Eclectically Home Grown

If L'bug were a Doll

2011-10-11T15:20:00.004-05:00

I have become completely addicted to Pinterest! If you aren't in the "know" it's basically a virtual cork board. You can have as many different boards as you'd like, look at everyone else's boards, and virtually "pin" pictures of well... anything on to your boards. It really makes the action of combing the web for ideas way more easy, fun, and efficient.

If there's someone that has pictures that I'd like I can either become their follower - as you would on a blog or twitter - or you can simply repin the particular photographs that you want.

Having said all that, I found some really cute whimsy dolls there. It was before I was a member (BTW membership is free,) so I wasn't able to repin the photo - ergo I don't remember whom posted these dolls to give them their due credit. But they are awesome!

I made my own pattern and after I made one, the ideas just started flowing for patterns for more of them. I started basing the Whimsy Dolls after children that were playmates of L'bugs! I thought it would be cute for her to have dolls of her friends so that they could all go on imaginary adventures together ;)

The hair, faces, and a few of the details are felt, but the

body and the clothing are all vintage fabrics. I had crocheted the scarves too.
The (above) on the left is one that I've made to look like my own L'bug and the one on the right is for her friend B'ly. B'ly has long darker blond hair with beautiful eyes!

These are of her friends C'bear, P'girl, and Rhys.

Rhys and B'ly are brother and sister ;) I keep looking the Rhsy Whimsy and visions of Huck Fin always seem to come to mind *wink*

My idea also included the possibility of using old clothing/memory clothing from the child to make the doll's clothing. Then the Whimsy would be even more special.

As always - let me know if you'd like me to make you something!!!

sing_82@yahoo.com (or) follow me on Facebook: Eclectically Home Grown

Noah, the Ark, and Lots of Animals

2011-08-04T10:17:00.005-05:00

I am never disappointed with felt!
Ok, that's not completely true... I do wish that there were more color choices, but other than that it's such a great material to work with.
This past month my aunt made L'bug a really cute purse out of felt from a pattern that she found on ETSY (by Jennifer Goetz). It came with a makeup compact, blush brush, lipstick, and more! [I will totally post the purse she made so you can enjoy!]
Anyways, after I saw that, I too went searching through Etsy to find more fun felt patterns.
I came across a wonderful seller, BuggaBugs! If you haven't checked them out - ya need to!

I purchased a Noah's Ark pattern, which included Noah, his wife, the Ark, a chicken, rooster, a nesting box with eggs, a hay stack, and an apple barrel. The pattern was only $6 and is an Adobe file so within a day they had emailed it to me :) :)
They do have a pattern for the animals, but since I'm in budget mode I decided to make up my own rather than purchasing that pattern as well. On a different note - they do have tons of other patterns for all sorts of things so again, if you haven't checked them out you should!
I made some subtle changes to the pattern I purchased, such as felt color choices and some of the details on Noah and his wife.

The animals that I wanted for L'bug were:
Camels, Horses, Lions, Elephants, Giraffes, & Aligators
She went to the zoo last week and is now all about the hippo so I'm going to come up with a pattern for them here soon!

My animal patterns are available for purchase, in pattern only form as well as kit form.
(Kit form will include the pattern as well as the felt and other supplies needed to make them.)
Just email me if you'd like to purchase them!
L'bug has loved playing with it and likes making random animals noises ;-)
Here are a few action shots of her.

(giving the elephant a kiss)
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sing_82@yahoo.com or you can friend me on Facebook at: EclecticallyHomeGrown

yea felt! hehehe

Picking Things Back Up Again

2011-07-06T13:14:00.006-05:00

"What's up yo!"

Well, my life is now pretty much back to normal. 'Normal' being a very loose word... as much as it can be with a two year old who's very intent on asserting her independence! *sigh* Well friends, I'm going to be selling my items in a craft fair this coming fall, and so I've been

experimenting with different items. Here are a few that I've made this past month.

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When my husband and I got married he gave me a really cute colored pencil/note book holder. It was really great for the obvious portability reason. L'bug is very in to coloring so I've been taking her a coloring book and some crayons in my diaper bag. This got really old especially when the crayons would get lost or broken... or when I didn't want to take my whole diaper bag with me I'd end up finding crayons at the bottom of my purse.

I've seen the crayon "roll" but never a crayon/note book creation so, I made one.

It wasn't hard to make, but the outcome was really cute and quite handy.

The note book is just the average size of any they sell at Target or Walmart so that can be replaced. The wrap holds 16 crayons and a pencil.

Definately an item I don't mind having in my purse!

Plus, if it gets dirty it's totally machine washable! Just a quick touch up ironing when it comes out of the dryer and you're good to go again.

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The next items are dresses for L'bug. I've really been on a "fabric find" kick the last couple of months. It all started when the Catholic Thrift store in my home town had a Quilter/Fabric sale. Sale, really doesn't give you the full scope of how awesome and inexpensive it was!

There were antique sewing notions, and tons of cool fabrics.

Also on my 'fabric finding' adventures I've been to the GoodWill Outlet. Didn't know they exist? Well they do and they are awesome! At $.79 a lb... yes you read correct, a pound! Be prepared to dig a little, but the treasures are there, and they are well worth the trouble.

Green Quilt Dress

With this dress I used an unfinished quilters block for the top and some random green fabric for the bottom. The lining is a very soft cotton bed sheet. The bottom ruffle is some vintage cotton "farm print" material. I didn't use a pattern, so it is a little long on L'bug, but she'll be able to wear it again next summer.

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Variation Pillow Case Dress

This dress was inspired by a couple of things. The first was the pillow case dress. The second was a skirt that a girl was wearing at the baseball diamonds.

The top part of the dress is from a pair of men's slacks, and the bottom layers are from some random fabrics, bedsheets, and pillow cases. I think what really makes this dress are the details. The buttons are vintage and when I bought them from the thrift store there were only 3 still left on the package so it worked out perfectly!

Is anyone else addicted to pom poms??? I love them! They instantly give the garment a fun and whimsy feel.
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Felt Flowers

These felted flowers are so fun to make. You can pretty much use any color or felt or fabric, and you they don't require a lot of material. You cut several circles and gather them to create a wonderful looking 3D flower. I've been using them on hair pins, head bands, and as broches.

I love the floral details. I purchased some Japanese made flower stamens and Poppy buds and used them as details in the centers.

It gave them a less "crafty" look and more of retro, 60's look.

Well, that's what I've been up to! Hope you like them. Please feel free to comment or by all means email me at: sing_82@yahoo.com for questions or orders.

Hello! Goodbye! March & April

2011-04-29T16:33:00.004-05:00

Have I been completely neglectant with my blog.... yes. Truth be told I really have just been completely and utterly busy! No joke - I have had some very wonderfull orders for Felt Globe Kits as well as several reupholstry jobs, but the biggest thing I've been so honored to help with is my brother's wedding! I really couldn't have picked a more perfect wife for him.

Their wedding is on May 21st and as I am the the Maid of Honor I will have plenty to do until then :) :) :) After the wedding I will be more able to get back to some crafting - so please be looking for more projects this summer!

If you have any inspirations, questions, or comments don't hesitate to post :)

Thanks!

Camera Case & Japanese Sunshine

2011-02-27T20:17:00.008-06:00

Oh the rainny... well should I say snowy days of good ol' St. Louis Missouri...

Let me start from the beginning -

This past Christmas my loving parents got me and my husband an amazing new camera because the flash died on my old one. The camera came with all of the extras except for a case. Truly - a case is a total need, however I am not one that would go out and purchase your everyday black Nikon one. It's just not my style...

Having said that, I was in the bookstore about a month ago and came across an awesome camera case. The only problem was that the pattern was designed for a regular sized digital camera. You know, the ones that are about the size of your average cell phone. Not having one of those, but still loving this pattern I tweeked the pattern to make it fit my needs ;) (surprise surprise)

The case encompassed an old Japanese fable about the Teru-teru bozu. Rough translation: Shine-shine little buddy of mine. It's a little traditional hand made doll of white paper or cloth that Japanese farmers began hanging outside their windows. It's supposed to bring good weather and prevent rain. I talked to a friend of mine, M, who's Japanese and she also told me that Japanese children hang up a teru-teru bozu the day before a school field trip to wish for sunny weather.

The case is just slightly larger than the camera to prevent it from moving around and getting scratched. I used an older baby blanket to help line the inside of the case to protect my camera even more. The best part is the door on the front that opens to reveal my little Sunshine Buddy.

Teru is a Japanese verb to describe sunshine, and bozu is a monk, however it is also a term of endearment for addressing little boys. There is a song that goes with this sunny little buddy which my own Japanese grandmother sang to me over the phone! I have to say it's up there as one of my most precious memories. One, because she's in her late 70s singing me this nursery rhyme, and two, because she was laughing so much that it's hard to understand her ;o)

Here's the rhyme:

Teru-teru bozu, teru bozu

Do make tomorrow a sunny day

Like the sky in a dream sometime

If it's sunny I'll give you a golden bell

Teru-teru bozu, teru bozu

Do make tomorrow a sunny day

If you make my wish come true

we'll drink lots of sweet rice wine

Teru-teru bozu, teru bozu

Do make tomorrow a sunny day

But if the clouds are crying

Then I shall snip off your head

Ok... a little morbid with the last bit, and truly the original Japanese language makes it sound much more beautiful!

Bring on the sun!!!

Quiet Afternoon

2011-02-02T15:51:00.002-06:00

Even before I became an Etsy "seller" I always looked around. What can I say - it's a great place for inspiration! Yes... some of the items I truly feel belong on Regretsy ;-) but the other day I found a really cute Nesting Doll Brooch.

