Scrappy

I ran a little giveaway on my Six Golden Coins blog back in April, and my bloggy friend Scrappy Sue was one of the two winners. Technically she and the other winner were the only people to even ENTER the contest, so they won just for being nice.

I promised photo bracelets as prizes, and also a customized Katie Kay Tee of their choice. Sue told me to surprise her, so this is what I made:
I hope she likes it!

Costumed Crimefighter

My new friend Gina asked me to make a shirt for her unborn niece. It appears that the daddy is a BIG superhero fan, so Gina requested a girly superhero shirt. I have to admit I'm not so good at freehanding logos and things that are supposed to look like something besides a letter or digit, so I was a bit nervous about this. But I surprised the heck out of myself and came up with not one, but TWO shirts for the little one!

I cut a Batman logo out of a foam meat packing tray, and used that as my stamp. Isn't that just so creative and out-of-the-box? (Can you hear me applauding myself! I'm so corny.)

I ended up making two shirts because at first I couldn't find a pink six month onesie and only found a pink 12 month tank top. And then, of course, I found the six month shirt and decided to just decorate them both. Gina has promised me a photo of her niece in the shirt when she is born and can fit in it!

Lydia

Last night at the last minute, I made a onesie for Katie's teacher. No, it's not for the teacher to wear! It's for the baby girl in her tummy! Silly!

Mrs. Teacher and her husband have already named the baby Lydia. So instead of a teacher gift like chocolate or something else she might not like, I decided to make a onesie with the baby's name on it. And luckily the onesie was dry this morning and I sent it to school with Katie for the last day of school.

Now I'm hoping that when Lydia is born in October, Mrs. Teacher will send me a photo of her in the onesie!

Sophie

I met Stacy in my mom's group a few years ago. She is quite a character. Both she and her husband come from a big Greek family, so she is outwardly loving and enthusiastic. She's one of those people you meet and can't believe life can always be so great. I've wondered if she has bad days like me, or if she ever has a crappy attitude like I seem to harbor sometimes. I think she probably does, she it doesn't bother her much. She's perpetually happy. She and her family moved to Las Vegas a few years ago, and we saw her on our trip there last May.

Stacy already had a son, then gave birth to her daughter in January. Sophie was premature, but is catching up and growing like a weed. I found out about Sophie's arrival a little late, but wanted to send a gift to welcome her to the world.

I made Sophie a onesie to announce herself to the world.
I also decorated a fleece blanket.

Then I personalized a hat for her, although it's toddler size and might not fit for a while.
Lastly, I made a bib for Sophie - but it's truly a gift for her mommy anyway.

Hopefully I'll get a few photos of Sophie in her new gear and I can post them later for you to see!

EDIT: Here's our girl!

Yahoo! Jackson is Two!

Yes, it's official. We have survived two years of Hurricane Jackson! His birthday is as much a celebration for him as for me and Daddy.

I made Jackson a different shirt for his birthday, but decided I didn't like it very much. I'm not sure it'll ever see the light of day, especially after I made him this one and it turned out so much better. It's simple, but captures his current love (obsession) with basketball. He calls it "baa-ket-gone." I think that's because Dan always sings "Basketball Jones" to the kids, so Jackson thinks the basketballs are actually called "basketball jones."

I love how our little baby has turned into a little boy!

For Cale

We had a tiny attendee named Cale at Jackson's second birthday party. He's tiny enough that he can't eat the marshmallow party favors that the other kids received. I decided to give him four onesies as his own personal party favor. I chose some phrases for his onesies that might be a little uncommon. But since he is a family member, I figured his parents wouldn't mind too much. I think this first one is my favorite. It's so bright and colorful!

My second favorite is this one, which features his parents' last names. After all, babies are joint productions, aren't they? (I blurred the photo a bit to protect the family's privacy.)

And wouldn't we all rather be?

Lastly, this one just makes me snicker.

Ladies Man

I made a shirt for Jackson to wear for Valentine's Day... and for as long afterwards as I can get away with it! I used a new set of letter stamps, and I think he looks adorable in it.

I'm Going to Hollywood!

American Idol is back, and that means Katie wants to watch it. So, we've been trying to watch about 30 minutes a night after bathtime - which is when we usually let the kids watch their 30 minutes of TV per day. It hasn't been easy, because Jackson doesn't like American Idol and fusses when we turn it on instead of his current favorite, WordGirl. But when we do get a chance to watch AI, Katie talks about how she wants to go to Hollywood too.

This weekend, I bought some blank shirts to decorate for Katie. I asked her what she wanted to put on the shirts, and we wrote a list of about 12 different things. She narrowed it down to four choices, and here is what we have. Of course, one of them is "I'm Going to Hollywood!"

Katie also chose to have another Dude shirt.

And she said she wanted another nickname shirt with Peepers on it, because "I know you like it, Mommy."

The last shirt is something that Dan has said for about as long as I've known him. He doesn't get riled up about things as much as I do (he still gets riled up, just not as often), and will say, "It's all good." I've been repeating it to myself lately as a mantra to get me through Jackson's temper tantrums. It truly does help! And now my Katie will be a walking mantra. (Sorry the photo is fuzzy. I'll try to upload a better one when she wears it the first time!)

