Have a Spooky Halloween!

I'm almost finished with a new project, but until I can get it posted, I decided to write something real quick. I had been wanting a recipe box for a long time. The loose pieces of paper with half-legible scribbles of recipes on them were finally getting on my nerves. So when my husband asked what I wanted for my birthday I told him exactly what I wanted, an old tin recipe box. And guess what! He got onto Etsy.com and found one for just four dollars! Some of the shops that only sell vintage have quite the cheap collection. I was so excited when I got it in the mail. I think the best part is that he picked out a pretty one all by himself. It has certainly grown on me.
So how about that weather? Sure feels like Halloween is in the air. I love this holiday, it's just plain festive.

This post is linked up to the halloween craft contest at SITS!

Her Little Engine that Could

This is a toy that's been long in the making. I came up with the idea during one of those long sleepless nights when I was up constantly feeding Lizzy when she was just a few months old. And since she is now almost a year old you can see how long this one took for me to actually finish.
I decided to make a little girl's choo choo train because trains are more of a little boy toy, but I remember being just as interested in them as a little girl.
The different cars snap together with little snappy buttons.
reserved

Babies

Two babies from the wild. The top one here is a baby whale. Blue button eyes and a pretty orange smile. Very squishy.
And his friend is a lion cub. The face is hand embroidered. All tired and sleepy.





Just so you know, I have some fun new projects on the way and will soon be having a Giveaway. Yipee! I'm very excited, and I hope you will be too.

Friends, Workspaces, and My Shop!

I'd like to introduce to you some of my very talented friends who have Etsy shops. First off, let me explain what Etsy is.
According to Wikipedia:
Etsy is a website that provides the general public with a way to buy and sell handmade items as well as vintage items and craft supplies. Handmade items cover a wide range including art, photography, clothing, jewelry, edibles, bath & beauty products, and toys. The site follows in the tradition of open craft fairs, giving sellers personal storefronts where they list their goods for a fee.
The first shop I want to introduce is owned by my darling cousin. She focuses on painting and portraiture. She does wonderful pieces for children's bedrooms. I absolutely love her old automobile collection. If only I had a boy...
You can find her shop here.
The second shop is owned by my awesome former-neighbor. She is an extremely talented crocheter. I feel so lucky to be able to own some of the booties and one of the sweet sweaters she has made. Her shop is here.
I'd also like to mention that I will be opening a shop soon (within the next two weeks). I've actually been dreaming of it for a very long time but only just recently decided to make it a reality.
Since we've moved to Virginia I decided to dive right in. Here are a few pictures of my workspace. Haha, it is nothing fancy I promise you.


I think one of the things that has held me back from opening a shop until now is that as I have looked into the lives of several very successful artists I've come across and I began feeling like there is no way I could ever be as professional as them. It's only recently that I started hating that notion and decided to not compare successfulness but having-fun-doing-what-you-want-to-do-ness. So anyways, here is my office. It's in the corner of our bedroom. Which happens to be the only room in the house (our baby's crib is in the dining room). All of those stacks of fabric are made up of scraps. I have very few large pieces of material. I very rarely buy a whole yard at the fabric store, mostly I just go through the remnants bins. I was also given some of those piles of scraps from my darling mother, and many are very old. So even though most of my material is less than two feet by two feet, I still love it and cherish every piece. The bookcase I use for shelving there was bought for five dollars at a garage sale. The back fell off our trailer when we moved.
It's hard to see, but there are four large glass jars in front of the bookcase that were cleaned after we ate all of their applesaucey goodness. Two hold scraps, one holds buttons and zippers, the other I use for a garbage can. And on the table there is one of my current projects.

Decorating for the Season

With my husband still being in school, and us just starting our family life, I really haven't accumulated much holiday decor. I decided that to move slowly in that direction I would create something that I could display in our home that would count for both Halloween and Thanksgiving. It's more like an Autumn theme. I looked up some simple ways on how to make cloth pumpkins, then put my own touches to them. I hope they help you come up with your own ideas. I call this my pumpkin patch. Let me know if you want the tutorials, I might look them up again and post them later.



I'd like to link this post up to the SITS Halloween Craft feature!

Puffy Leaves

Yoho! And these are puffy leaves. While deciding on how to decorate for the season I went on a walk with my husband and daughter to collect handfuls of beautiful red and yellow leaves. When I got inside to study and really get a good look at them I was sort of grossed out by how dirty and buggy they were, so I decided to make my own!
Which brings us to this post, I'm trying out my first tutorial, I hope it's clear. Let me know if you have any questions.

On a spare piece of paper I drew half of what I thought a good leaf would look like. I then folded it in half and cut out the symmetrical leaf.
Trace the leaf on to the back of the fabric you have chosen. I've chosed green and red for the backing of my leaves and a few have fun and seasonal colors for the fronts. When you've traced as many as you like cut them all out.

Place two leaves together (make sure the front of the fabric faces the inside) and sew along the edge. Try to stay about a quarter of an inch or less from the edge.

After sewing along the edge I gut the tips of the corners off my leaves. This helps reduce the bulge when you turn them right-side out. I also cut a tiny slit in the crevice there. It's hard to see but it helps to keep the right-side out leaf from puckering. Don't cut too close to the thread, you don't want to accidentally cut it.


Turn the leaf right-side out and iron the edges flat.


Fill with a small amount of stuffing. Not too much, the tips of the leaves don't need to be stuffed.

Now sew the details on. Sewing through the stuffing makes these leaves puffy. You can make the design however you want, you could try letters or pumpkin shapes. I chose the veins of a leaf for mine. And yes, I would suggest you use brown thread for this. I happen to be out of it.

Use a hidden stitch to sew up the ends.


Yay! Nice clean leaves!

Her Speckle-roofed Home

This is a little house I made from some scrap pieces of material. I found the tutorial here.
It was super easy. The sides did turn out a little skiwampus while I was sewing them on, but I just trimmed them up a bit afterwards. I think it would be awesome to make eight of these and have a whole little village for a little girl to play town :) Andy's little cardboard town on Toy Story always seemed too boyish to me.

My secret passion

I love puppet stages. I've made a few. I don't know why I have this fetish but I do know when it started. In high school I went to a movie with a friend. I don't remember the movie we intended to see, but after seeing the poster for Nicholas Nickleby we changed our minds and decided to see it instead. I had very mixed reactions to the movie itself, but what caught my attention was the very beginning title scene. It was a puppet stage. An all out puppet stage. It had everything. I was enthralled. Since then I've wanted to make one just like it. The closest I've gotten is the big one my father actually made for me for my birthday. (Yes I still get toys for my birthday). He only constructed it, it is still in his garage awaiting to be painted and completed. So now, this is my only stage I actually have with me. It stands maybe 4 1/2 inches tall. My dream is to make stages for my shop.

Larry and friends

These are my monsters. I originally wanted to make a lot of them, and I think still will, I just haven't gotten around to it. They will be sold, along with most of my toys in my Etsy shop. The first guy there is Larry. Larry the office guy. He's just a nice guy. Smart. He likes doughnuts, and a nice tie.
The second one is Buck. Despite his butterball physique he is the fastest rider, best sheriff, and straightest shot you ever done seen.
I wanted to post a link to this movie trailer, I love the song, and I think that inside of us really is a wild thing.