It's been a crazy month!!!

I know I always start my blog saying that it's been a long time since my last post. Well, I'm not going to do that today :-) And, I'm not going to bombard you with all the great and not so great things that happened to me since my last post. I'll never finish LOL

Instead, I'll leave you with something fun to watch. Here is a little Zumba demonstration that we did on WBTV about three weeks ago. We were trying to promote our zumbathon. If you don't know which one I am, it's easy to find me. I'm the one that seems to be a little lost and always doing the opposite of what everyone else is doing :-) It was so much fun though!!!

I wonder why I'm always seem to be doing something different! Check out this photo!
If you are in the Charlotte area, try to go to a zumba class at the Siskey Y on Monday nights. It's a party! I think is the only exercise room in town that turns into a real club party at night. We have five disco lights in that room!!!! It's awesome!!! We even have theme night where people come dressed for the occasion. Last night was disco night. Those who wanted to join the fun were dressed in shimmery outfits!!! It's so much fun. You don't even know you are exercising:-)

Ok, my dog is calling me. I'll continue at another time. Have a great day!

The Holiday Boot Camp Pledge

I, Larissa (BeyondStitches), pledge to participate in the Etsy Success Holiday Boot Camp to the best of my abilities. I vow to check in every week, do my homework and support my fellow Holiday Boot Campers. I will read the weekly newsletters and blog posts, check in on the weekly forum thread, read the weekly blog post, check off the checklists and salute the mascot. I promise to share what I've learned with those who need it, support my fellow Etsy indiepreneurs and, most of all, have a positive and persistent attitude. I understand that together we can spread the word about our handmade and vintage goods, making this holiday season a more unique and meaningful one to gift givers and give-ees everywhere!

Dolls, Dolls, Dolls! I just love them!

It's been almost a week again since the last time I posted. I know a few more weeks will probably pass before I post again :-) I wanted to post these before we go on vacation.

Remember the cute outfits I was making for my nieces American Girls? Well, I made a few more. I really hope they fit the AG dolls. I don't have an AG doll to try them on. I used one of the first crocheted dolls I made like 15 years ago to model some of the outfits.


Here on the left, she is wearing a very cute dress for a tea party in the afternoon :-) You can tell the dress is a little small for her. My doll has a longer torso than normal :-)

Here, she is wearing a black and hot pink tutu with a black and silver leotard. The leotard is in crochet.

I have no idea why these next two photos turned out like this. I tried uploading them a few times but every time they would come out like this. I gave up! This is one of the reasons I don't blog as often. It takes me hours to post a little thing. I don't find blogger very user friendly. Or, maybe my skills are lacking on that department :-)

Shoes to go with her tutu outfit and knit high pants to go with the orange sweater. The flower on the side is a double layer rose crocheted with variegated blue and orange.

The sweater was made with orange and hot pink Caron Simply soft. I made the fabric buttons to match.


Last, but not least, I wanted to share my batch of dolls that will be going to Freethekids.org to support Sarah's DollyDonations.

I love the way they turned out! I've been practicing my drawing skills so I can come up with my own pattern :-) Also, I've been practicing my sewing skills :-) I want to be really good (fast) at it so I can make tons of dolls and make kids happy all over the world. I'm thinking about sending my next batch back home, Dominican Republic. We share the island with Haiti. It's a dream that I always had! I think is about time to take action and do it :-)

This Past Week

I forgot to mention about our trip to Columbia, SC last weekend to meet with my friend Wendy from Wendilerias. She is very talented! You should check her blog! Wendy and I have been online friends for over a year. We blog, FB, talk on the phone and we have supported each other through our ups and downs, but this is the first time that we actually see each other in person. We had a great time together with our families. We met at the Three Green River Greenway for a picnic. I wish I knew there was access to the river before we got there so we could be better prepared. We were just going to have a picnic and go to the zoo.

The river was inviting us, especially the kids, to go in. We gave in and decided to stay a little longer. The water was freezing, but the kids didn't care. Honestly, I didn't go in. The water was too cold for me :-) I just sat down on a rock and took some photos. There were people Kayaking and tubing.











I love this picture of my son on the left. He loves nature! He was trying to slide down the rocks. He was having so much fun until he got a thorn in his foot, ouch! That was the end of it :-( Did I mention how unprepared we were? We ended up going to the pharmacy to buy tweezers and peroxide. We still couldn't get it out until night time when he was sleeping.

