KZJO'STUDIO

One little word for 2012...

2012-01-23T18:05:00.001-07:00

The one thing I really need to do this year....focus! I have so many things going on, lots of projects to complete, goals to achieve, fun adventures in the works, and it seems like a million other things. So, I plan to focus on what's important, let go of the things that might not be as beneficial right now, say "no" a little bit more in order to say "yes" to the really awesome things, and really just try make this year amazing!

*I used a blank canvas and some acrylic paint to make the art above. It is going to live in my studio where I can enjoy it almost daily :)

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Finally, snow & jogging...

2012-01-18T20:47:00.001-07:00

Sorry about the missing in action lately on the blog front, in between projects, work, and other fun randomness things have been a little on the crazy side of things. Anyways, today some snow finally started to fall (the above photo was at the beginning of the snow storm), which totally made my day! I spent most of the day working on household chores and listening to muder, she wrote while illustrating. That always makes for an awesome day!

Also, I thought I should do a quick little check-in on my 2012 goals (since it has been awhile).

- goal 1: yoga update, tried to find a yoga studio, but there isn't one here! It looks like I might have to take a class from the y. I really need to break out some of my yoga DVDs.

- goal 2: less processed food, really going to be working on this in February by starting with a cleanse. I think it is going to a great way to get on track with better eating habits :)

- goal 3: buy local and/or independent, I have been trying to do this quite often, my favorite purchase as of late, was the dessert of the month club (yay for cross stitching making a comeback!)

- goal 4: throw a party, I have a few ideas, I just need to pick a date

- goal 5: kzjostudio into thriving business, I have been revising my business plan & making goals

- goal 6: become an "official" runner, I want to be able to run a half marathon by my birthday, so I am spending lots of quality time on this:

- goal 7: make more with my stash, I have used quite a few things like yarn and other random things in the last few weeks

- goal 8: go on a weekend adventure, I have a game plan for that one ;)

- goal 9: organize & clean out my studio, I finally picked out paint colors and in march the revamp is going to begin

- goal 10: family photo, I am planning this for June or July

- goal 11: increase my knitting skills, this has been the one goal that I have really worked on lately, between cowl neck scarves, baby booties, and starting a hat, I feel like I have made major progress on this one

- goal 12: re-enter the dating world, slowly but surely working on this one. (little side note: since this goal is a little more private to me, I won't be sharing tons of details on this one.) Just know that I am making progress on it :)

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In case you didn't know, I <3 cross stitch....

2012-01-09T18:51:00.001-07:00

I have been dabbling in cross stitch since high school. I love that it is something that is usually pretty quick, really fun, and super relaxing. I have cross stitched ice cream cones, Mario, video game characters, names, and all sorts of other things, but I have never made a sampler, go figure! So, when I came across the Dessert of the month club through The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery I jumped on board! Here's my little truffle for January:

I can't to see what the rest of the year brings. The sampler is going live in the kitchen, so I can enjoy it every day! Plus, I started on another one of there patterns which I am going to frame and give to my bff:

And I think that I will make one for me, too! One thing for sure is cross stitching is making it's way into my regular evening routine a few nights a week. Love it! :)

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Yea for the weekend!!!

2012-01-07T08:20:00.001-07:00

This week has just flown by leaving me in a wake of little cluttered piles everywhere. Mainly, I spent the week working on a large project, at the day job for some of it, at the print shop, a trip to michael's, a haircut, and several lunches out with some of my favorite pals! (side note: my bff is finally back in town which makes me oh so very happy & I just think this sparkler picture is pretty neat even if it is a little random- wink, wink!)

This morning has already been filled with coffee, a little bit of snow on the ground, hungry, hungry hippos, and who could leave out The Nightmare Before Christmas (x's favorite movie ever, he watches at least 2 times a day!) Totally cracks me up, gotta love that kid :)

Today, the bff and I are signing up/weighing in for one of the local weight loss challenges, testing out a treadmill (hoping it's on sale, fingers crossed), and throwing a 90s board game birthday party for one of our dearest pals tonight! Hope you all have an awesome Saturday!

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What's on my nightstand, the magazine edition...

2012-01-02T18:48:00.001-07:00

Lots of cooking, health & fitness: Women's Health (I used to be a Shape reader, but I picked up a copy of Women's Health several months ago & really felt like it was a great magazine with lots of useful info), Eating Well (looks like a bunch of wonderful recipes), Cooking Light (my cousin turned me on to this one and I have made quite a few recipes from several of the issues I have), and Everyday Food (I get this one on my iPad along with Martha Stewart Living). Plus, I have lots of fashion: Elle, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Lucky, and sometimes W, Allure, and Nylon. My magazine reading wouldn't be complete without a little bit of handmade: Mollie Makes (literally one of my favorites, it is simply amazing!), Mingle, Vogue Knitting, Threads, and Stitch. If you haven't been able to tell, I am a magazine addict (seriously, I love them!). What are your favorites that you can't miss?

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Ok, let's get this year started...

2012-01-01T13:14:00.001-07:00

Nothing like a hot cup of tea, murder, she wrote marathon, cutting out a new sewing project (but I am 3/4 of a yard short of fabric), spending time with the little man, doing a hair makeover on my mom, planning out the rest of the week's to dos, decorated for valentine's day (x really wanted it up with the snowmen things), watching my mom crochet me a hat, and just starting this year with lots of family and crafty time. What a great way to set the tone for this new year!

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Another year has come and gone...

2011-12-31T11:46:00.001-07:00

I will remember 2011 as a year in which I have really come into my own as a single mother, a better friend, a more patient lady (although I could always improve on that one), a better risk taker, and becoming more aware of the things I really want to accomplish with my life.

Some of the highlights from the year include: getting my motorcycle license, being more social, increasing my public speaking skills, teaching classes, making great strides in forging a career in the illustration world, sewing lots, going to quilt market, losing a good deal of weight, making great friends and really letting those relationships grow, and overall becoming a stronger, happier lady. Of course, there are always some lows that come with all the highs. I am constantly being tested in being a full-time single mother and the learning curve that goes with raising a child (my son is always teaching me new things & helping my to evolve as an individual & I wouldn't trade it for the world-- I love him to pieces!). Putting myself out there with a fear of being rejected or unsure of the outcome has never been as nerve wrecking as it has been this year. Standing by my feelings, owning up to my mistakes and choices, and trusting my own instincts has been a challenging, but worthwhile endeavor.

Overall, I think 2011 has taught me not to give up on myself, try new things, think outside the box, show my son that he can do anything he wants as long as he tries his best (through actions not just words), be more open with people, trust more, feel comfortable in my own skin, and live life through experiences. I have big plans and goals for 2012 and I have a feeling it is going to be an amazing year filled with tons of magical adventures!

from my studio to yours, Happy New Year and may 2012 bring all you want and more! xoxo- kz

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The holidays are almost over...

2011-12-30T13:04:00.001-07:00

And it's time to start getting back into some sort of normal routine in the next few weeks. I hope that your holidays were filled with a ton of family, friends, and plenty of good times.

I started several mornings filled with lovely conversations with my mom, hot coffee and catching up on my magazine reading. I also spent a great portion of the time working and finishing up last minute odds and ends. One of the highlights happened on Christmas eve when one of my best pals came over and we played my old board games from the early 90s. It was so much fun and was pretty hilarious. X spent a lot of his time:

In pajamas, eating lots of yummy things, laughing,

Playing with his new hot wheels & track, his new batman truck, watching movies, and....

Making music with his new drum set! We both had a great Christmas and I loved spending it with so many members of my family!

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A little check-in with the goals...

2011-12-28T18:16:00.001-07:00

So, far the only goal that has really been making lots of progress on is the increase my knitting skills. Maybe it's because the weather is colder or it just seems like a great way to unwind after a long day.

So far, I have become friends with circular needles, double-pointed needles, and am starting a hat with a lace pattern in it. The above photo is my first attempt at a baby bootie (it was made on double pointed needles), it is a little wonky, but overall it still looks pretty cute. As for the colors, I am trying to keep it pretty modern and bold. I am planning on making at least 3 sets of them in the couple months (all for little girls) and I am planning on keeping the colors in green, grey, pinks, mustard, and maybe a little charcoal variegated with a little gray.

I am moving a little bit slower with many of my other goals, but over the next couple months I am hoping to have a few of them crossed if not have a lot more progress on them.

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Merry Christmas...

2011-12-24T16:02:00.001-07:00

From the two of us!

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Secret Santa gift...

2011-12-20T17:54:00.001-07:00

Luckily, I ended up with a great person to give to ( as in I knew just what to get her without too much guessing if she would like it, it's awesome when things fall into place like that!), but of course I just couldn't buy everything, I just had to throw in a little handmade something. My pal just so happens to be of the coffee-loving kind-of gal, so I picked up a fun mug and some star bucks via coffee. Then I thought a mug rug would be a lovely way to complete the gift:

I used up some scraps from the ever-growing pile in my studio and made a fairly long mug rug so she could set a plate of cookies next to her coffee or any other yummy snack. What I really loved about this project was doing the free-motion quilting.

It was the first free-motion quilted item I have made since attending Sewing Summit. The class I took on the subject really helped me to improve my stitch quality, patterns, and ease of quilting. The whole process seems so much easier now.

This morning, I gave her the gift and she loved it!

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Another weekend goes by...

2011-12-18T16:29:00.001-07:00

Filled with many episodes of murder, she wrote, real housewives, cookie eating, blog reading, sewing, read the december vogue (must say that it was really inspirational this month), grocery shopping, Christmas gift getting, and treadmill comparing (really can't wait for that one, so ready to run while catching up on my Bravo shows). One of the exciting things that I picked up yesterday was a new sketchbook:

I can't wait to start jotting ideas and doing some sketches on all those blank pages, I have a ton of great plans for 2012! (in case your wondering its the moleskine soft cover blank journal) These are my favorite sketchbooks of all time because they last so well over time.

Anyways, the other day when the tutu was finished up I made up these mittens for x:

While going through my fabric stash I found some camo fleece and decided they would make perfect mittens for the little man (the pattern is from the oliver + s book). They were quick and easy but next time I would probably not use regular fleece since it is a little thick. For his mittens I chose the medium size and they would have been done earlier except I set them asides before putting the elastic in the wrist area. X really seems to like them, so I might make a few more pairs.

its crazy to think that christmas is only a week away (I really hope it snows, like tons, I always have a love affair with White Christmases, they just seem incredibly romantic and magical to me). I only have a few more little things to get together, a little bit of sewing, and lots of holiday baking still needs to be done. Somehow it will all manage to come together in the end and will be simply amazing!

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Nothing really exciting going on around here...

2011-12-16T19:35:00.001-07:00

Just trying to catch up from a busy work week the joys of working in retail), finishing up some holiday shopping (I think I almost have everything) and attempting to make a couple more Christmas presents. I still have lots of present wrapping to do and I think I will make a couple more garlands to go around them. This week has been super exhausting, a couple of nights I have been in bed before 8. Seriously, I must look like a walking zombie half the time.

I did manage with the help of one of my pals (seriously working with the tulle was a lot simpler with two people, but is doable if you're by yourself), to make my very first tutu. Yes, you read that right.... I made a tutu!? Ok, so it is for one of my son's friends, but I just couldn't resist the urge to dive into my girly side for a moment ;)

The pattern is from the Oliver + s book . It came together really quickly and one of my favorite things about there patterns are always how the seams are finished. I am a sucker for those finishing details that always bring a garment or project to the next level. I chose only 3 colors of tulle with 2 layers each (unfortunately, our local fabric shops didn't have the right width of tulle so it is not quite as full as it should be, oh well, maybe next time)

I hope she loves it! Now, it's back to plotting out all the things I need to get done this weekend (like gift wrapping, cookie baking, illustrating, sewing, and some knitting)!

