Excess Baggage...and my cutie pie

I've been playing with different ideas for my bags, and because some things are better in theory, I don't always initially use my good supplies. This is one of those cases. I didn't want to risk wasting good ribbon, so I used some leftover Halloween ribbon to try this one out.


Up close...


With this one, I toyed with a patchwork style with exposed seams.


And watching the Red Carpet, Sarah Jessica Parker's dress stood out to me. A lot of people hated it, and she ended up on a couple of "worst dressed" lists. I loved it and immediately sketched out an idea based on the bodice.

Open...

Detail under the flap...

And I saved the best for last...my little shadow.

A bit of this and that

I've been crafting but not posting, so I thought I'd catch up today.


Crochet:



Sewing:



Polymer clay: My first attempt was a *little* overdone. Hey, he's a crusty old pirate...literally.


Triangle beads

X's and O's from a beading magazine. This one is black and silver with cobalt and black diamond swarovski crystals.

I made another one with pearls and Pacific Opal swarovskis.

Arm Candy

I finally buckled down and finished a couple of bracelets that I've been working on. I'm happy with the way they turned out. Breeze wants to take them, and The Hub wants me to sell them. *eyeroll* The pics aren't the greatest, so the true color, shine, and detail aren't showing up.

This one is covered with 140 baubles made from black diamond ab faceted round stones attached to a ladder stitch base. Yes, it took forever to make 140 baubles before I could even start the bracelet.

This one has turquoise chips stitched onto a peyote stitch base with a picot edging (a first for me).

Now I have two less WIPs, but a ton more that need to be finished.

Creativity coming out of hibernation

I joined a crochet-along on Ravelry, and this is my January block. I figure I can handle a block a month and end up with an afghan by the end of the year.

And the sewing bug has bit me big time! I found the pattern for a cupcake pincushion in a local quilt shop and thought it was the cutest thing ever. Breeze wanted the first one and opted for the "high calorie" instead of the "low calorie" pattern. This thing is HUGE!! It's like the pincushion that ate Tokyo or something!

See the ruler laying beside it? The base of it is about 3.5" wide, and it gets bigger from there.

Still trying to figure out how to take good pics with my new camera, so this one's kinda fuzzy. Another one of my designs. As soon as I finished it, Kat claimed it as hers. I couldn't argue with that because she *was* the inspiration for it.

And finally, a recon project. I took an old hoodie, removed the zipper and hood, cut the sleeves to 3/4 length, and did some tweaking. A little more dressy than a plain ole grey hoodie, but still comfortable. (That's an apron on my dressmaker under the jacket...not part of the project.)

I have 6 or 7 more things ready to be cut out/made by my sewing machine, in addition to several beading projects waiting their turn.

Susie and a hiding place

Seems like it's been forever since I had the creativity going on something besides remodeling, but it has returned!

First, the hiding place. I had a pin cushion that my longer pins went through and stabbed me every time I looked at it. I found this cute little box somewhere along the way and knew that I'd find a good use for it eventually. I love wooden boxes and seem to collect them whether I have a use in mind at the time or not.

And the solution to two problems at once!

Now for Susie...

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I LOVE handbags. Over the past few months, I've sketched several out with the intention of making all of them when I had some free time. Free time finally happened, and the Susie bag is finished.

The flower petals and leaf are some leftover leather I had laying around begging to be used. I still need to put a snap on it so it'll close. The bag is made from a man's wool suitcoat, and the strap is part of a belt I found at a thrift store.

Hopefully the free time will continue so I can get back to what I love to do. :)

Everything's better with embellishments

I didn't have a fabric that matched the shades of pink in my French Market Bag, so a couple of my knitting friends suggested a knitted/felted flower. I found a freebie pattern online today and whipped this one up. Easy-peasy. Of course, when I was done and had it sewn onto the bag, I thought, "Hmm, maybe some beads." I added silver-lined sz 8 seed beads to the center. NOW I'm groovin' the little bag.

And a closeup...

In the bag

After a long crafting hiatus due to an attempt at a fulltime job, my first week back at home has been SO nice. I'm enjoying the stress-free creativity that has been hibernating.

I worked on this bag for almost a month when I had time, and finally finished it up Saturday. Got it felted, and voila. I'm going to do some embellishing, but at least the bag itself is finished.

The pattern is from Knitty.com Winter '03 issue. French Market Bag

I also knocked out this number for Breeze. It's big enough for a book bag, but doesn't scream "Backpack". We found the fabric at Hancock's up in Charleston. I had it envisioned in my head, so I didn't bother with a pattern. The printed fabric is fashions through the years, and I added three black buttons as an accent and a zipper so she can close it up. I gave the sides and bottom some stability with plastic canvas between the outside and the lining.

