~~~SEWING my way to POFQ ~ American Girl outfits & Custom Park Bags! ~~~

[mphalens]

So, I had an

Okay - so I will right over WITH the 401A in the backseat safe & sound . . . if you promise to keep it a and promise to keep me motivated so I can get all this sewing done. . . my room rate from the summer is still good, right?

 

[DMGeurts]

So, I had an

Okay - so I will right over WITH the 401A in the backseat safe & sound . . . if you promise to keep it a and promise to keep me motivated so I can get all this sewing done. . . my room rate from the summer is still good, right?

Ooooh Marianne - you don't have to do that... I was just teasin'

However, I have cleared off a nice spot on my counter top, right next to the window for the 401A... Did you want a chair too???

I'll crack the whip for you, as long as you promise to crack the whip for me.

Oh yes, did you get the code I sent for my fall room rates??? It's actually a bit cheaper, it includes free dining - but you have to check in on October 1st at 2:36 pm to qualify.

D~

 

[mommy2mrb]

I know... You've all been waiting forever for me to post #40. I am not going to tell you who it is, but I am hoping it will be obvious.

D~

It's TINK!!! you are going to do all the fairies

so, so cute!!!

 

[mphalens]

Ooooh Marianne - you don't have to do that... I was just teasin'

However, I have cleared off a nice spot on my counter top, right next to the window for the 401A... Did you want a chair too???

I'll crack the whip for you, as long as you promise to crack the whip for me.

Oh yes, did you get the code I sent for my fall room rates??? It's actually a bit cheaper, it includes free dining - but you have to check in on October 1st at 2:36 pm to qualify.

D~

I am fine with a padded stool or bench, I don't need a chair

I'll have to check my inbox for the coupon code - been having trouble with email lately . . .

But - here's the thing, I can't check in on the 1st because I'll be at my cousin's wedding in Newport that afternoon. . . are there any other coupon codes coming up???

 

[dianemom2]

OK... everyone's ideas make a lot of sense... I really like the idea of doing two at once.

Babynala (I am really bad at first names) - thank you for putting so much time and thought into your reply... You have some very valid points - which brought me to this:

So, at the last minute, I changed my train of thought, and decided not to use the pattern I drafted last night. I want to save that one for the sets I do with the appliques - which I might do at the same time. I am trying this first outfit with a purchased pattern to see if it comes across the way I want it to. If it works out, I will do one set of this series with out appliques and one set with the pattern I drafted with appliques.

Do any of my ramblings make sense?

D~ <--- back to the sewing room...

I can't wait to see both sets of dresses!

I know... You've all been waiting forever for me to post #40. I am not going to tell you who it is, but I am hoping it will be obvious.

D~

That turned out great! It is completely obvious who it is!

 

[cogero]

oooh Please do Fawn Please do Fawn... She is DDs favorite and she will be your best friend as will this mama if she can buy it for the girls Birthday at the end of October. Hint Hint.

 

[babynala]

Love your latest creation! Can't wait to see the rest of the collection! See, I knew you would be making more than one. Your fans can't get enough of your amazing work.

I know it was a few pages back but I wanted to comment on your shoe/airplane dilema again. The swollen feet are a bummer. If you do end up wearing your sneakers make sure you don't take them off on the plane. I've heard of people not being able to get their shoes back on because their feet swell so much in the air. Maybe you could make the girls wear their sneakers to save room in the suitcase and you wear the flip flops because "mommy said so". If you do wear your flip flops you might want to bring some socks to slide on when you go thru security.

P.S. I should probably add my name to my siggy - it is Liz.

 

[GAGirlInVA]

Beautiful work.

One day I drag out my beginners machine and get to work. You know.. when life slows down a little.

 

[VBAndrea]

Here's the Northern that Alli caught this weekend... Josh guesses it was about 20" long.

And she is just like her mom... she'll pose for a picture with a fish - but touch it, no way! LOL

D~

Very cool! Your dh sounds like my dh when it comes to fishing. My dh was a bit peeved at me one day when I caught two fish before he could even get his line baited (ladies first!). My ds will bait his own hook though. I'm a fishing princess though -- cast and reel in. We pose with our fish on the stringer so we never have to touch them.

Nope - I think that might be me . . . slowest sewer that is . . .
Hmm- maybe I need to go back to Slimfast or Ensure . . . I KNOW I need to cut out a good 3/4 of my carb intake

I think I could give you a run for your money on that "Biggest Procrastinator" - have you SEEN my PTR??? Yup . . . lots of pretty fabrics, not a lot of making them into CLOTHES

It will be a close competition for slowest sewer, though I got my BG finished yesterday (while sick!)

The slimfast is killing me but I needed a jump start. I'm only ten pounds overweight, but I feel so flabby and I wanted to start at least walking again but I just can't while I'm sick, so I figured I'd start with 5 days of slimfast for breakfast and lunch. I hate it. Dinner last night was heavenly! I've already lost a couple of pounds though and feel like I've lost all the water weight from eating crappy. I eat way too much processed food because I hate to cook.

I didn't even realize you had a PTR until the other day -- I read it but didn't have time to comment, but saw you started it waaaaaay back when b/f you even started sewing!

Question...

I need some input on my next series... I can't tell you what it is yet - but I am sure you'll guess when I post my first picture.

I need to know how you feel about appliques. This series, I can do with or with out them. I am leaning towards adding the appliques, otherwise I think the outfits will be a bit lacking... I just want some opinions.

D~

I see you already delved in to your project, but I was going to agree with Liz (I remembered her name) and say that if you can get a point across without appliques I really like it.

I know... You've all been waiting forever for me to post #40. I am not going to tell you who it is, but I am hoping it will be obvious.

D~

Sweet! I can't wait to see the next fairy!

 

[DMGeurts]

It's TINK!!! you are going to do all the fairies

so, so cute!!!

Well, I am planning on doing a few of them. There are a couple that I am having issues finding fabric for.

I am fine with a padded stool or bench, I don't need a chair

I'll have to check my inbox for the coupon code - been having trouble with email lately . . .

But - here's the thing, I can't check in on the 1st because I'll be at my cousin's wedding in Newport that afternoon. . . are there any other coupon codes coming up???

That is a bummer about the Oct 1 code... I am not sure if there will be another one released - seeing as you're the only one who wants one.

I can't wait to see both sets of dresses!


That turned out great! It is completely obvious who it is!

Thank you.

oooh Please do Fawn Please do Fawn... She is DDs favorite and she will be your best friend as will this mama if she can buy it for the girls Birthday at the end of October. Hint Hint.

I will try - she is one of the Fairies that I am having trouble finding fabric for. I will go on a search today though.

Love your latest creation! Can't wait to see the rest of the collection! See, I knew you would be making more than one. Your fans can't get enough of your amazing work.

LOL - you make it sound like I have a fan club or something.

I know it was a few pages back but I wanted to comment on your shoe/airplane dilema again. The swollen feet are a bummer. If you do end up wearing your sneakers make sure you don't take them off on the plane. I've heard of people not being able to get their shoes back on because their feet swell so much in the air. Maybe you could make the girls wear their sneakers to save room in the suitcase and you wear the flip flops because "mommy said so". If you do wear your flip flops you might want to bring some socks to slide on when you go thru security.

Thanks for all the advice on this. I still haven't decided what to do. My new shoes came yesterday, and so far they don't make my feet hurt - but I was experiencing some back/knee pain while out walking last night - so I am not sure if it's a: age or b: shoes - so I am going to take them out for a jaunt again today and see if it happens again. I was also walking with my neighbor - and she goes at a pretty good clip - which is good for my cardio, but I definately can't talk and walk at the same time with her.

P.S. I should probably add my name to my siggy - it is Liz.

Thanks Liz. I will try very hard to remember it.

Beautiful work.

One day I drag out my beginners machine and get to work. You know.. when life slows down a little.

Welcome to my PTR! Thank you. I hope you find the time to drag out your machine, it's so much fun!