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The kid & I made a gingerbread house....

2011-12-13T20:06:00.001-07:00

... And now half the roof broke off! For our first time decorating, I think it was a pretty good attempt. X really enjoyed decorating it not so much the waiting for it to dry ;)

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Modern quilt guild holiday party...

2011-12-11T19:59:00.001-07:00

Was last night! It was a great time with a bunch of wonderful ladies. We had a short meeting, but the best part was swapping with our secret santa's! For my secret Santa I chose to make a mini quilt:

I used my Cape Ann mini charm pack that I got in my swag bag from sewing summit! Then I decided that wasn't enough so I made a needle book:

The needle book is made out of some scrap fabric, some felt, and lace from my stash. For me this seemed like a very useful gift for a seamstress :) Another project that I had been wanting to make for awhile was the felt garland made out of circles that I have seen all over blog-land. So, I gave in and made one to decorate the package:

White box + multi colored felt circles = pretty awesome!

I was super excited that my secret Santa turned out to be the lovely Mary H. My gift turned out to be this awesome quilt:

Sorry, it's sideways! Anyways, I am going to be hanging this in our household office, right across from my desk! She also made super cute zippered pouches for the guild members, I choose this one:

I am so thankful to part of such an amazing community of women that I can count as great friends. I really love our guild!

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The goals that I have made some progress on...

2011-12-10T08:14:00.001-07:00

just thought I would do a quick little check in on my 2012 goals. This week I really only managed to use quite a bit of stuff from my stash and started several new projects i my studio. I planned a new look and layout for my studio (more on that this weekend). Worked on my knitting skills some more (baby booties) and download/printed off a few more patterns that I want to try and make. Read another chapter in Craft inc.

Next week, I am going to do yoga at least 2 times, run once, and try not to eat any fast food.

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Spending the evening...

2011-12-08T20:15:00.000-07:00

catching up on some tv, relaxing with a little bit of hand sewing, while enjoying a bottle of my new favorite winter beer.... I <3 winter!

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A busy past weekend...

2011-12-08T18:06:00.001-07:00

but over the weekend the first real snow started to fall (even though it melted a few hours later, it was really fun and magical to see). One of the best parts of last weekend was doing a lot of fun Christmas related activities. X's favorite so far has been camping out in front of the Christmas tree...

as you can see it continued right through nap time. One of the things I have noticed has been how much more interested and exciting it is for X to experience Christmas this year.

I finally decided to start working on the baby booties from the purl bee. It seemed like a fitting project while watching the Neverland miniseries on syfy (and I must say I think it was one of the best adaptations of peter pan I have ever seen!). I was a little nervous about starting them and had been putting them off. However, once I started it the cuff actually came together pretty quickly:

This pattern is definitely increasing my knitting skills! I am at the point where I can start adding the contrasting color (whoooo-hooooo!) I sure hope they turn out awesome :)

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Actually fit in some sewing...

2011-12-03T17:51:00.001-07:00

Early this morning. I started working on a little something for my secret Santa for the magic valley modern quilt guild. It's looking like this:

I think it is headed in a good direction. Then I had to run and do a few errands (a little christmas shopping) and pick up some double pointed needles for a knitting project, I am hoping to start this weekend. This afternoon, while catching up on some murder, she wrote episodes, I started working on the ornaments for the cookie boxes this year:

Lots of hand sewing going on, but it is pretty relaxing. I plan on backing them with felt. Plus, I had some help from my hyper assistant:

Overall, excellent progress for today. Now I am going to sit back with a snow day winter ale (a recommendation from the beer guy at the grocery store) and try to get a few more ornaments together. Then it is off to build a fort to camp out in the living room (it's today's advent calendar activity) Hope you have a fun Saturday night :)

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A little bit of this & a little bit of that...

2011-12-01T18:09:00.001-07:00

For one it is this little guy's favorite time of year--- he loves the christmas tree and for some odd reason, every year I take a photo of him under the tree. Anyways, for the past few days lots of holiday decorating has taken place, worked, planned out all the advent calendar activities ( I am so excited for that, it's x's first year of actually getting activities instead of just counting down!), designed and cut out a quilt top, and spent a ton of time with my best pal.

Today, I managed to clean and organize (as in going through big piles of random stuff) in my studio. I am really attempting to get that one off of my 2012 goal list asap! I still have a long ways to go, but as long as I don't get distracted by random projects and things that I find, I think it will go pretty quickly.

So here are the last 4 goals on my goals list before I turn 29.
•Clean out and organize my entire studio
Main goal- go through everything (bins, drawers, desks, fabric, etc) and start through every nook and cranny.
How- start in one area and work my way across the studio, leaving the closet for last, also redo the layout and work flow of the studio in order to make it more effective. A little studio redo in the way of painting may also be in order.

•Family Photo Shoot
Main goal- get an amazing set of photos with xavier and with my parents.
How- include outfit changes, photos of all of us, x & i, x & my parents, me & my parents, and some solos. Maybe include two or three location changes

•Increase my knitting skills
Main goal- make a few projects that are harder! Like a hat, sweater or socks, etc.
How- use circular needles to make a cowl neck scarf and hats, leg warmers, lace pattern, baby booties using double needles, and a slouchy hat.

and last but not least:
•Start dating
Main goal- get back into the dating scene
How- actually be proactive about meeting people, as well as letting people "introduce" me potential dates, and mainly just be open to the idea.

So, there you have it, my list of goals for 2012! (you can find part 1 here and part 2 right here) Next week, I will share a little bit on how my goals are progressing :)

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A few more of my 2012 goals...

2011-11-27T07:35:00.001-07:00

so far, I have only shared the first 4 of the goals, so here are the next 4 on the list:

•Make kzjostudio a real business
Main goal: turn kzjostudio into a triving illustration business along with a few products like stationary, mugs, business cards, blog things, etc.
How- blog more, tweet more, work on getting things into my big cartel shop, spend time focusing on the business, doing more photo shoots, etc.

•Become an "official" runner
Main goal: Be able to run at least 3 miles without stopping to really walk
How- run at least 3 times a week, find a running buddy to go with, sign up for another 5k, and practice

•Make more!
Main goal: use up my fabric stash and make more stuff. Sew, scrapbook, paint, make jewelry, use up yarn.
How-make projects that I know I have stuff in my stash for, try to make 1 or 2 things a week, focus on output not input, only buy things like notions, batting or interfacing if needed. Hopefully, this will keep my creative side flourishing this year!

•Go on a weekend/weeklong adventure
Main Goal: get out of the the normal routine and visit somewhere new while there explore the local shops and coffee houses.
How- I am in the midst of planning a getaway tentatively in the early spring (like March or April) which is completely exciting!

Next week, I will share the last four with you and a small progress update! I am really excited that several of my friends have jumped on the bandwagon and made lists of there own. I have a feeling that 2012 is going to be an amazing year.

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Finishing up a little...

2011-11-26T09:11:00.001-07:00

bloggy makeover! So excuse the dust or if things are looking a little funny! Turning the blog into a winter wonderland takes a little bit of work ;)

A little downtime...

2011-11-23T18:55:00.001-07:00

Before the big Thanksgiving day feast. I just wanted to drop a quick thanks to everyone who reads the blog (it wouldn't be the same without you!) and to all the USA readers I hope you have an awesome Thanksgiving filled with lots of yummy food!

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Super busy day...

2011-11-21T20:21:00.001-07:00

That led to getting a ton of things crossed of my ever growing to-do list! Besides tackling the laundry, regular household chores, & bathing the dog; I managed to work on cleaning my studio, finished some knitting, all while watching a million murder, she wrote episodes. It was seriously a gloriously, busy, and lovely day off. Plus, I finally took the photos of my first finished cowl neck scarf (first time using circular needles & I must say I heart them big time!) in an off-white color this morning.

Good thing this was the prototype since I made it a little too short. (I already made another for my best pal in the right length.) My favorite part about the scarf is how it rolls and bunches when it's wrapped around your neck twice. Overall, I think this is going to become one of my go to knitting projects :)

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This morning...

2011-11-19T11:36:00.001-07:00

I woke up to this lovely view:

Still a little bit wimpy, but the snow lasted overnight (now it is sadly melting). Can't wait until we get enough snow, so that x and I can build a snowman!

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Goals 2012...

2011-11-17T15:20:00.001-07:00

The first check in on the new list! Since some of my goals are a little broad, I thought I should go into a little more detail on exactly what/how I am going to get them accomplished (over the next couple weeks, I will be sharing these)

•Do more yoga
Main goal- get into a regular routine with yoga & conquer a few advanced poses.
How- try at least 3 different types of yoga, take at least 2-4 classes from an instructor, and practice at least 3 times a week.

•Eat less processed food
Main goal- eat more real food less fake, attempting a 90/10 ratio ideally, but to eat as much good for you as possible.
How- cooking and prepping more at home (even baking bread, planning lunches in advance), growing lots of yummy things in our garden, trying new recipes and expanding my cooking horizons, eating less meat.

•Support independent and/or local businesses
Main goal- support mom & pop, budding start-ups, crafty people, and local or independent shops (including lots of handmade) instead of big box.
How- being more cautious and thoughtful on where I spend my $$$$, shop more on etsy or big cartel, attend community events and eat at local restaurants.

•Throw a party
Main goal- a just because party with no real reason except to celebrate the people I love in my life.
How- cook a bunch of wonderful dishes, use lots of great entertaining things that my grandmother gave me, pick a month in which not a ton of other activities are happening.

So there are the first four, next week I will share another four. Now its back to the mini golden girls marathon and some sewing (hopefully, I will have a few sewing & knitting finishes to share by the weekend!)

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Exciting news...

2011-11-14T19:34:00.001-07:00

my lemons are actually turning! I can't believe it, it sure has taken awhile to grow them. They spent the summer outside and are now back in the house safely tucked in from the cold.

In other news I finished my cowl neck scarf (good thing I made a prototype because I didn't quite make it long enough). Xavier decided he wants one, too. So it looks like matching mom & son scarves are on the horizon. ;)

Sorry for the lame picture, I can't find my tripod. I will take a better photo this week!

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The list...

2011-11-12T15:10:00.001-07:00

alright it is time for the unveiling of my new list of things to do before I turn 29. This year I am making a few changes with how I document it and the amount of goals. I decided to only create 12 goals and instead of doing a monthly recap at the end of the month, I am going to blog every Thursday about 3 of the goals (covering all 12 in one month). I am hoping that this will keep me more accountable and on top of achieving the goals. So now for the list:

•Do more yoga
•Eat less processed food
•Support independent and/or local businesses
•Throw a party
•Make {kzjostudio} a real business
•Become an "official" runner
•Make more, using my stash up!
•Go on a weekend adventure
•Organize and clean out my entire studio
•Family photo shoot
•Increase my knitting skills
•Re-enter the dating world aka start dating

I feel like all these are doable (but still a little challenging), exciting, interesting, yet totally my kind of goals that I will be able to stick with all year long. I am sure that 28 will be one of my best years yet!

p.s. I am happy to say that some of my friends are starting their own list of birthday goals so I am adding a bonus goal of supporting all of my friend's in achieving there goals in any way that I can!