I also made a needle case for a girlfriend, but dingbat here forgot to take a pic of it before I gave it to her. I did a beaded dolphin on it with a beaded rope trim. I'll be making myself one later on, so I'll be sure to post it.

Merry Christmas to all

During the hustle and bustle of the season (which has arrived WAY too quickly), I hope you all take a moment to treasure your blessings. We all tend to get bogged down with stress, wants, and wishes. Take time to enjoy what you do have.

This year, despite a lot of stressful caca, we have so much to be thankful for.

The Hub is with us instead of halfway around the world.
Breeze is loving life and doing great in school and is friends with some good kids.
Kat is healthy and safe and doing great in school.
We have a beautiful home that we've created as a family.
We have each other.
We have so many wonderful friends.

This is just a small list of what I've been blessed with. I hope you all remember yours, too.

Lots going on on the other side

I haven't posted much here lately b/c we've been remodeling again. I'm so proud of the work we've done. Check it all out over at !

DD#1's bedroom is at the top, but if you scroll past the totalled Durango post, you can see our new kitchen/dining room.

Hopefully things can get back to normal soon, and I'll be able to actually *craft* and will have things to post here.

Something new out of something old

Most of my time the past couple of weeks has been spent on another remodel, so there hasn't been a lot of crafting going on here. I did take my old spice cabinet out of my kitchen and recon it, though. I picked it up at the Habitat Restore last year, and it was just a basic white cabinet with adjustable shelves. It was great for holding all those little spice jars, but I needed it for a better purpose...a new home for my GWTW figurines and musicboxes.


The Hub and I took turns working on it. We took the door off, sanded, stripped it, and sanded again trying to get down to the wood. To our surprise when we got there, it had a solid oak facing that was absolutely beautiful. Because the shelves and box part of it weren't solid wood, we had to come up with something to accent the oak. The Hub made a wider, curved bottom shelf for my biggest Scarlett to sit on.


I repainted the dining room and kitchen in this last remodel, and while I was in Big Lots one day, I saw this beautiful fabric for $5. I picked it up, thinking I'd make a tablecloth or a runner for my buffet with it. Change of plans, and with a pair of scissors, spray adhesive, a putty knife, and a brayer, it became the lining for my Gone With The Wind shadowbox. Each shelf is lined separately. Whaddya think? I don't have a before pic of the cabinet, but just picture solid white and nothing special.

Yeah, I know my ceiling stills needs the trim put up. Here's a closeup of the bottom shelf.

And I did finally get a lining put in that garter purse. I made some little accents for the outside, as well. Thanks for teaching me how, Tess!

Pointy sticks and dull hooks

That's been the tools of frequency lately. Yep, knitting and crochet projects this time.

This one's still an agonizing work in progress. I have a TON left to do, and I'm not enjoying it. If I weren't making it for my mom, it would've already gone back to the "frog pond".

Yeah, that left side is all jacked up, but I'm not frogging it and restarting.

Here's an up-close of the stitch pattern. It's so tedious! I know it'll be gorgeous when I'm done, but who knows when that'll be.

To take a break from that, I whipped up a mindless garter stitch project with a couple of different yarns knitted together. I still need to sew a lining to put in it, put a closure on it, and dress it up a bit. I LOVE how soft it is!

Last on the list for now is this crochet hook caddy. I used a pattern by Priscilla Hewitt as a starting point, but kinda winged it from there. I used crap yarn since it was a test project, but when I make another (and hopefully BETTER) one, I'll use something good. Maybe I'll actually follow her pattern next time. ;)

My knitting and crochet teaching days are coming to a close, I think. I'm thinking of taking some time off from teaching all together starting in August, but even when I go back to it, I don't think I'll add these to the schedule again.

Wire wrapping

Remember up until a few months ago, I was one of those, "I don't make jewelry. I don't like it" people? Well, I'll have my crow served warm, please.

I took a class from Michelle, my sister at heart, last Thursday. After a couple of broken wires and a broken pendant, I finally succeeded. The pic doesn't do this piece justice, and I'm so proud of it! I'm so glad I took the class, even though she did squawk at me for *paying* for her to teach me something. Now I know more of what the hell I'm doing when it comes to working with wire.

Thank you, Michelle! Love ya, Hon!


The pendant is a black and white stone, and I used jet, smoke, and crystal Swarovski crystals, silver beads, black glass cubes, and pearls. The necklace is strands of black leather.
Here's a couple of close-ups of the pendant.

Pergamano, anyone?