Photo Art

If you've seen my Six Golden Coins blog, you have seen one of my newest crafts: photo art! I have been making photo art Christmas gifts this year, and wanted to show them to you. My friend Danielle posted her gift on her blog, and here are some other samples:

If you are interested in having photo art custom-made for you, please let me know. I can do virtually any word you like and then email you a JPEG of the image for your own personal use. All I need is your photos! You can email me through my contact info, or leave me a comment in this post. Thanks!

Quilt

What do you do with a custom-made Katie Kay Tee when your child has outgrown it? Make it into a t-shirt quilt!

I have saved almost every single shirt I made for Katie. My plan was to sew them into a quilt one day, maybe when she turns 18. I mentioned this to her, and she was so excited about it that I wanted figure out a way to make her one now. I asked Grandma, and she agreed to make it for me.

Grandma came over today and we went to Wal-Mart and picked out fabric for the backing, interfacing to iron on the back of the shirts for stabilization, and quilt edging. Then we came home and cut the shirts apart, and I bled on some of the scraps after running the rotary cutter into my finger - ouch! We placed the shirt squares in the order we liked best. It kind of made me sad to know that my baby won't ever wear the shirts again. When we were done, Grandma took everything home and will start sewing and doing all the hard work.

Here's what we have ready so far. I'll post a photo of the completed quilt after Christmas.

EDIT: I'm weak, okay? I am not good at keeping surprises. So I couldn't wait until Christmas. Blame it on Grandma because she finished the quilt so quickly. (It took about four days, y'all! I can't wait to retire...) So here's the finished product, with Grandma and Katie. I LOVE it, and I'm so thrilled with how it turned out.

Daddy's Girl

I made Katie a special shirt on Friday, and she wore it today for the first time. Last winter, she had a cute brown shirt with "Daddy's Girl" pre-printed on it. She wanted to wear it again this year, but her arms have grown way too long! So I promised her I'd make her a new one. Here it is, on my sweet girl:

Worth the Wait - Anna Kathryn

I had a rush order that I completed last night after the kids were in bed. It says "Worth the Wait" and could not be more fitting for a little girl named Anna Kathryn. Her parents finally adopted her after waiting two and a half years. (See what I mean?) Her aunt Hillary ordered the onesie for a coming home party in Anna Kathryn's honor next weekend. I'm hoping that Hillary will send me a photo of Anna Kathryn in the onesie, and I can post it here for you soon.

I'm glad the wait is over!

EDIT:

Hillary left me a post on her blog with a photo of Anna Kathryn in her onesie. You can go check out Hillary's blog here, or you can just see the photo below. Isn't she absolutely adorable?! I love it!

Jackson for President

Alright, y'all. I'm tired of hearing all the hoopla over the presidential candidates. I think it's time we elect a true leader. Someone who is strong-willed and won't be pushed around. Someone who wears his heart on his sleeve, and lets his genuine emotions show through. We need a leader who is bipartisan. Someone who is in touch with the next generation of America. Someone who likes to throw bananas and play with Elmo. Someone who loves his mommy better than anyone in the world. I present to you: the next President of the United States!

Sure, he has no voting record. But he's cute, sweet (mostly), and has lots of potential. Vote Jackson for President! (If you want your own presidential t-shirt, leave me a comment and I'll whip one up for you ASAP!)

Contest Winner

My friend Danielle held a contest on her Extraordinary Mommy website, and the prize was a Katie Kay Tee custom shirt. The winner was Preppy Mama, and she asked me to make a shirt for her son's third birthday next month. I just finished it today, and will be mailing it to her this week. Hopefully she'll send me a photo of the birthday boy in his shirt next month, and I'll update this post and add it too. For now, here's the shirt after it was painted:

UPDATE: Here's an early preview of the birthday boy in his shirt!

Steele Butterflies

I completed my first Lupus Walk yesterday after being diagnosed with lupus last week. (It was more of a coincidence that the timing was so close - it wasn't planned that way!) My friend Catrina (who walked with me) and I decided to have shirts made with our team name, Steele Butterflies. Steele is my maiden name, and butterflies are the symbol of the Lupus Foundation. I contacted friends who own Missy Doo's Embroidery, and had them make a rush order for us. They put together these awesome shirts:


I didn't have a shirt made for Dan because I thought the butterflies might be too girly, and I didn't expect him (or the kids) to walk with me. So I made Dan and the kids their own shirts, to show support for our team. They turned out pretty well! Here's the close-up, and a photo of our family in our shirts.

I love the Team Steele shirts. I think I'm going to have the kids wear theirs when I'm having a bad day, as a way to boost my own morale. Is that too self-serving of me? Some days you need all the inspiration you can get!

ONEderful Maclain

I'm behind in posting on my Katie Kay Tees blog! I've been meaning to post a photo of the shirt I made for a friend's son, Maclain. Here it is:

And here's a photo of the lucky guy. Isn't he cute?