(I tried looking for it again this morning and it was no where to be found for me to give credit to the original designer - but whoever you are.... awesome work!)

After L'bug didn't eat her lunch she played and then took a long afternoon nap. *sigh* Peace and quiet!

I have a couple larger projects that I could've worked on, but I really wanted to do something that I could finish in an afternoon.

So, here's my version of a Nesting Doll Brooch.

I used a kniting stitch holder for the pin and some random parts of old jewelry I had lying around for the details.

Like I said, I'm not sure who the person was who originally had them posted on Etsy, but they also had other brooches with different themes. Like there was one with random pieces of breakfast foods and another one for lunch foods...

I don't think I will be making either of those, but the whole concept of a felted theme brooch is a pretty cool idea. Hmm...

Felt Doll House

2011-02-01T12:22:00.004-06:00

After the success of the Felt Globe Kits I realized that many parents

would love to be able to make their little ones a treasured toy. Well, make it themselves or as a family project. But a lot of my friends either don't have the supplies or they don't seem to believe that they can sew.

(Yes, I said "don't seem to believe..." because I, myself only started sewing about 6 years ago. My advice is - just pick up some cheap fabric and a pattern and start hacking away!)

So the kits... ;-)

My favorite part of the Felt Globe Kit was the suitcase that held all of the little icons.

I love things that have a place or container.

So I got to thinking of other kits and patterns that I could make, but the suitcase kept coming into my mind. Long story short... an awesome "God Idea" light bulb lit up and a list of new projects flooded into my head.

The first of which is the Felt Doll House.

This little suitcase unfolds to reveal a doll house complete with furniture, decorations, and people!

The pattern for this kit is open for the maker to either follow the pattern to the letter, or they have the ability to make it more specific to themselves. Meaning, the house frame and all of the items are in the pattern, but you can make however many pictures, people, or pieces of furniture that you'd like.

My main thought was - what if you had a family of two girls and a boy... the hair and clothing pattern pieces are all separate so you can decide what you'd like them to look like!

Just like the Felt Globe, this kit comes with everything you would need to make the Doll House... such as thread, needles, plastic canvas and felt.

Also, like the Felt Globe, this kit can be purchased as either a full kit or just the pattern. But if you just can't find the time, and really want a Doll House for your little one, I can make one for you!

I used a variety of fabrics... new and vintage for the "wall paper." And the pillows for the bed and couch are three dimentional to make them more fun.

For our house I made three girls and two boys. The girls were made to look like two of L'bug's friends ;-) C'bear & Sweet P

She might be a little young to fully express all of her imagination, but at the moment she loves studying all of the pieces, and putting them onto the house.

Felt Doll House Kit is $50 (+) shipping

Pattern is $25 (+) shipping

Fully assembled Doll House $125 (+) shipping

*Fabrics will vary depending on availabilty - but know, they will be selected with care! ;-)

Shipping cost for Full Kit is $15 / Pattern $5 / Assembled House $10

All payments can be made via paypal using the account: sing_82@yahoo.com

Hope you enjoy!!!

Thanks!

Peter "knitted" Tail

2011-01-27T09:13:00.004-06:00

Little fuzzy rabbits!

My mom's on a very noble quest to make a basket full of knitted toys for her granddaughters.

This past week two more have been added to the pile.
There's a mama and a baby rabbit. She said they were really fun and quick to make. And the fabric on the ears was such a cute touch.

I love the smiling faces!

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I've been combing through books that I borrowed from the library and found tons of fun projects that I want to do. Ok, so I'm currently working on three... but who's counting! huh?!

My biggest flaw is that I start projects, but there are so many I don't finish. Admitting a problem is half the battle right... so I'll just work on the other half another day! hehe ;-)

These two projects don't look like they'd take a long time - and you don't have to sew on either of them. I hope they give you inspiration like they did me!

Here they painted a picture frame purchased from a thrift shop. The glass had a small crack in the lower left hand corner - so they cut out flowers from printed fabric and then glued them onto the glass - a very clever way to fix the glass and make the frame one of a kind!

The classic silhouette!
I remember my third grade teacher making one of these for each of her students. We stood against a wall while she shown a spot light on our profile. Then she drew the outline onto a paper that hung behind us. It's like a good black and white outfit... something that never goes out of style! Wouldn't it be pretty to have a collage of silhouette pictures of each on of your family members.... oh - and with a vintage oak tree painted behind!!!! *sigh*

sing_82@yahoo.com
Happy Crafting!

Bringing in the New Year

2011-01-05T17:28:00.009-06:00

Heeelllllooooo 2011!!!

As I looked back over this past year's posts all I could think about was how much fun I had... and, for the past two weeks all I've been doing is looking for inspirations.

Ok, it's not "all" I've been doing, but I do have tons of new projects that I'm totally itching to make. On the list of things to do I'm going to officially create and ETSY account!

My hope is that it will be up and running within the next month.

So - December - to complete little L'bug's Christmas... DRUM ROLL PLEASE....

Most Awesomely Ever Tent!!!

Right after I made it L'bug jumped in and started reading me her book. Ahh, I love her!

Der worked so hard with building the frame and then I went to the GoodWill and found a twin sheet set for $4!! My craft room mess is actually an oasis of peace for me... as crazy as it seems.

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I thought I'd give you a look at some of my special Christmas things.

My Santa on a chili pepper! Happy Hot-lidays yo!

And then I saved the best for last.

After I set up all of our decorations I realized that I didn't really have a proper nativity scene :(

I was tempted to purchase one, but even when I looked around all the ones that caught my eye were really pricy.

My mama saved the day and gave me hers. Please don't fret - she's still got another one that my brother gave her made by Willow Tree (it's awesome!) I remember mom setting up this nativity under our tree - it brings back so many fond memories!

I even remember when she first bought it - it was from one of those base ceramic stores. It was plain white and she painted and glazed it herself. I thought at one point it had a manger, but that item didn't make it over to my house. I'll have to ask her about it - it might be needing to be found in her basement or storage room...

On to January - cold but cozy!

As always, if you see anything you'd like please shoot me an email at:

sing_82@yahoo.com

Felted Globe & Mass Presents

2010-12-08T10:23:00.014-06:00

Hello everyone! Wow... welcome to December huh?! I know I haven't posted this month yet... and by the looks of it, this will probably be the only one before Christmas.

Since this will be the only post I'm cramming in as much crafting as I can.

So please, bear with me and keep on reading and scrolling down ;-) for all of the fun things I've been wanting to show you!

Well, in the words of my loving mother - O M Goodness!

FELT GLOBE KIT

The new, anxiously awaited pictures of the felt globe are finally here!!

It was by far the most fun I've had working with felt. The whole thing took me about a week and a half. I basically locked myself up in my crafting room... ended up listening to 4 books on tape (they are a life saver truly - and if you have time anything by Suzanne Collins is AWESOME!)

Ok, back to the Felt Globe *hehe*

The Globe was brought to my attention by a friend who saw it on Design Mom's Blog. Being very taken by this globe I jumped at the chance to make a pattern for it. I came to the conclusion that making the globe and selling it would not be very price effective... simply because the small icons are pretty detailed, so I decided to make a pattern and a kit for it - So that you would be able to make this fantastical globe yourself!

Just imagine yourself this winter crafting away at such a fun project!!!

The globe hangs on the wall. The continents are attached, but the icons have Velcro on the back of them so that your children can have fun putting them in their correct places.

What an awesome way to teach your little ones where the Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower, or the Golden Gate Bridge is?!?

Additional coolness factors are:

(1) A world traveled suitcase that you can store all the neat icons in....

& (2) Three 3D Airplanes - the largest of which your children can "fly" to destinations! And, it's equipped with it's very own airplane hanger!

Here's what your kit will look like:

There are over 45 pages of detailed instructions too...

It sounds like a lot, but I wanted to make the directions as easy to follow as possible, so even if you aren't the most crafty of people you could totally make one.

[Here's a tip I found when making my own - If you lay the paper pattern over the felt and then cut through both of them you'll have way more control with the scissors.]

I thought I'd let you peek into my workspace... or as my husband called it... my mine field!

This picture kind of looks like one of those "I Spy" books ;-)

Can anyone spot the fingernail polish remover, my bag of chips and a soda can!!!

MEMORY GAME - NATURAL STYLE

The other day I was looking on Etsy, and found these memory games for kids, made by Lemon Tree Studios. And, for only $16 they really are fun! But since I'm making and not buying things for L'bug this year I had to improvise.

By improvise I mean Der was sent outside with a tree trimming saw to retrieve a suitable branch from our back yard! Then I cut the branch into 1/8" wide disks.

I found some icons online and used tracing paper to make two exactly the same, then went over the design with a fine tip permanent marker. I ended up making 8 different pairs of wooden disks.

The rockin cool bag was from some vintage Peter Rabbit fabric given to me by a wonderful lady that I'm recovering some chairs for. Can you believe that they originally were curtains for her son's room over 30 years ago!!!

SLEEPY MASKS

I have three things, ok four things that are very crucial for me to have to go to sleep. One, my phone. Two, my hot water bottle (a winter thing only.) Three, my iPod.

(I have a playlist solely dedicated to thunderstorm/rain sounds.)

And forth, my sleeping mask.

The idea came from last year's Anthropologie winter catalog. On the cover were girls showing off some really cute eye masks. Of course really cute for them, would've cost you around $30 a pair. My mom's best friend had given me a box full of vintage ties - and so I used the ties for the outer material, and new silk for the part that goes against your face.

