Saturday, December 11, 2010

Oh Christmas Trees!

Alas, our Christmas tree is not up yet. This inspired my to create a whole forest of miniature fabric trees. Not quite the same thing, but very fun, nonetheless. Some of these are for gifts and others will be for sale on in my Artfire shop.

Exciting things have been happening here. I got a new computer. I went from a pc to a mac. So, if there are any mistakes in this post, it's the computer's fault. I'm still figuring out where everything is.


Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Puffy Magic Purse

November is birthday month at my house. My daughters were born exactly 3 years apart minus three days. It is always fun to make them something for their birthdays. My oldest has been using a very sad looking small tote bag as a purse. So I thought she might like a new purse. I got the inspiration from this tutorial. The denim is heavy enough that it doesn't need interfacing.
If you're wondering why it is magic. . . I've used a metal tape measure for the top closure. Very simple actually. You make a casing, leaving an opening to put the tape measure in. Stitch the casing vertically where the side seam is. This keeps each piece of the tape measure on its side of the bag. Cut 2 pieces of the tape measure about 1" less than one side of the casing. You can use regular scissors for this. Though I don't recommend using your good sewing shears. Round the ends and cover with a piece of masking tape. Thread each piece into the casing. Sew opening closed and stitch the other side of the casing vertically on the side seam. If you use a dollar store tape measure, double it.
This is a close up of the hardware. I've used split rings to attach the straps and D rings to make the strap adjustable. If you're wondering why split rings. I have a lot of them. They seem to have magically appeared in my studio, as most of my supplies do.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Cute Hedgehogs



The patterns for these cuties came from my Japanese craft book collection. The background fabrics are Japanese also.

Monday, September 13, 2010

In the Doghouse

If doghouses were this cute, it might not be such a bad place to be. Of course, this particular doghouse is a bit on the wee side. Scotty, who is made from a wool blend felt, is only one and a half inches long and fits perfectly inside.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Hedgehog Cupcakes: A mini how-to

My daughter loves hedgehogs. While she was on a trip to So Cal a friend bought her a hedgehog cupcake from a bakery. So, of course, when she came home she had to make hedgehog cupcakes.
Yummy and cute! They are easy enough to make with your kids.

You will need: caramels, mini chocolate chips, confetti sprinkles, sliced almonds, toasted coconut, chocolate frosting and cupcakes.
  1. Frost a cupcake with chocolate frosting. Don't skimp, you need the frosting to hold the head and the coconut on.
  2. Top cupcake with toasted coconut. Gently press into frosting or your hedgehog will shed.
  3. Form a caramel into a cone for the head. Press well into the frosting.
  4. Attach mini chocolate chips with a dab of frosting for eyes. You can put a little bit of frosting in a zip lock baggie and snip a tiny hole in the corner to make small dabs to attach eyes and noses.
  5. Attach a small confetti sprinkle with a dab of frosting for the nose.
  6. Add sliced almonds just behind the head for ears.
  7. Admire your little creation before devouring.
Very yummy, very cute!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

The Wedding Quilt

It looks better in real life. This is a quilt I made in less than 3 weeks for a wedding present. It measures about 60"x60" and is quilted with a double wedding ring pattern. While it's not a complicated pattern, the color is very pleasing to the eye. My family was rather sad that I gave it away. So was I. We really liked it.I always have mixed feelings about giving this sort of a present. I'm never sure the recipients fully appreciate what it takes to put together a gift like this. My immediate family on the other hand, actually see first hand what it takes and absolutely love to get one of my quilts as a gift. In fact, they often ask who's it for in hopes I'll say it's for them.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Spring Quilt

This is a quilt I started several years ago. Finally finished it. It really doesn't look anything like the quilts I've made recently. All my friends pointed this out. Let's just consider it one of my "vintage" quilts. The pictures really don't do it justice. It is very floral. It looks like a field of mixed wild flowers. The picture below shows some of the detail. Even it doesn't really capture the essence of the quilt.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Going Animal Crackers

I realize it's been a while since my last post. Rest assured it's not because I haven't been sewing and crafting. Rather the opposite. I've been so busy...I can't keep up. I will start posting more now that I've taken pictures of all the current projects.