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Still knitting...

2011-11-11T17:45:00.001-07:00

I don't know what it is about the transition from fall to winter, but it really wants to make me knit the evenings away. I have already finished one project (waiting to get a good photo of it) and started another that is moving along quickly. It is my first experience knitting in the round and I must say that I am in love. Hopefully, I will get this cowl finished up this weekend. I am always wondering if other people have "seasonal" hobbies?

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Some sewing...

2011-11-10T21:00:00.001-07:00

I actually managed to "teach" (more like set her up on the machine, tell her a few basic things & let her run with it) my best pal, Kristen how to sew. Her first project was a mug rug for her mom (shame on me for not getting a finished photo of it because it was sooo dang cute!) Here she is sewing away:

and here is a closeup of the mug rug while getting quilted:

I have to say she chose a lot of awesome fabrics from my stash and made a wonderfully cute scrappy mug rug! Hopefully, she is going to want to sew a few more things :)

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It's beginning to look a lot like fall...

2011-11-06T14:32:00.001-07:00

around here:

Plus, I managed to score some more flannel for lounge pants for the little man. I love how involved he has become in making them. These are the fabrics he choose for his winter set:

And you really know it's time to cozy up under a blanket because of the dropping temperatures and the sudden urge to knit a million warm things:

I think I have finally gotten back into my productive making things routine!

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Weekend time

2011-11-05T07:24:00.001-06:00

I am still recovering from this awesome week! My mom and best buddy Kristen threw me a surprise tea party for my birthday on Thursday. All of my favorite people came and the kept it a surprise so well. (i tried finding a weak link, but that never happened.) It was seriously the best day and party ever. (I will have to show you pictures later, once I get them Kristen) I loved every minute of the party and will do a full recap this weekend :)

Anyways, this weekend is going to be full of cleaning the house, holiday game-planning, taking down all the Halloween decorations, putting up the fall ones, and hopefully knitting. Plus I am busy writing up my list of things to do before I turn 29. So, here is to 28 (which I have decided is totally going to be my year, so far things have been so amazing! I am so happy that things are turning around in the best ways possible):

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Well, let's see how I did...

2011-11-03T18:00:00.000-06:00

On my list of crazy goals for my list of 27 things to do before I turn 28 list. So I guess that means that my birthday is today! First of all I think I did fairly well and learned quite a lot over the past year. I also planning on making a few changes in my next list for next year which I will unveil in a few days. I managed to get 20 of the 27 things crossed off! Even though some of the things didn't happen, I still am proud that I got that much finished up!

(items in orange are the status of each goal, so I can see my progress and figure out what I need to work on more. I want to make sure that I keep up with them and here are the rules/guides I created for myself:

1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month (so I only made it half way in this goal, I just didn't make the time to get this one done)
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features) (Again i went with the ebbs and flows of either not making the time, effort, or that I felt like nothing interesting was happening that would be worth reading)
3. Scrapbook twice a month (this was horrible, i didn't make time for it and I just didn't really think about it)
~~4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing)~~ (i did make some cupcakes and cookies and cakes, so lots of baking occurred- I think that we can draw the conclusion that I like sweets)
~~5. Make 2 full size quilts~~
~~6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving~~ (I didn't really make a dent in it but I have been using up lots of randoms)
~~7. Try something new~~ (re-entered the dating world, super scary and was a wacky experience, but in the end was a good time plus a learning experience)
~~8. Go bowling~~
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns (didn't really happen again i blame my time management skills)
~~10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing~~ (my best friend surprised me and took me out to a local driving range it was a blast!)
~~11. Tackle my sewing work-in-progress list~~ (the list is growing in a good way but I still managed to cross a lot off over the last year)
~~12. Take Xavier on an adventure~~
~~13. Go through my closet and do some much needed purging and updating~~
~~14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods~~
~~15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)~~
~~16. Take a new self-portrait once a month~~ (this almost always happened so exciting!)
~~17. Go hiking~~
~~18. Take a new family photo of X and me~~ (we have a few from our adventures that are going to work)
~~19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read~~ (still playing catch up but am getting better!)
~~20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs~~ (I have really got back into the walking/running routine and I am getting a lot better!)
~~21. Going swimming when it is really warm out~~ (totally went swimming even though it was in an indoor pool)
~~22. Play a game of tennis~~ (yesterday, talk about last minute planning, but we played! it was cold but I think once it warms up, it will be an awesome way to burn off a bunch of calories)
~~23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more~~ (went to a few looking for costume stuff for the little man)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop (will happen eventually
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns (in the works)
~~26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns~~
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair (probably won't happen this year but next year for sure!)

Part 2 of the fall adventure...

2011-11-03T12:24:00.000-06:00

once we picked the apples it was time to turn them into fresh apple juice:

The juice is so yummy! Overall, it was a great way to spend the afternoon plus the apples that I picked made an amazing apple pie and hopefully some applesauce in the near future. (thanks to my best pal, kristen for taking the photos for the blog!) After a quick stop at home to drop of the apples, we headed over to a local corn maze:

A little a group shot of the three of us in the midst of the corn maze. (thanks lovely stranger lady for taking the photo!) Now for the fun part:

X had a great time, so I think that this will become a yearly tradition at our house. The rest of the day was spent stopping by one my trunk or treating location in which my little man fell asleep on the way home. Then my best buddy, Kristen and I went to the local planetarium to catch the Halloween show that was playing. I literally tumbled into bed when I got home, it was one super filled, but insanely awesome day.

Part 1: of cramming a whole bunch of fall activities...

2011-11-01T19:09:00.000-06:00

into one crazy Saturday! So, last weekend I decided to attempt making myself ~~crazy~~ enjoy as many of the fall activities that are available in our area as possible. I invited (ok... more like convinced/dragged my best buddy, Kristen to go on this adventure), our first stop was lunch, in order to keep us energized for the rest of the day. Then we headed over to a trunk or treating event at put together by some local businesses. X got a ton of candy and saw some awesome fire trucks. Here we are in the midst of trick or treating:

Once all the trick or treating was done and one costume change later, we headed out to a local apple orchard for some apple picking. This was by far a great way to spend some time, plus get some local produce. A few apple picking photos:

Seriously good times! Part 2 of the adventure coming tomorrow and thanks to Kristen for taking lots of photos!

Attempting to get a few random things finished up...

2011-10-26T19:34:00.002-06:00

this week, especially trying to get a few things off of my 27 things to do before I turn 28 list (my birthday is next week). Luckily, I have the day off from my day job tomorrow and I plan on spending most of it in my studio (cleaning it) maybe a little sewing, but mostly getting it ready for all the holiday projects I am planning. Today is going to be filled with a few tasks:

•Cleaning my office area:

•Finding the stuff for my Halloween costume

•Planning out the rest of the holiday cookie baking:

•Cooking enchiladas & making margaritas

•Watching Criminal Minds (my favorite series that is on tv right now)

•And maybe a little knitting:

Recovering from a super busy week...

2011-10-23T18:22:00.001-06:00

Filled with a few extra birthday treats for the little guy, work, finishing up my illustration portfolio, hanging out with the family, and taking the photos for this year's Halloween card. Plus, I started my annual fall knitting frenzy. (anyone know any good knitting apps?) I am looking forward to this week, hopefully getting some studio time to finish up some sewing (after I get it cleaned up), finish at least one knitting project, bake some yummy cookies, make Halloween cards, and have a girl's night. What are you looking forward, too?

My little man turned 4 today...

2011-10-18T21:06:00.001-06:00

and since he is super-insanely batman obsessed, I just had to throw him a batman party--- here are some of the highlights from his party last weekend:

(x and I before the party)

(the birthday table)

(the super awesome bat garland)

(the entrance to the bat cave)

(blowing out the candles on his cake)

Overall, I think he had the best 4th birthday he would ever have ;) It was a great time and he loved every minute of it! Already he seems to have grown into even more of a big guy! I can't wait to see what it is like as he gets older and see what he does with his life.

Sewing Summit-- the rest of the adventure...

2011-10-16T10:11:00.003-06:00

***warning--- I think I may have typed as much as I usual talk all the time with this blog post! :)***

Saturday morning started with an amazing breakfast buffet, which is always a great way to start the day! Plus, I got to talk with lots of fun people that I met on Friday!

Alright onto the class recap:
•Improv Piecing: How to Think Outside of the Box taught by Jessica of Urban Patchwork: Here i am with my finished block. I have to say I love how it turned out, I plan on making it a mini quilt to hang in my office!

•Quilting at Home: Free Motion Quilting for the Modern Quilter taught by Allison of Cluck, Cluck Sew: I loved this class! I picked up a some great tips and conquered my fear of pebbles, which I may be addicted to now. I can already see myself attempting more free motion quilting.

•Tailoring by Hand 101 by Burda taught by Gertie of Gertie's New Blog for Better Sewing: This class had amazing tips and let's face it, this was the class I was most excited for. Since I studied fashion design, but not a whole lot of tailoring (we only covered a portion in school) this was great and really made me want to break out all my garment fabrics that are stored in my closet.

•Marvelous Minis: Packing Lots of Punch into a Mini Quilt taught by Amanda of mrsmcporkchopquilts: This class was fabulous, and since i love mini quilts it was perfect for me! I also thought Amanda was an excellent speaker and so dang funny! Her class gave me a load of ideas for future projects.

On Sunday:
•Aspiring Authors: A Panel Discussion with Published Authors: This class was really insightful for how the whole publishing process works. It was really interesting!

•Documenting Your Creativity: Blogging and Social Media taught by Dana of Old Red Barn Co.: This class was a mecca of info for me and is really going to help me be a better blogger. I already have some blog changes in the works.

Here I am with some of my favorite bloggers and wonderful people I met (yes, I went the whole crazy starstruck thing and had to get my photo with these wonderful ladies).

clockwise from top: Gertie, Jana from Izzy and Ivy Designs (I met her at spring's quilt market, so it was great seeing her again), Melissa (I was so excited to meet her, she is one of my favorite bloggers!), and Bari J (I won a copy of her book, which was awesome since it has been on my "want" list, plus she was just the nicest lady!)

One of my best pals, Tara, me and Cindy (from Spin the Bobbin):

and I met a lovely lady Kendra (who I totally forgot to get a photo with!) but she is amazing and writes amazing knitting patterns. I met so many neat people that it really made the trip worth it!

I can't wait until next year's Sewing Summit (seriously, this is going to be a yearly tradition!). I loved meeting a bunch of new people, all the fun sewing talk, learning lots of new things and mostly just having a wonderful adventure!

So, Sewing Summit part 2...

2011-10-13T15:34:00.001-06:00

will be up tomorrow, I totally forgot that I have our modern quilt guild meeting tonight and I have been crazy busy trying to update my illustration portfolio, get ready for the little man's 4th birthday party on Saturday and keep up with my regular day job. I think I need more coffee and a nap! xoxo

Sewing Summit, one of the best weekends ever...

2011-10-12T17:57:00.000-06:00

part 1 of my awesome adventure:
We headed for Salt Lake early Friday morning with a plan to hit up Ikea for a little shopping before checking into the hotel. My favorite find of the day was wood hangers (i know want everything in my closet to be hung on them) it pretty much looks awesome! Then we made it to our hotel, checked in, and unpacked our stuff. As soon as we were settle it was off to check in to the Sewing Summit. Here I am with my name tag after checking out the most amazing swag bag!

