Quiet Book Week - David & Goliath {Template}

Today we're checking out David and Goliath.  This page is pretty easy with very few moving parts.

The rock is attached to the slingshot with braided embroidery floss so you can swing it around and get that big bad Goliath right in the head (his angry teeth are my favourite). 

Click the icon for a template of your pieces. 

Cut them out and layer them appropriately.
I used embroidery floss to make his shoes look laced and I added stuffing to Goliath's shield and to David's rock.


You can read a few tips for working with felt here.
And check out yesterday's post, Noah's Ark.


Tomorrow we'll look at Ammon protecting the sheep (if that story isn't familiar don't worry, I'll explain tomorrow).

What Catie Wore Wednesday #38

I finally did something I should have done ages ago, I increased the size of this column so I can post extra large landscape photos.  Enjoy the change.


Thursday

She's doing her favourite activity here, looking for "Wok" aka, rocks.


Cherry Blue T - Superstore
Skirt - Old Navy
Sparkly Shoes - Target


Friday

Cousin Gwen came to visit and they watched tv together in cute dollar store chairs.


Polka dot dress - Carters
White Lace Capri's - H&M


Saturday

Brown T - Annabanana
Plaid Capri's - JC Penny


And this photo was just too cute to not share.

This is one little girl that really likes to colour.


Sunday

I love this dress so much.  It's from my Auntie Betty, not sure the store.  The white t is from H&M.


And a photo of her latest wound.

We were walking into church and she walked right into the corner of the open door.  The heavy metal door.  She was not happy and it looks far worse in person, today it's started to be nice and yellow.


Tuesday

It's possible this is the worst photo of Catie I've ever shared.  I promise she's not drugged.

The shirt is another from Auntie Betty.
The shorts are from H&M and the shoes are from Old Navy.


She's clutching a handful of Woks!



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Quiet Book Week - Noah's Ark {Template}

This page is one of my favourite's and it's definitely Catie's favourite (though Jonah is quickly climbing the charts). I'll admit it's a time consuming one but the little animals are so worth it.

Here's what the page looks like when you flip to it.

And with the door open. 

I used an adhesive velcro dot to keep the door closed.  I was worried the adhesive wouldn't be strong enough but it hasn't given us any troubles and it gets played with a lot. 

The polka dot on top is just ribbon that I cut to fit and sewed on.  The door to the ark is three layers of felt because I wanted it to be stiff, then I sewed the lines to give it texture (this page gives your book some serious bulk).

Here's a shot of the animals alone. 

I hand stitched the turtles and all the other small details (faces, pink of ears, hearts, giraffe spots and even the lions) but I was able to use my sewing machine for the giraffes and hippos.  Make sure you do all the details on the front of the animal before you sew on the back piece so you don't have messy stitching back there.  They're all stuffed with a little batting to give them some dimension (only the turtles shells are stuffed, not their bodies).

If you click the icon below you can download the template for this page.

Using the template cut out your pieces and sew them together using my tips from yesterday. 

To add the scripture reference at the top I used the computer to come up with a font and size I liked and then I printed it nice and dark.  Then I took my paper and placed it underneath my white square, I gently traced over the words with a pencil and then stitched them on.  I have a file with all the references I used and I'll give that to you to download at the end of the series.

Tomorrow will be What Catie Wore Wednesday as usual but Thursday we'll see David and Goliath, and Goliath is pretty fierce so you better come check him out.

Quiet Book Week!

While sitting in church a couple weeks ago and watching Catie play with her quiet book I realized I hadn't ever blogged the scripture pages I made for her.  I put her book together just after she was born and I blogged about the original 10 pages but then I decided to make some scripture pages.  Initially the plan was to make a separate book but I soon lost interest in felt and it became clear that it wasn't going to happen so instead I finished them up and put them in her current book.  It's now huge but adorable so we lug it to church every week anyway.  There are 6 new pages so I thought we'd do a page a day until you've seen them all (taking a break for What Catie Wore Wednesday).  Also, I've made up templates for each of the pages so you can print them off and make your own (I really hope someone is interested and I didn't kid myself into thinking they're awesome).


Before we start on the actual pages though today I wanted to show my favorite trick when working with felt, there are super crappy pictures to go along with it so hopefully you'll get what I'm saying.




Often with felt you need to sandwich two layers together to give some strength and stability, so what do you do?  You cut out two shapes the same size and sew them together.  But in the end the two pieces always end up shifting so they're not exactly the same size anymore.  I always ended up trimming my edges so my end result was smaller than the beginning and it didn't look as clean and I wanted it to.  Also, if your piece is intricate it's difficult to move the flimsy felt around the sewing machine and you end up with messy looking lines.


