Patterns, Memes and Other Things

Why hello there! I decided to drop in today and let you know that I am still alive and well. Don't you worry about a thing.

For starters, I honestly don't see how people can keep so up to date on blogging! I honestly don't feel like it sometimes. Or maybe it's most of the time lately...Busy busy busy... busy with work, busy with family, busy with friends, busy with my plants, busy painting, busy sewing, busy not sleeping even though I really really really want to be sleeping! You know, that kind of being a little bit busy. Though, in all honesty...

Haha...right?! I mean, come on... who is with me with that one? Or shall I say, who isn't with me?! *Crickets*

Anyway, I thought I would share some sewing related memes that I thought were a little funny. Some of these pertain directly with my life. Scroll all the way down and I'll also share some sewing patterns that I absolutely adore right now. I'll go into a little more depth with them next time. So for now just some linkage. Sound good? Good. 

Love this! It's too true..

These just make me giggle inside! I hope you at least enjoyed them half as much as I did. :) Anywho, here are some patterns that I adore!


Women's Raglan <-- Looser fit
Layer Me Up Shirt
Seafarer Top
Kimono Jacket <-- Free!
Hudson Pants


Ginger Skinny Jeans <-- Now I haven't tried this one yet, but I am SUPER pumped to try it out! Here goes my next sewing extreme project! If I can make me some jeans, I'm pretty sure I can do just about anything. Boom.

Happy sewing and I'll see you on the flip side!

Time Out For Women - Tucson

Happy Sunday! This weekend has been fabulous! I had the opportunity to go to Time Out For Women, and this was the first time it was in Tucson! (Click here to watch a little video to find out more and if there is an event coming soon to your area!) TOFW is really a time out for women where we gather together for one purpose, to grow spiritually and draw closer to Christ. It's a two day event, Friday evening and Saturday morning to early afternoon. There are always fabulous presenters and wonderful music!

I'd love to share some thoughts that I took from the conference and things that I learned...

Christ had the power to change things. He turned water to wine, which was the first of many miracles. With the help of Christ's atonement and coming unto Him, we too can be changed. He can make our weakness become strengths. However, there is an expectation to do something when requesting a miracle.

Ether 12:27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weakthings become strong unto them.

The different works, trials, etc, that we do or go through on this Earth are preparing us for Heaven. Shaping us! And Heaven will teach us as much as we want to know. We just have to be willing to ask and put forth work.

Grace is the source of all righteousness.

Questions are good! They lead to answers, which leads to revelations, which in turn leads to knowledge.

Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of good courage, fear not, not be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, not forsake thee.

True conversion brings change in someone's believe, hope and self.

The finished product isn't always the most important part. It is a great gift to be able to learn and grow from our different journeys and experiences.

If you think of yourself as a failure, you are most likely wrong! A failure is an experience you didn't learn something from.

Idiot = Not professional. So basically we all have a little bit of an idiot inside us! ;)

The three most important things you can say to someone: 1. I love you 2. I appreciate you 3. I forgive you. Christ's whole life ended in forgiveness.

This too shall pass...like a kidney stone. In reference to trials and the difficult things we go through at times, it will pass! It may not be easy, but it indeed will pass.

In order to be a disciple, you must be a learner. To be a learner, you have to be disciplined. Letting go of a weakness often requires discipline.

In order to become who you really are, you need to let go of who you are not.

Pick your hard!

Believing is a choice and often takes discipline.

Moroni 7:19 Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ. 

Calee Reed was the musical presenter on Saturday. She is fabulous! She is also just so sweet. If you'd like, pop on over and read this lovely post from a few years ago. It's good that life isn't fair.

What a great and spiritually uplifting weekend that was! And I am super excited that I will also have the opportunity to attend the Phoenix TOFW in the fall tour. It is such a wonderful weekend and I love being surrounded by such lovely sisters in Zion. <3

Until next time!

 

Strawberries 101

Who doesn't love strawberries?! I recently purchased some to experiment with my seemingly greenish thumb. I love picking berries and eating them before I leave for work or when I come home!

I bought the strawberries below around February 11.

And they started producing berries! Some of them got fairly funky shaped... but they still tasted pretty swell. Not much berries since though. I've been picking them off so I can get more leaves! 

This here was my first real good looking berry. It was still pretty little compared to berries everywhere else, but I grew it! And it was so sweet! I'm hoping that when my plants get a little more established that they will be able to produce a little bit bigger berries. 

This here is what a cute little strawberry flower looks like. :) And yes, the middle is what will eventually turn into a strawberry. So precious! 