Plus right away I got to meet one of my pals from my twitter universe Megan (from http://www.canoeridgecreations.com/ and the social media lady of the Sewing Summit) Here we are before leaving on Sunday:

Later in the afternoon/early evening was a little get-to-know-you welcome reception which was a great way to get the event started. Then it was a quick clothes change and cab ride over to a fun Italian Restaurant for the dinner organized by Dana (from Old Red Barn Co). Of course, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to have a little after dinner photo shoot:

After dinner, I hit up the sewing room for a bit before calling it a night.

part 2 coming up tomorrow!!!!

A late recap...

2011-10-10T16:21:00.004-06:00

of my 27 things to do before I turn 27 list. Overall, I managed to cross off a few more things during September good thing since October is the last month of trying to get any of these done! It sure was a busy month and I unintentionally took a little blog writing sabbatical, but don't worry I am back with a whole lot more fun and energy for the blog! I am back from my weekend adventure to the first Sewing Summit and it really has renewed my energy and love of sewing, blogging, and creating (I was in a serious funk). Look for a couple of posts about it starting tomorrow. Anyways, here is my self-portrait from the month:

So, lets check in on my list of 27 things to do before I turn 28 list...
(items in orange are the status of each goal, so I can see my progress and figure out what I need to work on more. I want to make sure that I keep up with them and here are the rules/guides I created for myself:

1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month (5 down and I started a new one--- but this one probably isn't going to be completed)
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features) (I was so horrible at this but this month is going to be awesome!)
3. Scrapbook twice a month (I am going to count that my bff and I got x's birthday invites done using a bunch of my scrapbooking supplies)
4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing) (banana bread, applesauce, a bunch of yummy stand-by recipes)
~~5. Make 2 full size quilts~~
6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving (Haven't really done a whole lot of sewing)
~~7. Try something new~~ (re-entered the dating world, super scary and was a wacky experience, but in the end was a good time plus a learning experience)
~~8. Go bowling~~
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns (this one is probably not going to happen mainly because my holiday schedule is really tight)
10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing (didn't happen this year)
11. Tackle my sewing work-in-progress list (a few more things made it off the list)
~~12. Take Xavier on an adventure~~
~~13. Go through my closet and do some much needed purging and updating~~
~~14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods~~
~~15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)~~(decorated for Halloween WOOOT!)
16. Take a new self-portrait once a month (managed to take a couple)
~~17. Go hiking~~
18. Take a new family photo of X and me (next week is the week!)
~~19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read~~ (still playing catch up but am getting better!)
~~20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs~~ (I have really got back into the walking/running routine and I am getting a lot better!)
~~21. Going swimming when it is really warm out~~ (totally went swimming even though it was in an indoor pool)
22. Play a game of tennis (I finally found someone to play with so we just need to set up a time and go for it)
23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more (nothing happening there)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns (I just need to work out a few more paperwork details and do some illustrations for the shop to get up and running.)
~~26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns~~
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair (probably won't happen this year but next year for sure!)

Dear Blog,

2011-10-02T15:41:00.002-06:00

I have been missing in action but will be back shortly with all sorts of stories, projects, and general fun randomness! xoxox- kz

Another week has disappeared...

2011-09-18T16:21:00.000-06:00

and somehow it turned out to be pretty awesome. Most of my week was spent working at the day job, hanging out with my friends and attempting to get a few illustrations finished up. One of the biggest highlights was passing my motorcycle skills test, so freaking exciting. I was so nervous but I made it through and only really have to focus on braking faster apparently (go figure!). Other exciting things include a fun night out on Friday and one of my good friend from work's amazing (seriously, it was so insanely cute) wedding on Saturday. I went to the wedding with a few girls from work, here is a photo of kristen and I anxiously waiting to see the bride walk down the aisle...

And for the record, I was insanely in love with the dress I was wearing, I picked it up at Target a few weeks ago.

Today so far- I managed to walk 5.5 miles, took x to the park and went grocery shopping. Tonight, I have to finish up x's birthday invites... here is a peak:

I have a feeling there are going to be a million bats at this batman party, his super obsession. Alright, off to work on a few things for the blog and get these invites finished up.

2011-09-14T18:17:00.002-06:00

well, I had a few days off from my main job, but somehow seemed sooo busy that I am now officially exhausted as I try and get back into my regular routine. I loved having some free time to attempt to catch up on projects, sleep in a little, hangout with my little guy and my best friend, attend a wedding, and spend time with my cousin who was in town. Overall, it was a great time!

One of the main projects I whipped up for the Modern quilt guild meeting was this little hoop:

I just did a little embroidery, made a few yo-yos and added a vintage button. It was simple and it will eventually hang up in my room.

I am going to have to get back to work on a few new illustrations, some blog makeoverness (coming soon) and my little man's birthday invites. Hope your having a great week!

Finally finished up a few projects...

2011-09-08T07:04:00.001-06:00

that have been on my to-do list for what seems like a century. Both projects are for my mom to hang in her classroom (she's a math-science teacher). First, I thought I would make a quilt that she could hang in her room to brighten things up! Here is the finished Unwind pattern from Jaybird quilts in Little Apples fabric. (which seems like an entirely school related fabric choice;) ):

I love how it turned out and I must say the pattern was easy to follow and was a ton of fun to make. For the backing I used a vintage sheet that I got from my grandmother when she cleaned out her craft room.

The other project I decided to make was a mini-quilt that my mom could hang outside by her door with her name on it. It turned out like this:

I found the test tube and beaker paper piecing patterns online. They were really simple and I think that they turned out well. Plus as an added bonus this project was made completely with scraps from my fabric stash!! Hopefully, I will be able to cross off a few more projects this week since I am on vacation for a few days! Happy sewing :)

I am not sure where August went...

2011-09-01T13:31:00.001-06:00

but welcome September (totally one of my favorite months since fall is just right around the corner). Really it is the busiest part of the year for me not only with holidays, work, but birthdays and so many of my favorite activities. Time management is going to be a huge thing for me in the coming months since I have so many projects in the works.

This month I actually didn't manage to take any self-portraits this month (weird, i know), but somehow I had my picture taken more than usual. This photo above is one of my favorites of me and my best friend kristen. We went to a little harley motorcylce get together with my parents which was super fun!

So, lets check in on my list of 27 things to do before I turn 28 list...
(items in orange are the status of each goal, so I can see my progress and figure out what I need to work on more. I want to make sure that I keep up with them and here are the rules/guides I created for myself:

1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month
3. document goal progress with a photo or a photo for completion (*this one is new)
4. add a page to a scrapbook about the goal (* I think I will make a little mini-book to document the process of completing my goals and this will also help with goal #3.)

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month (5 down and I started a new one--- but this one probably isn't going to be completed)
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features) (once again end of the month business came into play in order to try and do better I found my blog planning notebook so I can pre-plan a few posts a week)
3. Scrapbook twice a month (nothing going on here, but i am planning on sorting through all of my stuff and get it organized)
4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing) (baked a cake!)
~~5. Make 2 full size quilts~~ (finished a quilt up for my mom!! well almost just need to finish binding two sides)
6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving (i have really been using things from there!)
7. Try something new (I went rafting scary but fun!)
~~8. Go bowling~~
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns (working on planning out my holiday class schedule which will probably be light)
10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing
11. Tackle my sewing work-in-progress list (a few more things made it off the list)
~~12. Take Xavier on an adventure~~
~~13. Go through my closet and do some much needed purging and updating~~
~~14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods~~
15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)(getting ready to tackle the fall decorating and am making some new halloween goodies.)
16. Take a new self-portrait once a month (only managed to have my photo taken by others)
~~17. Go hiking~~
18. Take a new family photo of X and me (planning on a fall one as soon as the leaves start turning)
19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read (blogs and I are on the outs in reading so commenting has been horrible, i need to spend some time trying to catch up on my blog reading)
20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs (Ahhh, running I really miss you since I sucked and barely went--- but have no fear you will see me again)
21. Going swimming when it is really warm out (not sure that this one is going to make the cut)
22. Play a game of tennis (I finally found someone to play with so we just need to set up a time and go for it)
23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more (nothing happening there)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns (I just need to work out a few more paperwork details and do some illustrations for the shop to get up and running.)
~~26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns~~
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair (probably won't happen this year but next year for sure!)

A new member of the family...

2011-08-25T20:17:00.001-06:00

my sewing family that is:

Meet Beatrice! She is happy to join my other machines up in my studio (Harlow, Noah, Poppy, & Katarina--- ok so I like to name my machines it makes it easier for me to talk about them or say you can use Poppy for that-- plus I just think it is awesome) I am so excited about this machine and it is such an awesome desk. It is a 52 kenmore. She is set up next to my quilting design wall and will probably mostly be used for piecing. Next week I am going to make some time to make a couple of projects using this machine.

I also managed to get the binding on to my Unwind quilt, so now I can finally start whipstitching it down while catching up on my favorite bravo shows! I am not much of a listen to music person when I am working on projects much more of a tv kind of gal. I wonder how many other people are tv instead of music people when it comes to background noise for working on projects. (I am obsessed with listening to music in my car though!).

A little bit of exciting news...

2011-08-23T16:49:00.000-06:00

I am over on the fat quarterly blog sharing a fun project I made using a basic grey canvas for a designer challenge! I hope you like it because I love the way it turned out :)

So, I am already planning...

2011-08-22T15:09:00.000-06:00

for the holiday season. I know super early but it will be here before you know it. My usual routine is to make some sort of game plan with projects and gifts that need to be made along with all the cookies for the cookie boxes that are mailed out in December. One of the new additions to the cookie box is a handmade Christmas ornament, here are the beginning stages:

mostly just the organized beginnings. Somehow I managed to also get the quilt for my mom's classroom, all pieced together and quilted yesterday (big shout out to Kristen for helping by keeping me company and sorting out my fabric stash!).

Now all that is left is the binding which I am hoping to get on there after I squeeze in a workout. Have you already been making a holiday game plan?

Finally some sewing...

2011-08-18T14:45:00.000-06:00

I am serious, I think it has been about 2 weeks since I had time to really sew anything. (I was starting to go through withdrawals) The project that I spent the most time on was the quilt for my mom. This is where I am with it:

The pattern is the unwind quilt by Jaybird quilts. So far, this has been one of the easiest quilts I have put together. The goal is to have this finished up by Monday since it is going to be hanging up in my mom's classroom.

My new office area...

2011-08-17T19:57:00.001-06:00

is actually in the office of our house instead of the living room. I spent a good portion of one weekend cleaning, purging, moving and setting up the new workspace. This is going to be the new kzjostudio headquarters!!! So far, it is turning out to be a great time in there plus I made my little man an "office" area across from me.

(it mainly houses his books, coloring books, and crayons.) I am not really finished moving everything into the office (I still have a few things I want to me down from the studio), but so far so good!

Doing a little end of summer cleaning...

2011-08-09T15:05:00.001-06:00

I guess instead of the normal "spring cleaning" thing. Over the weekend I spent a little time setting up my "new" office area in the actual office of our house. It still isn't complete and I still have a little bit more sorting, setting up and organizing to finish up before I show you the new kzjostudio central control area, but hopefully, I will get a few photos up of it tomorrow!!

July's Goal Recap, a little later than usual...

2011-08-07T12:19:00.000-06:00

mainly because I have been having a few up and down kind of days throughout the last week. Oh, well that's the way life rolls, I suppose. I really didn't make any progress on most of the goals which is totally lame as I am closing in on the big 2-8. The one thing I did manage is to take a new self-portrait:

This one is probably my favorite so far, even though it's a little out of focus. Well, lets move on to more important part of how much I didn't get done on my goals for the month. I am already attempting to make up for it this month!

So, lets check in on my list of 27 things to do before I turn 28 list...
(items in orange are the status of each goal, so I can see my progress and figure out what I need to work on more. I want to make sure that I keep up with them and here are the rules/guides I created for myself:

1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month
3. document goal progress with a photo or a photo for completion (*this one is new)
4. add a page to a scrapbook about the goal (* I think I will make a little mini-book to document the process of completing my goals and this will also help with goal #3.)

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month (4 down working on the next one... I am still working on this one and hopefully will get it finished up in the next week.)
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features) (was doing really well until the end of the month)
3. Scrapbook twice a month (nothing going on here, but i am planning on sorting through all of my stuff and get it organized)
4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing) (i tried out a enchilada recipe that i made up and some other random thing)
5. Make 2 full size quilts (I actually finished 1 quilt and have another in progress which is going to get finished up this month!!!)
6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving (mostly using scraps in my FWQAL & for a few other projects)
7. Try something new (i tried a few new workouts this month that I really enjoy.)
~~8. Go bowling~~
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns (a slacker in the class teaching business)
10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing
11. Tackle my sewing work-in-progress list (crossed a few things off!)
~~12. Take Xavier on an adventure~~
~~13. Go through my closet and do some much needed purging and updating~~ (i went through some and really started updating it with lots of fun new things)
~~14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods~~ (I am going to count this as finished up since participate in swaps in the modern quilt guild)
15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)(already started collecting some stuff for fall decorating which is my favorite time of year!!!)
16. Take a new self-portrait once a month (this seems to be one monthly goal that I can stick, too!)
17. Go hiking (hoping this week or next week to go in the early afternoon)
18. Take a new family photo of X and me (planning on a fall one as soon as the leaves start turning)
19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read (i haven't even read any blogs this month, I think I took a little blog reading break)
20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs (I am working on getting back into the routine and really pushing myself to go farther with any of my workouts)
21. Going swimming when it is really warm out (not sure that this one is going to make the cut)
22. Play a game of tennis (I finally found someone to play with so we just need to set up a time and go for it)
23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more (i really didn't have a ton of time for this mayeb this month)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns (I just need to work out a few more paperwork details and do some illustrations for the shop to get up and running.)
~~26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns~~
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair (probably won't happen this year but next year for sure!)

Some more FWQAL blocks

2011-08-01T10:46:00.002-06:00

I am pretty behind on getting these blocks done, but I figure eventually I will get caught up. Besides I don't want this to turn in to a dreaded project. So here is my block #7 Birds in the Air:

Fabric used print is an Amy Butler and the solid is a kona solid. So far this block was the most tedious and mine turned out a little wonky but I still really like it!

Block #8 Bouquet might be my new favorite of the group:

Fabrics used prints are Innocent Crush by Anna Maria Horner and the solid is Ash from Kona. This block was really easy to put together especially after finishing up #7. I could actually see myself making this block again.

For Block #9 Box I used some of my Tula Pink stash (a little bit of Neptune and Prince Charming) I usually don't gravitate towards greens, but I think that this block turned out pretty well.

Alright, I am off to try and catch up on a few more of these blocks!

Updating my little man's room...

2011-07-30T09:47:00.002-06:00

so I have been slowly working redoing x's room. I never really did a full on decorated nursery for him, so I felt it was time to give his room a big boy makeover (you, know since he is going to be 4 this fall and keeps telling me he is no longer a baby). Now it is nowhere close to being finished up, but I thought it would be fun to share it as I am working on it.

so far I added the giant X (my dad made it for me) and then I made a super simple bunting to hang over the window--- I want to put a little shelf above it. I just used two fat quarters, cut them into triangles, sewed them together (wrong sides, I left the raw edges exposed) and used some bias tape to create the bunting. Here is the bunting up close:

I am also going to design a quilt for his bed and I still have a few other things to find/make to finish it up! So far the little man really likes it, which is always a plus!

Working on two quilts at the same time...

2011-07-24T08:16:00.005-06:00

in an attempt to get a few things crossed off my list. So I really have project ADD and just sort of jump all over the place (that's probably why my to-do list is enormous), but I am working on that. Yesterday, I set up a small sewing area in the living room-- the studio is just a little hot in the afternoon plus it is insanely hard to watch a 3.5 year old and get anything done. The results tons of progress on two major projects. The first is the youth sized version of the Unwind quilt by Jaybird Quilts using the Little Apples Fat Eighths Bundle I picked up at quilt market, here is the close up of the blocks:

Here is the whole thing laid out on the design wall:

Overall, I love this pattern and this version is a little bit on the bright side of things, I think. The blocks came together sew quickly and now all I really need to finish up is sewing them together and making the backing. The quilt is actually for my mom (it was sort of surprise until I told her yesterday--- I am horrible at keeping surprises!) It is going to go in her classroom as a way to jazz it up which means I need to have it finished up in the next few weeks since school starts up again soon.

The other project was one I quite awhile ago, yet I am determined to get it finished up; my single girl quilt! These are the beginnings of the rings:

Right now I have 3 of the 4 quarters of 4 rings sewn together. I am only doing 4 blocks and am going to add a large borders to increase the quilt size to a large lap quilt. The background fabric still has to be cut, which I am going to try and get cut out to today if I get a few of my farmer's wife quilt blocks finished up (I am soooo behind on that one). Anyways, for the rings I carefully cut up two plume charm packs so each ring has a few different pieces. I can't wait to see this one finished up! Finally, a little bit of sewing happening around here, have you been working on anything fun?

So a little bit of what I have been doing...

2011-07-23T11:24:00.000-06:00

in between work, catching the flu (which was pretty awful) and hanging out with my little man.

My to-do list has grown, it's about 1 1/2 spiral notebook pages so far with more things being added to it daily. I have only managed to cross off a few things so far. One of the big things that I was working on was a new swimsuit for me. here's the bottoms so far:

My sewing machine and I are having a few issues but I am hoping to get this finished up in the next day or two... I also have a pair of shorts half-way done (meaning the front of them so far):

Maybe one day they will be finished up-lol! So far this morning, I have been working on a small quilt and am just trying to get something, anything off this to-do list! Alright, back to work I go hopefully with a few finishes to show you in the next few days. :)

Boy, I sure have been a bad blogger lately...

2011-07-18T19:02:00.001-06:00

and i am so sorry! between work, taking care of my little man, and getting a horrible migraine last week I just haven't been able to keep up with things here on the blog. Don't be worried since I will have a few new things to share during the week and am hoping to get back into the "bloggy" swing of things!

In the studio...

2011-07-11T06:30:00.000-06:00

I broke down and started another quilt. This time I cut into my stack of little apples that I picked up at quilt market. So far this is going to be one really quick quilt if I can stick with it and not get sucked into any other projects. Of course this means I am still behind on my Farmer's Wife Quilt Along, but I am just going to work at my own rather slow pace on that one!

Oh and my best pal found this awesome dress while thrifting:

I think I will dress it up with a wide leather belt and I can't decided but I might shorten the hem a bit! I simple love it and can't wait to wear it.

Another Cosmo Bag...

2011-07-10T13:16:00.001-06:00

this time in the Prince Charming Line from Tula Pink. Here is the front:

I am really in love with this bag!! One of my favorite parts is the button:

This time I also added a little extra edge-stitching on the side pockets of the bag:

and finally a glimpse of the inside:

This is the only part where I forgot to do one little change with the pattern from the first time I made it. I wanted to divide up the pockets so they wouldn't be super large but with a few different sized areas to hold things (like a sketchbook, water bottle, camera, etc.) If I ever end up making this bag for the third time I will make sure to make that adjustment. I think I will get quite a bit of use out of this super large bag!

It's finally finished...

2011-07-05T16:55:00.000-06:00

the innocent crush quilt (the pattern is the love letters on found here on Anna Maria Horner's make page). the front:

a close up of the front- the top is quilted with orange thread!

the back of the quilt (this one is fairly simple back for me, usually I go all out on the back...):

and a close up of the back with yellow thread for the quilting!

I really love the way it turned out... and if you want to see it in person you can check it out at The Quilt Barn later this week!

I went to a wedding yesterday...

2011-07-03T20:06:00.000-06:00

So it called for another one of my standby wedding presents, but I have to say this one has turned out to be my favorite love note pillow I have ever made! Here is the front:

and the back:

the details: fabric is DS Quilts from Jo-anns and the cards in the pocket are from Papersource. I loved how the yo-yo flowers turned out (one of my best pals showed me how to use the clover yo-yo maker- I sort of lost the instructions- and it was so super simple and the results were very consistent) The flower centers are some vintage buttons from my collection. This time around I decided not to put in a hidden pocket but make it part of the design.

So, the wedding was lovely and it was a fantastic time. The bride looked amazing and the ceremony was very special. I hope they love this pillow and that they write lots of cute little notes to each other. This was my first experience attending a wedding solo (that I wasn't in) and also as a divorced lady. Needless to say it was a little emotional for me since I am such a die hard romantic, but I ended up having lots of fun (and I managed to only get a little misty-eyed during the vows that part always gets me). It's wonderful to see people in love! In the end it was a wonderful day filled with tons of love and laughter.

Goodbye June, Hello July...

2011-06-30T20:46:00.000-06:00

okay, June went by way to quickly and I feel like I hardly got anything accomplished, but I think that July is going to be way better and probably just as busy. Overall, I think I am making progress on more of my "live" better goals but otherwise I have been slacking.

So, lets check in on my list of 27 things to do before I turn 28 list...
(items in orange are the status of each goal, so I can see my progress and figure out what I need to work on more. I want to make sure that I keep up with them and here are the rules/guides I created for myself:

1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month
3. document goal progress with a photo or a photo for completion (*this one is new)
4. add a page to a scrapbook about the goal (* I think I will make a little mini-book to document the process of completing my goals and this will also help with goal #3.)

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month (4 down working on the next one... I am still working on this one and hopefully will get it finished up in the next week.)
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features) (this month I was actually blogging a bit more thanks to the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along)
3. Scrapbook twice a month (let's face it, this is probably one of my lowest priorities right now.)
4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing) (i made just a couple little things)
5. Make 2 full size quilts (finishing up the binding on the one quilt and getting ready to cut out another)
6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving (I am using nothing but scraps for a few gifts and for my FWQAL blocks)
7. Try something new (I am trying a bunch of new things, like getting over my shyness)
~~8. Go bowling~~
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns (i am going teach more classes starting next month)
10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing
11. Tackle my sewing work-in-progress list (got a couple things off the list)
~~12. Take Xavier on an adventure~~
13. Go through my closet and do some much needed ~~purging~~ and updating (am going to be tackling this goal this weekend)
14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods
15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)(slacked off here)
16. Take a new self-portrait once a month (I really like this photo for some random reason)
17. Go hiking (now it is super hot but I have been running)
18. Take a new family photo of X and me (we got a couple)
19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read (made a little progress)
20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs (getting out there and am planning on doing yoga at least once a week for an hour)
21. Going swimming when it is really warm out (I need to get a swimsuit)
22. Play a game of tennis (so far only on the wii)
23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more (went to a yard sale and that is about it)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns (in progress I just need to customize it and get a little paperwork done)
~~26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns~~ (I was lucky enough to attend and it was a blast!)
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair

FWQAL Blocks 5 & 6

2011-06-29T08:32:00.002-06:00

I am still 2 weeks behind but am slowly catching up here are the next two:

I am totally not sure...