For these crummy pictures we're going to use a little naked man who will eventually become Jonah.  So start by cutting out your shape, in this example we'll be using his body and hair.

Since Jonah is going to be 3D (not sewn to the page), you want the back of him to look as nice as the front so go ahead and stitch his cute little face on.  It's much easier if you wait to put his hair on until later so imagine him hairless. 

Once that's done take your little Jonah body and lay it over some more flesh covered felt.  Cut out a chunk that goes all around his body, not cutting too close to the outline.

Stitch all the way around Jonah (still imagining him hairless).  Once that's done you can cut away the excess and you're left with two neat, lined up edges and on the back you don't see any of the stitching from the face (He definitely has one leg fatter than the other hey?  Guess he needs to do some toning, good thing his clothes hide it).

Once his body is done do the same with his hair.  Cut out the front hair piece and stitch it on but only stitch the hairline.  The back piece will need to be sewn along the top edge as well so you can sew those two pieces at the same time.  The back of the hair won't frame his face of course so cut out the bottom of the hair to look the way you want and leave the rest a big square, like so.   See how the front hair is stitched on at the hairline and the back is just cut along the bottom.

Line the bottom hairline where you want it and stitch your two layers of hair on and then trim off the brown excess like you did with the body.  Make sure when you're sewing the bottom hair line on that you're only stitching through one layer of felt, you don't want to see brown threads running across his face.


When you're done this is what the back of Jonah looks like.

 Like I said, this is my favorite trick with felt but I do have a few more tips to share.


You can see that for the above pieces I hand stitched everything, it's so small I find it just as easy to sew it by hand then to use the sewing machine, I use that for bigger pieces but you can use the machine for everything if you want.  When using a sewing machine on felt increase your stitch size just a little, it gives a slightly better look to the end product.


Also, as tedious as it seems make sure you always match your thread colour to your felt colour.  It will look much more professional if you take the time to switch, even if it means re-threading your sewing machine 12 times.

One last point, quite books are a ton of work!  They're worth it though when you get to watch your kids be entertained by something you made.

So there you go, an introduction to Quiet Book Week.  Come back tomorrow and see Noah's Ark, it's real cute. 


*Update* 
I should have mentioned that my pages are all made out of white cotton and the size of each is 12" x 12".  In hind site I would have made them a little smaller, I find the size awkward.  If you want to make that change though my templates will be too big and you'll have to shrink them. 

One last tip, quiet books are all about layers.  Take this photo for example.

The first thing you would sew on would be the tan house at the top of the ark because you want the ship to overlap it.  So you would sew on the tan house, then the brown ship, then the door of the ark.  Then you'd sew on the brown window.  The beak of the dove goes next and then the white of his body followed by his wing.  Lastly you'd sew on the leaf in his beak.  It helps to lay all your pieces where you want them before you sew any of them on.

Simiple Serendipity Winner

I know that technically I was supposed to end the SimpleSerendipity giveaway yesterday but since I had a post ready I bumped it to today, no harm done hey?


I used a random number generator and guess who won?


Janine!


I liked her comment, she said, "Those earrings are just what I'm looking for to jazz up my entirely lame work wardrobe! I'm so tired of plain gray trousers and neutral blouses."

So Janine, there's uh, a Canada Post strike on.  How about I get my butt in gear, finish your quilled letter and then we can get together and skip the shipping.  Sound good?

And for those of you that didn't win, you should go buy something, here's one more picture of the loveliness you can find.

These are the Simple Marie Blue earrings, happy shopping.

Face of the Day

I felt like yesterday I had an especially good hair and make-up day so I thought I'd share, if that bores you I can understand.

I used a dark shadow at the base of my eye and then a shimmery purple.  I followed it with really dark black liner and then some really crappy purple liner over that (it's not dramatic enough to be worn on it's own).  I applied a ton of mascara and called it good.

Thanks for indulging me.  Go ahead, make an extra effort on yourself today, it'll make you feel good.

What Catie Wore Wednesday #37

I don't actually write about Catie very often but this week I'm going to do a little so bear with me.


Catie's a very active little girl who learned to crawl before she learned to sit up.  Why sit when you can army crawl, and then really crawl and then walk until soon she ran just about everywhere she went.  I mention this because it makes me feel a little better about the fact that until very recently she didn't speak, at all.


Most kids learn Dada, and then Mama and then they grow they're vocabulary but Catie seems to be learning differently,  she'll say a word every once in a while (we heard Grandma once) but then we'll never hear it again.