I'm on a bit of a mini box fad. It all started with those matchboxes. They are very addictive to make and have so much potential. Anyway I was doing a swap for swap-bot which is how I came up with this elephant and his animal cracker box. The box is two inches long by one and a quarter inches tall. Animal cracker boxes are fun to begin with. But miniaturize it and it's more fun. Of course, the mini size doesn't have any cookies in the box but that also means no calories. Thus the mini version is a no calorie treat.

This brings me to another version of animal crackers. Williams-Sonoma, a couple of months ago, had animal cracker cookie cutters which my daughter bought. They made the cutest tastiest cookies. Which, in spite of having calories attached to them, didn't last long. Unfortunately those cookie cutters are sold out.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Playing with Matchboxes Two

This is another matchbox with it's inhabitant, Scottie. Decorating matchboxes is rather addictive. So is making the tiny stuffies to go inside. I made it for a swap-bot swap.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Spring is for the Birds - Um Bird Puppets


Well it has been a while since I last posted an entry. It was a very busy month; spring breaks, spring cleaning the studio, projects and more projects. Spring cleaning the studio was wonderful. There is only one pile left on the floor. The surfaces, of course, are still cluttered with unfinished projects. In spite of the many projects unfinished, there were a lot of finished ones; a quilt, two sundresses, seven mini bird puppets and a few other misc. projects. The pictures are of the bird puppets. They are similar to the large one in my earlier post but much smaller. They were very fun to make. Just about the time we decided to make these my friend gave me some vintage craft supplies that had belonged to her mother-in-law. The beads were in that treasure trove as well as some vintage glitter. I'm looking forward to using that glitter. I realize these puppets look like toys for a children but not a chance. Adults think they are way to much fun. Anyway, I'm thinking about doing a tutorial on how to make them.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Playing with Matchboxes




Decorating matchboxes is almost as dangerous as playing with matches. It sparks the creativity. They are both made from small matchboxes. The first one was for a matchbox bed and creature inside. I couldn't resist making the matchbox look like a bed. Of course if the mermaid wants she can also sleep inside.

The second idea came from The Tiny Traveling Doll's House. The recipient of this matchbox likes elephants. So of course I made an elephant to fit inside. The elephant in the room, literally. These were very fun to make.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

A Little Bird

January seems to be bird themed. The inspiration for this bird came from a very cute piece of Japanese fabric I bought recently. This silly looking bird is about 4" tall and his feet are made from paper clips. My daughter got me a wigjig for Christmas. I think she was hoping I'd make jewelry with it. It worked great for bird feet.

In case you're wondering why the very long gap in posts. First it was Christmas. I made at least 20 different batches of cookies in a very few days time. Then there was the few presents I made. I wasn't able to photograph them. There just wasn't enough time. Then just a couple of weeks ago my computer got a virus that took out windows. I'm still recovering data from the other drive. In fact, I just retrieved my pictures a couple of days ago. I hope that never happens again. It is very inconvenient.

For the new year, I have quite a list of projects. I'm looking forward to sharing them here. Blogging about my finished projects really helps to keep me inspired.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

What A Cute Bird!

It was a dark and stormy night. No, it really was. That is except for the flashes of lightening. This explains the bad picture. My daughter and I made bird puppets this last weekend. I had to hurry up and do a photo shoot before he was whisked off to his new home, the physics dept. at the local university. He's quite popular with the staff. Rocket scientists seem to like cute fuzzy things. At three feet tall, Schroeder, makes quite an impression. Not only that, his head bobs just enough to make him look very nonchalant when he's walking. In this picture he is standing on the bed (bad bird) and looking back towards his tail. Of course, with that cute face what's not to love.