2011-06-28T20:29:00.000-06:00

where last week went. In fact, i can't believe June is almost over and all the summer activities are in full swing. One of the biggest projects on my to-do list this summer was to paint some of x's room, switch out the furniture, and decorate it. So far, I have managed to get it painted, shampoo the carpets, and switch out the furniture. Here is the one of the walls I painted (the color is seal by martha stewart from home depot):

and in between all the of this I have been enjoying these:

strawberries fresh from the garden. I also managed to squeeze in a little yard sale shopping

(actually two of my friends spotted these and let me know) so I headed over and scored both of them for $4! A super exciting find :) I also started to cut into some of my tula pink stash for another cosmo bag:

So far this summer looks like it is going to be awesome!

FWQAL Blocks 3 & 4

2011-06-22T19:06:00.000-06:00

two more blocks down and two more to go! Then I will be all caught up.

Farmer's Wife Quilt-A-Long (FWQAL) Blocks 1 & 2

2011-06-20T20:07:00.000-06:00

I am so in love with this project and my first two blocks. So I am about 2 weeks behind (this was week 3) but I am working on getting caught up, so this week there will be 6 blocks finished up!

For the colors of this quilt, I am only keeping to the grays and whites for the solids and the rest are going to be scraps from my stash (all of my favorites that I have been hoarding!).

Wow...

2011-06-19T20:17:00.000-06:00

sorry for the lack of posting this week but things have not been so stellar in the sewing department this week. Most of my week has been filled with work, illustrating and helping to re-shingle our garage. So tomorrow after work I am going to finish up a few blocks for the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along. I can't wait to show them to you! OH, and a happy father's day to all the dad's out there. I am watching Vegas Vacation with my dad (it's one of his favorite movies!). Have a goodnight everyone!

Around here:

2011-06-14T20:59:00.000-06:00

10 yards of binding for my innocent crush quilt all wrapped up and ready to sew on.

lots and lots of illustrating which is always the best time!

and when my eyes need a little rest from the computer screen a little bit of hand sewing!

A few fun things:

2011-06-12T08:16:00.000-06:00

first of all i caved and bought this:

which means that I joined The Farmer's Wife Quilt Along. I am so excited and am planning on using up tons of my scraps for this one. I am already a bit behind so I am going to work on catching up on the blocks this week. You can find all the details on the Fussy Cut blog and on msmcporkchopquilts blog

I also picked up some fabric for a couple of quick projects I am hoping to complete this week:

sorry the colors are way off but it is a little bit of kona in characoal, the two in the middle are from louLOUthi by anna maria horner and 4 fat quarters of prince charming by tula pink.

I am also making a little quilted happy 100th birthday card for one of my relatives. Here is the basic design (i am going to add a little hand embroidery then some fun machine stitches):

I used some scraps from my innocent crush quilt and I love how it looks like confetti!

A day off...

2011-06-09T08:27:00.000-06:00

equals spending a whole lot of time with this:

and this:

How do you spend your days off?

Sunday...

2011-06-05T07:53:00.000-06:00

finally, I am feeling a little bit better and that is a good thing. I have a huge week full of stuff to get finished up. Last weekend I managed to finish up a few projects:
first this wreath (I got it at the dollar store):

I used one whole charm pack to make the flowers (the flowers were made using the flower frill templates from clover size small & medium), the leaves are from felt with a little piece of wire glued to the back. I still might add a banner to the top corner or maybe a butterfly or a bird, but for now it works. Overall, I loved making the flowers- they were simple and would be a great project to take camping or while watching tv.

I also needed to make a little wedding gift up for my mom to give to someone she works with, here is the front of the pillow:

and the back with a little pocket for hidden notes (i saw this idea along time ago on badskirt's blog and have made a few variations for wedding gifts since then)

(the note cards are papaya A2 ric-rac from Papersource and I stamped them with this stamp set in a chocolate brown ink)

Also, my mom was busy sewing up a cute baby gift. It was the patchwork sleepsack from Anna Maria Horner's Handmade Beginnings book. I had made one as a sample awhile ago, so I thought it would be a great project for my mom to try out.

We made a few changes- we decided against the patchwork front (mainly as a time-saver plus I had already bought a large scale Heather Bailey print) instead of flannel we used fleece. I highly recommend sticking with flannel but the fleece did work so if your having a newborn in a fairly cold place this could be good. One final change that I made was omitted the Velcro closure and used 4 heavy duty snaps instead. This is the one thing that I think absolutely worked out better than the Velcro. They were easier to install and I think will last better.

A little bit more about me...

2011-06-04T07:23:00.000-06:00

since I am sick, I have been able to catch up on some of my blog reading. (it also helped that I cut my blog subscriptions in half and can now really enjoy reading some of my favorite blogs again.) I saw this fun A to Z about me survey on One Pearl Button and thought hey, i haven't had a very productive week which doesn't lend itself to awesome blog reading content, so here we go...

A. Age: 27 and a half
B. Bed size: Queen and for a single lady you would think that was spacious, but when you add in a cat and a toddler who likes to spend part of his time in there you end up with maybe a quarter of the bed if you're lucky.
C. Chore that you hate: dishes, hands down my least favorite oh and probably vacuuming.
D. Dogs: totally awesome (i am a big animal lover) I have 3 max, barney, and archer
E. Essential start to your day: hot water with lemon, email, twitter, and Facebook (on the weekends coffee)
F. Favorite color: Right now Orange hands down!!
G. Gold or Silver: silver usually- but sometimes gold just works better
H. Height: 5'7" , but I like to wear heels to add some extra height!
I. Instruments you play: used to play violin in grade school and middle school
J. Job title: job 1: small-business owner/designer/illustrator (in progress) job 2: merchandiser for a department store job 3: sewing instructor,
K. Kids: 1 independent, funny, lovely, crazy 3.5 year little boy, Xavier also referred to as X
L. Live: in Idaho
M. Mother's name: Paula
N. Nicknames: Krazy KZ, MoMo, KZ JO, baby girl
O. Overnight hospital stays: Once just when i delivered X
P. Pet peeve: jeans that don't touch the ground when wearing high heels and hit mid-shoe (I like them touching the ground or above the ankle) also I never buy the first magazine on the shelf always from the middle of the stack & I can't stand it when someone else looks at it before me.
Q. Quote from a movie: From a movie--- dude, where's your car? or anything from bridesmaid's which was sooo funny
R. Right or left handed: Right for most things but left handed for others--
S. Siblings: half sister older than me
T. Time you wake up: 4:50 am on weekdays & between 6:30 and 7:00 on weekends usually
U. Underwear: umm, of course
V. Vegetable you hate: BEETS!! but i can grow them and make awesome beet pickles apparently
W. What makes you run late: not prepping before hand, but i hate being late so i am usually 10 minutes early.
X. X-Rays you've had: arm and teeth
Y. Yummy food that you make: chili, pizza, fruit crisps, banana bread
Z. Zoo animal: tigers, monkeys, and elephants.

So it appears...

2011-06-03T14:51:00.000-06:00

that I have caught a major cold or flu. So nothing super interesting has been going on around here, but you can find me under a pile of blankets with a box of kleenex, mug of tea and a murder, she wrote marathon. I haven't managed any sewing this week, so there will be lots of catching up to do this weekend and next week. Back tomorrow... hopefully!

Happy Memorial Day!

2011-05-30T17:07:00.000-06:00

here's to all the amazing, brave men and women out there!

It's that time again... Monthly Recap!!!

2011-05-29T18:30:00.000-06:00

May was awesome to put it mildly. So many fun things took place and I actually got a few things finished (always a plus). Not only that, my online shop will probably be open in the next couple of weeks (I can't wait!!!) I finally feel like my life actually might be getting back on track. The past few years have provided plenty of twists, turns and stumbles that I wasn't sure if things would ever start getting better. Now, however, I feel much stronger, happier, and healthier plus I feel like I am headed in the right direction with so many choices. My solo parenting skills I think are improving (its definitely tough and frustrating at times but most of the time it is so wonderful and an awesome adventure) and I love watching my son grow into the greatest little man I know. He pushes me to grow and challenges me in ways I never thought possible. I really find that I am coming into my own, experiencing new things, meeting new people, and just having a ton of fun doing that!

So lets check in on my list of 27 things to do before I turn 28 list...
(items in orange are the status of each goal, so I can see my progress and figure out what I need to work on more. I want to make sure that I keep up with them and here are the rules/guides I created for myself:

1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month
3. document goal progress with a photo or a photo for completion (*this one is new)
4. add a page to a scrapbook about the goal (* I think I will make a little mini-book to document the process of completing my goals and this will also help with goal #3.)

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month (4 down working on the next one... I am still a little behind on this one so I might start taking a book with me to work and catch up on my lunch break.)
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features) (getting better!)
3. Scrapbook twice a month (i made a little book to record my goals, but I think I am going to wait to put it all together on the last month.)
4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing) (actually trying out 4 new recipes tomorrow, most from cooking light.)
5. Make 2 full size quilts (almost have my innocent crush queen-sized quilt finished up and am working on my single girl quilt.)
6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving (used up a charm pack and a few fat quarters this month)
7. Try something new (this month was full of them, went dancing, went on a solo adventure, ran in a 5k, and a ton more)
~~8. Go bowling~~
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns (still working on this one)
10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing
11. Tackle my sewing work-in-progress list (got three things of it!)
~~12. Take Xavier on an adventure~~
13. Go through my closet and do some much needed ~~purging~~ and updating (going to be on a huge making clothes binge in june)
14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods
15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)(planning out a few things to make for 4th of july but otherwise have just been adding some regular decor items)
16. Take a new self-portrait once a month (those sunglasses are my new favorites!)
17. Go hiking (the weather has been pretty crappy so hopefully this month will be the one.)
18. Take a new family photo of X and me (we took a few more this month)
19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read (made a little progress)
20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs (ran a 5k! Plus shaved 10 mins off my practice time)
21. Going swimming when it is really warm out
22. Play a game of tennis
23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more (really didn't do this a whole lot, but i found a couple more shirts for x)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns (in progress I just need to customize it and get a little paperwork done)
~~26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns~~ (I was lucky enough to attend and it was a blast!)
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair

Progress...

2011-05-27T20:58:00.000-06:00

on the innocent crush quilt. It is obviously taking me longer than planned on getting this queen sized quilt put together, but I guess all good things take a little time. It's a little hard to tell in the photo but only the lower right hand corner hasn't been pieced into larger chunks or rows. I would love to say that I will have this finished up over the weekend, but realistically probably 1 to 2 weeks. At least I have the quilt back finished up so it will be ready to head to the quilter's as soon as I get it done.

So far I really love the way the quilt looks and it is an awesome workout putting it together since the design wall is on the other side of the room from my sewing machine. This quilt will end up in my room as the focal point. I am planning on making a mini quilt, pillow shams, and probably some decorative pillows since I have quite a bit of fabric leftover.

Flowers...

2011-05-24T08:09:00.000-06:00

This past weekend was finally nice enough to plant our garden and go pick up a few new flowers along with 2 blueberry bushes. Since I am fairly addicted to taking photos of flowers (I may just be a little obsessed with the macro function), I present to you the new additions to this year's landscape:

Saturday's Magic Valley Modern Quilt Guild Meeting...