When she was 19 months she finally decided to start communicating with words and she started with no.  It sounded like she had a cold and had a definite "d" in there, (dho) but it was clearly no.  A week or so later she added yes (yah, with a big head nod).  Her list is slowly growing and I wanted to document it here so I remember, so here is a very small list of words she says.
Thank you (usually she uses sign language but occasionally she'll use words instead)
Go (though it sounds more like Gah)
Fish (isss)
And Grandma West and I clearly heard her say once, "I don't like it"


It's so nice to have her finally be able to start to communicate with words, and while I know it will wear off I sure love hearing that no. Also, for a girl that doesn't speak she sure talks constantly, there is always a stream of words coming from her.  Brad and I joke that we just forgot to get an English speaking baby.  I look forward to the conversations I'll get to have with her one day but for now I'm just savouring the yes and no.


Okay, onto what she wore this week and as a rare bonus there's even a photo of me.



Thursday

Short sleeve white onesie - Carters
Flower T - Carter's (altered by me)
Jean Capris - Old Navy (cut off by me)
Pink flip flops - Old Navy


Saturday

Red T - Children's Place
Ruffle Skirt - Children's Place
Black ruched pants - Children's Place


Sunday

This dress and sweater was a girft from Grandma West and the photo really doesn't do it justice, it looked so cute on her.


White Sweater and Dress - JC Penny
Pink Sandals - Walmart


Monday

 White Onese - Carters
Striped Sweater - Superstore
Jean Mini skirt - Children's Place


For a girl that get's her picture taken so often you'd think she'd be great at posing but you'd be wrong.  I chase her with a camera until I get lucky but today I asked if she would stand up for Mommy so I could take a picture and she did, for 3 seconds.  Luckily I was quick.

Tuesday

A rare photo of me
White Onesie - Carter's
Plaid Dress - Second Hand but made by Ralph Lauren
I think the shoes really make this outfit and they're from Target (they're red and sparkly)






You can find me linked up at

Making the World Cuter

I wanted to write a rare Saturday post to let you know that today my Make-up Magnet Board is being featured at Making the World Cuter, you should go check it out.

I love Tiffany's blog and have been reading it for quite some time, you can find all sorts of inspiration there especially with the clothing re-fashions she's been doing lately.  If you're in a blog slump and looking for something new than check it out.

Simple Serendipity {Giveaway}

I have discovered this amazing Etsy Shop and it's not fair to keep it from you.  

 Sara from SimpleSerendipity couldn't be any nicer and you won't believe it but nothing in her shop is over $5.  I was so impressed that I sent a message telling her so and she responded with the following, 

"When I started this shop, I did so because my husband took a paycut at work and I wanted to do something to help out. We had just finished 5 years in graduate school and I know what it's like to feel like you can't spend any money on yourself. I wanted to start a shop where EVERYONE could afford something. Yes, I know there are people selling similar things on Etsy for much more, but I felt strongly that I wanted to appeal to people who are in the boat that I have been in (still in-- we are slowly digging our way out of our student debt)." 


I placed on order and received such a fun package.

She even included this cute personal note.

And here's a really crummy picture of what I ordered (I would have taken a new one had I seen how bad it was).

 I'm going to include some of Sara's picture's since they're so much better.

First is the Robin's Egg Nest pendant and chain

these are super popular right now and Sara makes such a cute one

  Simple Wavy Blue earrings 

pictures don't do them justice, they're kind of shimmery in the light

These are the Simple Darling Diva earrings and I have them in white and black.

The other items I couldn't find listed anymore but this is only a small sampling of the cute things she has to offer.  You should check her out and order something lovely for yourself.


I thought since I have such a fun package of goodies that I'd offer one of them as a giveaway, one lucky winner will get the Simple Darling Diva earrings in white.  They're big but delicate and not heavy at all.


I'll give two ways to enter,
1. Leave a comment on my blog telling me you love and want the earrings (if you don't love them I'm keeping them for myself).
2. Visit SimpleSerendipity and 'like' her Etsy shop, come back and leave a second comment.


Next week I'll pick a winner and ship off the earrings.

Good luck

What Catie Wore Wednesday #36

Only 4 pictures this week, sorry.

Wednesday

Great expression hey?
Grey Sweater - H&M
Pink T - Superstore?
Skinny Jeans - Children's Place

Saturday

White Onesie - Carters
Argyle Vest - H&M
Skirt - Old Navy
Brown Capris - Superstore
Pink Tennis Shoes - Gap

Monday

White Onesie - Carters
Cute Cupcake Tank - This is from Betty, not sure where it came from
Capris - Jeans from Old Navy, hemmed by me

Tuesday

White T - H&M
Flower Dress - Carters (second hand)
Brown Capris - Superstore

I had originally paired this with a white onesie but that was unacceptable because she couldn't find her belly button.  I changed it to a t-shirt and she was much happier.