Thunderclouds and a Furrowed Brow

Wonderful "Planet Boxes"!

2012-02-04T15:19:00.002-06:00

I first heard about PlanetBoxes about a year ago but the $60 dollar price tag deterred me. I'd need two and we already had lunch bags so I forgot about them. Fast forward to this school year. Both kids started eating more "cold" lunches instead of the school "hot" lunch so in October when I stumbled across a link to the PlanetBox site again I decided to go for it. And it was WORTH EVERY PENNY! And here's why.....
1.  My kids love them.  Mateo tells me his PlanetBox is "cool". Also they enjoy helping to fill/pack their boxes.
2. Environmentally friendly, even the carry bag is made of recycled materials. No more using plastic containers or baggies.
3. Easy to clean and dishwasher safe.

4. Their food stays cold, fresh, and in it's own spot. No more crumbled chips, squished sandwiches or brown apple slices.
5.  No more food waste.  None. I'm not over packing and they eat their leftovers as a "snack" after school. Which is because of #4.

6. Packing lunches is easier. I can see what I'm packing and simply fill in any empty spaces. Which causes me way less morning stress.
7. No fiddling with containers and lids at lunch just a simple latch to open and the eating can begin.   Ruby was very pleased with this time saver!

8. No need to replace lunch boxes every year.  PlanetBoxes are stainless steal so unless a car runs them over they'll last a long long time.
9. You can purchase more magnets or additional individual pieces as needed. I bought additional magnets for the kids for Christmas for stocking stuffers.
10. When I did the math in no more purchasing of plastic bags, food waste or buying new lunch boxes/bags the PlanetBox began saving me money around the 3 month mark.

As I said before WORTH EVERY PENNY!   Lunches have become fun again.   More creative. I enjoy packing new food items for my kiddos to try.  We all benefit with a healthier lunch.
So thank you PlanetBox, thank you.

Cards From Paper Studio's Christmas Club 2011

2012-01-16T11:00:00.049-06:00

The following are cards I designed for Paper Studio's Christmas Club Class 2011. Most were designed back in August! So here they are....

This card used stamps from Fiskars as well as Hero Arts. Paper from American Crafts.

Next comes a gate card using Bazzill cardstock and American Crafts patterned papers. Nestabilities for the scalloped ovals and circles.

Fiskars and Hero Arts for the stamps. Stickles for the snowman's sparkle. Liquid pearl on the carrot nose.

May Arts for the wonderful plaid ribbon. This was my favorite card this season.

A few gift tags using the Slice "Seasons" design card to cut out the snowflakes. Nestabilities for the circles.

Paper by Bo Bunny and ribbon by May Arts. Here's an inside view, the circles slide apart due to a strategically placed brad.

And a sweet snowflake on the back. Hard to believe these were made 4 months ago. This holiday season went incredibly fast. Blink!

Headbands and the "Jester" Skirt

2012-01-13T08:53:00.085-06:00

This is what I've been up to for the past few months. Headbands. Lots of headbands.

In different colors and styles, with different patterns and stitching.

Even rainbows. All handmade by me. I started making them over a year ago to restrain my wonderful curly hair. (It has a mind of it's own so restraint is necessary and thus the headbands.)

Seems like I'm stopped every time I'm wearing one and asked "Where did you get your headband?"

So now I'm starting to sell them. Taking it seriously.   Getting all the ducks in a row as they say. Including the "Etsy" shop which was last years resolution.   Ducks. Rows. Headbands.

I did take sometime out from headband making to reorganize my work space and thus with a burst of renewed "CREATIVE ENERGY" I made a new skirt for Ruby.   I call it the "Jester" Skirt.   I now want one for myself.   I made it using all the scrap pieces from my headband pattern cutouts.

I've been setting aside these wacky triangle pieces just waiting for the right project to come to me. I have a hard time "throwing away" anything that just might still be useful. So I wait. This can often backfire in mounds or piles of stuff in which I loose the land line phone for 5 days.

Anyway, I'm down right giddy, tickled pink and thrilled with the result. So much so that I made Ruby's new doll, Crystal, a matching one while Ruby was at school.
Smiles all around!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-25T10:29:00.000-06:00

May your Holidays be filled with wonder....

Cozy P.J.'s....

Smiling faces....

and suprises in the way of the "Christmas Chicken"! (Her name is Matilda!)
Happy Holidays to one and all!

All She Wants For Christmas Is...

2011-12-14T12:53:00.000-06:00

her two front teeth!

I love this lil' girl of mine! Missing teeth and all.

Recent Cards

2011-12-10T13:54:00.001-06:00

A quick posting of some of the cards I've made at Paper Studio recently.
Card 1....

Feeling a bit of "country" Christmas with this card.

Card 2...

One can never have too many "Thank You" cards in their stash.

Card 3...

I miss tapes in some ways. Reminds me of my younger years, I still play the ones I have on occasion.

Card 4...

This may be my favorite of the bunch. Could be that I'm doing a lot of sewing these days.

Till later....

Blissful ATC Swap November 2011

2011-11-23T07:03:00.000-06:00

I'm back...taking a break for sewing and preparing for my first craft show! Eek! I did manage to squeeze in a quick swap with the Blissfull ATC group. The theme this month was "Thankful" and I've a lot to be thankful for. More on that in a bit....

I received this beautiful ATC from Mercedes at All Things Pretty. Turns out it's her first time swapping with Blissfull and mine was last November. (How has the year flown?) Mercedes does such wonderful work. In person this ATC shines with just the right amount of sparkle. Like fireworks on the fourth of July.

Even the back was pretty. And I'm thankful to be an American as well.

I sent this ATC titled "Walking with Grandpa". My first time using a photo in an ATC. I took this picture in October of my Father and Ruby while hiking and looking at waterfalls in Upper MI. (I've yet to post! Sorry.) It was one of those moments where I remembered my camera and captured it perfectly. It melts my heart.

I punched all the little leaves and glued/placed them around the "frame" with a tooth pick so as to get them just right. Embroidery thread holds the frame in place.

I'm thankful for my family and the time with them. I'm blessed.
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Wild Kratts Update

2011-10-29T11:00:00.000-05:00

So first there was the "Vest" and 5 "Discs" all created for my little Teo's Birthday Party.   You can find the whole post here. Since then there have been a few more requests for costumes. This has brought about 5 more discs and a belted carry pouch. I got tired of discs all around the house and tons of Ziplocs wasted, thus the pouch. Anyway, the most recent request was for a lil' boy down in Texas for his Halloween costume. I'm a bit of a sucker for happy little boys and Halloween, so I agreed to make him a vest, pouch and 10 discs.
Sweatshirt material was chosen due to location and durability. To be honest I like it more than fleece for there's less lint/fuzz collection while it's being worn.   So I purchased a black sweatshirt, lopped of the sleeves, neck line, and bottom ribbed band. Out of the excess sleeve I made the "Disc Pouch".

A belt slides through a back fold so it can easily be worn or taken off. There's a bit of Velcro sewn in the pouch opening to keep all the discs from falling out while running around. The "Oak Tree" disc pictured is good for when you need the child to stand still! I love creative play, hee, hee.

Onto gloves. I'd been thinking about them for quite awhile. The idea bouncing around in my head just waiting to come out. And then I looked at the sleeves I had just cut off and BAM... I saw how to make the Gloves. A pair of thin black knit gloves, the cuffs from the sweatshirt cut at an angle, felt pieces, bias tape, and a whole lot of hand sewing ... ta da!   O.K. the down side was all the hand sewing. Only the bias tape trim was machine sewn. All the other pieces were too small to fit on my machine.

I was pleased with the results so I sent this pair with the rest of the costume to Texas as a little extra surprise. They really do complete the look of a Wild Kratt. I've been told the little boy who received this "Creature Power Suit" wore it all day and even slept in the gloves!
And that brings a big smile to my face.

Paper Studio ATC Swap

2011-10-25T08:00:00.001-05:00

Paper Studio held a Halloween ATC Swap this month and since I adore this spooky holiday I was pretty excited about it! Here's a picture of the creative madness in full swing. May Arts ribbon, variety of torn Bazzill cardstocks, Color Box chalk inks, Crystal Lacquer, tape runner and Fiskars circle squeeze punches in a couple different sizes.

I find this close-up of eyeballs wonderfully silly. I get kind of giggly looking at it... not very creepy of me I know.

Here's my ATC batch of 8 titled "Mummy". In honor of last years costume, which I had a great time in!

I love quirky, classic Halloween spookiness. It's my favorite holiday. And candy... I also like Halloween candy!

Cascading Ruffle Skirt

2011-10-23T13:32:00.000-05:00

About a month ago, when there was still green leaves on the trees, I made this skirt for one of Ruby's lil' friends. I found the tutorial from Ashley over at Lil Blue Boo here.

I made mine using a bunch of unloved t-shirts. I did stray from the pattern a little by adding an adjustable waistband. Ruby's a peanut and it's hard to guess her friend's "sizes" these days.

This is a pretty quick skirt to make with lots of twirl power impact.

And now I'd like to ask all of you to put Ashley in your prayers as she's battling some serious health issues. I've never met or spoken to her but I've been reading her blog for 2 years and I know she's quite an amazing woman with a generous spirit.
So pray for her please, this world needs more people like her in it.

More Cards... Again

2011-10-18T19:17:00.000-05:00

Here are a few cards I made about a month ago for Paper Studio. I love the "Autumn Splendor" paper collection by We R Memory Keepers. Love , love, love.

Since we've started "card ingredient" lists I'm happy to say I'll always remember what I used in the making department. I simply have to take a picture!

Here's the other card using "Autumn Splendor". I have to say this is one of my all time favorites. I love the inking and colors.

Here's the same card but with the flip side of the paper.

And the ingredients list.

I've a chipboard book to post next using this paper collection to come. Fall at it's finest.

Sometimes There's An Actual Sign

2011-10-10T08:49:00.000-05:00

I've been over doing it for over a month. It snowballed as follows:
School started.
I picked up an extra cleaning gig.
I volunteered to be Ruby's Faith Formation Teacher.
Our wonderful neighbor and dear friend lost a battle with cancer.
I made 50+ headbands among other items for selling/gifts.
Started the computer/photo work for my Etsy shop.
And I'm still doing my usual "work" and "homework" and "life" stuff.

And thus I haven't been blogging. When there's been time I just want to sit or sleep. Now do not worry for I've been doing family bonding/fun stuff too. In fact that's also why the Blog has been so lonely. I feel like I need to spend time with my peanuts. We've had some wonderful weather lately and I just want to play with them. They're growing so fast I don't want them ever to say, "Mom was working or sewing all the time."

Yesterday I came across this sign. I'm taking it to heart.

My list and schedule are nicely meshed, finally. Room for fun and sewing. Room for children and work. And especially room for me. It's hard to say "No" to special requests but I'm doing it gently. And I'm happy to report that my Etsy shop is not too far away!

I'm pacing myself. Stay tuned...

Yay! School Has Started!

2011-09-02T14:50:00.000-05:00

Whew, school has started and I'm feeling like I can breathe again. I'll miss my lil' people but I am so looking forward to the routine again. My plate was heaped full in August.

I'm way behind in posting lots of goodness.

I lost all sense of time and self, which is O.K. for awhile, but now we're all ready for school and fall.

There will still be time to look at "slugs"... but secretly, I'm looking forward to having some "Child Free" time to blog, create and sew. It's been too long. Yay, school!

Blissfull ATC Swap August 2011

2011-08-24T11:22:00.000-05:00

Where o' where has August gone! I did manage to squeeze in a Blissfull ATC Swap this month. The theme was FOOD and I was "hungry" for this challenge. I love the "Have A Donut" CL403 stampset from HeroArts and when I found out my swap partner (more about Fran to come) loved coffee in the morning... well, I knew I had to use it. Thus my ATC titled "The Perfect Morning Start" was created.

Since I wanted both coffee and donuts I choose to use a vellum piece to let the (double-sided) donut swing open to show the cup o' joe. A little orange ribbon ties the card closed.

I sent a bag of orange goodies along with my ATC. I've been cleaning house to get ready for school/fall and it felt good to share. Fran loves orange so I know she'll find a use for them.

So, I swapped with Fran, whose blog "thebagglady", is full of vintage items, antique-y charm and rusty goodness. She made this wonderful "Radish" ATC for me! All wrapped up in a piece of a sewing pattern and accompanied with a cute card.

It's the first 3 dimensional ATC I've received. Super creative use of materials.... the mesh bag is fantastic!

Thanks Fran, I hope we'll be able to swap again sometime.

A Birthday Gift From 2010

2011-07-31T09:07:00.085-05:00

There are times when I'm working on so many projects that I'm luck if I take some photos and even luckier if I get around to posting them. Which brings me to this lovely library book bag that I made last year as a gift for Ruby's friend Zoey. I used a "sketch" for a 12x12 layout as a pattern guide. I can't remember which one but I used it for my Spooktacular Layout as well.

So, I had a nice canvas bag with some weird logo to start with. (The logo would be covered by the pattern in the end.) Next came fabric and color choices. I knew I wanted feminine yet not to girly cute... longevity was key. A pretty book bag to please Zoey at age 6 to 96. Some sparkle and some vintage.

A fancy jean pants pocket to hold the library card, a couple different ribbons, and fabrics. The olive green was from a flawed dye job attempt on a once white shirt. I made the felt flowers and used a little embroidery to attach them. Decorative and vintage buttons for embellishment.

View of the other side of the bag. A smaller version of the front design. Colored embroidery floss as well as colored threads helped complete the overall look and feel of this bag.

I'm still giddy, year later, about this project. I'm thinking I really need one (or two) for myself!

"School Daze" Layout

2011-07-24T10:08:00.002-05:00

When I first saw the "Travel Light" paper collection by We R Memory Keepers I knew I wanted to do a double page layout of Mateo's Pre-K school year. There's such a playful feel to this line with the stripes, dots, and color palette. Thankfully I took quite a few school pictures during the year. (Poor kid is the second child, I've yet to fill in his baby book.)

Sizzix Alphabet dies, chip board and Bazzil paper were used for the letters. Circle Nestabilities and Fiskars circle squeeze punches were used to cut all the circle mats and circular photos.
Creative Imaginations epoxy stickers for just the right amount of word fun.

Now I need to go through Ruby's Pre-K pictures and put one together for her before the "summer haze" is over and we're into yet another "school daze"!

Alysse's Can-Can Skirt

2011-07-20T13:02:00.001-05:00

Ruby went to her friend Alysse's birthday party this past weekend and thus another Can-Can skirt was made. I'm able to sew one up quite quickly and easily now. (Apparently I've made 8 over the past year and a half.) Color pattern/choice is probably the most time consuming part these days. For example, I tossed around a few ideas in my head until 24 hours before the party and then I started sewing.

I finished the white base in a timely fashion, mid afternoon. Ruffles... not so much. I wanted to do rainbow but had less color variety than I thought. So I was giddy when I finally stitched down this final combination of ruffles. Partially because it was 11:30 pm and also because I had to unpick a whole ruffle layer to make the above work. I had only so much of each blue to work with. Eek! I love the end result. It reminds me of an ocean wave and as it happened the party was "Hawaiian Luau" themed.
How cool of a coincidence was that!

With Ruby hinting about "needing" another Can-Can skirt and my stash running low, I do believe there's a nylon chiffon order to be placed in my near future!

Party "Wild Kratts" Style

2011-07-15T09:25:00.275-05:00

10/29/11 More Updates HERE.

Back in May, while on a walk, the topic of birthdays was being discussed by Ruby, Mateo and myself. Ruby asked what a "golden birthday" was and that's when it hit me... Mateo would be having his this year! So, I asked my soon to be 5 year old what kind of party would he like? I suggested super hero to which he replied in a quiet voice, "Maybe Wild Kratts?"  O.K. I'm thinking I can work with this, animals and such, no worries.  If you've never heard of the Wild Kratts go HERE. It's like a pair of crocodile hunter brothers, animal planet and cartoon all mixed in one on PBS. Great show, even I enjoy it.   So guess what... there is no merchandise currently available! Now, I do like to DIY most things but not everything, usually.   So, here's what I did.   I checked around the blog world and found 2 that had done birthday parties. Go Here and Here to take a look. I took ideas from both. Neither had an invite so here's what I made.   I searched images on line till I found one I liked and simply printed it off a few times. Bazzill cardstocks, patterned paper from We R Memory Keepers "Furever Friends" collection and twine from May Arts.   Inked and distressed edges tied the card together with the Kratts logo.

Now on to the sewing!   What would a Wild Kratts party be without "creature power suits"? Mateo actually said, "You can do it Mom, you can make anything!" No pressure. I made a few versions due to the number of children and materials available. My favorite was the black fleece and felt. No fraying or finished edges required though I did on the fleece vest. Just made everything a bit more crisp. I used one of Mateo's tank tops as a quide for shape and sizing then made a slightly larger paper pattern for mas production. I needed 10 vests total. Zoiks!

After the first few black ones Ruby told me the girls vests should be pink. O.K. Since I was low on black fleece this was actually a good thing. I also happened to have a pink v-neck t-shirt laying around. Off with the sleeves, hemmed the arm hole, cropped the bottom, hemmed again and added the felt details. Done. The little black strip in the felt paw print is velcro.

Velcro was needed because... creature power suits require "creature power discs" to activate said creature powers don't cha know. So on to discs.   Then plan was to earn discs by playing games and having some in the goodie bag. I copied the cheetah and the firefly discs from HERE. Then I made a sheet of plain discs. Yay photo copier! I used a stamp from Hero Arts for the Monarch butterfly and finally freehand drew the worms and large mouth bass. I laminated them for longevity and finally added the velcro on the backs. Ten guests times five different discs equals 50 total discs. Zoiks again! (Mateo was all about playing with his vest and discs as soon as I made them, thus the funk on them in the pic below =:)

For the second year in a row a heavy down pour occurred right as the party started. Thankfully it was warm and without lightning so lots of puddle splashing took place while the food was grilled. Families were invited to this party so we grilled out hamburgers, hotdogs and had lots of fruit and pasta salads. There was a little cake for candle blowing but all the guests had frosted sugar cookies in a variety of animal shapes instead for dessert. Much easier at a BBQ style party.

After eating all the kids were given their creature power vests and the games began. Everyone was given a cheetah badge before they played a game of "Cheetah Tag".  A streamer for a tail was tucked into shorts. At the sound of go they all ran around trying to pull each others tails. Even if you lost your tail you could still run and try to pull someone elses tail. The game ended when all tails had been pulled.

This was played a few times and helped burn up lots of excess energy.

To earn monarch butterfly badges party goers had to turn from their caterpillar state into a chrysalis and burst out as a butterfly. This was done through cheap toilet paper.   The idea came from HERE.  Talk about fun, all the kids loved it!

Wrap, wrap, wrap.   Burst out as a butterfly!

Silly, good fun!

Here's a good shot of the creature power vest in action!

Now onto Goodie Bags. I wanted simple and to include more creature power discs.
So each bag had :   Animal Crackers
                              Gold Fish Crackers - Large Mouth Bass disc
                              Glow Stick Light - Fire Fly disc
                              Gummy Worms & Worm Slime - Earth Worm disc
                              A few animal shaped Silly Bands
Mateo and Ruby loved making the slime for their friends and it's so easy that I thought I'd include the video here.   This stuff brings hours of fun!

And now for a few confessions.
I never took a group shot of all the guests.
I took a video of blowing out the candles but no pics.
I never took a single picture of Mateo by himself on his birthday.
On the up side he told me, "This was the best day ever!" And I find that when I'm really in the moment I often forget the camera.

Oh, and when it was time to go one little boy came up to me and asked, "Do we get to keep these?"
As he tugged on his creature power vest.
"Yes, it's part of your goodie bag."
Then he made a fist pump, said, "Yes!" and ran off yelling "Thanks!"
Definately one of my best days, too.

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T09:05:00.000-05:00

Happy 4th of July!

An oldie but goodie pic of my youngest Sis! Captures how blessed I feel to live in this wonderful country. Bring on the fireworks!

A Birthday Gift For Zoey 2011

2011-07-01T11:48:00.000-05:00

Ruby has a special lil' girlfriend in her life with whom make-believe, silliness, dancing and all round girly fun is enjoyed. It's the type of friendship I hope she's able to have forever.   Zoey is sweet and special so when her birthday rolls around I can't help but feel inspired to make something to match her wonderful personality. This year the invite Ruby received said the party was "fairy garden princess" themed. I made a butterfly birthday card using Bazzil cardstock, Creative Imaginations "Bloom" patterned papers and May Arts ribbon. Hero Arts gems and stamp sentiment.  A Fiskars squeeze punch was used for the butterflies.

Now for the gift. What says happy, free spirited and girly?  Why a Can-Can skirt of course! I hadn't made one in the past year but still had lots of nylon chiffon leftovers so I simply needed to decide on a color. Ruby suggested pink but I quickly realized I didn't have enough nylon chiffon for all the ruffles. And then it hit me... I did have enough for a "rainbow" of ruffles! To keep the colors bright I used white cotton for the skirt. Dana's pattern is very user friendly and the skirt is cute even without the ruffles but I needed the "pizazz". The real work came in the form of constantly changing thread color to match each ruffle layer. I didn't want the thread to distract from the ruffles.

Nine ruffle layers, whew. So, so pretty, worth all the work.

Next came a refashion.  Ruby wanted a new skirt for Zoey's party. Did you know one lady's full skirt equals 2 girls long skirts? Tis' true. First, I took off one layer around the top including the waistband. I then cut down the two side seems leaving me two separate pieces. I sewed each piece back together thus creating the 2 separate skirts. Now for waistbands. Elastic, some matching jersey fabric, and a bit of sewing round the tops and ta-da! Easy twirling skirts.

I did add a bit of decorative trim to the second skirt for some flare.

We gave Zoey the second skirt so that as Ruby says, "we can be twins"!
Ruby tells me the party was soooo much fun and that Zoey loved, loved, loved her rainbow skirt. Oh, and that I should now make her a rainbow Can-Can skirt as well. A gift well done I'd say!

Beauty-Full Banner

2011-06-26T09:06:00.000-05:00

I've had a thing for banners recently. And around the blog world I've seen this play with words on "Beautiful" by writing it "Beauty Full" instead. I got to thinking that my own little life is pretty darn full of beauty as well. Thus the banner. I love this "Bloom" paper collection by Creative Imaginations, the jewel tone colors are so me. I used both sides of the papers and a pack of die cuts.

Close-up of the letter "e". I inked my edges, since that appeals to the earthy parts of me. Then added a touch of sparkle with Paprika colored Stickles and some gems by Hero Arts.

I gave the backside of the banner has a finished look as well for it's nice to look good coming and going!
Here's the back of the letter "e". I strung the banner with garment pins and sheer ribbon by May Arts.

This project came together quickly for it'd been bouncing around in my head for some time. I find it full of beauty! If you're interested in making one just like mine simply email Paper Studio and register for a class or purchase a kit. Have a "beauty-full" creative summer!

"No More Training Wheels" ATC

2011-06-25T16:26:00.000-05:00

Had a final (for the summer) ATC swap with Paper Studio on June 20th. The theme was open so I decided my card would be about a very important event that took place just a few weeks ago. No more training wheels for both Rubes and Teo! A little sibling peer pressure helped these two learn quickly. I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful this is.

On this ATC aptly titled "No More Training Wheels" I used a stamp set from Hero Arts for the bicycle and the sentiment, ric rac by May Arts, Stickles for sparkle and papers from my stash.

Photo proof of my two-wheelers! We practice in a local church parking lot. Lots of space to master using brakes, turning and speed.

Both are finally tall enough to stop with their feet able to touch the ground. Nothing more disheartening than needing to stop and having to fall over to do it.

Looking forward to the first official family bike ride, a bit more practice is currently required but we're on our way...

Painted Flower Pot

2011-06-21T16:07:00.001-05:00

Many projects come to me by way of the following...Could you make/paint/sew/draw/create/_____ for me?

I tend to like these little requests for they generally have few restrictions and get me out of my current creative rut, I mean routine. So when I was asked to decorate a plastic flower pot for a wedding I said sure. I'd been toying with the idea of adding color to my doodling and this project seemed right to give it a try. Hello paint! First I sanded the pot where I intended to paint. Then I painted a light green base coat. I used acrylics for this project since I had them on hand and they dry quickly. After I drew my design round the pot in pencil it was just a matter of painting it in. I was having a garage sale at the time so there was plenty of sitting time available for painting.

I knew from the start I wanted to outline the image but when I tried black it was all wrong. Too harsh looking. My next thought was to use gold as a base coat for brown but decided to keep it once I saw how lovely it looked.

A final coat of clear sealer finished this fun project. Sort makes me want to paint all the pots in my yard and house!

Paper Flowers

2011-06-20T08:31:00.001-05:00

Paper flowers. A class I designed for Paper Studio for the month of June. It show cased six flowers: stacked square, rose, black-eyed susan, accordion fold, carnation, and box top.

I really enjoyed designing and teaching this class. These flowers are stunning in their simplicity. Paper choice can completely change their look. The class show-cased use of Fiskars Squeeze and Border punches, inking and the Ranger Mini Mister.

Most of these flowers are versions of what's floating around out there on the web. Really, try typing "paper flowers" in a search engine sometime. Mind boggling I tell ya. These just happen to be some of my favorites and how I go about making them.

I'm toying with a potential "ribbon" class for August, all bows and frills. We'll see, I could probably come up with a Paper Flowers Class II!

Hello and a Layout

2011-06-19T08:31:00.000-05:00

Hello. I feel like I should reintroduce myself... seems I've taken an unexpected blogging break. All I can say is the transition from school ending to summer break has been a struggle this year. So I'm hoping to catchup as today it's raining and we all feel like just hanging around the house.

Sometime in April, I believe, I made this layout titled "Reminisce" using papers from We R Memory Keepers 2011 "Tres Elegant" Collection, May Arts ribbon, Nestibilities dies and a few Fiskars punches. The photos are of my lil' people from 2007. Time goes too fast.

Sometimes...

2011-05-15T16:04:00.000-05:00

I have my camera with me when the heart-melting moments happen.

Spring Bunting Swap

2011-05-10T12:21:00.000-05:00

Back in April I joined a bunting/banner swap. My first swap outside of ATCs. Amy over at RubyMoon Art was the host. She sent all the participants an outline so that size wise we'd all have the same model to work with and then we were set free to create. Paper, fabric, canvas... whatever materials we wanted in whatever colors we choose. So I used paper, ribbon, flowers, buttons and made them all different. We were told to make five and in return we'd receive five. Each one from a different person.

I used all materials from my stash. Which was very freeing.

A few brads here, a few gems there.

An occasional saying, sticker and inking.

This was my favorite. Something about the pink and teal combination of colors that enjoy. Hard to see but I used some shimmer mists for a bit of sparkle on most of them.

I found my happy Spring Bunting in the mailbox in time for May 1st. Which was great cause I thought Spring would never come to WI. this year it's been cold for far to long this year.
I wish I had a better picture of how pretty my bunting truly is but the sun has been hiding a lot.

To see more from the group check out the Spring Bunting Swap Flickr page.

"Doodle Details" ATC

2011-05-06T08:37:00.000-05:00

There was another swap at Paper Studio recently and the theme was Black & White. I struggled a little with what to create and what to use. I felt limited and could only think of checker board. Then I came across Alisa Burke and her "peeks" into her sketch books. I used to doodle. A lot. So I picked up a pen and got started.

All a bit different and worked on individually but only a little bit at a time from start to finish. I love how they turned out and it was fun to see them in a group.

I'm working on another batch for the Stampede ATC Swap. We'll see as I need 20-30. I've never made that many before... that's a lot.

Easter Greetings Card

2011-04-24T08:50:00.001-05:00

Here's a little card I designed for Paper Studio about a month ago for their One Hour One Card Wonder Class. This card was made using a fun, somewhat interactive technique called a "Peek-A-Boo", fussy cutting around stamped images and lots of colored pencils.

Happy Easter!

Blissfull ATC Swap April 2011

2011-04-22T09:11:00.001-05:00

I was more than a little excited about this month's Blissfull ATC Swap. The theme was Steam Punk a creative area I'd not really gotten around to yet. (And I'm a big fan of the Doctor!) So I thought I'd try a little something different. This is my first ATC in the form of a wallet or booklet. A few eyelets and some ribbon lacing for a corset feel on one end of the outside cover with "hardware" stickers by Crafty Secrets.

I titled this ATC "Treasures" for all the goodies on the inside. Some Graphic 45 papers, more hardware stickers, and charms. A little shimmer mist, gems and crystal lacquer to complete the card.

I received this beauty from my partner, Pam, it's her first ATC and I'm honored to call it mine! Lots of tiny beads and gears and gems. My picture is a tad fuzzy, probably from all the sparkly goodness coming off this wonderful ATC. I do so love it. Thanks, Pam.

I'll taking a Blissfull ATC break for May as there's so much going on with Paper Studio and the Sayner Stampede. I'll be back to Blissfull swapping in June when the theme is Weddings.

"Step Into Spring"

2011-04-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

Back on March 21st Paper Studio had another ATC swap with a "Spring" theme. Desperate for anything that may help it arrive... I joined in. Here's my ATC titled "Step Into Spring".

I used all papers and items from my stash. Creative Imaginations, GCD Studios, Stickles, gems and a corner punch. A relatively non-fussy ATC for me and that pleases me to no end. I'm trying to clear the clutter and that goes for over thinking when I make things. My next ATC for Paper Studio will be near the end of April with a Black & White theme. A fun challenge!

Oh, Lonely Blog and a Fool's Run for 2011

2011-04-02T10:06:00.001-05:00

Hello poor lonely blog in March. Seems the long winter caught me. I also had a bit of melancholy bring me down. I'm not really one to be "sad" but a lack of spring weather is very exhausting. I've been trying to clean out the clutter this past month... there seems to be a lot. My creative energy stunted due to an overwhelming pile of crafting stuff mixed with too many toys. No more! I'm bring in spring come more snow or high water. Starting with a new pair of shoes, funky socks and a crazy race!

Only Fools Run At Midnight!

Yes, the run is at midnight. It's my third year participating and quite a few of my family members are joining me. I walk a bit, jog a bit and just enjoy the craziness of it. There could be some 1200 other fools this year besides myself. Bring on Spring... I'm more than ready for some warmer weather and rebirth.

Custom-made Wiener Shirt for Teo

2011-03-06T08:40:00.000-06:00

I've been making Teo shirts lately. I've not taken pics of them since they're plain long sleeve shirts and when I think about it they're usually in the wash. Teo likes these shirts and wears them often. Bonus! Which leads me to this shirt. I'm in the mist of wiener dog shirts and thought Teo might like another one. Ta Da! Here's the front...

And here's the back....

Now, just in case you think your eyes are playing tricks on you... here's a side view.

See when you recycle shirts to make shirts you will often run out of the shirt you're cutting up. I don't mind and neither does Teo. Keeps things one-of-a-kind. Just like my little guy!

Paper Studio ATC Swap

2011-03-06T07:59:00.001-06:00

There was an ATC swap at Paper Studio on February 28th. The theme was "About Me". Let me say right now that there are times when I really over think things. This theme had me trying to cram all that I think is me on my ATC. To say the least I stressed a bit before it all came together.

I titled this one "Inside My Head". A mesh of ideas, materials and colors all a swirling and overlapping in this head of mine. My love of sewing, paper crafting, beading and mixing them together.

There were 8 ATCs in this batch. (Shown here are numbers 1 and 2.) All those little weaves had to be individually made and then to really stick them down required Modge Podge. Over thinking can often lead to overworking for me. Next month's theme at Paper Studio is "Spring"... something I'm really looking forward to!

February Blissfull ATC Swap

2011-02-18T10:02:00.000-06:00

February's theme for the Blissfull ATC swap was "Love". Lately I've been making lots of little banners so I shared my new love in my ATC and titled it "Heartfelt Banner".

Rubes made an ATC this month as well and her's is titled "Lovely Pink Butterfly".

We sent our ATCs off in a fun pop-up card with a bunch of extra hearts to our partners.

I made quite a few of these cards this Valentines for I love how they stay open and all the hearts come bursting out!

We sent our goodies off to Amy and her daughter over at Ruby Moon Art. Lots of fun creating going on over there. The similarities among us are "lovely". Hee, hee! We both love lil' bunting/ banners and the girl's both love butterflies along with the color pink and puppies! Our girl's are both the same age so I do hope they'll swap again. Here's what they sent us....

Amy sent me 2 ATCs! Yay! I love them both... fabric is always a win with me and I dig the painted feel of the other card. Thanks, Amy!

Rubes received this beauty. A wonderful mixed media piece and some extra stickers from Amy's daughter. Oh, the love of swapping makes me giddy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T12:11:00.001-06:00

Sometimes love is... quirky.

Sometimes love is... exhausting.

And best of all, love is...sweet.

A quick Valentine's shirt made using a cookie cutter for the heart outline, fusible web, and after ironing it to the shirt some red thread with a zig-zag stitch around the heart's perimeter.
Happy Valentine's Day!

What's New And A Few Cards

2011-02-13T14:40:00.000-06:00

Where has February gone? As I look at the past couple years seems like this time of winter is always slim on posting. Probably the flurry of Valentines, snowshoeing and winter blah. Well, there has been quite a bit of sewing going on but no photo evidence yet. Maybe I should post the mess that is "wiener dog" shirt making but I've little free time as it is. So instead, here are a few cards I've made recently.

Cosmo Cricket patterned papers. Bazzill Half the Edge strips and cardstocks. Hero Arts stamps.

SEI's "All My Heart" Collection patterned papers. Bazzill cardstocks and Hero Arts stamps.

Cosmo Cricket patterned papers. Bazzill Half the Edge strips and cardstocks. Hero Arts stamps.
Whew. Hopefully my little break will get me back in swing of things post wise. Whew, again.

Cranberry Nut Bread

2011-01-30T12:12:00.000-06:00

A recipe from the Fannie Farmer Cookbook (12th Edition 1981). I love this cookbook and ironically I found it in a pile to be thrown out after a church rummage sale. My favorite quick bread recipes come from here and they're wonderful. So I'm sharing Cranberry Nut Bread today since I've made 4 loaves this past week. Here goes...

Cranberry Nut Bread
1 large orange or 2 small                                1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
2 tablespoons butter                                       2 cups white flour
1 egg                                                             1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar                                                    1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup chopped cranberries                             1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter a loaf pan. Grate the rind of the orange, and squeeze out all the juice into a measuring cup and add enough boiling water to make 3/4 cup. Add the orange rind and the butter and stir to melt the butter. Beat the egg in another bowl and gradually add the sugar, beating well. Add remaining ingredients and orange mixture, and blend well. Spoon into the pan and bake for 1 hour. Remove from the pan and cool on the rack.

I've used wheat flour instead of white flour, pecans instead of walnuts and 1 1/4 cups cranberries cause I like the cranberry goodness.  All variations are quite tasty. Enjoy!

January Blissfull ATC Swap 2011

2011-01-23T13:12:00.000-06:00

This month the theme for the Blissfull ATC Swap was "White and Snow". Now with all the snow that's been a falling around here you'd have thought this ATC would have come easy. No such luck. I struggled with what to make till I looked out my back window and decided that what I was looking at was what I wanted all along for this ATC. I titled it "Snowfall". There's some stamping in different inks, ripped and glued paper, punches, velum, Stickles and brads.

I always make 3 in these swaps. I swap one and keep two for my kids. (Maybe they'll want them in the future?)

I sent "Snowfall" off in a gate card with some other goodies to Anita at Keepin' Creative.
Turns out she also sent goodies with her beautiful ATC "White and Snow". Look at those tiny crocheted snowflakes! Stunning and my first ATC with any type of yarn or fibers. (Anita has some nice tutorials on her blog including the snowflakes.)

Next month is "Love" and kids have been invited! I signed up Rubes and can't wait to get started!

More Cards...

2011-01-16T13:20:00.000-06:00

So I've had a bit of a card pile-up. I never really thought of myself as a card maker before and now I'm thinking I really should add it to the list of things I enjoy doing. In all honesty I've only been designing and making them for a year. Sort of snuck up on me. Well, here's some from the past few months.

Papers from Cosmo Cricket's Mitten Weather and Bazzill card stocks. Stamps from Hero Arts 2010 catalog. Stickles and May Arts ribbon.

Papers by Cosmo Cricket's Togetherness and Wanted collections and Paper By The Piece. Stamps from Hero Arts 2011 catalog. May Arts twine.

Bazzill card stock and Teresa Collins Noel papers. Stamps from Hero Arts 2011 catalog. Stickles.

Bazzill card stock and papers by Cosmo Cricket's Togetherness. Stamp from Hero Arts 2011 catalog. May Arts cord. Epiphany Crafts custom button and Fiskars border punch for the details.

Bazzill card stock, Just The Edges decorative strips and Cosmo Cricket togetherness papers. Stamp from Hero Arts 2011 catalog.

Hero Arts paper card and envelope set plus all stamps. Bazzill card stock and Cosmo Cricket's Togetherness papers. May Arts twine.
And if I forgot some info or have it wrong "Sorry". I'm working on that. Happy crafting!

Poinsettia Penance And A Few 2010 Christmas Cards

2011-01-06T12:19:00.000-06:00

I'll get to the penance part in a bit.
First these are the cards I designed for Paper Studio's 2010 - 12 Cards of Christmas class.

Hero Arts stamp "Joy". Paper's by Cosmo Cricket and cardstock by Bazzill.

Hero Arts stamps "On this day"and the poinsettia flower. Cosmo Cricket papers and Bazzill cardstock.

(Paper by Graphic 45 and cardstock by Bazzill.)
And now for the card that created frustration, disharmony and some swearing. Ribbon embroidery. Pretty, right? While ribbon embroidery is usually done on cloth, I enjoy mixed media. Blending my crafts if you will. Well, apparently my enthusiasm was a little bit tricky for most of the card makers. Now I need to point out that they all finished at least 1 of their 3 poinsettia cards, however, I now know they probably cursed me a lot. Not in the swearing sense though I'm sure there was some of that but as in "put a curse on me" sort of way. See, when the church was decorated this year they upped the number of live poinsettia plants and helpers were told NOT to even think of watering them for there already was someone for that job. ME. I need to mention I was not at the decorating day due to illness so I believe I was nominated because I wasn't there to say no. O.K. moving on. After a few days in the church it's time to start watering the 100 or so poinsettias that are placed throughout the building. Pretty, right? It became shockingly clear very early on that this was not going to be a simple pour a bit of water into each plant's pot. Oh, no. See there's this foil wrapped around the little plastic pot to make it look nicer and I had thought to keep water in. That's always been my previous experience with decorative foiled pots. NOT THIS TIME. I noticed water all over the floor after the first 4-5 plants were watered. What? I'm not that messy. So I picked up a pot and water came streaming out the base! AHHHH! I now have to pick up the poinsettia plant pot, hold it over an ice cream pail, pour the water in, wait for it to drain and then put the poinsettia pot back down.
Repeat 100 times each watering.
I've watered 3 times already, I've 2 or 3 to go.
I know this is Penance for the Poinsettia Card.
I get it now, loud and clear, I sinned in cardmaking with the ribbon embroidery.

Resolutions

2011-01-02T09:28:00.000-06:00

Resolutions. I have 1 this year. See when I make a list there are times when "life" stuff gets in the way and then guilt sets in and on and on and before I know it I'm making a blanket for my nephew that I'd said I'd make 1 1/2 years ago! So my one goal or resolution if you will is.....................
Open my Etsy shop!
I've already named it "Furrowed Stitches" so that's done. Now I'm researching and making inventory. And while I putzed around blogland today I came across this post which got me to thinking. I'm stressing over "what-if's" and thus not doing a thing. So I'm inspired by this quote I found over at Crazy Mom Quilts.

"Make what you want to make, and make it the way you want to make it." -Gwen Marston

And if I love what I'm making then I'm believing others will too. I've no definite deadlines set just know that I'm doing daily sewing and making it happen this year.

Here's to a Happy New Year!

2010-12-31T17:02:00.000-06:00

I'd like for you all to meet Black Bean and Toffee.

Our family has expanded with the addition of these two lovely girl miniature wiener dogs. There's been lots of the "wild-wiener-run" in our house in the past 48 hours. I'm looking forward to 2011 with a huge smile on my face.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-25T10:32:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas to all! It's the little things that matter. Time with family and friends.

Savoring that time together, helping those that need help and sharing our gifts.

I'm sending warm fuzzies, love and joy to all of you this Christmas and may it last the whole year.

Space Rockets, Oh Yeah!

2010-12-22T09:01:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago Teo was invited to his "best" friends birthday party. I knew the party was space themed so I asked the birthday boy's mom if he liked space, moons and stars or aliens and astronauts or rockets and spaceships. The later it was. Teo liked the idea of shirts with rockets, planets and fire coming out of them. (Meaning the flames from the rockets flying. Hee, hee.) Since I didn't have any boys 5T shirts around I decided to make some using my dress pattern from Lil Blue Boo. From there I printed out space/rocket coloring pages found online and made my own freezer paper stencils.

This was the first time I did multiple colors and outlined in black. Then I added a little something on the back of each shirt for fun.

Finally I whipped up a card using one of the rocket images from the coloring pages. (Not shown). Usually I let the kids make their own cards but Teo was so excited he couldn't sit still long enough to do anything but write his name that day. Here's where it gets too funny. According to the birthday boy's mom at the party when this gift was opened the card had slipped to the bottom of the gift bag so the shirts were found first. Birthday boy immediately put on the blue shirt and then found the card. As he opened his card, he looked right at Teo and said, "Oh, yeah, he knows what I like. He knows!" Best compliment ever!

December Blissfull ATC Swap

2010-12-17T14:04:00.000-06:00

I'd better get cracking on my posting or December will be gone! Seems this time of year flies by...tis' the season. I managed to get sick with all the hoop-la as well. No rest for the weary as there's been snow and thus salt with the church... another post for another time. This is the time for my December Blissful ATC reveal. The theme this month was "Angels".

My background of gold and yellow paper chips was inspired by the new song book's cover in the church. I've said it before,"some of my best thinking and ideas come while I'm vacuuming." I also sent along this vintage "hanging" card and some small paper snowflakes to my swap partner for she resides in Texas. Sharing the snow was I. I was a tad late in mailing my ATC for my driveway was not yet plowed!

And this is the sweet ATC that Dee Dee sent to me! (She's been doing some other fun stuff with angels this month so drop by and give her a visit. ) I do so enjoy these swaps. I get to meet and share with such wonderful people.

And I do believe in miracles, angels, and Santa. There's simply too many good things that happen that can't be explained. January's theme is "White & Snow". Something I'm very familiar with here in the northwoods. Should be fun!

Countdown To Christmas

2010-12-11T10:00:00.000-06:00

Often all the projects I'm working on go unposted due to lack of time in the day. I'm unwilling to give up sleep, snuggles with my children and such. If I was a bit more computer savvy I suppose that would help! So we're on day 11 of the countdown to Christmas....I'm on the hunt for our TREE today and it's snowing a lot outside! (I say "hunt"... for the kids and I will gear up, head out in the back woods, lop off a tree and then drag it home.) Back to the countdown... here's a project I designed for work and haven't posted yet.  It's not due to a lack of love but time.

A batch of 25 Library Pockets all decorated with papers from the Teresa Collins "Noel" collection.

I fill all my pockets with fun little ideas, games, or practical things to do to get ready for the holiday.   Like get a tree. I helps me stay on track and the children like it for there's a daily adventure. Even if that's just ice cream.

There are still a few kits available with online instructions if you'd like to make one over at Paper Studio just shoot them an email if you're interested.  Now I'm off to start the hunt for our tree. I believe tomorrows pocket says we're decorating it. Must stay on track.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cake

2010-12-02T15:26:00.000-06:00

December has come and baking is in full swing. I thought I'd share a recipe I believe I found in a Taste of Home magazine a few years back. However the husband has taken to making this and has probably altered the original for now he has this version stored on our computer. I love how he makes it so here goes....
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cake
¾ C. soft butter
1 ½ C. granulated sugar
½ C. packed brown sugar
2 Eggs
1 Tsp. vanilla
2 ½ C. APF
1 Tsp B.P.
1 Tsp B.S
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1 can (15 oz) solid – pack pumpkin
1 C. (6 oz) semisweet choc chips
2 - 1 oz squares unsweetened choc (melted and cooled)
¾ C. fine chopped pecans (optional)

• In large mixing bowl cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
• Add eggs one at a time, scrapping and beating well after each one.
• Add vanilla.
• Combine flour, B.P, B.S, and cinnamon and mix lightly. (sift if you can)
• Alternate dry and pumpkin into wet and add chips at end.
• Cut batter in half. Then fold in melted unsweetened choc into one batch (if you'd like less chocolate, split batter by a 1/3 and 2/3 adding chocolate to the 1/3 portion.
• In a well greased fluted pan add half of the pecans to the sides and bottom of pan.
• Pour chocolate mixture over pecans; remaining pecans on top of chocolate batter.
• Pour remaining batter on top.

Bake at 325 degrees for 65 – 75 minutes or until toothpick come out clean from the center of the cake.
Let cool for 15 minutes before inverting on bakers rack for final cool down.
Top with icing of choice and enjoy!

Fall Together Layout

2010-11-25T07:42:00.003-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving.
So many things to be thankful for this year. My family and friends are at the top of a long list. I'm truly blessed. I've been able to be quite creative this year and even started scrapping!
My most recent layout "Fall Together" is my first double page and my own design! No sketch, whoa. It fell together, haha, almost effortlessly. Leaf placement took some work but was worth it.

Papers and items used are as follows:
Base cardstock "Kraft" by Bazzill
Bazzill Basics Half Just the Edge in Parakeet
Cosmo Cricket's "Togetherness" Collection for the leaves and behind photos
ScrapWorks Shimmer Shapes Fall Leave Assortment
Slice Design Card "Back to School" for the leaves and "Turkey Daze" for the Title
Variety of Color Box Chalk inks

I adore fall. I've been taking "leaf pile" pics every autumn since Ruby was born. Twas a favorite part of my childhood and the bigger the pile the better! I'm so pleased with this layout and the memories captured. Yes, I've a lot to be thankful for.

Yes. Yes, Those Are Patches On My Pants.

2010-11-23T21:49:00.000-06:00

Teo was given pants from his cousin that were in great shape except for the knees. What to do? What to do? Well, if I had to patch them by golly they were going to be some "look-at-my-patches" patches!

I had lots of scraps with fusible web on the back so I started with basic shapes and then dragged out the cookie cutters. Fused the cutouts where I wanted them on the patches then machine stitched them to prevent fraying and peeling off. Followed by fusing the whole patch to the pants. Embroidered along the sides, cause it's harder than hard to machine sew, and used different colored floss. Teo likes them since they're fun and I'm happy to have saved 3 pairs of jeans. I tell you what though, embroidering through denim was no picnic...my fingers are still a bit upset with my creative twist on patches.

Deer Hunting Season Sighting

2010-11-20T12:54:00.000-06:00

Had to take a picture of this sign when I saw it.

Kind of says it all about the hunting going on in this area.

November Blissfull ATC Swap

2010-11-17T16:10:00.000-06:00

I've a new love in my life... Artist Trading Cards. I'll be trading once a month with a group over at Blissfull ATC Swap. This month's theme was "open" so it seemed like a nice time to join.   Here's my November ATC titled "Autumn Beauty". I made 3 of this card as similar as possible seeing as some of the papers are patterned. The leaves came from my stash, some stamping (for background and a few I cut out around the image) and some from the SLICE using the "Back to School" design card. I inked the edges with a variety of colors. The "Tiny Type" alphabet stickers are from Cosmo Cricket.

ATCs are only 2 1/2" x 3 1/2". This means all the bits and scraps I've been holding onto are finding a creative outlet. Yay! I made a card to send my ATC with. Bazzill Dotted Swiss "Rope Swing" as the base.  Cosmo Cricket's Tiny Type stickers and "Togetherness" Collection for the strips. Inked edges.  Ribbon from my stash.

Inside I made a four corner holder for my ATC. (It can easily be popped out if desired.) The pocket on the right came from my local library! They're cleaning due to some remodeling/expansion and were giving them away! Happy day... They said I could take as many as I wanted! I put extra leaves in the pocket for my swap partner. Thought it might make fall last a little longer for her. It's always to short for me, tis' my favorite time of year.

And this is what Wendy sent to me! A gorgeous ATC in pale purples with the right amount of sparkles. I have a fondness for pansies... my first pet rabbit was named Pansy.  (I was 4 and Bambi was a big deal!) Also in the envelope was a pocket filled with patterned papers and a variety of fun small trinkets! Perfect for more ATCs!

I'm having such a creatively good time that I'm organizing a swap for Rubes and 5 other young people. I'll post Rubes's first ATC soon. She swapped with me this month as well...and deserves her own post.   Next month's Blissfull theme is "Angels"!  Heavenly. Ah.....

I bought a pattern and followed it!

2010-11-07T15:07:00.000-06:00

Happy, happy, joy, joy! A few weeks ago I bought the Sienna Dress pattern from Lil Blue Boo. I'd been dwelling on figuring out a pattern for myself or dropping a few bucks and having all the base work, plus helpful tips, provided for me. I went with the later. I simply did not want to waste time and supplies on making a pattern myself. I chose correctly! I've already made 3 dresses for Rubes! I've plans for more when time allows and I can easily alter the pattern for many different looks. (I can even shorten it to make shirts or hoodies for Teo!)

So this pattern is designed to recycle t-shirts. I've pieced five together in this dress. Rubes loves how soft the jersey is and I like how easy it is to clean.

On my second dress I choose to recycle a pair of crazy patch shorts I found at a bag sale this summer.

This is fast becoming Rubes's favorite. I had to do a bit of seam ripping, pocket removing and then restitching to have enough fabric. Twas worth it though.

On the third dress I tried the seams on the outside with sergered edges. My personal favorite. Serging the sleeves creates a slight ruffle look. Cute.

She decided to wear this one to school tomorrow. That's a compliment in and of it's self. First grade fashion is serious to this lil girl of mine. I bet she'll wear cowboy boots to complete her look.

I can't say enough good things about this pattern. Ashley has instructions that are easy to understand and follow. There are lots of helpful hints and suggestions for alterations. I felt like the pattern paid for itself 3 times over after the first dress. My only regret is not buying it sooner. I should have trusted my lurking instincts.

I'm Hooked On Swapping!

2010-11-03T08:41:00.000-05:00

So I sent out my ATCs and then I received some! I'm like a little kid with mail...I get all giddy, jumpy, and squeally. Heart racing with excitement. My first ATC arrived from Sharon all the way from Virginia.
A delightful card with Halloween wishes held some fun papers and a sweet "pocket" holder for the cute witchy ATC. Fun ribbon, too.

A few days later came my next ATC from clear across the country. Really. Michelle & Ashley, from California, teamed up and sent this great vintage feel witch ATC. I love the rick rack edge on this card, (plus this shade of green is a personal favorite). A Halloween stamp, fun confetti and other embellishment treats accompanied the ATC.

I love using up the smaller bits and pieces in my various stashes of crafting supplies. I knew there was a reason I kept all those scraps! This is so much fun, I'm hooked! I'll be swapping ATCs again soon.

The Great Witch Swap ATCs

2010-10-31T12:45:00.002-05:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
Here they are....the ATCs I made for the Great Witch Swap. I've been so giddy and nervous while making these you'd think I was hoping to get a date or something. Maybe it's cause these are my first ATCs ever along with wanting the recipients to really like them. (Yep, I can be that insecure.) There are only a few rules to follow with ATCs. Size : 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches and they must be original works of art.
Witch legs stuck in my head from the get go so I used the Slice with the design card, Spook Alley, for the legs. I made "Spook" first, then "Bewitch" using all bits and pieces of items from my paper/ribbon stashes.

There's Graphic 45's Alice In Wonderland Halloween collection, Bazzill card stock, and Basic Grey's Max & Whiskers papers. Stickles for sparkle. Twinkling H20s by Creative Imaginations for some shimmer and shine.

I put the ATCs in gate cards for an added twist. They can be displayed in a prettier fashion that way.

Both a little different. Not sure which I liked more. I had a hard time letting them go truthfully.

And the backside, just in case you were wondering.

Looking forward to my next ATC swap. I'll post pics of the ATCs I received soon, they're terrific! Till then, Happy Halloween, may there be lots of treats for you all!

Scrapbook Layouts

2010-10-23T12:44:00.000-05:00

I may have waited a bit to long to share these for I'm drawing some blanks as to what materials I used. When I'm having a creative upchucking I don't always remember all the details. I know I was trying to follow a sketch with this layout but strayed so far that it's pointless to try and recall it now. There's some Cosmo Cricket papers and lace from the dress in the pics. For more on that go here. I hand stitched all the wording with a silver thread and used a Hero Arts stamp for the butterflies.

Graphic 45 Halloween Alice in Wonderland collection in this Spooktactular layout. I know I used a sketch from Pencil Lines, which one I'm drawing a blank on. I utilized a few In Stitches templates with twine for the stitched parts. The picture of Teo says sooo much about him! His little smirk gets me every time.

I used all Creative Imaginations papers and embellishments in this soccer layout. I used the September Sketch Challenge and added it to the gallery there.

I've a few more layouts to work out of my system but for now I'm swamped with wiener dog shirts and headbands for my soon to be etsy shop. "Creative upchucking" at it's finest. Now if only I didn't need to sleep.

Zoo Boo 2010

2010-10-21T18:34:00.000-05:00

A fun time was had by all at this years Zoo Boo. I thought I'd taken more action shots but I guess I was too busy enjoying the moment rather than taking pics. Yay, me! I believe that's because quite a bit of my family (and a few friends) came up for it this year.

Seairra, Molly, My Mom and Sara.

My sister Summer, her Jake, nephew Hunter and Jake's son, Junior.

My sister Aurora and my nephew Eli.

Eli showing us his wild zebra trying to escape side.

My sister Cherish came with her two boys, Will and Ben but somehow I've only got this picture of Ben to prove that. Awefully good picture of the lil' man but thought I took pics of everyone.

Apples from the local grocery store were a hit with all the kids. Even Wolverine (Teo) likes a healthy snack.

My Rubes makes quite the cute witch if I do say so. Orange is such a great color for her. And I love stripy tights! Might have to get a few more when Halloween is over and the clearance sales hit.

Bewitched!

I get my love of Halloween from my Mom. During the costume judging she pulled out her plastic shooters and said, "Reach for the sky." She took 5th place.

Mummy me. I made my costume out of a tea stained sheet, a cream table cloth, 2 of my Hubby's t-shirts and a pair of Ralph Lauren white corduroy pants from the thrift store. Total cost under $5. I think I spent 2 full days mostly figuring how to attach the strips to look more like bandages and to come off in 3 pieces. (Hat, shirt and pants.) I need to add 2 strips to tighten up the middle but over all I'm happy and everyone knew what I was.

There were some soda samples offered at one of the tables and the following conversation took place:
Nice Pepsi Guy : "Would you like a sample?"
Mummy Me : "No, Thanks."
Me walking away, stopping and then thinking, turn around and go back.
Mummy Me : "On second thought, I could use a little soda, I'm dead tired."
Nice Pepsi Guy : Laughing. "Good one."
Never gets old, still cracks me up!

Swaps!

2010-10-13T08:37:00.002-05:00

I've joined my first swap. I'm not recalling how exactly I found Little Messy Missy but she is the host of "The Great Witch ATC Swap". ( ATC stands for Artist Trading Card. It is an original piece of art work that is the size of a playing card 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches). I thought, hey, I can do that. A little something fun for me for Halloween. With a lot of swaps you need references to participate so I'm building my trust worthiness.

I'll be making 2 different ATC's. I'll then mail one to a gal in southern WI and the other to a gal in MO. I'm thinking "witchy legs". I'll post them after they're mailed, wouldn't want to ruin the surprise for my ladies. Another swap I joined recently will take some time to get to me. This one goes back and forth across the world between 40 some people. I'm in the bottom third so I figure I'll get the "stash" of goodies come January of February? I'll make something with some of the stash in the package, replace with some of my surplus and the send it out again. I'm trying to get the button on my side bar to help keep track of where the stash is but as of today I'm technically challenged. Soon I hope.

I'm in the sewing of Halloween costumes right now. I'm going as a mummy this year! Can't wait to share some pics cause I'm loving how it's coming together... all spooky like. And that's it for now since I'm off to work.

Girly Wiener Dog Shirts

2010-10-08T08:31:00.000-05:00

So with school being back in session I thought ...hey, I might have a bit more free time!...not exactly. Seems I've gone and filled most of it up with errand running and good deed doing. So now I'm trying to squeeze in one morning for myself for sewing and crafting. Which can be by myself or with friends but ultimately needs to be fun and productive. Whew. (Who knew first grade spelling tests would be so challenging?) Onward... I've made my first few "girl" wiener dog shirts! We had a birthday party to attend and the birthday girl loves pink so, a pink running wiener dog shirt with matching headband it was.

And the back.

Rubes then pointed out that Teo has two wiener dog shirts and she didn't have any. She was very clear that she "really, really, wanted one for a very long time." So I whipped up one for her. I've been meaning to post about these for almost a week but Rubes has worn her shirt many times and thus I've finally gotten a clean picture of it.

And the back.

I like how the edges fray slightly after washing. I've started adding "water marks" to my pics since I'm working on setting up an etsy shop. I've chosen "Furrowed Stitches" as a shop name. Still working out the details but also still on track. I now have a "pro" flickr account so there'll be some fun stuff to try with photos and I've joined a few swaps this month. Busy am I.

Music Videos

2010-09-26T16:26:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile since I've posted any videos. Well today while out on a walk I captured these moments. Rubes makes up these little songs all the time. The conversation varies only slightly from the following...
Rubes : "Would you like to hear a song?"
Me : "Sure."
Rubes : "A happy, sad, or scary one?"
Me : "I'll take a happy one."
Rubes : "1, 2, 3, or 0."
Me : "2"
Rubes : "O.K. I have to remember it now. Are you ready?"
Today, when she was ready, Teo and I were treated to this....

And then Teo, who loves almost all the things his sister does, treated Rubes and I to this...

I realize now how truly "pooky" Halloween can be and, yes, we're excited about it! My favorite part has to be when Rubes whispers lyrics to Teo. Nothing more frightening than a "pumpkin with fire in it". Or as Teo sings... a dinosaur.

A Long Time Ago...

2010-09-20T14:43:00.001-05:00

O.K. so it was really only 3-4 years. (Before blogging for myself.) Anyway, I made a denim-patch-front-fleece-backed-blanket for Rubes for Christmas. Whew, what a mouthful. I recycled jeans from myself, the Husband, and my Dad. Added details include: machine embroidered patches on the 4 corners (courtesy of my sis, Aurora), pockets on some patches, and a corduroy patch from my favorite pants as a child. I made a second one for Teo about 2years ago. Finally "Big Pillows" to match. Why post about them now? Well, I'm feeling a bit under the weather, simply congestion mixed with a sore throat. Blah. Which gets me to thinking in a nostalgic sort of way... Rubes' blanket was the first sewn item I made or created. Prior to this it was fixing my Hubby's torn pockets or hemming pants. He's responsible for getting me a sewing machine. I'd talked about it (for round 3 years) but couldn't make up my mind and thus never got around to buying one. Twas Christmas of 03' I believe when he purchased one for me. I left it in the box for over a month.
I'd been going over the directions and finally took it out of the box. Then it sat there for probably another month while I looked at it and finally turned it on. Silly I know, I was afraid I'd break it. Seems like forever ago, cause now I'll try sewing just about anything. Denim projects are usually thick and often needle breakers if you're rushed and uncertain. These are twin size and heavy, I guessing they were my confidence builders. (I like a blanket, with substance.) I'll have to post the pic of the childhood me in my favorite corduroy farm print pants. If memory serves I'm wearing a matching shirt and holding my pet,at that time, a guinea pig named Mittens, in the photo. Yep, I had style.

Rubes loved roosters/chickens at 2 years of age. Teo simply liked all animals so I went with the paw print. My thinking was that these blankets would last many, many years so there were limits to the prints available. I still love them and so do the kids. They came out of storage and onto the beds about a week ago. Autumnal weather brings out the blankets and memories for me.

A Morning to Myself

2010-09-10T19:08:00.001-05:00

I had the morning all to myself with no plans. As a result I made some headbands, another wiener dog shirt and fixed a "Halloween" item I made last year. The latter is part pants, part skirt, and a bit prom dress. We're talking "Frankenstein" sewing. If you look closely there's glittery spider weds on the leggings Rubes wore it last year and the netting got tore while riding trikes in gym. Now seemed like the time to fix it.

I also hit the scrapping store in search of more Creative Imaginations paper for September's Sketch Challenge. Then the bank for I'm on the path taking small steps towards opening an Etsy shop. Slowly but surely. I have to say I'm really liking having both children in school this year. I'm a better person all around when I have some me time.

Shirts, Headbands & Sisters

2010-09-07T08:37:00.000-05:00

At it with the fusible web again. My nephew, Ben, had his first birthday and part of his gift was a running wiener dog shirt. (He has two wiener dogs in his family so it seemed very fitting.) Since I had all the materials out I made one for Mateo as well.

Coming and going. Your front should always look as good as your back, right?

Since I was seeing most of my sisters, I whipped up some headbands for them.

They were happy. Yes, we do all smile alike. Full sets of teeth. When we're happy it's very easy to tell.

Feline Playful: 200 Followers Blog Candy

2010-09-06T18:23:00.000-05:00

Discovered a new blog to follow and there's also some "blog candy" or a giveaway going on as well. Feline Playful is a sweet site for current challenges going on in the card/scrapping world. Karen Howard collects them and posts her favorites all in one spot on Feline Playful. Nice.

There's a ton of sweet stuff here up for grabs. So, if you're looking for a bunch of challenges to spure those creative juices go here.

Athens Fair 2010

2010-09-04T13:27:00.001-05:00

Finally. Warning: Lots of photos. I tried to pick my favorites from the 4 day event but really, it's hard to show small town goodness in only a few shots so there are 12.
Here goes. we"ll start with a view of the strip. They rides are set up on a blocked off side street. We're talking of a town with maybe a 1,000 folks. I think it quadruples during fair time.

We rode some rides. Well, Rubes and Teo did. Anything that spins makes me sick just looking at it. Thankfully we've reached heights that do not require me to ride along.

Lots of exhibits on display. Look at this cake! Fondant at it's finest. Not only a blue ribbon winner but "Best in Class".

Let's not forget the animals. Rows upon rows of rabbits were shown this year. Rubes face shows how she felt about this HUGE rabbit. He's a Flemish Giant and could get a bit bigger.

There's quite the Draft Horse show on Friday evening. Unfortunately the kids were way tired so we didn't stay. We did watch them get their baths before hand. (There's a guy standing between the two on the right who's about 6 feet tall.) Big animals. I'd say the average draft horse has a hoof the size of a dinner plate.

We participated in the Fun 5K Walk/Run on Saturday. We all had fun but it started at 11am and thus was a tad miserable near the end. Rubes totally ditched our group to run ahead and actually finished about 15 minutes before us! We'll definitely do it again next year. The goodie bags had a t-shirt, $5 food coupon for the church food stands, free ice-cream cone, and snacks! Super cool!

Which brings me to soup. St. Anthony's Catholic Church has a large food stand that sells amazing chicken noodle soup for $1.75 a bowl among other items. I do have to say that the Luthern Church has better pie, so our family frequents both places.

Now I'm not a participant in the following but my brother-in-law played on one of the 40 teams during this years 10th Tournament of Holey Board. They throw large plumbing washers at holes cut into boards covered in shag carpeting generally while drinking beer and talking.

Played in the bounce house.

And rode some more rides. This is Rubes's new smile...a cross between being frozen and a skeleton.

Sunday afternoon brought the parade. My favorite float, "The Age of Asparagus" was from local vegetable farm. All the folks on it were dressed as veggies and danced around while walking. (Mind you the parade route is 3.5 miles with a few hills and usually takes an 1 1/2 hours to complete due to the number of participants.) It was very hot and they were still giving their all at the end of the route which is where we were sitting.

My sis, Tawnie, roller bladed again this year dressed in her Patriotic Rodeo Gear. That heat I was talking about actually peeled her face paint off when she cleaned up!

I've been coming to this fair since I was little. It's where I showed my first horse. We've made it a Family Tradition and an event we look forward to each year.

First Day of School 2010

2010-09-01T17:36:00.000-05:00

So this year was another new step taken as a Mom. Teo is now officially going to school. He's in PreK and wow, I can hardly believe it. Which means Rubes is in first grade! Yikes!
So this is the best shot of the morning. Seriously. Rubes wouldn't smile or pose for she 's claiming to be "shy". What? Huh? Since when, I ask. So this is as good as it gets and it'll do.

We ride the bus and love it. Teo's been waiting since birth, I swear. Last year he cried the first two weeks of school when Rubes rode and he had to come home with me.

Then I had a gathering of Mom Friends over for a "Boo-Hoo" Breakfast to celebrate or cry about the first day of school. We held most tears back with lovely food made by my Hubby and fun conversation. I enjoy these gatherings as the sharing of mothering stories brings inspiration, relief, and hope for me. Sometimes I wonder if my kids are the only ones doing whatever and it's nice to bounce things off others.

Teo had a great first day! I got this picture when he got home after he hugged me... he melts my heart.

As much as I missed him I am looking forward to some "me" time during the week. I'm so glad they both love school!

Every So Often I Go Gizzzt.

2010-08-29T19:13:00.002-05:00

It starts with a simple...I'm doing this today and the next thing I know it's gone gizzzt with a craze of cleaning. Today went like this: Breakfast. I'm going to finish this layout. Sew a little. I need to finish this bag too. Cut pieces out. Hey dear, should I wash the sheets today? Strip bed. Whoa, that fan needs to be cleaned. Mental note. Where am I having the B-fast with friends on Wednesday? Maybe the back porch. Put away weird stuff that found it's way to back porch. I need to clean this table and chairs. Since it's teak I'll have Hubby help me haul it outside. He's lucky enough to leave for work at this point. Now I'll hose it and the chairs off. Wow, there's a lot of cobwebs on the screened wall of the porch. Stop vacuuming and take ladder around house and deweb. Then sweep front walk. Decide to water plants. Finish vacuuming porch. Make a headband. Make lunch and eat. Work on computer. Switch loads of wash. Collect children and go to beach. Come home shower. Hang some laundry on line. Decide to wash cushions on kitchen chairs, throw rugs and bath mats. More vacuuming. Give kids a bath. Make dinner. Feed them. Put them to bed early so I can type this and wonder why I'm like this. Cause seriously, there's lots of going up and down stairs and enter and exiting the house when I'm in this mode.
I bet I get it from my Mom.
Oh, at some point my boy suctioned a cup around his mouth/lips thus breaking the blood vessels and now looks, well, like a kid who sucks on cups.
I'm a bit tired now.
All I really wanted to do today was finish one layout.

Challenges

2010-08-28T15:15:00.000-05:00

Well seems like the Athens fair was forever and a day ago. I'm working on that post but there's not a lot of time at the present to do it right. But soon, for there's a giant rabbit and chicken noodle soup to share! School starts on Wednesday for both Rubes and Teo, resuming a schedule will be nice, but that means a closet update. All the trying on of clothing wears us out so we've periodically stopped to eat ice cream or go swimming. I've also been working on a few layouts for some challenges this month. Here's my take on the Creative Imaginations August Sketch Challenge. I'm quite pleased with the results.

For all the product details go here. I did a bit of sewing and cutting out for the embellishments. This is also the first time I've used any type of paints on a layout. I like distressed looking papers so I guess it's no surprise I'd like paint splatter as well. Till later, for now it's back to cleaning out the closets and tiding the house.

Recent Scrapbook Layouts

2010-08-19T08:38:00.018-05:00

I'm officially scrapbooking now! Still kind of surprises me. I'll try to give some info on materials used but know that's an area I may screw up. (Seeing as I do not seen to post within days of making them.) It's an area I'm hoping to improve on.

I followed Sketch 194 from Anna Bowkis of Pencil Lines. The papers are from Basic Grey's collection "Max & Whiskers" with cardstock Kraft, Fern, and Red Rock all by Bazzill. Tiny Type letters from Cosmo Cricket. Twine and ribbon from May Arts. That's a custom made yarn ball... by me...with a brad, Zots Dot and a little Ultimate Glue.

Here we have papers by Creative Imaginations. A majority coming from their John Deere Collection. Cardstock Patch and Banana from Bazzill.

This layout was created using the July CI Sketch Challenge. I didn't win...this time. I'm already working on their August Challenge with determination! Below I have my fourth layout. All papers and a sticker sheet from Basic Grey's "Nook & Pantry" Collection.

Sketch 170 from Anna Bowkis of Pencil Lines. I like sketches, especially ones from Anna. I'll branch out I'm sure but for now it's working for me!
Now it's off for a long weekend of the Athens Fair! Pony & carnival rides, 4-H booths, and a parade....and corndogs... and a fun run... and holey board.... and that's just a few of the things to keep us busy!

Headbands. Lots of Headbands.

2010-08-15T12:45:00.001-05:00

Here they are..... Felt Flower Headbands. Different colors, sizes and shapes. I'm using a variety of "pretty" elastics for the bands themselves. (There are 2 fabric flowers made the same way as the felt.)

Buttons for the centers. Sometimes sheer ribbon for leaves. Whatever Rubes or myself wanted. I've plans to sell some and give away others. Cute lil' girl gifts.
Now these are another story all together. (I made something similar here.) With my hair all a growing out I've realized that I like a thicker band and that green doesn't go with everything. So I've tweaked my initial whipped up style into a pattern for mass production. The jersey material is all from cutting up t-shirts. Then they are machine sewn, with the ribbon detailing done by hand.

Each time I make one I'm happier and happier with my progress. My current favorite is the teal & pink. There's an orange one waiting for me so it's off to sew.

Felt Five Petal Flower Tutorial

2010-08-14T17:27:00.004-05:00

I've been making a lot of headbands these days trying to take the focus off my crazy humidity hating hair. I'd cut it but I'm afraid that A. I'd shave it all off instead and B. it seems a waste when by next year I'll be able to donate again. So I thought I'd make a quick tutorial on how I make my felt flowers. Here goes...
Step 1: Cut out 5 felt circles or ovals. I used the Big Shot and a Nestabilities scalloped circle for the ones pictured here. They're about the size of a half dollar but any size will work.

Step 2: With your threaded needle do a running stitch near the base of the circle. From back to front, go in out, in out. (Make sure you tied a knot at the opposite end of your thread.)

Step 3: Repeat Step 2 till all 5 circles are stitched on the same thread.

Step 4: Pull your thread till all the petals are bunched up. (This picture shows a back view.)

Step 5: Next put your needle through 2 folds of the first petal past the thread knot.

Step 6: Pull thread tight and tie it off with a plain knot. (Also a view from the back.)

Step 7: Completed felt five petal flower.

Step 8: Embellish to your liking or project specifics. Like I said, I've been making headbands, so some buttons, ribbon, and elastic completed my vision in the picture below.

There's a world of possibilities here just by changing the size, shape, or fabric for your petals. I'll try to post a group shot of all the current headband madness... I'm at 14 as of tonight! Zoiks!

Painted Shoes

2010-08-04T08:32:00.006-05:00

Back in April I came across this tutorial and have wanted to paint some shoes ever since. Then I found simple white shoes at Walmart on clearance for $3! Yay!

First I removed the shoe laces and then taped off the rubber areas. We used a variety of fabric, puffy, and glitter paints. I say "we" since Ruby did all the initial painting of the shoes and even chose her own phrases. I was in charge of the writing and used a black sharpie marker for this step.

Ruby also let me assist with some of the shapes. She told me I'm a good "swirl and peace sign maker".

I applied a coat of Modge Podge after all the painting was finished (and dry) to seal everything. Once that dried I threaded elastic through the eyelets instead of the laces. I wanted Rubes to simply slip these shoes on and off. Lastly, I wound up using fingernail polish remover to clean up the residue left from the tape on the rubber. (Of course I did this after I took all the pics. )

This picture doesn't show how thrilled Rubes really is about her "new" shoes. She's upset with me for asking her to pose this way. I guess I was cramping the flare of her inner model!

Daisies and A Secret

2010-07-30T09:30:00.001-05:00

Back in June when the daisies were in full bloom we couldn't stop picking them for our table. Each walk we'd pick some more. And finally I remembered to bring the camera along. Which turned out being the last walk before they mowed the path and all the daisies down.

I had daisies on my mind so I made a card at work using the Fiskers punch "Oopsie Daisy", the Slice and some May Arts ribbon. I'd be more specific if A. I had posted these when I made them and B. I wasn't sneezing my brains out due to allergies. Which I've not had any troubles with till this morning. Yes, I'm taking meds to help but they make things a little fuzzy along with curbing the sneezing.

So, here's my dirty little secret. The only "scrap booking" I've ever done was my wedding album ten years ago and that was because a dear friend gave me a complete kit as a gift. I had no clue what to do and at the time no idea where to find help. I know I'm a creative person, I've been fortunate enough to attend college and earn a BA in Studio Art. Focusing on sculpture, jewelry and print making. I lean towards 3 dimensional art. I felt obligated to complete my album and I'm glad I did in all it's basic-ness. Though I'm not sure it falls in the realm of today's "idea" of scrapping. Which I love and am now dipping my toes in. Working at Paper Studio I should have known it was only a matter of time. Without further ado... here's my first official layout in 10 years (or ever) depending on how you look at it.

I used a sketch found on Pencil Lines from Anna Bowkis. I find sketches very helpful. I like having some structure or boundries.
I've finished two more layouts in the past week, both using sketches as guides. Looks like I've found yet another creative outlet to enjoy!

Delay Due To Furballs....

2010-07-23T15:30:00.003-05:00

We've been delayed in posting due to furry bundles from Grandma! Short version of the story is we're "kitten-sitting" for 2 weeks while the Grandparents are gone on vacation. Love is in the air!

Rubes and I had the following conversation while at Grandma's farm:
Rubes: "Mom, I'm never getting married."
Me: "Really, how come?"
Rubes: "Because I'm going to have lots of kitties. Like a hundred and fifty."
Me: (Trying not to giggle.) "Oh."

This is Black Jack. He's the smaller (and younger) of the two, quite the explorer and a talker. Oh, the purring is the best! These little furballs have wonderful motors and they're not afraid to use them.

Pip likes to lounge, hide in small places and sleep. The second evening of kitty care Pip disappeared. I finally went into the kids' room and asked Rubes if she was sleeping with her. To which the following conversation occurred:
Rubes: "No, I don't have her."
Me: "Well I wonder where she is?"
Rubes: (Excited) "Oh, I think she's in the Chinese cabinet!"
Me: (Confused) "Where?"
Rubes: (Pointing) "There, in the Chinese cabinet."
Me: (Giggling with understanding) "You mean the china hutch."
Pip was found inside the bottom drawer. (I didn't know it was possible to get inside the bottom drawers from underneath.)

So, with summer past the halfway mark I find myself with little free time and that's O.K. I always think there'll be more time in the summer when really there's more things to do on top of the usual. Walks on nature trails, playing at the park, swimming at the beach, picking berries and petting kitties. I wonder how I find the time (let alone remember) to do laundry and bathe the children!

The Monster Boy is Four!

2010-07-10T13:19:00.000-05:00

Teo turned four this week. We had a "Monster BBQ" planned for his friends and their families at a local beach. It was humid and raining. A lot. After a change of location, the party moved forward. I made these invites using leftovers from last years party.

We had a monster cookie given as a gift from our wonderful neighbor. We also made some monster cupcakes. (Cookie Monster-ish.)

Monster melon. I found something similar on the site, One Pretty Thing. (There's tons of inspiration there.)
Since it was humid and raining the monster boys spent a great deal of time outside of the shelter getting wet and loving it! Party favors consisted of me making a bunch of stuffed monsters. Each guest was able to choose one for them self. Below are Rubes and Teo's. Teo had lots of specifics.....5 eyes and a spiky head for starters. He even thoughts on what colors.

When I decided to make these I had no idea where to start. See after I sent the invites it dawned on me that 14 kids would be coming! I tried to draw out a pattern and stressed for 2 days about where to begin and then I looked on Flickr under "monsters" and went down stairs and started to sew a very basic shape outline. Legs, head, pointy ears. Felt, buttons, and embroidery floss for the eyes, mouths and fangs. Once I finished the first one I was unstoppable, the creative juices flowing, on a roll and 5 days later they were all done!

Some bodies were once scarves, others velour pants or a fleece blanket.

I used artificial flowers for the wings. These were some of my favorite monsters but apparently not that popular with the kids. Not a single one was picked. (I was told wings make them 'girl' monsters and that hair is cooler than wings anyway.)

Rubes insisted on some of the monsters being pink for the girl guests. Fringe "hair" and tails before wings I guess.

I also made a shrinky dink pendant of each monster so the child could wear it as a necklace or key chain. I was tickled with the reactions from the kids. They were in disbelief that they were able to take their monsters home for keeps! Guests and their monsters. True love. Such a great day, my little boy is four!

It's a Sign

2010-07-09T14:30:00.005-05:00

I believe in signs. Fate. Prayer. All those things. There are times when I'm over thinking things and ...wham... I see or hear something that I had needed or was missing. I was working on a post today in regards to Teo's recent birthday party. It was not going well. The children were scrapping with each other. (There will be an early bedtime tonight.) Lots of photos in the post and Flickr has recently changed. (I'm finding it very frustrating to use now.) I needed a sign. Then I saw this, again, as I went to download pics for what seemed like the 50th time. I first came across this on Teo's Birthday as the rain started coming down and I hadn't a clue as what to do about his "outdoor-BBQ-beach-party". It was outside on a window ledge on the backside of the church. I was there to do some work and take pictures of the monsters for Teo's party favors.

To me it said, "Breath, you've put a lot of love and thought into today, it'll be fine." And I knew what to do... on with the party at a park with a shelter! Today this picture said,"Post me instead and take the kids berry picking." So a party post will come later. Oh, it also said,"Breath". Apparently I'd been holding my breath so as to not curse or yell at small children and computers. Exhale.

Do You Love Peanut Butter?

2010-07-02T09:10:00.003-05:00

Overheard this the other day at lunch.

Teo: "Rubes, do you love peanut butter?"
Rubes: Sounding very serious, "I like peanut butter but I don't love peanut butter."
Teo: "Well, I loooooove peanut butter! It's (pause for thought) awesome!"

He gets his peanut butter love from me. My Mom used to say I lived on it and it's the reason I have curly hair. Not sure about the latter part but I do recall eating 2-3 toasted sandwiches a day. My snack of choice at the time with a cold glass of milk. Yum.

Sparing Society From Indecent Exposure

2010-06-30T20:25:00.000-05:00

When I bag sale I often find little skirts that are femine and flirty. Sweet ruffly things. But when I hold them up I see how large the waist is and it hits me... these are in tended to be worn by tweens or teens. That means if the wearer considers bending over for any reason... "Indecent Exposure" will occur! Yes, I know legging are most likely worn underneath but still short is short and I never understood the "mini" skirt even when it was popular. So, because my original thought was to give these skirts to Rubes, I've taken to doing some quick alterations on them. It's suprisingly simple.
Change the waistband.
Really that's all. If there's a draw string pull it out, make a small slit to thread elastic through, sew your elastic ends together and that's that. Most times I find it's simply a matter of shortening the existing elastic or putting elastic in a pre-existing waistband. The end result is a more whirly twirly skirt that any little girl will love.

Here's an example of the most recent save... notice the lenght! It's slightly below Rube's knees. Geez, the tag had said medium and the waist fit me. Once again I've saved us all from a potential flashing. Whew.

More Wiener Dogs

2010-06-21T12:34:00.001-05:00

The kids were invited to a little friend's Birthday party a few weeks ago. The birthday boy was turning two so I thought wiener dogs were in order. Teo agreed with me and decided this "mint" wiener was just right. Nice and soft made by recycling an Old Navy scarf. Arf. Arf.

Rubes wanted to know what she could give so I tried my hand at applique. From my stash I found this fun plaid and a new cotton shirt! (I buy solid color shirts from Walmart during their clearance sales for a buck and then pull them out when I remember.) I free-handed my wiener dog image larger from a sticker I had. Using fusible web, I "appliqued" the dog and word "woof" to the shirt. To secure the image some more the sewing machine, with black thread and a basic stitch, went to work.

Wild wiener running! Cracks me up every time! I'm glad I wrapped the dog around the side of the shirt... it's cute coming and going.

The birthday boy loved it as well. He wanted to wear it as soon as he saw it!

Sneaky Snakes

2010-06-13T09:06:00.000-05:00

Today I'm home with my peanuts in our p.j.'s cause they've got "The Fever". Both kids at 101.8 degrees. Thankfully it's still dreary and wet outside. With all that in mind, I've decided to post about something more cheery. Welcome... Sneaky Snakes! I made one for my nephew's birthday and then decided to make some more.

Super quick project involving neckties, a wee bit o' sewing, poly-fil, and hand embroidery felt eyes.

To round things off I'm including one of my favorite songs as a child. I remember hearing it on the radio while driving to church. My Dad would give us kids a choice between the country station or polka. Country usually won. The whole family would sing and giggle about root beer.

Good stuff. Good times.

100 Posts!

2010-06-12T16:08:00.003-05:00

Hard to believe I'm at my 100th post. I know that's part of my current lack of posting... wanting to do something "incredible" and thus putting it off. There's a trend of doing a giveaway when you hit 100. I've been struggling with what to do ever since I realized I was in the 90's. Silly really. Of all the things to "lose sleep" over this shouldn't be one of them. So, I'm doing the giveaway part on my blog's 2nd birthday, July 19th. Till then I'm going to resume more regular posting with all the backed-up projects I've finished. (There's everything from necktie snakes to hairbands and wiener dog applique!)

Today I'm going to share a little series I call, "Blanket Boy". Photos by Rubes with Teo as the subject. All taken without any help from me. I wasn't even in the room, though I'd have loved to have been a fly on the wall for these. Where Rubes comes up with this stuff I do not know.

Blanket Boy 1: The Blanket.

Blanket Boy 2: A boy wrapped in his blanket.

Blanket Boy 3: A boy somewhere under his stuffed animals on his blanket.
(This is the one that surprised me... Rubes carefully laid out this shot...genius ,right?)

And here's a picture of the little photographer taken by Blanket Boy. I love that these two can play so creatively together. The time to give them their own camera may be here.

And that concludes this 100th posting! Wow.

A Creative Disaster Area

2010-06-06T12:54:00.004-05:00

Slightly embarrassing, yes, but it's the main reason why I've been absent. Usually I clean-up while creating. However, there was another terrific rummage sale, a Husband with a serious viral infection, more "job" work than usual, a bathroom remodel and summer weather. I crumbled under the pressure and this is what happened.

Holy crap! That's how I felt. Surrounded. Hard to find a space to work let alone be creative when there's so much clutter.

Heaps upon heaps of what could be brilliant projects. Oh, the hidden potential.

So, four bags given away, one for trash and then simply folding and putting stuff away. I can breathe and am re-energized.

I had to "make" this space to begin with, a corner in our basement that is shared with Rubes and Teo. Though it's not my dream space... it's what I have and I'm happy to work my magic here.

Places to paint, sew, scrap and stamp, room for beading and all the once hidden treasures now within our reach. Feels great!

Now to finish all those half done projects I uncovered. Sheesh. (The downside to cleaning the craft space!)

Baby Bumper To Toddler Pillows

2010-05-18T09:58:00.000-05:00

This was one of those projects I really enjoyed doing since the idea wasn't mine! My friend, Katy, wanted to turn her youngest son's baby bumper into pillows. She asked me for some help because A. she wasn't sure how to go about the transformation and B. I have a sewing machine and she does not. I was more than happy to help, it's a great way to recycle and extend the life on this type of item. I failed to bring my camera so no before shots. Sorry.

We started by cutting up the bumper between the vehicles. Next we took off all the ties and pulled any seams that held the batting in place. Then I'd sew up an end, Katy would add poly-fil and then I'd sew up the other end. A total of nine pillows when all was sewn and done. They're so stinking cute!

There were two smaller vehicle pieces which we both agreed would make great wall hangings once they were personalized with both boys' names. So, I took out the seems on some of the tie-back straps, ironed them flat, then ironed them onto fusible web. Next I wrote out out all the necessary letters (using a template) and cut them out. Followed by a final ironing into place on the wall hanging pieces.

Some embroidery stitches helped secure the letters as well as mimic the stitching found on the vehicles. Thus helping the old and new flow together. I had a great time working on this project. I have to laugh since it took only two days yet those were almost two months apart! Geez, life with kids and work makes for tricky schedules. Still, Katy is great fun. Work Day 2 came with a beer on the back deck while I embroidered and we chatted while catching some rays. Multi-tasking at its finest... so relaxing. Then I had to use my sewing machine and I recall saying, "Hey, I'm consuming alcohol and operating light machinery!" Ha.

Embroidery Cover-Up

2010-05-14T09:01:00.000-05:00

Here's another bag sale find. There's a cute brown shirt that goes with these capris. I saw the purple paint spots from the get go and knew I could work around them easily enough.

After some gold paint, embroidery thread and a little T.V. time. I was finished.

Another summer outfit for Rubes for only a few pennies!

May Snowfall... Ugh.

2010-05-08T09:48:00.003-05:00

I woke up to this today. It's May and I had to put a sweater on my dog for her morning constitutional walk.

I had to put buckets over my rhubarb plants to spare them from this last evening.

A backyard view proves what nice packing snow this is. However I'm not in the mood for a snowball fight.

I know it'll melt probably by this evening. Still... it's May, come on Mother Nature bring back Spring.

Please.

Reworking T-Shirts And Silver Hair

2010-05-07T12:09:00.002-05:00

Jersey is great for the quick fix as it does not require finished edges. I like the raw look. I'm drawn to the organic-ness of it. Plus I feel less inhibited... if I make a "mistake" while trying to save the shirt it will somehow be less noticeable. So far this theory has worked for me. So, here are a few shirts I saved with the use of old T-shirts. This grey shirt had the best long sleeves but also came with a bleach spot along the neckline. I simply cut out some leaf shapes from a scrap t-shirt and sewed them on. Added a few buttons and yay! I've a shirt I will wear out in public again.

Now this brown beauty I found at a bag sale and when home I saw a tiny hole near the lower front and center. Turns out Teo saw it too for he proceeded to stick his finger in it to show me. Something had to be done! Using another scrap t-shirt I cut out leaf shapes and long strips. (Leaf shapes, organic, raw edges... all connected.)

Placement required pinning since I had to use care around the gathers in the neckline and bust. (A dress form would have been helpful, nothing brings on swearing faster than sticking a pin in your boob.) Well, I liked the "vine" look and so I kept it going over the shoulder onto the back. I wear this shirt often and without profanity.

I've also played around with headbands. Now that my hair is growing out I'm wearing them again. My favorite way to make a headband is to recycle a t-shirt sleeve from one of my husband's old t-shirts. Cut off the sleeve and simply sew long strips in a circular pattern around the band letting the raw edges do their thing. (However it won't hide silver hairs.) I've known about them I just didn't notice how noticeable they were. Curly hair hides a lot. Except from above I guess.

It's snowing today. I dislike it as much as poking myself with pins.

My Boy.

2010-05-06T08:31:00.004-05:00

Teo has been quite sweet these days. It's hard not to squeeze him and kiss him all the time.

Lately when I do, he uses this deep voice and says, "Mom, your squeezing my blood." Too much to love.

Hard to say "No" to this face till he goes and hits his sister with a scissors like he did this morning. (Rubes got away with a scratch thankfully, though it sounded like she'd lost her whole arm.) Ah yes... that's my boy.

Quick Fix Summer Top

2010-04-28T09:23:00.001-05:00

I love "Bag Sales". There are two local churches here that have rummage sales every spring and fall. I plan my schedule around them! Church of the Pines has an all you can fit into a brown paper grocery bag for 3 bucks! (This time I found 3 bags worth of clothing.) Here's a super quick fix I did on a top I found at the sale for Ruby. The top was a children's size 10. Ruby wears a size 6. I thought I'd have to do a little cutting and sewing till I realized there was old stretched out elastic in the back. So out with the old, in with the new!

I simply put in a much smaller new piece of elastic which gathered up the extra fabric wonderfully. In the future I'll be able to replace the elastic with longer pieces till Ruby does wear a size 10.

I did angle the straps slightly to prevent them from slipping off her shoulders but that required only a few hand stitches on each strap. I'll be posting a few other fixes and revamps from the sale in the weeks to come.

I LOVE BAG SALES!!!

Paper Roses

2010-04-27T08:09:00.005-05:00

While jumping all over Blogland recently I found myself at Little Birdie Secrets and saw this video. (Now I'm making lots of these at night while sitting in front of the TV.)

Here are a few of mine yet to be finished. I used the SLICE with the design card Animal Crackers to cut out the beginning flower shapes. I'm thinking Mothers Day bouquet or corsage. Not sure yet. I've lots of projects bouncing around in my head... makes for difficult decision making.

I tell you what, once you start it's hard to stop. Now off to some sewing.

Signs Of Spring

2010-04-26T11:04:00.004-05:00

It seems to take awhile getting here in the Northwoods of Wisconsin but yesterday on our walk we saw "Signs of Spring".............

Yeah!

Using The SLICE With Freezer Paper Stenciling

2010-04-20T07:33:00.002-05:00

Is freezer paper just for storing meat? Is the SLICE just for scrapping and cards? I think not! I like to combine the two when up scaling or personalizing clothing. The technique is called "Freezer Paper Stenciling". Here's what you'll need to try it out with help from your SLICE.

SLICE Cordless Design Cutter
Glass Cutting Mat with pre-applied Adhesive
Freezer Paper
Iron
Wood Cutting Board or Thick Cardboard
Fabric Paint
Paint Brush
Item of Clothing

Step 1. Place a piece of freezer paper on your cutting mat shiny side up.

Step 2. Select an image and have your SLICE cut it out of the freezer paper. (Remember to use the mirror image setting for any words.)

Step 3. Place a wood board or thick piece of cardboard under your fabric. (In this case the board is inside the shirt.) Next lay your freezer paper stencil in the location you desire, shiny side down, and iron it onto your fabric. (I coordinate my iron setting with my fabric choice.) There will be some wrinkling of the paper before it fully flattens and clings to your fabric. Pay special attention to your edges, making sure they are secure. If your design has more than 1 piece, iron on the perimeter first. Then place the smaller loose details, shiny side down, where you'd like followed by ironing them in place.

Step 4. Apply fabric paint. If you desire more than one coat allow paint to fully dry in between applications. This prevents the stencil from becoming to "wet" and possibly peeling off.

Step 5. Remove freezer paper by simply peeling it off. I love this step and in my excitement I forgot to take a picture of it! Helpful hint: wait overnight for your paint to fully dry before removing the stencil. This will up the success rate of your stenciling.

Step 6. Admire your finished project!

Think of the possibilities! Imagine covering up that stain on your favorite shirt with a flower or pretty butterfly...

Reflective

2010-04-18T13:00:00.002-05:00

Reminiscing today... I found this picture and it got me to thinking. (It's one of my all time favorites of myself.) I remember how in awe I was when I found that moth and the seriousness of holding it gently.

I think I was about seven at the time... thirty years ago.
Today is my Birthday.

Gift Bags

2010-04-17T09:52:00.003-05:00

This year I decided that the "goodie bag" should actually be one of the goodies for Rube's party. Thanks again to MADE for this tutorial. I whipped up a sample bag and after that I was able to do an assembly line of bag making. Which actually went faster since I knew what I was doing!

I did a bit of personalizing with the initial of each girl's first name in sparkly pink felt and some gem jewel embellishments.

I found the fabric in my stash. In this case it came from my Mom, who acquired it at an estate auction last year in a huge box for a buck. When she gave it to me I hadn't a clue what I'd use it for. I love these bags and I think Ruby's friends did too.

Star Wars Party Gifts

2010-04-12T11:22:00.004-05:00

Rubes went to a friends birthday party a few weeks ago and it was Star Wars themed. So what does a 6 year old Jedi need? How about a one-of-a-kind Chewbacca stenciled sweat shirt!

I love freezer paper stenciling. Love, love, love it! There are some nice tutorials found here and here. So easy especially if you run the freezer paper through your printer. Or you can cut an image out using your Slice or Cricket.
Then it's just a matter of choosing you fabric paint colors and getting to work.

I also whipped up a custom Hobo Bag for his Star Wars goodies using a tutorial found here. Such a fun carry all. That stencil was a wee bit harder to cut out due to it's size and detail. Happy to say the young Jedi liked his gifts. Thankful am I that the force was with me.

Classic Sugar Cookies

2010-04-07T16:11:00.004-05:00

We made these for Rudes's Birthday class treat. This is the recipe I've been using for the past 6 years. For every holiday... anytime I need or want frosted cookies. We have 50 some animal shape cookie cutters! My first time making them was for Rubes's 1st Birthday... roosters. Anyway, this recipe comes from Carole Walter's book Great Cookies. Wonderful book. I simplify here and there in my making of these so if you want a word for word recipe, you'll have to buy the book. For example, I roll my dough out to a 1/4 -inch thickness instead of 3/16-inch. Just saying. Here goes....

Classic Sugar Cookies
3 cups sifted cake flour, spooned in and leveled
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly firm
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugar on medium-low speed. Using a fork, beat the egg and vanilla together and mix into the butter-sugar mixture.
Add the dry ingredients one-half at a time, mixing only until mixture begins to form a mass.
Empty the dough on to a lightly cake floured surface and knead 4 or 5 times, or just until smooth. Divide dough in half and wrap each half in plastic. Chill for at least 15 minutes.
When chilled or ready (I've often made the dough the night before) roll out onto a lightly floured surface. Stop rolling at your desired thickness. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Place on cookie sheet, no grease or spray! Bake for 12-14 minutes at 350* until bottoms or edges start to brown. This part is also personal preference and may take practice.
Enjoy!

Easter

2010-04-05T09:31:00.004-05:00

Welcome April and thanks for a Happy Easter.

Things got a bit hectic near the end of March. The short version is a combination of Ruby's party, kidney stones, Easter and a dog in heat. Details are not that important just know I'll be back to more regular posting! Though things were crazy I was still making things... lots of things. For Easter all my nephews (plus Rubes and Teo) received a "Peep"created using a tutorial from MADE. Easy to whip up. I'm feeling hopeful.

She's Six!

2010-03-21T10:24:00.002-05:00

Rubes turned six on Friday. Hard to believe. We had a party at Grandma's house on Wednesday and then some family fun on the actual birthday. There's another party for her friends coming this Saturday.

Ruby still had her stitches during the visit with the relatives. My youngest sis, Tawnie, said the coolest thing...
Tanwie: "Do you know what a line or scar on your body means?"
Rubes, looking leery: "No?"
Tawnie: "It means you have an interesting story to tell."
Wish I'd thought of that one myself. My older sis, Tara, had a funnier thought after Rubes scowled at her...
Tara: "Hey, Misty, Ruby has a furrowed brow with an exclamation point!"
I was trying really hard not to pee myself. I found that extremely funny. Rubes's stitches came out on her birthday and once again she was a star. I'm happy to report that all is healing nicely. I was also busy this week making Ruby a dress. Hers is the one on the right. I "copied" from the one on the left, which I picked up at a bag sale last spring. I simply made paper patterns of the top and measured the lenght of the bottom ruffles or pieces. Definitely the most intricate item I've sewn to date. Quite fun and I'm already planning more but with thicker straps.

These are the party invites I made as well.

I'm taking a laid back approach to this party since it seams like the more I plan the more stressed I become and the crabbier I get. Tis true. Rubes has a ton o' party ideas so I'm sticking with... Game/Craft, Food, Cake, Gifts, Free Play. We're talking five little giggly girls here and we have plenty of dress-up clothes. Now to make it through the week. There are cookies to make, party favors to create, Easter dresses to finish and another "boy" present to make. (This one is Star Wars related..... may the force be with me!)

Stitches

2010-03-16T08:51:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was quite the day. If you're squeamish you may not want to not scroll down. We had two little friends at our house from 10 till 2. There was running, biking and lots of playing. Then Rubes and Teo went to their house while I headed to work. I received a call at 4:45pm that Rubes had been hit in the head with a golf club. The phrase sounds cliche but "accidents happen". In all honesty I always thought Teo would be the reason for a trip to the emergency room. Alas Rubes now has 11 little stitches in her forehead. Rubes was such a brave girl. No screaming or crying during the stitches, just a bit of quivering lip. Our Doctor told us she was a much better patient than most adults he sees for this sort of thing. He was great, patient and kind. He told Rubes everything he would be doing and how it might feel. The best experience I've ever had with an emergency room.
Here's our morning after shot. Hopefully there won't be much scarring. We'll just have to wait and see. I'm just thankful she's O.K.

Mom, I Love You But....

2010-03-14T10:42:00.004-05:00

Teo will be old enough to start Pre-K this fall and thus in the mail a few weeks ago we received a packet of forms to fill out. They range from an enrollment form to bus service. My favorite is the "Preschool Development Inventory". On it are 84 yes or no statements that "describe the things that children do as part of growing up."
Here's a small sampling...
Washes and dries hands.
Asks the meaning of words.
Says "I can't," "I don't know how," or "You do it."
Sings simple songs.
Puts two sentences together with the words "and," "or," or "but."

The last one I've heard used a lot recently. However it always starts the same.
Mom, I love you but,.....
Here's a sampling of Teo's love.
"Mom, I love you but, someday I'm going to drive a car."
"Mom, I love you but, I'm hungry and need a snack, please."
"Mom, I love you but, I think I should go to Jackson's house and play with him."

My favorite came on a phone call for Grandma's birthday.
"Grandma, I love you but, someday I'm going to visit and live with you for a hundred years."

Polyester Dino

2010-03-13T11:11:00.000-06:00

Made this guy back in February before the "funk" wiped us out. I changed my pattern slightly from the first Dino I made by tweaking the legs. He looks more Dino now and less Loch Ness Monster.

Polyester is quite nice for this sort of stuffed animal. There's no stretching and spot cleaning is a breeze.

I had intended to keep this one as a backup birthday gift but Rubes saw him and claimed him as her own.

There's an identical Dino to this one half made for Teo if I can bring myself to finish it. I've not been in a animal making mood lately. Maybe with Spring around the corner I'll reclaim the energy to finish some of my current unfinished projects.