Rosy and Gray

I made it to the Front Page of Etsy!

2009-10-01T17:46:00.000-07:00

One of my new cross stitch creations made it to the front page last weekend. Rusy the Deer Badge has done wonders for my shop and renewed by desire in cross stitch. I added a little photos of what the front page group to the right.

Crayon Wallet Crafts

2009-08-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

Many months ago I purchased a handful of playful Japanese fabric. They were all heavy linen blended cottons with bright images. I washed and prepped them for sewing and promptly couldn’t think of a think to make with them. They are great for button projects, hair bands, earring, bobby pins and similar items. Then I came a cross the craft phenomenon of the crayon wallet. Its rather a simple idea when you think about. Take a crayon roll and create a way to story a pad of paper with it. The result is a compact entertainment that is perfect for parents and kids. I purchased a wonderful pdf pattern from www.GetSassed.etsy.com . I’ve made 5 so far. Aren’t they cute? My daughter will be receiving one as special present on an upcoming plane trip. I’ve added this item to my travel must have list with a reminder to bring extra note pads.

Happy Birthday To Me!

2009-07-21T07:17:00.001-07:00

I recently purchased a new craft book entitled the New Handmade by Cassie Barden. I purchased the book because of one bag shown on the cover. Shockingly I actually made the bag as a birthday present to myself. For a first try I think it came out great.

I found the instruction simple to follow and the only trouble i had was sewing the front of the bag together. the bulk of fabrics was difficult for my old machine and the iron-on interfacing kept snagging in the machine. Other than that it came together very nicely.

Japanes Craft Books

2009-04-28T19:27:00.000-07:00

I have discovered Japanese Sewing Crafts!!
On a recent trip to Seattle I visit the Kinokuniya Book Store. While small it is densely packed with books on all subjects (near as I could tell as they are all in Japanese) and has a nice craft section including books on knitting, sewing, folded paper ect. In the last three weeks I have acquired three books each containing some of the cutest and practical little creations. All three books are written in Japanese and include detailed photos and measurements in centimeters. A great starting place to find Japanese craft items including books and fabric online is http://www.superbuzzy.com/ which features all sorts of wonderful craft books, fabric, kits ect.

I’ve developed a long list of I want to create from each of the books. I accomplished the first one last night and think its turned out quiet lovely. The leaf shaped pot holder I’ve made with purple gingham cotton and linen. There is a layer of insul-bright and a layer of batting in between and the stem was from green craft ribbon. The design incorporates a small amount of Velcro at the base of the leave and end of the ribbon so the pot holder can latch around the handle of a tea pot and use to lift the lid on and off. The next stage in the project is to create matching coasters.

Passover Gone but not Forgotten

2009-04-24T12:24:00.001-07:00

Well it has been a while since I’ve actually posted here. Despite my blogging absence I have been busy crafting up a storm. I purchased a yard of Matza fabric many months ago because it looked super cool on line. When I finally got around to using it, a few weeks before Passover, I created coasters and kippahs matza ball toys. I love the kippah. These two items received lots of great press on Etsy. Here are two links to articles which featured my items.

http://www.etsy.com/storque/handmade-life/personal-passover-traditions-afikomen-3670/

and

http://www.etsy.com/storque/handmade-life/passover-the-jewish-fest-for-artists-3632/

Fast and Fun Hoop Art

2009-01-14T12:09:00.000-08:00

January is famously a time to regroup, get organize, and evaluate your life. Generally I make resolutions for the up coming year. This year, no resolutions. I did decide to get organized and decorate starting with my craft space. Currently my crafty oasis is a corner of our dining room which is also the play room for our daughter. With my daughter curiosity in mind I installed wall mounted storage well out of her reach to house my frequently used items and current projects. I also hung a few art pieces. I recently discovered an Etsy store called Little Pretty Studio which makes something they call Hoop.dee.do. A hoop.dee.do is a bulletin board made out of craft hoop. The store is fabulous so please please visit it at http://www.littleprettystudio.etsy.com/ . Since I’ve gotten back into cross stitching I have a lot of hoops around and more importantly lots of fabric. I took one look at the hoop.dee.do and thought I can do that. So I tried. Let me tell you sometimes it is better to support a fellow crafts person than D.I.Y. Cork is difficult to cut and glue is messy. I made one 10” cork and fabric hoop.dee.do style bulletin board and decided to purchase my next one recommend the store to my friends. I did decide to cover hoops with some of my favorite fabric pints and hang them as art. No cork involved. I highly recommend this is fun and fast art project and a great use for small fabric scraps.

