The Trouble with Crafting

For a Fellow Language Geek

2012-03-17T09:08:00.001-04:00

I agreed to do a small language geek swap with one of my mod sisters on Craftster. We are both grammarians. She's an English teacher and I'm a Spanish teacher. This was one fun swap!

Here's the first item that I made for her. A Knock Knock joke hoop! LOL I went through lots of grammar jokes to find this perfect one.

The words are stitched in 2 strand split stitch. The flowers and leaves are lazy daisy and the flower centers French knots.

There's a second part of the language geek swap that I'll post later this week. :D

For a Hope Chest and a Lesson Learned

2012-03-13T21:04:00.000-04:00

As usual, I've been involved in a craft swap but this particular swap hit a personal note with me. I crafted some items to go in a young lady's hope chest. (For those of you who may not know, a hope chest is a basically a collection of household items normally stored in a nice chest for eventually setting up your home. Hence it is called a hope chest.) My swap partner had just started her collection and I jumped at the opportunity to make her some goodies. The first items were the tawashi that I posted earlier. The other items were sewn hanging dish cloths. Using this tutorial, I was able to make these two towels in under an hour.

The most important thing that came out of this swap was that I reconsidered what was once my own hope chest. Both of my grandmothers had gifted me hand made items when I was young (as early as 12 or 13) to put in my box for my future. I didn't give my collection any thought until the day came when my college sweetheart asked me to marry him. Well, the elation set in and my mind was set on continuing to fill that chest with all kinds of items. Time passed and an unfortunate break up occurred. In a fit of emotional fury, I threw them all away just like He threw our relationship away.

Yeah, not my brightest moment.

Now, I look back at the items that my grandmas had made and it makes me sad. I was too young to understand that the true value of those items. I would give anything to have them back but that is not possible. What I have instead is a lesson learned. The Hope in that chest was for me, not that marriage. It was for my happiness and memories. It made me smile to think that I was able to share a bit of hope (using the correct definition) with someone else.

Comfy Wristlets!

2012-03-11T11:18:00.001-04:00

I've been trying to push my abilities in crochet a bit lately. I made a set of wrist warmers for a gal in the Birthday swap on Craftster. This particular pattern from Marlo's Crochet Corner has inset thumb pieces which were fun to figure out. :)

I used a variegated blue yarn that I had on hand and I think I used maybe just over half of the skein in making them. I love the way the variegated color created blocks in the wristlets.

This is a quick and easy gift that anyone with just above basic crochet skills (like me!) can make. I'm keeping this pattern pinned for future use.

Two Years TODAY GIVEAWAY!

2012-03-09T10:51:00.000-05:00

WOW! It's hard for me to believe that I've been blogging for two years! *insert silly, happy grin here!*

I started this site to basically catalog my creations, not thinking about other possibilities. Now, it's so much more to me. I love sharing my tutorials and latest stitching obsessions with you all.

To celebrate, I've decided to have a Giveaway! I had extra supplies to make another zippered pouch so here's the prize!

To enter, all you need to do is reply and give me a suggestion as to what else I can do with my site. More tutorials? More recipes? More of my silly rambling? Pictures of random ghost cows? (<--There's a very crazy, late night story there that I will share soon but I have to get a copy of the photo from my brother in law first. LOL!)

On Sunday at 6 pm EST, I will use the random number generator to pick a winner. This contest is NOT limited to the U.S. I love my international followers just the same!

Also, I have another Giveaway in the works for next weekend so make sure you check in again in the next couple of days. :D

This is MY blog.

2012-02-28T21:18:00.000-05:00

I have had to delete some comments lately and that makes me sad so I thought I would explain why.

This is my blog. I am going to say things that are on my mind. I realize that not everyone has the same beliefs as I do. I try to maintain an open mind to everyone else's but WILL NOT tolerate anyone showing up here and bashing a faith just because it is not Theirs.

This is my blog. I will post what I want and when I want. I'm not the type to put anything inappropriate on the Net. I have more than enough common sense and experience to know what is not good to put out there. I WILL NOT tolerate people who try to tell me what I should do. I am an adult and expect to be treated as such.

This is my blog. I will get upset if I catch you bashing my art. I am not perfect nor will I ever admit to being so. No one is perfect except the Maker. I WILL call you on this crap. Keep your crap and insecurities on your side of the fence. If it leaks over into my territory, I'll shovel it back at you just as fast.

This is MY BLOG. If you don't like what I have here in my corner of the Internet, do me and all of my other readers a huge favor and FIND THE DOOR. You are not welcome here.

There, I'm done now. I really hate having to use that Delete button. Play nice!

T-shirts Three Ways

2012-02-26T20:29:00.000-05:00

(I've totally had too much Food Network to have that title for this post! LOL!)

Guess what we did today? T-SHIRTS! I just decided to dive right into making some t-shirts for me and my 2 kidlets.

I had to do a tiny bit of shopping to do this morning and while at WalMart, I noticed that the spring/summer t-shirts were showing up on the shelves. At first, I was only thinking of making myself a couple of shirts but then, decided to get the kids in on the crafting. I had them help with creating the freezer paper stenciling, ironing and prepping for paint/bleach. We had so much fun!

For the kids' t-shirts, I tried this spray bleach tutorial which turned out fantastic! The only difference between the look from the tutorial that I used and our shirts is that my spray bottle didn't have a mist setting, only a stream. Both of the kids want to wear their shirts to school tomorrow. I take that as a high compliment from them. ;)

Unfortunately, I learned a hard lesson about detailed stencils and the spray bleach technique. They don't play well together at all so my bleached tees didn't turn out at all.

However, my painted tees are AWESOME!

First, I did a regular freezer paper stencil of the Japanese kanji symbol for Love.

My personal favorite is this next shirt. I worked in the negative and just stipled the heck out of the gold paint to get this effect.

I think this whole project might have to become a Come On Spring! tradition. We enjoyed the mild weather, played in the water as we rinsed the bleach shirts and played games outside while the shirts ran through the washer/dryer.

Linked up at:

Still Stashbustin'! - TAWASHI!!!!

2012-02-26T09:15:00.001-05:00

Tawashi!

That word always makes me think of either sushi or something you would have heard yelled by one of the actors on those old Godzilla movies. It just makes me giggle. The word is Japanese for any type of scrubbie. The acrylic ones like this can be used in the kitchen for general cleaning or in the bath tub for bubble time fun.

I've been trying my best to clean out a closet that is filled with partial skeins of yarn of various colors/type so tawashi are the perfect small project to do just that! Using this pattern, I made these three little guys one afternoon while watching a movie. I think the finishing work takes longer than the actual hooking or maybe I just hate the clean up at the end. ;)

This project is perfect for a person new to crochet who is looking to push themselves just a tiny bit as well as a quick project. Go ahead and give it a try!

Getting Started in Embroidery

2012-02-23T12:14:00.001-05:00

One of the easiest crafts to start, both in experienceneeded and cost of supplies, is embroidery. Quite often, I have people say tome “I’d love to start embroidering, but it all looks a bit complicated.” Iguess I take for granted the fact that I learned at a very young age and at thehands of a very patient grandmother. Itis my hope that this tutorial will help you sort out those bits and set you onyour merrily stitching way!

Items that you need to get started:

Embroidery hoop – needs to be at least 1” larger than thepattern you want to embroider. I personally prefer the wooden ones over theplastic. I feel that the tension control is better. However, you can usewhichever you wish.
Embroidery floss – Cotton floss is cheap and easy to find atmost craft stores
Embroidery needle
Sharp scissors
Fabric to be embroidered
Iron On embroidery pattern of choice or any other method of transferring a pattern that you prefer
(discussed below!)

About embroideryfloss…

1. Find the end of one of the skeins of embroideryfloss. Most all floss has 6 strands. You can choose to use 1-6 strands whileembroidering. The more strands the chunkier/heavier the stitch. Fine detailwork requires only 1-2 strands. I generally work with 3 strands.

2. It is mostly color fast. I have had some problemwith threads in the red tones bleeding. Be careful about getting your work wet!Large Ziploc bags can be your friend when storing your work.

3. Knotting your floss when starting or ending yourstitching is not a bad thing, especially for a person new to embroidery. Youcan learn the tricks to no knots later.

4. To avoid lots of headaches, only work with about12 inches of thread at a time for now.

How to choose fabricto embroider…

1. For a beginner, choose a fabric made of naturalfibers like cotton, wool or linen. Man-made fibers can be embroidered BUT thestretch in those materials can make you lose your mind! (It messes with thetension of your fabric in your hoop and as a result, your stitching.)

Use a medium weight fabric. Think about yourpillow cases. That is a good medium weight. In fact, if you have an extra pillowcase or sheet in your closet, try practicing on it.

3. Always cut your fabric at least 4” bigger thanyour hoop. It can be a serious pain to deal with too little fabric along theedge of your hoop as you are working.

What type of needledo I use?

Embroideryneedles come in lots of shapes and sizes. The most important part is the sizeof the needle eye in relation to the amount of floss strands being used. Theeye of the needle preps the fabric for the thread to pass through. If the eye is too small, then it can causeyou problems with your tension as you try to pull it through the fabric and maycause your floss to shred which can be a huge mess. The more strands used, thelarger the eye needed. If your thread “pops” as it passes through the fabric,you need to go up in eye size.

Transferring a Pattern

If you have chosen an iron onpattern (such as Aunt Martha's ), simply follow the directions on the package. Be sure to protect theironing surface as the heat activated ink can pass through your fabric. I havea lovely flower pattern as a permanent decoration on my craft table due to lack of protection whileironing. My daughter finds it quite lovely though. ;)

If youhave the artistic flare, you can free hand a design onto your fabric using atransfer pen or even a regular school pencil. Be careful with those vanishingink fabric markers though. You don’t want your design to fade before you finishstitching!

If youhave a printed pattern (i.e. from your computer printer), you can use a lightbox to transfer your pattern to the fabric by laying the fabric on top of yourpattern. However, if you don’t have access to a light box, you can do the samething using a window on a sunny day. Tape your print out to the window. Centeryour fabric over the pattern and tape. Then trace onto the fabric.

Now let’s getstarted!

1. Loosen the outer hoop by the screw and removeit. Set it aside.

2. Center your fabric and pattern over the innerhoop.

3. Replace the outer hoop over the inner hoop andthe fabric.

4. Tighten the screw.

5. Gently pull the fabric along all along theoutside of the hoop to tighten the fabric. Tighten screw and continue until youcan tap the fabric like a drum.

6. Decide which thread to start with, separatestrands if needed.

7. Thread your needle and knot the other end.

8. Start stitching! Choose a stitch that looksinteresting and give it a go!

**Some easy stitches are: back stitch, split stitch andchain. **

Here's the finished design for you curious folk! My fabric is a tea towel that I had handy. I free handed the design with a vanishing fabric marker. The blue flowers are lazy daisy, the gold flower center is 3-4 french knots (a bit challenging for a beginner) and the green vines are worked in split stitch.

Beginner Embroiderer's troubleshooting

My thread is twistingin on itself!

Holdyour hoop in the air and allow the thread and needle to dangle. It will workitself out on its own. The longer thethread that you work with, the worse this problem can be.

How do I stop a lineof stitching?

Finishyour last stitch on the underside of the fabric. Knot it and snip.

What if I get a knoton the underside while I stitch?

Don’tstress this! It happens to everyone. With time, you’ll learn how tounknot. Just leave it be for the timebeing.

For some reason, my stitches are pulling apart. I can see through the needle hole in the fabric.
There could be 2 reasons for this. Your needle could be too big for the amount of floss strands used so switch to a small needle. The other reason could be that you are pulling your thread too taut as you stitch. Loosen up a bit and you should see the holes disappear.

The edges of my fabric are fraying! HALP!
This happens with many fabrics and the fix is easy as a trip to your craft store or even WalMart. There is a product called Fray Check. It's a glue that once dry (as quick as 10-15 minutes!) will keep your fabric from unraveling. It does have a strong odor when applying it but that will dissipate. Also, you only need a thin line of the glue around the edge for it to work properly.

Random Notes

TheNeedlework category on Craftster is amazing with lots of patterns, tutorialsand techniques!

SublimeStitching and Feeling Stitchy are 2 sites well worth perusing when you get achance.

Feelfree to ask me questions here. I don’tmind at all!

HAPPY STITCHING!!

I'm so PROUD!!

2012-02-21T12:37:00.001-05:00

This time last year, I set a goal for myself. I would conquer my fear of working with zippers! Seriously, a zipper? How scary is that? It's a little bit of fabric and plastic but nonetheless, it intimidated the crap out of me.

Well, I now hearby declare this fear CONQUERED! I no longer have to use the seam ripper with lots of pretty expletives. I didn't even have to double check the instructions on this particular pattern. I'm so happy with myself! *insert happy dance here!*

As for the project itself, I've been in need of a nice looking zipper pouch at work to carry feminine necessities at work. I did a bit of stash busting and came up with these fabrics. The zipper was waiting so I just jumped into the project using this tutorial on Javajem but I left off the wrist strap which isn't me at at all.

The main exterior fabric is the blue flower with bits of green that you see at the top and I used the accent fabric to line the inside. For me, it might have been a bit of pattern overload (I'm pattern timid.) but I'm still happy with it regardless. :D

I shared my triumph at...

44 yrs ago today...

2012-02-16T20:57:00.000-05:00

It's my Birthday! After a long day in my classroom, I've spent my evening enjoying a yummy dinner with my family around me. I've been spoiled and hugged many times so I count this as a Perfect day.

I've not rambled on about myself lately so I thought I would treat you all to a look inside my head. I just hope you are able to follow this bit of rambling.

This past year has been a challenge for me in many ways. I find myself facing some personal obstacles that I've had to wrap my head around. There's the Ex husband, my father's cancer and an unsettling work atmosphere. All of this combined has left me feeling very emotional and just unsettled for the past six months.

