A Transition and an Evolution

smallgrapes — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 23:18:56 +0000

Please visit my new sewing adventure, Sound Sew.

Fabric by the Yard – Just $7 a yard!

smallgrapes — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 17:23:01 +0000

Please check out the Small Grapes Etsy shop. All fabrics have been reduced to just $7 a yard. h

Back to School, Kicking my Butt

smallgrapes — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:34:51 +0000

Ahhh, I remember this now from last year. This build up to back to school! Hip, hip, hooray! And then the first week ends up being more stressful for me as the parent than it was for the child actually IN school. And to really compound the issue, one daughter started school last week and the other started school today. Two weeks of back to school? Bring on the coffee. And send some patience.

Seeing as how I’ve already quickly scratched out THREE letters to her primary teacher as well as the PE teacher on the backs of school paperwork, I figured it was time to create a notepad with our information on it, her name, and the reason I’m contacting the teacher or school. Sub Bob Marley and all the other info with our info, and here is my Teacher Note that I’m planning on printing and out and making notepads with. One for the house, one for my purse, one for the car, and one for the one that I will inevitably loose.

Hope everyone is having a fantastic week. Now I’m off to find some coffee. And change a diaper. Just keepin’ it real, folks.

Have a Whale of a Day

smallgrapes — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:01:04 +0000

Another day, another lunch love. Since day one went over so well, here we are with day two. This whale will also grace her birthday invites since she is on a whale kick.

Download the whole lunchlove collection here.

Back to School Lunch Love

smallgrapes — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:25:52 +0000

My oldest daughter is back to school tomorrow. First grade, eek! We meet her teacher tonight, drop off school supplies, and tomorrow she heads out to another year of school. We’ve had a really terrific summer and this last weekend was absolutely perfect and fantastic. We’ll miss summer but she’s ready and we are all ready for Fall. Bring it.

Tonight I’ll pack her lunch and pop in this little lunchlove card that I created. I’ll write a little note appropriate for her ready level on the back. I wish I could see her face when she opens her lunch and sees a note from mama.

I know we are probably the latest to go back to school, but download the card here.

Hi, Hello, Welcome.

smallgrapes — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:11:47 +0000

We are off today to update immunizations and spend some time at the park, but I wanted to share a couple of little cards I’ve been working on. We have new neighbors and it’s always nice, in my opinion, to drop a line or stop by. These are meant to be flat cards that you can print and jot a quick note on the back but could easily be adapted to a folded card. Tuck it in with a batch of chocolate chip cookies are you are golden.

download for free here.

Another Set of Hangtags

smallgrapes — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:29:27 +0000

As a mom of two girls and a boy, I kept thinking about the hangtags that I posted yesterday and how I wanted a set that I could use in Bert’s room. So, that inspired a new color scheme and font choice for him.

Download it here or by clicking on the image above.

Let me know if you have any feedback or suggestions. I’m having a blast designing again.

Rainbow Closet Rod Hang Tag Free Printable

smallgrapes — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 15:58:06 +0000

Another free printable for prepping for the start of school next week. I absolutely HATE pulling outfits out of my magic mom hat at the last moment so this time around, we are planning in advance. I’ve seen these before where you basically use a door hanger and hang it on the actual hanger, but that seems messy and overboard to me. So, I created these round ones that go on the actual closet rod. This way, you don’t have to put the whole outfit on one hanger but just rearrange your hangers as needed. I think a little drawstring bag for undies and socks to hang on a hanger would work great here, too. Ideas, ideas!

Download here.

Another Free Printable

smallgrapes — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 20:14:08 +0000

With school starting soon for us (the 7th!), it’s time to get organized and start planning out of our time better. Ending are the lazy days of Summer. I wanted a full page (8.5″x11″) weekly calendar and so that is what I created using the popular cross hatch fabric pattern as well as the yellow and gray color scheme. I love it and am starting to implement it already.

Download the Weekly Calendar for FREE here.

Finally Finished!

smallgrapes — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 19:15:18 +0000

I finally finished up Bert’s quilt. It is based off of the New Wave pattern by Oh Fransson!. I’m only…oh, a year late on it or so. I think I started it last February.

Anyways, I had started hand binding it and it is impossible with Bert and with the girls and with life in general right now. I could only bind in snippets of about two minutes and usually had a boy crawling all over me or trying to snuggle under his blanket.

I sat down with my morning coffee to read blogs and came across a post on zig zag stitching quilt bindings. I was so inspired that I ran upstairs and finished his quilt up in about five minutes. Is it perfect? Heck no. Does it matter? Not at all. I quilted this for him to use and if I continued on the route of hand binding, it would be too small for him to use in about five minutes.

Will I use this technique again? Certainly! If I were to hand bind every quilt, none would ever get done. I was never satisified with using a straight stitch to bind quilts but the zig zag stitch is great.

Quilt Details:

Size: Crib
Fabrics Used: Green Mini Dots from All Star 2 for Riley Blake, Green Argyle from Hooty Hoot Kangaroo for Riley Blake, Green Plaid from Felicity for Riley Blake, Orange Bullseye Stars from Riley Blake, Main Green Stars from All Star 2 for Riley Blake, Large Orange Polka Dots from All Star 2 for Riley Blake, Square Green Raindrops from Rainy Days for Riley Blake, Blue Whales from Urban Zoologie by Anne Kelle for Robert Kaufman, Green Bullseye Stars from All Star 2 for Riley Blake, Green Main Stars from All Star 2 for Riley Blake, Earth Elephant Dots from Urban Circus by Laurie Wisbrun for Robert Kaufman, Large Green Polka Dots from All Star 2 for Riley Blake, Orange Mini Dot from All Star 2 for Riley Blake. Backed in Cream Star Dot Flannel from All Star for Riley Blake.