Berry Info: Quinault Strawberry

Planting: Space 6 to 18 inches apart, depending on type. (Read the stick tag that comes with the plant for specific spacing recommendations.) Be careful not to bury the crown of the plant, or it will rot.

Strawberries are also sprawling plants. So seedlings will send out runners, or ‘daughter’ plants, which in turn will send out their own runners. Pretty neat huh? Because of this, if you are wanting to plant quite a few of them, make sure you space them a little further apart. However, I didn't really do that... I have a balcony hanging planter thing that has 2 strawberry plants in them, and they are closer to 6 inches apart.. they seem to be doing fine though! My other one is in its own pot and seems to be doing great as well! 

Light requirements: Full sun. Strawberries require 6-10 hours a day of direct sunlight, so choose your planting site accordingly. I have my berries in the morning sun since I'm in zone 11 and I don't want the heat mixed with the sun to scorch my plants! 

Soil requirements: Strawberries need well-drained, nutrient-rich soil. Amend heavy clay or sandy soil with compost or other organic matter prior to planting. Create raised beds if soil is heavy or drains poorly. Soil pH should be between 5.5 and 6.8.

In the first year, its a good idea to pick off blossoms. This discourages the plant from fruiting. If not allowed to bear fruit, they will spend their food reserves on developing healthy roots and more leaves. The yields will also be much greater the second year. 

Water requirements: Keep soil consistently moist throughout the growing season. Moisture is the key to plump, fully-formed berries. Mulch soil to reduce water evaporation. Moisture is incredibly important due to shallow roots. Water adequately, about one inch per week. They need a lot of water when the runners and flowers are developing and again in the fall when the plants are mature. Also, make sure you keep in mind about your climate! If it's warmer, you will need to water more frequently. 

Frost-fighting plan: Strawberry plants are sensitive to frost. Temperatures of 28º F or less (a hard frost) damage flowers. Protect newly planted seedlings and established, budded plants by covering plants with straw or a frost blanket. By fall, strawberry plants have formed the flower buds that will open the following spring. To protect them through winter, apply a 2- to 3-inch mulch of straw, pine straw, or other loose organic material.

Common issues: Slugs can be a problem when using organic mulch, so use plastic mulch to discourage them). Keep birds from feasting on berries by covering plants with plastic bird netting. Small, misshapen berries are can be caused by drought or high temperatures.

Harvesting: Pick berries in the morning, when fruits are cool. Select fully formed and colored berries, as unripe berries won’t continue to ripen once picked. Carefully pull strawberries (with stems) from plants. Aim to leave about a half-inch stem on each berry.

Storage: Refrigerate unwashed berries (caps still on) in a plastic container with a loose-fitting lid. Place a paper towel in the bottom of the container before adding berries, then arrange berries in single layers separated by clean paper towels. For peak flavor, use within 2 to 3 days, although berries may last up to 7 days.

vv Down there is my brand new and a two months later photo. vv 

It looks so great and healthy! I'm a little afraid that I won't be getting much more berries though. I feel like I'll have to water them a lot more to get good berries in this dry heat. They tend to dry out... I'm still in the process of figuring this all out, but so far so good. I love strawberries. Strawberry fields forever! <3

Happy planting! 

Mod Podge - Letters

So recently I rediscovered Mod Podge and oh my goodness, it is so fun! I honestly want to mod podge everything!! There is so much you can do! And there is so many cute ideas on pinterest!

Anywho... a few months ago I bought "S & T" at either Hobby Lobby or Joann's (I honestly can't remember which, they both have letters though) and the plan was to decorate them! The letters are about two inches thick and made out of some kind of cardboard material. First I tried Washi Tape. Fail. It really was a disaster hah. Washi tape wasn't made for that material of cardboardy letters. And then I was going to try wrapping yarn around them, because I've seen it before and it was so cute! Guess what? Another fail! That one was even MORE of a disaster! And I even started with the easiest letter! So there they sat... for awhile, away from sight, until I could actually decide what I was going to do with them...

Then about a week ago this girl I know reminded me of Mod Podge! And so it was decided, I was going to mod podge some super cute scrapbook paper on my letters. Boom. Target had this packet of scrapbook paper that was fairly inexpensive and I also bought a container of matte mod podge. (I didn't want to try making some from scratch just yet, but I pinned some recipes I'm going to try)

For this project, you will need...

• Mod Podge (store bought or homemade)
• Sponge brush (or any type of brush you have around)
• Letter's to decorate!
• Scrapbook paper
• Scissors or an exacto knife might work decently 
• Paint (Color of your choice)

I started off painting the outside of all the letters black. I also painted a little on the face of the letters incase I didn't do the best at cutting out the paper. :)

Note: Any type of paint should work just fine. You will end up coating the entire thing in the mod podge, which will seal it.

Peace of cake, though my paint had to dry for 24 hours... The paper letter's is where I had some slight issues. I kept trying to trace everything on the scrapbook paper upside down...which is a terrible idea. Erasing is also a pain so make sure you trace the letters correctly! And then cut them out. Make sure they are cut enough to fit nicely on top of the letters. I cut mine a little shorter so the paper didn't hang off the edge anywhere.

Now we get out the mod podge! Doing one letter at a time, sponge brush one layer of MP on the top of the letter and let it set for 30 seconds. Then, apply one more layer of mod podge on top. Stick on the letter and make sure there are no bubbles! Sometimes using a card helps to smooth everything out. Set that letter aside and repeat with all other letters. Let them dry at least 10-15 minutes. (You may want to avoid putting the mod podge on the back of the scrapbook paper to stick it down...it tends to start curling... it's especially annoying on the S)

Next you are going to cover the entire letter (except the back because I don't think there is a point for that). And don't worry, it dries clear! My paint dried glossy and the mod podge was matte, so it would look funny if I didn't completely coat all the sides. And, like I said before, it seals it up all nicely. I would suggest doing one coat, let it dry completely and then maybe apply one more coat. If you don't like the little brush marks, you could get really fine sand paper, but no one should be inspecting your work that closely. If they do, just poke them in the eye.

And that's about all there is to it! Mod podge can be used for SO many different applications, so let's get creative! I know I will be!

Also, be sure to check out my blog! Click the name below to check it out! <3

The Essential Dress

Happy Friday everyone! It's finally the weekend and I am super excited. This week flew by, which I am super grateful for. The weekends are just never long enough so I am always looking forward when they come around again! I also can't believe that April is almost halfway over. Where has this year gone?! It already feels like summer and soon it's going to be Christmas again! Yikes! 

Anywho... I love sewing and I absolutely love the Essential Dress. I made the pattern myself! It was fairly simple by using this tutorial on rubbing off pattern making.

I started off making The Essential Tee. I bought the original shirt from DownEast Basics. I loved the fit so much that I rubbed off the pattern to make my own! And guess what? It worked!! I then decided to extend it into a dress with the help of a Dritz Styling Design Ruler, also known as a French Curve. I love this particular one because it has every curve you need in altering or creating your own patterns; armhole, neck, waist, hip, etc. 

This dress is so comfortable too. And I love the elegance of the half sleeves. I also just absolutely love knit dresses in general. They are my favorite really. :) I definitely will be making others in different prints! This also would be cute at a full length dress! It's now on my list to do! <3

It's the Essential Dress because, well... It's essential!! 

Fabric from Girl Charlee! Photo props goes out to Photography-Hill!!

Happy sewing!! <3

Day Tripper Top - Embellish

Okay, this is my last update on the Day Tripper Top. This shirt is so cut and universal, I can't stop raving about it. It's also a really great top for beginners!

Don't be afraid to change the pattern up a little bit and have some fun! The orange gingham top, I cut the back into two pieces instead of just one. I like the look it gives! And I just love the gray one! I used a woven fabric on the back and for the pocket. I love how that one turned out as well. I threw the pocket on there so it wasn't so plain in the front. 

Anywho, enjoy the photos! Photo props goes out to Photography Hill! And as always, fabric is from Girl Charlee!

I recently purchased the Soho Top from See Kate Sew. I love it! It's so cute and the lining makes it look really professional. Stay tuned for updates and pictures on that! <3

And in the mean time, happy sewing!!  

San Diego!

Over President's Day weekend, Scott and I went to California! San Diego to be exact... We both had President's Day off from work, so what better to do than go out of town on a three day weekend!

It was a blast! And especially nice to get out of the desert. We did have a few issues with our hotel when we got there. We had three different rooms before we actually had keys to the room we actually stayed in. A little irritating. (Sometimes when you book online, the descriptions are a lie! Which is a little silly really..)

So whenever Scott and I are going to go anywhere and leave in the morning, we have a really bad habit of leaving 2 hours later than we wanted. This was definitely the case. We wanted to get up really early, leave around 630-7, which means we would get to the beach around lunch time...we left 2 hours later... (it's a terrible habit that we are trying to break!) So after we got to Cali, the first stop was the beach! Parking at Mission beach is a pain in the butt in the afternoon. We also walked along the boardwalk. And the weather was perfect.

The next day we went whale watching! That was SO much fun! We saw eleven whales! At one point, it looked like there was a little group of 4 or 5. Scott also was able to get some pretty good pictures of some tail fins! So with whale watching, there are a few tricks. Once you spot the spray, you will most likely see it again in another minute or two. If you see the tail fin, it means the whale is going for a deeper dive and won't come back up for about 5 minutes, maybe a little longer. It was definitely fun spotting them and trying to guess where they were going to pop back up again. I would do it again, and there are deals usually on Groupon!

We also were able to go to the USS Midway museum. Now that is cool! The ship is huge! I would definitely suggest going to see that. This older couple that was in front of us in line let us use their discount pass with them so we got it half off. I think she had a museum booklet pass thing that may allow you to have discounted tickets on a bunch of museums. I definitely have to look into that the next time we go.

We decided to go over to La Jolla Cove, but for some reason when we went, we were permanently in a cloud. It was so foggy you could hardly see anything! It was still pretty, but the cliff looking down to the beach was a little pathetic. You could barely see the waves break at the shore and then farther out was just fog. I would like to drive through there again sometime when it's less foggy. It's supposed to have beautiful sunsets! Next time... Oh, and the parking there is terrible.

The Mormon Battalion Museum was also really neat! I didn't even know it was in Cali until one of my friends mentioned it. It's has a lot of great history and the way they present it is interactive, great for little munchkins! I also didn't know that the Mormon Battalion passed through Tucson! (Where I'm from.) They also where a big instrument in the development of San Diego in the beginning. Pretty cool!

We also went to Balboa Park, which is something that we have to go back to. There are so many museums but you can't go to all of them because it would be so expensive! The zoo is also really close to the park, but we didn't make it there this trip.

Side note, when we were ALMOST to Balboa park, we got rear ended! What's up with that?! Don't worry, no body got hurt. It wasn't the worst news though. We were able to fix another little mark up on the car from a previous incident for a little cheaper! (The bumper was a lot of the cost to fix the initial issue, but then that was covered with insurance, so it made the rest not so bad.) 

All in all, it was a nice little break from Arizona, but never long enough! Maybe one of our next trips will get to be a cruise! (fingers crossed!)

See below for a few photos! :)

Technology: A Help or A Hindrance?

So in my class these last few weeks, we've been working on a persuasive essay. I hate essays and writing papers. They are the worst! But I'd like to share this one that I wrote and then a little more insights that I have as well. It's not the greatest, because I hate writing for school. (I'm so ready for next semester...math!)

Modern technology is simply an advancement of old technology and it advanced so rapidly that society scarcely noticed the significant impact that it has created. It began with the advent of the radio in the early 1900s, and then with the television (TV) in the 1950s. In 1969, the United States NASA program launched a rocket to the moon, landed astronauts on the moon, and returned them safely back to Earth using less computational power than what is found in today’s smart phone. That is remarkable but society now relies heavily on communication, information, and transportation technology to make life faster and more efficient. With this increase of modern technology, has society become too dependent? Is the development of the younger generation being hindered by this increased exposure to modern technology? 

With all things, there are advantages as well as disadvantages and there are many benefits to the increase of modern technology. Some of these benefits include easy access to information, improved communication, improved entertainment, and social networking. There are, however, disadvantages that include a decreasing amount of direct interpersonal communication as a result of increased use of social media and text messaging, and young children relying heavily on technology for the majority of their play, causing possible development delays.  

The conversation of technology and its impact on society’s development is not new; however, with the invention of the Internet and compact portable devices (e.g. cellular smart phones and tablets), technology’s influence is now everywhere. Many studies have been performed to determine whether technology is simply a distraction to children, or if technology is actually impeding a child’s development. One impediment is the evolution of interactive and realistic technology-based experiences, such as Role-Playing Games (RPG) and interactive social media sites. According to a research study performed by Judith Van Evra, a psychologist in Mental Health Care, “technology advances have led to slick and evocative productions in which reality and fantasy are mingled and often indistinguishable.“ A Ph.D graduate from Stanford University conducted a survey of 30,000 gamers that discovered from those surveyed, “nearly 40% of men and 53% of women who play online games said their virtual friends were equal to or better than their real-life friends.” More and more information seems to be pointing out that technology is more than just a distraction to young children. Another study that shows that 12% of boy and 8% of girl video game players exhibit pathological patterns of play, and fit the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) category of addiction. This study also shows that pathological gamers are twice as likely to have ADD or ADHD (Gentile D 2009). As you can see, young people are affected greatly and continue to be increasingly infused with all types of media and technology.  

