies would make children friendly recipe scrapbooks.  Each meeting the Mom's came together and created 2-3  4"x6" pages that would be placed in a small photo-album.  Once the year was over I continued to add more pages and create books for gifts.

Clothes Whitener

As a coordinator to help with crafts at our local Mom's group one year we decide the ladies would make children friendly recipe scrapbooks.  Each meeting the Mom's came together and created 2-3  4"x6" pages that would be placed in a small photo-album.  Once the year was over I continued to add more pages and create books for gifts.

Graduation Bulletin Board

A Bulletin board I created for the Graduates of our church.




I have taught thee in the way of wisdom,
I have led thee in the right path...
Proverbs 4:11

Tulip Time Costumes

All Pella Community Elementary school children are asked to march in the annual Pella Tulip Time parades. I made these traditional costumes for our children.
The youth march in Thursday, Friday and Saturday afternoon parades at 2:00. The first few years we moved here I constructed a handful of Dutch Costumes for clients, I now focus on Bridal alterations and refer clients to some dear friends that have a Dutch Costume Sewing business or refer them to Fields Fabrics to make their own.

In the News

This bulletin board was up for approximately 8 weeks at our church.  Every 2 weeks I would change the postings to include current events. 

A Tufted Bustle

This Bride had lot of ideas to make this dress uniquely hers. We had a champagne colored sash and used lace from her grandmother's and mother's wedding gowns to create accent and a focal point on the front of this taffeta tufted gown.

The back of this dress had pick ups spread through out the trane. I used the French Bustle method to create an elegant and princess look for this bride. I used 5 bustle points to create the finished look. The Champagne colored sash is secured by two tiny doll buttons and crocheted loops that were created on the back side of the sash to keep it in place.

A Traditional Bustle with 3 Pts.

An elegant and simple dress adorned with intricate embroidery work on the top layer of organza. The bride was determined to not loose any of the detail when the dress was bustled.

We opted to bustle the dress using a traditional bustle over top of the dress. Three satin covered buttons were sewn at the waist and thread loops were crocheted into the trane of the dress to create this traditional look.

A Bustle of Silk Layered Pleats

After working on this dress I reworked the original bustle by creating a double bustle with 2 sets of ribbons and nylon rings.

This bride requested a modesty piece be created for the back of her dress. I used some of the fabric from a layer I removed from the front of the dress when hemming it. You might see a safety pin at the center of the lacing string. That is to help keep the string in the center when lacing up the back of the dress. Once the dress is laced then the pin can be removed and the ties are exactly even.

When creating this bustle I used a double french bustle method.

This picture shows the first set of bustle points tied.

This picture shows the second set of bustle points tied.

The finished bustle. Just beautiful and perfectly spaced.

Magic Bubble Paint

As a coordinator to help with crafts at our local Mom's group one year we decide the ladies would make children friendly recipe scrapbooks.  Each meeting the Mom's came together and created 2-3  4"x6" pages that would be placed in a small photo-album.  Once the year was over I continued to add more pages and create books for gifts.

A Bustle of Lace & Layers

Layers and Layers of Silk Lace.
The bride requested I add the champagne colored sash to the bodice for some color and emphasis.

I used the french bustle technique to create this Victorian style bustle. 5 Bustle points were needed to create the finished look.
Plastic nylon rings and colored ribbons make achieving the bustle simple for anyone to create.

1st Communion Dress

Our daughter Madeline celebrated her 1st communion a few years ago. Above is the photo I took in front of our stain-glass windows at church and then did some fun photo editing.

I designed her custom dress to fit her personality and size. It was constructed of silk and adorned with Swarovski crystals. We switched out the sash and made it gold for the father/daughter dance.

1st communion

Bulletin board I created to announce the youth that celebrated their first communion.

Cleaning Pennies

As a coordinator to help with crafts at our local Mom's group one year we decide the ladies would make children friendly recipe scrapbooks.  Each meeting the Mom's came together and created 2-3  4"x6" pages that would be placed in a small photo-album.  Once the year was over I continued to add more pages and create books for gifts.

Home-made wrist corsages

It is the Annual Father Daughter Dance put on by Families First. Our girls look forward to this night each year. This year we made their corsages. Our oldest daughter is allergic to many flowers and pollen. Finding a floral shop that makes artificial corsages can be a challenge.

To make the corsages we purchased wristlets from the local floral shop, visited our Hometown Variety store to purchase ribbon and flowers. Once home we began assembling. We cut ovals out of colored card-stock to hot glue the flowers and adornment to. Once the flower arrangement was glued into place we created a bow and glued the bow to the flowers then the entire corsage was glued to the wristlet. Once completed we added a bit of spray adhesive and some sparkle fairy dust.