2011-05-23T20:09:00.000-06:00

was lovely as always! It was great hanging out with everyone! I ended up not staying for sewing night mainly because i am starting to get a pileup of work at home that needs to be done and I was pretty tired from running my first 5k! Here I am with one of my best friends (I convinced her to do this with because I am lame and didn't really want to do it myself), Tara before the race:

We both ended up shaving 10 minutes off of our practice time, which was pretty exciting. We are already planning on completing another one either in August or September.

Anyways, I thought I would share the finished up mini quilt I made for the Magic Valley Modern Quilt Guilds Mini Quilt Swap:

The front of the quilt (it is a chair and the embroidery says ...take a seat)
and here is the back:

My mini quilt ended up going to Mary and I received Tara's (seriously I was so happy with that because it is orange) Here it is:

and the back:

These pictures really don't do the quilt justice, but the quilting is simply amazing. The mini quilt is happily residing above my desk!

Quilt Market Part 2

2011-05-21T17:19:00.000-06:00

Friday:
I went to my first class (it was on TAP, Transfer Artist Paper), it turned out to be pretty fun. Then I made my way down to market. It was a whole lot of inspiring awesomeness and I met most of my favorite fabric designers (trust me I am still on a huge high from that!):

(photo 1: me with Amy Butler, photo 2: me with Liesl of Oliver + S, photo 3: me with Heather Bailey)

(me with Anna Maria Horner)

Modern Quilt Guild meetup was the highlight of the whole trip! It was great meeting people whose blogs I have been devouring for such a long time.

(me with Heather from {House} of A La Mode)

Saturday and Sunday were filled with tons of walking, seeing gorgeous fabrics and lovely patterns. Plus, meeting more people:

(from right to left: Julie of Jaybird Quilts, John from Quilt Dad, me, Katy from I'm a ginger monkey, and jenny who works at the Quilt barn!

Overall, the experience was simply amazing and I am determined to make it to the fall market in Houston!

Wow, this week just seemed to fly by...

2011-05-20T15:10:00.000-06:00

I have no idea where this week went, but between work, taking care of the little guy and squeezing in a little running, it seems there was little time for anything else. I haven't had a ton of sewing time, but i did manage to get my mini-quilt for the magic valley modern quilt guild swap on saturday night almost finished up. Here is a sneak peak:

I will get part 2 of the quilt market recap up tomorrow afternoon (once I recover from the 5k I am doing in the morning)!

Home Again... part 1

2011-05-17T20:36:00.001-06:00

I made it back on Sunday afternoon from my little adventure known as Quilt Market. I had such a delightful time that I was sad to see it come to an end. One of the best parts was meeting a bunch of wonderful people. So here is the mini recap: (sorry for the not-very-good photos, I only had time to take them in the evening)

Wednesday:
Drove down to Salt Lake and managed to squeeze in a little bit of fun shopping. My number one find of that day was this Anna Maria Pattern:

We settled into our hotel room after making a quick dash to Whole Foods (and now a little love note: Dear Whole Foods, How I miss all your wonderful goodies like sonoma chicken salad and scrumptious tortellini pasta!) Whole foods makes me miss San Francisco even more...

Thursday:
Up fairly early (hit the gym) and then we head off to the first day of quilt market. I attended many sessions of schoolhouses and stepped out of my shyness to meet some of my favorite bloggers. (yeah, i am way to shy and a little on the geeky side but everyone was so nice!) Then came everyone's favorite thing: Sample Spree. I found it pretty fun, even with all the crazy pushing and shoving. These were my big purchases:

The patterns are from Modkid and Hot Scott Patterns, the fabric is Little Apples by Aneela Hoey from Moda.

The day was capped off with a trip to walmart and some Wendy's french fries.

part 2 coming later this week...

At quilt market

2011-05-14T07:22:00.000-06:00

Having a splendid time at quilt market. So many fun things have been happening and I have been meeting the most awesome (plus super nice & seriously cute) people. Last night, I met up with the modern quilters. Let me just say it was absolutely fantastic. Alright heading out for more fun. You can follow me on twitter at kzjostudio.

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T09:56:00.000-06:00

To all the wonderful ladies out there who have one of the best and hardest jobs, may your day be filled with lots of love and laughter.

p.s. I really love being a mom to one of the greatest little guys ever!

A new shirt...

2011-05-06T14:41:00.000-06:00

Tucked away in my fabric stash, lived a navy and white stripe rib knit that I probably picked up a few months ago. For awhile now I have been pondering several ideas for what to do with it. While flipping through the Sew U Home Stretch book by Built by Wendy, I came across the boatneck top and decided that was what that fabric was going to be used for. This one took my a couple days to finish, only because worked on it in small time increments.

A few things that I changed up were the sleeve length, side slits, and instead of folding the jersey over along the neckline, sleeves, and hem, I just overlocked them. I made a size large (the book comes with basic patterns size XS-L that you alter to make different shirts and dresses) and since I have lost some weight it is actually quite large on me. Next time I will just use the medium size instead. Really this project probably took a little over an hour from start to finish and since the fabric was around 2 or 3 dollars this was a great deal. This piece also filled a small void in my closet and since it is somewhat a basic/classic piece it won't really go out of style. Some styling ideas: wear with leggings, slim cropped pants (cropped just above the ankle) or jeans ( bermuda length in a dark wash) and red, black or gold flats.

Sewing and Running...

2011-05-05T16:50:00.000-06:00

This week led to just a few fun projects that actually got finished in the same week they were started. First, I made the key holder bag from the style stitches book by amy butler.

This was probably one of the easiest projects to understand in directions out of that book, however, I am not in love with the finished project. Something made one side of my zipper a little wacky---

and the opening is barely big enough to slide your hand in make it hard to dig for whats in it. (My plan was to use it while at Quilt market (yes you read that right, I will have a whole bunch of posts on that later) to hold some business cards, keys, change, etc. but now i am having second thoughts on that) I do love the way it looks and the fabric is some Soul Blossoms by Amy butler, solid is kona in ash. On the plus side, this was a project that was completed start to finish in one of X's naptimes. Sometimes, it's nice to actually finish something up. I will be posting my second finish of the week tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I haven't been working a whole lot on my innocent crush quilt, but I did manage to get most of the pieces cut for my plume single girl quilt. So, I am going to attempt to run (probably more likely jog and walk) a 5k in a couple of weekends. By no means am I a runner, but I would like to get there (so far this week i have logged about 8 miles totally, 4 on two days; not a ton but i feel like it is a great start). Since this is my first one I am going to use it as a gauge for a starting point in my running career. (lol). I am hoping to complete it in around 45 mins. Then I can work on improving my time over the course of the year. Luckily, I have one of best friends doing this with me which is so awesome and I can't thank her enough. I can't wait to see how this adventure turns out.

Spring/Summer Beauty Obsessions

2011-05-01T06:44:00.002-06:00

It has been awhile since I have wrote up one of my Obsessions lists, but I am bringing back the series. It probably won't be weekly but more of a random kind of series. So I thought I would start with a few things that I am loving for the warmer months:

Going clockwise: TRESemme Fresh start dry shampoo, Jergens Shea Butter lotion, AE Bohemian Summer perfume (roll-on), Olay Complete moisturizer, Almay get up & grow mascara in blackest black, AE nail polish in a coral and clay color.

Its Monthly Recap time...

2011-04-30T14:43:00.000-06:00

April was another interesting month, I was not at my best with time/project management. Oh well, I guess I am going to have to work on that in May. One of the things that I am really working on is saying no and turning down commitments that are not super important to me or things that I have "outgrown" so to speak. I am in a phase of trying to edit out things in order to make room for new things and adventures. Since this is my year of starting over, I am really starting to feel like I am coming into my own.

Alright, time to check in on my list of 27 things to do before I turn 28 list...
(items in orange are the status of each goal, so I can see my progress and figure out what I need to work on more. I want to make sure that I keep up with them and here are the rules/guides I created for myself:

1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month
3. document goal progress with a photo or a photo for completion (*this one is new)
4. add a page to a scrapbook about the goal (* I think I will make a little mini-book to document the process of completing my goals and this will also help with goal #3.)

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month (3 down and a new one started)
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features) (slowly making progress on this one)
3. Scrapbook twice a month (i made a little notebook and picked up some stickers for dollar )
4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing) (tried some vegan peanut butter cups, they weren't quite vegan because i couldn't find vegan chocolate chips. I have since found some and will be trying out this recipe again. I actually loved how they turned out.)
5. Make 2 full size quilts (actually finished one quilt this month, still working on one more)
6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving (started using up some of my stash for random projects, like the single girl quilt.)
7. Try something new (practiced riding my scooter, finally made it over 30 mph and am studying up for my motorcycle endorsement)
~~8. Go bowling~~
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns (still working on this one)
10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing
11. Tackle my sewing work-in-progress list (got another two things off the list)
~~12. Take Xavier on an adventure~~
13. Go through my closet and do some much needed ~~purging~~ and updating (managed to do a little updating for the summer season, that is if the weather ever gets warmer, but more on that later.)
14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods
15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)(getting ready to amp up some spring decorating but I did decorate for easter)
16. Take a new self-portrait once a month (i managed to take several different photos that included me this month! see photo above)
17. Go hiking (I actually had this planned for last Thursday, but the weather didn't hold up and was cold and windy. So this one is going to have to be rescheduled.)
18. Take a new family photo of X and me (got a really fun one at the easter egg hunt that we went to. )
19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read (made a few more comments than last month and have been keeping up on blogs a little better.)
20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs (this has been hard fitting it in but it is one of my major priorities for May)
21. Going swimming when it is really warm out
22. Play a game of tennis
23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more (found x a few batman shirts this month and that is about it)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns (major goal for 2011!!!)
26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns (I won't have a booth there, but I am going to quilt market so that will count especially as research!)
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair

A little bit of sewing...

2011-04-30T13:38:00.000-06:00

This week i finished up one class sample (class is next saturday at the quilt barn!). This is the Pretty-as-a-picture Dress from the Handmade Beginnings book by Anna Maria Horner.

the front (sorry the picture is a little wacky, but it has a lovely bodice!)

the back with some lovely gathers at the waist. I must say that I am in love with this pattern, if I had a little girl I would probably fill up her wardrobe with these. The size for this one is 18-24 months, I think that the sizing is fairly generous and could easily work as a tunic over leggings or the like to extend the life span of the garment. The pattern was super simple and took me probably 2 to 2 1/2 hours from start to finish (tracing the pattern and everything) and the instructions were very clear.

I also made a little more progress on this:

and of course no week would be complete with out starting a new project (i actually started it last weekend), but I finally caved and started the Single Girl quilt:

One of my most treasured sets of fabrics (my 2 plume charmpacks) are being used for the rings. I only have enough to make 4 rings (that is the baby quilt size) however I plan on adding a large border and making it into a throw for the couch or a fun little picnic blanket. So far, I have almost all the pieces traced and just need to start cutting them out. I am really excited to see how this one is going to come out plus it gives me a little something to work on while watching the real housewives.

Picked up some new fabric...

2011-04-27T19:17:00.000-06:00

I went on a little adventure on Friday and managed to score some of this:

Finally, I got my hands on some Parisville by tula pink and I must say i am in love. (the first three are from the parisville collection and the fourth on is some plume I picked up two weekends ago, I just forgot to show it to you). Overall, the day was lovely. I was with one of my best pals and our kids had a blast together! The service at the store was just as lackluster as usual and I wouldn't normally want to keep shopping there except that they had the tula pink. In the future, I will probably just order it online and hopefully get better or actual customer service, I should say.