Earlier this week, I had a Duh! moment. Two of these factors are out of my control but I am allowing them to control me. How does that make sense? Therefore, I looked up and said "Ok, I'm letting it go." and that was that. As for work, I'm hoping to transfer into a better work environment. I believe I have a good shot at getting the transfer so overall, things are looking up.

Being a Buddhist, I have to think. I have to have the Me time that will allow me to think about all aspects of major concerns objectively. How do they affect me? How does my subsequent reaction affect me as well as others? Where is the path of peace through it all? One of the things that has really hit home for me lately is that even though I strive for peace, it in no way means that I have to allow others to treat me unfairly. It is within my power to make changes without being passive or being a Drama Queen. Rather than taking a step forward or back, I'm choosing to step to the side out of the mess. I'm going to let those people find their own way. I'm going to go on with my life.

I noticed this morning as I walked through the quiet halls before the school day started, I found that my step was lighter and that I didn't feel pulled down. I felt like ME again! I finished my day with a spring in my step and a smile on my face. For months, I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to find Me again. Fortunately, I was wrong. :)

Doodle Love

2012-02-13T05:40:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks back, I decided to jump into a Valentine's Day exchange over at Happy Hour Projects. We were paired up by HHP and it was left to the pairings to decide what and how much to exchange. My partner SJB was a lot of fun to get to know. She has a great eye behind a camera and some great web designs.

When asked what kind of Valentine she wanted, her reply was modern and traditional which stumped me at first. I finally decided that hearts and flowers are traditional but a doodle design would make it more modern so off to stitching I went!

Detail shot of the flowers...

I started delving into Doodle embroidery last year. I wish I could say that the concept was as easy as it sounds, just pick up a needle and go! However, it is a much slower process at least for me. I spend time thinking about negative space and overall effect more than I ever thought I would. I've made some strides in this past year. I am finally getting a feel for it. It does leave me wondering which direction my designs will take me next. :)

Drops of Love

2012-02-07T23:01:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, when I pick up my needle to doodle embroider, I have no idea where I'm going.

This is my latest creation. I used lots and lots of french knots in this piece but I'm super pleased with the end result. :)

A Sweet Note

2012-02-04T19:02:00.002-05:00

As usual, I've been stitching AND swapping on Craftster. :D

One of the gals wanted a hoop inspired by the artist Kurt Halsey. Having never heard of him, I had to do some research and immediately fell in love! His work is whimsical, simple and yet very moving. I love the fact that he portrays animals in settings that are not their norm like a penguin building a snowman or an adorable elephant playing a toy piano.

With a bit of split stitch and some crayon tinting, I created this hoop. I simply love it!

Hearts full of Love

2012-02-01T17:21:00.000-05:00

I participated in a Valentine swap with my other Moderator Sisters over on Craftster. Now that they have received, I can post a picture of what I made for them!

Before I post the picture, I just thought I'd say that I feel very fortunate to have the chance to work with the gals over on Craftster. Not only do we help run a large craft site, but we've become very close friends. Every day, we chat, laugh, cry and rage with each other. Then, there's the crafty side! They are all crazy talented in their own ways. We share our creations and talk about how to improve our work. The whole atmosphere is just so friendly and supportive. I think the world of them. :)

I made embroidered heart ornaments for each of them. Some heart buttons, simple lazy daisy and french knot stitches with some ribbon and I made a pretty little heart Valentine for my Craftster Sisters.

A bit of sewing inspiration...

2012-01-29T21:35:00.001-05:00

(Yes, TWO posts in the same day! How about that!? HAH! ;) )

A dear friend of mine decided to start a small personal swap among friends over on FBook and I jumped in. :)

As luck would have it, I am sending to her! One of her goals for 2012 is to start using her sewing machine more often so I made her some sewing accessories to help her along.

First, I made her a thread catcher with a scissor sheath in her favorite shades of blue. (I used 2 fat quarters in this project to make all of the items seen.) I also used some of my left over fabric to make her a machine pin cushion that ties around the machine so it's always in easy reach.

It is lined underneath with non-slip shelf liner so once it is put in place underneath the machine, it will not budge.

I didn't use a pattern. I just kind of pieced it together by eyeballing the measurements. Maybe someday, I'll actually start using patterns. Then again...maybe not!

Scrapbustin' with Ninnis!

2012-01-29T16:21:00.000-05:00

As the Post Holiday fog starts to truly clear out of my head, I have come to realize that I didn't post some of the holiday gifts that I made! I've been remiss! lol

I ran a swap on Craftster called Ongoing Holiday List in which all of the swappers posted their "Need to Craft" lists and we chose things off of each others' to help ease the craft load off of each other, especially if it was just a hair out of our crafting comfort zone OR (as in my case) we had super snoopy little ones who won't let us be long enough to create.

One of the gals in the swap asked for Ninis (ie simple stuffy monster) as gifts for her nieces. Now, I learned a lot about Ninnis with this project. First, they are super quick to make if you have everything on hand. I made these three in an hour. Second, they are a wonderful way to use up scrap fabric!

I used some black felt for the wings, belly and tail/hair and white felt for the eyes and teeth. Their mouths are actually pockets so they can "chew" on things when they are hungry according to my daughter. A pair of black buttons were used for the eyes.

I sent the 2 purple ones to my swap partner and I saved the pink one for my daughter who absolutely LOVES it! She sleeps with it nightly by her pillow. :)

WOOOOHOOOO!

2012-01-23T16:42:00.001-05:00

I won a Best of 2011 award on Craftster for my Bleached t-shirt project. *happy dance!*

I'm a Craftster Best of 2011 Winner!

A Small Respite

2012-01-22T16:55:00.000-05:00

I've found myself in serious need of a small break from the Internet after the Holidays were past. From Thanksgiving until New Years, I had laryngitis, a nasty bout of vertigo, a cracked tooth, final exams, stressed students, cranky parents and my own holiday chaos with the kids' holiday parties, birthday parties and oh, that small thing called Christmas. I've just needed a bit of down time, both physically and mentally. I was washed out when I had to go back to work on Jan. 2nd.

Thankfully, I'm feeling more like Myself. My energy is up and the spinning from the Vertigo is completely gone (took nearly 3 wks to go away! BLEH!).

I have been creating since Christmas and now have the energy to share them with you once again.

I have made a Crafty Goal for this year to do more work repurposing. I've made purses from pants but I haven't taken it any further. Here's my next step in this direction. Leg warmers made from an old sweater!

We all have that sweater that we hate to get rid of and yet it's no longer presentable in public due to holes or stains. Here's another way to make that sweater useful again!

I used a thrifted sweater since this was my first attempt at this project. I found this wonderful tutorial at Fireflies and Jellybeans and just went after it. From the first cut on the sweater to finished project, this took about an hour tops.

After taking the picture above, my daughter who has thin blood just like her momma has already asked for her own. Unfortunately, she doesn't have a stash of sweaters for me to pull from so I guess I'm headed for the thrift store again. I'll share her leg warmers when I finish. :D

I shared this project at...

Love alters not...

2012-01-16T07:44:00.000-05:00

I've been playing with my doodle embroidery again!

I will admit that I did draw the heart onto the fabric because I was worried about the wording not fitting inside but the background work is ALL doodle! :)

The wording is taken from my favorite Shakespearean sonnet, #116. I used to have a cassette tape (yes, I'm that old!) of Ron Perlman (back when he was doing the Beauty and Beast tv series!) reading various sonnets and this is the one that has always plays in my head whenever I hear his name mentioned.

I've also shared this project over in The Southern Institute's Creative Me Link UP!

Trying something different...

2012-01-14T09:40:00.000-05:00

In an effort to get outside of my comfy little craft zone, I'm joining a Valentine Swap that was mentioned by Jenny at The Southern Institute! I love to craft and love to share my creations so it makes sense to me to give this a try. :D

Would you like to join?

Winner Winner!

2012-01-12T12:50:00.002-05:00

As promised, it is time to give away the book Needle Painting by Trish Burr!

AND the winner is....JUNE IN IRELAND!

June, I'll contact you so that I can send you this book. :D

Hop! Hop!

2012-01-09T05:13:00.002-05:00

It's time to blog hop!

I'll post the winner to my first Giveaway tonight. My house was invaded by visitors all weekend and I could barely breathe, alone type. :)

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

2012-01-06T17:25:00.002-05:00

Fall and Winter are my favorite seasons of the year. I love the changing colors, cups of hot cocoa by a roaring fire and watching the snow fall. I love layers of snugly warm hats and scarves, building snowmen and reading by the fire late at night when the house is quiet.

On Craftster, we had a winter themed swap and my partner had requested wall art. This is what I created for her!

Detail Shot

I crocheted the snowflakes first and blocked them with starch. While they were drying, I stitched the clouds. The strings are strands of braided embroidery floss that are knotted just below the edge of the cloud's stitching. I just eyeballed the length and where to place the beads. To add a bead, I knotted the braid, added the bead with a needle threaded through the middle thread of the braid, tied the threads again and then continued braiding. The ends are just tied off. It's hard to tell from the picture but I painted the hoop white.

I've already given serious thought to making another one of these for myself. :D

Blog Hoppin'

2012-01-02T06:46:00.001-05:00

It's Monday so it's Blog Hop Day! Come join the fun!

My Goals for the New Year...and my first GIVEAWAY for 2012!

2012-01-01T09:48:00.004-05:00

Wow! We've made it to 2012!

I'm pretty sure that I blinked last January and all of a sudden, we were fast forwarded to this day. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing. ;)

My goals were many for 2011 but I did manage to accomplish 2 of them!

One goal was learning to set zippers. With a couple of tries, I feel like I've got the basics and can now say that I enjoy working with them which is something I never thought I would say. LOL

My LARGEST goal consumed much of my time this past week. I OPENED MY ETSY!! WooooHoooo! There's a link to Trouble's Treasures in the upper right hand corner of my site if you are interested. I'm still working on fleshing it out the way I want it so be patient for just a bit.

And now for my new goals...

The top of my list is MORE DOODLING! This might sound like a silly goal but I feel like doodling will help me get out My Creative Box and push my boundaries of design and concept. I dabbled in doodle stitching in 2011 with some success but I want to take the concept further.

To help myself with this goal, I have decided to take the 30 Day Expressive Drawing Challenge in the form of Mandalas! I've bought all of my supplies and will endeavor to create a mandala a day for the month of January. I'll share some of my creations here as I go along.

As for my other goals, I would like to see some success with my Etsy so I'll be creating new items for my shop through the year. My definition of success is not to have a second income but to just make other people happy through my embroidery. I have no grand illusions of becoming rich and famous through my shop. I'm just not wired that way. :)

I also want to continue working on posting tutorials here. I just need to make some decisions as to what kind.

There's also a possibility of a second blog for me but it's still in its planning stages so I'm keeping it under wraps for now.

So what are YOUR crafty goals/resolutions for 2012?

Share your goals here and have a chance at winning this book!

You have until Saturday, January 7th to post (only one entry per person!) and I will choose the winner via Random Number Generator on the 8th.

I wish you all a peaceful and productive 2012. I look forward to sharing and learning with you. :)

Remember

2011-12-26T22:55:00.000-05:00

As with every year, I found myself stuck when trying to come up with a holiday gift for my dad. He's 82, has everything he needs, and buys what he wants when he wants it. I finally after a bit of noodling, I came up with this.

My dad is a Korean veteran and proudly displays his Purple Heart. He is also a man of few words. When he speaks, he is direct and he doesn't "mince words" as he puts it. This is my way of saying to him that I will remember his sacrifice for my freedom.

I found this frame and found it to be perfect for his gift. I wish I had bought the next size up now so I would have had more room to work my design.

(Yes, I'm aware that I screwed up the stripes. I'm giving him this one and will redo another for him correctly. :) )

I found the pattern on Urban Threads and just added my wording at the bottom. I had originally found a very nice quote that I had intended to use, but then I realized that I should keep it simple to please him. :)

A tad behind...

2011-12-26T11:17:00.002-05:00

Am I ever happy that I started working on holiday crafts and wrapping early!

I found myself literally laid out the week before Christmas due to a cracked tooth (temp crown in place already!) and then, the evil Vertigo. I wasn't able to get out of bed much at all for 2 1/2 days straight, The dizziness and nausea were intense. Needless to say, my mind was whirring with "I need to be doing this, and that. Oh, and..." whenever I was awake. Thankfully, my meds kept from worrying myself into even more sickness.

Through it all, I've recovered (BIG YAY!!!!) and we had a wonderful holiday Chez TroubleT. :)

I do have one more holiday gift that I will finish up today and share with you all later tonight.

And now for the Creative ME! blog hop-a-palooza!

On this night of Winter Solstice

2011-12-22T19:49:00.000-05:00

I found myself in a craft swap on Craftster with a gal who wanted a very specific style of gift for her brother in law who loved all things Norse and was very much into the Society of Creative Anachronism aka SCA. Given that I was once very active in the SCA and I knew what she was looking for, I decided to embark on a bit of research and stitching to make this gift. She wanted something that would depict Norse mythology AND be true to form i.e. not some washed over bit of history that has been "Hollywoodized" to make it more acceptable to today's would-be historian. (...so T, how do you really feel about how medieval history has been mistreated by the unwashed masses? Don't hold back! *insert eye roll here!* If you are actually interested in this reply, see below.)

Here's my creation! It's two ply cotton thread worked on pure linen. I was afraid to use a larger amount of thread fearing that I would lose detail. All told, I think this is about 6-7 hours of stitching, meaning a good 2 movies worth. ;)

This is a depiction of Odin, the mightiest of all Norse gods, doing battle with the serpent of Evil as seen on one of the panels of the Vendel Helm (7th century AD) which was unearthed in Uppland which is in the eastern coast of modern day Sweden. The two birds are Odin's ravens, Huginn which is Old Norse for "thought", and Muninn meaning "mind" who would fly the World and bring back information to Odin himself.

And now for the explanation mentioned above...

This will sound like a bunch of silliness to some of you but I am what I am, take it or leave it. :)

I call myself an amateur anthropologist meaning I really get into studying different cultures. I am also a lover of World History, from the beginning of civilization in the Indus Valley through to the Renaissance. (After the invention/introduction of gun powder in the 1700's, I start to lose interest quickly.) While I was active in the SCA, I was recognized as being quite knowledgeable in the field of textile arts meaning embroidery, weaving and lace making. I have an extensive library of research that I've done over the years. Unfortunately, most everything that I made was gifted to someone so I have no remnants of my past needle work to share. (This was before the invention of the digital camera!...yeah, I know, we were still writing on the cave walls with sticks...) As a result, I am a bit of a haradin when it comes to the liberties that some take with history, especially with regards to things such as Ren Faires and most "in period" movies. I can shred them if I'm in the mood or I can relax allowing myself to enjoy the attempt, albeit a very poor one. My problem with those poor portrayals is that many take them as being "true" when they aren't. I've long been of a believer in "If you are going to do something, then do it right!". You never who or what is watching.

Come Join the Creative Monday Blog Hop!

2011-12-19T04:31:00.004-05:00

This blog hop is a great way to see what is going on in other cool crafty sites! :)

Winter Wonderland Ornament

2011-12-14T18:58:00.001-05:00

While working on the Stashbustin' Ornaments, I had a request for a small project to use up bright blue felt. Well, I don't own a bright blue but I did come with an ornament that could work well with that color. :)

A Winter Wonderland Snowflake ornament!

Living in the South as I do, it is very rare that we have a white Christmas so we have to make "snow" happen. I think a tree covered with these ornaments would definitely be a nice touch.

Materials Needed

blue felt
embroidery thread in white and a coordinating blue
white ribbon, 6-8" for a hanger
vanishing
fabric marker
polyfil or stuffing of choice!

There is no pattern! :D

Step 1
Find a round template in your kitchen that is of a suitable size. I personally used a canning lid because I have those all over my kitchen. A plastic tumbler with a round bottom would work just as well.

Step 2
Trace 2 circles onto your blue felt. You need to also draw a smaller circle inside just one of them which is why the canning lid was ideal. I just traced the outside and inside of the lid. You do want at least 3/8" between the inner and outer circle edge so that your needlework doesn't become bunched.

Step 3
Now using the fabric marker, draw 2 lines on the inner circle which will "cut" it into fourths. If you don't feel comfortable free handing this, you could draw your inner circle on a piece of paper, cut it out and fold it into fourths to use as a pattern. As for me, I don't mind that my sections aren't perfect. Every snowflake is different and unique this way. :)

Step 4
Starting at the center of the crossed lines, work 5 chain stitches in white to the outer edge of the inner circle. Finish off that line of stitches, Knot it on back. Then, go back to the center and continue doing the same for the other 3 lines. Don't be overly concerned if the your lines do not meet in the center! It's ok as long as the gap is under 1/4".

I do this step this way mainly because I don't trust those vanishing markers much. You don't want the lines to disappear on you while you stitch details. :/

Step 5
Now, return to the center. Work a set of 3 chain stitches at a diagonal in between 2 longer lines at a 45 degree angle.

Step 6
Work two lazy daisy stitches off of the top of this line at a 45 degree angle. Knot on the back at the end of this stitching.

Step 7
Now, continue to the next long line of chain stitches. Stitch 2 more lazy daisies at the end, coming out of the very last chain stitch.

Step 8
Go down to the second chain stitch on the long line and stitch 2 chain stitches on either side.

Step 9
Go down to the third chain stitch and stitch 2 lazy daisies.

Step 10
Continue working around your circle repeating Steps 5-9.

Step 11
     When you have finished Step 10, work a French knot in the very center (hiding all of the "uneven" start points!). I wrapped this knot 8 times.

**You could also add in a pretty white bead/pearl or a silver sequin here if you don't want to do the french knot.**

Step 11
     Place your stitched circle face up on the other circle. Trim excess felt if needed.

Step 12
     Fold the ribbon in half and knot the end. Place the knotted ribbon between the two layers of felt and pin it in place close to the knot.

Step 13
Starting at the ribbon hanger. Place your needle with blue thread between the two layers of ribbon. Pull your thread through the back piece of felt. Begin a blanket stitch along the outside edge.

Step 14
Continue the blanket stitch around the ornament. Stop about an 1 1/2" from the other side of the ribbon. Allow blue thread to dangle so you can use it to finish up the ornament.

Step 15
Stuff the ornament. Don't overstuff which will cause your blanket stitches to pucker!

Step 16
Finish stitching up the ornament through the ribbon hanger and around to where you originally started the blanket stitch. Pass your needle back through the pieces of felt from back to front to tack down your last blanket stitch.

Step 17
Make a knot in your thread about 1/4" from the felt. Place your needle between the layers of felt. Pull your thread and knot into the inside of the ornament. Cut excess thread.

As I was stitching up this ornament, I also thought it could be fun to add some little white or sparkly beads along the outside edge by picking up a bead in between blanket stitches. It would add a nice bit of bling. :D

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Come Join the Creative Me Blog Hop!

2011-12-12T05:47:00.001-05:00

Go to The Southern Institute to check out other awesome blogs! :)

Stashbustin' Ornaments Pt. 12: Mrs.Frosty!

2011-12-11T18:56:00.001-05:00

One of the comments left on my Mr. Frosty ornament tutorial is that his eyebrows make him look like he's up to something....

Well, that person is right! He is! lol

I decided he needed someone to keep him in line, someone with a cool, level head. Frosty now has a wife, Mrs. Frosty!

Materials Needed:

felt in white and green (or whatever color you want for her hat)
whtie ribbon, 6-8" for the hanger
craft glue
scissors
embroidery thread in white (not pictured), black and green
powdered blush (not pictured)
4 sequins (or any other embellishments you wish to use)
vanishing fabric marker (not pictured)
polyfil or stuffing of choice (not pictured)

Mrs. Frosty Pattern (click to print!)

Step 1
Cut out your pattern pieces

Step 2
Lay one of the green hat pieces on top of the white face and pin it in place.

Step 3
Lay the pinned pieces face down and then lay the remaining hat and face pieces so that they line up properly. Pin those as well.

Step 4
Pick up one of the pinned pieces and with green embroidery thread, work a line of button hole stitch along the edge to secure the green felt to the white. Remove your pin when finished.

Do the same to the second pinned piece. Knot the thread on the back when you finish each line of stitching.

Step 5
With a vanishing fabric marker, place dots where you would like to place the sequins on the hat. Secure each sequin with a french knot (wrapped 4 times). When you are finished securing the sequins, knot the thread on the backside.

Step 6
Glue the eyes and nose into position.

I've learned the hard way that stitching tiny pieces of felt can cause them to shred which is beyond frustrating.

Step 7
Draw out the smile and cheeks with the fabric marker. With the black embroidery thread, stitch the cheeks and smile using a basting stitch.

Step 8
Using the powdered blush, put a tiny amount on one edge of the brush. Dab it in the center of each cheed. Using the tip of your finger, make a small circular motion inside of the cheek "circle" to spread the blush and to work it into the felt.

Step 9
With a tiny amount of red embroidery thread, stitch an M centered on the top of the mouth line. Below the M, stitch a V using back stitch to give her a cute little pout.

Step 10
Fold your ribbon in half and tie a knot in end.
Step 11
Pin the ribbon into place between the two stitched felt pieces. Also pin the sides of the face to help keep everything lined up while you stitch.

Step 12
Beginning on one side of her head where the green meets the white, secure your knotted green thread and whip stitch across the top of the hat through the ribbon hanger to the other side. Knot and finish your whip stitch as mentioned in that stitch tutorial.

Step 11
Begin whip stitching the white only do no not stitch up the last 1 1/2". Leave your with thread dangling.
Step 12
Stuff your ornament lightly. Overstuffing will cause your stitching to pucker.

Step 13
Complet your stitching in white and finish off your thread as you did in Step 12.

Don't they make a handsome couple! I've always believed that Frosty would get up to all sort of mischief with that magical hat. He needs someone to keep a watchful eye on him. ;)

Wow! I've made it through to my goal of 12 ornament tutorials! WoooHoooo!

The Stashbustin' Ornament GIVEAWAY will run through Friday, 12/16. That night, I will pick my winners and mail out some of my own holiday cheer to those of you who have shared your ornaments here on my blog.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Another Bit of Sneaky Wife!

2011-12-11T13:27:00.001-05:00

My husband is a Texan who loves all things BBQ and meat in general. Last year, I put a new chef's knife in his stocking (in a sheath! ;) ) and he fell in love with that knife. It cuts smoothly, isn't overly heavy and fits his manly hands well.

He loves to BBQ for other people especially in their own home. When we travel, he can often be found at the grill or working in the kitchen. Making people happy through food is what makes him happy. He could easily be one of those BBQ guys that you see on the Food Network at those national championship cook offs. I decided that he need a sharp arsenal that could be portable for when he was away from home and cooking.

This is what I created for him. It's a variation off of a crochet roll only with larger slots for the knives and made of canvas for greater durability. There is also a fold down flap designed to keep the knives from sliding out the other end when it's carried. When it comes to knives, I'm all about safety!

Please pardon my icky craft table! ;)

The last pocket on the right is large enough for index cards which is how he likes to carry his recipes.

I gave him this gift early. He is currently in TX at the family ranch hunting with his dad and brother. I knew that he would put this gift to very good use processing the deer that they had brought down.

Well, maybe it was a bit selfish on my part because all of the meat will now come home in nice, neat, wrapped packages of venison ready for my freezer. I don't have to worry about processing meat when he comes home. ;)

When pigs fly...

2011-12-10T15:00:00.001-05:00

A friend of mine on Craftster asked me to do a personal swap with her. She had joined a Christmas Stocking swap and her partner wanted either an embroidered pig or a heart with her and her boyfriend's initials. I agreed so this is what happens when you give me free license with a concept.

A Flying pig pulling an initialed heart! Both hoops are crayon tinted. The clouds are appliqued bits of felt and the cord is a length of embroider thread that I secured on the underside if the pig, braided to a good length and then secured on the heart hoop.

In return for my embroidery, I received the softest crocheted afghan that is going to be part of my mom's holiday gift. I think we did each other proud. :D

WARNING! Our coffee is served HOT!!

2011-12-03T09:31:00.001-05:00

I personally don't drink coffee. I love the aroma but can't stand the taste. I'm funny that way. ;)

Ever since that gal won her lawsuit against McDonald's due to burning herself with the HOT coffee that she had just ordered from them (boggles my mind it does!), there was an explosion of coffee cup cozy patterns pop on the web. They can be sewn, crocheted, knitted and the variety of patterns available is seemingly endless.

One of the gals in the Ongoing Holiday List swap had requested a couple of cup cozies for her mother who had problems holding on to a hot cup. I made her a couple using this pattern that I found on Soozie's Cutie Patooties. It is super easy and a great project for anyone who is relatively new to crochet.

In about an hour, I was able to crochet a red and a grey for my swap partner. There's very little finish work so this is definitely a keeper for the quick holiday gift list!

Stashbustin' Ornaments Pt 11: Gingerbread House

2011-11-27T16:45:00.001-05:00

I created a Gingerbread Family so it made sense to me that they needed a house. :D

Materials needed:

felt in various colors - I used tan, red, white and green.
craft glue - Elmer's doesn't work well I've found.
small amounts of polyfil or filling of your choosing
scissors - Not your good fabric scissors!
embroidery thread in tan, white, red and green
white ribbon for the hanger
red pom poms 5 mm wide

Gingerbread House Pattern (click to print!)

Step 1
Cut out your pattern pieces.

Step 2
Glue the chimney pieces together and then glue those to the inside of one of the house pieces at least 1/4" from the edge of the roof. Next, glue the snow to the chimney. Allow to dry.

Step 3
Fold the ribbon in half and tie the end in an overhand knot. Glue into place to the right of the glued chimney piece. Allow to dry.

Step4
Glue the roof pieces into place using a thin line of craft glue close to the edge of the house. Then, lightly glue the door and window in place. Using too much glue on those two pieces will make it difficult to stitch later. Allow to dry.

Step 5
Lightly glue the remaining decor pieces to the front of the house. Allow to dry.

Step 6
Starting with the red decor piece using white thread and working from the center of the circle and the split stitch, work a spiral from the center towards the edge of the circle.

Step 7
Using the green thread and the back/outline stitch, work a line of stitches along the edge of the door.

Step 8
With white thread, work a back/outline stitch around the edge of the green piece just like you did the door. Then, stitch "fruit sections" into the center of this piece.

Step 9
Using the red thread, work a back/outline stitch only one stitch covers the entire cane on a diagonal.

Step 10
Glue the red pom poms in this fashion on the window. Allow to dry.

With the green thread, work a back/outline stitch between the pom poms and also create the cross pane.

Step 11
Beginning at one corner where the snow on the roof meets the house, begin whip stitching the snow across the top passing through the ribbon and chimney. Finish off the white thread on the opposite side of the house as directed in the stitch tutorial.
Next, using the tan thread, whip stitch 2 sides of the house leaving the last side open for the stuffing.

Step 12
Fill with polyfil or stuffing of choice. Finish up the whip stitching of the remaining side.

Only ONE MORE WEEK remaining in the Stashbustin' Ornament GIVEAWAY! Be sure to share pictures of your ornaments!

One More Thing Off of the To Do List!!!

2011-11-26T20:41:00.001-05:00

I've slowly but surely worked my way through my Holiday To Do list. If I couldn't craft it myself, I was able to swap for it on Craftster so this year's gifts are mostly hand made! :D

Here's my most recent creation.