A new lady moved to town and added some classes to the schedule at the store. I looked at the samples and HAD to know how she did it. I did some research online and discovered that here in the States, it's a rare hobby. I signed up for the classes and just completed the 2nd one tonight. I LOVE the end result!

After the first class, a friend and I went online to order starter kits, and found that THE ONLY PLACE in the COUNTRY to order was http://www.ecstasycrafts.com/. So their website is great, and their shipping was quick. We ordered on Tuesday afternoon, and our order was delivered on Saturday.

So anyway, check out what I made!

This was from the first class I attended.

And I made this bookmark at tonight's class. Ignore the funky blue background. My scanner's stuck on stupey right now, so I had to have a dark color behind the images, and that was the closest thing in reach.

If you're groovin', you can check out http://www.pergamano.com/ and their gallery. There are some gorgeous things posted over there!

Baby crafting

My new nephew decided to arrive on Easter, so I've been feverishly trying to finish up some things I'm making for him. Mom's heading over there in a couple of weeks, so hopefully I'll have everything ready to send with her.

I knew that I *had* to make these booties as soon as I saw the pic on the pattern. They were really easy, and I just love them! I'm sure my brother will ask why I didn't make him a pair of hunting boots or football cleats, but there'll be time for that later. I used this pattern, and they went a lot faster than I anticipated. http://xalleykatx.livejournal.com/50196.html?mode=reply

I'm also crocheting a blanket, but with it all being single crochet, it's taking quite a while. I'm basing it off of the Tiramisu Blanket here (http://rosylittlethings.typepad.com/TiramisuBlanket.pdf), but I didn't have enough of one type of yarn, so Logan's will be a bit different. Here's my progress so far.

I want to get him a little devil hat made, too, but I don't know if I'll have time. I may just have to mail it later. Isn't the pattern adorable, though?! As my brother's son, he NEEDS this hat. I already have the yarn, so I plan to cast on in the next couple of days.

Aside from the baby stitching, I've been recovering from surgery and dabbling a bit more in beads. I have a necklace about halfway done on my craft table, so I need to finish it up.

I'm also still teaching classes, so I need to get my samples done for the next schedule. More scrapbooking, stamping, crochet, knitting, and a few other classes, but nothing as crazy as what I had going this time. I'm learning my way around how to do classes.

That's pretty much it for now from the crafting department.

I did wanna give a huge shout-out to my fellow ATC Craftsters for being pubbed in ATC Quarterly! Way to go, ladies!!

Beads!

Yep, folks, it has happened. I'm not sure exactly when or how, but I've begun dabbling with beading. I think it happened when an instructor brought her class samples into the store, and I fell in LOVE with one of the bracelets. So anyway, I started off slow, and I'm trying to not go apeshit crazy like I did when I started scrapbooking and knitting. I don't need or want a gazillion beads laying around begging to be used. I have signed up for that class, so I have a couple of weeks to hone my abilities before I really step things up a few notches. It'll definitely be a challenge for me, but we all know that's never stopped me before.


I made this last week. Pretty simple, but I just loved the "tree agate" beads. I used a tute posted over on Craftster, but I can't recall the name of the one who posted it.

My friend Michelle came over last night and taught me the basics of even count flat peyote and tubular peyote b/c I saw a necklace that I wanna make SO badly. So far so good. Of course, today she had to take me to a bead store to get the "right kind" of seed beads (Delicas). Love them! My work feels so smooth and silky with those! Anyway, when I'm done with it *someday* I'll post it. I have to keep walking away from it to take a break b/c the beads are so tiny.


Oh, BTW, if you run across an issue of Bead Trends magazine, look Michelle up in there. She's had several pieces published in there now. Every time she says, "I've gotta show you what I made", I know I should get a towel to wipe up the drool. That woman is friggin' incredible. She's as kind and loving as she is talented.


On the scrappy front, I fallen in love with Tim Holtz' alcohol inks. I've had some for a while, but I didn't really know what to do with 'em. I took a class taught by a Ranger rep, and my admiration for Mr. Holtz' brilliance is once again renewed. I've checked into Ranger U, and I'd love to be able to go to it. We'll see, I guess.


Fiber-wise, I'm crocheting a blanket for my soon-to-arrive nephew. I need to get some more yarn b/c I found THE most adorable patterns for knitted Converse booties and a little devil hat. I can't believe I have NO red yarn in my stash! The booties can be done from leftover stuff I already have, but I *must* make him that hat.


Home remodeling has ceased, and I must say that I'm glad. There's still work to be done, but it can wait for a while for us to relax a little and build the savings back up.


That's about it for an update for now.