2009-01-07T11:59:00.000-08:00

After months and months of sewing I’ve rekindled my desire for the art of cross stitch. Unlike the cross stitch of yesteryear filled with pretty flowers and bible verses I prefer the edgier and kitschy designs found in one of my favorite craft books Subversive Cross Stitch by Julie Jackson. I can’t say enough good things about this book. The instruction are clear and helpful, the designs are fresh and funky and best of all the projects are fast to complete and easy to personalize. I was so taken with the book back in 2007 that everyone of my family members received cross stitch for their holiday present. Perhaps one of the best things about cross stitch are the endless possibilities. For instance the project picture here, personalize baby booties. I’m completing these for dear friends of mine who just had their first child. The design was inspired by Baby Max’s Chinese Zodiac sign, a rat.

The detail has been stitched on to the shoe bottoms. the tops will have little blue and pink binkies on them.

2008-12-04T13:08:00.000-08:00

Thank you all for visiting the site and leaving your comments. Give-away day was tons of fun and sure to become an annual event for me. I 'll will posts links the patterns used to make the tissue cover and card holder in the next few days. thanks again for participating.

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:31

comment number 31 from Doris of Creative Treads.blogspot.com has won the Give Away day prize.

Give-Away Day

2008-12-03T07:45:00.000-08:00

Give away day has arrived. This year I’ve been sewing with Fat Quarters (fabric 18 x 22) I’ve found them to be the perfect amount for coasters and leave only little bits of fabric left over. As I don’t like to see beautiful fabric go to waste I’ve been researching small projects that will use the left over of pieces and don’t require me to patchwork, which I don’t have patients for. Two items which can be make from scraps and business card holders and tissue covers. These two projects are fast and easy to make. My family will likely receive these as part of their holiday gifts.

The two here are made of coordinating fabrics and card holder features a snap closure. I would love to know what project you’ve made using fat quarters? So the give away is open to people world wide, I’ll ship the item first class airmail by December 5, 2008. The winner will be chosen at random using a random number generator. Post your comments by noon tomorrow, (westcoast time) to be entered. thanks.

Obsession with wood

2008-12-01T20:33:00.000-08:00

I stumbled across beautiful wood grain fabric designed by Joel Dewberry. I purchased a yard, used it and went back for more with in a week. Here is a sample of some of the items I’ve created using the fabric (aroma therapy eye pillows and business card holders). I have plans to make two slip covers for circular stools and create stump side tables for my living room. In the mean time many of the items pictured can be found at the Coupa Cosas store in Palo Alto California. They are located at 536 Ramona St. Palo Alto, CA 94301 and are open Wednesday thru Sunday 11:30 -6pm.

Give-Away Day is fast approaching so check back for your chance to win a free handmade item!

Give-Away Day

2008-11-25T16:16:00.000-08:00

In an attempt to make blogging a regular part of my crafty life I've decided to participate in Give-Away Day on December 3rd. Sew Mama Sew Blog at www.sewmamasew.com will post a list of all participating blogs. Yours truly will be included. I'll post that day about the item you leave your comments and feedback. I'll use the random number generator to select a commenter to receive the free gift.

Whats New....

2008-11-25T11:59:00.000-08:00

I haven’t posted in a while. But I have been busy. Very very busy. It all began with a trip up north to visit friend who are expecting their first babies. I created a bib assembly line and cranked out a ton of bibs and coordinating burp cloth sets.

Then I decided to expand my toy collection and created a bunny. Each one has a squeaker inside and a hand embroidered face. I was unsure which tail color looked better so i made one of white flannel and one to match the ears. I'm a little concerned about how the ears will fair once washed. I think the next batch will have a reverse applique for a cleaner edge and perhaps a little cellophane under the tail for tactile interest.