I also used the tags from some of the ties for a fun detail.

Another detail was some simple blanket stitches and an closed eye ;-)

One is a gift - but Santa doesn't tell for whom...

COFFEE CUFF

One Sunday morning I saw a girl with some coffee - not unusual right?

(Our church pampers us by serving coffee, doughnuts, and other goodies on Sunday mornings. And the best part... we get to take them into the service!)

Ok, so the girl's coffee - around which was a super cute coffee cuff! I asked her where she got it and she said that a friend of hers sold them at her coffee shop.

They were made out of reused sweat-shirts and plastic grocery bags! The idea from then on was stuck in my head and I had to have one.

I know Starbucks has some made of felt, but come on people... Have you seen them?! They're solid gray :( and totally Debbie Downer sad looking! As you can guess I made my own. I used an existing sleeve for the pattern, and I've got to tell ya - it was so much fun yo!

I've made a couple - some are gifts but I'm not going to tell for whom...

*wink*

They are made with random left over pieces of felt and fabric.

OWL ORNAMENT

Almost all of my ideas come from things that I've seen while online or looking at books or magazine. The hardest thing for someone who sews is the urge to say, "I'm not going to buy that because I know I can make it." That can be a good thing, but also a bad thing...

A good thing, because you can be resourceful and save some cash - a bad thing when that list of things you're going to eventually make gets too long to accomplish. When really, buying that $6 ornament and getting to see it hanging beautifully on your tree is a way better idea than not having one at all.

Ok - let me get down off my randomness crafting soap box! lol

If you do by chance think like I do and refuse to buy things that you know you could very well make - take heart! Why?

Because you can totally make this freaking cute owl ornament in no time flat!

I saw them (3 for $24) in the Crate & Barrel mailer and made up a quick pattern for them.

All you need is some scrap fabric, a few scrap pieces of felt, a little bit of stuffing, a couple of colors of embroidery floss, two buttons, and some ribbon or string.

First cut out the owl body, wings, and feet pieces. I don't have a picture of it, but lay the wings and feet on the inside of the two fabric body pieces - so that when you sew the body together and flip it inside out the wings and feet will stick out.

Make sure you leave part of the top open to stuff it.

Once you've stuffed the owl, sew shut the top opening. Then cut out the body felt details.

Blanket stitch the top piece (the one between the eyes) and I made small "X" stitches to secure the side body pieces.

Hot glue the ribbon or string under the center top felt piece. I put a drop of glue on the string and then used a tooth pick to push it under the felt to hide the glue.

Cut out the large eye pieces and blanket stitch them to the body.

The below picture shows where I hid my embroidery knots - inbetween the two wing pieces!

Blanket stitch the smaller piece circles onto the larger eye circles.

Attach buttons to the center of the eyes. I didn't make a pattern piece for it - but cut out a small triangle for the beak piece and make a few stitches to secure it to the body.

I made my stitches into a sort of arrow shape, but you can feel free to do whatever you think looks best.

Blanket stitch around the wings

Whip stitch around the feet. And then PRESTO! You've got yourself a really cute gift either for yourself or a loved one.

Here's the pattern - just right click and save it to your desktop, then print it out. You could even take it to a print shop and have it enlarged to make a pillow...

Make sure you cut 4 of the wing and feet pieces ;-)

I hope you've enjoyed my blog this year. I've had such a blast posting and sharing with you all of the fun things that I've been making.

If you see anything that you'd like to purchase please contact me at:

sing_82@yahoo.com

for prices and details.

Thank you all so very very much!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good craft!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas Presents

2010-11-14T15:11:00.006-06:00

This year we've decided to do a "Home-made & Heart-felt" Christmas.

Most of the people I know are like us... in major budget mode. And this year I really wasn't prepared to stress about how many people we have to buy gifts for, what to buy them, or how much crazy bucks would've been spent.

The goal is to have as many gifts as we can...made or found (thrifted) ;)

I've started with L'bug's presents - and because I know that she's too young to understand how to use our computer - showing you guys pictures isn't going to ruin her surprise!

I wanted to make her a collection of something so that we could practice counting. And as I was surfing online I came across these awesome fabric birds! I made 10 of them with random scraps of various fabrics I had lying around.

The blog that has some great photos of them is Spool Sewing - they also have the pattern you can download (for free!)

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The next gift I made was so easy and quick!

I crocheted little puffer fish and put magnets inside them so L'bug can have fun fishing!

The pole is from our front yard :) I put magnets on the end of the braided string... and I have to admit D'man and I had a blast playing with them ourselves!

The pattern for the puffers is also free from Crochet Pattern Central!

I hope these pictures insipre you to make some of your Christmas gifts this year ;) A home made and heart felt gift is way better than giving someone a gift card... just saying *wink*

Laumeier Sculpture Park

2010-11-11T22:11:00.003-06:00

I've been cooped up in our house for the last week working on a couple of chairs I'm in the process of recovering. Yesterday I was especially engrossed in my work for about a solid 9 hours...

(And, I was totally listening to The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, & Mockingjay - all by Suzanne Collins... by far the best books I have ever read / listened to! No joke!

If you've read them I've got one word for you, PEETA!)

So, today Der and I decided needed to be a family day. An outside family day to be more specific!

We tossed around a couple of parks and agreed Laumeier Sculpture Park would be perfect.

We packed a lunch and had a blast!

I don't know what this (above) one is, but it was too cool not to take a picture of!

Der and L'bug (below) are the apple of this eye....

(hardy har har huh?! now you know why I took up crafts rather than comedy)

I know I've got a lot coming up - a lot of new crafts and images promised - and I'll post them...

SOON! :) :)

Fees... What a bummer!

2010-11-05T23:47:00.003-05:00

Hey guys - Ok, so I have to admit that I'm fairly new this whole paypal thing. I know what you're probably thinking... "Really Felicia! Get with the program yo!"

And it's not that I don't purchase things online. It's more rather that I don't sell items - in mass - online. To be honest the majority of the items that I sell are to friends and family or friends of friends... and what not.

What I've come to realize as the seller of items is that when using paypal - there are these pesty fees... in a word - bummer

First - thank you to anyone that's purchased things from my blog! You've all been great!

But here's my thought for future buyers...

If you're going to use paypal - no problem! But I'm requesting that you "gift" the money to me so that there aren't any fees.

(For those of you like me - when paying instead of Purchase, use the Personal tab and mark the gift option *hehe)

At first a dollar here or there doesn't seem like a lot, but when it happens to every order...

To be honest with you all - it adds up yo! LOL

P.S. Among other things my camera has decided that it really doesn't want to use it's flash anymore and will only take blurry pictures for me :( I'm in the process of getting another one but I promise I will have some updates on my crafts posted as fast as I can!

Thanks a bunch everyone!!!!

2010-10-27T22:30:00.003-05:00

This month D and I celebrated our anniversary in Herman, MO.

Honestly, it was absolutely beautiful, relaxing, and had great wine!

We stayed at a neat Bed & Breakfast. Ok, neat really doesn't give it justice.

It had nine bedrooms, kitchen, dining room, main living room, parlor, gentlemen's den, an upstairs living room, two staircases, seven bathrooms, and

last but not least a full wraparound porch!

The keeper of the house was a really nice man with his daughter, however part of the initial house tour was his shpeel to sell the house! lol

Apparently, the house and location is great... business is booming... however, he owns land in

the Bahamas and believes that sand and sun is a much better place to

retire than our beloved Midwest!?!?

So, if anyone is interested just let me know and I can hopefully put you one step closer to your dreams of being a B&B owner.
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Not only did we have good wine, but we also went Antique shopping!

Look at the coolest thing I've ever seen...

Notice anything?

Two sets of seats, pedals, and handle bars!!!

Also notice that only one set of handle bars has breaks... and I guess you need to agree who's steering before you start your journey huh?

Nesting Doll Mug

2010-10-12T10:21:00.015-05:00

When I was a child my mom would read a book that had "hidden" lady bugs all throughout the story. To reminisce I hid some lady bugs all over my mug!

Can you find the lady bugs??

Scardy Cat by: Cindy Szekeres
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The L'bug feeding the ducks and geese :)

She'll throw a piece of bread into the water and then tear off a piece for herself! It's too funny!

Apple Picking Season! [& A Peek Into My Craft Room]

2010-09-27T12:05:00.009-05:00

This past weekend we went apple picking in Millstadt at Eckerts. This post is totally going to be an awesome plug for them because we had an absolute blast! I can't wait for L'bug to get a little older so she can even more enjoy all of the cool things to do. They had camel and pony rides, a petting zoo (which she wasn't too keen about,) and tons of other things. And to top it all off it was a beautiful day!

They had sliced carrots for you to feed the animals with, and even though the deer were babies she still wasn't sure and would hide her face in my neck when they came close. I was suprised at how soft they were. The water buffalo on the other hand had coarse hard hair. They were all very tame and gentle but still a little daunting even for me.

Red & delicious!

L'bug rode on her daddy's shoulders the majority of the time... occasionally getting bits of apple in his hair. Even though Sweet-P only has two teeth she totally went to town on her apple too!

We picked a bag full and I'm planning on making a home made apple pie. This will be my second attempt at an apple pie. The first time my crust wasn't really good. It was a Betty Crocker recipe, but I'm pretty positive it was a recipe Betty didn't ok before printing! lol

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My last project,Sweet-P's birthday present, made its way onto my dining room table and succesfully took over the first level of my house. I have a sewing room/office... Why wasn't I using that you may ask? The project before that didn't really get cleaned up - ok, it was more like 2 to 3 projects that never made it to the top of the cleaning list. So, this past weekend I bit the bullet and reorganized it! After that, I realized that unless you've been to my house you've never gotten a chance to see my Imagination Station *wink*

[If you're a fan of Adventures in Odyssey you'll appreciate that.]