I also managed to score some nice lightweight denim for these:

hopefully i can get the pattern traced off in the next couple of weeks and has luck would have it, my pal scored an awesome vintage pattern for me from the D.I.-

view 3 is the one I love!! I plan on making it in the next month.

Here are two more of my fabric find:

Some anna griffin (the dogs) and the new ds quilts, denyse schmidt from jo-anns. Some of these things are for a few planned projects and others are just going to enter my stash until I find just the right project for them! Have you found any awesome fabric lately?

working on a few things...

2011-04-26T20:55:00.000-06:00

that are not really sewing oriented. Mostly, I have been working on some illustrations, catching up on my magazine reading (which is also helping out with an upcoming blog post) plus I been taking a little bit of regrouping time. Anyways, tomorrow I am planning on sharing some goodies I picked up while on a little adventure with one of my pals!

Versatile Wardrobe: Spring & Summer Wardrobe Plans Part 2

2011-04-23T06:39:00.000-06:00

let's jump right in, shall we:

Simplicity Patterns 0450 & 2209 (lisette)

Goals: Pattern 0450- I really love view B dress. I am thinking it would be great in a mainly black print and would become part of my work wardrobe. I am not really sure about the pants in this one either.

Pattern 2209- View C, the jacket, without the ruffle collar I think would be lovely. I am on the fence about the dresses (although I am a dress person), I am just not sold on them.

Simplicity Patterns 2211 & 2246 (lisette)

Goals: Pattern 2211- the skirt and short sleeve shirt would be a great option for making a few outfits that can be mixed and matched.

Pattern 2246- View A dress, this shirtdress in black would be awesome for my work wardrobe probably paired with leggings.

and finally the last set of patterns (for now anyways)

Simplicity 2369 & McCall's M5621

Goals: Pattern 2369- the dress (view b) and the shirt would be a nice addition to my wardrobe. The shirt for work and the dress as a nice semi-causal dress.

Pattern M5621- view A & C are my favorites on here. These dresses would make a great transition piece through fall (add leggings, by the way I found a pattern for leggings in my stash so be prepared for fall- because I am going to make several pairs).

I am going to start working on these as soon as I have a few class samples and one quilt finished up. I can't wait to start and I will share the process of creating each piece.

A finished quilt...

2011-04-22T07:52:00.000-06:00

This quilt was a wedding gift. I did have some help from one of my friends in creating it. (and I am glad to say tackling this project as team was well worth it!) Even though the quilt is fairly simple and is only made of solids, I think that it turned out really well. Here is the front:

and the back:

Details:

• Finished size around 60" x 60"

• mostly kona solids and the light gray and cream are moda bella solids.

• Scrappy binding and scrappy back featuring a little applique of the bride and grooms first initials.

• Batting was all natural cotton (1 layer) this was also my first time using spray basting, which has now become an obsession.

• The quilting is just inside each square of each color, totally hard to see in the pictures, I know.

Overall, I love it and I think that it will be lovely to curl up in while watching a movie.

Versatile Wardrobe: Spring & Summer Wardrobe plans Part 1

2011-04-18T20:35:00.000-06:00

One of the aspects of building my new wardrobe is to include more handmade clothing whether I make them myself or buy from smaller shops on etsy or bigcartel, online, etc. Now, I could draft all of my patterns by myself and design everything from scratch (which would be awesome!) but sometimes its just easier to hit up the .99 cent pattern sales at Joanns or Hancocks. Which is exactly what i did and now I need to get a bunch of muslin in order to test the patterns and make alterations (i want my clothes to fit really well in order to look there best on me and testing the pattern first will save me time, frustration, and hopefully end up with a better end result.) Here are my choices for spring/summer along with a few pieces that I hope will transition into fall.

Simplicity Patterns 2250 & 2281 (Cynthia Rowley)

Goals: Pattern 2250- the blazer and the dress view C. The blazer is going to be a staple in my closet and will used in several different kinds of outfits. The dress I think would be perfect for a night out or attending a wedding or other special occasion event.

Pattern 2281- The dress in view A and view C for spring and summer and if I have time view B for fall with the long sleeves. Again I think that these would be great for a date or depending on the fabric can be used for a summer casual dress.

Simplicity Patterns 2219 & 2374

Goals: Pattern 2219- Dress in view D, A, & C - I love that these use knits and are bound to be super comfy for the hot weather (if it ever gets here)

Pattern 2374- View A & E I love the cardigan very useful for cooler nights and I think I could make several in different colors. E is the romper, which I am slightly obsessed with (okay a lot obsessed with) I think it will work for hanging out and just being really casual.

Simplicity Patterns 2187 & 2190

Goals: Pattern 2187- All three. View A I think would be fun in a bright solid and could transition easily in fall. View B is a great option for hot weather and View c (the jumpsuit) I think would be awesome in black and could be added to my work wardrobe.

Pattern 2190- Everything but the pants (I am not really sure about them). I think this pattern has a lot of mix and match possibilities (like the t-shirt can be worn with jeans or shorts and the skirt with a tank, etc.)

I still have another 6 sets of patterns (i know a lot of sewing, but I really tried to find things that would work well through different season, match my aesthetic and will build my wardrobe with lots of mix and match pieces. I am still on the hunt for a fabulous shorts pattern otherwise I may end up drafting my own. Again this is just a goal list and I am still in the process of losing weight so I haven't even started thinking about what order to sew them in yet. Stay tuned for part 2 tomorrow...

What you really want to see?!

2011-04-14T06:00:00.002-06:00

My closet... yepp, in all it's glory (and, um, slightly messy). Here it is:

It is super open and slightly organized (working on that). Things that are hung up: mostly shirts, dresses and jackets. Things that are folded either on shelves that are behind/under the clothing or in the dresser include pants, undershirts, underwear, sweaters, socks, some knit shirts, workout clothing, pajamas, and other misc things. In the bottom of my closets is the best thing ever, a shoe rack!

I managed to take a photo of my mom's closet before she cleaned it out:

Here is my mom's closet after she cleaned it out (8 bags of clothes were donated):

Don't worry we have added a few new things to it since the clean out.

So, now that you have seen our closets it time to start updating them and coming up with our new looks. Our next assignment, mood boards. This will help us get a direction of where we want to go along with guiding us in making good clothing purchases or sewing things that will fit out new aesthetic. (I already have a spring sewing plan that will I will be sharing with you over the weekend).

The week so far...

2011-04-13T14:49:00.000-06:00

I have been busy with work, running, some sewing, and illustrating a few things. Not a ton of progress on too much but I am hoping to get a few things finished up on Friday. Yesterday, the weather was so nice that I spent a little bit of time outside. Here is funny shot of Archer (x's dog):

He likes to think he is so big ( he weighs in at a hefty 5.5 lbs)! Anyways, tomorrow I will be sharing a peek inside my closet and later this week my spring wardrobe sewing plans...

Quilt Progress

2011-04-07T19:39:00.000-06:00

Today, I managed to pin up a little more of my quilt. I am finally ready to start sewing this thing together. The large blocks are still not the right size since I still have to pick up some more fabric and recut them. I am going to work on making rows or little units so I can make some progress on it. The goal is to have this one finished up by the end of April. Here is what the whole thing looks like so far:

I really love how it is turning out, the only that is a little difficult is the pattern leaves a lot of room for interpretation of where the prints go. Which normally wouldn't seem like a problem but specific areas need the triangles on the corners and to create a nice balance with the prints is a little difficult without some guidelines. That is the why I am spending the time laying it out on my design wall instead of just digging in. (by the way the wall is 60" x 60" and the finished quilt size will be 80" x 80" so you are only see the upper left part of the quilt for now.) After I finish this quilt up I am going to make sure to label where all the prints go so it is a little easier if I ever want to make this one again.

Not a whole lot going on...

2011-04-05T19:02:00.000-06:00

except I am busy catching up on a ton of computer work (think illustration, the member book for the magic valley modern quilt guild, and working on a few new tutorials) and my sewing as been a little bit on the slow side. I did manage to finish up the prom dress I was making and it turned out beautiful. Which made me completely happy.

Last weekend was the Desert Sage Quilt guild's quilt show. I didn't have any quilts in the show, but X was in his very first fashion show. He did a great job and was super cute (I can say that because I am his mommy!! hehe)! He modeled lounge pants and the oliver + s peacoat, I made for him. I think he may have caught the modeling bug since at the end all he could say was "That was awesome!"

Overall, the quilts in the show were a lot of fun! Some were more my style than others, but each to their own. I came away with a couple of good ideas for a few mini-quilts.

The biggest news of all is: I got a scooter!

Its totally cute and really helps me fulfill my desire to live in a foreign country (like italy or greece) and ride a vespa by the ocean on winding roads with flowers and yummy goodies like breads, cheeses, fruit etc. in a basket. I am in love with it and is the perfect mode of transport to get me to work and run little errands. I feel like I might need a whole new wardrobe to go with it!

Let's see how March turned out...

2011-03-31T21:05:00.000-06:00

I think March could be called the month that I took on tooo much. I really felt the crunch and it made me realize I need to re-evaluate my priorities. So April, will be about that and getting back on track with a few things (especially my sewing- hehe). As March comes to an end, I have been tackling some spring cleaning and doing a lot of reorganization around my house (trying to declutter and free up space!) Plus, I am making a few plans for re-decorating my son's room and changing my room up a little bit!

Here is my self-portrait for the month- somewhat on the lame side but it is a good before I get my hair colored photo!

Anyways, I thought I would take a look at my 27 things to do before I turn 28 list...
(items in orange are the status of each goal, so I can see my progress and figure out what I need to work on more. I want to make sure that I keep up with them and here are the rules/guides I created for myself:

1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month
3. document goal progress with a photo or a photo for completion (*this one is new)
4. add a page to a scrapbook about the goal (* I think I will make a little mini-book to document the process of completing my goals and this will also help with goal #3.)

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month (read 1 and just a few chapters shy of finishing a second)
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features) (i think i only missed blogging three times this week)
3. Scrapbook twice a month (i managed to get my desk cleared off and got a mini book together for this goal projects )
4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing) (I baked some peanut and jelly bars, they turned out pretty)
5. Make 2 full size quilts (i have two quilt tops in progress, one is queen size and finished the backing for the queen sized one)
6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving (i did make a small dent in my stash and am using lots of scraps for my blocks for in the magic valley modern quilt guild's mystery block of the month)
7. Try something new (this month i went walking on a new trail, it was great to be working out outdoors)
~~8. Go bowling~~
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns (i had one planned but it got canceled)
10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing
11. Tackle my sewing work-in-progress list (only got 2 things off the list)
~~12. Take Xavier on an adventure~~
13. Go through my closet and do some much needed ~~purging~~ and updating (just need to get a photo for the next installment of the versatile wardrobe series)
14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods
15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)(i still need to decorate for easter!!!)
16. Take a new self-portrait once a month (see above photo)
17. Go hiking
18. Take a new family photo of X and me (managed to take a couple of photos)
19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read (i am so far behind on reading blogs it is not even funny)
20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs (began a new training program to do this)
21. Going swimming when it is really warm out
22. Play a game of tennis
23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more (i was to busy to do any thifting this month)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns (major goal for 2011!!!)
26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair