I don’t have a ton of craftiness to show today, nor very good photos, but (cue the excuses…) I have two very good reasons for my lack of crafts this week. (And as usual my excuse for poor photos – waiting til the very last minute to take them, and not a ray of natural light to be found.)

So, first of all, J. is leaving for two weeks this morning for the ProBowl and SuperBowl. Which means that a bunch of the past weekend was spent hanging out with Daddy and packing him up for his trip. It was more extensive than it sounds, believe me.

And secondly, I started training in earnest again for the triathlon season. I was a bit slacking last year, but I have already signed up for the Pasadena one in March (in.eight.weeks!) and I’m planning on finding at least two others this summer to keep me motivated and training this time. So I found myself a sucker, training partner, my friend B., and we have been mapping out our workouts, most of which we try to do in the morning. Which pushes my errands, laundry, day-to-day stuff into the afternoon. Which pushes other stuff (PTA, work, blogging, photo-ing, etc…) into the wee evening hours. Which? Leaves not very much time for crafting. And also hasn’t allowed me to put anything up in the store, which I had hoped to do after the first of the year.

But, well…February is still “after the first of the year” now, isn’t it? So there is always hope.

After I did all that complaining that I was SuperCape’d out, I did make another one for Addie & Em’s dear little friend Frankie. She turned 4 and her mom said she has taken to running around yelling, “Frankie! Flower Power!” So this special edition flower cape was created just for her.

I actually really liked the color of this cape. It was a nice change from the blue, pink and purple I ususally do.

I also made a little blanket for Maverick. It looks suspiciously like the burp cloths I made for him, no? Well, come to find out Meesh was using the cloths as little blankies for him. But, as babies are prone to do, he went and started growing and stuff and the burp cloths are not cutting it any longer. So this should hold him for a year or two…

I have another baby gift ready to go out to my cousin, too. But it hasn’t actually been put in the mail yet – and I don’t want to ruin the surprise, so I’ll save it for next week.

How about all of you? Have you been busy bees?

I have been a cleaning, organizing machine around here – so I don’t have too much craftiness to show. But would you like to see our completely cleaned out closets? How about the neat playroom where all the Christmas stuff now has a home?

I scheduled a Veterans truck pickup for last Friday to coax me into getting the rooms cleaned out and the donations ready to go. I guess it was a pretty good plan, as it, um, kinda worked! And the other half of my devious plan (mwah ha ha!) was to “pare down” the toys in the play room while both of the girls were at school. Can’t miss what you don’t even remember was there.

I also had to tackle Em’s room while she wasn’t here. That girl is a packrat in the worst way. Little scraps and pieces of everything and anything. But I am most satisfied that we are well on our way to purging and being organized. Somewhat. Well, for a few weeks at least.

Since it looks like we’ll be here for awhile, I told the girls that I would paint their rooms for them. The previous family really (REALLY) liked the color yellow. Both of the girls’ rooms and the playroom are all yellow. I like yellow just fine, but I think we are all ready for a little change and freshening up around here. So Emma thinks she wants a light-ish purple (of course) and Ad a light pink (big surprise there, too). That is on our agenda for the next few weeks, so actual crafting around here could potentially be a little light. And other than Jam and Jeff’s birthday, I don’t think we have any more until February. So we get a little breather there, too.

I do have two gifts to show that I made last week, though.

First up, I made a laptop sleeve (tutorial from Sew Mama Sew) for my Mom.

This was the same material as the lining from her bag that I gave her for Christmas. (Yeah, the one I forgot to photograph – that one.) I thought that if/when she travels and wants to take her laptop along she can slide it in the sleeve, and then into her bag.

I think it turned out ok – I really like the material. And as always there are things that I learned that I will incorporate if I make another one. That is one thing I love about sewing…you always learn a little something different with each project.

I also made a little clutch for my friend’s birthday. And also got the tutorial from Sew Mama Sew – I think their tutorials are great and their fabric…sigh. I just can’t *shop* there, I can’t control myself. Anyhow – great stuff over there and lots of free tutorials and such. Someone asked me a few weeks ago (I think it was Christina?) if I use a pattern for my bags, and I don’t anymore. The ones I did at Christmas for my sister and Mom where just sort of winging it and trying out a few different sizes. But I did notice that on SMS’s site they have a tutorial for a simple tote bag – I don’t think it has a lining, but it might be a great one to try if you are interested.

Anyhow, back to the clutch. I adapted this one a bit, too.

I just put a little wrist strap instead of a shoulder strap. I like this tutorial – it was my first time using the super stiff/strong interfacing and magnetic snaps – both are kinda fun. And I love that you can make the clutch with just two fat quarters of fabric.

I picked this fabric because my friend Kristen is a super modern and totally fashionable mom. Always pulled together. One of those moms who always looks good, and one we’d all love to hate, if we just didn’t love her so much. So this fabric was perfect for her. I had several problems with parts of this though, and I think I’d make it just a smidge bigger next time. But it is good for a phone, some cash and a lipstick. I’ll definitely be making some more of these.

Now, I’m going to peruse some paint chips with the girls. But I surely will need some fun distractions this afternoon (since I’ve been so good about cleaning and doing my chores) so show me some of your crafty goodies!