Very cool! Your dh sounds like my dh when it comes to fishing. My dh was a bit peeved at me one day when I caught two fish before he could even get his line baited (ladies first!). My ds will bait his own hook though. I'm a fishing princess though -- cast and reel in. We pose with our fish on the stringer so we never have to touch them.

Definately Princess fishers here. DH will sit on the deck at the lake for an hour before we leave, with all our poles, getting them all rigged up. Then it takes him a good 10 minutes to get all our lines baited out in the boat, and usually by that time, one of us has caught a fish - usually a little Perch - so, he barely gets to fish at all.

It will be a close competition for slowest sewer, though I got my BG finished yesterday (while sick!)

I agree. I am glad you were able to finish it when you were sick - I hope you're feeling better now.

The slimfast is killing me but I needed a jump start. I'm only ten pounds overweight, but I feel so flabby and I wanted to start at least walking again but I just can't while I'm sick, so I figured I'd start with 5 days of slimfast for breakfast and lunch. I hate it. Dinner last night was heavenly! I've already lost a couple of pounds though and feel like I've lost all the water weight from eating crappy. I eat way too much processed food because I hate to cook.

I KWYM about all the processed foods - I can definately tell the difference too.I have to weigh myself today - I am pretty sure I won't show a loss - I wasn't watching what I was eating at the lake, and I think I managed to scarf down a bag of kettle chips. OUCH! Lots o' salt, lots o' grease. But I've been good since we've been back and worked out every day + a walk yesterday. I'd be happy to maintain this week.

I see you already delved in to your project, but I was going to agree with Liz (I remembered her name) and say that if you can get a point across without appliques I really like it.

I am so glad you remembered her name... the only reason I remember yours is because it's your user name...

I prefer not to use appliques, but sometimes my creative juices just aren't there, so appliques are a nice way to get my point across.

Sweet! I can't wait to see the next fairy!

I plan to work on her today... Hopefully I can get her posted tonight. I also need to figure out what to do about hair accessories for this release... I have some ideas - so I need to go hunt down some supplies.

I am just so happy that you all guessed that my latest outfit is Tink! I know, it's pretty obvious, however, I never know if my interpritations are going to over flow into everyone else's. LOL

Oh - and I might do another post for my PTR this morning... I am trying to decide which one to do, since I have a few ideas.

D~

 

[cogero]

I love your Tink if i didn't say so before.

I need to use my crockpot more to eliminate all the processed foods that I tend to eat.

I am resting today I think because my body is so sore from yesterday though I am not a 100% sure.

Off to get the kids to school and I want to finish a skirt before I go.

 

[DMGeurts]

So, I thought I'd do another installment to my PTR. I wasn't planning on having a mini TR in this PTR - but that's what it turned out to be.

Our trip of a lifetime, October 2008.

It started with my next door neighbor and I out on our usual walk, telling each other that we really needed a vacation. We are both Disney lovers, so we decided to do a joint family trip to WDW. We chose October, because we had been 4 years previous to that, and loved MNSSHP - it was only an accident that we were going exactly 5 years after our first trip.

Because of my disappointment from our 2003 trip, and me feeling like we wasted a lot of time and $$ because we didn't plan properly, I was determined that this would be "the trip of a lifetime".

So, the initial cast for this trip was:
My family: Josh, D~, A & V
Our next door neighbors: Z, K, L (dd -4 y/o), and D (ds 2 y/o)

Well, then she was telling her mom about the trip... so her mom decided to come, along with her brother, his wife, their ds and dd, another brother and his gf.

Then I was telling my bff from highschool about the trip, and she decided to tag along, as well. So, her family consists of her, her dh, her ds and dd.

So, there I was, planning a trip for... 19!

My next door neighbor's family wanted to be on their own - so I didn't do any planning for them, except one ADR request and which parks on which days.... they did all their own hotel planning and such.

So, I am kind of a freaky planner. I don't plan which ride at which time or anything, but I do like to have fun documents, and I like to mess around in Photoshop.

I did our entire food budget and our ADRs for my family, my neighbors and my bff from HS. So, this was weeks of non-stop photoshopping.

Since DH is military, we decided to stay at Shades of Green, we also got my bff from HS a room here. It is a wonderful hotel, and I just love the location.

So, to start our trip, our flight from MSP left early in the morning, we had to change planes in ATL - which was a mad rush to a concourse halfway across the airport. I think we had 1 hour inbetween flights - so we were running. I felt so badly for the girls, because I didn't realize how far we'd have to go, and their backpacks were packed full!

On the flight:

Our towncar picked us up at baggage claim and whisked us away to the magic - our driver was really awesome and we really enjoyed him.

(sorry about dd hiking up her pants... it's my only picture of our towncar)

Our first glimpse of the magic:

Shades of Green:

View from our room:

While we were waiting for everyone to arrive, we walked over to the Poly to check out the resort. The Poly is my dream resort, and if I ever win the lottery (after taking all my Dis pals on a cruise) I will spend a month at the Poly.

Anyways - I ended up snapping one of my all time favorite pics of the girls:

The plan for our first evening, after everyone arrived, we'd head over to MK - go no further into the park than the flagpole, sit on the curb and watch Spectromagic. That way, we could see the parade for the only night it was showing while we were there, we could get in and get out relatively quickly. So, that's what we did.

After the parade, we got out of the park as quickly as possible, and ended up on the pier at the Poly and watched the fireworks. It was a perfect end to our frist day.

 

[DMGeurts]

Day 2: AK

We were there for RD - but we were at the back of the pack.

Our mission: EE. We snagged FP for later in the day, and then we got in line... we were all so excited to ride this ride, except for little dd - she was a bit scared - but was easily bribed with a pin from the ride if she did it.

And then we got to experience our first piece of Magic. CM Richard found my girls, and granted them a wish. See, this was our first experience with pin trading - we are all addicts now - part of the fun is talking to new people and learning new things. Richard really made our day special that day.

And of course, a few photo ops from around the park:

Probably the worst picture of me, EVER, but my fav of Donald. I think I might have been blushing.

This was the last sighting of Josh's pressed pennies that he worked so hard to get from AK that day. He took them out to show the girls at KRR, and left them sitting on the bench - he didn't realize it until we were back at the hotel for the night. He was so mad!

Josh and Allison on EE with our FP - V and I decided to sit this one out.

 

[DMGeurts]

Day 3: DHS
(I wasn't planning on doing a mini TR - but I guess it's turning into that - I will try to speed it up)

We did the obligitory, TSM run... I'd guess we were at the middle of the pack.

My BFF's DH is a personal trainer (he does a lot with The Biggest Loser camps in MN) - so dd was just thrilled when he lifted her onto a palm tree and left her there. LOL

Dd and bff's dd:

Our first ADR of the trip - 50's PT

I loved this calendar, because it's from our home state.

And lucky for you all - my camera batteries (all 3 of them) died early. So, I never got any pictures of F! However, we did have another Magical Moment that was captured by a Photopass photographer...

We went to meet Scorcer Mickey at DHS... we were the only ones in line, and Mickey started tickling my dd... I remember leaning back to the photographer and telling him that my camera batteries were dead - I begged him to capture this, and here is what he got:

You can see Mickey reaching for dd's underarm here:

And by this time, he had chased her around the room:

 

[DMGeurts]

Day 4: MK
Our first experience with MK RD - I am totally hooked! What a fun show and a spectacular way to start your day!

We decided to hop the train back to Fronter Land... we had the area almost to ourselves for over an hour!

Goofy found our family, and decided to give us a huge magical moment. DH was kind of cranky this morning and Goofy really turned his day around. Goofy came up behind Josh while he was pressing his pennies - he tapped him on the shoulder, and begged him for some $$ so he could press a penny too. Goofy spent about 10 minutes with just our family, and honestly one of our favorite memories of this trip.

We rode BTMRR about 5 times... one of the CMs there was so funnny too... he kept telling everyone to "buckle up", so everyone would fall for it, and panic because there aren't any buckles. LOL And we'd just crack up with him.

Then on to my fav ride - SM.

And of course, on our way to our LTT ADR, we found Donald, and I just had to stop and say hi! He also signed my messenger bag - front and center - where I was saving a big spot for him.

The kids in front of LTT:

Then Josh, D~, Lynnie and Jay:

My BFF and her family at LTT:

The girls got to hula hoop in front of the castle:

Then, some much cherished photos in Toon Town...

Funny how both my girls sat at the sewing machine, and I chose the pottery.

Then V found Pooh and Tigger:

Fast forward to the end of the day... we were a bit tuckered out:

We decided to take the boat back to the Poly and walk back to SoG:

 

[DMGeurts]

Day 5: Epcot

First we headed to Soarin' to get our FP for later.

Then we went to TT to ride.

And as soon at WS opened, we headed counter clockwise around the lagoon...

Victoria had to stop and get a picture at her garden.

Both girls decided to do the activity - masks:

We found a photopass photographer, who we told that we had prepurchased the CD... so he took us out of line for Pooh and Characters, and took our family on a bit of a photography adventure:

The photographer assured us, when he took us out of line, that we'd get our spots back... so when we got back there was a huge line, and he put us right in front... I think some of the families were mad at us - and I don't blame them, we offered to get back in line, but the photographer insisted that we were first, and we should go first.

A couple of PP pics from around WS:

Met Belle and Beast:

Then Dopey decided to come into the line and entertain my girls... he stole Victoria's mask, and started teasing her with it.

 

[DMGeurts]

Then we had to rush back for our dinner ADR at GG... one of our favortie character meals on this trip.

We were all really full:

We hung around for Illuminations:

We rode TT again:

Josh and Alli rode Mission Space (Josh loved it) while V and I hung out in the shop at the end - FOREVER.

Then we rode Soarin' finally - awesome ride!

One more photo op:

 

[DMGeurts]

Day 6... Rest, swim and MNSSHP

We had a breakfast ADR at O'hana... It wasn't the best experience, but the food was good. And once Stitch made it to our table, we were much happier.

We toured around the Poly for a while.

Then we hopped the Monorail over to the Contemporary, because we all wanted to check it out. One the way back to SoG - our family got to pilot the Monorail.

I had to take a picture of the TTC, where we spent a good majority of our last vacation at WDW.

A few more pics at the Poly:

The walk back to SoG:

Then we relaxed and enjoyed our resort a bit, the girls swam, and I relaxed by the pool.

Then it was time for MNSSHP:

Josh got toe be "that guy" at MI:

We rode BLSRS:

And TTA:

Our neighbors at MNSSHP:

Most of our group:

My BFF's family:

 

[DMGeurts]

Other random PP pics:

D~ waiting for her favorite part - the parade:

V sleeping on the sidewalk waiting for the parade to start:

Love the haunted mansion portion!

And the gravediggers - AWESOME!!!!

A couple of Villian pics at the Villian mix n' mingle:

 

[DMGeurts]

Day 7: MK - our last park day.

We had an early morning ADR at CP, so we were able to go into the park before opening.

They had just opened the Fairy meet n' greet - so Victoria and I headed that direction... it was quite the long line, so I sent her into the Princess line while I stayed in Tink's line... the smart girl that she is, got a Photopass card from the princess line, so she could have her pictures from meeting them - LOL. I am sure the people back there thought something was up, because here's the girls seemingly by herself, getting her own photopass card, having her bag signed and posing for pictures. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't let her out of my sight - but I could see her the entire time she was in line, and she exited right where I could see her the whole time - so the only time I couldn't see her was while she was in with the Princesses.

Anyways, here's a few of her photopass pics:

She came right out and joined me again to wait for Tink and the other Fairies.

We again headed over to Frontierland to ride our favorites... BTMRR and Splash.

And we spent some time on TSI:

And then I got the girls' shadows done.... probably the cheapest and my most favorite souvinier of the whole trip: