CraftyMcShannahan

Craft ADD part 3

I am such a craft-aholic.  If they had craft-anon, I would have to be the first person to sign up.  My family would have a craft intervention...they would read letters describing how my crafting affects them.  There would be crying and snot bubbles... 

I heard somewhere "If it doesn't move, put glitter on it!"  I am not a glitter person, so I ammend this to "If it doesn't move, CRAFTIFY."  There's no shame in that!  ...ok, a little shame.  I may or may not have a problem...

Case in point, my bill book.  I have a strong aversion to filing cabinets.  I mess with them at work all day long, so when I think about using them at home, I cringe a little.  I do have a filing cabinet at home, but I just throw stuff in it...mostly craft stuff like construction paper and elmers glue that I use occasionally, but not often enough to warrent a place on my giant crafting bookshelf.  But for sure, my elmers is not filed under g for glue.  In fact, it is all filed under T for Thrown-in. 

At any rate, this means that I have no filing space, so I made a bill book, which is just a binder with folders in it.  I use it for keeping my paid bill invoices and such...Like a good adult...For a long time, it was just an ugly blue binder with an add for a tile company on it.  My hubs works at a carpet store and likes to bring things home if they were throwing it out at work.  He is a hoarder...HE needs an intervention.  Not that its all bad, I got a bill book out of it...and the computer chair I am sitting in right now.  It had a hole in the plastic arm.  We covered the hole with electrical tape...and then I yarn bombed the arm...now I roll around in comfort and style! 

So anyways, I hated looking at the ugly blue binder.  It reminded me of money that I could have spent on more craft stuff if only I didn't have stupid bills.  So, I craftified it.  (I like that "craftify"...it sounds like rectify..."I am going to rectify the situation"..."I am going to craftify the situation".  What can't be fixed with a little modge podge and scrap book paper?)  Here is my better bill book:

All I did was cover it with fabric (I love this fabric...in person especially, the black makes the colored polka dots stand out so bright and cheery like).  There are tutorials for this all over the internet.  Then I just appliqued on some felt bird shapes.  I got these at Pat Catans (an awesome craft store I have mentioned before) when I went to visit my sister, M Jr.  But you could cut out your own felt shapes.  All in all, it was a really easy project that makes me feel happy when I look at my bill book...until I open it, then sad again...then shut it, and back to happy.  Shut happy, open sad, shut happy, open sad...you get the picture... 

I have another ugly blue binder that I would like to cover.  I plan on keeping all my different patterns in it that I have printed out or scavenged from different places.  This time, I would like to try to modge podge fabric onto it, instead of sewing a cover.  My bill book cover is awesome, but it does shift around and try to flee the country when I have the book open...and open=sad anyway, so then I am extra sad.  The pattern book will be happy whether open (with awesome patterns awaiting perusal) or shut (with happy fabric prettiness).  I don't want to tinge my happy with shifty fabric cover, so I plan to modge podge.  As for applique on this binder, I plan on doing some Aronzo Aranzi ones...if you don't know Aronzo Aranzi, google it!  The have the neatest stuff!  (I have The Cute Book and The Cuter Book.  They are pretty similar, but they do have a couple different projects that make it worth having both to me.  Plus amazon discounts make it hard not to be able to justify.)

I also have discovered Kanzashi flower makers.  I first heard about them on futuregirl's blog.  (She does cool stuff and has some great free patterns and tutorials.)  I only have one of the different makers, I know there are at least three different ones, maybe more.  (The store I got mine at had three different ones.)

It was easy to use.  I had fun making my little flowers.  There are a lot of applications for the flowers too.  I used mine and made magnets for my fridge...it was a little barren looking before.  (Now it is CRAFTIFIED!)  I think if you have kids that are old enough to hand sew this would be a good project for them too.  Simple enough not to frustrate, but not so simple that you're bored.  I would like to *eventually* get the other flower makers that I have seen.  You can use a single flower (like the picture on the packaging), or combine the flowers into layers (like I did in the picture above).  I think if you used roundy edge petals with pointy petals (the one I have) it would be AWESOME!