Our youngest daughter's corsage. She helped pick out the flowers and laid them out.

I then helped her hot glue them into place.

Our older daughter made her corsage by herself. She only needed an extra set of hands to hold things in place while she glued or tied the ribbon.

Both girls are already planning for next year' corsages.

Total cost to purchase similar corsages from a local florist $15/corsage
Total cost of supplies $30 (enough materials to make 2 dozen corsages).

Finding Strength from the Serenity Prayer & Women

I recently attended the Women of Faith Conference in Des Moines, Iowa with some dear friends from our church. Having left the conference inspired we are now coordinating a fun ladies night out for the women of our church. We are hoping to create an evening full of laughter and joy creating a break from every day life.

Since attending the conference I now follow the Women of Faith Blog.

This weeks challenge,"If you could become a Women of Faith speaker,

what would you talk about"?

Finding Strength From the Serenity Prayer and Other Women:

If I were to speak for Women of Faith I would talk about how the Serenity Prayer has inspired me and helped me "accept the things I can not change"over and over. A few years ago I had the opportunity to speak at our local MOPS monthly meeting. I was able to talk about how this prayer along with the support of women friends helped me get through some of the darkest days and challenges life has thrown me.

(I talked about when our children were very little and my husband was working nights. We had just moved to a new town and I had joined the local MOPS group where I found faith, friends and much peace. Our youngest was only 9 weeks old and not gaining weight. A visit to U of I hospitals brought answers and a treatable diagnosis. Two years later we gave birth to another child with a whole new set of health issues and many trips back to U of I hospitals. The local MOPS moms once again provided support in many ways and the Serenity prayer became my daily inspiration. A few years later another move to a new home and 2 back to back miscarriages one of which almost took my life, then an unscheduled appendectomy, all with-in 8 months. Not to disappointment me but the friends I had made through the local Christian Mom's group and Coffee Time Bible study once again showered me with support and prayed for me when I couldn't pray anymore).

When dealing with struggles or sharing my stories I must always express myself with a creative twist. At the conclusion of my testimony I shared with each lady a prayer card I stamped for them to use as a bookmark. On the bookmarks I chose to use a pansy stamp. Pansies are a delicate and colorful flower with a strong will to live. They thrive in very cold temperatures and can with stand strong winds. Very symbolic of Women today. The prayer cards focused on

Serenity, Courage & Wisdom.

Just a few gifts God has given us to endure the

"Things we cannot Change".



To follow other Women of Faith Followers Blog posts and read about what they would speak about as a
Women of Faith Speaker:


http://www.mclinky.com/linky_include_bloghop_public.asp?id=32535


If you want to make a post to this bloghop click below:

Women of Faith Wednesday BlogHOP

Easter dress in the making

We hunted High and Low for the perfect Easter dress this year. No luck. We decided to visit the local quilt shop. She selected 2 prints from the Eclectic Garden line by Jason Yenter for In the Beginning Fabrics 2009. The pattern she chose was Simplicity 2989. When assembling the dress I added a lining to the skirt with some tulling sewn in to give it more fullness and an elastic band to the back of the dress bodice for a more comfortable fit. The end result was perfect looking princess.

Now to try and make a miniature matching dress for her American Girl doll Chrissa.

A Unique Bustle of layers

With a single row of 5 bustles.

With a double row of 3 bustles or 6 bustle points. The end result looks so much better.

Un-Bustled

A variation of the french bustle was used to created the finished bustle. Nylon rings with color coded ribbons were used to create the finished bustle.

Tub Time Crayons

As a coordinator to help with crafts at our local Mom's group one year we decide the ladies would make children friendly recipe scrapbooks.  Each meeting the Mom's came together and created 2-3  4"x6" pages that would be placed in a small photo-album.  Once the year was over I continued to add more pages and create books for gifts.

Homemade Wet Wipes

As a coordinator to help with crafts at our local Mom's group one year we decide the ladies would make children friendly recipe scrapbooks.  Each meeting the Mom's came together and created 2-3  4"x6" pages that would be placed in a small photo-album.  Once the year was over I continued to add more pages and create books for gifts.

Pella Dolphin 2010 Regional State Tee Design

Our local Swim Team creates a tee-shirt to wear to the State YMCA and Midwest Regional swim meet each year. This year I had the honor of designing and coordinating the project. Using contrasting colors can help create a more interesting and easy to see design. This years t-shirts were printed on grey or purple 100%Cotton Gildan ultra tee's by a local screen printer.

When working with lots of names on a tee-shirt is is always good to have the individuals initial the spelling of their name on the actual arwork before giving final approval for screening.