Signed With an Owl

For the Love/Hate of Neon

2012-02-22T13:09:00.000-08:00

Ok, for the longest time I'd resisted liking the whole neon trend. At first all it did was remind me of the 80's with its hair scrunchies, plastic shirt clips, stirrup pants, high top sneakers and ridiculously layered socks. Truly frightening. But I think I've broken.

When I was first experimenting with my new half circle pillow form, I just grabbed a leftover ball of yarn from my scrap stash, which happened to be beige. When I ran out of beige, I grabbed the next little leftover ball of yarn, which just happened to be lime. The more I looked at this pillow when I finished, the more I liked the color combination.

I realized I was becoming obsessed with the idea of a neutral with a pop of neon, and realized I had been seeing some wood furniture pieces with pops of neon around the internet that I just loved! Even more disturbing, I've been generating a love for super bright pink! Me. Pink! Crazy.

Anyways, after I frogged the test pillow, I knew I should make something with those two colors and I knew I hadn't made a scrapghan block in awhile... problem solved!

I grabbed my Great Granny Crochet Book, which is equal parts awesome and horrendous (kind of like the neon thing)...

... and made a square from a crazy tunic (potato sack looking) pattern. The only change I made was adding a second color for the last row. But I really like the square; it was super easy, looks pretty, and might even make a really great afghan! I will have to keep this one in mind for a future project.

In small doses I think I'm really digging this neon trend, but I stress SMALL. So what do you think? Should neon colors be buried alongside the horrible fashion fads of the 80's, or is it time to embrace the glaring, luminous colors of yesteryear? Discuss.

Craft Magazine Afternoon!

2012-02-21T11:50:00.000-08:00

Two new magazines came in the mail today!! For my birthday my parents got me a subscription to the UK Mollie Makes, which is always pure eye candy!!! (How cute are those mice!?) And Sarah, my lovely friend that made me that sweet circle scarf for my birthday, also got me a subscription to the Crafts Report! It looks like it has some sweet articles about the business end of crafting- perfect timing huh? Well, I'm off to sit down with a cup of tea and do some reading!!

Any Mollie Makes fans out there? And have any of you heard of the Crafts Report before?

Solid Half Circle Pillow Tutorial

2012-02-21T10:20:00.000-08:00

Solid Half Circle Pillow Tutorial

Note: This is tutorial is really a basic circle pattern, so you can use any weight yarn, any size hook, and any size pillow form. You just keep crocheting until you can snugly fit your circle over your pillow form.

What I used:

Vanna's Choice Yarn

Size J Hook

20 in. goose down pillow form

You may want to make a slip cover for you pillow insert. I made a simple one from a lightweight cotton.

Start with a magic ring (or join a few chains into a loop.)

Rnd 1- ch 3 (counts as first dc), 11 dc in ring, join with sl st in top of ch 3, fasten off.

You should have a circle of 12 dc

When I start rounds with a different color, I join with a standing stitch. Yarn over, and insert hook into any dc, and complete stitch as normal. (Placing a finger over the loops on the hook to keep them from moving, helps as begin your stitch.)

Rnd 2- Join with dc standing stitch (or sl st and ch 3), dc in same stitch as standing stitch, * 2 dc in next stitch, repeat from * around, join with sl st in first dc, fasten off.

(24 dc)

Note: For the following rounds, try to join your standing stitch in a different place each round, to avoid your increases (2 dcs) from being on top of each other. If your 2 dc ends up in one of the increase stitches from the previous round every round, it becomes really noticeable.

Rnd 3- Join with standing stitch, 2 dc in next stitch, *1 dc in next stitch, 2 dc in next stitch repeat from * around, join with sl st in first dc, fasten off. (36 dc)

Rnd 4- Join with standing stitch, 1 dc in next st, 2 dc in next st, *dc in next 2 sts, 2 dc in next st, repeat from * around, join with sl st in first dc, fasten off. (48 dc)

Rnd 5- Join with standing stitch, dc in next 2 sts, 2 dc in next st, *dc in next 3 sts, 2 dc in next st, repeat from * around, join with sl st in first dc, don't fasten off (I will show you how to start next rnd with same color). (60 dc)

Rnd 6- ch 3 (counts as first dc),

2 dc in next st (this staggers your 2 dcs for this round),

*dc in next 4 sts, 2 dc in next st, repeat from * around, ending with 1 dc in each of last 3 sts, join with sl st, fasten off. (72 dc)

Rnd 7- Join with standing stitch, dc in next 4 sts, 2 dc in next st, *dc in next 5 sts, 2 dc in next st, repeat from * around, join with sl st, fasten off. (84 dc)

Rnd 8- Join with standing stitch, dc in next 5 sts, 2 dc in next st, *dc in next 6 sts, 2 dc in next st, repeat from * around, join with st st, fasten off. (96 dc)

Got the pattern down? Each round add one more dc to the stitches between your increases (2 dcs). Keep going until your circle will fit snugly around your pillow. (I went 18 rounds [dc 16, 2 dc]). Sew in your ends.

Fold your circle in half, with the right side facing out. Using the two inner most loops, start to whipstitch the seam together with the same color yarn as your last round.

When you've sewn a bit more than half of your circle, insert your pillow form, finish sewing, and sew in your ends.

You are left with a nice clean seam...

And a lovely pillow.

If you run into any problems, or find a mistake, please let me know! And if you make a pillow, I'd love to see it!!

(The tutorial for the granny triangle version coming soon!)

Apartment Blocks

2012-02-19T17:09:00.000-08:00

My sister was able to come home this weekend, so we celebrated her birthday a little early. I kept asking her what she wanted for her birthday and all I kept getting was "an apartment." (She's searching for an apartment in NYC where she's currently working.) Well, I couldn't really afford an apartment for her, so here's what I came up with. A perpetual calendar that you could build to resemble little apartment buildings!

I think my favorite thing about creating things is seeing my ideas actually work like I had envisioned. Sometimes I'm afraid my ideas sound a little crazy, but there's no way to tell until I try it! This was definitely a "woohoo!"

And sometimes my crazy ideas work out even better than I originally thought. The more I played with the blocks, the more combinations I found of putting them together.

Speaking of ideas becoming tangible, for the longest time I've dreamt about having an Etsy store, and I really think that dream looks like it could materialize. I'm thinking this perpetual calendar could be a potential item, so any feedback on it would be greatly appreciated!!

The Reveal: Half Circle Pillows!

2012-02-17T16:21:00.000-08:00

I was recently asked by Online Fabric Store if I wanted to do a project with a new craft pillow form from their site, and then post about it. I thought "how fun?!" So I chose their 20 inch half circle down pillow form because of its interesting and potentially challenging shape.

When it came in the mail (it shipped fast!), I was surprised at how nice it felt; it's 95% goose feather and 5% goose down! Then I was left with "ok, what do I make?" My first idea was to make a solid crochet cover and just play with the colors. So I made this one and liked it, but then, being inspired by the circle afghan I was working on, wanted to try coming up with my own granny triangle/circle pattern. After much trial and error....

I came up with this! I'm really happy with it!! And because I couldn't decide on how I wanted to do the colors with this pattern, I made the back a little different....

It's like two pillows in one! And want to know something more exciting? I took a ton of pictures as I made both pillow covers (the solid and the granny triangle/circle), and am going to post tutorials soon! In the meantime, my pillow is going to be looking pretty darn good on my bed!

Cedar Building Blocks

2012-02-13T18:54:00.000-08:00

Two awesome boys recently had their birthdays, and seeing as how they are lego and Kapla block masters, I wanted to make them each a little building block set.

Each set has 48 cedar blocks, all with a 1 inch width, that my dad cut for me from leftovers. There are squares, rectangles (two sizes) and triangles which I painted on two sides and then finished off with some spray acrylic sealer.

Of course I had fun playing with them!

I really like the contrast of the natural wood and paint, and am thinking of other projects that I can experiment with the combination.

Painting these blocks was really fun because the cedar smelled so good!! I also think that using cedar made for some unique light-weight blocks. Hopefully they'll have as much fun playing with them as I did!

Sneak Peek Sunday

2012-02-12T12:04:00.000-08:00

I have some fun things that I'm almost ready to share with you!

What a Catch!

2012-02-10T10:33:00.000-08:00

I just recently helped a fish loving 4 year old make valentines for his class from THIS tutorial on the Family Fun website. Of course I forgot to take pictures of them when he was done, but I helped cut out the hearts, glued them together, and he drew the fish eyes, mouth, and signed the back. With the suggestions from commenters on the tutorial, I added "I'm so lucky you are in my school" and for the teacher "I'm so lucky to have you as my school teacher!" After all of his hard work, I think he was a little bummed he didn't get to keep one of the fishy valentines, so I tangled this one for him!

Zentangle Thank You's

2012-02-07T10:17:00.000-08:00

I've been working on a few 3.5 inch Zentangles to make thank you's with. I thought I could show some pictures of them, and say a few more things about Zentangle in general as I haven't written much about it.

Zentangle's primary purpose is being a relaxing and meditative tool for anyone regardless of what artistic skill level they feel they are at. I can definitely see how as you focus on your drawing you aren't really thinking about much else, and can get lost in your work. However, I find this true with any creative project that I work on. But, for people who need a little more guidance and don't normally sit down and create, this is perfect!!

The Pigma Micron pens that they recommend are excellent!! I now however need to get some better paper than the sketch paper I've been using. I had one little scrap of watercolor paper that I used for a birthday card, and what a difference! The watercolor paper was so dreamy to draw on!

I'm also thinking about getting a Moleskine notebook as a way to keep all my drawings together. I've never had an art journal, so it could be fun!

Sandy Steen Bartholomew of Totally Tangled talks about finding inspiration for your drawings from everything around you, like nature, architecture and ordinary objects. Once you start working on these, you start seeing designs and patterns in pottery, fabric, rugs, etc, that you can try in your Zentangles.

I found it wasn't long before I wasn't looking through the book as much for inspiration.

I think my favorite part is the last step, which is adding in some shading with a pencil. It's amazing how the tiniest bit of shading can create depth and a 3D effect. I don't have a blending stump, so I just made one with a small piece of rolled up paper, and it works great! But a finger works too.

It's fun to see what kind of shapes and designs you can make when you aren't really thinking that hard about it. If you tell yourself ahead of time that there are no mistakes, it helps take the pressure off. This is especially nice for me, because I usually start everything with a pencil so I have the option of erasing. So it's fun to just jump in with a pen and not worry about messing up.

So I'm still enjoying playing around with this. I think one of the most appealing things about Zentangle is seeing your end result and thinking that it looks pretty complicated and intricate compared to how easy it was to make and how relaxed you were while making it.

Handmade Birthday Gifts!

2012-02-04T17:21:00.000-08:00

So I got some pretty sweet handmade things for my birthday, like this SUPER CUTE tote bag my sister made from Zakka Style. Oh, but there's more!!

My sister and brother-in-law got me a kindle!!! So of course Gin made me an awesome kindle case, with the help of this tutorial from Bits and Pieces.

I love the stitching on the back that she called "interpretive."

And how cool is this little zippy pouch that she made roughly based on Noodlehead's scrappy make-up pouch.

She also made this cute little needle case that was inspired by this needle keeper at a cuppa and a catch up.

My friend Sarah crocheted me this circle scarf! Look at the colors! How "me" is it!? It's very soft and very warm, and the combination of single crochets and treble crochets give it a great drape!

This lovely necklace was made by my cousin Maria, aka Captain Sarcasm if you remember. The picture doesn't really do it justice, as the beads are a really beautiful iridescent purple. She also made a really cute owl necklace this past summer. I just love having crafty friends and family!!!

It's Groundhog Day and...

2012-02-02T07:46:00.000-08:00

It's also my birthday! So in the spirit of both, I decided to go outside to see if I see my shadow (in the hopes of changing his prediction of more winter).

Well, I didn't see a full on shadow, but some slight shadow around my shoes. So, I'm not sure what that means, but if the snow flurries in the air had anything to say, I'm going to guess that they were in agreement with the groundhog.

My birthday however is not conditional on my shadow, and I'm now 29 years old. Yikes. And this far into the game, I'm still not convinced that there is such a thing as a "grown up." Somewhere I read, and I can't find the source now, something along the lines of: Grown ups don't exist; there are only children who have forgotten they are pretending.

If you've been following my blog a little, you'll have noticed that I'm as equally excited about toy blocks and dolls as I am doilies and afghans like the stereotypical old lady! After a little chat with a dear friend discussing such things, I came to the realization that I refuse to be defined by age! And that's all "grown up" is, right? It's some term defined by age and expected behavior. Well I'm not buying into it.

You want to know the truth about my shadow today? It's off running around with Peter Pan's shadow!

Another Train Table Day

2012-01-31T09:43:00.000-08:00

I had a great weekend with friends celebrating Nehill's (late) birthday and as a surprise, my (early) birthday! There was a movie, frozen yogurt, lots of laughing, a light saber, and a little train table crafting time.

As for the crafting part of the weekend, my main task was crocheting the fishnet for this ship. For those interested, I used size 10 crochet thread and a size 10 crochet hook. Starting with a connected chain (forming the base that is glued down), I worked in a round and repeated [ch 5, sc 1] and started to decrease towards the top by omitting the ch 5 every few repeats. It didn't turn out too bad!

But more interestingly, want to see how Nehill makes a tree? He usually uses what's on hand, so these are the materials he happened to have this time.

Materials: Spray adhesive, coarse turf (found at hobby stores), scissors, steel wool, and decorative floral berry branches

Cut berries off of wire branches, and manipulate steel wool into a ball

Fold and shape steel wool around branches

Put some of the turf into an empty container

Spray the adhesive all around the steel wool

Place steel wool tree in container of turf and...

Shake vigorously!!

Remove and hot glue into train table!

See the crate on the pier? Nehill made that on Sunday too by gluing pieces of popsicle sticks onto a small block, and then staining it.

See the red buoy? He painted a wine cork red and put a light in the middle. That plastic red thing on the top? He found it on the garage floor. Pretty sweet. You can make almost anything from anything!!

Since the last time I was there, Nehill got a lot of the electrical stuff hooked up. Want to see? These pictures don't do it justice, but you'll get the idea...

Carnival

Ski Lodge

Fire House

Super sweet lit up traffic light!!!

So it was a very fun weekend, and a good craft day (minus my elbow taking out a sailboat mast with a dance move... nothing some hot glue couldn't fix, but I still felt awful)! It's probably a good thing we don't live closer because I'd want to help all the time (and probably break more stuff, haha), and then wouldn't get much else done!

First Zendala

2012-01-28T10:43:00.000-08:00

My Micron pens came yesterday, and I LOVE them!! The Totally Tangled book suggests trying Zentangle in mandala (circle) form, or "zendala." So here's my first attempt, on a 3.5 inch square. It also just so happens that I've been experimenting with mandalas and reading up on them (I will share soon!). So often I find connections between everything I'm working on...

Zentangled

2012-01-24T17:20:00.000-08:00

Just a quick little post as I'm in the middle of packing up my giveaway gifts! I just got Totally Tangled by Sandy Steen Bartholomew. I'm still waiting on my Micron pens, but I couldn't help trying out some designs with slightly thicker pens I had on hand. I think it could be very addicting! Have you guys heard of Zentangle before?

Daisy Scrapghan Block

2012-01-22T07:34:00.000-08:00

This scrapghan block is thanks to needlekrafter who found THIS pattern, which is super close to the pattern that I used for my Forget-Me-Not scrapghan block. Because I couldn't find the source of that pattern, I'm so glad needlekrafter found this one for those of you wanting to try it!!

Comparing the two patterns, the Puritan Bedspread pattern is very close to the pattern I made this block and afghan from. In fact, the "flower" part is EXACTLY the same. The very center of the flower, and the square around the flower are slightly different. I think I like the solid center of Design 988 better, but the surrounding square of the Puritan Bedspread pattern is much easier! With Design 988, there were a lot more ends to sew in as you fastened off yarn and joined yarn again several times in the square, which also made the pattern a little harder to memorize. The Puritan Bedspread pattern also didn't take as much pulling and tugging in the blocking phase. After blocking it, it ended up about the same size as Design 988 which for me was about 14 inches.

For those interested, here is what I used/changed for this block:
- Worsted weight yarn (vanna's choice)
- Size J hook
- Started with magic ring instead of ch. 6
- 3rd Row- switched to second color
- 9th Row- switched to third color
- 16th Row- switched back to first color

I really liked how much easier this pattern was. It wasn't that Design 988 was hard, it just took a little bit longer, there were more ends to sew in, and blocking it was a bit more work. Plus, I think this pattern has a much more interesting background.

(Because this block is so similar to my Forget-Me-Not block, and looks like a daisy, I thought I would name it something a little witty, like, He-Loves-Me-Not block.... but then that sounded a lot less witty and a lot more depressing. hahahaha!)

Playing with Color

2012-01-19T06:43:00.000-08:00

I love how working on an afghan with a set amount of colors forces you into trying color combinations that you normally wouldn't choose.

I always end up really liking what I thought was an unlikely color combination. It's also exciting because you never know what the end result of the entire project is going to look like.

Another Chunky Circle Scarf

2012-01-16T14:52:00.000-08:00

I recently made a second chunky circle scarf from people web's tutorial for my sister and her new coat. For the first scarf, (here), I used a bulky weight yarn, and for this one I used super bulky.

With my big blue plastic hook which I think is a size Q, and Lion Brand's Wool-Ease Thick & Quick, I chained 91 and only needed to crochet rounds 1-4 twice in the pattern. It worked up really fast, and it felt like I was either using a giant's crochet hook or that my hands had shrunk.

And here's my sister with her scarf and new coat! The yarn matches really well with the plaid flannel lining! Success.

Giveaway Winners

2012-01-15T12:52:00.000-08:00

I've decided to pick winners the old school name-from-a-hat method, just substituting my Buddha Bowl that my sister got me for Christmas for the hat. Words can't explain how much I love this bowl! I use it for soup mostly, and even tea... it's the most natural and comfortable way to hold your food. Anyways, FOCUS! You can trust that I will pick names fairly, because I wouldn't be able to sleep otherwise, and plus, cheating from a Buddha Bowl would probably be very bad karma! Drumroll please.... and the winners are:

Kim Sonksen, sany and Grateful4Crochet!! Congratulations!

BUT WAIT! Because so few of you entered, I would like to send a small runners up gift to the rest of you! So, in addition to the winners, could Carly, winkieflash and tinabarbour please email me your address?!

Thanks for entering, because it gave me the opportunity to make some fun things! :)

WIP Saturday

2012-01-14T09:05:00.000-08:00

(Just a friendly reminder that I'm drawing winners for the Pay It Forward Giveaway tomorrow...)

Here are a few more motifs from my stylecraft yarn afghan... I'm loving these colors!! Notice the christmassy looking circle? Whenever I do an afghan with a ton of colors I always try to make a red and green motif because I have this memory I can't quite place, of looking at scrap quilts and noticing christmas fabrics in them... So I just do it because it's funny, and really, I feel bad for those two complimentary colors that seem to only have a place at Christmas. I'm such a dork!

I have a feeling this afghan is going to look pretty random and crazy with all of these colors.... but I don't care, I'm loving it!!

And as per requested, here's a little shot of the towel. Delicious colors huh?

Up Like a Balloon, Down Like a Rock

2012-01-12T13:24:00.000-08:00

Since the recycled fish went over so well the other day, I thought I might try some more "sewing" with the little man. Surprisingly, he liked it even more than the fish!

When I was little, I loved playing with this beginners sewing kit I had, which was made up of stiff cards with string attached, and you just followed the patterns. So, using a craft knife I poked holes into a piece of thin cardboard (cracker box), grabbed the scrap yarn left over from our fish and a blunt plastic needle, and Drake went to town!

I held the cardboard for him and he sewed, picking it up really fast! While he was going he made up little sayings to help him along. Bringing the needle up from underneath he would go "up like a balloon!" and bringing the needle back down through the holes he would go "down like a rock!" So cute, and he just loved it! I had only made one sewing card as I didn't know how he'd like it, so we kept taking out his work and starting over again.

When I went over today, Drake was so excited to show me how he could sew all on his own. He threaded the needle himself, and held the cardboard by himself! I couldn't believe his mad fine motor skills! I mean, he's only four!! So today we tried a few cards with some numbers to show him where to put the stitches.

He did great, and loved them! I only did three cards pretty quick before I left this morning, so he took all the stitches out himself to do them again!

Here's the somewhat sad attempt at a flower. He only messed up in one part, and when he was done he couldn't tell what it was. I said "well, it's supposed to be a flower, but I guess not a very good one!" "Ohhhh! I see it! It is a very good flower!!!" Thanks buddy.

And of course I had to get in on some of this sewing action!!

Overall, great project! Drake's reaction to the project: "Kate, you have so many amazing things!" Aw, you're giving me a big head kid! Although I'm not sure how many more of those sewing cards I want to make... I should look into getting him a real little kit. I also don't think I'm going to be able to sew anything without hearing "up like a balloon... and down like a rock" in my head! haha! Too cute.

(You still have a few more days to enter my giveaway!)

Recycled Fish

2012-01-10T13:26:00.000-08:00

After seeing this post and this post on Fem Manuals, I knew I had to try something similar with the 4 year old I'm babysitting. So today I grabbed some cardboard, magazines and little pieces of scrap yarn, and we made fish!

Here's what we did:

1. Draw fish onto cardboard (cracker boxes)

2. Cut fish out

3. Glue to magazine paper (Martha Stewart Living and Anthropologie)

4. Cut excess paper off of fish

5. Cut slits into the top and bottom of fish

6. Weave yarn around fish through slits (we used two or three colors) "Look, I'm doing it! I'm sewing!!" (Super cute.)

7. Finish by gluing on eyes cut from magazine paper

100% recycled, and 100% fun!

Christmas Ornaments

2012-01-09T06:38:00.000-08:00

I still have a few more Christmas things to share, but I didn't just want to dump them all in one post. So here's the Christmas ornament post.

I made these ornaments with 3 inch embroidery hoops (the perfect size for ornaments) and muslin.

I embroidered my own designs with all six strands.

I finished off the back by hot gluing the excess fabric to the inside hoop, and hot glued a piece of felt to cover the whole back. Then I just looped some embroidery thread in the top to hang, and gave them as gifts!

With the "Welcome" hoop I made for the wedding as inspiration, I made this for my sister and brother in law. I used six strands for the bunting, and three strands for the letters. Love how it turned out.

And you've probably seen this ornament which I made out of felt. I was going for a more round looking owl to mimic the classic Christmas ball ornaments. This one went to my fellow owl loving cousin in Idaho! It turned out so cute, I just may have to make some more next year!

WIP Saturday

2012-01-07T15:10:00.000-08:00

Today I was so excited to start playing with the Stylecraft Special DK yarn my mom let me pick out for Christmas!! I've been dying to try this yarn, and it's awesome! With so many pretty colors to pick from, I decided to make my first motif based on the colors in the beach towel that my friends got me for Christmas. LOVE it!!! They know me and my colors so well! (I mentioned this pattern back here.)

Meet Captain Sarcasm

2012-01-06T16:00:00.000-08:00

I want to share a few more things I made for Christmas, and more importantly, I'd like you to meet Captain Sarcasm. Who is she you ask? Well, she is my cousin, and she is a super hero in disguise; or at least, that's what I think she is!

I swear, Maria is like super mom. When I told her my theory on her being a super hero in disguise she replied that if she was she'd be Captain Sarcasm. I'm always amazed at how much she manages to do and get done (and stay sane), and I believe a lot of it is due to her super hero power: humor. In fact, she has a blog, The Weird Life, so you can read about her funny adventures with her two boys.

As for her boys, I made them dolls too!

One is a big Thomas the Tank Engine fan, so I made him Sir Topham Hatt.

The other is into super heroes, so I made him Green Lantern!

The best part is that they are well loved!!

As for the crochet bit of this post, do you remember the Dr Who doll I made? Well I used the same pattern, but just played around with the color changes, made up my own hat and lantern, added a button to Captain Sarcasm's jacket, and did her hair with the help of THIS tutorial from EssHaych. I'm proud of how the hat and lantern came out, and I think it has made me more confident in my ability to crochet without a pattern.

Maria has some great pictures posted of these dolls on her blog too. And you should check out the rest of her BLOG as well. If you are a mom, and/or enjoy a good laugh, I think you'd find it an enjoyable read!

Hypotrochoid Thank You's

2012-01-05T07:20:00.000-08:00

My sister got me this neat little hypotrochoid set for Christmas (as we're always lamenting the fact that we lost our Spirograph when we were younger), so I thought I'd use it to make some thank you's! What crafty things did you guys get for Christmas?

Christmas Afghans Scrapghan Block

2012-01-02T20:20:00.000-08:00

So the title for this post looks like a mouthful, but basically this block is a hybrid of the two afghans I made for Christmas gifts this year. I was going to post pictures of the afghans anyway, but thought it would be more fun to make another scrapghan post at the same time.

(Please excuse the somewhat poor photos that I took in a rush before wrapping!)

No matter how many fancy afghan blocks I've done, I'm always drawn back to the classic and traditional granny square. There's something so simple and so perfect about it. I chose nine colors that felt the most "adirondack log cabinish" to me for my aunt and uncle (and their log cabin). With all the colors besides the beige, I made granny squares with four rounds (ch1 spaces between clusters and ch2 corners), and joined them all together with another round of beige. I'll admit, before I added the beige I was really nervous the blanket was going to look like something out of the seventies... but the beige really made it!

Once all the squares were joined with the beige round, I added three rows of (3dcs, ch1), and then a round of reverse single crochet for the border. I love that stitch for a border!

My sister made two super cute pillows to match the afghan! I think she did a great job in finding the perfect fabric colors/patterns! Pretty good tag teaming I think.

Remember my "Forget-Me-Not" scrapghan block? Well, I decided to make an entire afghan with the pattern. I was really liking this color combo; it's nice and bright!! I think the colors were inspired by all of the lovely Cath Kidston inspired afghans I've ever seen.

The afghan is made of 25 squares. Each time I went to block one out, I was sure it wasn't going to stretch to the 14 inches of the one before it, but it always did. The entire blanket ended up fitting on the top of a king sized bed; it was bigger than I expected. I loved how it turned out, but I doubt I'm going to be making that block again any time soon!

My sister also made matching pillows for this blanket too. Gorgeous fabric!!! I'm jealous of her mad sewing skills.

So for this scrapghan block, I used the colors from the "Forget-Me-Not" afghan, and constructed it like the granny square afghan. I was going to stop after one granny, but just couldn't, making it a rather large block... But incidentally, it is just about the size of one Forget-Me-Not block.

For the scrapghan block I used the border in reverse colors from the Forget-Me-Not afghan. Very simple and pretty. I will definitely keep it in mind for future projects.

So this starts some of the Christmas craft sharing. I'm afraid the pictures don't really do the afghans justice, but you get the idea.

Don't forget to enter to win my Pay It Forward Giveaway if you want!

Pay It Forward Giveaway!

2012-01-02T14:40:00.000-08:00

Seeing as how I was a winner of the 'Pay it Forward' giveaway at Annaboo's House, it's now my turn to host a giveaway... my first ever giveaway!!

The rules of this giveaway are that I now have 365 days in which to find three bloggers who would like a handmade gift from me and are prepared to do the same.

It's so simple.
Here's how you can enter:

1: Be a follower of this blog somehow and leave a comment
(entries accepted from all corners of the globe and you don't have to have your own blog to enter, either)

You can gain an additional entry into the draw by:

2: Posting a link on your blog or website about this giveaway, linking directly back to this post.

3: Adding the giveaway button to your sidebar and linking to this post.

If you do any of the extras above, then make sure you comment to let me know- I don't want you to lose out on a chance to win!

I will draw the winners on January 15th, so get your comments in before then!

I Won a Giveaway!

2012-01-01T18:36:00.000-08:00

Five days ago I received the most adorable Christmas decorations in the mail!! I was a lucky winner of the Pay It Forward Giveaway over at Annaboo's House. Ok, so these are so cute, I just need to show you more pictures of them.

I absolutely LOVE these blocks and little crocheted trees, and can't wait to bring them out again next Christmas! She is certainly one talented lady!!

So do you know what a "Pay It Forward Giveaway" means? It means that I will be hosting a giveaway! Exciting right? I shall be posting the details soon!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T21:48:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! You guys gave me a great gift; I now have 100, no wait, 101 followers! Thank you for reading and for leaving such lovely comments. Your support means a lot to me. I've had some ideas for the blog simmering on my mind's back burner for a little while, so hopefully I'll be able to repay you this coming year!!

Wishing you a happy holiday, and an exciting and creative new year!

Kate

Slow your roll December!!!!

2011-12-18T08:10:00.000-08:00

Um, how is it already December 18th!? I wanted to take a quick break from my frantic wrapping to say hello, and I hope all of your holiday preparations are going well! I'm off to continue wrapping and yes, to frantically craft as well.....

(Inspiration for the snowflake wrapping came from How About Orange)

Craft Collab

2011-12-07T20:08:00.001-08:00

This is a craft collaboration I did with a budding artist. I would describe his style as minimalistic with a penchant for geometric abstraction. Despite his four years of age, he shows much promise!

For this ornament, I traced our 3 inch embroidery hoop onto a piece of muslin and had him draw his design with pencil. After he finished his design, he picked out the colors of embroidery floss, and showed me what color goes where in his drawing. I then started to "color" with stitches. (Silly me thought that he would draw something small and simple... I should have known better. It was a lot of stitching for what I thought was going to be a quick little project!)

Once the stitching was done, I used some Aleen's Craft Glue on the outside of the inner hoop, and the inside of the outer hoop to help keep the muslin in place. I trimmed the left over muslin so there was about an inch of material that I folded and glued over the inside of the hoop. Then I finished it off by gluing a piece of cardstock to cover the back, which leaves a place to write the date, and to let him sign it.

But I love how it turned out, and I think it will certainly be more durable than a paper ornament. And overall, I think this idea is a really fun way to immortalize the work of young ones! Perhaps I should have him design some ornaments for me!

Interlocking Photo Display

2011-12-05T21:18:00.001-08:00

Like giving photos as gifts? Finding frames a little boring? Scrapbooks: done it? Try making this super fun interlocking photo display instead!! Inspired by posts from Photojojo and Made By Joel, I made two sets to give two of my best friends (practically sisters) for their birthdays.

I made one circle set and one square set. Although after playing with them, a set with both shapes, and perhaps other shapes would be equally as fun!

I strayed a little bit from the tutorial, and had my pictures printed at walmart instead of on cardstock with my own printer. After cutting my photos I glued them onto the front and back of a piece of poster board that was also cut into the same shape as the photos. Next I laminated them with contact paper, and then cut 3/4 inch slots into them.

Of course once I finished the sets, I needed something to put them in! So I made boxes with 12 inch cardstock from this tutorial.

Then the boxes needed some jazzing up. With this tutorial from The Frugal Crafter as inspiration, I made some impostor baker's twine with size 10 crochet thread, some pretty sharpies, and a piece of scrap poster board to wrap the thread around.

I think they turned out very well, and most importantly my friends liked them!

(On a different note, these winter days are not making my photos happy... I recently scrapped an entire blog post because the photos were embarrassingly bad. When I find some time [that's funny] I need to make myself a light box or something!! Has anyone made one for taking pictures? Any advice?)

Simple Christmas Banner

2011-12-02T14:26:00.001-08:00

From this phone picture, the banner doesn't look like much, but I felt the idea was worth sharing. The four year old boy I'm babysitting is very much into Christmas decorating right now, so I thought a paper banner would be really fun. I made a diamond template and traced it onto about 16 sheets of plain copy paper (which is what I had on hand at the time). We colored the diamonds, I cut them out, folded them in half to make the triangles, and then we glued them around some red yarn! Voila! We strung them up in a large picture window, so the designs could be admired from inside and outside the house.

Alyss Heart Block

2011-11-29T19:19:00.001-08:00

I took a tiny break from my other projects to make another block for my scrapghan. This pattern is called "Cornered Hearts Square" by Elizabeth Ham. If you are on Ravelry the pattern page is here, and the pattern can be found here. The inspiration for this block with hearts came from a great little book series...

Last week I was finally able to finish up Frank Beddor's The Looking Glass Wars Trilogy. The books are a really fun take on Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," and even on Lewis Carroll, (Charles Dodgson) himself. Very clever and entertaining! Although, I am a big fan of any sort of re-imaginings of fairy tales and older stories!

I think that obsession first started when I read The True Story of The 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka when I was little. I couldn't get over how funny it was to look at such a well known story from a different perspective.

More recently my favorite re-imaganings in books include The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime and The Fourth Bear: A Nursery Crime by Jasper Fforde, all the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan, The Emerald Burrito of Oz by John Skipp and Mark Levinthal, and the graphic novel series Fables by Bill Willingham. (Uh oh, I think my geekery is starting to show after that last one...) There's some great re-imaginings in movies too! The Syfy Tin Man and Alice are great, and I'm looking forward to seeing Neverland soon! On TV I also started watching Once Upon a Time and Grimm... not in love with them, but they are fun and I feel like I need to watch them just to support the idea of them in tv series form! I'm such a nerd!!

What about you guys? Fans of new takes on old classics? Any good suggestions?

Gram's 91st Birthday Present

2011-11-20T06:30:00.001-08:00

After taking a dramamine, I finished stitching my Gram's birthday present the night before her birthday, in a car, by a pen light, that was tied to the visor... Yes, that's right. I'll own my dorkiness.

I had such a hard time trying to figure out what to make Gram for her birthday. What does a 91 year old need, and what haven't I done before?! I'm often fixated on the functionality of a gift, so I thought, "why not make something pretty just for pretty's sake?" So I did a google image search for "free mandala coloring pages," printed one out, traced the design onto my muslin, and started "coloring" with stitches!

When I started I wasn't sure how I was going to display the finished piece. I finally decided on a shadow box, and found one at A.C. Moore. I think it's nice to be able to open up the front for a closer look at the stitches.

All I had to do was staple the embroidery around the slightly stuffed backing board the shadow box came with. I think it works well, especially because of the color of the wood.

The only thing I wish I had done differently was not use green in the center around the blue and yellow. I thought the blue and green kind of blended in together... but regardless, I really liked how it turned out, and Gram liked it, which is all that matters!

Is it weird that I kept seeing this design as a crocheted block?

Magazine Snowflakes

2011-11-15T07:40:00.001-08:00

No matter how old you are, unfolding paper snowflakes is so exciting!! The four year old I'm babysitting wanted to make snowflakes so bad, but his construction paper was just too thick to cut. So I had a brainstorm... magazine paper!!

Only being four I thought his cutting skills were pretty amazing with his very blunt scissors. He would start the cuts, and when it got tricky I would help out. Those first five he made, and then I made these:

To make them lie nice and flat I put a piece of paper over the top of them and ironed them a bit. Worked perfectly! (I'm thinking they might be a cute way to decorate presents for Christmas....)

Today he wants to make a book with these snowflakes to give to his mom for Christmas. He's so creative! (You gotta love it when a little kid asks "can we make a craft?") I'm thinking we'll mount them on squares of cardstock, punch a couple of holes on the sides, and tie them together with yarn... We'll see!

WIP Saturday

2011-11-12T08:30:00.001-08:00

You are all my witnesses; I am now committed and have a week to finish it. At first I was just going to stitch the outlines, but decided it would be much cooler to fill it in completely. I have my sister's famous sleep-yelling quote going through my head: "You're making this more difficult than it needs to be!" (I don't recommend waking her if she has fallen asleep in a chair before making it to a bed...) Hopefully I can get it done in a timely fashion as I could quite possibly be the world's slowest embroiderer. Details to follow with the finished piece... I've got to get stitchin'!

I love my crafty friends!

2011-11-08T14:15:00.000-08:00

Guess what fun crafty thing I got to do on Sunday! I helped my super crafty friend Nehill with his train table. Actually, "train table" is a bit misleading when it comes to its size. It's more of a "train corner-of-a-room."

These pictures give a better sense of scale of the entire work in progress.

On Sunday we worked on the ocean side of the table.

Nehill worked on the pier area near the amazing lighthouse. He made the pier from popsicle sticks that he stained, and the ocean water from blue and black paint coated with mod podge.

I worked on a corner that became a parking area/beach/park, using foam, beach sand, rocks, grass mats, and foliage fiber for bushes, where people could enjoy a beautiful view of the ocean.

Here's one such couple enjoying the view after parking their sweet vintage car. I took the picture in the middle of this guy's smooth move. "There's something on your shoulder. I've got it..."

My favorite part about his train layout is his clever use of materials. A lot of the materials he uses are right on hand like rocks, gravel, and sand. One of the boats in the ocean came from a wind chime! I've also learned there's a lot that can be done with mod podge and hairspray!

Unfortunately, due to his layout's location, not many people get to see it! So here's a few more pictures of a few of the finished areas...

The forest

See the deer in the clearing?

The Farm

I absolutely love crafting with friends; it's fun when ideas are bouncing back and forth and the hours just slip away... What better excuse to just spend time with friends?! Hopefully I'll be able to help out again soon!

Forget-You-Not Block

2011-11-02T10:21:00.000-07:00

Here's an unexpectedly large square for my scrapghan! Monday night I thought I would whip up a square to take a break from my christmas present making. Hours later, I finished this square, "Design 988," which is practically comparable to a lap blanket. Ok, I may be exaggerating. Slightly.

When I was looking through my patterns recently, I ran across a pattern that my mom had brought back from Idaho this summer when visiting her mom (my grandmother for those of you following along at home). Over the years I've amassed a nice little collection of crochet patterns, hooks and old doilies from my grandmother that I absolutely love. One of my visits out there when I was about 12, which was not long after I first began crocheting, she taught me some new stitches and patterns. It was so much fun discovering we had a common hobby!

So I thought I'd give this block a try. I couldn't find any more information on this afghan pattern besides it being called "Design 988" and apparently coming by mail from the Parade Pattern Service in 1980. I looked over the pattern, read how many colors were needed, made sure it looked doable, and I saw that the blocks were 13 inches. Even though I read it, it didn't really register that the block was really going to be 13 inches.

It was a really neat pattern to see come together. I thought the flower petals looked pretty complicated, but the directions were really well written and I had no trouble at all. Even though there was a black and white picture of the completed block, I still felt like I wasn't sure what I was going to end up with until I was done. I love that!

In the end, I was surprised how large and time consuming it was! After steam blocking it, the finished square came out to be 14 inches! I've never made a block this big! (I bet this would make a really pretty afghan for a bed because the large blocks remind me of quilt blocks.) And maybe even more surprising was the fact that the pattern didn't have a more imaginative name!! "Design 988?" Come on!! Because of the colors I picked, it reminds of a Forget-Me-Not (even though they only have 5 petals). That's what I'm going with! I think Forget-Me-Not is a pretty fitting name.

Here, Fishy Fishy Fishy

2011-10-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

Now I have fish on the brain just like the 4 year old I've been babysitting! For this scrapghan block I made a granny square (with ch 2 corners and no chain in between the dc groups) and sewed my fish motif onto it with thread. For the fish I used the pattern Goldfish Motif by Chinama Horiba which can be found here, and if you are on Ravelry the pattern page is here.

(Please excuse the picture, all I had was my phone!!) We've been making paper fish, and yesterday we made an aquarium for them to "swim" in. For the aquarium I used a cardboard box, taped the flaps together, set the box on its side, and cut out a rectangle in the the top. We strung eight fish onto three sticks, and laid them across the top of the box, so that the fish hang down through the cut out rectangle and are free to swim! And of course we decorated the inside of the aquarium with seaweed and sparkly glitter rocks!

A Christmas Doodle

2011-10-25T13:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was in the mood for some embroidery. I found a 4 in hoop, some muslin (I think), some christmasy thread, and just started to doodle!

I'm thinking of making another larger hoop to go with it for some cute Christmas decor. It also gave me the idea of buying some smaller hoops to make Christmas ornaments. Maybe a 3 in hoop would make a good ornament size? Maybe with some ribbon at the top to hang on the tree? I think I'm getting the embroidery itch again....

Stairs and Stripes

2011-10-22T09:52:00.000-07:00

This block is adapted from block 76 in Jan Eaton's 200 Crochet Blocks. I made my own stripe pattern after working with stripes in a stairs project with my dad. Even though I followed the pattern, the block didn't exactly end up square. I could have added more rows to make the block square, but I decided I liked the rectangle look; it more closely resembled the stair treads that inspired it.

My dad has asked for my opinions concerning pieces he's working on, but never before has he given me this much creative freedom. He was asked to do a set of stairs for some friends, and he decided he wanted to do something a little special, something he had never done before. He wanted to add some inlaid strips of mahogany into the stair treads and the bottom platform/tread, but he wanted to stray from his normal linear self, and make the stripes of mahogany a bit more random and "artsy." This is where he handed over the design to me!

I don't think the pictures I'm going to show you do the stairs any justice! I've played around with the levels trying to make pictures appear as true to life as possible, but the stairs go down into the basement where there isn't much natural light. Plus, when I took the pictures it was a rainy day, so that didn't help! So I apologize if the colors aren't consistent from picture to picture... I tried!!

The first thing we designed was the platform, which is really the first step to then make your way up the stairs. Dad had cut three different widths of mahogany, and after much playing around, we decided we liked this arrangement. From here we wanted to carry the theme of our platform to the stairs on a smaller scale.

With three different width strips, which I believe were 1 1/2 in, 3/4 in, and 5/16 in, I designed the different treads and where the treads were to be placed. I wanted to keep it simple so you weren't overwhelmed with stripes, and I wanted to keep the placement of the stripes a bit random. It sounds like an oxymoron, trying to achieve randomness, but it's not easy! I like to refer to this tricky process as creating "organized chaos."

Notice the vertical stripes on a few of the risers? After the treads were designed, Dad wanted to do something special to a few of the risers because we still had some mahogany left. The question was then, what do we do that wouldn't be stripe overkill? I thought horizontal stripes like the treads would make the risers blend in with the treads, and just make too many stripes.

So then I thought we needed a way to tie in the platform to the rest of the stairs. What about vertical stripes to match the direction of the stripes on the platform? I figured carrying the stripes from the platform all the way up every single riser would have been too much (even if we had the mahogany to do it with) and would have created a crazy checkerboard pattern that might have freaked out your eyes, so what about three random risers!? To tie them in with the platform, I lined up the same width stripes to the placement of the same stripes on the platform! Make sense? To further the idea of "organized chaos," when spacing these three risers amongst the rest, I spaced them similar to how we spaced the stripes from each other on the platform! Probably nobody will realize these little details but us.... but I think it really ties everything together!

Unfortunately I don't have pictures of all the work that went into these... My dad made everything by hand, the inlay work is tricky, and there was a ton of sanding involved both before and after installation. We also put three coats of varnish on them, sanding in between coats.

I think my favorite part of this project was installing the treads and risers, and seeing it all come together. It was both exciting and nerve racking seeing my drawings come to life. "I think it's looking awesome, but will they like it?!" Scary! The owners saw some of it while we were working on it and they seemed to like it, but they haven't yet seen it with the varnish. The varnish really made the mahogany nice and dark, and really made it pop against the yellow pine!

I didn't mean to ramble so much, I just had so much fun working on these! I hope they love them as much as I do!

Wedding Block

2011-10-19T08:21:00.000-07:00

Last night I sat down with my scrap yarn and came up with this square. Nothing exciting, just a bit of a variation on the traditional granny square, but I really like the color combination. Because of the greens and purples, when Gin saw it she said it could be the wedding block for my scrapghan. (Green is Gin's color, and purple is Jarrod's). Done.

When Your Lemonade Sucks...

2011-10-17T13:37:00.000-07:00

Recognize my next scrapghan square? After everything I attempted today failed, I had to make at least one thing that didn't end with an expletive. When all else fails, go back to what works! So Squaring the Big Circle it is!

Do you ever have one of those days where nothing you do seems to work? That was certainly today. First I thought I would make an owl ornament. I traced my owl onto some plywood, and used my scroll saw to cut it out. My cutting job was a bit wonky, but I told myself not to panic; I could clean it up with the belt sander. But I over sanded, and made it more wonky. Frustrating. Alright, let's try something different.

Next I had this idea to make a scrapghan square out of small triangles sewn together. I had made a couple of cards in a similar manner, so maybe it would translate to crochet. I spent quite a bit of time crocheting little triangles, and sewing them into strips to then sew together. The strips looked good on their own, but after I sewed the first two strips together it turned a bit wonky. I told myself not to panic; maybe the triangles would flatten out once I sew on another strip. No so. Instead of three strips of triangles, it looked like I tried to sew two lumpy circles together. Epic fail. Let's try something that will work!!!

I decided to make my Squaring the Big Circle square. It apparently works seeing as how it has almost 4,000 pageviews, which is 1/3 of the pageviews of all of my pages put together!! I checked its pattern page on Ravelry, and it has been "favorited" 500 times, with 32 projects posted. Plus there are more projects out there by people who aren't on Ravelry. That makes me so happy and proud! I don't want it to sound like I'm bragging by any means, it is just the type of pick me up I needed to get me out of my creative slump!!

Today's lesson: When life gives you lemons, and you make lemonade, and your lemonade totally sucks... get back in the kitchen and make whatever you're famous for! You'll feel a heck of a lot better. hahaha!!

You know what else makes me happy? Crafty people making things for crafty people who will make things for crafty people... Over at Annaboo's House, there's a Pay It Forward Giveaway going on!! You should go enter before Oct. 31st to win some of her handmade goodness! You won't!

The Doctor Is In

2011-10-13T11:35:00.000-07:00

Today's scrapghan block is "Granny's Favorite" from Today's Woman Granny Squares Number 2, in the colors of the Dr. Who doll I finally finished!!

The pattern is called "David Tennant Big and Cuddly DrWho" from Pixelated Mushroom. If you're on Ravelry, here's the pattern page. It's a great pattern!

This was the second attempt at making a Dr. Who doll for my cousin. The first attempt with a different pattern failed horribly over a year ago... and it took awhile to finish this one too. At one point I thought the jacket was going to be too big, and I wasn't quite ready to fail yet again. It was also hard getting back into a project that I started months ago.

But yesterday I set some ground rules for myself. I set a timer for 25 minutes, and had to work straight through, and then could have a few minutes break if I needed a cup of tea or something (breaking longer for meals of course), and then back to it, and repeat. Totally worked. I couldn't believe it was finished, and the coat fit! I'm so glad I stuck with it!! And I'm going to keep my 25 minute rule idea in mind for the future because I felt so productive!

A Happy Accident

2011-10-12T08:57:00.000-07:00

Another block for the scrapghan! I made it from the pattern Triple Delight by Judy Lewis, found in Women's Day Prizewinning Granny Squares... a book I didn't mean to get!

Here's what happened...

I found a picture of an amazing afghan in a google image search. It led me to this blog and post, where I HAD to find where the pattern came from.

Amazing right?!! The granny circles are made of six granny triangles, and are sewn together with granny diamonds!! I can't wait to make this, although I'm not sure when I'll get to it!

Anyways, in my excitement and obsession to have this pattern in my possession as soon as possible, I mistakenly read where the pattern was from and bought this book:

After waiting about a week and a half for it to arrive, I excitedly started flipping through the book. You can not imagine how mad I was to go through the entire thing and not find the pattern I wanted!! Tossing this book aside, I reread the original blog post, did more research and finally found the right magazine at a reasonable price, and only had to wait about four days for it to arrive!

For anyone else who thinks that afghan is super awesome... it's from Today's Woman Granny Squares Number 2 from 1976. With a bit of searching, I found it for about $7 including shipping.

So, after finally receiving the coolest pattern ever, I decided to take another look at the first book I had cast away in frustration. It wasn't fair of me to treat it with such disregard, so I made one of the blocks as an apologetic gesture.

This is such a neat square! Until the fifth row I wasn't even sure I was following the pattern right, but then all of a sudden like magic it came together. I love the texture from the corner loops.

In direct contrast with my first sentiments about this book, I can now say that buying it was certainly a happy little accident.

Giving "Scraps" a New Meaning

2011-10-11T08:41:00.000-07:00

Inspired by two little vintage mugs I bought on Etsy, I made this square using Block 76, from Jan Eaton's 200 Crochet Blocks. I followed the pattern except on rounds 2, 3, and 4 I changed colors half way through the round to mimic the design on my mugs.

With my growing stash of scrap yarn, I decided it was time to make another scrap afghan. My first "scrapghan" I made, (lovingly named "Ugly"), was a traditional granny square blanket. I kept scraps from all of my projects, and made several squares based on those projects so that I could look at one square and say "that was the blanket I made for so-and-so... and that one was a samurai bunny..."

Now for my second scrapghan, I want to put together blocks of all kinds and sizes. It'll be a bit more random, and a bit more challenging. I think it will be a great way to try out new patterns, and as an added challenge, I want to make blocks inspired by other things I'm working on or liking at the moment. This way, it becomes like a "scrapbook" just like my Ugly blanket did.

So, what's with the vintage mugs? Well, I love looking at the house tours on Apartment Therapy, and I just loved this tour because of the seemingly simplistic design with great colors, and the fun vintage pieces.... a nice mix of modern and vintage. The article also made me realize that the style of design I've been leaning towards is Scandinavian (well with a bit of Japanese thrown in there too). When I read that Drew Steinbrecher, the owner of this lovely apartment, had an Etsy store (Kitsch Cafe), I had to check it out! And then I had to purchase these mugs!

They are everything I love right now. Bright bold colors, and simple geometric shapes. Vintage, and tea containment capability. So "ME!"

I'm not sure how this project will go or how long it will take, but it will be interesting to find out!

Costume Making

2011-10-07T08:18:00.000-07:00

Know what this is a costume of? Until my sister and I started working on this halloween costume for a special 11 year old, we had no idea that this costume is based on historical fact.

Did you guess "plague doctor?" Plague doctors were used during plague epidemics like the Black Death Plague in the 14th century. But it wasn't until the 17th century that they started wearing a beak like mask to help protect them from infection. They would fill the beak with different scented things which supposedly protected them from the "bad air" that caused the disease. The mask would also have glass eye openings for further protection from the outside air. To protect his hands, the doctor would use a cane to examine the plague victim.

Alright, enough historical stuff. But before we move on to the crafty stuff, I think it's interesting to the note that perhaps the things that we find most scary are not the things of fiction, but rather things that have strong factual roots in our history. Imagine living during the time of the black plague, and seeing a plague doctor walking towards you! Truly scary. Moving on!!

My sister made the awesome cape from this Simplicity pattern. The fabric I think was a linen-cotton blend. It turned out great and drapes beautifully!

With the help of a great tutorial at creepypasta, I made the mask. I started with a costume hockey mask, sculpted the beak from a styrofoam cone and glued it to the mask with some more foam. Next I plastered the "beak," sanded the plaster once it dried, paper mached the entire mask, did another layer of plaster over the entire thing, sanded again to make it nice and smooth... and then it was ready to paint.

I wanted to give it a "leather" look, which I think I achieved. I painted 3 coats of a lighter brown (Nutmeg brown to be precise), and then with a wadded up paper towel I applied a darker chocolate brown. I pretty much made it up as I went along, dabbing here and there, wiping it on and off, and smearing it around until I was happy with it.

To make it more true to the real deal, I added stitches with a brown Sharpie to show where the leather pieces would have been stitched together to form the mask. Hopefully I did this in a more subtle way so as not to make the mask look too fake and cheesey.

I also added a coat of matte Mod Podge to seal and protect the mask. Lastly we added an additional piece of elastic that goes from the top of the mask, over the top of the head and down to the original elastic strap to handle the added weight of the beak. I was so happy with the final result! Best of all I learned a new method of crafting with the styrofoam, plaster and paper mache! I was all "with this new skill, I could make anything!!!" hahaha Ok, one last pose Gin!

Frightening. Well, after dropping it off at the post office we are now anxiously awaiting the recipient's reaction! We hope he loves it as much as we did!

(On a completely unrelated note, I think I've made it so now anyone can post comments, not just people with a google account.)

Chunky Circle Scarf

2011-10-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

I whipped up this beauty for my sister on Saturday from this tutorial on people webs.

What a great and easy pattern!!

I used just over 2 skeins of Lion Brand's Jiffy Yarn in silver heather. I substituted this bulky yarn for the 2 strands of worsted weight in the pattern.

Love the color, and for an acrylic yarn it's so soft and cozy!

It was the perfect project to work on while I was waiting for layers of plaster and paper mache to dry! (Details to follow soon.)

You should definitely go here make one now. You won't!

Book Inspired Crafts

2011-09-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

I love books. I love crafts. What's even better? Book crafts!! I was going through some of my photos from a couple of years ago and came across a few book inspired crafts.

I'm still using this felt needle book and felt pincushion I made based on some of Kurt Vonnegut's illustrations from Breakfast of Champions and the quote "so it goes" from Slaughterhouse-Five.

I sent out these cards also based on his illustrations in honor of his birthday (and Armistice Day). I sketched out the designs with pencil on felt, embroidered, and then sewed the felt to card stock.

Have you read any of Mo Willems' books? Hilarious. Inspired by Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, I embroidered Pigeon onto a little tote bag for Kai to carry his toys in. It was my first attempt at fill stitches (satin, and long and short stitch), so I was pretty proud of it!

This was a tote bag I made for a friend based on Tony Vigorito's Just A Couple of Days (one of my all time favorite books). I used some crewel letter patterns from a 70's craft book that the same friend had given me... This may just be my favorite embroidery project to date.

Have you made anything based on a book? I would love to see it! If you have anything, leave a link in the comments for us all to look at!

(You get bonus points if the pincushion made you giggle.)

A Dresser Redress

2011-09-26T09:12:00.000-07:00

Before...

After!

Here's what we did with a gifted vintage dresser:

Took the mirror off...

Took the knobs off...

Sanded (just a little to give the paint a better surface to "stick" to) with a palm sander on the large areas, and used sand paper for the more fiddly bits...

Taped off the mirror...

Painted three coats plus some touch ups...

Added knobs from Anthropologie...

Put the mirror back on... And now Gin has a new dresser for when they move!

I love the teal and yellow combo! I must admit that when I started painting I was nervous because the teal was pretty bright, but it darkened after each coat when it dried.

After about a week, while we were waiting the knobs to come in the mail, a few bubbles appeared on the top of the dresser! I'm not sure what caused it, maybe it was heat and/or moisture, so I had to sand down the top of the dresser and paint a few more coats. That was the only problem I had, which wasn't too hard to fix. All in all I think the dresser was a huge success, especially since the only money put into it was the paint and knobs!

Bazinga!

2011-09-22T09:27:00.000-07:00

I made this in March for a friend but am posting it now in celebration of The Big Bang Theory season premiere tonight!! Any fellow fans out there?!

I hand wrote out the letters with pencil and used the split stitch to embroider. In hindsight I wish I hadn't framed it as the stitches got a bit squished. This reminds me that I have another embroidery for my mom that she wants framed... maybe there are frames out there that are specifically made for projects like this so that the glass isn't directly touching the art? Any recommendations and tips would be welcome!

Let's Make Snail Mail!

2011-09-21T17:07:00.000-07:00

There's something special about writing and receiving mail in today's email-filled world, and something even more special about making the stationary yourself. Do you want to make someone's day with a one-of-a-kind piece of hand written deliciousness? I'll show you how I made these cards and envelopes, and maybe it will help you make your own!

I started by pulling some pages out of this 1961 children's book that I picked up at a library sale for 50 cents.

Traced my envelope template from Paper Source onto my pages. (You can also take apart an envelope you already have and make a template, or google "free envelope templates"!)

Cut them out

Fold! I like to use a bone folder, which gives nice crisp folds. (You can also use an old butter knife in place of a bone folder.)

Creasing Tip: Start in the middle and crease the paper to one end of the fold, and then come back to the middle and crease the other side.

Glue the sides of the bottom flap, flip up and press onto the the side flaps.

Here is where I'd apply double sided tape (leaving the exposed side with the paper still on it) to the inside of the top flap for when it comes time to sealing the envelope... but I've run out of it! Eek!

I add white labels for the address and return address.

Envelopes are done... Onto the cards!

With more pages from the book, I cut out rectangles that when folded fit perfectly inside my envelopes. (My cards are 3 1/2 x 5 in.)

Now, I love cards, but I have one issue with them: Not enough space to write for me!! So for each card I cut two pieces of graph paper just a little smaller than the card size.

With the graph paper folded inside the card, there are four pages to write on.

Using the Pamphlet Stitch to attach graph paper to card:

Step 1. Holding the fold of the graph paper in the fold of the card, use a needle to poke three holes through all three piece of paper in the fold... one in the middle, and one on each side close to the end of the graph paper.

Step 2. Thread a needle with embroidery floss (or book binding thread!) a little longer than twice the length of your card, and insert needle in middle hole from inside to out. Leave a little tail inside card.

Step 3. Come back up through one of the outside holes.

Step 4. Put needle down through the second outside hole. (Notice how the tail is to one side of the stitch just made.)

Step 5. Bring needle back up through center hole, making sure to keep needle to the other side of the stitch made in the previous step.

Step 6. With your two thread ends now on each side of the stitch, make a square knot over the stitch.

Step 7. Trim the thread ends close to the knot.

You're Done!

I have to sign the back of course!

Now I've got to get writing!

My Fall Therapy Scarf

2011-09-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

The end of summer always makes me a sad panda. So I thought that if I made something exciting to wear for fall, I might be a little less sad that summer is gone...

I still had some leftover thread from the wedding crafts, and believe it or not, I'm still not sick of this thread. Aunt Lydia's Bamboo Thread (size 10) is so incredibly soft, I love it.

I found this japanese pattern which called for fingering weight yarn and a 2.5mm hook... but I thought it had great lacy potential. So I used the size 10 bamboo thread (a little over 1 skein) and a size F hook.

The stitches opened up beautifully when I blocked it out!

Fall is such a beautiful season... Maybe having some fun scarves will make getting used to the cooler temperatures a bit more bearable and fun!

A Tale of Two Chairs

2011-09-16T17:29:00.000-07:00

Before...

After!

This was a super simple transformation! We picked up the chairs at Salvation Army for $7 each, and used home decor weight fabric that my sister had in her stash to recover the seats. (The pictures are a little deceiving, as we didn't do anything to the chair frames.)

First we unscrewed the chair seat...

Cut out fabric a couple of inches larger than the seat...

Ironed...

Stapled right over the seat...

Screwed the seat back onto the chair...

And now my sister has two "new" chairs to take with her when she moves! She did most of the work too. I helped by holding things while she unscrewed or stapled, and was the one who kept saying "wait, I need a picture!"

We were very pleased with how they turned out, and I will be showing an even more impressive "before and after" in about a week!!

The C-Word

2011-09-15T09:22:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been getting a lot of negative reactions when I say the C-word, so I'm going to avoid saying it so as not to get the stink eye from anyone. Oh, it's not THAT C-word.... No, no, no, I'll give you a hint:

(And another hint: it's not "cat.")

That's right. I'm thinking of that holiday, and brainstorming crafts and gifts... I just can't help it! With my tendency to get carried away I have to start early! I love any excuse to make things, and this particular gift giving opportunity is like the best excuse ever.

I am running into a bit of a dilemma though. As I've started brainstorming, and have even started making a gift or two, I can't share it on the blog! Despite how much I'll be bursting at the seams with excitement and the need to show someone... I have friends and family who check in here, and well, I can't risk ruining a surprise.

However, I'm sure there will be plenty of other little crafts that I'll be able to share along the way. Perhaps some decorating crafts? And I'm toying around with the idea of making an electronic C-word card in the form of a stop motion movie (and not with blocks), to share with everyone. I can't forget halloween either!

Have you crafty people been thinking about the C-word?

Vintage Finds

2011-09-12T11:02:00.000-07:00

Alright, I know I wanted to keep this blog to "crafty" things, but in my defense one of my vintagey finds was a sweet little doily...

This doily is pretty dirty, but at 50 cents I thought even if I can't clean it up, I might be able to figure out the pattern, and make it for myself!!! (Anyone have any good tips for cleaning up old doilies safely?)

I love where the four motifs join, creating this beautiful design full of lovely little picots!

I also couldn't pass up these adorable little glasses. I saw the set of four yellow ones for two dollars... then saw the set of four blue ones for two dollars... and then I thought, what a beautiful set of eight blue and yellow mini chalice looking glasses for four dollars!

And I of course couldn't pass up used books!! The two small blue books are first edition 1943 bedtime stories, the one underneath is (I believe) a first edition 1936 Bobbsey Twins book in GREAT shape, the blue book on the bottom is a collection of Longfellow Poems copyright 1883 with a hand written name and date: 1891!! (I especially love used books with written messages, names and dates written in the front.) And all of them for only $2.25!

(I couldn't help but notice that the glasses matched the colors of books I got!)

This beautiful square scarf was only 50 cents! I'm so loving geometric patterns and bright bold colors right now.

Also 50 cents, don't you just love the colors of this scarf!?

Now, back to your regularly scheduled craft posts very soon!! Just waiting on a few things so I can have a proper "Before & After" post!

Pincushion and Needle Book

2011-09-07T15:11:00.000-07:00

When my sister and I coordinate on a craft project (usually a gift for a friend, like this one) I like to say in my best, dramatic super hero voice, "with our powers combined...!"

a cuppa and a catch up's super cute needle keeper was my sister's inspiration for the needle book. Gin didn't follow any particular pattern and made it to be about 4 in x 5 in when it's closed.

It turned out so cute, she's going to have to make me one!!

The little pocket would be perfect for a needle threader or little embroidery scissors...

A rectangle of wool felt is perfect for holding needles.

My favorite part however is the vintage button. She also braided some of the perle coton that I used to make the pincushion for the closure.

For the pincushion I used DMC Coton Perle 8 and a size 10 (1.3 mm) steel hook. I made two Squaring the Big Circle squares, and crocheted them together around a little fabric pincushion my sister whipped up, with a row of single crochet. It fit perfectly!

The finished square pincushion measures about 3 1/2 inches.

I love crafting with my sister, and we're going to have to get in as many projects together as we can before she and my brother in law (still getting used to saying that!) move.

Versatile Blogger Awards

2011-09-05T16:09:00.000-07:00

I got an award! How exciting is that!? I was so flattered to receive the Versatile Blogger Blogger Award from the very talented winkieflash from a creative being. Thank you so much! If you haven't checked out her blog, you should!!

Here’s how the award works: After accepting the Versatile Blogger Award, the blogger must:

Thank the person who gave the award and link back to them in your post.
Share 7 things about yourself.
Pass this award along to 15 recently discovered blogs.

Ok, so 7 things about myself...

1. I love tea, and very rarely go without at least two cups a day. There's nothing better than sitting down with a nice cup of loose leaf tea. Ok, I take it back, it doesn't get better once you add a little crafting or a good book to said cup of tea.

2. I'm a used book store addict. I have over 600 books, and am trying to slow down as I'm already out of book shelf space. My favorite books are those that offer new perspectives or different theories as I'm fascinated with how perception can influence how one lives life.

3. My personality type according to the Enneagram is the 9, or the peacemaker. I feel learning about the Enneagram is very beneficial because understanding the different personality types and their drives, motivations, needs and fears, increases one's ability for acceptance and open-mindedness... which is always a good thing. (Interested in learning more? Check out the Enneagram Institute website or read any book by Riso and Hudson.)

4. I have an emotionally fragile guinea pig named Percy. As long as I'm not away from him too long, nothing scares him, and I don't run out of radicchio, he's a perfectly happy (and ridiculously adorable) little piggy.

5. I've recently gotten into some great British tv shows, and love British humor. Right now The IT Crowd is my favorite. HILARIOUS. Just go watch it.

6. I prefer to be either barefoot or in a pair of Chuck Taylors.

7. I can't craft or practically do anything without music on. Some of my favorite bands and artists include the Dave Matthews Band, the Avett Brothers, the Ryan Montbleau Band, Andrew Bird, the Decemberists, Iron & Wine, Freelance Whales, Mumford & Sons, Vetiver, Great Lake Swimmers, Fleet Foxes, the Tallest Man on Earth... and I could go on!!

Now for passing the award along! I read a lot of creative blogs, but out of blogs that I've recently discovered, three really stood out in my mind in relation to the word "versatile."

1. Annaboo's House- Annaboo crafts things from crocheted jars to wood blocks (ok, I could be a little biased there!) and most recently participated in her first craft sale, adding a business aspect to her crafting, which is always exciting.

2. genuine mudpie- Trish crafts all sorts of things, has some great crochet tutorials, interesting "favourite things" posts, and I just love her overall philosophy on creativity.

3. The Garden Bell- Kate, along with being very talented and crafty was a great help when I started my blog. I owe a lot of my followers to the kind words she posted about my blog. So not only is she a great blogger, she's a super nice member of the blog community.

You three wonderful ladies don't have to participate/blog about this award if you don't want to, I just wanted to thank you for being so inspirational and give you some recognition for your talents!

Everyone else, you should check these blogs out!

Little Circle Square Tutorial

2011-09-02T12:11:00.000-07:00

Today felt like a tutorial day! Here is a little tutorial for a little square of mine. I know, my pattern name skills need some work....

This square is very simple, and if you've tried Squaring the Big Circle, you will recognize the first three rounds. Here are two examples of things I've made using it:

On this one, I finished the squares with a round of single crochet, and then whipstitched the squares together.

This one is still a WIP, but I used the join-as-you-go method, and used one color for the first three rounds, and black for the fourth round.

By changing just one aspect, you can see how it can change the whole look.

So onto the Little Circle Square tutorial!

Worsted weight yarn (I used Vanna's Choice)
Size J hook

Start with a magic ring (or join a few chains into a loop if you prefer)

Rnd 1- ch 3 (counts as 1dc), 1dc, ch 1, [2dc, ch 1] 5 times, join with sl st in top of ch 3, fasten off (You should have six groups of 2dc with ch 1 spaces in between.)

(I like to start my rounds with a standing stitch. Yarn over, insert hook into any ch 1 space, and complete dc as usual.)

Rnd 2- In each ch 1 space [2dc, ch 1, 2dc, ch 1], join with sl st in first dc, fasten off

Rnd 3- In each ch 1 space [3dc, ch 1], join with sl st in first dc, fasten off

Rnd 4- In any ch 1 space *[3dc, ch 1], in next ch 1 space [3dc, ch1], in next ch 1 space [3tc, ch 2, 3tc, ch 1] (making a corner), in next ch 1 space repeat from * around, join with sl st in first dc, fasten off

Your Little Circle Square is complete!

Need some ideas for joining?

Try Sarah London's Join-As-You-Go

Sew them together (this was done with right side of squares facing each other, and whipstitching in back loops)

I like making the whipstitch with a noticeable color which I think makes for a fun design element.

Single crochet the squares together (with wrong sides of squares facing each other, single crochet through back loops)

Or with another color, single crochet a border on each square, and then whipstitch the squares together (sc in each st and ch 1 space, and I did 4sc in each corner)

If you have any questions, I'd love to help, and if you try this tutorial I'd love to see what you make!

During Irene

2011-08-30T12:53:00.000-07:00

What's one to do when the power is out for 28 hours? Some crocheting of course! I pulled out some left over crochet thread from the wedding projects, and this old crochet magazine I picked up at the library sale. I almost traveled back in time as I crocheted by oil lamp...

While working on this doily pattern from the magazine, I was reminded how much more I love charts than written directions!! I first had to learn how to read charts because of all the beautiful Japanese patterns I wanted to try. It was a little difficult at first, but now I find the illustrated charts much easier and faster to work from! Out of curiosity, what do you guys prefer?

I should also mention that this magazine is from 1985... so there are a lot of fairly ugly and cheesey things in it! No offense 1985, I'm just not a fan. But, I'm glad I looked all the way through this magazine because it has some very pretty doily patterns. Now I just have to block this baby out!

Today's lesson: You may have to dig through a lot of cheese to find some gems!

Cake Topper, Boutonnieres, Bouquet, and Head Piece

2011-08-30T12:22:00.000-07:00

The cake topper! I painted plain wooden peg dolls to match as close as I could to Gin and Jarrod. I added some netting and beads to Gin for the necklace and head piece, and made a mini felt boutonniere for Jarrod. Just recently the piece of cedar they are glued onto split... I'm assuming it happened as the wood dried out more. I'm figuring I can take them off and glue them to something else.

Gin made eight boutonnieres from the instructions in Handmade Weddings. They turned out soooo cute!!

Gin and Mom made her headpiece. The flower is made from our Aunt's wedding dress, and the center is from a vintage heirloom earring (it's blue!). It turned out beautifully I think!

Her bouquet is made of handmade fabric flowers from her bridesmaids, another friend, and the ring bearer too! We looked up some fabric flower tutorials but mostly made it up as we went along. All the flowers were glued to sticks at first, but because it made it too bulky, the sticks had to be replaced with floral wire. Gin then wrapped the wire with the material she made her dress's sash out of. She loves how she can look at it and think "so and so made this one..."

Ginny and Jarrod's Story in Stop Motion

2011-08-26T09:41:00.000-07:00

Here's the video that I made with Jarrod's brother Trevor (with a little help from one of his other brothers, Devon, and my always-helping friend Nehill), to show at the wedding.

It took about a week to make the blocks, three days to take all of the pictures, and another day to edit and find the right music to play with it. Since we weren't sure where we were going to be able to set up the projector and my laptop in relation to the dj's stereo equipment, we had the music ready to go on an ipod instead. We played "The Girl" by City and Colour, one of Jarrod's original songs "Long Time," and "January Wedding" by The Avett Brothers.

I'm still amazed at what we were able to accomplish in four days, and the movie seemed to go over very well!! Gin and Jarrod loved it which was all we wanted!

More Wedding Details

2011-08-26T07:34:00.000-07:00

Here's the board of escort cards. This is my only picture of the board with all the buttons still on it. Now, I absolutely love my Zumi camera, but it's better for more fun/artsy photos, (and for just throwing in your pocket), so I'm afraid it's not really showing how beautifully bright and colorful all the clothespins and buttons were.... But thanks to my cousin Robin, I have a few more picture to share!

The escort cards each had a button pin that was covered in fabric (so easy to make especially with a few crafty friends!), and the guests then had to match the fabric on their button to their table with corresponding napkins. The clothespin board was inspired by the book Handmade Weddings, and my sister came up with the fabric button and napkin idea. Our Gram made most of the napkins with some help from a couple of our Aunts. They turned out so cute! With the leftover fabric from the napkins, my mom and sister made buntings that we hung on the food tables, on the tent behind the head table, and on the photo booth.

Crocheted jars went on the table with our handmade pinwheels and sparklers, crocheted rocks adorned (ok, held down) the plates, and the favor boxes had little s'more kits inside. (However, more people left the favor boxes and instead were taking everything else from the table... jars, candleholders, napkins... it was quite funny.)

Since Gin and Jarrod asked for help with their honey moon in lieu of gifts, I think the steamer trunk worked great! I bought an old atlas at our local library sale, and we used the pages to cover the front of some cardboard letters, and to make the "thank you" bunting. With some baker's twine and tiny little red clothespins, we hung some of their engagement pictures. For a final touch we added an old globe because, well, it was cute.

Our friend Kristen made the most DELICIOUS cakes!!!!!! She made one cake for each table, and a three layered one for the head table (that's like 18 or 19 cakes!!!)! We made little paper bunting toppers for the guest tables with bamboo skewers, baker's twine and scrapbook paper. My dad made all of the cake plates out of cedar logs. Very simple but very cute I thought! Now I just have to hunt up a picture of the big cake!!!

And the dance floor!!! Nehill, Emery and Sam spent hours getting the christmas lights and paper lanterns up. They did such a great job! It looked so magical once it got dark out!

To be continued... I still want to show you Gin's fabric flower bouquet, the felt boutonnieres she made for the boys, and the bride and groom cake topper!

Photo Booth!

2011-08-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

I'm so happy with how the photo booth turned out and it seemed like everyone had a lot of fun with it!! I think the pictures will make a great guest book! We had people write a message on a slip of paper so that they could be placed with the strips of photos in the guest book. Since we didn't have a printer set up during the reception, guests will receive their pictures in their thank you card!

My dad is the real hero of this project. All I did is tell him what I wanted it to look like, and he made it even better than what I had pictured! The finished dimensions were four feet wide by eight feet long, and he made it so it could be unscrewed and screwed back together to make transporting and storage easier. So now we can set it up for different parties, and since we decided to paint it white we can just decorate it differently depending on the occasion! How fun is that!? The striped shower curtain in combination with the colorful fabric bunting my sister and mom made, really made it!

On the inside my dad made a small detachable shelf about five feet high with a screw and wing nut to directly attach a camera. I bought an AC adaptor for my camera so I could keep it plugged in and on all night. The camera was programmed to take four shots after five seconds, so all people had to do was press the shutter button, (I made a little sign with the instructions on how to do it). I put a bright green sticker on the shutter button which I thought helped people find the right button. We also had a vintage suitcase in there with all of the props to choose from.

The more people we crammed in, the better!!!

The only thing I'm bummed about is that we forgot to hang christmas lights over the top of it, so once night hit it was so dark inside the booth.... Oh well, next time!

What Do I Do Now?

2011-08-22T10:15:00.000-07:00

With the wedding over now, what am I going to do with myself!? My poor little blog got a little neglected the closer it got to the wedding, but I will certainly make it up! Once I scrounge some pictures (because I didn't have a chance to take any good ones once everything was set up), I'll be able to post more about all of the handmade goodness that was in the wedding! I think it turned out beautifully, and I believe everyone had a great time! Soon I should be able to show you how the tables were set up, how our photo booth turned out, the cake plates and toppers, fabric buntings, the steamer trunk gift table....

ROCKS ARE DONE!!!!!

2011-08-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

As if you haven't seen enough rocks.... But, 135 rocks done!!! The guest list is at 134, so there is an extra for good luck. (Who are we kidding, it's for any potential change!) So here are a few of the last rocks, and of course they were made from the rocks that kept getting picked over because of their strange and more difficult shapes...

(I'm using the atlas paper in the next wedding project, which I should be able to post soon!)

More Rocks...

2011-07-27T12:32:00.000-07:00

I don't want to become redundant showing all the rocks and jars.... but, I'm getting so close to finishing the rocks, that posting a few pictures makes me feel like I've really made some progress! If I've counted correctly I have 115 done, and 15 more to go! Woot woot!!

If you look closely, you may be able to see the cables!

On these, I was playing with front and back post double crochets.

Solomon's Knots!

With each rock I'm getting more confident in my "wing it" skills. I thought I'd get sick of doing them, but each rock is challenging in its own way, and it's such great practice.

Game Face

2011-07-20T20:19:00.000-07:00

With the craft fair over, it's back to wedding crafts! I finished another jar this afternoon, bringing the count up to nine jars.

This is the jar I made this afternoon with the help of Annaboo's Solomon's Knot Tea Light Tutorial. (You should check out her lovely blog Annaboo's House.) This was my first ever attempt at Solomon's Knot, and I think I pretty much got it! I'll admit that at first I thought I had a hot mess in my hands, but it didn't take long before "oh, sweet!" It's a really fun stitch and to me it looks a little nautical. (Knotical?)

This jar's basket weave look was accomplished by alternating front post and back post double crochets. This may just be my favorite. I love the texture.

A simple two double crochet, chain two pattern.

Scallop pattern from Sasha Kagan's Crochet Inspiration.

I also tried a chevron pattern, (from Crochet Inspiration too), which didn't really translate to the jar as well as I was hoping it would... but it still looks ok.

Now I just have to pick up the pace with the jars, and get the rest of the rocks done! Game time.

My Craft Fair Experience

2011-07-18T09:42:00.000-07:00

I did it, and to me that's the most important thing! It couldn't have been a more beautiful day, and you can see from this photo (that I took later in the afternoon, so excuse the dishevelment) that my spot had a gorgeous view of the lake.

So how did I make out? Well, I sold one of my block sets (my favorite, the quilt inspired one), and one crocheted rock (which may or may not have been a pity purchase, haha). It exactly covered the cost of having a booth. So I broke even; it could have been worse! And the block set that I sold is going to be used as a therapy tool for someone who suffered a stroke. The fact that something I made is going to be used to help someone made all the work that it took to set up for the craft fair worth it.

I also got to talk to several very nice, crafty ladies. I think it's great to connect with people who also make things by hand, because there's a deeper understanding and appreciation for the art. I probably was more excited to be able to share my blog and tutorial with these ladies after they showed an interest in my "Squaring the Big Circle" afghans so they could make it themselves, than I would have been if someone had bought one of them. There's something much more exciting about inspiring creativeness in others and in the sharing of ideas with like minded people... but I digress.

So here are a few observations I made from the day:

1. Kids knew exactly what to do with the blocks without any explanation. They just got it. Most adults not so much. Unfortunately my computer battery died fairly early in the day, because my friend Nehill had quickly put together a little movie with a lot of pictures of the blocks while we my sister and I were putting together the tables (I had lots of nice help, and lots of friends kept me company throughout the day), that we put on repeat beside the blocks. If I had time, I was planning on making little booklets to put with the sets of some possible designs. Next time. But here's the movie... thanks Nehill!! (You may recognize the first part of the movie.)

2. The people at the craft fair in general didn't seem like they were there to buy. It felt like a lot of people were going to the beach, saw the craft fair, and decided to look around. Maybe it's just the economy, or maybe people were just looking for small things. However, I got a lot of really nice and positive responses, which made me feel like I was having an art show. "Really beautiful work!" or "these are so pretty!" It was very rewarding.

3. People seemed surprised that I was the one who had made my crafts. I'm not sure as if there is a stereotype attached to crocheting that made people expect that whoever made the blankets had to be at least 70 years old and sport a rocking chair, or if it was that despite my 28 years of age I tend to look like a 16 year old to many people. Either way I found it funny.

4. I learned not to take anything personally, especially when someone walked by, poked their head in, perhaps crinkled their nose and kept walking. People have different tastes. People also have different ideas about how things should be priced! Here's one interaction with such a person:

Guy: "What are these?"
Me: "They're puzzle blocks. You can rearrange all of the blocks and make different designs and patterns."
Guy: (cutting my previous sentence short) "How much are they?"
Me: "The smaller 4x4 sets are $40, and the larger 6x6 set is $60."
Guy: (I doubt I even got out "is $60" before..) "Oh," and he takes off with a speed somewhere between a speed walk and a sprint.

Ok, if the guy had hung around long enough I would have WANTED to really defend myself and my blocks with "Hey mister, do you know how much time I put into those blocks? I cut, sanded, painted and sealed (several coats of paint and sealer in fact), all the blocks myself, and even put them in a hand made drawstring bag... and in all honesty, I think $40 dollars is a pretty frickin' good deal for all that!"

But I certainly am not that kind of person and decided instead to look at it more humorously, and give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he had an extremely small amount of time to buy something with a very small amount of money, or else he would explode. If I had known that ahead of time I could have helped out this guy in his extremely dire situation. "Don't waste any more time here kind sir, you should move on to the next tent! Go! Go! Go! And Godspeed!"

Alright, this post is getting out of control. If you have made it this far, I commend you. In conclusion, the craft fair was certainly a learning experience. It was fun, rewarding, funny and I'm proud of myself for doing it after years of wanting to. After all, lots of kids had fun playing with my blocks even if their mean parents dragged them away from my tent or wouldn't buy the blocks for them. To quote Vonnegut, "so it goes."

Finished!!!!

2011-07-14T21:59:00.000-07:00

It's done, and I love it!

When it came time to sewing the squares together, I didn't like how the corners were coming together. Because I didn't put enough single crochets in the corners when doing the white border, the stitches were stretching a lot to meet. I tried forcing it, and it just didn't look good. So I listened to the blanket, and didn't sew across to the next square, leaving little diamond holes in between the squares. I really like the way those spaces became a design element (even if it wasn't intentional from the start). Running into what you may call a problem can often lead to even better results. As my dad says "there are no problems, only solutions."

Sign Made!

2011-07-11T15:29:00.000-07:00

I just finished this sign to hang on my canopy for my first ever craft fair!!

I love the font I'm using on the blog, so I sketched out the letters based on the font, and I think I got it pretty close! Originally I was going to write out "Signed With an Owl" and paint an owl, but I started to run out of room for the word "Owl." But, I think substituting the painted owl for the word "owl" turned out even cuter!

I'm starting to get pretty nervous about the craft fair which is this coming Saturday. I won't have as much merchandise as I had originally planned when dreaming about doing the fair months and months ago... but I think my tent will at least look pretty!

Color Inspiration

2011-07-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

My great grandmother and grandmother made this quilt, and I just love the stripes of colors on the backing fabric. I think the colors are so unexpected, but they go together so well! So I decided to make a block set using those colors as inspiration.

Did you notice the awesome tray that the blocks were sitting in? My super talented dad made it! The original plan was to paint these trays black, but once I saw it, I liked the raw look of it. This way you can also see what the blocks looked like before they were painted. I've painted the other trays black and am in the process of sealing them, so I will be able to compare the two and see what I like better. I may find that for certain sets I like the trays unpainted.

But I think the most important thing I've found is that you can find inspiration anywhere. Even in your linen closet.

Photo Booth Props!

2011-07-05T19:29:00.000-07:00

This afternoon Gin and I finished the photo booth props for the wedding and took a few pictures before "it's too hot out here for this!"

I cut out the mustaches and beard from very thin plywood with my scroll saw and then we attached felt using spray adhesive.

The talk bubble, thought bubble, and comic bubbles were also cut with my scroll saw and then painted with chalkboard paint. Gin made the bow tie with her awesome sewing skills.

Lips and monocle were cut with the scroll saw and painted with acrylic paint.

I think the beard may be my favorite.

Doesn't she look quite dapper?

Awwww thanks Gin!

Stay tuned for the home made photo booth... I think it's going to be epic. Just sayin'.

More blocks!

2011-06-30T16:26:00.000-07:00

This set is all about the circles, and the colors too of course! It was too much fun playing around with them, so here are several pictures...

Black and White Blocks

2011-06-27T17:26:00.000-07:00

Here's one finished set of blocks, well, minus the tray they will sit in and the drawstring bag the whole shabang will go in. I'm really happy with how well the new block designs work together. I've been having too much fun playing with them! Another more colorful set is almost done!

The plan is to make several sets so that I can sell them at my local craft fair next month. I think these make great creative toys and would also make great desk toys. Fun for all ages, or at least I think so! Nearly endless possibilities!

Progress, Thanks, and Questions

2011-06-27T07:47:00.000-07:00

Progress- 30 out of 36 complete! These are a few of my favorite blocks at the moment. (I just noticed they are all ones with red in them... For some reason I'm so drawn to red right now!) I now have to add a single crochet border in white, block the squares, and then sew them together.

Thanks- A big THANK YOU for the many lovely comments, advice, and new followers. I was in the process of replying to the comments, but ran into some difficulty. When the comments are in my email, some of them include the email address of the commenter and some of them are a no-reply comment. This leads me to questions...

Questions- Is there a way to reply to the "no-reply" comments? I suppose I could post a comment in my own comments, but that doesn't guarantee that the person I'm replying to would get it right? I guess what I'm asking too is, what is the reply etiquette? Do you guys reply to every comment or just to questions?

Well, the bottom line is I'm very appreciative of all the encouraging comments, and am thrilled to "meet" all you crafty people and your wonderful blogs.

It's Block Time!

2011-06-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

Just look at all that potential!! Time to sand and paint my reclaimed oak blocks! (All that's missing here is a picture of me at the table saw with my so-ridiculous-they're-awesome blinged out safety goggles my sister made me!)