On the crochet front, there has not been a lot going on.  I am a cold weather crocheter for the most part...So now its getting back to crochet season in east Tennessee and I am slowly winding up.  I have been working on a couple things.  I have a few scarves going on, and a cowl or two.  I have a huge afghan that I have been working on for a while...I will talk about that in a ta-da post in the future.  It's so close to done that I hate to admit how long I have been procrastinating on finishing it up...  I am also working on some little double crochet squares for another afghan (I just started last week).  My sister, M Jr, gave me a whopping bag of Red Heart super saver when she came to visit.  This yarn is great for people that are new to crochet/knitting, because it is cheap, comes in a million colors and very easy to use (it doesn't split, which I think it a big pain when you are trying to learn).  The downfall is that it is kinda scratchy.  Red Heart has other yarns that are nice (and not as inexpensive) like the one I used for my blooming cushion (pattern courtesy of the lovely Lucy of Attic24):

 

The yarn is Red Heart Shimmer.  I got mine on sale for around $2.50 a skein.  Normally, at Michaels it is around $5.  It is pretty soft, even with having a metallic floss running through it.  I thought that the metallic stuff would scratch you, but so far no scratching has occurred.  The pattern is easy, although crocheting in the front loop/back loop is not usually my favorite, on this pattern it is not that tedious.  Gold star for Lucy of Attic24.  If she ever does a project I don't care for, I will eat my hat...ok, I'm not wearing a hat...but I will eat something...it will probably be cake.

My friend Maria's daughter is going to have her quincenera in November.  This is kind of like a Bar Mitzva, but for Latina girls.  Its celebrates her 15 birthday as a symbol of going from child to young woman.  It is a big deal.  I don't celebrate birthdays...another year closer to death?  HORAY!  ...yeah, I don't get it.  I do appreciate the cultural significance of quincenera though (from an anthropological standpoint...I watch "Bones" a little too much I think.)  Maria is so excited and proud of Yari (her daughter...I love that name!).  Yari was the recipient of my Pixie doll that I mentioned in an earlier post.  A big part of quincenera is the doll, which is meant to be the last doll of childhood because after this you are an 'adult'.  (For the record, I was not an adult at 15 and I am still not one at 28...maybe I need some kind of quincenera magic or something for this to happen...I don't know...but I like being a kid, so no quince for me!)  Maria has made thirty-two dolls for Yari's party so far...Yeah, a lot of dolls.  And she gave one to me!

 

I am not usually the barbie kind, but I do enjoy all the details that went into this one.  There are tiny beads and flowers and sequins all over this thing!  She styled the hair and made tiny bouquets for them to hold.  32 TIMES SO FAR!!!  I rarely repeat a project, so the thought of doing the same thing over and over gives me the heebie jeebies!  Scary!

I am not usually a trendy kind of gal, but this year I have noticed that I am liking several of them: red/aqua (or really, red/robin egg blue if you ask me), chevron patterns...I loves me a good zig zag or ripple, and mustaches.  Although, my husband has had a mustache ever since I have known him, and I don't think that mustaches were trendy 9 years ago.  (His mustache goes back farther than that, but I have only known it for nine years.)  He is a trend setter and doesn't even know it.  He mocks my mustache love as much as I mocked his mustache when we first met.  But now I love his stupid mustache and all that goes with it!  So here's a little mustache love for the week:

That's right, some mustache love!  I did several of these wooden block people at the same time, but I scrapped all of them but this guy.  (He is a magnet now.)  The others were losers...and this guy is cooler than Freddie Jackson sippin a milkshake and a sno cone.  My sister Teddy says he looks like my husband, but with less chest hair and more head hair.  Also, the hub's mustache is a little less 70's porn than this guy. *insert bow-chica-bow-wow music here* 

So behind! AKA ADD for crafting! Part 1

Arg!  I am so behind!  I haven't posted for a while...but I have excuses!  Good excuses, no...but plenty of bad ones make up for one good one, right? 

First, my awesome sister, M Jr came to visit from Ohio for a week.  And we crafted it up!  Oh, if you could see my tiny house now!  What with paper and yarn and boxes of crafts everywhere!  It is fabulous!  Ok, really, it is a mess.  Not that M Jr left it crazy tornado style when she had to go home...but that I have been feverishly crafting it up since she left.  M Jr is like a gigantic source of inspiration for crafting.  She has acquired all kinds of crafty knowledge in her comings and goings in life.  She is so inventive when it comes to crafting!  She can give you all kinds of tips, tricks, and variations on everything!  She is the reason I can never throw away a cereal box.  Now she is the reason I can never throw away plastic packaging. 

Come to think of it, I would like to blame her for me being a craft acquiring junkie.  (I hear her protests to this in my brain right now!  I only reintroduced you to crochet, but what have you done to me, with stamps, and paper, and ink, and embossing powder, and shrinky dinks, and heat guns, and unfinished wood projects!  The list could go on and you know it!)  When I die, it will be in an avalanche of various craft supplies...and it will be all M Jr's fault!  (Book her, boys!)

But I digress.  So I made M Jr's presents, as is the custom.  The first is this scary frog...which I almost didnt' give to her, becuase it is a little scary to me.  (But she liked it.  She is weird.)

Originally, I had intended to do something a little different, which I will explain in a minute.  But that didn't happen, so here is lone creepy frog.  I figure she could use him as a pin cushion or something.

I also made a broomstick crochet bracelet for her, as seen here, modeled by the creeper frog:

He wears it well.

Finally, the thing I am most excited about.  The first real deal stuffed toy I designed myself.  (I do not count things made out of felt.  Don't ask me why.  It's none of your business.  What did you call me? I defend my honor, sir. I CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL!!!  *I slap you with my dueling glove.*  I hope we can still be friends.)  Anyway, nothing too challenging at first, a simple doll:

I am so ridiculously proud of it!  I really like the simple face (the eye buttons are so cool...but they were the only two I had like that.  Now they have gone on to a better, nobler life.  Fare thee well, most perfect buttons ever!) and the felt shoes.  Also, I do like the dress material.  It was a fat quarter I have had sitting around for a while.  Actually I had two of them.  Now the other one is lonely.  I really wish I could just wear fat quarters around town.  I know, you are saying I could cut them up and make clothes (you monster!) but I really like them just how they are.  If you see a crazy lady walking down the street with fat quarters randomly pinned to her regular clothes, its just me.  (but you are welcome to drop some change in my coffee cup either way)

As you can see in the picture (I hope), this doll has bent arms.  Which is where the "what I was going to do with the creepy frog" comes in.  At first, I was going to make the doll hold the frog in her hands (note the frog crown) and make a little card that said "So you mean if I kiss him he turns into a prince?  I think I'll just keep the frog instead."  M Jr would have gotten a kick out of that.  She would have definitely just kept the frog.  But I disliked the frog ever so much!  M Jr said she really liked the frog (possible lie to save my feelings) but she was happy I didn't do that because the frog and doll have really separate styles and they would have clashed.  I think it was cause she liked the doll, but wanted to burn the frog when she got home.  That is just my guess though.

For anyone that wants to know, here is how I designed my doll:

First, I drew a couple pictures in my sketchbook a while ago with the "no way I want this frog to become a prince" idea in mind.  When I figured out which one I liked the best/was simplest, I free handed various body parts onto construction paper.  (Which I always buy and rarely use.  I don't know why I do that.  I have possible construction paper ocd.)  Of course, you are welcome to use what you have on hand...be it freezer paper or toilet paper...whatever works for you.  The good part about doing things this way is that you can play with the layout of the body parts to get it right.  For instance, originally I had a shorter torso, and it looked kinda wonky, so I just cut a new one and there you go.

This plan also worked well for the felt shoes.  Because while the construction paper shoes match up with the feet exactly, when you sew the feet, you have the loss of the seam allowances.  Because felt doesn't fray, you don't need seam allowances (I just whipstiched them together).  Therefore on the finished doll, the shoes fit on the feet snug and exactly.  In theory, this would have worked for the hair too, had I made it out of felt as was plan A.  But I had slightly not enough of the color felt I had wanted to use for the hair, and as it happened, I had the soft bulky yarn in my stash.  I am happy with the yarn hair, although in the future, I really want to try the felt hair thing...as yarn hair doing is a pain in the po-po (and my least favorite part of doll making by far).

I will tell you about the little clay dealies in the top of this picture in a future post.  Anywho, I hope this little instruction on how I did the doll pattern will help somebody.  It is a really simple way to make up your own pattern, and probably there are a million different and better versions elsewhere online...but now you have my two cents on it.  Actually, I have a future post plan for a felt doll tutorial that you can do with kids in the works, but I was kinda hoping my sister Teddy would let me borrow her step-daughter as proof that kids can do this...or I may ditch that plan and you will have to use your own kids (or borrowed kids as I would have to do) and prove it to yourselves.  Just for the record, if you borrow kids, you have to ask the parent/gaurdian first...otherwise, its called kidnapping, not borrowing.

I have so many more excuses ready for why I haven't posted in a while, but this post is getting kinda long...so here's looking forward to part two.

Super Meanie!

I love crafting...I LOVE it.  It encompasses most of my leisure time, and more of my moolah than it should.  I don't discriminate either...I lurve it all: crochet, knitting, embroidery, doll making, soft toy making, painting, working with clay, paper crafts, doodling...the list could go on forever...  Give me some supplies and all the time in the world, and I don't even think you could distract me with food or bathroom time...its both sad and true...although I occasionally stop to eat and I do need the facilities from time to time.

The only downfall to my crafting is that I get a little Type A with it.  I want things to be perfect!  If there is something going on in my giant melon head, it needs to turn out that way...AND THAT WAY ONLY!!!  I mean, having standards is one thing, but I tend to take things to the extreme.  I wonder how many things that I have done over the years have gone the way of undo, redo, or trash completely if I can't salvage it.  I tend to be a super meanie...really high expectations, no mercy.

It used to be like this for other peoples projects too.  Don't get me wrong, I would never look at something done by a beginner with my judging eyes and say poo poo.  No, I would totally encourage and coo and sprinkle it with some love dust or whatever.  But for people who have been at it for a while, who should 'know better'...I had a sharp tongue!  Sometimes I would see things online or at craft fairs and I say to myself "what the what?!?  They could be done so much better than this!"  For instance, I bought a book...that shall remain nameless...off amazon a while ago by a lady who has a nice craft blog that I visit from time to time.  The blog is great, so I bought the book...and I was so annoyed by the whole thing.  Aside from the pictures in the book, which were so awesomely done, it was a total waste of money for me.  The projects in the pictures...crap-ola.  Admittedly, there were one or two projects that used printable fabric, and that is just not my thing.  And on others, some of the ideas were great.  BUT (and that is a big but) the execution, tacky (and when I say tacky in a bad way, it is a mega insult, because usually, I love me some tacky) or just plain badly done. One of them was a embroidered onesy.  But in the book, she did it in such a way that you couldn't even put your kid in the onesy...which is fine if all you want to do is hang it on the wall...but she could have done things minutely differently and voila, kid has a cute outfit...  The one that really buttered my biscuits was for an heirloom growth chart...you are supposed to keep and treasure this thing forever, right?  The author takes a cheapo measuring tape and sews it to the relatively pretty quilted fabric background she had going on.  Ack!  So tacky (in a bad way)!!!  If you are hanging onto this thing forever, already having taken time to sew a pretty background, why not just take the five minutes you would need and embroider your own little measuring increments.  It just made me want to scream. 

But then I thought about it.  And somewhere deep in the back of my scull I thought I heard someone say "someone may really like this book".  And I said "what tiny voice?"  "Somebody made this thing and was so proud of what they had done..."came the reply.  And my tiny voice made me feel guilty. 

Sure, I can look at something and not like it.  I can judge it by my standards.  I can look at it and say it could have been donethis way or that way, or I would have changed such and such...then it would be perfect.  But, you know what, for somebody else, maybe this was perfect.  And here I come with my machine gun judgements, blasting away at all there defenseless proud thoughts with indifference.  And I stand back in triumph over the bodies of innocent happiness, having accomplished nothing but badness. I am a super meanie.

Looking at the previously mentioned book now, I try to have a more rose colored view.  No, maybe I won't do these projects.  But I know for a fact that I have looked at them and been inspired.  I am trying to change my way of thinking from "YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE BETTER" (please picture horns and pointy teeth )to "that's nice, now let me see what I can do with it."  (insert rainbows and unicorns here)  Looking at things this way is a better viewpoint creatively.  Its kind of like craft recycling, because you take something useless to you and make something functional for your life.

So anyway, it got me thinking...how much does this same craft judgementalness hold me back?  How many scrapped, redone, or trashed projects could I have looked at later on and said fine, I don't like it, but here's how I can do it differently? 

One of my soft toy design books encourages you to save your early projects...the ones you are tempted to angrily toss in a dumpster somewhere or set on fire or whatever...because they teach you lessons.  I have decided to be like the Thomas Edison who, when asked about his failures said "I didn't fail.  I found 10,000 ways that don't work."  (Another source has this as "I found 10,000 ways not to make a light bulb.)  Maybe on the walls of his workspace, he had kept those 10,000 not-lightbulbs-yet...and that way, he didn't repeat his mistakes, in the effort for that all important 10,001. 

And so I am going to try to keep a not-lightbulbs-yet scrapbook, with pictures of the attempts (lack of space and the fact that I will totally be reusing the ingredients to the projects if I can, hold me back from keeping the actual projects) and a description of what I did wrong (or that I didn't like) and what I think I can do to make it better the next time.  I think this will help me too, because I am sometimes afraid to start something because I'm scared I won't like the end result.  Now I'll have a tool to use where I can say if I mess up, put in in my scrapbook, and start again.  Maybe that way, it won't seem like such a waste.

Wow, that was quite the long rambling speach...now to put it in action...

You, why you're such a doll!