That burst of creative energy was followed by a fabric buying spree and more coasters and another line of toys. One of my new favorite coasters line was tutorial found on the sew mama sew bloghttp://sewmamasew.com. They are called roller coasters. I've modified the design a bit to fit my personal taste. They have such a classy feel and adding rick rack is a nice way to highlight colors in the fabric.

The bots shown here are each named for the image which appears on their tummy. Heart bot was a gift to my daughter who really likes it. I had to back the cut out with medium fusible web to maintain structure. The one feature I really like are the faces. I'm still trying to find a consistent style which all my toys will have have but the bots faces are all embroidered using glow in the dark thread which is fun at bed time. I'd like to create another project which uses this thread.

At this point it was mid November and it occured to me that i don't have any idea how I'm going to decorated for the Holiday. While there is not shortage of cute Christmas themed decorations I'm looking for either neutral items of non cheesy Hanukkah decorations. I've got to search the web for ideas. If I come across anything ground breaking I'll post a picture and link to it.

Attack of the Ninjas

2008-10-28T08:50:00.000-07:00

In an effort to crank out to baby shower gifts and produce a few new items for my shop I created a ninja assembly line. In one evening I was able to cut, sew and embroider the eyes. Which allowed a few hours during my daughters nap time to sew and stuff the bodies. Each toy has my own shop name on the twill tape hang tag creating using a tutorial from Patchwork Pottery. I love these toys so much I’ve decided to applique the pattern onto onesies and burp cloth for a gift package.

Fleece Cape

2008-10-22T07:17:00.000-07:00

Sewing with fleece is a bit tricky for older sewing machines. I suspect my machine which was created before polar fleece was invented may not be designed to work with fabrics of this bulk and weight. Polar Fleece was created in 1979 and is made from Polyethylene terephthalate and other synthetics. To date I've created three rather successful projects using fleece, a turtle and ninja toys for my daughter and a hooded cape. I've found that sewing over more than two layers of fabric isn't possible for my machine. Usually the area can be trimmed to eliminate the bulk but that isn't possible with fleece. I'd recommend surging the edges to create a finished look. The cape which was finished just in time for Simchat Torah service last night was by far the simplest project. The pattern came from Simplicity does not require lining and closes with a ribbon tie. My version uses fleece binding and a snap for the closure and no other trims for decoration. While this is not the cutest photo of my daughter you can clearly see the cape fit and drape. She is in the elevator of our building all dressed up for services.

Opportunity knocks

2008-10-15T07:33:00.000-07:00

I have the chance to try selling my coasters at a local shop, The Rock Paper Scissors Collective in Oakland, CA. RPS in their own words “-is a volunteer-run organization that fosters creativity and collaboration in order to strengthen local communities and encourage sustainable practices and alternative models.” I’m wicked excited for the opportunity. So I used my day off from work to create a little coaster assembly line and churn out five new sets. They all turned out very well. They’ll be dropped off later in the week and hopefully they will sell. Four are pictured here.

First Sale!

2008-10-08T01:09:00.000-07:00

I sold my first item! One coordinated burp cloth and bib for a baby shower. I also created a second applique project this time on a onesie. Working on onesies is considerably more difficult than tee shirts as the constant positioning to work the image edge is hampered by excess fabric. Despite the challenge I liked the end product and posted it my shop. Baby bibs are very easy to sew and personalize. If you take the time to cut a number out at once you could easily crank out a weeks worth of bibs in no time at all. The fabric used for these two project is an Alexander Henry print from their 2004 collection entitled Juicy Jungle. The variety of colors gives you the choice to select your gender, girly for the elephant and gender nutral for the other (butterfly not included)

Applique

2008-10-05T20:20:00.000-07:00

Inspired by wonderful coasters I'd just completed using a brilliant Alexander Henry Fabric from the 2005 collection entitled "mini Calaveras" I tried my hand at machine appliqué. Despite a few snags the end product was quiet nice and I think my niece will enjoy wearing as Halloween and Dia Del Muertas approaches. I used a tee-shirt from Sears and simple shapes, oval and heart, to highlight a few Calaveras along with fusible webbing to keep the edges from fraying while I sewed them in place. Machine appliqué is rather time consuming but the finished product is worth the time.