One of the gifts for my husband is a trash can for his car. I ended up making a pair just because I had the material so now, we'll have one for each of the kids when we travel. (They are the ones who make a mess anyways.) They are made from black Naugahyde (not as hard to work with as I had thought!), designed to hang over the back of the front seat, have a pleated bottom to make them roomier at the base (amd they will sit flat!), unlined so that we can reuse plastic shopping bags which are always in abundance on trips and have long straps with velcro on the ends so that they will fit easily on the metal posts of the headrest. As for size, I wanted them deep enough so that if the kids put soda bottles in the bag, they wouldn't fall out. A 2L bottle fits inside of the trash can with no problem.

I worked on these tonight while he was immersed in playing Call of Duty with his brother on the XBox in his office. ;D

Next, I'm tackling the knife roll! I have the canvas laid out and have already measured all of the knives. Just need to start cutting. WooHooo!

Stashbustin' Ornaments Pt 10: Snowflake Gnome

2011-11-25T11:27:00.001-05:00

With the arrival of Thanksgiving, the temperatures here in Georgia are finally dropping. Winter is almost here! Now, Old Man Winter has a lot of work to do to make sure that everyone gets that white Christmas so I decided he needed some help.

I created this Snowflake Gnome to help OMW (what the gnome said that he calls the Old Man...) keep everything snowy white outside for Christmas Day. ;)

Materials Needed:

Felt - I used light blue, dark blue, white (hair and beard) and beige (face).
craft glue - NOT ELMER'S!
scissors - Not your good fabric scissors!
coordinating embroidery thread
needle
silver ribbon - white can be substituted.
polyfil or filler of choice (not pictured)
silver sequins (not pictured)

Snowflake Gnome Pattern (click to print!)

Step 1
Cut out the pattern pieces required. You are welcome to play with the color combinations!

Step 2
Glue the head pieces to the body and hat. Do not glue too closely to the edges! I left about a 1/4" unglued so that it would be easier to whip stitch later on. Allow glue to dry.

Step 3
Glue the beard and mustache in to place. Allow to dry.

Step 4
Using French knots, stitch the eyes. I wrapped the thread 5 times.

Step 5
Stitch the snowflakes. I used a silver sequin as the center of the flakes and used a French Knot (wrapped 4 times) to secure it. You can skip that if you don't have any handy. I used the back/outline stitch for the flake "spokes".

Step 6
Fold ribbon piece in half and tie ends with an overhand knot.

Step 7
Pin the ribbon into place between the front and back pieces of the gnome hat. Pin the body of the gnome and trim any excess felt if needed.

Step 8
Starting with the coordinating thread for the hat, begin whip stitching at one corner working towards the ribbon hanger. Pass the thread through the ribbon a couple of times while stitching to make sure it is secure. Continue around to the other corner.

Finish off this color but tieing a knot about a 1/4" from the felt. Place the tip of your needle between the two layers of felt and bringing it out the back side of the gnome. As you pull the thread through, it will tuck your knot inside the gnome hiding it from sight.

Step 9
Do the same with the white/beige and the body sections. Only stitch two sides of the body!

Step 10
Stuff your ornament! Be careful not to overstuff. Your stitches will pull or look puckered if you do. Finish the whip stitching of the body and hide the knot as explained above.

I think we all need a whole brigade of snowflake elves on our Christmas tree this year!

Please be sure to share a picture of your completed ornament here to have a chance at winning one of my creations in the Stashbustin Ornament GIVEAWAY! :)

You can't tell a hero by his size!

2011-11-18T05:21:00.001-05:00

I love Sesame Street! When the opportunity came to stitch this guy up for a personal swap on Craftster, I could not pass it up. :D

This is Teeny Little Super Guy!

Stashbustin Ornaments Part 9: Happy Holiday Pets

2011-11-14T14:57:00.001-05:00

Speaking for my family, our pets are like any other family member and I think they deserve to enjoy the Holidays just as much as we do. Here's my little ornament homage to our beloved fur children. These two happy little pets are guaranteed not to bat ornaments off of the tree that you so carefully decorated nor will they climb it! LOL

I also realized that my last tutorial was more than a bit embroidery heavy so I made this one with minimal stitching to be fair. ;)

Materials Needed:

felt in various colors - I used brown, tan, grey, red, white and black.
craft glue - Elmer's doesn't work well I've found.
small amounts of polyfil or filling of your choosing
scissors - Not your good fabric scissors!
embroidery thread in black and complementary colors
red ribbon for the hanger
white pom poms 1/2" wide

Happy Holiday Pets Pattern (click to print!)

Step 1
     Cut out pieces needed. (I'm doing the Dog first!)

Step 2
     Glue the ear and tongue pieces into place on the inside of one of the head pieces. Be sure to glue at least a 1/4" inch in from the edge so that you can stitch the ornament together. (It's no fun trying to push a needle through dried glue...speaking from experience here.)
      Fold the ribbon in half and tie an overhand knot in the end. Trim excess ribbon if you wish. Glue inside of the same head piece. Allow glue to dry.

Step 3
Glue the white and black eye pieces and the nose into place on the front of the second head piece. Allow to dry.

Step 4
Do the "freckles" in a simple seed stitch. (Seed stitch is like back/outline stitch only not done in a line. It's up through the felt, and back down no more than 1/16" from where the needle came out in a complete random pattern. Tiny, tiny, tiny...) I did 6-7 on either side of the nose.

Step 5
Pin the front head piece to the back head. Pin the ribbon hanger in place as desired. (It will move on you if you don't. :/)
Step 6
Glue the brims to the hat pieces. Be sure to glue the hat pieces going in opposite directions so that you can use them as mirror images when you put the hat on our pooch.

Step 7
Place the top hat piece at a nice jaunty angle and glue down. Flip this piece over carefully. Glue the other hat piece into place on the head and then pin it down to keep it from slipping. Now glue the entire hat together from brim to the pointed tip. Allow to dry.

Step 8
Using the whip stitch and starting at one of the two points in which the hat brim meets the dog's head, begin stitching. When you get to a tongue or ear, stitch through them and continue around leaving a 1"-1 1/2" inch unstitched.

Step 9
Lightly stuff the head. Don't put so much that your whip stitches start to strain or poof.

Step 10
Finish the whip stitching and hide the knot between the layers of the head as instructed in the stitch tutorial.

To make the Cat:
The only difference between the construction of the dog and the cat is the face stitching. Use back/outline stitch to make the whiskers.

Now it's your turn! Make your own holiday pet and share a link here to win one of my ornaments in the Stashbustin' Ornament GIVEAWAY!

Just a quickie!

2011-11-03T18:23:00.000-04:00

I thought I'd take a quick minute to share one of the items that I made for my husband. I was inspired by a piece that I found on Pinterest. Unfortunately, I didn't keep that link.

My husband is a computer programmer. This piece will definitely make him LOL! :D

The frame is supposed to be black. This picture is not the best...

Stashbustin' Ornaments Pt 8: Folk Star

2011-10-30T19:49:00.001-04:00

This week's ornament is a step away from the other patterns with less glue and more embroidery! If you are new to embroidery, don't worry! All of the stitches are linked to their tutorials and I'll give you other options to stitching as well.

This star lends itself to lots of variation both in stitching and creativity!

Materials Needed:

felt of colors in your choosing
skeins of embroidery floss - I find that 2-3 contrasting colors works best.
coordinating ribbon - 6-8" is enough
sequins - one package of multicolor will be more than sufficient!
scissors
vanishing fabric marker (not pictured)
polyfil or stuffing of choice (not pictured)

Star Pattern (click to print)

Step 1
Cut out pattern pieces as needed. Feel free to use different color combinations! You could do blue and silver for Hannukah, collegiate football colors, or just personal favorite combination.

Step 2
Using the fabric marker, mark the center of the star as well as the center point in between the "inner" points of the star.

**Sorry for the faint markings! Santa needs to bring me a new fabric marker! ;)

Step 3
Using the French Knot, stitch the larger sequin in the center (wrapped 5 times) and the smaller sequins in the remaining spots (wrapped 3 times).

If you don't want to do the French Knot, you could do a simple over hand knot (tied a couple of times) down close to the sequin OR you could use a seed bead to hold it in place.

Step 4
Work a chain stitch around the outside edge of the star about 1/4" from the edge. When you get to a point (outer or inner), tack your last stitch before making the turn.

For inner points, I start the next line of stitching inside that last tacked stitch.

For outer points, I stopped stitching about 1/2" from the actual tip and started the next line of stitching outside of the tacked stitch.

Step 5
To fill the points of the star, I used a back/outline stitch to create an arrow.

Step 6
Around the center sequin, I worked a round of button hole stitches.

Step 7
At each inner point, I worked a set of 3 lazy daisy stitches.

Step 8
     Lay the embroidered star felt piece on top of the back piece and trim any excess felt as needed.

Step 9
     Fold your piece of ribbon in half and tie an over hand knot to secure.

Step 10
     Pin your ribbon in place between the two layers of felt.

Step 11
Starting at the point opposite of where your ribbon is pinned, begin whip stitching around the star. Leave the last point unstitched on one side so that you can stuff the star.

Step 12
Working with small bits of stuffing, begin stuffing your star. Use a needle placed between the layers of felt to help work the stuffing into the points.

Step 13
When your star is stuffed to your liking, whip stitch the remaining side, knot the thread and hide the knot as directed in the tutorial.

Don't want to do all of this embroidery?
You could write a meaningful word like Peace or someone's name in the center with a back/outline stitch OR go the glue route and decorate with buttons or whatever.

I'd love to see your folk star! Please share a picture link in my comments to be entered into the Stashbustin' Ornament GIVEAWAY! ! :)

Stashbustin' Ornaments Pt 7: Angel

2011-10-26T21:53:00.001-04:00

Ah well...you know the old addage about good intentions. I had all of the pattern pieces cut out last weekend to blog this ornament. I just needed to take the photos and write it up. Then Life stepped in and brought my normally frenetic craftiness to a stand still. My favorite uncle passed away. I changed my planned ornament (it's coming this weekend!) in favor of this angel. I dedicate this particular crafty moment to my Uncle Johnny. This sweet angel is singing for him.

Materials needed:

felt in white, ecru, and gold (for the hair so you can change this as you wish)
scissors, NOT YOUR GOOD FABRIC SCISSORS!!
embroidery thread in black, white, ecru and gold
embroidery needle
craft glue (not pictured)
vanishing fabric marker (not pictured)
polyfil or a stuffing material of your choice (not pictured)
a 6-8" piece of white ribbon, I used a 1/8" wide in this project

Angel Pattern (click picture to print!)

Step 1
Cut out pattern pieces as needed.

Step 2
Pin the front hair piece on top of one of the face pieces to help you gauge where to draw your facial features. Using the fabric marker, draw the face.

Step 3
Using the back/outline stitch, stitch the mouth and nose. I did try to do satin stitch for the mouth and found it difficult. I cut a little circle out of black and glued it on instead.

(Yes, I failed to do the eyelashes! I had to go back in and add those at the end. Oops! )

Step 4
Lay the two wing pieces one on top of the other. Using the white thread, stitch using the back/outline stitch down the "feathers" of the wings. Then, whip stitch all the way around the outer edge.

Step 5
Place the back head piece on top of the stitched front head piece. Starting on the inside of the golden "hair", whip stitch around the face pieces (not through the hair!) until you have about an inch remaining to stitch.

Step 6
Fill with a tiny amount of polyfil. Don't overstuff! It will cause your stitches to pull.

Step 7
Place the back "hair" in place sandwiching the face in between the hair pieces. Trim up an excess "hair" felt if needed. Stitch from the bottom of the front hair piece around to the opposite side. Don't worry about stitching through the face pieces in the process. It won't hurt it. :)

Step 8
If you don't feel that your face is secure enough in the hair, add some glue between the back of the head and the back hair piece.

Step 9
If you have a needle with a wide enough eye, you can thread your ribbon through the needle and pull the ribbon through the center of the wings. Be careful to only catch the first layer of felt in the wings in doing so. Pull the ribbon through. Fold it in half and tie it in an over hand knot. Trim excess ribbon if you wish.

Don't have a needle big enough to do this? No problem...just fold the ribbon in half, tie and glue in place. If you worry about the ribbon moving before it's dried completely, you could pin it from the backside of the wing.

Step 10
Glue the backside of your angel head to the center of the wings. Allow to dry.

Step 11
Completely optional...you can cut from the bottom edge of the hair up towards the face to give a little more texture to the ornament.

You can also change up the gender of your angel just by changing the hair style.

Now, I would love to see your Little Angel! Please share a link to your version to enter the Stashbustin' Ornament GIVEAWAY! !

Happy Holidays from Hogwarts!

2011-10-18T20:13:00.001-04:00

In a Holiday Swap on Craftster, I had an opportunity to make something that I've wanted to make in a loooong time.

Harry Potter Christmas Ornaments! :D

I found my inspiration from ...of all places...cookies! Aren't these cookies fun? I added a bit of holiday cheer with a simple Santa hat.

Here's my version:

I think that they turned out fabulous, but I must admit that I should have made a Dumbledore! ;)

My favorite of the lot is Ron. I just love those freckles. LOL

Stashbustin' Ornaments Pt 6: Gingerbread Man and Jr!

2011-10-16T13:57:00.002-04:00

Read here for information on the Stashbustin' Ornament GIVEAWAY!

I couldn't help myself. I knew that I wanted to make a gingerbread man, but it just didn't feel like enough so I created the Ginger Family! (Click HERE for the Gingergirl pattern.)

Materials needed:

tan felt
white felt scrap
mini rickrack, red
red mini buttons
black and red embroidery thread (I had originally planned to use gold but changed mid stream.)
red ribbon for hanging
scissors
craft glue, Elmer's doesn't work well! (not pictured)
vanishing fabric marker (not pictured)
polyfil or stuffing of your preference (not pictured)

Gingerbread Man and Jr Pattern - Click on picture to print!

