Roman shades and 'Families'

I am working on some Roman shades for our bedroom. My mom gave me some pointers (she is a very experienced seamstress). I looked up instructions on the web. I bought material at Jomar on Sunday, and my mom gave me some lining material. I wanted something that was somewhat attractive, but mainly blocked the light well! I am making some for our room, and once I have some experience, I will make some for the girls' room.

I have actually really enjoyed making these! They are quite simple. I bought a kit which includes the Roman shade tape and other hardware. Today I sewed the tape onto the back of the blinds.
Now I need to get some dowels and the wood for installing the shades, and hopefully soon we'll have a nice window!

UPDATE:
They've been installed! Check out the before and after pics:


I am REALLY happy with how they turned out. They took a little bit of patience for my amazing hubby to install (you are the best!). We are very excited about how much light they block, and how easy to use they are, and how beautiful they are.
I also want to announce the arrival of 'Families', a board book that Sage and Fern are in! It is about the similarities between animal and human families. You can look at a sneak peek here!!. Just click on the 'click here to see inside' link under 'Families'.

Houndstooth Continued

Well, I managed to bribe my model for a photo shoot last night. I learned a lesson: don't bribe with a lollipop right before dinner if you are not going to give it to her until AFTER dinner. Click the photo to view more.

The photo I like the most turned out fuzzy.

Today, my dad took Sage up to A-Day at Del Val College. I hope she's behaving!!

I am glad that it's skirt weather! I want to say something negative about the heat, but I'll refrain.

Houndstooth

Okay, so I know winter is on its way out. But, my mom gave me this material and I have been wanting to make something with it. I forced myself to finish the cloth diapers first (which we are loving, by the way). Then today I moved onto some more creative projcets, including this t-shirt:

It's a size 2T, and once I can bribe my model into a photo-shoot, I will probably post it to my Etsy store.

In other news, I started "washing" my face with olive oil a couple weeks ago. I no longer use any soap products or moisturizers, just olive oil. I heard about it here. I really enjoy doing it, much like I enjoy kneading bread and hanging clothes to dry. I won't say I've noticed a HUGE difference in my skin, but it seems more balanced. I don't have as many zits, and my skin feels more evenly moisturized as opposed to patchy.

I also stopped training for the Broad Street Run. I didn't want to pay for it. My knees hurt. I thought I'd feel worse about quitting, but I'm really okay with it. Since I switched back to a more triathlon-focused workout schedule, my body has been feeling better. I need to register for a sprint tri so that I have a specific goal in mind though.

Will These Diapers Ever Be Done??

I am still working on these diapers. It feels like eternity! I am getting better at them, but realized I made another big mistake in cutting them out: I was supposed to add 2" (I think) to the tab length in order to compensate for the fact that the material is not stretchy. Oh well! I am quite sick of the fabric.

I also made these longies for Fern yesterday. She grew out of her navy blue ones, and she only has one other pair. I am trying to use cloth more often, so I figured I should stitch up another pair. These are made from the same sweater that the hooded-T is made from on my Etsy site.

Woh

It's been a while since I've posted!
Here are some photos to sum things up. But before I forget, I really, really love drying my clothes outside. Is this a normal obsession?

The diapers I'm working on for Fern. I am SO over using prefolds with the snappi, it's just downright DANGEROUS with 2 toddlers around.

Sage's princesses.
The girls outside for lunch. This weather is absolutely PERFECT. I'm cold inside, hot in the sun. No heat, no A.C. Sun, wind. Ahh.
I took a 40 minute bike ride today on my road bike. Wow, what a weird experience. It is so different from the track bike. I love both of them. I love bikes. The wind was so strong today that when I got to the river, I couldn't go more than 13 m.p.h. into the wind, and then coming back I was going 23/24 m.p.h. That was fun!!! 4 weeks til the Broad Street Run.
I think that's it for now.