Susie Jane Handmade

I used this blogger's free pattern to create little felt monsters for my friends' little boys. It's a pretty easy sewing piece overall, but definitely takes focus to try to get your thread near the edges of each piece. It's also a lot of stopping/starting to pivot around your needle. The monsters are such an easy first stuffed animal though and are a great size! You really just need some thread and a few pieces of different colored felts. Little circles for eyes, ties, guitars, hearts, etc. You can customize your own felt monster in any way you like and it makes a nice gift for kids. Including cutting, sewing, and stuffing each monster takes me about an hour right now. Not bad for a cute little gift!

Wind up three bobbins (at least) whenever you start a project so you don't have to stop in the middle of your project and thread a bobbin in addition to threading the machine.  Watch a lot of videos on your project ideas before starting so you know the direction you're heading in When rotating a sewing project leave the needle in the down position to pivot the project without losing your spot/expanding the thread further than you'd like. 

  I'm so proud of this Baby Blanket! It has two different fabrics and a satin binding.  Materials:  Thread (bobbin and top thread) Fabric x1 pattern Fabric x1 different pattern Satin binding x2 Clips, bobins, needles, machine, other standard sewing materials Videos that were helpful: How to sew a baby blanket How to sew on a satin binding

I have two videos that I recorded with information about how to use the Nikon D300s. This past August I was so fortunate to take a photography class after nearly a decade of wanting to. And finally all the things I've learned from watching videos and seeing things online made sense. Having an in-person teacher made all the difference. I recorded the videos in an effort to be able touch on the basics in a few months and years if I end up a little too busy with the girls to focus on my photography hobby.  The first video is about the settings - aperture, ISO, and shutter speed. The second video is about changing aperture and looking at the differences in the pictures following that change. 

Hello,  It's lovely to meet you! I'm a mom of a toddler and soon will be mothering a newborn again too. My own mother was always a crafter and a big part of my childhood was crafting with girl scouts, youth groups, and just for fun at home. We did a large variety of crafts including beadwork, painting, friendship bracelets, and braiding. Lots of our time was spent trying our hand at different types of crafting. Once for Girl Scouts we even went to an alpaca farm and learned all about large-scale weaving. We worked with sculpy and clay and really most other things you can think of.  Now that I am a mom with my own daughters I'm hoping to reopen the crafting part of my life. I've been pretty hung up on my professional life, which is quite science-heavy. I'm ready to get back to my roots. I still enjoy reading and beginner photography and those have been good outlets for me for a few years but I'm ready to get creative once again!  Follow along as I learn to sew, i...