I have talked before about my love/obsession with the book Wee Wonderfuls-24 Dolls To Sew And Love by Hillary Lang.  At some point, I will make everything in this book!  So far, I am up to 4.  Its a little slow going, but I will do them all, probably quite a few of them more than once...  I have done Evelyn the Inchworm, Pixie, Koji (who I accidentally gave away before I took pictures of...he was made in orange felt in my version...I will get pictures of him to share one day, I swear!), and, most recently, I finished a lovely Patchwork Penny. 

Here is Penny in the Wee Wonderfuls book:
I think this is actually my favorite photo from the book.  I love her tiny sewing machine.  What a sweet image!

Here is my Penny:
I love how the author of Wee Wonderfuls breaks everything down into easy steps.  I really think you could do her dolls with a child, but its still a great book for adults to make lovely soft toys with. 

The one thing I wish I would have done differently is the face layout.  Penny's face in the book is cute, so I am not sure if I fudged the template a little, or if its the light blue button color that makes the face not look as grounded as I would like.  I followed the template for the face that's in the book, but if I would have had more time, (I made this in a rush for my mom over the course of two nights after work) I would have made some alterations to the face.

 
I usually always alter something in the patterns I follow, and if its a soft toy, its often times the face.  Even if I do a repeat pattern, the face is rarely done the same way.  I don't know if its the different colors, or if its the tiny differences between one cutting and another, but I think the toys have something going on that tells you what looks just right verses what's only ok.  So Penny may be my first repeat pattern in the Wee Wonderfuls book...I do have a new niece on the way, so I have some sewing to do anyway.  And Penny is such an happy little doll that I think any kiddo would like her!

I was a little naughty and am currently waiting on three new (or new to me, I should say) books, all about soft toy design.  They should be in before the end of the month, and I am super excited to learn!  The amazing time I am having between the Wee Wonderfuls book and a great blog I recently discovered called whileshenaps.typepad.com, has inspired me to do my own tinkering about with soft toy design.  The blog I just mentioned has a really interesting series of posts concerning soft toy design, and I think it would be a really good starting point for a beginner to see if they would like designing their own creations without spending a lot of money on books and such!  A little thrift never hurt anybody, even a craft acquiring junky like me!

While I sit here in eager anticipation of my recent booky purchases, I am thinking I may need to bid you adieu and start a new little Wee Wonderful named Katie Kitty...

The greatness of the owl

Recently, I had the pleasure of going to see my oldest sister M Jr., the art maven, for a short little weekend trip.  I only had one day to spend with her, and that was simply not enough!  But, we had a great time, doing the crafty thing and going to some awesome craft stores that I don't have around my area.  M Jr. has a Michaels, a Joanns, a Hobby Lobby, and a Pat Catans all within a 1 mile radius about ten minutes from her home...  I have a Michaels (but hers is much bigger) about fifteen minutes from my house, and a Hobby Lobby about an hour away.  I have been to Joanns before, so I knew what to expect.  But Pat Catans...oh, my love for that store knows no bounds!  It was so fabulous!

Pat Catans has so many different crafting types available to choose from that it was next to impossible to rein myself in.  M Jr. recently told me that I am a craft acquiring junkie, but I took it as a compliment.  I don't mind feinding for new crafts to try...diversity is a good thing!  They had the best selection of safety eyes for dolls and such, and a really nice selection of purse handles too...  Around my place, I have yet to see even one set of safety eyes and the closest fabric store to me has three different purse handles to choose from...you understand my glee for Pat Catans.  Not only do they have more crafts to choose from, but the standards like yarn and scrapbooking supplies are overflowing with new and varied choices that my local places have never even heard of.  And they blow the competition out of the water in the pricing area too!  Oh, Pat Catans, would that I could live in your wonderful store!!!

M Jr. had just recently sent me a lovely package of shrinky dink sheets, and when I went to visit, she gifted my a great invention...THE HEAT GUN!  Normally, shrinky dinks go in the oven for 10-20 minutes; Madame Heat Gun gets the job done in about 30 seconds.  Best crafting tool eva!  Here is one of my shrunk dinks:
I am not entirely sure what the rules are for using images found on the internet to use in shrinky dinking, so I feel I should at least mention that I googled cute elephant images and the picture this came from was one of the things that came up.  I really need to get better at writing websites down so I can give credit where it is due.  If this is your image, please contact me and I will give you your due.  I will mention that I would not sell these images of other people's great work without permission, this one was for experimentation/personal use.

