Nudge - Nudge . . .

anyone here?

2011-04-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

So, I started a craft blog of sorts. But then I felt silly because I'm already part of this one, as um, quiet, as it has been here lately. So here's what I've been crocheting:

The pattern is called "Spring Fling Beanie" by Busy Mom Designs.
It's super easy works up so much faster than blankets, and is fun to wear. Or give away. The top one is for a 5 year old little girl who has just begun treatments at St. Jude, and the bottom is for my cousin's 1 year old little girl.

anyone still here?

2010-05-11T15:30:00.000-07:00

So, I have posted these elsewhere.... but just because I can't stand how neglected this blog has been for a YEAR, here you go, if you are reading:

"wild roses"

A good friend from way back makes something like this and then puts them on some really cute knit hats that she also makes.

Thankfully, this one looks cuter in my daughter's hair than on the table.

Resurrection Eggs

2009-03-27T17:32:00.000-07:00

I thought my 3 year old would like to do this this Easter, so rather than pay for some, I made my own using things I had around the house. (I did have to print the picture of the donkey, the praying hands, and the sword, and I used mailing tape as "lamination"). Different sources tell you to use different things, so I compiled my favorites and made my own.

Make your own Resurrection eggs

1.Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.

The people waved palm branches.
(Matthew 21:1-11)

Item -- Piece of palm branch or a donkey.

2. Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
(Matthew 26:14-15)

Item -- 3 coins or plastic “silver” money

3. Jesus shared the Last Supper with His disciples.
(Matthew 26:26)
Item – bread

4. Jesus went to the garden of Gethsemane to pray to God.

(Matthew 26:36-39)

Item- praying hands

5. Soldiers came to take Jesus away.

One of Jesus’ friends tried to protect him with a sword.

(Matthew 26:47-52)

Item- sword

6. Soldiers placed a crown of thorns on Jesus’ head.

(John 19:2)

Item -- Small thorny branch, or a large thorn all by itself.

7. Jesus carried his own cross.

(John 19:17)

 Item – toothpicks or Popsicle stick cut and glued in a cross form; or, a small plastic cross from a Christmas ornament or necklace.

8. Jesus was nailed to a cross and

his side was pierced with a sword.

(John 19:18)

 Item -- 3 nails

9. They gave Jesus vinegar mixed

with gall on a sponge to drink.

 (Matthew 27:34)

Item -- A small sponge

 10. After he died, they

wrapped Jesus in a cloth.

(John 19:40)

Item – cloth

11. They placed a big rock in front of

Jesus’ tomb where he was buried.

(Matthew 27:60)

Item -- A small rock

12. Jesus is alive!

(Matthew 28:6)

Item- empty egg

a variation on my usual...

2009-03-25T22:16:00.000-07:00

The texture of this yarn made the border ruffle.
Hopefully it's not too frilly for a precious little boy!

attention sewers!

2009-03-23T19:06:00.001-07:00

Please welcome my friend "southern barbie" to the blogosphere! Check out her sewing blog here.

Flock of Seagulls Butterflies

2009-03-04T16:15:00.000-08:00

Almost 2 years ago, when Nudge-Nudge was brand new, Phinner made some really cool paper butterflies. A few days later she made another one just for my BabyGirl. By the way, Phin, that picture still hangs on BabyGirl's bedroom door!

A few weeks later QM (my mother) ordered the kit so she could make some for BabyGirl's room. She blew up the patterns on a copier so we'd have all different sizes.

Last summer she gave me the kit & I started making them. I got a bit obsessed & spent a few days cutting out scrap booking paper, but I never finished most of them. Today I was cleaning out some stuff in my room when I found the unfinished butterflies & decided they needed to be put together.

In the end I made 14 butterflies. One was used last summer as a gift tag on a wedding present. The other 13 will be hung from the girls' bedroom ceiling somehow. How exactly, has yet to be decided. I'm considering tacking them to thin satin ribbon & pinning it into the ceiling, but I doubt my husband will go for that. :) I'm also thinking about cutting a few thin branches from our woods & hanging them from that making a sort of mobile to hang from the light in their room.

One of my favorites is the tiny one I made with random scrap pieces from other butterflies. I hated to throw the scraps away, so I glued them all on a solid piece & then cut this out.

Here's another one that was collaged together with bits of tissue paper. I love the texture of it.

And one final "flutterby." I love this dark blue paper. It came in the kit, so I'm not sure what the name of it is, but it looks like a glossy mulberry paper to me. It also has a lot of texture, but the shine makes me think of new leather.

I'll post a picture when I get them all finished & hung up.

it's DONE, really!

2009-02-22T19:04:00.001-08:00

I "finished" Bear's blanket just before Valentine's Day, but it looked like it needed something to finish it off around the edges. I let my daughter pick the color she wanted me to use for the trim, and she adimantly stated she wanted pink and not turquoise when I held them up. I had hoped for a deeper pink, but the selection at the superstore was limited.

Last night, I finally tried to do the pattern on the link that Needlefingers posted in her comment, but let's just say it looked even more crooked than the rest of the blanket... Couldn't get the scallops even for the life of me. I thought about repeating the pattern I used in the blanket, but really wanted to try something different. So I did something simple, and I like the result.

What's everyone else working on lately?

SpongeBob Squarepants Cake

2009-02-01T18:16:00.000-08:00

I hadn't shared anything for awhile, so I thought I'd show you the cake I made for my grandson's eighth birthday. Pretzels for the arms and legs, half-doughnuts for the shoes, cookie monster plastic eyes that came with another set, I added a little icing to them. Icing covered pretzel nose, and marshmallow sleeves. The teeth are little squares of styrofoam, but, after my son heard me complaining because I couldn't find anything but styrofoam to use, he told me I could have used Chiclets!

my first wedding cakes

2009-01-16T19:58:00.000-08:00

crochet experts, help?!

2009-01-13T14:27:00.001-08:00

Does anyone have an easy border idea that would work when this is done? I want to frame it with a solid color, but the idea of adding a border intimidates me. I mean, I haven't ventured to any new patterns yet!

The accidental pillow

2008-12-18T14:50:00.002-08:00

The day I made the taggies & Bitsy's diaper bag, I attempted to make her a doll blanket out of scrap fabric. I've never been good at patchwork & discovered early on that I didn't have enough material to make a blanket big enough to wrap up her babies. Then I had a brilliant idea for making a blanket binding that would make it just the right size...but since I am neither an engineer nor someone who can visualize a finished project easily, my brilliant idea turned the blanket into a boxy pillow.

In the end it won't matter. Bitsy's only 18 months old. She'd be thrilled if I gave her a paper sack full of fabric scraps for Christmas. A pillow of her very own might make her explode from excitement.

Monkey Cake

2008-12-16T20:27:00.000-08:00

Here is the cake I made for my daughter's 3rd birthday.

Even more taggies & another diaper bag

2008-12-16T09:34:00.000-08:00

I know I'm turning into a one trick pony around here, but I can't help myself. I love making these things. I think after the first of the year I may make a few & try to sell them on Etsy. These are actually for my Grandmother's two tea cup poodle puppies (they weigh in at 2 1/2 and 5 pounds each). She noticed they love to drag stuffed toys around by their tags & asked me to make them one. I found two different dog themed fabrics in my scrap basket, so each pup is getting their own.

The bag is Bitsy's Christmas gift. It's a baby doll diaper bag very similar to the one I made for her sister a year & a half ago. She's already tried to take it away from me, but I spirited it away to be wrapped.

election day blanket

2008-11-05T15:43:00.000-08:00

I finished this baby blanket for my friend's newborn son yesterday, Election Day. Does the fact that it's crooked have any political significance? j/k

I really need to learn some more stitches, but I'm doing well to make something usable with the little crochet that I can do.

With fall here, perhaps some of you other "hookers" and "knitters" have projects to share?

mermaid cake continued

2008-11-05T13:54:00.001-08:00

I just had to share a pic that showed what the cake looked like before it faded in the car.

So the main differences between the pattern from the site I listed in the previous post's comments and mine are that I used a 6" pan for the head instead of 8". And I used fondant for the scales instead of necco wafers. (I also used fondant for the waves, bubbles, flowers, facial features, etc. and that's brown sugar at teh bottom to look like sand).

Hannah's Mermaid cake

2008-11-05T09:09:00.001-08:00

I kept waiting for my sis to post this herself, but since she hasn't yet, I have to share it with you.
She made my daughter a mermaid cake for her 3rd birthday.

monkeying around

2008-09-05T15:28:00.000-07:00

I've begun planning for Juliana's Halloween costume. She's going to be Curious George and we're going to try to get Brett to be the Man in the Yellow Hat. I'm pretty cheap, so I've been thinking of cost-effective ways to turn Juliana into a monkey. I got her brown leggings (which she will wear under skirts in the fall anyway), and a brown shirt (also usable at other times besides the 1 day). Today I made her monkey ears out of felt and hair clips. I clipped them onto a headband so that they would be in front of our existing ears. I think I'm going to get some beige felt to put inside them too, but our little town didn't have any. She will also carry around a banana... I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a fake one. I bet they probably have one at Hobby Lobby or something. Anyhoo, here are the monkey ears (pardon J's bedhead... she just woke up. She'll be wearing loopy pigtails with her outfit.)

more cake...

2008-08-03T21:06:00.001-07:00

... I'm pretty caked out. I had some leftover supplies from the church cake and tomorrow our church is serving lunch for the teachers at a local elementary school during inservice. So I decided to decorate a small cake for the teachers to use up my supplies. (I already had the cake itself in the freezer). It won't be enough to feed them all, but I didn't officially sign up to bring anything. So it will just be a pleasant surprise in addition to whatever other people bring I guess.

Happy BIRTH-DAy dear chu-uuuurch...

2008-08-01T19:49:00.000-07:00

It's not really the church's birthday. Sunday is Homecoming at our church and I made a cake for it... a cake that is supposed to look like our church is on it. When Juliana saw the cake, she started singing happy birthday to the church :) Apparently, cakes are specifically for birthdays.

Baby Crafting

2008-07-25T06:14:00.000-07:00

It's been forever since I've gotten around to posting in here. But it is high time.
I'll confess, most of my crafting comes about because I'm cheap.
I'll look at something and think "well, I could do that for less than what they want for it". Like pacifier clips for instance. In the store they are a couple of bucks and most have characters on them. If you go on ebay or elsewhere online there are custom ones but they are also charging several bucks for just one paci-clip. So instead of purchasing one, I looked at the picture, bought some supplies and now have enough to make 10 for the price of about 3. I figure I have enough friends who are expecting right now, that I can happily share the wealth.

Here's my first Paci-clip on one of Lil-bit's outfits

I also made some wall art for her nursery. Someone - long ago posted a link to a webpage that gave instructions for making a clock out of a book. I loved the idea. Made one out of Dr.Seuss book for another friend's little girl last year. So this year I used one of my faves as inspiration for the nursery. I have my good copies of the book in the book shelf, but bought this copy used from half.com for less than 2 bucks. It was even hardback :D. I took pages out of it and framed some of the artwork. And then drilled my hole for the cover and inserted my clock works.

my 1st scarves

2008-07-10T03:34:00.000-07:00

Well, technically, they're not mine. And they're my 2nd. But the 1st came out kind of "ribbony"... the yarn worked up thicker than I expected. When we got to my SIL's house, my niece saw what I had almost completed during the 6 hour road trip, retrieved some yarn they had around the house... and the rest is history. I did mix it with some extra white I had because midwestern winters call for extra warmth. But who's thinking about winter this time of year?

Then, of course I had to make one for the other niece. So SIL hit the craft dept. at Meijer. I should have learned from my 1st (unpictured) scarf that it would not be necessary to double the yarn. And somehow it seemed to grow. I left the scarf unfinished, missing just the fringe... SIL can finish that part.

As you can see, the kitten liked them!

baby boy crochet blanket

2008-06-29T21:23:00.000-07:00

basic pattern the same as i used for previously posted blanket.
i started this one first, but finished it tonight.
good think little guy didn't decide to come REALLY early.

materials used: 2 skeins worsted weight yarn (7 oz skeins, i think), NOT doubled like i did with the two different yarns in previous blanket.
size K hook (or 10 1/2 or 6.5 mm, depending on which sizing system you are used to)
i lost track of how many hours i spent, but it was far more than the 3 hours the pattern creator said it takes her.

finally learning to crochet

2008-06-23T20:01:00.000-07:00

Some of you have seen this on my blog, but I thought this blog needed some action:

a present for Zann's baby

I'm still working on the first blanket I started, which is going to be for my little guy. Zann is due first, so I put mine aside. Now I have to get to the post office. :)

The pattern I modified is here.
I chained 100 stitches to begin and used a smaller hook, so it took more yarn and time.

Socks

2008-05-28T17:02:00.000-07:00

Just a little summer sock knitting. Additional details here.

National Scrapbook Day

2008-05-05T00:27:00.000-07:00

During the 1st weekend in May, scrapbookers around the world celebrate their hobby by participating in National Scrapbook Day. Phin and I went to an all day crop from 10-8 at our local scrapbook store, Picture Me Perfect. They had demos and gave away prizes throughout the day. In the 10 hours we were there, I created these 7 pages.

Springtime Cake

2008-05-02T14:05:00.001-07:00

This weekend in town there is a benefit for a 9 year old girl in our community. She has a rare for of cancer called Ewing's Carcinoma. this is the second time she has had it. As part of the benefit they will be having a bake sale and a cake walk. I decided to make a fun cake for them to use however they want. Here are some pics:

Bow Holder

2008-04-19T17:11:00.000-07:00

The 3 ribbons I had hanging on the back of Juliana's door were overflowing with her 70ish bows, so I decided to make a bow holder. At first I was going to use a wooden letter J, but it just wouldn't hold enough ribbons for the number of bows she has. (she wears bows all the time... always has). So this is what I came up with. I'm not really pleased with how the letters turned out, but I wasn't displeased enough to paint over them and start again.

For what it's worth, there are 13 bows doubled (to 26) for pigtails.
And I didn't go broke on them... 26 were hand made and most of the rest of them were purchased using gift money for birthdays and whatnot (and several were purchased on clearance). I just wanted to clarify that before anyone started doing the math and assumed I spent hundreds of dollars on bows. No way :) If I could afford to spend that much on bows I would have just purchased a bow holder rather than making my own for about $3 :)

Juliana's thank you card

2008-04-17T10:15:00.001-07:00

It's Taggy Madness

2008-04-14T14:21:00.002-07:00

Once I got started, I just couldn't stop!! I really should make one for my own child....1

Head Band How to

2008-03-31T10:50:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to get these instructions posted. I wrote them months ago, but decided they needed pictures. That's what's taken so long. But better late than never, I hope.

First of all, I'd like to state that this takes minimal sewing skills. If you can sew a straight line, you can make one. Fear not! It also doesn't take much fabric, so it's a good way to use up scraps.

The best way I've found to do this is to make a pattern with freezer paper first instead of trying to measure & cut out on the fabric its self.

You need one strip of fabric measuring 7 inches wide by 16 inches long (well call this one A), a second 3 inches wide & 12 inches long (and this one B), and a 6 inch strip of elastic between 2/3 of an inch and an inch wide.

On strip A fold the long sides of the fabric in 1/4 inch, then 1/4 inch again on the wrong side of the fabric so the raw edges are completely hidden. On the short ends, you only need to fold them in once as this end will be hidden. Press down & stitch down all the way around the strip. You can either use a straight stitch in a color thread that will blend in, or a contrasting thread with a zig-zag stitch. I used the zig-zag contrasting stitch for the more casual head bands.

Next, fold the short ends of Strip B down to the wrong side of the fabric, press, and stitch. Then fold the band lengthwise with right sides together, and seam along the length only (5/8 inch seam allowance). This will be the casing for the elastic. Turn right side out & press.

Take Strip A & pleat the ends together (it doesn't have to be a perfect pleat) until the end is small enough to fit into the casing for the elastic. I whip stitch the pleats closed by hand. Then secure one side of the elastic band to one end of Strip A. Thread the elastic through the casing & sew the opposite end of the elastic to the opposite end of Strip A.

Pull the casing up over the ends of Strip A & sew down each end down. Ta-da! Instant (well, not really) head band!

Juliana's Easter card

2008-03-22T12:56:00.001-07:00

Taggy Blanket

2008-03-16T05:26:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago BabyGirl & I went to a baby shower where the mother was given a small fleece blanket with tabs of ribbons running around the edges. I loved the idea since tags are the first thing that really hold a baby's attention.

I used one piece each of two contrasting fabrics (actually left overs from a swaddling blanket I made a few weeks ago, one pink cotton, one patterned baby flannel), and 5 different spools of ribbon in different colors & textures. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the two rectangles measured 17" x 20". The ribbons were cut in 5" lengths with pinking shears to prevent fraying (although next time I think I'll make the ribbons 3 1/2" to 4" long for slightly shorter tags). On the semi-solid fabric I stitched "Sweet Baby Girl" in yellow using tear away cross stitch fabric.

Then I folded the ribbons in half, and pinned them to the right side of the flannel with the loops facing the center of the fabric & the raw edges matching up with the raw edge of the fabric. Make sure you keep the ribbons at least an inch away from the corners.

Using the side of the presser foot as a guide I ran a seam as close to the raw edge of the fabric as possible. I set the needle position on my machine to sew along the far right position. On the second seam, I moved the needle to the center position but continued to use the edge of the presser foot as my guide.

I pinned the right sides of the fabrics together and seamed around the edges with a 5/8" seam leaving a hand width opening to turn the fabric. Clip the corners & turn the fabric right side out.

After whip stitching the opening shut, I pressed the edges of the blanket down flat. Finally I ran a zig-zag stitch around the outside edge of the blanket to prevent it from rolling up when washed & totally secure the ribbon tabs.

Here's the end results. As I said before, the tabs turned out a tad longer than I'd like, but I'm still very happy with the finished product. And I've found the gross grain ribbon is the easiest to work with. The satin finish snags too easily.

BabyGirl is giving it to her teacher's first grandbaby. She's very happy with it (she helped lay out the ribbon pattern).

Bunny in an egg

2008-03-15T16:26:00.002-07:00

While wandering around Wal-Mart yesterday looking for a super simple craft for BabyGirl's Spring Party at school, I thought of this.

It's ears are made of white craft foam that I cut in a petal shape. The teeth are also craft foam. I used the sticky tabs you put on the back of photos for scrapbooking to stick the craft foam to the egg since the glue wasn't drying. Two googly eyes & half a cotton ball complete the bunny.

I cut out all the foam, put the stickies on the back of the foam, and put it all inside the eggs so all I have to do is pass out the eggs.

Very easy. Very cheap. Very cute (at least I think so). Now I only hope the kids like them.

Snow time, show time

2008-03-08T15:29:00.000-08:00

When I got up this morning and saw the snow, I knew I finally had my chance to photograph two of my latest knitting projects. Details here.

Zann will so appreciate these!!!

2008-02-24T19:47:00.000-08:00

Stealthy sweetgum Ninjas!!!

My buddy, Run Mike and I were having an IM conversation about running (what else?!) and he mentioned that he turned an ankle stepping on a sweetgum ball last week. He said, “they sneak up on you like a ninja.” So, during Saturday’s run (that 6 miler!!!) my muse spoke and I came up with these!!! Sweetgum ball NINJAs!!! Heee!!!

Gel Transfer Tutorial

2008-02-17T19:51:00.001-08:00

(For Cate and anyone else who may be interested : .)

First of all, I used this link for instructions. They're quite good. If my directions are not clear, just click on the link and scroll around until you find their xfer tutorial : .)

You'll need:

1) Golden Gel Medium, my container is Soft Gel (Gloss). Any polymer acrylic medium should work.
2) A picture (color or B&W) freshly ink jet printed on regular text weight paper, or a photocopy. (Text will transfer backwards, so you probably don't want to use a picture with text that you want to read. I think text would look good as just a background tho'.)
3) The surface you are transferring to. I used cardstock, onto which I printed text and painted over the area where I wanted to transfer.
3) Paintbrush or fingers.
4) Something to burnish with, I used a bone folder and my fingers.
5) Small container of water.

Get your supplies ready.

Goop some gel medium onto the picture you want to transfer. I like to feel what I'm working with.

Make sure you have a good layer of the medium on your picture, too thin, it'll dry and not transfer; too wet and it will take forever for the transfer to dry for backing paper removal.

Burnish until it appears that the entire image has adhered to the base paper. I ended up using my fingers, its that tactile thing again. Some of the medium will probably ooze out from under the picture. Wipe it off, or leave it there...your choice. Let the piece dry to touch. If you are tempted to peel the backing layer off too early, you might be disappointed with the outcome, but sometimes that's the beauty of the transfer, the imperfectness of it all.

Start lifting a corner to see if the picture transferred. If it appears that your image has transferred, you can continue to peel off the backing paper. If some of the backing paper remains get like a half a drop of water on your finger and gently rub where the backing paper is still sticking and gently remove the extra paper. Sometimes it looks cool if you leave some on, again, your choice. Artistic license and all that! (I didn't take a photo of this step, it is in the tutorial.)

The finished product. The top picture of the three is the original, I just glued it onto the cardstock, the bottom two pictures are the gel transfers. Click on the picture to see the detail and the imperfectness of it all. (I made this at the request of the cute boy at the gym his favorite band is Sublime, however, he doesn't seem to keen to get it from me. I guess I learned a lesson here! Some people just don't appreciate the effort!) I like it, so I'm not opposed to keeping it for me.

There are other transfer methods, using clear packing tape, Dove blenders, acetone transfers, and there are the fab-o polaroid transfers. I've only tried the tape transfer. I'm kinda not interested in using toxic products, so I definitely haven't tried the acetone transfer method.

baby card

2008-02-12T14:12:00.001-08:00

I found the chipboard embellishments at the new dollar store by my house! And i finally used my crop-o-dile tool that hubby got me for Christmas.

A little cold weather knitting

2008-01-20T21:51:00.000-08:00

Cold weather means lots of television at Chez Ragged. Lots of television means lots of knitting. For more information, stop by here.

I must admit, I am in love with the socks and the hat primarily because of the yarns involved. The socks are using a yarn enhanced with jojoba and aloe, so nice to knit with. The hat is out of the softest wool ever. . . Malabrigo. I'm in love, love, love.

Santa Bebe

2008-01-13T21:02:00.001-08:00

Irresistible photo, I just had to scrap it.

This is Bebe J-J. B/4 he was Bebe J-J, he was the subject of this photo shoot and subsequently this album.

Of course creating the layout, I did not think ahead. I used all black glitter letters, which were lost as they got stuck over the photo. Luckily b/c I am such a hoarder of scrapbook supplies, I had red and black glitter letters . Removing the black stickers would tear the picture, so, I just stuck the others over. I actually consider this a quick and dirty fix to the problem, I usually tear down the entire layout, wasting untold amounts of scrap supplies. Here I only used up a few extra alpha stickers. I'm quite proud of myself!

Anywhoo, if you're interested in the supplies used, let me know and I'll list 'em!

A little January knitting

2008-01-12T17:24:00.000-08:00

A little knitting, in effort to use up my growing stash of yarns. Details can be found here.

Starbucks Card Mini Album

2008-01-06T22:07:00.000-08:00

Had to do something with all the Starbucks cards I've collected. Simple scrapbooking, just photos and some titles. The photos are monthly highlights of 2007.

Red Velvet Art Ornament Swap

2007-12-27T16:58:00.001-08:00

I forgot that MadRetz asked if I would post the ornaments I received from the Red Velvet Art ornament swap. As I always say, better late than never!!!

So, here they are! Very cool!!!

We should do this next year...A Nudge-Nudge Ornament Exchange...Draw names maybe??? I'll try to remember to bring it up in October or November. Or sooner, yeah! A Nudge-Nudge Valentine Swap???

ChAiN sTitcH

2007-12-22T21:02:00.000-08:00

Sitting here with my Dad, watching Kill Bill Vol. 2 and teaching myself how to crochet flowers. (Okay, if that isn't incongruous!) Definitely addictive, this crochet thing. I'm all ready to rush out and buy some more hooks and colorful thread. If you're interested in trying these easy flowers, here are the two patterns I used...

FlowerPower and Flower Brooch

smash cakes

2007-12-20T11:45:00.000-08:00

My friends' twins turn 1 today! I made their smash cakes for them (a.k.a.-the cake just for the birthday boy/girl to smash into). They are just the small 6" cakes. They aren't that great seeing as I had JUST enough frosting, so I had no leftover frosting to correct goofs. But they aren't completely horrible either. The twins' invitation reads, "All the kings horses and all the kings men invite you to celebrate Prince Andrew and Princess Annabella's birthdays with them!" The invitation had a picture of humpty dumpty on the wall on it. So on Andrew's cake I made a brick wall around the edges. And I tried to make Annabella's sort of look like a castle. The dark blue areas on Andrew's cake are where I accidentally dropped too much shimmer dust. (something I would have corrected if I had more frosting. oops.) You can't really tell in these pictures, but the tops of the cakes are shimmery.

What I've been up to

2007-12-20T05:26:00.000-08:00

Hey there...so I figured since I outed myself in the comments of the roll call post, I would out myself even further in the name of shameless bragging.

Some of you know that I lost my job at 8:30 in the morning the day my husband and I returned from our honeymoon this past September. It is a long, frustrating story that could be titled, "101 Reasons Not To Blog at or About Work". But we have moved past it and are getting on with our lives.

Losing my job was a huge blow, but I was able to turn lemons into lemonade...or limoncello if you will...by starting a new business all on my own, aptly titled: LimoncelloSTYLE. LimoncelloSTYLE is a company specializing in Custom Cards, Custom Invitation Suites and DIY Rescue, which I have defined here.

I have been developing my website for the past month or so and I finally went live on December 7, the day I walked into the Boston City Clerk's office and filed my Doing-Business-As certificate.
I hope you will come by to my site and check it out. My website is http://www.limoncellostyle.com/ and my blog is http://limoncello-style.blogspot.com/. It truly is a labor of love and I am really glad to have this chance to make a dream a reality.

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!!

--Miriam aka Girl

quickie x-mas tags!

2007-12-19T23:24:00.000-08:00

How many days until X-mas?! I'm so ready to rip open presents!!!

Some quickie gift tags. I didn't measure or anything, just cut the colored cardstock and lil ornaments out of old dictionary pages.

Click on the photo to see it up close and personal! : .)

Church Baby

2007-12-17T14:22:00.002-08:00

This is the second portion of my crafty endeavor. It's a church baby for Bitsy's stocking. Princess got one for HT at a craft fair last spring & I thought it was adorable. I found the instructions on line at: http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/churchbaby.html

She's made from red flannel scraps & Mary Englebright cherry scraps. I think I may name her Charlotte after Laura's doll in the Little House books. Her head could look better...but I doubt my 5 month old will mind.

I have to say, I love projects made entirely with scrap fabric.
(I'm having problems with the picture. If you can't see it, let me know.)

Head Bands

2007-12-17T13:43:00.001-08:00

Saturday I was over come by the spirit of craftiness. These are a portion of the fruits of my labor. They're head bands for my sister, Princess, for Christmas. I saw them at Wal-Mart a few weeks ago & figured I could make them myself instead.I tried it and it didn't turn out quite the way I'd like, so I went back & bought one (the black & white hounds tooth is from Wal-Mart). I used that one to make a pattern, dug out all my scrap fabric, and cranked out the other four. I hope she likes them. I wear mine constantly!

And in case you're wondering, no, the two purple ones are not made from dupioni silk. They're actually polyester made to look like silk. Left overs from my bridesmaid dress from my best friend's wedding last spring (you may remember it if you read my blog). The one with flames matches a blanket I made Princess when she was pregnant with my nephew, and the Elvis band (green polka-dotted) matches the diaper bag Art had made for her. The Elvis band is reversible. If anyone wants instructions, let me know & I'll post them.

Getting a little crafty. . .

2007-12-13T17:33:00.001-08:00

I was so very inspired by Madretz's button tree. My version using vintage buttons is included here.

Somewhere on the internet, I spied a mobile/wind chime made using an embroidery hoop and cookie cutters. This is my take on it. I used embroidered ribbon, star cookie cutters, an inexpensive hoop and a ring at the top.

I suspect these are the only non-knitted items I have posted here.

A little Christmas Twinkle, anyone?

2007-12-12T19:57:00.001-08:00

I only wish I'd made this myself. It was a gift from my dad's co-worker. He and his wife make them. It's a glass block (the kind you get at the home improvement stores for remodeling bathrooms) with a hole drilled in the back. White twinkle lights are strung through the back (I think it's a short strand) and the bow is made with wired ribbon so you can re-fluff it every year.

Christmas Card

2007-12-12T06:48:00.000-08:00

I suppose that since most of our cards are sent out, I can share our Christmas Card pic now (with last name blotted out).

Birthday Cake

2007-12-07T13:10:00.000-08:00

Edited to change out the old pics for better pics.
Here is Juliana's birthday cake for her party tomorrow. The green didn't turn out as limey as I wanted... I forgot that the fondant color gets darker in the fridge. The cake and fondant caused their problems, but decorations will cover a multitude of errors :)

Button Tree

2007-12-05T16:30:00.001-08:00

Here's another fun crafting project that I just finished today. I originally saw the idea here, which led me to this post that gives amazing instructions and an amazing photo of her tree. Go there if you really want to be inspired to make one. It took about 400+ buttons, 400+ pins and about 1.5 hours while watching tv. This is our only Christmas tree this year, small but I love it. And so does the husband.

Peppermint Patty Ornaments

2007-12-02T22:23:00.001-08:00

Here's a real quick and easy ornament:It's a treat and an ornament all in one.

This is what you'll need:blue and white paper. some small peppermint patties. a glue stick. ribbon, about 5" per patty. a snowflake punch (or snowflake stickers). a 2" scallop circle punch. Substitute whatever supplies you have to make it work for you. Do red circles and green trees. Make birthday favors with cakes or flowers.

Put glue on the peppermint patty wrapper, stick on the ribbon, stick on the circle. Repeat on the other side. Glue on the snowflake.
Make s slew of 'em and attach them to your christmas packages. Or hand them out at parties. Or give them to your kid's class. Feeling motivated? Make 'em next year for Halloween. A great project for kids, too.

PS: the local crafters mall was selling these for $1.99 each.

the selective accuracy of toddler speech is amusing.

2007-11-28T11:57:00.000-08:00

I could give you a gazillion examples of things that Juliana says. But what cracks me up is how sometimes she can say words completely accurately, and other times she still says it in toddlerese. For example, she may know a lot of words in a song, but when she sings it she slurs it all together. And when Juliana says "all cween" for all clean. That's pretty close. But when she sings the clean up song she sings "E up". Why not cween up? And she calls play-doh "toe-toe". I'll say, "Can you say Play?". She'll say "play". "Can you say doh?" "Doh". "Can you say Play-doh?" "Toe-toe". I just don't get it. :) hee hee.

sort of crafty

2007-11-27T07:23:00.000-08:00

This isn't entirely crafty since I didn't make the whole thing myself. The wreath already had the pine cones and berries on it when I bought it, but I added the poinsettas and the ribbon.

Ornament Swap!

2007-11-25T21:23:00.001-08:00

Some ornaments I made for a swap sponsored by Red Velvet Art. The mission was to create (at least 50%) handmade ornaments to send to 3 other participants we were matched with. I think their Flickr account is also Red Velvet Art if you'd like to see some of the other ornaments. They're due to be shipped by December 1, so I'm sure more will be posted.

Oh, I should show you these too. Since Starbucks is switching to the printed packaging for their coffee, they've been using the old coffee labels to cover the holes in the cup lids so you don't spill on yourself transporting your beverage. I've been hording 3 each time they put a new roll on the bar where they serve the drinks. I got this brainstorm to make ornaments out of some of 'em, adding tassels and beads. Kinda goofy, but kinda cool too, hee!!! : .)

I posted a couple of cards on my mini art card blog a skosh more and a few scrapbook layouts on my main blog.

I hope Y'all had a great Thanksgiving weekend!

Thanksgiving Card

2007-11-19T21:55:00.000-08:00

I made this a few years ago but still love the idea so I wanted to share.
The card says: "Count your many Blessings and name them one by one...". I made this basket from a rubber stamp, the handles move independently and are attached by brads. In the basket are all my blessings:
Listed on individual pieces of paper so they can be pulled out and counted 'one by one'.

Can we do a roll call?

2007-11-19T19:03:00.001-08:00

I don't know anyone besides my sister (I think), and you all say such nice things. Can everyone post a brief description of yourself so I kind of know who I'm talking to?
I'm Becca, 25. My DH is a youth pastor. My daughter will be 2 in December. I'm Lauren's little sister. I like crafty things, particularly those that involve doctoring up photos.

Bitten by the Bow Bug

2007-11-19T12:26:00.000-08:00

For some reason I got in the mood to make some hair bows today. I don't usually get in that mood. Although I love hair bows for Juliana (there's no such thing as having too many) and I usually like the end result when I make the bows, my OCD tendency to want everything to be perfectly symmetrical aggravates me fairly early on in the bow-making process. If you've ever made a bow, you know that exact symmetry is nearly impossible. But alas, with leftover ribbon from card making and scrap-booking (and with the extra clips my sis so kindly gave me), here are the bows that were created today. I have a tendency to want to make 2 of everything in case she needs pigtail bows that match. I stopped at 1 with the Christmas bow (she already has 2 matching corker Christmas bows). The ribbon for the Christmas bow is what I'm using on our Christmas cards. Consider it a sneak peek :) Although the bow on our cards will be much simpler.

One page done.... MANY more to go

2007-11-15T07:30:00.000-08:00

I finally decided to scrap the pages I am inspired to do with the photos I have already printed and put them in chronological order later. I was stuck on thinking I had to do it in "order".. but silly me, that's the beauty of movable pages!

Yet another hat

2007-11-14T19:49:00.000-08:00

I don't know what it is about me and toboggans* I rarely wear them but I do like to make them and own them. Here's my newest creation. This one is made of fleece. Very comfy and warm.
I saw something like it at a store in Jonesborough.. and thought to myself "I could make one of those for a lot less". And so I did. $10 dollars saved.

*I realize that in many places a toboggan is a kind of sled, trust me.. DH's grandmother looked at me like I was crazy when I said he had forgotten to wear his. And in our ongoing battle of whether it is a hat or sled, he did prove to me that by dictionary definition it is a sled. But where I grew up we wore toboggans and they kept your head warm, and I refuse to give up the term. So there :P.

Juliana's 2nd Birthday Invitations

2007-11-13T09:51:00.001-08:00

I suppose that since I've sent them out I can now post Juliana's invitations (with blurred contact information):
In case you can't read it, the trail following the butterfly and says: 'With love and laughs the time, it flew. Now sweet Juliana is turning 2'

Birthday Tutu

2007-11-13T05:45:00.000-08:00

This isn't my own handiwork. It's from the talented Dallas. She's a work at home mother of 2 and her business is Miss Priss Tutus. I specially requested this tutu for Juliana to wear at her birthday party next month. (Of course, she'll wear it for other fun too). Dallas made it according to my color request (pink and green with a splash of purple) and here is the pic she took of it for my approval. You have got to check out her site and see some other pics... they are just too stinkin' cute! Especially the infant tutus :) They are even more adorable when you actually see them ON the kiddos. I just had to share!

I'm Glad Zann Said "Better Late Than Never"

2007-11-09T16:59:00.000-08:00

Cake I made for grandson's birthday. The army figures and cans and barb wire were on loan from his big brother. I covered the bottoms of the figures with saran wrap just in case they had anything unhealthy in the paint.

Cake for niece's baby shower. Farm theme. Fisher Price Little People Cake Decorations. They came with plastic to keep them from touching the cake.

Late is better than never.

2007-11-09T09:09:00.000-08:00

We made Creep Cakes on Halloween. With a group of (yes adult) friends.
I thought they turned out nice. You can see a bit of each of our personalities in the way we decorated our goulish treats. 10 points to anyone who can guess mine.

ooh... I just noticedd another newbie!

2007-11-07T10:14:00.001-08:00

Welcome Steph from {Olive Tree}. I met Steph IRL a couple of years ago, and then stumbled upon her blog, and we've become blogging buddies. She is full of all sorts of creative talent. She posts a lot of her creations on her blogs, and it will be fun to see some of her work here, too.

Does this count as art?

2007-11-05T12:52:00.000-08:00

I like to think it does.....
even if I didn't technically create any of it, just cut the flowers and stuck them in a bowl.

no more plagiarizing for me...

2007-10-31T08:50:00.000-07:00

Now that my sis has joined us, it looks like I will have to post my own creations. :-) Glad you're here, Bec!

Recent Craftings

2007-10-31T08:23:00.001-07:00

Here is my spider hat I knitted, which I wore to a costume party last Saturday:

Full Costume:

And Further Embracing the Sweetgum Tree
I was helping my co-worker who is a girl-scout leader come up with some nature-type crafts that her first graders could make out of Sweetgum balls. And here is what I came up with. A Christmas Tree, A poinsettia, A wreath, A mouse, and snowman or bobble.

Crafty Kiddo Ideas

2007-10-31T06:58:00.001-07:00

Here are some things we had for J's preschool Halloween party yesterday:
-edible spiders
-mummy muffins
-tootsie pop ghost
-ghost foot print
-pumpkin thumb prints

Toilet Paper pumpkin

2007-10-29T14:25:00.000-07:00

I cannot take credit for this in the slightest. BabyGirl brought it home from school today & I had to share it. It's too cute to keep secret!

As far as I can tell you take a roll of toilet paper and set it on a piece of orange cloth. Bring the cloth up the sides of the roll & tuck the cloth into the top of the toilet paper roll. Then a piece of brown paper is rolled up and stuck in the top to make the stem with green pipe cleaner for the vine & a green felt leaf. The yellow spider is a ring.

I wish I'd have thought of this!!

Halloween Cards

2007-10-28T21:54:00.001-07:00

I ended up making 3 different Halloween cards this year.
This is the first one I made. I got the broom pattern from a magazine, but it'd be easy enough to sketch yourself. I used swirly rubber stamps to create the sweeping bristles, a bit of red waxed linen and some embossed scrapbook paper for the background. Printed the saying "Wishing you a bewitching Halloween" inside. I started making these in September and thought 18 would be enough but turned out I needed about 18 more.

So I decided to make this one:
And it looks pretty simple, but it was a very time consuming card because I had to dry emboss the bats then sand them to get the white to show through. I made the swirly embossing on the purple paper with a cuttlebug. I only made 3 of these.

So after I started getting batty with the bats, I switched over to this tri-fold card.
Super easy: take an 11"x 4.25" piece of cardstock and fold it in half. Measure 2" for each of the 2 folds and cut and discard the remaining 1.5". Measure out a rectangle to glue on top of the top fold - whatever size, I eyeballed it and think it came to about 3.5" x 2.5"-ish. That's it.

Wishing you all a fun, scary and safe Halloween!

I'm still sending out a call to everyone to post your fun autumn creations. Thanks to everyone who's played! It's great having more activity here!! Once again, if you know anyone who'd like to join our little nudges towards creativity, please just have them leave a comment in any of the posts with their interest and I'll pop them an invitation!

more of my sister's creativity

2007-10-28T11:32:00.001-07:00

My younger sis really outdid herself on my daughter's birthday cake.
I just about cried when I saw how cute it was
and thought about how much work it took to design and make.

It was yummy, too. White cake with butter cream frosting.
The black dye had a hint of licorice taste to it, but not too strong.

Baby Bear loved it.

Calix

2007-10-22T16:31:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!!!

Recognize this skelli? I think it needs a Jack Skellington smile. Acrylic heart with rinestone and feather wings.

Sorry to not be much more creative in my writing, I feel horrible. Serious allergy attack going on, meds not working, tissue stuffed up running nose (great visual, huh?!), sinus headache, sore throat, cramps (sorry, TMI, huh?), not to mention the town I mostly grew up in was evacuated this am b/c of the So. California fires. Very worried about all of my friends.

Autumn Socks

2007-10-22T09:20:00.001-07:00

Because Madretz asked so very nicely:

Rain King Socks*

Pattern from: Standard 72 stitch cast-on socks

Yarn: Trekking 161

Needles: Size 1 Addis (Magic Loop Method)

Completed: October 13 and October 21, 2007

*Named for a Counting Crows song that we sang while we travelled and I knitted these socks.

Follow me to...

2007-10-22T02:14:00.000-07:00

a skosh more. Also to trying to grab some happy for more art.

Mostly b/c I'm too lazy to post in two places and also since I feel ick and its 2:14 am and I can't sleep b/c I can't breathe. I think I'll stay home from work tomorrow.

my sister's pumpkin cake

2007-10-15T11:01:00.001-07:00

My sis made her own birthday cake....

she wanted to see which type of chocolate mix she liked better, so she used two different kinds. Doesn't it look sweet?

The stem is an ice-cream cone.
The frosting is a Wilton recipe butter cream which she whipped up from scratch.

The cake is actually two bundt cakes.

Hopefully she'll forgive me for sharing HER creativity. But I thought I'd continue nudging. ;->

Sandi the skeleton

2007-10-10T20:16:00.000-07:00

Firstly, I'd like to thank A Wandering Heart for the nudge towards creativity! I think we all need more nudges here, it's been waaay too quiet!

A Wandering Heart just recently joined us in our creative adventures. Welcome aboard!!! If any of you know anyone else who would like to join our group so they can share their artistic, crafty and creative creations, please have them just leave a comment in any of the posts with their request and either I or Nan/Cate will send them an invitation. The more nudges in creativity we have, the more we'll post our own creations and that'll inspire all of us to do more, too. And thanks to Zann for asking her to join us, whoo hooo Zann!!

With that said, here's my little halloween creation.
I made her last year, completely and totally inspired and copied from Elsie Flannigan's creation.

Now here's my shout out to Each and Every one of you - show us your fun fall creations!! Even if it's from the past, we wanna see 'em!

This might be double exposure for some of you...

2007-10-09T18:54:00.000-07:00

The cornucopia and its fillings came from the dollar tree.... it was easy, and I wanted something to adorn my door without spending my daughter's life savings.

I also refuse to spend my daughter's college savings on hair bows. I found the ribbon and dragonflies at wal-mart and hot glued them to alligator clips from Sally Beauty Supply.

If I ever get back into scrapbooking, or teach myself to crochet, I may have more contributions to this blog. In the meantime, I'm joining Zann in nudging the rest of you to post some of your Fall creations.

Further Embracing the Sweetgum Tree

2007-10-05T09:49:00.000-07:00

This place needed something posted to it, so I thought I'd show you the Christmas garland I've been working on, using - what else? The sweetgum balls off our tree in the front yard. I like how rustic it looks.

Bean Brainstorming

2007-07-17T15:25:00.000-07:00

Eliza's friend Sarah spent the day with her today, and they wandered outside on the porch where I was breaking beans. They were fascinated with the beans and wanted to help. The beans with the strings are, I think, theirs. I was thoroughly entertained and the time flew by. They began holding them up and seeing what they reminded them of. It was fun. I enjoyed every minute of it.

The Beans That Started the Thing

2007-07-17T15:20:00.000-07:00

Sarah thought this one looked like a crescent moon. Eliza turned it and made a moustache, then dropped it down into a frown, one more turn and she had a smile. I thought it looked like a clipping from the Green Giant's toenail.

s-s-s-s-snake in the beanpatch

Elvis impersonator

Beanie Baby

More Beans

2007-07-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

Casper the Friendly Bean

Unzipped Bean

Beanie Baby

I haven't got a clue on this one. The girls called it "C", but I think it has more potential than that. What do you think?

hee, hee, hee!

2007-07-08T17:56:00.001-07:00

Timeout for Art, cover for my art journal. Somehow my Gnome got turned around in his corner, it was a classic Kodak moment. It made me think of all the timeouts I "endured" as a kid. Five minutes is for-ever. Acrylic paint spatters, decopodged music tissue, flower punches, doodling.

Bannie photo. I don't think you can see the glitter accents on the flowers. I cut the flowers from coordinating paper.

Wonky scan. Fatty buttons. One of my friends calls me "RG" or "Running Goddess" and another asked me what my superhero moniker is so I came up with "Death Girl Running Goddess" because my alter-ego is ever so goth : .) I hope I don't have to change it to something like "Aquajoggingdeathgirlpowerwaternymph" because that is a mouthful.
Aren't the tiny graphics (owl, heart, circle, apple) just too cute?! They're rub-ons.

Disneyland 2007 layouts. They're 12X12 so I had to take pixs and crop (poorly) because I don't know how to stitch if I scanned 'em. The castle is the title page, the other two face each other. Yeah, I hand cut all the letters and the castle, which was lifted from a Euro-Disney Fantasyland pix on Google images. I had originally paper pieced Tink in a red outfit, to go with the color theme of the two facing pages, but I didn't like her expression. I ended up buying Jolee's Boutique stickers. I used chalk on the castle. The large Mickey icon heads are hand cut, the small ones on the castle are punched, as are the triangles & * The smallest icon heads are eyelets I bought @ Disneyland. The parens and the tiny titles in red/black/yellow are stickers.

I obviously can't decide what style I should follow, sloppy-grungy, cutesy, or graphic. I really like 'em all!!!

P.S. Ny - I tried doing the pastel challenge. I could only manage "brite" pastels.

Simple elegance

2007-07-03T21:51:00.001-07:00

This is the card I just made for the wedding we're going to this weekend. Quick and easy, but the best part is that I got to use the paper crafting tools I've been collecting lately. Like the Cuttlebug, which uses an embossing plate to create the blue background with the embossed flowers. And my 3" scallop punch. Scallops are totally trendy right now so I better get my usage out of it before they're out of style again. lol.

Skully Love and Coffee Beans Cha, Cha, Cha

2007-07-02T21:27:00.000-07:00

Skully Love was inspired by the set design in Avril Lavigne’s song/video Girlfriend on YouTube. As for the collage, I horde pamphlets from the condiment sideboard @ Starbucks. I had to do something with 'em. I also used decorative paper, a paint chip sample, stamps and punches.

Here they are...

2007-06-29T10:57:00.000-07:00

This morning I took my box of invitations to the 24 hour post office in Boston. I walked up to the desk and my palms were sweating and my hands were shaking. The clerk admired my stamps and the address design, put them in a tray next to her station and said she would personally hand cancel them herself. When each guest receives theirs, here is what they will experience:

The outer envelope (minus the stamps because I took this picture before I had them)

The inner envelope...TF hand addressed the inner envelopes. Notice our embossed monogram on the flap.

A close up of the monogram on the flap.

Opening up the inner envelope

The invitation

Response card, envelope and map insert on the left, invitation on the right

The back of the invitation also has our monogram embossed on it, just behind the 'Reception to Follow' text on the inside.

Close up of the response card and envelope...notice the embossed return address on the envelope. That was also on the back flap of the outer envelopes.

Wilshire Graphics Press also made us a stamp of our address so I could stamp it on the response envelopes in silver ink, instead of having to write them all out.

I can not even begin to tell you how wonderful it feels to have these out the door. I have been working on them since November!! That is when I first finalized the design and ordered the paper. The save the dates were cut from the same card stock as the pocket folders and they went out January 2, which is part of why I have been working on them for so long.

I can't wait to start getting official responses back!!

(and well, now you know my name :)

Trying Again to Get the Pictures to Show Up!

2007-06-27T14:43:00.000-07:00

Wedding Cake Topper

2007-06-25T16:54:00.000-07:00

The base is a wooden oval from Lowes that I spray painted white. The figures, grass, and flowers are made from polymer clay.

I began with aluminum foil over wire armatures, then covered it with Super Sculpy for the first baking. (I left wire extending from the feet so that I could attach them later to the base with a staple gun.)

I added colored sculpy for the suit, dress, hat, hair, etc., then baked again. (A pasta press will make the clay flat to use to cover the plain sculpy). I attached them to the base, and baked again. Then I added the grass, flowers, and his arm around her shoulder and baked again. Lastly, I glued on the pearls.

That Look and Other Inspiration

2007-06-17T16:47:00.000-07:00

My back is screaming from sitting on the floor, but I couldn't let go until I finished this work. My soul sista served as my inspiration for this weekend's layouts. I have all these great photos of Grilfiend. Finally played with the pixs and came up with these pages. The layouts scanned a bit dark, so click on the photos to get a better look at the details. I sewed the seed beads on the flowers, painted the swirly chipboard with sparkly black acrylic paint, stamped the winged heart on acetate, the background paper was purchased.

Shot of MadRetz's earring(s) she bot at the Maker Faire. I took it with her camera and edited it in iPhoto. I like her contented smile.

I took this pix while we were playing in Sausalito. You can rent bicycles and cruise around town. I suggested we do that, then Mad could buy a mountain bike and I'd have a partner for all those trail rides I want to do. I got "the Look" haha!!! I'm thinkin' I got the eyebrow raise too, but you can't tell with the stunnah shades on! Can you tell that she wasn't hip on the idea?

I printed the "YOU" in 325 point Impact font, then cut them out of black cardstock. I printed the other text on a manilla folder, but now it dawns on me I could have done that for the larger letters, instead of mounting the cut outs on the manilla, sheesh! Could have saved myself a bunch of time! The background paper, arrow and star are all the same line of scrapbook papers.