In every place I have ever lived I've had to be very creative with craft/sewing organizing because of the lack of space... When we were looking to buy this house the first thing that I thought of upon seeing the loft space was having my very own craft room!

Do you recognize my chair??

My Globe project is coming along. (I'm planning on having it done in a week or two at most.) So, I've been practicing with felt to get a feel for sewing it with the machine. In a word = HARD!

I'd just a soon hand sew it!

Here's what I came up with during my "play time."

Key chains. Not very creative, but this play time was more for seeing how hot glue would effect the felt. Another note - you can't sew through it no matter how thin a layer the glue is. All of this felt business will totally make more sense when the Globe project rolls out! Promise.

Birthday of the Flower Princess

2010-09-19T20:55:00.012-05:00

Little girl's first birthdays are probably one of the most precious events I can imagine.

To celebrate my best friend's little girl, Sweet-P's first birthday I made

her this super cute outift - complete with matching bloomers!

L'bug is doing the modeling here. It's so fun to dress her up in random outfits. She just

prances around like a little prima ballerina. My neighbors across the street were outside while we were doing our mini photo shoot so they got a first hand look at my little ham!

The whole ensamble consisted of a feather/flower head band, with a tutu, bloomers, and bib.

She isn't wearing the bloomers here... I wasn't quite done sewing them. Below are the pictures of them though. I put ruffles on the bum for good measure. As much girlie-ness as possible!

I had seen a bib that had fabric sewn onto it in a way that made it look like the

child was wearing a necklace.

(A tie could be done for a little boy... just a thought!)

That inspired me to try something similar. I found some flower/graphic print fabric (the same fabric that I used for the bloomers) and cut out various pieces, then placed them to form a necklace design. In my opinion a good bib has a "happy pocket." A pocket that collects all of the goodies that don't reach the finish line *wink* The pocket is lined and has her name embroidered on it.

The last piece to this charming puzzle is ice cream! I made an ice cream cone with three different flavors. Chocolate with sprinkles, Strawberries and Cream, & Vanilla with sprinkles. Each of the "scoops" has velco on the bottom so that Sweet-P can have fun playing and offering her "customers" (aka L'bug or C'bear most likely) choices.

I had a cool idea to make a scoop of Mint Choc. Chip, Neapolitan, or a Butterscotch too!

The cone has a recorder inside of it, on which I recorded a special birthday blessing. The recording can be changed at anytime if her parents get tired of hearing my voice... lol I'm sure 6 months from now, they will totally be tired of hearing me wishing Sweet-P happy birthday! There are snaps on the top of the cone so that you can remove the recorder when you want to wash it.

Let me know if you have a little angle who'd like a tutu or some ice cream!

eclecticallyhomegrown@yahoo.com

The Little Things Are Always Best

2010-09-17T21:50:00.015-05:00

Have you every read the book, Love You Forever, by Robert Munsch? Very recommended! The book is about a mother who holds her son and softly sings to him, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be." The book was published in 1986 and has sold over 15 million copies. I personally do not own this beloved publication, however L'bug's Mum mum [my mom] does, and I read it to her to help her fall alseep when we are visiting.

The little birds are made with L'bug's thumb prints!

I made the mistake of showing it to Mum Mum (what we call my mom). Ok, it wasn't a mistake... but I sucessfully lost myself a mug! She really wanted it and because I had never made anything like that for her, I told her that she could have it once I made myself another one. Which I plan to do here in the next week or so. I love painting so I really can't complain. And for me, the thrill of a project is in the making of it. Mine will have a different design, but the same long legged thumb print "peep peeps" will totally make another appearance!

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This next project came with an added bonus. Quiet painting peaceful bliss! To be more specific - 5 hours of bliss! I left L'bug with her Grammie and Grandpa (Der's parents) while I went and painting this platter for some friends of ours that are getting married in October. I made the design in CS4 and then transfered it to the plate. With a very small paint brush and a Vente Caramel Macchiato I made them a personalized pub platter. [try saying that 3 times fast!]

I found this cute pub saying:

"If you're Irish you're one of the family! If you're not we're too drunk to care!"

Pat & Amy are great friends and I hope they enjoy it!

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Introducing.... Pin Cushion Boot!!

Ok, so if you've read my last post about pin cushions you will recall the beautiful Victorian shoe. That pin cushion I made for my mom and told her that she could have it once I had taken pictures and documented it. Well, a good friend of mine, K and I went to shopping to the Antique mall at 40 & Big Bend. I always find really great things there, but my mission this time was to find a pin cushion replacement. Little did I know I would find something so wonderfully random!

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Munchkin update:

Now that we're fixed up our bike we've gone on several rides - one of which was to the park, where L'bug played in the play ground. She's getting so big!

Bike Riding

2010-09-06T09:16:00.004-05:00

I'm very glad that the saying "...it's like riding a bike... you never forget how," is true. Because I haven't riden a bike since I was a kid, but I desperately wanted to take L'bug on a bike ride.

I had a certain bike in mind to purchase. I wanted something retro, that had a basket (to carry the very important library books), and it had to have a child's seat... and not the kind that you pull behind - but the old school kind!

I've been visiting my parents and was talking to them about the type of

bike that I was looking for. My mom suggested that I take her old Western Flyer. A great bike, but one that needed a little bit of work to get it up to par. So my brother and I

took it apart and did a massive overhaul on the paint and rust.

Here's what it looked like before...

In this picture we had already taken off the basket and rear view mirror... oh yes. I just said rear view mirror friends!

Rust central!

Taking it apart was easy. However, in hind site we probably should have paid more attention to where exactly all the nuts and bolts went. LOL Well, J was more detailed than I was with the deconstruction. I was... shall we say very zealous and just started taking things apart left and right!

I'm such a big fan of the white walls.

**** DRUM ROLL PLEASE****

Not only is the bike one that my mom rode with me and my brothers, but I remember riding both of them on it myself. The icing on the cake was working on it with L'bug's Uncle J.

Thank you Uncle Yimmy ;-)
I've totally already gone on two 6 mile bike rides. L'bug loved it and pointed at all of the dogs she could find saying "ooff, oooff!" And then she laid her head on my back when she was tired. I wish I could've seen her, but I figured keeping my hands and eyes on the road was a better choice.

The only thing I'd like to add is a bell. So, if you see me riding throw me a wave!

Gemma Giraffe

2010-08-23T15:52:00.005-05:00

My family and close friends know that everywhere I go I have a crafting project with me. The first year of our marriage D wasn't used to my "extra purse," and he felt that it was rude of me to bring it along when we'd go to friend's houses... I on the other hand use my crochet projects to keep me awake after dinner and felt that falling asleep would be more rude. (Please note that our friends and family aren't boring or dull by any means. I just happen to be one of those people that, when I get tired, can fall alseep in under five minutes... especially in the car...)

Now, as I walk through the door, my friends ask me expectantly what new project I'm working on. Plus, having a thread and needle on hand has come in handy on more than one occasion. But I digress ;)

Having said all of that, when we went to Atlanta I needed a new project to keep me busy. Welcome Gemma Giraffe! I got the pattern from a book, but added a few things of my own like the tufts of "fur" on the back, fabric lining in the ears, and the buttons for the legs by myself. I remember the book being really cute, but for the life of me I can't recall it's name. Or I would totally give it props and recommend it.

[If you'd like the pattern - email me - sing_82@yahoo.com]

It has L'bug's approval! She likes to grab it by the legs and fling it around the room. Ahh... It's so fullfilling to see something you've worked on with love for like 25 hours flying past your head! I did make it for her and she obviously is getting joy from it, but I would be lying if I didn't admit that I did, for a moment, contemplate not giving it to her. Just for a moment though. Watching her laugh and walk around the house holding it by the back leg is priceless.

July & August... what August??

2010-08-21T12:28:00.013-05:00

August twenty-first... one o'clock in the afternoon... in the year of our Lord two-thousand-ten... It's been almost two months exactly since my last post. A lot of summerness has been going on in our lives. Hence the reason for the lack of posts - sorry about that by the way.

Hopefully these will cheer you up - along with the teaser of me telling you that I've got some really really cool things planned for these next couple of months.

Pin cushions - one of the many explainations of how awesome things really do come in small packages. The top photo is one that I made from a bottle cap. If you are thinking of making one I used a cap from a large bottle, not a 20 oz. bottle or a metal cap. The below photo is a treasure. My mother-in-law and I were out Antique shopping one afternoon and for the grand total of $1.50 I purchased this lovely porcelain shoe. At the time I didn't quite now what I was going to do with it... I just knew that it was one of those "had to haves."

After I made the first two I started rummaging around the house looking for things to convert into pin cushions. I thought about a couple of antique tea cups, but the mouth of them were too large, not to mention the shoe pin cushion filled my need to have a vintage looking one. I needed something more whimsical...

Looking around my living room I spotted my daughter's toys. My wheels started turning and after some sorting I decided on one of her playschool stackable cups. Ok, before you start thinking, "this goofy lady is taking her kid's toys from her..." L'bug has like five different sets of stackable cups and she's totally not going to notice the missing blue one. (I also felt better knowing that the set did have two blue ones.... so I look at it more like she's sharing with me. *wink)

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Paper has always been first love. I remember my mom telling me that as a kid she tried to get me dolls and Barbies, but I would cut their hair with my scissors... so she bought me paper - a much more acceptable object to cut with scissors.