Shrinky dinks are such great fun, and definitely worth the price.  I bought a pack of 10 sheets (about the size of standard copy paper) for around 7 dollars or so, and you can make many dinks with 10 sheets.  This particular dink started out pretty large, and I think I used about a third of a sheet of the material.  Actually, according to the interweb, you don't even have to buy the shrinky dink material, you can use any plastic with the #6 on it, and I gather that strawberry containers and other produce type containers are usually #6 plastic.  I can't say first hand, but if you google it, lots of other people have done it. 

In addition to Madame Heat Gun, M Jr. gave me the best present eva:
Ack!  The greatness is too much!!!  Look away for your own safety!!!
Here is the rear view...as awesome as the front.  I love the tail feathers.  They remind me of bustles from old fashioned dresses.  M Jr. made this up completely from her own craft brain, no pattern!  You can see why she is the total arts and craft maven in my mind, right?!?  I really love the stitch used for the stomach part: 
It's called the crocodile stitch, and its kind of hard to see with the variegated yarn...and the blurriness of this picture...but it is so worth googling, because it is awesome!!!  I am a crochet nut job from way back, and I wonder how I have gone so long without seeing this stitch?  Oh, its added to the repertoire now, friend!

I am so lucky to have such awesome crafters in my family!  It's really a great priveledge to be able to get inspiration and advice from them, and to (hopefully) be able to give it in return.  What a fabulous interchange! 

 

The elephant and the tree...

In between cleaning and working and bathroom wallpapering, I have been engaging in a little embroidery recently.  I have forgotten how fun thread can be.  I am really enjoying needle in-ing and needle outing!  Besides some w-i-p pin cushions, I have actually finished (insert shocked gasp here) two presents for two of my sisters.  Or really, one present each for two of my sisters...

First, I made this for my sister M Jr, the Mistress of artistic awesomeness!  (One day, I hope to meet up with her on the scale of fabulous artistry...)

 

I swiped the saying off a rubber stamp I saw, but didn't write down the name of the person who said it...I am sorry for ripping off without proper attributing!  I think it is a lovely thing to have someone say about you though.  It is extra fitting for M Jr, because she has the greenest thumb of anyone I have ever met!  She is a multi-talented, super smarty pants!

Here are some close ups of the tree piece:

 

 

 

 

I liked doing all the different stitches, but my favorite thing of the whole project is the little grasses.  They are just three straight stitches that meet at a center point.  But so cute!  I love all the little flowers too.  I am pretty proud that this came out of my tiny brain, without a pattern, and without any direction at first.  I just started out knowing I wanted to do a tree, and kept going until I had added all the tree decoration.  Then it reminded me of that pretty quote, so I stitched that on the bottom.  Then the quote looked a little lonely all by itself like that, so I added the grasses and the viney flowers.  And when it was all good and done, I thought "This looks like a present for M Jr"!

When I decided that, I had to make a little card to go with it, and here it is:

 

I am not so much a paper crafter...but I think it is cutesy.  And possibly a new craft road to try to walk in between the rest of the intersecting highways of crafty goodness I cruise. 

I started out with a white card stock and glued on some scraps of paper for the sky and the grass.  Then I made the little pond out of another scrap.  Next, I painstakingly cut out the sun, alligator, turtle, snail,and some of the flowers around the pond and in the tree and added those.  Then I added some cute little bubble stickers (the butterflies, birds, flowers and the topiary tree).  I like how the turtle and little pink bird look like they are either having a conversation or are about to smooch!  We'll know which one if we see turtles with wings or birds with shells...  Its not much, but I think its kind of neat!

Next, I made one for my sister Teddy, who when she saw the thing I made for M Jr said:  "I WANT ONE...WHERE'S MY PRESENT!!!" (In a scary devil voice).  And as she frightens me, and I didn't want to die, I made her this:

 

I did use a pattern for this one, out of Doodle Stitching: The Motif Collection by Aimee Ray.  (I hope I am spelling that right...).  If you are in the market for a starter embroidery book, I highly recommend this one, as it has some good basic stitch instructions, and a large amount of motifs to stitch (hence the title, I guess...duh me).  The motifs are all very cute, with several different theme groupings (aka circus, where I got the elephant pattern, candy shop/baked goodness, baby, asian inspired, woodland and farm animals, etc).  I also have another book by the same author (her first one, also called Doodle Stitching... something, something), but I much prefer the motif collection book.  The motif collection books comes with a cd for your computer with all the motifs from the book so that you can add them together and make custom motifs to print off.  I don't use it, because technology is my enemy, but if you are more advanced than me (aka a 5 year old) I think this is a neat feature.