I also love the picture of Wendy and her daughter! Carolina was having so much fun that she didn't want to leave. Since we couldn't go to the zoo anymore, we ended up going to Wendy's house for a little bit. Here is a picture of us:

Another really cool place that we went to this past week is Amelie's French Bakery. They have the yummiest pastries and is such a cool and cozy place! We heard so much about it, but didn't get a chance to go until now. It's in the North side of town, NoDa. We liked it so much that we went twice this week. We went Tuesday afternoon and Friday night. OMG! that place was packed on Friday. My son was having a blast. After we ate our pastries, we went for a walk around NoDA. They had live music at Salvador's Deli. There was also a Drum Circle outside a coffee shop.

This is a really cool lamp at the entrance made out of small pots and spoons.
This is the chimney and piano area.

After finishing our yummy pastries, we sat down in one of the big couches. Gaby was browsing a book and I was knitting(finally took my needles out after a whole year). did I tell you that I also found a yarn store around NoDa. It was closed. I need to plan another trip there early during the day so I can check the yarn at The Yarn House.

This post is becoming too long. I will have to continue to sum up the week on another post. I hope you are not too tired from reading :-)

American Girl Outfits Part Two

I didn't know there was going to be a part two, but I just got carried away :-)
No sabía que iba a ver una segunda parte, pero me dejé llevar :-)




I made her a bikini in crochet.
Le hice unos trajes de baño tejidos a gancho.

I also made her a hat and a pair of shoes in crochet as well.
Tambien le hice un gorro y unos zapatos tejidos a gancho.




I decided to recycle part of my tutu and make one for the AG doll. My niece is going to flip over this tutu! The headband is for my niece to wear.

Decidi reciclar parte de mi tutu y hacerle uno a la muñeca AG. Sé que mi sobrina se va a volver loca con este tutu. El diadema es para mi sobrina usarlo.

I told you I got carried away LOL
I also made a crochet dress and, of course, she needed a headband too to go with it.

Te dije que me dejé llevar, :-)
Le hice un vestido tejido a gancho y, por supuesto, tambien necesitaba una diadema para combinarlo.

My niece's birthday already passed, but I keep adding things to her gift package. Hopefully, I'll mail it by Tuesday at the latest. The family is going on vacation the following week and I want to make sure the package gets there before then.

El cumpleaños de mi sobrina ya pasó, pero sigo agregando cosas a su paquete de regalo. Espero poder enviarlo a mas tardar el Martes. La familia se va de vacaciones la siguiente semana y quiero asegurarme que le llegue antes de que se vayan.

American Girl Doll skirt and Top

Yesterday was one of my niece's birthday and I thought I'd make her a dress for her American Girl doll. I didn't have a pattern, a doll or any measurements so the dress turned out more for like a Barbie doll :-) After my first attempt, I decided to look for some ideas online.


So today, I made her this set of skirt and top. Not my favorite fabric to work with (chiffon/silk), but it turned out really cute. I think she will like it! I'm thinking about making a tutu for her doll as well.


I also cut out the pattern for 5 dolls that I have pending for the Haiti dolly drive. I'm hoping to be able to finish those by this weekend. I really want to focus on my dolly drive. I might send my next batch to Ethiopia in September. I'm waiting on someone to get back to me. If not, I might take them to an Orphanage back home (Dominican Republic or Colombia). I also met this wonderful lady that just got back from a Mission trip in Liberia and she is going back next summer on another mission. I told her I wanted to send dolls with her so she is thrilled about the idea. She adopted two kids from there four years ago and they went back this summer to visit the kids family and friends. I love hearing stories like that!!!

My New Headband Display

I spent most of my time yesterday creating this headband display. It's really easy to make but, for some reason, yesterday was one of those days when nothing seemed to come out right :-) At least is done now and is being displayed very nice at a local store.

In case you are interested in making one, this is what I did:

1) Get a pole. I got this one from a friend and it seems to be one of those used at Valet parking. She actually gave it to me already wrapped with the type of foam that is used to install carpets.














Since I wanted mine to be a little wider, I bought another half a yard of foam from Hancock Fabrics ($7.99 a yard). I also bought 5/8 of a yard of the cheapest Suede fabric I found ($6.99 a yard). You will also need a scissor, tape, hot glue, needle and thread.

I wrapped the pole with the foam like this.
















Then, I wrapped it with the fabric. This is where it got all messed up :-) I miscalculated my measurements, and cut the fabric about two inches short :-( Good thing I bought enough and had the little extra to cover it. Although, it was double work for me. Hot glue was just not doing it for me so I ended up sewing the whole thing from top to bottom :-( At the top, I gathered the fabric and glued a piece of black felt to cover the small circle. I also added a daisy flower to cover that up.

Here is the finished product and how it looks with the headbands displayed.















I took it to the store today and it looks even better there :-)

So, what do you think? Not bad at all, right?

You can also make it with a PVC pipe and a piece of wood. It will require a little bit more of work though.