There are just so many things you can do with a crisp new pad of paper and a brand new pen or pencil... make lists, write a story, draw, or journal for example ;)

I got the order for this journal about a month ago and the inspirations were:

Swedish Flag and Crowns, Circus, & Masculine

I chose the book because it was cream with red writting - which reminded me of the the red and white striped big top tent. Inside the book I found various sentences and pasted them onto the front of the book to read more like the story from a circus.

"A gasp, almost of horror when up from everyone / at the end a cheer greeted him / another pause of astonishment. / The spectators rocked with laughter. / Ha! ha! ha! ha! ha!"

The client requested the name "Linden" to be on the back. I also wrote, 'For Sverige i Tiden' which is Sweden's Motto. The Swedish crowns are on the front along with the colors of the flag in the sword.

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To give you a look into our past month here are some pictures from our summerness that I spoke of earlier.

We went to visit my cousins in Georgia and went to the Atlanta Aquarium. One word = Awesome. We all loved it. Here is L'bug on her daddy's shoulders standing next to her cousin EmG on her daddy's shoulders. Do you see the massive freaking whale!?!

Here Me and L'bug are walking in a tunnel that runs through the large water tank with all kinds of animals swimming over our heads. (Hello Uncle J and Aunt A!)

Lastly, here's L'bug at the City Garden. If you haven't gone I highly recommend it. L ran around all of the fountains and played in the water. It's downtown St. Louis, very clean and best of all free! I love how curious she is :)

New Year, New Look, New Dress

2010-06-21T10:30:00.007-05:00

Well, today is my little L'bug's first birthday.

What a ride this past year has been... She's now almost walking and this morning she picked up a book and pretended to be reading it to me as she was flipping the pages. I miss her being a baby, but not as much as I love watching her learn new things. My favorite moment of the day is watching her crawl towards and then ram into our pug. He's so calm and doesn't move... so she backs up and rams him again!

Happy Birthday Little Miss!

For her birthday I made her a dress. What girl doesn't enjoy a new dress on her special day? The pattern is Simplicity 7166, and very easy to follow. Awhile back my mom gave me tons of children's patterns and I believe she made this same dress for me when I was little.

The fabric is actually a vintage bed sheet that I found at the Goodwill. Have I ever mentioned how much I love pockets??? If you've followed my blog you've seen it. Every thing has pockets! (lol) I can't help it. They're like the icing on a cake - a must.

Except I don't like icing and I always scrape it off, so that probably wasn't the best analogy.

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Mom and I were going through some of her old fabric that she had and this one made it's way to my house. I don't know if any of you ever have this feeling... but when I finish making something small I'm compelled to start another. Maybe it's just me - who knows!

When I finished her birthday dress I was so excited with how it turned out that I decided to make these overalls.

(which are also a Simplicity patter [6362])

I believe this patter originally came from my Aunt J, however I'm pretty sure that it was passed along a couple of times, because when I started going through it and picking out the pattern pieces that I needed... half were missing.

Oh well! I already had my hopes up, so I was going to make it anyway.

I think I had pieces K and L... the bottom pieces, so I made up the top, pockets, straps, and arm holes. L'bug didn't mind ;o)

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice...

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In honor of L'bug's first... and need to freshen things up a bit. I decided to change up the background of the blog. Hope you like it!

Raining Crafts & Dogs

2010-05-12T12:51:00.006-05:00

Some people save their spare change for rainy days... others curl up with their hot tea and read a good book. I am neither of thoes two people :)

On rainy days I like to make what I call "fast crafts." You know, the ones that

only take a couple of hour to make.

Instant gratification!

The crafts that follow are my fast crafts from the past couple of rainy days.

I had first noticed these snack bags while baby-sitting for a friend from church. Her son had his

dried cherries in one. Upon closer inspection I realized that these snack bags were awesome!

You can put basically anything in them - obviously not liquids - however all of the

finger foods that kids (and adults) eat can be carried around in these

very eco-friendly bags.

They are lined and have a velcro strip that closes them. What I like most is that the kids can

open and close them themselves. I used fun vintage fabric for L'bugs.

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My next craft came from a picture that I saw online from good 'ol Martha Stewart.
They are flower pins made from zippers!! Thanks to my wonderful mother
I am in the possession of approx. 50 zippers, so I had plenty of colors to choose from.

I glued a hair pin (like the ones that I used for the felted hair pins) on the back.

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Bottle Cap Hot Pad

I know what you're probably thinking.... "really... you don't need to be 'that' person that has everything possible crochetted"

But I found this vintage 50's pattern for a crochet bottle cap hot pad and I couldn't resist

trying it out. The original pattern formed the caps into a pineapple shape, and honestly

that would have called for twice as many bottle caps, so to keep the craft within my

instant gratification range I made up my flower pattern which required half as many bottle caps.

It was a relaxing craft because you can basically just make the bottle cap covers from memory after about the third one.

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My last craft was another Martha special. I wanted to make something for Mother's Day, not only to save some bucks, but to also incorporate L'bug.

She called for a tote which you could color on for your Mother. I didn't have any plain totes on hand so I made my own. I made my mother, mother-in-law, and myself one.

Then I made a flower template and drew a picture for L'bug to color. Since she's only 11 months

I did help her hold the permenent markers, but she did so good and we had a lot of fun coloring together.

I traced her flowers and then put a cute saying on the side.

"I love my Grandmother as the flowers love water & sunshine!"

They both loved them.

If are ever wondering what you could do on your rainy day - instant crafts are the way to go!

As always if you see anything that you'd like me to make feel free to email me! :)

sing_82@yahoo.com

Nesting Dolls with a pinch of Yarn

2010-04-23T10:47:00.014-05:00

I have a "slight" passion for Matryoshka dolls. (aka Russian nesting or stacking dolls)

They are by far the most popular Russian national souvenir and I'm facinated by them!

I love that they have pretty much taken on a life of their own.

If you Goggle them you will find not only the traditional style, but also more retro ones. I've even seen ones painting like Star Wars characters!

The first nesting doll was made in 1890 in Moscow. Apparently the name, Matryoshka was a popular female Russian name. The name also stems from the Latin words meaning "mother." That's why the first and largest of the dolls is thought to be the "healthy & portly" looking mother of the large peasant family :)

L'bug and I went to a place in Chesterfield, called the Painting Paw.

It was awesome! They sell unglazed pottery which you paint, they fire, and then after a few days you pick up your finished product. They have everything you can image... I was very close to selecting a fun garden gnome with a mushroom, when I happened to glance up and what do you think I saw??

Russian Nesting Dolls of course!

It took me two trips to finish painting them. L'bug actually did really well with letting me work. Thank you Jesus for Puffs & Mum-mums! I tried to get her interested in helping me paint them, but she only wanted to eat the paint brush... which I thought wasn't the best of ideas.

So, I ended up holding her hand so that she could make a few brush strokes :)

I would highly recommend going!

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I'm alwasy making things for L'bug and I would say that my house is tidy and clean, however I have been known to misplace things from time to time. (just ask my husband *hehe)

Anyways, the other day I was looking for a pair of L'bug's booties.

I looked high and low to no avail!

So, I was going to make her a new pair, however the pattern I used was a collection of a couple of patterns - basically I made it up - and when I realized that I hadn't written the "new" pattern down... I was so annoyed at myself for loosing the booties in the first place that I started looking for a new pattern.

(new patterns always make me smile)

To be budget aware I looked at crochet pattern central for a free one, but I didn't like anything they had.

Next stop... etsy :) :) :)

HELLLOOO CUTE SHOES! and a happy mamma :)

I found this pattern from Hook Candy - love it! And if you crochet, the pattern is totally worth it! Her format is easy to read and has detailed pictures!

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I'm throwing in this last picture because it cracked me up, and you can kind of get a feel for how L'bug plays while I'm crafting :)

Enjoy!

Hair Pins for Easter

2010-04-12T10:58:00.004-05:00

Well, the hair pins are officially my best selling item :)

Thank you everyone!

Along with making these cute hair accessories L'bug and I have been enjoying the weather.
We've got some pretty flowers that showed up in our backyard.

I'm in the process of making some cute baby items - but alas... the spring cleaning and beautiful sunshine have been calling my name. So, I haven't devoted much time to my crafts.

I am determinging to be better at that however, and I promise that my next post will have

new and fun things :)

Happy Spring!

A Month's Full of Doings & Makings

2010-03-19T10:35:00.006-05:00

*letting out a deep breath*

What have I been doing this past month? Even though I haven't been very up-to-date with my postings I have been quite busy. I wish I could say that I was done with painting my house, but alas I have to confess that I still have the trim in the bathroom and basically everything in L'bug's room... In bettween the poopie diapers, my new wondermus steam mop, and making dinner - it will all get done :) At least that's what I keep telling myself! haha

The above picture is a baby sling that I made for a friend - I want to take this time to say that mommy's do need to be careful wearing the babysling with a new born. I wore one with L'bug and she did fine - you just need to make sure that they can get enough air. If their chin is tucked to their chest the baby could not be getting enough to breath :( After they are around 4 months old babies are usually strong enough to move their heads and the risk of them getting hurt is greatly decreased.

For more information go to: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/09/national/main6282437.shtml

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A couple weeks ago a dear friend N had her baby shower - I made her some hair clips for her little girl, but what fun are clips if you don't have a holder?? Not very fun at all!

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This next project was very close to my heart.

It started out with a book by Thomas Kinkade, "Grandmother's Memories to her Grandchild."

The book was filled with questions such as,"Where were you born? What was your favorite childhood hiding place? Who were the attendants in your wedding?" Personal

questions that give us great insight to the ongoings of our grandparent's lives.

Even though it wasn't my own grandmother, it was very neat to see how,

Mrs. Gladys Kujawa, born in 1912 lived her amazing life.

I read about how she wasn't allowed to ride a bicycle because it wasn't lady like and how her first car was a Model T (as was everyone else's... but still!)

This woman, who has sinced passed, loved her children and grandchildren and this book, in her own, beautifully written cursive handwriting tells it all.

Ok so, now that you know the back story - here's my project.

My aunt wanted copies of this book made. Not just any copies from a big box store, with plastic bindings and such... but copies that would go along with the neatness, shall we say, of these

timeless memories of her grandmother.

I took photos of all of the pages and reformatted them to fit into old books that I'd found at the GoodWill. I make journals the same way... I find books in good shape with interesting covers, remove the original pages, and then rebind them with my own pages. I love how old books can get a second life!

These pages have images... my journals have lined pages :)

Once I have the pages folded and cut. I sew them into the book (as shown below.)

I added a button with ribbon to help close the book and to add detail.

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My last project of this month has been a Crochet Hobo Bag like the multicolored one I did for myself awhile back. I did this one in a more neutral color pallet with punches of red and blue.

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Sneek peek into next months work....

Lovingly in Painting Lockdown

2010-02-15T16:24:00.005-06:00

For the past couple of weeks we've been painting our entire first floor... and when I say entire - I mean entire! Trim, walls, and ceilings. To fully understand the extent of our painting experience I'm going to back track two weeks.

Once upon a time...

*chuckling*

Seriously though - When we first thought about painting my husband and I went to Lowes to pick out paint colors. I knew I wanted a tan color for the living and dining rooms and I was thinking that having one wall of the dining room as an accent color would be nice. So we (basically me) picked out a tan swatch for the walls and a camel swatch for the accent wall. We also picked out a deep chocolate for the trim and a country white for the ceilings. We brought the swatches home to see them in our lighting and as much as we could tell by the 2"x 4" piece of colored paper... we liked them.

Really, the 2" x 4" strip is a lie and totally not good enough. If you are ever thinking of painting it's totally worth getting the samples. Having said that - back to my story -

So we go back to Lowes, purchase 8 cans of paint. 8 cans!

2 qty : tan

2 qty: trim

3 qty: white

1 qty: camel

My father-in-law came over to help me get started. We painted the living room tan. As we were painting I was looking at the walls and they looked very golden colored to me. After the paint dried it wasn't any better either, but I kept telling myself that I would eventually like the paint and that I shouldn't worry. We had been painting all day long and the two cans of tan were running out so I called my husband to stop by Lowes on his way home and get two more cans for the dining room.

( unpainted trim)

Why I did this??? I don't know! The more I looked at the finished living room the more I hated the ugly tan color - which in our lighting actually looked gold. Truly people - gold. Our doorways are arched and our walls are plastered. A combination that made the inside of the house look like a pueblo rather than an 80 year old brick bungalow! In a word = UGLY!

(Stained glass window in the living room... not western in the least bit)

So, the question as to why I had Der get more paint and basically waste $40??? I was trying to force myself into liking the paint because I didn't want to admit that I had make a huge mistake. If you know me, you know that nothing bothers me more than waisted money. I thought that $40 would over power the ugly pueblo-ness of the room. It didn't.

That night I confessed to both Der and my father-in-law that I hated the color from the depths of my being (strong words I know... but totally how I felt.) Der, being a wonderful husband told me that he would take the next day off from work, we would go back to Lowes and get samples, bring them home, test the color, and repaint the pueblo :) My love for him that day multiplied ten fold!

Now we have wheat walls in the living room & dining room, a teal blue accent wall, and a happy ME. Honestly the whole paint situation and the thought of the money spent kept me up the first night until 1am! Since that night we have painted our hall way, kitchen, and bedroom. All rooms went according to plan - no random golden walls :)

(me painting the kitchen )

(Der taping off our cabinets)

The only thing left we have to paint is our main floor bathroom and L'bug's room - both of which will be a country white. We should be completely done with the main level within the next week... or at least by the end of February! I hope :)

What am I going to do with the two random cans of gold? Come spring I'm going to go antique shopping for outdoor furniture... who knows I might have a post in April with golden colored patio chairs!

Beeswax Holiday

2010-01-20T19:15:00.003-06:00

This week I have been visiting my parents. We have a local bee keeper who sold us some beeswax so that we could make candles. We also bought some honey... you'll see why in a minute!

Ok... back to candles.

Mom and I have been experimenting by using freshly rendered beef tallow, beeswax, and paraffin wax to see which ones burn better and longer. The candles that we made last night are a mixture of beeswax and a left over wedding candle that mom had saved from our wedding 4 years ago! Wax is wax :) We melted the wax in a double boiler [a pot with water in it and an old coffee can] I wouldn't suggest using a real double boiler b/c the wax is so hard to clean off anything that it touches...

For the wick you need to use cotton. I braided ours to make it stiffer. We also soaked it in a mixture of borax and salt - then let it dry over night to make it burn clean (without black smoke.) You'll need to pre-dip your wick into the melted wax, then tie something to the bottom of it to weigh it down. I used a nut. Once the wax was fully melted we poured it into the jar.

(When the wax is melted you'll want to add any type of scent - before you pour it into your jar. We added citrus :)

Burn and enjoy!

We also made lip balm - I know what you're thinking.... "really?!"

It's true!

It's wonderful smelling, it tastes good, and it make your lips feel great.

Don't let the Altoids box fool you -

**Recipe For Lip Balm**

Melt - 1 tsp. beeswax / 2 tsp. coconut oil / 1/2 tsp. lanolin / one vitamin E capsule

in the microwave. [BE CAREFUL - beeswax is highly flamable]

Once melted, add 1 tsp. honey and stir.

Pour into a container and put into the fridge until completely set.

Sustain-O-Nomically Simple

2010-01-16T21:52:00.006-06:00

I've been thinking alot about a quote my mother told me this past week. It's by a woman named, Dolly Freed. In the late 1970's Dolly wrote (at only 18 years old) a book called, Possum Living: How to Live Well Without a Job and with (Almost) No Money.

The quote is this, "It's easier to learn to do without some of the things that money can buy than to earn the money to buy them."

My quest to live more economically has morphed somewhat... into a quest I call

Sustain-O-Nomically Simple

Sustainable Living: (n) any lifestyle based on energy-saving and environmental responsibility

Living Economically: (adv) in a thrifty or frugal manner; as regards to the efficient use of income and wealth

Simple: (n) easy to understand, deal with, use, not elaborate nor ornate or luxurious; modest

Thus far my main eco-conscious ways have been using cloth diapers (something that I thought was crazy about a year and a half ago... honest - I love them now, but before I had my own child the thought of cleaning poop totally freaked me out - LOL now poop is just an everyday activity) & making my own laundry detergent (works fantastical.)

So..... to make my life more sustain-o-nomically simple I'm going to try to not buy anything that I already have. Meaning - Under my sink I have probably 20, no lie, different cleaning products. And I looked into my shower and saw that I currently have 3 shampoos and 4 different body washes/soaps. To help me use one of them (a beautiful bar of gardenia soap) I have made a cotton crochet soap holder.

I'm ready to start saving more money and living more simply. If you have any ideas totally feel free to share and comment :)

Simple Pleasures

2010-01-12T10:05:00.009-06:00

Over the holidays we went to a friend's house and saw these lovely paintings that

their little girl (4months old) had done :)

You know, it had never occured to me that L'bug could paint!

So yesterday I found out that we have two artists in this house *hehe

Picture it:

A little girl, 6 1/2 months old sitting in her Bumbo

(which now has a rockin cool tray attachment - thank you g'ma p)

I place three paint tubes infront of her. One pink, one green, and one blue. She looks at them confused and so I point to each one and ask her which one she'd like to use. She throws up her hands and dives at the pink tube!

She really wasn't interested in the paint... or eating it or her fingers for that matter -

what her heart desired most was to eat the construction paper.

After she slobbered over the paper we began to paint and here's what we came up with.

Enjoy :)

****

Back to work -

****

Warm weather where are you??

I just got done with a beautiful name plate for a little girl's 1st birthday present... and it

was a beach scene - ahh the sand between my toes!

For more pictures of Name Plates check out my

August 12th '09 post!

****
Girls and their purses....

A subject that is very dear to my heart, as I own probably 40 plus purses and bags.

(For the record however, they are almost all handmade, thrifted, or given)

I found this owl purse on etsy, but the item itself was only for purchase... there was no pattern - so I made one up.

If you had a bigger one I'd probably line it, but the owl is only approx. 6 inches tall and 4 to 5 in diameter. Just large enough for her to put her little nick nacks in.

I've got two other little girl purses that I'm currently working on and should have them up in a week or two.

See ya then!

My Needle and Thread Christmas

2009-12-30T17:05:00.014-06:00

I feel, as I'm sure you all do, that this past month flew by... I guess it's even

more evident now that we have a little girl. I'm reminded of what someone told me right

after L'bug was born. "This will be the shortest year with the longest days."

Boy were they on the money!

December is the month when I'm busy making gifts :) and so now that all

of the presents have been opened I can post the pictures of my latest works.

Thank You to all of the people that ordered items!

And now for the pictures -

****

I had no idea how much people would like those felted hair pins I posted a couple of weeks ago.

Here are a couple more, plus in my shopping travels I found a holder for them and

I couldn't wait to make one myself.

****

I think my most gratifying thing to make is a speciality bag.