I wrapped the heffalump (elephant for those not in the know) like this when I gave it to Teddy:

 

If I were keeping an embroidery, I would frame it up and hang it, but I am not a great picture frame picker outer.  I can know someone really well and still not be able to pick the right style for them...this is frustrating to me, as I imagine myself to be a great present picker in general...  The only exception to the rule of non-picture frame picking ability is my Mom...but Mommy's are special, aren't they?  Since that was the case, I just rolled Teddy's heffalump up and wound a scrap of fabric around it (awesome owl fabric, just so you know, even though you can't see any owls in the picture, know they are both there and awesome).  Then pretty ribbon tie.  Hooray for presents!!!

Both M Jr and Teddy really liked their surprises, and I had fun stitching them up!  More embroidery in the near future for me for sure!  But first, I am going to decoupage some shoe boxes with scrapbook paper for cute storage containers.  And clean, sadly clean.  Curse you banality of daily life!  But I don't want to catch scurvy or something, so I better get ta warshin'!

Eventually a book review...

I am starting to believe I have some sort of mental illness.

    Concerning books anyway.  Crafting books specifically.  Curse you Amazon, for your recommendations list has led to many a secret purchase...my husband is convinced my books multiply like tribbles on the original Star Trek...(if Spock was here he'd be all : "Your obsession is highly illogical."  And I'd be like: "Shut up Spock and get your pointy ears outta here!"  Then he'd give me the vulcan death grip for my insolence.  My dying words would be: "This is all your fault, Amazon!") 

    Usually when he (my husband, not Spock) asks me about a certain book, I say "Oh, I've had that for a while"  which is true, as a while is not any specific amount of time...a while can be two years or the five minutes since the ups guy brought the box, I opened and hid the box for later inconspicuous disposal, and started lovingly looking at my book. 

    For those of you who say that is devious, I have no rebuttal...to not tell the whole truth is parallel to lying...I am ashamed for that reason...but you don't understand how the books call to me!  You can't hear their tiny voices: "you need us...you want us...we're colorful...instructional...you desire to feel our pages...to smell our new book smell..." 

    To those of you who say I shouldn't need to justify my  purchases to my husband...that I am a free and independent woman with her own income...that women have equal rights...that ain't nobody gonna turn us around...women's lib and the rest...  I say, in defense of my loving husband, you haven't seen my library...Gertrude Stein would be like "don't blame the man, you have a problem!"  Additionally, I will admit that I tend to just look at the books.  Rarely do I ever make one project from a book I own.  Yet I need to own those glorious books.  And don't try to justify me by saying 'oh, you have them for inspiration'...no, no my friends,  the internet has taken away that means of justification!  Google has rendered it obsolete!  Flickr spits in its eye!  Etsy and Folksy scoff at it from the other room!  No, my friends, to you I admit that I have a problem...but just know that no matter how much I spend on books, a psychiatrist would cost much more.  And so when I finish here, I will leave you all to go feed my addiction...curse you Amazon...curse you...

 

Now then, I said all that to say this:  one of the best books of all the books I have in my possession (and trust me, the list is extensive)  is a book called Wee Wonderfuls -24 Dolls to Sew and Love. 

 
There are so many great things about this book.  The dolls are really cute and different.  The photographs are really crisp and well done.  The instructions are easy to understand and duplicate.  This book is easy to use and enjoyable to look at!  I had seen this book quite a while before I actually bought it (saw it at Barnes and Noble...eventually bought it on Amazon).  But now that I own it, I regret not knocking down old people while running to the checkout to buy it!  I can't say enough good things about it. 

One of the points I really want to stress is the directions are the best.  I have quite a few easy sewing/beginner sewing type books and the directions in this book are honestly much easier to learn from than any of the other books I own.  Plus, there are pictures that accompany most of the directions, so you see exactly what the author means.  Seriously, just go buy this book!

Here are the first two projects in the book. (I am currently working on the third.  This book is so good I am actually going through and making each project in order from beginning to end.  There is not one of the cool dolls I don't want to make!) 

So the first is Evelyn Inchworm.  Here is my Ev looking at her picture in the book:
So cute!  I like that she is made out of felt, as I enjoy felt to an unhealthy extreme.  I use her as a pincushion.  If I had any little girls in my life, I would give her away, but no such luck...this will be especially awkward in the future when I start making more of the dolly dolls...they will just have to look awesome on a shelf or something!

Next is Pixie.  Here is how she looks in the book:

 
And here is my (blurry) version:

 
I gave mine little felt shoes, because my embroidery skills were lacking that day and I could not embroider the shoes like the directions said to...but I like her green shoes!  I think they look extra sprite-ly!  My friend Maria asked if she could have my Pixie and I agreed as I hate to see homeless dolls...Maria sent the doll to her daughter, so Pink Pixie is currently enjoying sunny Mexico! 