It seems that a decade ago, children were more interested in playing outside, riding bicycles, playing sports, building forts and scraping their knees. Children back then didn’t require costly equipment or even parental supervision. Family dinners were full of conversations about what went on during the day, now home cooked meals around the dinner table are far less frequent. On top of that, instead of being engaged in conversations with one other, people of all ages are more enthralled with what’s happening on their technological devices. This can be witnessed just about anywhere. It is also evident that children are relying more on technology for their play and entertainment. Children ranging from 0-2 spend 2.5 hours per day occupied by technology, children ages 3-5 spend 4.5 hours per day, and elementary aged children use roughly 7.5 hours of entertainment technology (i.e. TV, video games, cell phones, internet, etc.) per day. Out of these elementary aged children, 75% have devices in their bedrooms (Kaiser Foundation Report 2010). These finding are also causally linked to developmental delays in children (Christakis D). The impact of rapidly advancing technology on the developing child has seen an increase of physical, psychological and behavior disorders that the health and education systems are just beginning to detect, much less understand. Child obesity and diabetes are now national epidemics in both Canada and the U.S., causally related to technology overuse. Diagnoses of ADHD, autism, coordination disorder, developmental delays, unintelligible speech, learning difficulties, sensory processing disorder, anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders are associated with technology overuse, and are increasing at an alarming rate. 

Society will continue to gravitate towards a more technological state. It makes things easier, faster and more efficient. Society needs to be more conscious of how technology is affecting the younger generation. More tests and studies also need to be conducted to determine exactly how children are being affected, both positively and negatively. Technology shouldn’t be used as a means to distract kids from other activities in order to give their caregiver a break. Children should be encouraged to actually go outside and play, ride bikes, and develop their creativity and imagination. There is more to life than what is found on a TV, smartphone or tablet. Let’s not allow our children to get trapped in the world of modern technology and ever glowing screens.

It's always interesting to see other families when Scott and I go out for dinner. Just the other day we went to California Pizza Kitchen and as we were leaving, we passed by this family. There were two boys, probably in elementary school, playing on their tablets and all the older kids or adults were focused on their phones. What an interesting family dynamic we have been slowly warped ourselves into. Our use of technology should have more thought put into it, especially when it is affecting our young children. Conversations should be made face-to-face and with eye contact, not the half listening, nodding while scrolling your Facebook or Instagram feeds. I personally don't want my future children spending immense amount of time staring at a screen. There are so many better things to do; going to the park, sports, swimming, hiking, bike riding, imagination, painting, coloring, reading. Or would you rather your kids doing this; Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo, Wii, Candy Crush, Mind Craft, World of Warcraft, Snapchat, YouTube, texting instead of calling, etc. Which do you think will help your child the most in their quest of development? Are you helping them to achieve greatness? Or are you holding them back without even realizing it? (A really good read here)

Steve Jobs, the master behind iPhones and iPads, did you know that he didn't even allow his own children to use iPads? (read the little article here) He said, "My kids accuse me and my wife of being fascists and overly concerned about tech, and they say that none of their friends have the same rules… That’s because we have seen the dangers of technology firsthand. I’ve seen it in myself, I don’t want to see that happen to my kids." Our society is addicted to technology and social media. Can you go a day, let along a week, without using social media and these mind numbing games? Let's try and strengthen the relationships around us by having real interactions! Going out to lunch, inviting another couple over to dinner, sit down and have a real conversation. Let's get to know each other on a more personal level.

True Bias - Hudson Pants

The Hudson Pants have got to be one of my favorite patterns! I've made two pairs but one I wear all the time and the other not so much. Mostly because it's made out of a more spandex material and it's still a little chilly outside for that. But anyway, you can buy the pattern here! (It's a downloadable PDF pattern) It was created by True Bias. I got my fabric from Girl Charlee. I have some purple sweatshirt fabric that I want to make another pair from...but I really want to get some fabric paint and stamp it up first! That way it's not so plain and purple. But I'm pretty pumped about that.

It took me a second to figure out certain parts of the pattern, but that could be because I like to just look at the pictures and ignore all the words that correspond... :) I also chose to opt out of the string tie. Two reasons: first, my button hole function is finicky and I really need to take my machine to get fixed before the warranty is out, which is at the end of this month (yikes!). Second, I wanted to do a yoga waist band style, but the fabric I used wasn't going to work, as hard as I tried to make it work... Too much stretch and not enough give? So I threw in some elastic and I think it's perfect. :) Probably a little thicker elastic next time though.

I call these my Christmas Pants, though I wear them a lot more then just at Christmas time. They are really comfy. Depending on the material you use when you make your own, they can be classy or relaxy! (I chose to be a little more relaxy) Oh and did I mention they have pockets?! And yup, I'm supporting TOMS. <3

Photo props to the lovely Lydia at Photography Hill

Cheers!