The Summer of "Yes"

As I sit here in my living room with the fireplace on, I can no longer avoid the fact that summer is indeed gone. While I love hot chocolate and cozy flannel pjs, I also loved this past summer. This was the first summer that I didn't have to rush home so the kids could nap. This was the summer where both kids were open to doing new things. So while I sewed when I had to, most of my time was spent outdoors letting them have fun and to be curious. It truly was the summer of "yes" vs "no".   Do we want to go swimming?  Yes!  Should we go to the Science Centre?  Yes!  Should we go downtown again?  Yes!   In honour of this summer, should I write an overdue post about summer?  Yes!

We stalked Pachi at almost every Pan Am event we could go to.  Little guy was obsessed... he didn't even watch the torch relay.  We saw a table tennis game and went to numerous events but in the end, it was still all about Pachi.

So proud of our city and loved that there were free concerts.

We made our mark on one of many public art installations.

It wasn't all Pan Am though...  we spent a lot of time at the beach and had our first camping trip (no pics of camping since my phone died).

We baked.

We ate prety much whatever we wanted.

We took the train downtown so we could see the balloon drop at CBC kids day.

It wasn't a summer without some classes... they were in swim, tennis, soccer, and art.

They got a taste of what it would be like to fly.  Of course Pachi had to come.

Sigh... it was such a good summer.   

Superhero Toddler Backpack

Little people like superheroes.  Sometimes they like them cutesy.

Sometimes they like them not-so-cutesy. 

They go nuts when they see them in real life.  This is Brampton Batman!

So it totally made sense when I was asked to make a superhero backpack.

My friend Jess wanted a backpack for her youngest son to add to her collection of backpacks.   Last year I made these backpacks for her little guy and her nephew.   Here's a picture of one of the bags from this past summer.  What a cutie!

 
This time she wanted something superhero-like.  We agreed on the design.

Then got the final approval

This is the part of the backpack making process that I like the most... getting it already ready to be sewn!

Here is the finished product

Side pockets - great for waterbottles, napkins, and other tiny things. 

The lining

Inside out

Bottoms up!  The bottom is quilted for extra stability.

As always, I use real backpack connectors

I made this backpack early this year when we still had snow on the ground.  It is so hard to take pictures without a lot of natural light .  It is doubly hard to take pictures of black with red.   While it may look like the backpack is some shade of grey/black, it is indeed black denim.  These pics were all taken with my Samsung phone which somehow worked out better than my Canon.  Go figure.

Happy Sewing!

Tutorial: DIY Gift Card Holder

It's the last day of school and this year, we have 4 teacher gifts to purchase.  Due to poor planning on my part, there was no time for DIY so I went the gift card route.  I went to Michael's and bought 4 gift cards.  I was surprised when the cashier told me that they don't supply little envelopes.  Considering they are an arts & crafts supply store, I would have expected more than just a piece of plastic. 

I thought about glueing the Michael's card to the thank you cards but the kids already wrote all over the cards and there was no more space.  So, I decided to make my own envelopes by using this C7 template.  It was really easy to do and here's how:

Print the template onto a blank sheet of paper and cut it out.

Then find some card stock or any kind of paper you have available.  I re-purposed some large security envelopes from the bank. 

Trace the template onto your paper.  It helps to fold the paper in half so you can cut out 2 gift card holders at once.

Here's what they look like before you fold them.

Fold and then glue the middle flaps and bottom flap.

Test out your card.

The envelope is a little larger than the gift card because I wanted to include my own personalized notes to our teachers.  If you want a smaller card, just print the template at 85%.

Seal it shut with a sticker and it's done! 

Wishing everyone a summer full of fun and exploration!