I am only mildly jealous that my little creations get to be more well traveled than me.

 

 

Come here and let me poke ya!

The other day, I realized that one of my sick obsessions has become the object of adoration of many other folks around the good ole interweb...the pincushion.  Seriously, go google it.  The amount of awesome returns on this is astounding! 

My love of pincusions is the result of knowing the pain of finding lost pins with your feet...or other body parts.  So I like to keep pincusions near me at all times...that way I stop putting pins and needles in my shirt or pants legs.  Thanks to pincushions I am a lot less hole-y and that is for the best.

Here is a recent addition to my pincushion family:
It combines my so many of my loves: pincushions, owls, embroidery, felt...the list goes on...  Currently, this dude is in my box of embroidery floss with a bunch of yellow daisy head pins stuck in his green tummy...they look like feathers...I loves it!  Although this looks like a child did it, I am actually proud of it, as it was my first embroidery in a good fifteen years at least!  So, for a first time back on the stitchy band wagon I think I did ok...some of the stitches are a little (ok a lot) off in size...I aim for consistancy, but I tend to be a terrible shot. 

I do have to say that felt is my fabric o' choice for pincushions, because repeated stabs have no effect on their appearance.  Plus look at the colors!!!  Plus its so cheap!  I use acrylic felt, as it is readily available, and for my purpose, there is no difference between it and its wool counterpart... besides the cost...  Felt also makes great stuffed animals...it is resistant to baby attack!  Good old felt...is there anything you can't do?

I enjoy that anything stab-able can be a pincushion (except for the fact that I am stab-able and have no desire to be a pincushion).  Could pincushions unite us all in a sea of brother/sisterhood  (or familyhood, if you will)  Because somewhere in the world, there is something that, no matter who you are, you want to stab with a pin!  There is a pincushion for everyone, my darlings...  So friends, family, mortal enemies...I encourage you to find a pin or needle...find a stab worthy object...and go to town. 

Polymer clay + man hands = frustration + pretty cool results

 I have always wanted to try fun and awesome things with polymer clay, and recently I gave it a shot.  What I found was that polymer clay is probably not going to be my strong suit...my giant man hands get in the way of forming something tiny and adorable...I haven't given up entirely, but I think I may have to change the game plan.  The coolest thing that happened with my initial polymer clay experimenting day was making these cool little whats-its:
 
 
This was fun and easy to do.  You just flatten the unbaked clay, print a picture off your computer (color should work too, although I am from 1922 and have a black and white only printer, so I can't say from experience that it does...only in theory).  You lay the picture face down on your clay and wet the back of it with  rubbing alcohol two or three times letting it dry in between.  When the paper is dry the final time, carefully peel the paper back and the ink stays on the polymer clay.  Then you just bake it as instructed the clay's package.  Just a small warning or really a heads up (warning sounds like you are in immanent danger...):two things that I did wrong that you can avoid...one, when you do this, what is on your clay is a mirror image, so if you want to put words on your clay, you have to make them a mirror image in your computer first, so they will come out the right way on your clay...unless of course you have a small child or a child minded adult who you wanted to play spy with...(e.g. - secret messages!!!  ...this is exciting to me as I am a child minded adult...)  The second thing to keep in mind is to be careful when peeling your paper back...do it slowly...otherwise, this happens:
The poor awesome fox has no face now!!!  Later I tried to fill him in with Sharpie, but its just not the same!  So, learn a lesson from my disfigured fox and peel slowly!

Now, as to what to do with these little doo-dads, I think a more skilled person could make totally awesome jewelry type things with these.  But since my totally awesome skills are lacking, I just threaded a ribbon through my holes and used them as tags on my handmade purses.  They look something in the region of this:  
Please pay no attention to the terribly uneven stitching on this...my sewing machine tried to eat this bag and so it became the "prototype".  That being said, I'd totally be carrying this purse and its uneven stitches around town had I not made myself an awesome owl material purse...which I need to take pictures of...

    This purse is loosely based on Simplicity pattern 2830, with some adjustments to construction and a liner added...why Simplicity doesn't know I carry 80 pounds of bricks in my purse and I need the extra protection of a reinforced liner I will never understand...I will mention that if you do this pattern, be prepared for the pain in the hiney straps.  Maybe normal humans won't have a problem with them, but they were driving me crazy!  In subsequent bag making, I have tried some other strap making options with less  headache involved and the result is just as good...well, better in my opinion, because the small amount of sanity I have left remains with me.  At least until tomorrow.