Gingerbread Man instructions

Step 1
Cut out pattern pieces and trace the body using the fabric marker on the tan felt. Trace the heart and hair bow on the red felt. DO NOT USE YOUR GOOD FABRIC SCISSORS! Felt will dull them very quickly!

Step 2
Glue on the mini rick rack, bow tie and mini buttons into place. Trim excess rick rack only after the glue is dry.

Step 3
Cut a 2-3" piece of red ribbon to create his bow tie. Tie a simple overhand knot and tighten it. Trim the tie down to the appropriate length. (Using a shorter bit of ribbon before tieing the knot makes it difficult to work with!)

Step 4
Using the fabric marker again, draw on his face. I used black thread to do hus eyes and mouth. His eyes are worked in French knots (wrapped 4 times) and his smile is a back/outline stitch.

Don't have rick rack? Use some pretty holiday trim or braid some extra embroidery floss together. :)

Step 5
Cut about a 6" length of you ribbon to create your hanger. Fold it half and tie the end in an overhand knot.

Step 6
Lay the decorated body on top of the second undecorated piece. Pin the knotted ribbon in between the two layers of felt. Starting with a goodly length (15-20" inches to be on the safe side) of red embroidery floss, begin to stitch these two pieces of felt together. I've used the whip stitch, but a baste/running stitch or a buttonhole stitch will work just as well. Start stitching at the "leg joint".

When you get to the top of his head, be sure to put your needle through the ribbon hanger to help hold it it place. Stitch all the way around until you reach the opposite side from where you started.

DON'T CUT or TIE your thread! Leave it dangling!

Step 7
Time to stuff ! Do the arms and head first. Be careful not to overstuff. If the seams look like they are bulging, remove some stuffing. You might need to use the wrong end of an ink pen or crochet hook to get the filling into his arms. Now, fill the body.

Step 8
Whip stitch around his legs with the remaining red thread, knot your thread, and place the needle between the layers of felt. Pull the needle out through the back side which will pull the knot into the inside of your gingerbread man. Trim the thread

If you find that your filling isn't even, you can use a needle placed through the back side to reposition it with a bit of wiggling.

Ginger Jr instructions

I'm only noting the differences in construction from Dad to Son.

Step 2
Glue his bib and the rick rack into place and allow it to dry. I didn't take a picture of the rickrack edging of his bib but you get the "picture". LOL

SKIP Step 3 since he doesn't have a tie! ;)

Step 4
I stitched his closed eyes in back/outline stitch.

Now you have an entire Gingerbread Family!

Feel free to make your own family and share your gingerbread family pictures here to be entered in the Stashbustin' Ornament GIVEAWAY!

Ugh...I'm still here.

2011-10-11T20:05:00.002-04:00

Last week was beyond stressful which led to some evil migraines and this week is Parent Teacher conferences every day until 5:30. Needless to say, I'm a bit behind but I will catch up!

The next Stashbustin' Ornament tutorial is in the works and on its way. :)

Frida in a Hoop

2011-10-04T19:39:00.001-04:00

One bit of trivia about Me....I LOVE art! I'm very fortunate in teaching upper level languages because I have entire units of study involving Hispanic art which focus on some of the most famous artists that the world has ever seen like Picasso, Rivera and Miro. One of the artists that always fascinates my classes is Frida Kahlo. Her work is amazing, moving and unforgettable.

In the Ongoing Hoopla Swap on Craftster, I was able to claim a swap partner who happens to be in Mexico for a Frida Kahlo hoop. Before I could officially make this claim, I had to be sure that I could find a self portrait of Kahlo that wasn't too "out there" and fortunately, I found one! Here's the original portrait.

I adapted the design just a bit because it would have been difficult to get some of the detail from the painting into the size of the hoop but the essence of Kahlo is still there...her unibrow! :D

She is by far one of the most extensive pieces of crayon tinting that I've ever attempted. I was super excited that she turned out so well!

Stashbustin' Ornaments Pt 5: Penguin

2011-10-03T16:00:00.000-04:00

Remember to read the rules of my Stashbustin' Ornament GIVEAWAY!!

I simply love this little fellow! As I was working up this pattern, my daughter took one look at him and decided that she had to make all of her teachers one for their holiday gift. We worked together to make 5 penguins in about 2 hours including the dry time for the glue. :)

Materials Needed:

felt in black, white and gold
embroidery floss in black, white and gold
crafting glue (Elmer's doesn't work well!) (Not Pictured)
scissors, not your good fabric scissors!
needle
coordinating ribbon for the hanger
polyfil or filling of choice

Penguin Pattern (Click on pattern to print!)

Step 1
Cut out all of your pattern pieces as directed.

Step 2
Glue the flippers and feet in place on one body piece. Do Not glue to closely to the edge. You won't be able to stitch him together very easily if you do. Allow to dry.

Step 3
On the other body piece, glue the stomach and beak into place with just a tiny amount of glue. Allow to dry.

Step 4
Using the basting stitch, stitch around the edge of the stomach with white floss. Also do the same stitch on the beak with the gold.

Step 5
Make the eyes using the french knot (5 wraps).
**If you don't want to do a french knot, a seed bead or sequin would work well here.**

Step 6
Lay the front body piece on top of the back, hiding the glued flippers and feet. Trim away any odd bits of uneven black felt if needed.

Step 7
Fold the ribbon in half and pin into place in the center top of the penguin.

Step 8
Starting at the bottom right (or left, doesn't matter which) corner of the penguin, start a whip stitch by hiding the knot in your thread between the two layers of black felt. Begin stitching.

When you come to a flipper, stitch through the flipper. Do the same when you come to the ribbon and feet. Stop stitching when you reach the opposite side of the penguin body. This leaves you the entire bottom of the ornament where the feet are located open for the next step.

Step 9
Fill your penguin with polyfil. Whip stitch this remaining area closed. Knot your thread about 1/8"-1/4" away from the felt. Place your needle between the two layers of stitched black felt. Pull the needle out through the back which should cause your knot to go into the penguin to "hide".

All done! :)

Check out my other Stashbustin' Ornament Patterns in My Tutorials!

Happy Stitching!

Carved in time

2011-09-29T06:27:00.001-04:00

I stitched up this hoop for a gal in the Ongoing Holiday List swap. I think it turned out sweet. :)

My favorite part was stitching in the "bark". At first, I didn't feel like it looked right and then I'd step away from the hoop and say to myself..."Cool!".

I did crayon tinting on the tree itself. You can't tell but the inside of the heart is tinted a tan to make it look more like the inner portion of the tree. It's stitched in split stitch and the heart is done in stem stitch.

Stashbustin' Ornaments Pt 4: Poinsettia

2011-09-25T17:52:00.001-04:00

Before reading this tutorial, check out my Ornament GIVEAWAY rules!

Here's a super easy and quick poinsettia ornament that would look lovely on a tree or as part of the wrapping of a gift. :)

Materials Needed:

red and green felt
gold craft beads or you could use sequins
8" piece of coordinating ribbon
scissors
craft glue (not pictured)
needle and corresponding thread (embroidery or sewing, doesn't matter)

Poinsettia pattern
Click on image to print!

Step 1
Cut out your pattern pieces as specified. Don't worry if your pieces aren't exactly alike.

Step 2
Overlap the large petal pieces using your thumb to hold them in place. Using a threaded needle, tack the layered large petals in place. Don't worry about the knot of this stitch showing in the back and just leave the threaded needle dangling in the back so that you can use it again in the next step.

Step 3
Now do the same with the small petal pieces and tack them down as well. Allow the threaded needle to dangle out the back again.

Step 4
Time to add in the beads to the center of the flower. Using the threaded needle, sew the beads in place as you like. Just be sure to cover enough of the center of the flower so that you can't see that the petal centers.

Step 5
Fold your ribbon piece in half and tie an overhand knot to secure it. The piece that I used here is only about 6" and in my opion, too short. :/

Step 6
Stitch the knotted ribbon into the center of the back of the flower. When you have done this, knot and cut your thread. Add craft glue on the back in a circular fashion. Make sure that you have your stitches in the center and that you have covered over the knotted ribbon.

Step 7
Add the leaf pieces to cover the stitching and knots. Add more glue between layers of leaves if needed.

Allow to dry and you're done!

See more of my Stashbustin' Ornament tutorials on My Tutorial page!

A Holiday Gift for my Husband

2011-09-21T14:51:00.001-04:00

Today, the stars were aligned. Today, the perfect fabric was on sale. Today, I made 2 recliner remote control organizers! :D

I was out picking up some craft supplies this morning when on a whim, I decided to look at fabric. There it was, the perfect color (olive green, the pic below is washed out due to the pile of the fabric.), the perfect weight AND on sale! I took that as a hint..."Get to work Woman!"

And so I did. ;)

I started cutting fabric and figured out quickly that I had enough to make 2 organizers, a His and a Hers, so I did. The underside is lined with that no-slip shelf liner. (I wasn't sure how well it would hold, but it is very secure. My cat won't be using it as a play toy!) The "back" pocket is easily big enough to hold a magazine or two and the "front" pockets can hold a couple of remotes.

I'm very happy with today's crafty spontaneity!

Stashbustin' Ornament Pt 3: FROSTY!

2011-09-18T16:14:00.002-04:00

Let's face it...one of the Most Popular faces during the Holidays is this loveable guy!

I watched the claymation movie of Frosty the Snowman every year as a child and I made sure that I had this movie on DVD when I had kids. Our family tradition is to decorate our tree and then watch this movie to kick off the Holiday season every year.

Materials Needed to make your own Frosty ornament:

white and black craft felt
scrap bits of craft felt in red, green and orange
craft glue (not pictured), Elmer's doesn't work well with felt!
red sequins
embroidery floss, red, white and black
scissors
vanishing fabric marker
6" piece of red ribbon (not pictured)
polyfil or filler of choice

Frosty Pattern (click picture to print!)

Step 1
Cut out the 2 head pieces, 2 hat pieces, facial parts and hat decor as directed on the pattern using the scissors and fabric marker.

Step 2
Glue the eyes and carrot nose in place on one of the white face pieces. I find it easier to place the hat down as I like it first before gluing just to get placement as I would like it which for me, is a jaunty angle. You can pin the hat into place if you like as well.

Step 3
Draw in his smile and eyebrows with the fabric marker. Using a Back Stitch, stitch those into place with the black floss.

Step 4
With a small bit of orange floss, stitch the nose down using version of the whip stitch.

Finished face should look something like this...

Step 5
Glue the red strip and holly leaves on to the front hat piece and just the red strip on the other hat piece. Once the glue is dried, stitch the red down using the whip stitch.

Step 6
Put the red sequins into place on top of the holly leaves and secure them. I used a French knot to do this (5 wraps) but you could use a red seed bead or simply glue the sequins down.

Step 7
Stitch the hat piece with the holly and sequins into place on the decorated face with a whip stitch. You could also use a button stitch or a simple basting/running stitch. To make sure that the hat is aligned properly, lay the other face and hat piece on top of the backside of the first piece. Pin this hat piece into place if needed and then stitch the back of the hat to the back of the head.

Step 8
Now it's time to assemble our Frosty! First, tie your 6" piece of ribbon into an overhand knot.

Step 9
Knot up a piece of black floss and starting at the point where the white and black felt meet, pull the threaded needle through.

Whip stitch around the hat until you reach the middle of the top of the hat. Place your knotted ribbon in between the felt pieces and continue stitching. Be sure that your needle passes through the ribbon to help hold it in place.

Stitch all the around the hat with the black thread.

Step 10
Knot the black thread on the inside of the hat to secure it.

Thread your needle with white floss and continue stitching along the white face pieces in the same manner. When you are about an inch and a half from finishing, STOP stitching!

Step 11
Gently fill your ornament with polyfil. Be sure not to overstuff which will cause your stitches to bulge.

Finish whip stitching the white felt. When you are finished stitching, knot your thread about 1/4-1/2" from the felt. Put your needle in between the white pieces and pull your needle through the back of your ornament which will hide your knot inside.

You now have a handsome Frosty ornament of your own! :)

Frosty's Girlfriend is an upcoming tutorial! I can't have him spending his Holidays alone. ;)

Check out my other Stashbustin' Ornaments in My Tutorials!

Remember to make your version of my ornaments to win some of mine! Read the rules for participating HERE!

(Why yes, I do love exclamation points. LOL!!)

30 Day Blog Post Challenge Part 6

2011-09-12T17:04:00.001-04:00

26. Post one confession/secret
     Um...I live my life openly. I don't really have confessions or secrets. If you want to know something about me or my opinion on a matter, just ask. However, be sure you really want to hear what I have to say, I don't sugar coat or beat around the bush.

27. Mountain hideaway or beach house?
   Mountain hideaway please! I prefer a nice babbling brook and a good area for gardening along with this log cabin in the mountains. :)

28. What is on your mouse pad?
   Uh...I don't have a mouse pad. ???

29. Hugs or Kisses?
   It all depends on who is hugging and kissing. I only kiss my husband (romantically) and my kids when then go to bed but hugs are a wonderful thing! :)

30. Top 5 favorite websites visited
CRAFTSTER!
Feeling Stitchy
Mr XStitch
Craft Gossip
Zambombazo (I use this one for my classroom, lots of pop culture relevant to what I teach. :) )

30 Day Blog Post Challenge Part 5

2011-09-11T18:05:00.000-04:00

21. What's your favorite Broadway musical?

     I've never scene a musical on Broadway but I do know that if I ever did get to do so, I'd love to see Phantom of the Opera or Grease. :)

22. Who's your favorite Care Bear?

     I can't name a single one of the Care Bears so I guess I'll give this question a pass.

23. What do your parents do for a living?

     (How old was the person who wrote this??) My dad is retired from a paper plant where he worked as a manager. My mom worked in home health care.

24. Computer or television?

      Computer over TV any day but I prefer a good book to both of those hands down.

25. If you could go to Disney World with any celebrity alive today, who would it be?
   First, I could care less about celebrities as a whole so I couldn't come up with a name here. Then there's the fact that I have no desire whatsoever to go to Disney, too much hype and expense.