So much fun!!!

Ice Cream is King and so are Philettante Mochas!

2007-06-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

A couple of layouts I completed last weekend...

I think the ice cream quote on this one says it all.

As for the backstory on this layout...MadRetz and I started stalking this kid, uh, I mean, we would go to Tully's hoping that Phil would be working... Anyway, this adorable boy with a sweet smile that would rock any teenage girl's world, made these wonderful dilettante mochas, dark chocolate goodness for Mad and I to imbibe before our stamp club meetings. It was a highlight of the evening to be helped by Phil.

One day it dawned on me that I could be his mom, that I'd probably like and be really good friends with his parents, that he was probably the same age as my best friend's son, and because of other distractions, we stopped going to that particular coffee shop.

Anyway, this is my memento to those fun moments : .)

Dilettante became Philettante and the lyrics are from the song "Taylor the Latte Boy" as sung by Kristen Chenoweth. Click on the photo to see the text of the email.

Doll Diaper Bag

2007-06-05T20:34:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is BabyGirl's 6th birthday. She wanted stuff for her baby dolls since Bitsy is coming (they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery). I picked up some doll clothes & a bottle set at the store last week and wanted to get her a diaper bag for her babies. The only ones Wal-Mart carried were made of clear plastic & I knew they would be very short lived at our house.

Tonight I decided (at 5 pm) that I would just make her one. I also made her a tiny burp cloth to match (that's it hanging over the side of the bag). I am proud of this project for the following reasons: 1. I had no pattern, so I made one. 2. It's made entirely out of scrap material left over from a baby blanket I made a few years back. 3. It's sort of quilted & I've never done that before.

I hope she likes it!

Flying Hearts

2007-06-03T13:40:00.000-07:00

Basic Grey papers, Hambly rub-ons, miscellaneous charms. I'm thinking it needs a black frame tho'.

Cookie Eatin Hat

2007-05-15T19:43:00.000-07:00

I've been all about being crafty recently it seems. But I saw a hat like this somewhere and decided I had to have it. My intentions for learning to knit this year were just so I could have this hat. And so I have done it. I have made my cookie monster hat. Now... I just need to figure out where I can wear it.

Embracing the Sweetgum tree part 2

2007-05-09T10:54:00.000-07:00

So this year I have made it a point to try to get to a point where I like the sweetgum tree that drops spiney little balls all over our front yard. After reading up on the tree and realizing that they only bear these spiney little fruits after they've reached the ripe ol age of 20 years, and the fact that it is our only source of shade in the front yard... I have decided that I need to just fall in love with the tree and find a use for the balls. So I've gotten crafty. You saw the spiders from Halloween. This so far I've made a

Sweetgum ball Christmas Tree centerpiece

and a few Sweetgum ball Puffer Fish Ornaments

I wonder if these would sell? There are just so many Sweetgum items one person can have in their own household, and I've a feeling I will be getting close to my limit by the end of the year. But the tree just keeps producing more balls. More sweetgum art to come.

z

Girlfriend and Johanna

2007-04-21T21:40:00.000-07:00

Ny and Johanna. Layout for Ny's b-day this week.

Favors

2007-04-13T08:04:00.001-07:00

I just posted this over at my site...but I figured I would put it here too...
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So, I am throwing all caution to the wind and I have decided to share my first initial with you, and TF's first and last initials. I am doing this, because I started making my wedding favors last night and I am so darn excited about them that I want to share, but they involve our monogram.

When I first started thinking about favors, I knew I wanted to give something that would last rather than be eaten up in an instant like candy. I also didn't want to give out something that would just take up room in people's junk drawers until it was unceremoniously thrown out in a few months, years or decades.

I had seen some beautiful apothecary bottles with cork stops that were filled with sand and shells, and I thought that would be a really pretty thing to have at our wedding because they go with the coastal theme and they would also look nice on the tables and could add to the decor. However, the bottles were pretty expensive and I couldn't really figure out what people would do with them once they got them home. It seemed a bit to tsotchke-esque for what we were going for.

About a week after TF and I were engaged, Laura and I were in a Michael's near where I used to live and we saw square glass ornaments on sale. They were 4 for $2.99! It dawned on me that I could still give our guests the sand and the sea like I wanted to, but instead of having them in the apothecary bottles that would just sit around the house, we could make ornaments for them to have to put on their trees at Christmas (if they feel like it)...This made more and more sense as I considered that I have always tried to collect an ornament from places that I visit so that I can have a small memento to remember what I was doing that won't clutter up the house, but that I can take out once a year and appreciate. Also, when TF and I met each other's parents for the first time it was around the holidays and when I got to his parents house they were putting up the tree. His mom had two clear plastic boxes filled with ornaments that TF and his brother had received every year since they were kids that all had something to do with what they had done during the year. It is a tradition that they still do to this day...So we grabbed up as many as we could and I took them home until it was time to figure out what exactly to do with them.

A couple of months ago, I discovered this site, www.cyberislandshops.com when I was flipping through my Coastal Living magazine. I was able to find shells tiny enough to fit into the opening of the ornament in bulk. I bought four bags for $9.99 each, but I will mostly likely only use a little more than one for the ornaments; the rest I will use for the centerpieces.

When I was filling the ornaments with sand, I realized that they became very heavy, very quickly, so I decided only to put a little bit of sand in and some of the shells. But the ornaments ended up looking a little skimpy, so I thought maybe I could put a piece of paper (that coordinates with the invitations) inside them with our monogram on the front and the date of our wedding on the back. Getting the piece of paper in the ornament proved to be a bit of a challenge, but I think I have figured it out. Of course, I say that on the beginning end of making 125 ornaments!! Once I got the paper in the ornament, I decided that since you can't see the back of the paper that well, I might as well put the date on the front, along with the monogram, so for future ornaments, I will be doing that. It also cuts down on the number of pieces of paper that are glued to each other that I have to get into the ornament and then uncurl.

Anyway, I am sure I have bored you enough, so without further ado...here is the example ornament that I made to base all of the rest off of. You can see that there is a blue ribbon at the top to tie it with. The second picture shows the ornament sitting next to all of the paper pieces that I put together last night in preparation for making the rest of them. The final ornaments will also have a bit different sand in them. I am going to use concrete mix because it looks more like beach sand than the craft sand that I used in the example.

Name Plates

2007-04-12T17:38:00.000-07:00

Farmwife's nameplates mentioned in her blog. All pertinent information removed.

Anyone else want to commission me ;)

Hand Lilies

2007-04-08T19:40:00.000-07:00

Here's another easy, cheap project to do with the kids. Lilies made from hand prints. We made them with the pre-k class in VBS last summer and I borrowed the idea today for our Easter project at church. We made this bunch to give to the Queen Mother as an early Mother's Day gift.

Trace and cut out hand prints.
Make small loop with one end of the pipe cleaner and glue to palm of hand print.
Cut out leaf shapes, wrap around pipe cleaner and glue down (I use clothes pins to hold them in place until the glue dries).
Once all glue is dry, wrap hand print around pipe cleaner loop and tape or glue together.
Gently roll fingers back to make petals.

That's it. Simple. Cute. Enjoy.