One, because there are no other bags like them... and two, because I know that the client

will really be able to get a lot of use out of it. This first bag is a "super bag."

My friend, N, asked me to make her a bag that would hold... are you ready for this...

[cloth diapers, a child's toy, her camera,

medicine supplies, her laptop,

and her regular purse items (wallet, lip gloss, keys, and cellphone)]

Basically - everything!

Here is what I came up with.

It has three separate compartments. The purple zipper area is for her purse like and medicine items. The larger middle red zipper area is for her diaper bag stuff and camera. The back teal zipper part is for the laptop. All the compartments are lined. The front and middle areas both have inside pockets, there are three front pockets, and there are two side pockets -

(hmmm....wondering if I could think of another sentence to use the word pockets....)

She can carry everything she needs and then some, plus to make the bag more durable I put two straps on it to help distribute the weight.

****

This bag was a treat! I love suprises - especially this one. A friend's mom emailed me and asked me to make her daughter a sewing bag to hold her sewing machine as well as some notions.

One side has an area for scissors as well as smaller notions, and the other side has a pattern holder and a round pin cushion.

The side has pockets for fabric. I wanted to make it so that she could pick up her bag and have everything that she would need to sew right there in one place.

****

Here is a fabric teddy bear - I used the same pattern as before, however this client asked if I could embroider "Avery" on the leg. I wasn't sure how the dark/light contrast of the fabric would look when I cut out the pattern, but I'm very pleased with the "retro-ness" of it all.

I'm also so excited when things just work out - example:

I was sewing this foot together and when I turned it inside out I saw that there was flower in the center of the footpad! Totally not planned!

Well I hope you all had a great Christmas season - and in a couple of days - a Happy New Year! As always, feel free to email me if you have anything that you'd like me to make. I'm looking forward to another year of blogging. In the fall and winter months I crochet, but in the spring and summer I'm all about sewing - and sewing this coming year will be fun!

L'bug will be wearing regular clothes rather than onesies all of the time - and I've been doing some of online research and I have a lot of things that I'm very inspired to make. I found a fantastical French website that has free children's patterns. The site was very vintage meets Heidi of the Alps, meets home-maker! In other words - Amazing!

Again, thank you all for following my crafts and randomness!

sing_82@yahoo.com

Pattern Collector

2009-12-01T15:14:00.020-06:00

As the days grow closer to Christmas I find myself enjoying projects that I can get done in a couple days or two. I like the instant gratification... As a crafter I am always looking for different patterns - printing them out - and filing them safely away for a rainy day. I looked at my shelf of several binders filled to the gills with patterns, and realized that it would take me a life time to do all of those projects! LOL

I didn't know I was a pattern junkie, but I have all of the symptoms and tell-tell signs... my sewing room and computer are stuffed with them. So, to justify my "collection" of patterns I decided to make a few items - to make myself feel more like a "do-er" rather than a "horder." I'm not even going to tell you how much yarn and fabric I have - not that obsession I get from my beloved mother (love you mom!)

*******************************************

*Leg Warmers*

I've seen them several places, but they are just too expensive for me. Call me cheap - but $12 for one pair of leg warmers is a little much... so I made some. At Target you can get three pair of woman's socks for around $7. Each pair of socks makes one pair of leg warmers. You simply cut off the foot part and finish it off. They are really cute and they work great for when L-bug is rolling... no crawling yet, but all in due time. I'd make them for $5 a pair if anyone wants them. :)

*Pacifier Leash*

I found this pattern at Hook Candy.com and had to make it because it looked so easy - the pattern also happened to be free. I have since made like seven of them! I use the leash all the time. I hook it onto those connecting or magic rings {that was for you MW} and then connect the rings to her car seat or her jumperoo. I realize the concept of the pacifier leash isn't a new one - but the crocheted aspect of this one was what got me. The leash also gives L-bug more to hold onto and play with - which she quite enjoys :)

*Wash Cloths*
After I made my own laundry detergent I was thinking of other ways to get more "green."
Ok, I also had some time to kill while I was watching sports center with my husband so I made some wash cloths. I actually really like them. They soak up water well and the stitches make for good scrubbers. I have been doing things the old fashioned way with L-bug's diapers... I use cloth diapers and a wash cloth to clean her rather than wipes. The crochet cloths have been good to clean her with because they are soft.

*Felted Hair Pins*

I'm not a Black Friday shopper, however I did go out this year. Granted I didn't leave the house until 1:30pm and by that time all of the crazed shoppers had gone home. [If you just so happen to be one of those shoppers please do not take offense - more power to you!] While shopping with my mother-in-law I found these amazing felted hair pins! L-bug has lots of hair, but it is really fine and normal clips don't stay in - but the felt holds onto the hair without pulling it. The clip that I bought was $8 per clip - expensive! So I went to Hobby Lobby, got some felt, and made my own. And, without tooting my own horn - I really liked the way they turned out!

*Raga-Muffin Doll*

I was making a doll from a book pattern that I had. I was happily crocheting along when I looked down at my work and realized that the pattern that I was following (to a T) was looking horrible! The doll was supposed to be a teddy bear, but it didn't look like a bear at all... So, I improvised. I made up my own doll and the outcome was the Raga-Muffin.

I'll keep you posted as much as I can thoughout the holidays - but if I get too busy with all of the festivities...then Merry Christmas everyone!!

Afternoon delight

2009-11-23T14:18:00.006-06:00

I originally thought of these "scarf/hoodies" about two years ago when I was brain-storming for St.L Fashion Week, but I never had the right scarf to do it with. I love hoodies - they are warm, easy, and go with I'd say a good 80% of my regular attire.

(my thought process in black and white)

*I like hoodies / sometimes it's too warm indoors for a hoodie / but I like them / hmm... / you wear scarves inside / why do I like the hoodie / the hood of course / but I don't wear the hood unless it's raining / it's not raining indoors (thoughts digressing.... ok, back on track) / take the hood which I like add it to the scarf which you wear inside / presto*

Smells of Home - Bread and Laundry

2009-11-17T13:34:00.003-06:00

It's now been raining for the past 2 days and the forcast is for it to continue...

What to do......

Make stuff!

I know it's not a sewing or crafting project - but I wanted to fill you in on what I've been doing for the past couple of days. At the moment I am working on some really cute crochet items, but they aren't finished - or I would totally post them.

What I do have finished is bread and laundry soap.

My mom gave me her bread maker - which I LOVE! It's just so easy, and by all means - I am not Paula or for that matter - Paula on an off day - I am a crafter...

Cooking comes second - it actually kind of makes me nervous to cook. Getting everything to be timed right and not burned - Not my thing. However, the bread maker does it all for you. :) How much easier could that be?

*A peek into my present moment*

{I am listening to "Don't stop till you get Enough" by Michael Jackson / sitting in the kitchen - online of course / and waiting for my dough to be done... all while the L'bug is sleeping.}

Laundry Soap

(picture from Meet the Neebs )

A friend of mine told me about making your own laundry soap - I would highly recommend anyone trying it! It's not hard. It's cheap. And part of me just wanted to do it to prove to myself that I could.

http://meettheneebs.wordpress.com/2009/02/03/homemade-laundry-detergent

Bowling Bags & Other Friends

2009-10-29T19:47:00.021-05:00

A couple of weeks ago a girl friend of mine asked me to make her daughter a

"sleep over / going to grandma's house" bag. She wanted something that little M could grow up... something that was a large enough to pack for a couple of nights, but it also needed to be managable for a 3 year old little girl to easily tote around.

I had a vision for a cute "retro bowling"type bag that I wanted to make and so this was a perfect opportunity!

The bag is approx. 18" x 8" x 15"

The top has a 12" zipper.

For the photos I put 5 large bath towels inside of it to bulk it up and there was still plenty of room so I'm sure little M will be able to fit all of her special goodies in there :)

I put two pockets in the back for quick access to VIP furry friends as well

The handles are in a back pack style to make it easier for her to carry around.

Here's a shot of the inside.

****

If you have been following my blog you may recall the Lamby that I made of fabric - then you are going to love the cuddle bear that I made.

He's made in a patchwork style with one crochet ear. He's also joined (his arms and legs move.)

I think all teddy bears of this type need to be joined - they are more apt to play dress up, tea party,[if he were made in boy-ish type fabrics] or cowboys and pirate ships.

He's approx. 8" tall from ear to toe :)

The client had requested a heart be on the tummy so I made a red crochet one. I wanted it to match with the ear and with it being crochet it also gives the bear an neat texture.

Fabric Bear $20

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This next toy is one of my favorites - He's L'bug's first toy. It's a organic wool bear that my mom knit when I was pregnant. L'bug's only 4 months old and she's just now starting to notice toys so it might be awhile before she plays with him. For the time being he patiently waits on her dresser next to her night light though :)

As always I hope you all enjoy the posts! If you'd like anything please let me know :)

sing_82@yahoo.com

Changing Leaves & Pumpkins

2009-10-11T10:55:00.008-05:00

My favorite time of year! Fall
This probably has something to do with my love with the fine art of layering clothes... I would have to say that the fall is the best time of year here in the midwest. This past week I got to try out my cowl neck - hecks yea yo -
I was at my parents last week which gave me an opportunity to relax and get ready for the holidays. I know that it's way way too early to be even mentioning the word holiday - but I had to... The beginning of October is when I start making family Christmas presents. If I don't give myself enough time... I won't get them done - and then I'll have to go out and frantically look for one - not my style. I'm not a "day after Thanksgiving" shopper. I used to shop on that day, but I by no means have ever stood in line or ran down the isles of a store to get that prized gift.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are one of those super individuals - more power to you.
I digress...