Stashbustin' Ornament Pt 2: Ribbon Wreath

2011-09-11T09:25:00.002-04:00

Read here for more info on the Stashbustin Ornament GIVEAWAY!

While poking around in my stash, I noticed that I have waaaaay too much ribbon in a variety of colors and widths. I decided that I needed to put some of it to use!

Ribbon Wreath

Materials Needed

Green ribbon, 1/4" wide is used in my example piece
Red ribbon for the bow, about 6-8" needed per wreath
Glue, I used tacky glue but hot glue would work.
Tiny red pom poms
Scissors

Step 1
Cut two lengths of green ribbon, each about a yard long. Pin the ends down about 3/4 inch on each ribbon creating a loop. You hot glue the ends down if you wish.

Step 2
Now, let's begin ribbon braiding! Stick one of the the loops into the other. Hold the two ribbons together with your thumb for the next step.

Step 3
Without twisting your ribbon, take the tail of the ribbon on the left and insert a loop into the loop that is pointed to the left.

Step 4
Now do the same as step 3 only on the right hand side. You will need to gently pull the loops on the left to tighten it down on the loop that you have just inserted.

Step 5
Continue in this manner with loops and tightening until you have braided a piece that is approximately 6" long.

Step 6
To end your braid, pull the end of a loop through and tighten as you have been. Add a bit of glue in the center to help better secure the ends.

Step 7
Overlap the other end of the braid over the spot of glue. Add a bit more glue on this end. You have now created the wreath!

Once the glue is dry, you can clip the excess ribbon.

Step 8
After the wreath has dried, cut an 6-8" length of the red ribbon. Tie a overhand knot in the center. Glue it to the top of the wreath where the two braid ends overlap.

Step 9
When the glue on the red ribbon has dried, tie it into a bow knot. Trim the excess red ribbon if needed. Glue on the red mini pom poms. (This part will help the wreath maintain its round shape!) You can also glue down the bow knot ends if they aren't behaving.

Step 10
Glue a loop of ribbon to the back for hanging and you are done! :)

I've also tried using the 1/8" wide ribbon and it can be tedious. Ribbon that size would make cute gift toppers or ornaments for a mini Christmas tree.

Now, it's your turn! Make some mini wreaths! :)

Also, check out my other Stashbustin' Ornaments on the My Tutorial page! (Scroll to the bottom. )

Happy Crafting!

30 Day Blog Post Challenge Part 4

2011-09-10T08:14:00.000-04:00

16. What is the first thing you notice about a guy or girl?
I notice a guy’s mouth and hands.

17. What is the last movie you've seen?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2

18. What was your most recent trip of more than 50 miles?
We went to visit my family in Tennessee back in July.

19. What is your favorite pizza topping?
mushrooms. Honestly, I'm not much of a pizza person anymore. The tomato sauce doesn't play nice with my tummy. If I eat it at all, I prefer a white pizza made with alfredo sauce.

20. What is the worst thing that happened to you during the past week?
I tried to break my toes with falling frozen reusable ice packs. Fortunately, I did not succeed in doing so but my foot is super sore. :-/

30 Day Blog Post Challenge Part 3

2011-09-09T16:42:00.000-04:00

11. Top 5 favorite bloggers you like to read

Faster Kittykill! Blog! Blog! – She’s so upbeat and fun! I just LOVE her! :D

Refabulous…It’s new again. – Her work is amazing and I love what she does with reclaimed fabrics.

My Hiding Space in Cyberspace – I always find great patterns and chatter here.

Dearest Jackdaw – Her photography simply blows me away. So beautiful…

Missing Willow Farm – The pictures of her farm that she posts remind me of home when I’m feeling nostalgic. One of these days, she will find me on her doorstep waiting to play with her pups. J

12. A photo of yourself and what you did today. HAH! I don’t do photos of me. If I did, it would break your monitors. Nope, I’m serious. Besides, I’m spending my day giving exams at work. How much fun is that? Bleh.

13. Tattoos; if you have one, post it and it's story. If not, what do you want? Nope, no tats on me...ever.

14. What type of music do you like to listen to? I pretty much love it all! If it has a catchy beat or a great beat, I’ll sing and dance. I’d have to say my all time fave though would be alternative. I enjoy Korn, Five Finger Death Punch, Alterbridge, Metallica, Disturbed…all the bands whose music I can’t sing while at work. ;)

15. Top 5 favorite Sports players (male or female) I am very decidedly against most forms of sports as far as televised and publicized sports are concerned. It’s overhyped, overpriced and I just have much more interesting things to do with my time.

And then the penguin came....

2011-09-08T17:38:00.001-04:00

Isn't this guy just adorable? :D

I made him for a gal in the Ongoing Holiday List Swap on Craftster. I found this pattern on Robotrish.com .

I learned with this project that regardless of what kind of amigurumi I make, my kids will want one. I make them an ami a year for Christmas but they always want more! LOL I have to be sneaky about it now though. They've become to nosey for Santa's own good. ;)

30 Day Blog Post Challenge Part 2

2011-09-08T06:25:00.000-04:00

6. Were you ever a boy/girl scout? I was a brownie (pre-girl scout) but I was kicked out because I was too tomboy. Apparently the leader didn't care for my bugs and frogs that I put in her purse. :D

7. Summer or Winter? Winter with a good book, a comfy couch, a cozy blanket, a roaring fire and a cuppa.

8. Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of bees? Um, bees? They're less likely to kill me. :/

9. What would you do if you only had 24 hours left to live? I'd spend every second with husband and kids making memories.

10. What is the first thing you notice about people? That would be their mouths from my years of language training. I've learned to watch mouths when I don't understand what someone is saying and given that I work with people from all over the world, this happens a lot.

30 Day Blog Post Challenge

2011-09-07T20:44:00.002-04:00

(snagged from TwistedTruth...)

I never think to post about Me so I thought this challenge would help me to remember. Instead of doing 1 a day, I'm going to do 5 just because my life is crazy busy. :)

First, the questions:
1. What is your favorite food?
2. How many languages can you speak?
3. Top 5 favorite board games
4. Do you believe in soul mates?
5. What is the best piece of advice you've received?
6. Were you ever a boy/girl scout?
7. Summer or Winter?
8. Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of bees?
9. What would you do if you only had 24 hours left to live?
10. What is the first thing you notice about people?
11. Top 5 favorite bloggers you like to read
12. A photo of yourself and what you did today.
13. Tattoos; if you have one, post it and it's story. If not, what do you want?
14. What type of music do you like to listen to?
15. Top 5 favorite Sports players (male or female)
16. What is the first thing you notice about a guy or girl?
17. What is the last movie you've seen?
18. What was your most recent trip of more than 50 miles?
19. What is your favorite pizza topping?
20. What is the worst thing that happened to you during the past week?
21. What's your favorite Broadway musical?
22. Who's your favorite Care Bear?
23. What do your parents do for a living?
24. Computer or television?
25. If you could go to Disney World with any celebrity alive today, who would it be?
26. Post one confession/secret
27. Mountain hideaway or beach house?
28. What is on your mouse pad?
29. Hugs or Kisses?
30. Top 5 favorite websites visited

Now, for my answers to 1-5. I'll pick up another set of 5 tomorrow.

1. What is your favorite food? Easy, my favorite food is chocolate, preferably dark. I don't need any sugar or milk getting in my way!

2. How many languages can you speak? I'm fluent in Spanish and French. I can read Italian and Latin. I speak just enough German to get me arrested i.e. everything I shouldn't say in polite conversation. I am fascinated by Japanese but know very little. I'd love to speak 7 languages fluently before I leave this life.

3. Top 5 favorite board games - Geez, I haven't played a board game in forevAr. I'm more into card games like Yahtzee, Uno and Spades.

4. Do you believe in soul mates? Yes, and I married mine. He is my rock, the love of my life and my best friend. :)

5. What is the best piece of advice you've received? My papaw used to tell me "You get further with honey than you do with vinegar." in reference to how to deal with other people. Asking for something nicely is more likely to get you what you want rather than throwing a fit or demanding.

Stashbustin' Ornaments Pt 1: Gingerbread Girl

2011-09-05T14:38:00.000-04:00

Read here for information on the Stashbustin' Ornament GIVEAWAY!

Everyone hears about gingerbread men. Well, I think we need to start with a gingerbread girl! Isn't she the sweetest?

Materials needed as she is shown above

tan felt
red felt scrap
mini ricrac, red
black and red embroidery thread (I had originally planned to use white but changed mid stream.)
red ribbon for hanging (not pictured)
scissors
craft glue, Elmer's doesn't work well! (not pictured)
vanishing fabric marker
polyfil or stuffing of your preference (not pictured)

Gingerbread Girl Pattern - Click on picture to print!

Step 1
Cut out pattern pieces and trace the body using the fabric marker on the tan felt. Trace the heart and hair bow on the red felt. DO NOT USE YOUR GOOD FABRIC SCISSORS! Felt will dull them very quickly!

Step 2
Using the fabric marker again, draw on her face. I used black thread to do her eyes and mouth. Her eyes are worked in French knots (wrapped 3 times) and her smile is a baste/running stitch.

Glue on little circles of red felt for her cheeks. I've tried stitching these on before and the needle shreds smaller bits of felt so I think it's better just to glue them on.

Step 3
Glue on her heart where you think it should be. Now, grab the rectangle red bit of felt which will become her bow. Bring your needle loaded with the remaining black thread up through the center of the rectangle to secure your thread. Wrap the thread around the rectangle and pull gently to form your bow.

Stitch her bow in place. Be sure not to put this piece too closely to the edge because it will cause problems when you sew her up. :)

Step 4

Glue on the mini rick rack into place. Trim excess after the glue is dry.

Step 6
Lay the decorated body on top of the second undecorated piece. Pin the knotted ribbon in between the two layers of felt. Starting with a goodly length of red embroidery floss, begin to stitch these two pieces of felt together. I've used the whip stitch, but a baste/running stitch or a buttonhole stitch will work just as well. Start your stitching at the bottom of her "skirt".

When you get to the top of her head, be sure to put your needle through the ribbon hanger to help hold it it place. Stitch all the way around until you reach the opposite side of her skirt.

Step 7
Time to stuff her! Do the arms and head first. Be careful not to overstuff her. If the seams look like they are bulging, remove some stuffing. You might need to use the wrong end of an ink pen or crochet hook to get the filling into her arms. Now, fill the body.

Step 8
Whip stitch the bottom of her "skirt" together with the remaining red thread.

If you find that your filling isn'teven, you can use a needle placed through the back side to reposition it with abit of wiggling.

Now it's your turn! Show me your gingerbread girl ornaments! Feel free tosubstitute and make adaptations as you see fit. Use what you have in your stashand your imagination! :)

Stashbustin' Ornaments!

2011-09-05T13:52:00.000-04:00

You know, I just love Christmas. I love the sounds, the smells, the tree, the lights, the fire in the fire place...I LOVE it all!

One of my favorite Christmas crafts would have to be making ornaments for the tree. This summer as I started thinking about this year's gift list, I made myself a promise. This year, I'm going to work out of my stash more and buy less. I came home and took stock of what I have to work with. Then I came up with this idea...

(What? You mean not everyone works on their gift list in July? It's a survival tactic for a high school teacher. I have final exams, stressed students and grumpy parents on top of all of the holiday crazy! I have every intention of being done with the whole shopping thing by Thanksgiving.)

Anyway, back to what I was writing...

Stashbustin' Ornaments! I'm planning on doing a weekly ornament tutorial series (now through the weekend after Thanksgiving) using just what I have in my current craft stash.

However, there's a twist to this series! If you make your version of my ornament and share a picture link in my comments, you will have a chance at receiving one of mine. This is a tutorial series with a GIVEAWAY!

I will post my tutorials every week through Sunday Nov. 27. The week of 11/28, I will use a random number generator to pick my weekly winners. You can post your version of my ornaments once on each tutorial as we go along. You may use your time as it's best for you. If I'm on Week 4 and you are just finishing up Week 2's, that's fine! Work at your own speed. All finished ornament links that are posted by Nov. 27 will be considered for the drawing. Towards the end of the week of 11/28, I will mail out my ornaments to the lucky winners.

I encourage all of you to dig into your stash, turn on your favorite holiday music, avoid the craft store holiday craziness and share your ornaments with us all!

I can't wait to see what you make! :)

..and now for Stashbustin' Ornaments Part 1!

Scroll to the bottom of the My Tutorials page for all of my ornaments!

Hand Sewing: Whip Stitch

2011-09-05T09:23:00.000-04:00

The whip stitch is a super fast way to sew to pieces of fabric together. This stitch has long been one of my favorites!

Step 1
Place the two pieces of fabric to be sewn together on top of each other.

Step 2
Knot on end of your thread. Place your needle in between the two pieces of fabric. Pull your needle through one piece of fabric which will hide your knotted end inside.

Step 3
After pulling your threaded needle through the one layer of fabric towards you in Step 2, place the needle on the back side pulling through both pieces of fabric towards you again.

Step 4
To finish a line of whip stitching, you can knot between the two pieces of fabric. However, if you are not picky about the knot showing, you can knot on the outside if you wish.

It takes a bit of practice to get your stitches to turn out even in spacing and depth!

Hand Sewing: Baste stitch

2011-09-05T09:19:00.001-04:00

This simple stitch (also known as a running stitch in embroidery) is super useful and can be decorative too!

Step 1
Place the two pieces of fabric to be sewn together on top of each other.

Step 2
Knot on end of your thread. Place your needle in between the two pieces of fabric. Pull your needle through one piece of fabric which will hide your knotted end inside.

Step 3
Put your needle back through both pieces of fabric (front to back) pulling the thread through. Do the same again from back to front. This will look like a spaced series of dashes!

You are now doing the basting stitch! To end a line of basting, you can knot between the two layers of fabric again or if you don't care about appearance, knot on the outside which can be easier to do. :)

Fun and Best Wishes!

2011-09-04T08:42:00.002-04:00

First, I'll start this entry with something FUN!

A good friend of mine from Craftster is having her first GIVEAWAY! Her work is simply amazing and you need to go check her out at QuirkieCraft !

And now for another piece of my Hoopla! One of my Craftster Mod Squad buddies is getting married very soon and I wanted to make her something special for her Big Day. I wish them both all of the best!

COMING VERY SOON!
I will be starting a series of blog entries called StashBustin' Ornaments! I will be posting a tutorial with pattern. I'm making it more interactive for you my readers. If you make your version of one of my ornaments and share a link to your finished product, you will be entered into a giveaway for one of my StashBustin' Ornaments!

STAY TUNED!

Out on a Limb

2011-09-03T09:46:00.000-04:00

A very dear friend celebrated her birthday last month and I decided that she needed a special gift. After poking around in her wish lists, I found the perfect item, but there was one small challenge. I have never made anything like this before. Could I do it? Would it look good enough to be her gift? I was pushing myself into a new crafty realm.

Well, I just decided to give it a try! I think it turned out fantastic for my very first painting. :D

Will I do another such painting? Who knows...but I don't feel so intimidated by the thought anymore. :)

How To Bleach Gel a T-shirt

2011-08-31T22:12:00.002-04:00

I've fallen in love with bleach gel! It is a super easy and quick way to decorate any plain t-shirt.

I've had several friends ask me how to do this so I'm writing this tutorial for them. :)

WARNING!
This medium is very "organic" in that it's going to do what it's to do once the bleach is on the fabric. Bubbles will cause odd little blips. The bleach might bleed a bit. The scraping of the tip applicator can cause the gel to thin in some areas of your design. If you prefer crisp, even, perfect designs, this might not be the best medium for you.

Prep Work
1. Gather all your materials. Once the bleach hits the fabric, your clock is ticking. It is not advisable to go looking for something that is buried in your craft room while in the middle of this process!

2. Work area is well ventilated. You are working with bleach which will give off fumes. Open a window or turn on a fan for air movement.

3. Change into clothing that you can get "dirty". By this I mean, put on the old ratty, paint spattered t-shirt and shorts. Wearing clothing that you care about while working with the bleach is only asking for Mr. Murphy to come looking for you.

4. Make sure you have enough bleach gel to do your project. This is not a process that you can stop and pick up again later. Once you start, you work to the finish. (I've been able to do the fronts of 4 shirts with this technique if that helps.)

5. Make sure both your kitchen sink (or bath tub if need be) and washer are not full of stuff! You will need both of these towards the end of this process and you won't be able to deal with emptying them.

Materials needed:

solid colored, medium weight t-shirt, gently worn is fine
bleach gel pen (costs about $2.50 at WalMart)
freezer paper (wax paper can be substituted, see details below)
chalk fabric marker - preferably high contrast color
your chosen design to be bleached - MAKE SURE IT'S SIMPLE LINES FOR YOUR FIRST SHIRT!

Step 1
Prep the t-shirt for bleaching by laying it out flat on your craft area. Place a piece of freezer paper that is slightly larger than your design on the inside of your shirt making sure it covers the area to be bleached plus a little more. Place the paper shiny side up. This side is wax covered which will help keep the bleach from damaging the underside of the shirt.

Now, with an iron set to the appropriate setting for the t-shirt (NO steam!), iron the area to be bleached to secure the waxed side of the freezer paper to the underside of your fabric.

Step 2
Draw your design onto your fabric using the fabric marker. (My design is based off of some Mehndi tattoos that I love.) I started with my pink chalk marker as my 5 yr old had wandered off with my white one. Grrr...

Can't draw free hand designs? Do a Google Image search for a design that you like. Print out your design and then trace your design on your shirt using tracing paper which is used like old school carbon paper . I like looking at coloring sheets online because they have simple lines and can easily be made more elaborate by adding in shading or more details.

Step 3
Shake your gel pen well. Working left to right for a right handed person (opposite for lefties!), begin tracing your design with your gel. It takes practice to get an even line of gel coming out so don't get upset if your first bleached tee isn't perfect!

Bubbles will occur in your gel. Breathe! It's not the end of the world or shirt! ;)

Step 4
Set your timer for 5-15 minutes and allow the gel to do its thing. The longer you leave the gel the whiter your design will be.

Detail shot of how the gel can bubble and run together as well as bleed on the fabric.

CAUTION! Be very careful with your first couple of t-shirts. If you use different brands of shirts, they will most likely all bleach differently meaning that they may take more/less time to get the desired result. Leaving the bleach on too long on a lighter weight cotton shirt could cause the bleach to eat through the fabric!

Step 5
When the timer goes off, carefully carry the shirt by holding the bleached area as flat as possible to the sink/tub. With cool water, rinse the bleach off of the shirt. Don't worry about the water pooling in the sink or tub. At that point, it won't affect the design or shirt.

If your shirt folds over on itself while you are rinsing and another part touches the gel, it can affect that area of the shirt. Be careful! Having an extra set of hands close by might be useful with your first attempts at doing this.

Step 6
Wash and dry the shirt according to the label on the shirt. Now you have an awesome bleached tee! Also, give your hands a good wash after placing the shirt in the washer. The bleach is going to dry out your hands. A good lotion is also helpful at this point.

Troubleshooting

1. I can't find freezer paper around here!
      Use the wax paper instead only you won't be able to iron it to the shirt as I did.

2. I want my design to come out super white. What do I do?
      Allow the bleach more time to do its thing. Just understand that this stuff can eat the fabric of the shirt as well as the freezer paper if left on too long. Keep an eye on it!

3. I'm really worried about the bleach spreading to the back of my shirt.
    Find yourself a piece of clean cardboard box i.e. don't use pizza boxes that have oil on them. Cover the cardboard with either wax or freezer paper by taping the edges down on the underside of the cardboard. Slide this piece into the area of the shirt to be bleached.

Time to Start Craftin' for the Season!

2011-08-28T15:33:00.004-04:00

I went on a bit of a crafting spree Friday night. Unfortunately, I was dealing with a bout of insomnia and rather than stare at the walls or watch a movie, I put my brain to work. I made 4 mug rugs using bits of holiday from my fabric stash! :D

What's a mug rug? It's sort of like an over sized coaster (mine is about 5"x9"), big enough for a hot cup of coffee/tea/cider and a yummy snack or two! I'm going to combine the mug rug with some baked goodies for teacher gifts. (Being a teacher myself, I know that they most likely don't need another mug. I've got a cabinet full most all of them from student gifts.)

Since I'm new to quilting in general, I used a technique called "quilting as you go" or "stitch and press" from this wonderful tutorial from Contented. Only rather than doing a binding edge, I did a backing that I learned to do while costuming in the SCA. :)

(The picture makes it look wonky on the right. Apparently, I took the picture while standing at an angle rather than straight on. :/ )

And here are the other 2 designs!

(I learned that parellel lines make me crazy so I'm not making many more of this particular design. I'm too OCD...)

I like the simpler lines of this one but I did notice that I put one of the inner squares in wrong. Doh!

I stitched up the rugs in 3 different designs in a total of about 4 hours (puttering around did also occur during that time, not continuous sewing!). I only need one more to have enough to gift all of my kids' teachers! YAY!

UPDATE! I finished the last mug rug. I can check something off of my Holiday To Do list! :D

Just flying by...

2011-08-26T21:18:00.001-04:00

I know that I've been quiet these past weeks. The start to this school year has not been rough but it has been draining. I'm back up to speed now though so look out for more of my Crafty Me moments!

I stitched up this hoop for a gal in the Ongoing Hoopla swap. I love its simplicity. My husband, who is a huge paper plan fan, has already asked me to stitch up a couple for his office at work. :)

I used the split stitch on the plane and a quick baste stitch for the loop de loop. The outer hoop was painted with acrylic paint. Overall, this was a quick and fun project.

Another bleach gel tee!

2011-08-24T06:17:00.000-04:00

I'm really amazed at how fast doing bleach gelled designs is! This past weekend, I did 3 shirts for myself! :)

I have always wanted a shirt with a dragon on it. My problem in trying to find one retail is that the dragon was either too cutesy or too evil looking. Why can't a dragon just be a dragon and not those 2 extremes?

I found the inspiration for this design on line and then added my own bits of flare to it. I drew the design free hand onto my tee and then hit it with the bleach.

I think I'm going to try my hand at spray bleach during the next school holiday since the weather is finally cooling down here.

Experimentation with bleach gel

2011-08-21T06:11:00.000-04:00

I've been reading a lot on the Net about the use of bleach gel to decorate t-shirts. It looks so easy and fast so I bought a bleach gel pen, pulled a couple of plain tees out of my dresser and gave it a go!

This craft is crazy fast if you have a pattern in mind when you start the whole process! It took me about 15 minutes plus wash/dry time after the bleaching step. All told, I was able to decorate a shirt from start to finish in about an hour, which means this is PRIME holiday gift material! :D

The green shirt was my first attempt. I just free handed some vine work with fabric chalk and then applied the gel. I really like how it turned out. The swallows was my second shirt and I played around with the brush tip on the wings.

I'm thinking that the kids will be getting bleached tees for their birthdays! I'm also going to write up a tutorial on it after I get past my current TO CRAFT list (which is over halfway finished!).

Finally

2011-08-20T16:30:00.000-04:00

I've been saying that this was coming. With a bit of help, I finally managed to make this happen. Here it is.

Please understand that at this point, I'm hot, sweaty, exhausted and more than a bit pumped up. (Then there's the fact that I really need to have a talk with Mrs. Clairol about my hair but that's another story...)

Here's a VIDEO(!!) of me doing a board break during my karate belt test. I used a reverse elbow. It stings for only a minute or two afterwards but that's it. :)

This was the one break that I was really worried about. Who uses their elbow to smash someone in the face? Well, I can if I need to do so now. Wooohooo!

Challenge, Frustration and Triumph! OH MY!!

2011-08-13T07:42:00.001-04:00

Whew....the first full of week of this school year is over. It has been one big blur and I'm so glad to be sitting on my couch at the moment enjoying my Saturday morning. :)

However, I did manage to complete one project! I made a zippered and stenciled laptop cover for a Craftster swap. This project was a challenge, a frustration and a triumph all wrapped into one!

To be honest, I've always had problems with making covers in the past. Somehow, I always made them just slightly too small in some way and this was with the item to be covered in my hands while I was creating the cover itself. This time, I didn't have the laptop to be covered, only it's measurements. This was a major challenge for me. I sat down and seriously thought about my pattern before ever picking up the scissors. I'm glad to say that this one turned out correctly! (This is my laptop in the picture which is close to the same dimensions.)

Then there was the stencil. What a mess! I found my pattern and followed my usual steps. However, as I ironed the fabric that I had bought, I noticed that the fabric had splotches throughout the length. (This fact made me cranky!) I had to go back to the fabric store for more fabric. I found a heavier fabric (a home decor cotton) with just a tiny bit of texture. This second fabric was splotchless and worked up like a charm. The texture in the fabric did cause the stencil not to come out as clean as I would prefer but I still love the end result.

Finally, the zipper, my nemesis. Believe it or not, I put the zipper in correctly on the very first try! WOOOOHOOO! Go me! I actually did a Happy Dance through my kitchen when I realized that I didn't have to take anything apart. LOL

What a learning experience!

Quick and Easy Ghostly Halloween Decorations

2011-08-07T21:01:00.001-04:00

I'm back! The new school year is under way so I now have my crafting time (and energy!) back! YAY!

Here's my latest creation!

My family's second favorite holiday is Halloween. (Christmas gets the top spot of course!) My husband loves to come up with new creations to make every year. This year, I decided to get into the festivities a bit more. I found the idea for this little decoration while poking around on Pinterest. These ghosties are so super simple and easy to make. With all of the materials at hand, you can create one yourself in about 5 minutes.

Materials needed:

~ 2 white craft felt sheets per ghost to be made
~ 1 black craft felt sheet for faces, this single piece will be enough to make a dozen or so ghost faces
~ craft glue
~ scissors
~ empty mason jars or any jar of similar size (not pictured)
~ sewing machine (you can just as easily hand sew these)
~ black thread
~ vanishing fabric marker (not pictured) or your choice of fabric marker
~ LED flickering faux candles (I found these in the Wedding Decor section at WalMart.)

Step 1
Stack the white felt sheets one on top of the other. Using the vanishing fabric marker, draw out your shape. Cut out your ghost, both sheets of felt at the same time.

I have found that the felt craft sheets are the perfect size for the mason jars. Be sure that the base of your ghost is almost the entire width of your felt and don't slope your pattern line in too much towards the ghostie's arm pits.

Step 2
Using your sewing machine and black thread, sew around the ghost with a 1/4" seam allowance.

If you prefer not to use a sewing machine, you can just as easily do a simple basting stitch by hand. If you don't want to sew at all, you can glue it! :)

Step 3
Cut the facial features that you want out of the black felt. Glue those onto your ghost.

Step 4
Place an LED light in your jar and place the ghost cozy over the jar. DONE!

You can play around with the pattern, add different facial features or do different sizes and make a whole ghostie family!

NOTE: My husband pointed out that you need to stick your finger (or some other type of pointy item like scissors or an ink pen) up into the arms of the ghost's arms to pull the felt apart to allow the light to shine there. I did and he's right. It looks much better. :)

Happy Halloween!

It's TIME...again.

2011-08-02T21:56:00.002-04:00

I've been quiet, very quiet this past week, but not for a lack of wanting to bury myself in my crafts. What I have been doing for the past week and a half is decorating my room, lugging books out of the storage room, writing up lesson plans and attending a mind numbing number of meetings. It's Back To School time!

I start a new school year tomorrow. I'm not really sure where this summer went but Gone it is and I'm now looking at the start of my 20th year of teaching. Well, to be honest, I'm not sure where all of those years have gone either! With as fast as this two thirds of my career flew by, I feel like if I blink, I'll be setting up my retirement. ACK! I'm not old enough to be thinking about retirement, but regardless, it's headed my way.

Oy. As if all of this isn't enough to make a normal person a bit rattled. Then there's the BIG kickers. My son is starting 5th grade. He spent his summer saying "When I'm in middle school, will I...? When I'm in middle school, can I have...?". This did not help at all. My brain is screaming "STOP THIS! I'm not ready to have a kid in middle school!!" but my mouth said "Let's get through the 5th grade first..." Breathe Mom....breathe.

And then, there's my littlest. She starts kindergarten tomorrow morning. She has her bookbag filled with all kinds of supplies. Her lunch bag is prepped. (I'm making them do the night before prep work for their lunches to help save me some time in the mornings.) She has picked out her clothes and shoes. After her shower, she said "I'm going to bed now so I can have a great day tomorrow! Night MOM!"

I sat on the couch and cried.

Tomorrow morning will be rough, filled with exhaustion, chaos of the morning routine, tears and the emotions of watching my kids start a new stage of their lives.

Yeah, I'm thinking I'm going to DQ tomorrow after work. Peanut Butter Parfait Buster here I come!

Sweet Little Hoopla

2011-07-30T06:42:00.000-04:00

I such a push over! I tell myself "Ok, let's take a small break from embroidery and do some other crafts for just a while." Then, while swapping, I find the opportunity to make something like this hoop. How could I pass up this opportunity?

I found the inspiration for this hoop in a partner's wist. She asked for it to include her and her husband's name and I worked it up in her favorite colors. I love this hoop's simplicity and it's so easy to personalize.

I will add one note though. I did the flower centers in french knots using DMC's Light Effects Metallics. I have to say that working with that thread was difficult. I would not recommend it to anyone who hasn't been embroidering for a while as it requires tons of patience.

Curtains for my daughter

2011-07-27T19:52:00.000-04:00

I'm a bad mommy. I have procrastinated all summer. I bought the fabric to make curtains for my daughter's room in June. I even prewashed and ironed it. Then, July ran over me.

Here I am in the last week of summer, and I finally made them! Bad, bad mommy.

I decided to cut, sew and hang them all in one day just so I could see my daughter's reaction because she had completely forgotten about them.

I managed to hang them before I picked her up from summer camp. After we get home, she did her daily dance off of the couch routine. (I don't understand why she does this but she runs into the living room does a belly flop on the couch and then pops back up to run elsewhere. She does this every day. LOL!)

She finally goes upstairs to her room while I'm cooking dinner. All of a sudden, I hear "WHOA! YIPPEEEE!" followed by lots of stomping which means she is doing her happy dance. (You have to see it to believe it.)

I think she liked them. :D

Pretty little coasters

2011-07-25T20:03:00.001-04:00

I drug out my crochet hooks last week to make these cute little flower coasters.

I don't normally like yellow but I find these coasters turned out pretty. I hope they like their new home. :)

Mother Nature's Message pt 2

2011-07-22T07:24:00.000-04:00

I just had to do another Mother Nature's Message hoop. This is a 4" hoop with about 3 hrs of doodle stitching.

She has one message comprised of 2 words within the vines and leaves. Can you find it?

My Hoopla Wall Update 7/11

2011-07-20T10:19:00.001-04:00

I've been participating in Hoopla swaps over on Craftster for several months now. I have received some AMAZING needlework for my wall. Today, I added the hoops that I've received this past month and snapped a picture of my hoopla wall with my newest additions! :D

1. Celtic Christmas Tree by Bexieboo from Embroidery Hoopla OTT (round 3)

2. Hand of Hamsa by Me

3. Tree Love! by Me

4. Peggy Hill by Sarad in the February 2011 Birthday swap

5. A Bit of Zen by Me

6. Rising Sun by Krafy Karasu from Embroidery Hoopla OTT (round 3)

7. The Lotus by Ffrogg526 from the IYP swap

8. Orion by audio from OHS r1

9. Avis by ZidishaLuxe from OHS r1

10. Golden Koi by thenorm02 from Embroidery Hoopla! (the very first round!)

11. Greenman by Ffrogg526 from OHS r2

12. Celtic Salmon by luckdragon from Hoopla Swap round 5

13. Swirly ME hoop by onegroovyday from OHS r2

14. Ganesha by bowlordie from OHS r2

15. Celtic Knotwork by Averia from OHS r2

16. Gnome No Evil by Me

17. Gnome and Mushroom by SciFunk from OHS r2

PURPLE!

2011-07-19T09:21:00.000-04:00

I decided to spend a week or so doing something other than embroidery. My fingers decided that it was time to take a break from gripping that little needle. LOL

Believe it or not, I do other things beside embroidery. ;)

I jumped into the Ongoing Wish Swap to mix things up a bit. I claimed a lovely lady across the ocean in the UK for a hat. I found a nice pattern over on the Lion Brand website called Einstein Hat . It called for using LB Homespun and a smaller hook than normally required for that type of yarn. I jumped into making this hat and realized that it went together super quick! :)

(This picture doesn't show the color well. It's a royal purple with a swish of grape purple running through it.)

After I finished the hat, I still had yarn left over so I made some simple wrist-lets for my swap partner as well. :)

What's even better is that these goodies made it from my house to her in the UK in FIVE DAYS! Woohoo! It renews my hope that not all international packages take 2-3 wks to arrive. ;)

VROOM!

2011-07-16T08:53:00.000-04:00

I did it! I finally did it AND I understand the HOW. I mean I really understand it. WOOOOHOOO!

I am officially no longer afraid to set a zipper!

Ok, maybe some of you are thinking "That's exciting to you? Um...why?" but I've been intimidated by them forever. I learned to sew by hand and zippers were not something that were ever explained to me. Needless to say, this is a huge step for me and my sewing machine. ;)

Without looking at a tutorial (which I've done every time up until this point) or using a pattern for this project, I made a matchbox tote for a swap on Craftster.

What's even better about the tote other than the zipper and the no need for a pattern is that it's completely lined and I put it together properly the first time. I didn't have to take anything apart and reassemble! WoooT! :D

To go with the matchbox tote, I made a matching crayon roll using the remaining bits of fabric from the tote. I added black racing stripes on the interior to help coordinate the tie cord to the piece a bit more.

(Please pardon the remaining purple vanishing fabric marker that you might see. My marker was being slow in fading for some reason. :/ )

My Daily To Do List

2011-07-13T18:30:00.000-04:00

Several years ago, I was going through a rough patch. Life was not happy for me. I shut myself down and went into DO mode to make through the Day to Day stuff knowing that if I threw myself completely into work and daily life, that I'd survive what Life had thrown at me. I stayed in DO and GO mode for several years.

Now, I'm just beginning to let go of DO and GO. I'm finally beginning to breathe again.

Almost every day, I have a To Do list. During the school year, it is filled with lesson plans, grading, meetings and more paperwork. During the summer, it's normally house cleaning, packing, unpacking and laundry. I have something to do at any given moment and usually it's something that has to get done, not necessarily enjoyable.

Today, I decided to add something to my daily To Do. I'm adding Sit Still to the top of my list and occasionally, I'll add Breathe. I'm giving myself permission to sit down, relax and maybe even nap if need be. Our society tries to make us feel like we must have a crazy, hectic life all of the time. As a mom, I'm not a real mom unless my house is clean, my kids are in a dozen different activities all at the same time, and I'm working on another degree or second job.

I came to the realization just how my life suffers if I don't sit still and relax. It does more than affect me. It affects my husband, my kids, my students and anyone else in my range. They deserve the best of Me which means, in order to be at my best, I have to have Me time.

So yeah, some of you are saying "Duh! You just figured this out?", but I'm a thinker and I generally have to noodle things for a while before the obvious truth of any situation lands in my lap.

Now, if you'll pardon me, I plan to go kick back on the couch and maybe read a book. :)

Flower Reflections

2011-07-11T18:31:00.000-04:00

I've got a secret! I've got a secret! And I'm not telling...yet!! :D

Now that my merciless teasing moment is over, I thought I would share with you all my latest bit of stitching.

As some of you may have noticed, I finally posted my second shisha tutorial. While doing so, I turned the piece used in showing the step by step pictures into a finished piece.

This is Flower Reflections.

I did the basic shisha work first. Then, I added the pendant stitch in yellow to make the flowers pop a bit more. The stems are whipped chain and the grass is a mixture of back stitch and wheat ear. :)

And for a close up because it's not easy taking a straight shot on a piece with shisha mirrors!

Basic Shisha Work

2011-07-09T17:27:00.002-04:00

I finally found the time to write up my next shisha tutorial!

Step 1
Holding the mirror in the desired position with your left hand, work two horizontal lines across your mirror. Think of it as "cutting" the mirror in thirds. Don't stress if your lines aren't completely parallel because it won't be noticeable in the end.

Step 2
Now make 2 vertical lines across the horizontal lines, only catching the horizontal lines as you go across.

Bring your needle up through the back of your ground fabric (think in thirds again!). Place your needle under the first horizontal line wrapping the embroidery thread around it once. Do the same with the second horizontal line.

Do the second vertical line wrapping just as you did previously. Now, put your needle through the ground fabric and knot the thread on the underside. This knot is important because it will help you maintain your tension in the upcoming steps. :)

Step 3
Bring your threaded needle back up through the ground fabric. (I prefer to do this stitch away from the knot that I made in Step 2 just to be sure that the knot doesn't pull back through the top of my ground fabric.)

To work this stitch, you will need to be mindful of your stitch tension. If it is too tight, your mirror will be able to slip out when you are finished which is not something that you want. Notice how far the line crossing the mirror is from the edge. Try to not pull the "crossing" line any further than half way to the edge of your mirror.

Place your needle underneath the "crossing" line and pull the excess thread underneath the line.

Place your needle into the ground fabric and bring it back up allowing one "needle's worth" of space between the first thread and the tip of your needle.

Gently pull your thread. Be careful of your tension! It's not easy to undo this stitch later on. Remember to pull the crossing line only to about halfway to the edge of the mirror.

Continue this stitch around the mirror only the next time you place your needle through the fabric will be in the "needle's worth" space.

When you get to a "corner" of the lines, just keep working as you have been.

Step 4
When you have worked all the way around the mirror, pull your thread through to the underside of the ground fabric and knot it.

Troubleshooting

I have gaps in my stitches around the mirror that I noticed just as I was finished stitching! Help!

No worries! You can go back and fill in those holes after you have finished the initial round of stitching using the exact same stitch only leaving out pulling the thread back up. You can skip to the next gap and fill it or knot on the underside if you are finished.

Here are some examples of my basic shisha work...

Another Obsession...SHISHA!

My Flower Sampler

Reflections in Teal

A lovely journal cover

2011-07-08T08:22:00.000-04:00

This is the other truly crafty piece that I made for the Button Swap on Craftster.

I have learned something in making this. I'm not the best at making slip covers of any sort. The past couple that I've made have either been just a tad too tight or didn't work at all. I think I need to to add more seam allowance. Anywho....

My partner in the Button swap loves to journal so I found the cutest little blank journal and then made the slip cover decorating it based on a button piece that she had on her Pinterest, a cute cream colored tree with RED buttons. I cut all of the pieces out for the slip cover, lined one of the pieces with fusible interweave for extra stability. Then I marked the front cover width on that piece with vanishing fabric marker. I cut out the tree and machine stitched it. Next, it was button puzzle. I sat with a selection of buttons in my lap working one at a time sort of like a puzzle to make them fit together. The journal had an elastic band for keeping it closed. I snipped that off and then made the cover incorporating the elastic back in for the same usage.

Then, guess what? The cover was about 1/8" too small. Back to the book store I go for another slightly smaller journal. Fortunately, I found one that I liked even better than the first! :) (I kept the original for myself for crafty doodles.)

All turned out well in the end and my partner loves her new journal! :D

The Furchild

2011-07-07T07:22:00.000-04:00

I know some of you have poked around on my blog enough to know that I'm a cat kind of person. I am owned by a cat who prefers to use my feet as a pillow (normally just one foot though), talks to me like I understand what she's saying and is the best nap buddy in the whole entire planet!

This is Raven. She's an all black, gold eyed, rescue kittie. She's skiddish around men, but loves her momma. She tolerates the kids because they feed her and give her treats.

I'm also convinced that she is species confused. I love this particular picture of her. It is a common window pose for her. She sits up on her hind legs sort of like a prairie dog and proceeds to chirp at either the birds or squirrels on the outside. I don't think I can explain the chirping and I've never heard any other cat make this sort of noise. It's not completely a bird noise nor a squirrel. It's sort of in between. She will sit in this position for 15-20 minutes just chirping away and watching the creatures on the other side. The second she's distracted, she goes back into normal cat mode.

M!!!

2011-07-05T13:51:00.000-04:00

I joined a button swap on Craftster and had loads of fun! Look! I can do something that doesn't involve a needle and thread.

This was a couple of hours picking through buttons and a LOT of E6000. I only worked for about a half an hour at a time on this piece before I had to step away. The fumes were intense.

A closer shot of buttony goodness!

My Cute Matryoshka

2011-07-03T20:43:00.001-04:00

I'm still embroidering away for the Ongoing Hoopla Swap. I stitched this up for one of the gals in that swap. In her list of themes, she had Russian Matryoshka, which I king of see as another cultures take on our Sunbonnet Sue who has that special place in my heart. I had to give this little matryoshka a try!

I appliqued the red and yellow ground fabrics to my ground fabric with a bit of wonder under and blanket stitch. Then I added details with embroidery saving the face for last. For some reason, I've always had a hang up when it comes to doing facial details in split and back stitch.(I was talking about this problem with a couple of my friends on Craftster and if I follow through on their suggestion, I could create one very wacked out sampler. ;))

Detail shot