Eight weeks to a better me: Week Eight

The last week is here! I can't believe it. It's all gone by so fast.

Now let's get onto this week's theme: awakening your creative side. This is something I need a push with lately. With all of the things going on with Handmade Miami, it's hard getting the sewing in for me. But I feel like I'm getting back into the groove of things and this week's goal will really help. So here go my:

1. Make more stuff! Actually making things makes me get back into the groove and want to continue making things. Today I made myself a skirt, and I think that the bag that I have in my mind to make will have to be my next project. I also have a stack of already cut aprons waiting to be put together.
2. Check out my Pinterest. There are tons of cool projects that I've pinned, but I never seem to go back and check them out. I have to go look at them and maybe tackle one.
3. Use my color inspiration list. I've been keeping a list of cool color combinations I see on my phone. Now I just have to put the colors to use in a project.

I hope everyone gets a chance to wake up their creative side this week. What creative stuff have you been up to lately?

I made a new skirt

I finally made myself a new piece of clothing. This was a  pretty easy project and took a couple of hours to finish (it only took me that long cause I took pictures along the way).

I used Simplicity 2286. I was going to make view B with the pockets, but I omitted the pocked for ease and so I wouldn't spend all afternoon matching up stripes. I used this nice cream linen with grey stripes that we found when we sorted through all of the fabric in the garage.

I laid out my fabric and cut out the three pieces: front, back and two waistbands. Then I just sewed everything up. There are only two seams on this skirt, and then the gathering and attaching to the waistband. This is a great project for someone just learning to sew.

After sewing the side seams I took the skirt to the serger to clean up the edges. If you've ever worked with linen before you know that it frays like crazy, so the serger was a definite plus for this project. Luckily, the serger was already threaded with white, so I saved myself the two hour ordeal of changing the thread on the machine. (Now I know that normally changing your serger thread should not take that long, but whenever I do it, I seem to run into a problem and have to re-thread the whole machine.)

After finishing the edges, I gathered the skirt and attached it to the waistband. I threaded through some elastic and then did a small hem. This skirt is kinda short. So I did a very little hem, not the one inch the pattern said to do. If you ever make this pattern, you may want to give it a little extra length, so you can then adjust to your taste.

I was pretty much done with the skirt, so I stepped out to have Grandma to a quick check of the hem. I wanted to make sure it at least looked straight. She said it did, so I was good to go. This was such an easy skirt and it's so comfy. I think I may make another one maybe with the pockets. This one will definitely be making it to work this week.

So what do you think of this skirt? Have you ever made any clothes for yourself?

Eight weeks to a better me: Week Seven

Craziness around here, so I'm a week late on this week's post. But I do really love the theme for this week: personal style. I don't feel I have a definitive style, but I am trying to hone in on one. If I could describe it, I'm going for a style that is creative and fun with a retro twist. From what you've seen on here, does that make sense with what you see?

So here are my style goals (which I kinda did last week, but will continue this week too):

1. Wear more skirts and dresses. I did this a lot this past week. With the scorching heat here in Miami, a dress is such an easy comfy way to get through it while still looking cute.
2. Expand my accessory wardrobe. I need some new earrings and necklaces to wear. Though I'm really loving the new pendant I made at a recent Crafter-noon.
3. Make myself a new item of clothing. I have a pattern for an easy skirt that I got at a craft party and I have some striped fabric that I think will work. I may have to make this skirt tomorrow, so I can wear it to work this week

Catch up post... birthdays and beaches

I've been a slacking blogger! I've just been so crazy busy the last couple of weeks, I haven't had a moment to site and blog about the insanity.

First off, I'm sad to say that my craft room hasn't improved. But there is a really good reason. Last Friday, June 10th, I along with my Handmade Miami chicas hosted Etsy Craft Party and Handmade Miami's 1st Birthday Party! It was so great to have new people come out and share their love of craft. But it was just amazing to realize that Handmade Miami is one year old. We've done so much in one short year and we've really made the handmade community in Miami come together.

the HMM chicas

The day right after that was one of my best friend's birthdays. We went to the mall to get a new outfit and along with some friends we took the fabulous Melissa out to dinner for her birthday. Meli is all about doing her own nail art, so if you want to see her nail creations and recommendations, check out her blog, Meli's Fabulous Nails.

the fabulous birthday girl

And today, June 17th we did a community service project at work. We spent the day cleaning up a beach. It was great to give back and even though it was really, really hot, you can't complain when this is your view at work. But now I am dead tired! Man that sun can really zap your energy.

And in between all of that I've been planning something for Handmade Miami. It's pretty big and super exciting. It's gonna get really hectic around here really fast, but in a good way. As soon as I can spill the beans about the good news I will (and trust me I'm dying to tell everyone!)

8 weeks to a better me: Week Six

Week 6! I don't even think I can believe it. I'm having so much fun doing this project from Sometimes Sweet.

This week's theme is "home sweet home," which I absolutely love. I absolutely love decorating. When I had my own place, I'd always spend time looking for things to make it truly reflect me. Now I live with my grandma, so I mainly let her style dictate, but I've been wanting to make my little corner of the house more me. So here's the perfect excuse to get started!

1. Tidy up/prettify my vanity area in the bathroom. I started to do this a few weeks back, but never really got it going.
2. Get my craft room more presentable looking. Another project that began a while ago. I really just want to have everything have a place and put some of my cute things out on display. It's not too messy, but I'm sure cleaning up a bit will help.
3. Find a frame for my "Keep Calm and Sew On" print. A friend of mine made it for me to go into my craft room, so now all I need is a frame and I can hang it up.

This week's goals seem fun. I'll definitely be posting pics of the craft room once it's all done.

A-Z of me

I got this off of Made by Trisha's blog. This feels super old school, but I thought it would be fun to post a little about me.

A. Age: 31, turning 32 on the 29th!
B. Bed size: queen, just downgraded from a king that was just taking up too much space in my room.
C. Chore that you hate: scrubbing... though I may need to take one for the team and scrub the pool edge this weekend  

my Tiffi!

D. Dogs: 1, 15 year old mini-pekingese named Tiffi
E. Essential start to your day: a walk for Tiffi. more essential to me than her, but she won't let me wake up without bothering me to go out
F. Favourite color: right now i'm still stuck on green (lime or apple) 
G. Gold or Silver: Silver
H. Height: 5 foot
I. Instruments you play: i took piano lessons for like 2 years. i can play mary had a little lamb 
J. Job title: Network Operations Coordinator (day job) / CFO...lol (Handmade Miami) 
K. Kids: are really cool little people. I'll get a few of my own one day :) 
L. Live: in Miami, Florida 
M. Mother's name: Ana Rosa, but she goes by Rosie 
N. Nicknames: D, Di, Dianaita 
O. Overnight hospital stays: none
P. Pet peeve: stupid people 
Q. Quote from a movie: this is the first one that came to mind, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it." -Ferris Bueller 
R. Right or left handed: right

with my little brothers, Richard & Angel

S. Siblings: two younger brothers that now look older than me 
T. Time you wake up: 6am on weekdays... 7:30-8ish on weekends
U. Underwear: apparently hipsters, since victoria's secret stopped carrying low rise bikinis 
V. Vegetable you hate: until about two years ago, vegetables and I were mortal enemies. but we've grown to love each other. still not a fan of cucumbers though 
W. What makes you run late: other people. 
X. X-Rays you've had: shoulder, teeth
Y. Yummy food that you make: anything! I always get request for my brushetta topping. And I make a yummy chicken picatta
Z. Zoo animal: giraffes. especially since they have a giraffe feeding station at Zoo Miami.

8 weeks to a better me: Week Five

I know I'm a little late this week, but Memorial Day weekend just threw me off. Plus I've been super busy planning fun stuff for Handmade Miami. But here we go with this week's goals.

This week's goals kinda threw me for a loop. I had no idea what to do. But I did finally figure out what to do. So here are my goals for loving life and having fun!

1. Get some sewing done for me! I'm in desperate need of a new bag. So it's time to whip one up for myself. Having a brand new handmade bag to tote my stuff around in is always great. Plus inventing a new bag is so fun.
2. Go catch a movie. There are so many movies that I want to go see, so I just gotta go and see them. I may just sneak out to the movies by myself this weekend... popcorn and a flick in the a/c sounds nice.
3. Take time to enjoy all the stuff I'm planning. My schedule is crazy hectic with all of the things I'm planning and doing. I gotta take time to have fun and take pics when the events actually come around.

I have a homework assignment for everyone... get out there and have fun this week!