Here's a scarf that I made for my mom last year. It's made out of a finger weight wool that I did in an Irish Flower pattern. I made a crochet button for the end for detail. It's approx. 57" long and 4 1/2" wide .

The wool was special order for it's particular weight. You could technically make this scarf in any type of yarn, however it needs to be made in a thinner yarn to get the "dainty / lacy" feel.

Irish Flower Scarf (wool) $75

Also - I wanted to let everyone know that my regular lead time is approx. 4 - 6 weeks depending on the amount of orders that I have. So, if you'd like to order anything for yourself or for holiday gifts... you should put in your orders as soon as possible. :)

sing_82@yahoo.com

New Medium - Paint

2009-09-15T08:51:00.004-05:00

When I got married I wanted a nice picture of me and my husband that would represent us. We aren't the regular large framed family photo sitting on the mantle people...

and I didn't want a blown up photo of us from our wedding either

- don't get me wrong -

both of which are great, but just not us.

Necessity is the mother of all invention so... I decided to make a picture of us.

I'm not really a landscape or realistic painter, but random painter - totally!

I took a photo of D and I from when we were dating. We were lying on a pillow in Forest Park having a picnic. The original photo itself wasn't the best b/c it had so many shadows...which got me thinking.

With a little tweeking of the contrast and brightness in Photoshop, I came up with an awesome

positive/negative space picture.

I painted it on a 3' x 6' canvas using two tones - black and white.

Here are some pictures of the process.

This one is of my brother and his fiance. It's a little hard to see the pencil lines in this picture.

I free hand the photo onto the canvas - on the bottom of the this picture

you can see the original photo.

Here's the work half way done. I modified their photo using three tones - black, gray, and white, rather than two. Here it is completed.

The canvas for their's was 2' x 3'.

The painting doesn't necessarily have to be done on a canvas...it can also be done on a wall.

It also doesn't need to be necessarily black, white, or gray either. I can make it in any combination of colors.

2' x 3' Canvas Works
Two toned : $ 150
Three toned : $ 175

3' x 4' Canvas Works
Two toned : $200
Three toned : $250

Getting Ready For Fall

2009-09-11T15:27:00.014-05:00

As I said good bye to Labor Day... I said hello to autumn. Ok, really it's still like 80 degrees here
in St. Louis. Our weather rebells against normal weather patterns and

randomly does whatever it wants. Tomorrow it could snow. Truly - ask anyone who lives here ;)

I digress - ok, so speaking of fall - I finally got around to making something that I totally wanted to have last fall - but never had time to make: a Cowl Neck!

Until last year I always thought of cowl necks having their home with a sweater. I'm not a turtle neck kind of person so when I saw a girl in a magazine wearing just the cowl neck I was in heaven. (I might possibly be the only person that didn't know about them but I'm so in the loop now.)

I can't wait to wear it with a t-shirt when the weather gets a little colder!

The Cowl Neck is approx. 66" total length & 7" wide

This particular one is a wool / acrylic blend.

If you are wanting one I can easily make it in any particular yarn type and in any color.

Cowl Neck: $40

This price is based on acrylic blend yarns regardless of color. For wool yarns please add $5 for supply cost.

****

I've had a lot of requests for hats lately - children's and adult's alike. Here are some samples that I had a blast making.

This one is an ultra soft chunky wool that I've done in a cable pattern. Usually cable patterns are done in knit, not crochet, however I think it turned out beautifully - the texture of the wool is great with the textured pattern.
Don't you love the ear flaps!
The red hat is a chunky acrylic blend that I did in a Swedish type pattern.
I've officially named it my "Heidi Hat." It's a 0 - 3 month size and even though it's only the beginning of September I've put it on L-bug numerous times already!

The white beanie hat is for my cousin K and her little one EG. It's a simple single crochet pattern, but what I like most about it are the pinable details!
The chocolate flower with the fabric button center has a safety pin that I've sewn onto the back so it can be removed. Here's a picture of a Rose Bud detail pin.

The details can be pinned onto anything - a coat, a sweater, a scarf... the possibilities!

This next hat is in standard acrylic yarn that I did in a 50's-ish type of pattern. It has a beautiful

"butterfly" detail with a slightly upturned brim.

Children's hats: $20

Adult hats: $30

Flower Detail: $10

Rose Bug Detail: $10

These prices are based on acrylic blend yarns regardless of color. For wool yarns please add $5 for supply cost.

As always - email me if you want something!

sing_82@yahoo.com

*All of the hat patterns are free and are from CrochetPatternCentral.com*

Order Testimony :)

2009-08-26T19:55:00.004-05:00

Here's some feedback for an order I did about a month ago. All of the items are from previous posts (if you want a more detailed look)

"Recently, I have been in the market for baby items (I am due in October), but I was disappointed to see that a lot of the baby related items I wanted were out of my price range, and those in my price range were a bit too "precious" for me. I especially had a hard time finding a durable, unique, and sturdy diaper bag. After seeing some items on Eclectically Home Grown, I decided to ask Felicia if I could purchase some of her items. A few weeks later, I was excited to see my package at the door. The bag looked amazing and was happy to have a one of a kind item. I have received many compliments about the diaper bag and other items she created for me."

Sewing / Crafting Spree (Entry # 3)

2009-08-20T14:46:00.007-05:00

On the crochet wagon again!

Wherever I go my needles aren't far away... and I don't necessarily need yarn.

I wanted a rug for L'bug's room but I didn't want one of the regular run of the mill ones. Her room is very random vintage and so I used bed sheets (thrift store ones *wink) as my medium.

The rug itself was very simple to make...it just takes a lot of free time. (I was putting to good use the time I spend nursing! LOL)

I used a really big crochet hook and single crochetted my way in a spiral {if you are a fellow "crocheter" it's like doing amigarumi...same basic concept.}

This rug is approx. 38" in diameter and took 3 queen sized bed sheets.

The baby shoes - well in my opinion one never "needs" a reason or explanation to crochet baby shoes! All you need is some yarn and a good pattern. The red/orange shoes are from a free pattern I found on another crafter's blog - but I made up my own pattern for the other two...taking ideas from a couple of different patterns to make a new unique one.

****

Rug Price:

24" diameter $ 20

36" diameter $ 30

48" diameter $ 40

*Rug's can be hand dyed to fit specfic color needs which will add $3 per color.

Crochet Baby Shoes

$15 a pair

Sewing/Crafting Spree (Entry #2)

2009-08-12T06:42:00.011-05:00

Memories are wonderful. You have them attached to music, people, places, and clothing... especially baby clothes! Now that I'm a mom it was a bitter sweet day when L'bug outgrew her premie & newborn onesies, as I'm sure it's the same for the other moms across the globe.
Well... what are you going to do with all of the various onesies, toddler clothes, highschool graphic t's from band, or even the t-shirts from your college philanthropy days that you don't wear anymore, hate to throw away, and don't want them sitting somewhere in you basement in a box where you'll never see them again.

Two words: MEMORY QUILT

The beautiful C-bear turned the big #1 this past weekend, and for her gift I took some of her clothes that her mom gave me, and made her a quilt. In the center of the quilt I made a hand embroidered "name plate."

****

Embroidering = Drawing amazing things with yarn

Another one of my friends, couldn't bear the thought of her little one's clothes being cut, so I made her a name plate that can be framed :)
I also was recently asked about cross stitch birth announcements. The older ways of cross stitching are great, however they do resemble the time of our grandmothers...

When I first started I got a lot of inspiration from books, but now I hand sketch all of my patterns and basically use various stitches to create beautiful pictures that are one of a kind. The wide range of things that can be embroidered are to numberous to count - for example: book covers, book marks, framed pieces of art, the center for a quilt, decorations on a bag or pillow.... just use your imagination - let me know what it is that you are wanting and I can embroider anything your heart desires *wink

The quilts are:

*all memory material provided by customer

24" x 36" (the quilt that's shown) $ 35

36" x 36" $ 45

48" x 48" $60

60" x 60" $ 90

Embroidery Designs

*Price is approximate depending on the design and color quantity

5" x 7" $35

8" x 10" $45

11" x 14" $65

Sewing/Crafting Spree (Entry #1)

2009-08-11T22:34:00.013-05:00

Alright, so I've been doing a lot of sewing lately - I've have got a ton of things to show you so...

Here is the first post of a group of "Sewing/Crafting Spree" postings.

I have some clothes, some accessories, cute baby stuff, and a very thrifty housewares item - when I said spree... I meant it *wink*

Some items are older things that I've made a year or so ago, (which I rediscovered while I was unpacking)

& others are some things that I've been working on... and it just randomly

happened that I finished them all now.

****

I was window shopping online, I believe at Free People.com when I came

across this beautiful crocheted bag. The only problem was that this bag was a little over $200.00

Out of my price range.

But the bag was made out of Granny Squares and so I figured that I could totally make it for less

that the ticket price of two benjamins. Plus, it's a really neat way to use up all the scrap yarn that I couldn't bring yourself to throw away.

The inside is lined with a pillow case and the strap is an old belt that I had lying around.

If you are a crocheter then you know that I didn't just do a Granny Square -

I used a French Square, but any type of square pattern will work. I never thought of it until now, but to add interest technically one could make the bag using several different square patterns... as long as they all were the same finished size.

(note to self = totally try that!)

In the above picture, the orange yarn woven through the dark blue top is the drawing string.

This particular bag is a personal favorite, and so it isn't for sale... however, if you'd like one yourself I can make it for you!

Crochet Draw-string Bag $100.00

Dimensions: 18" x 18" x 12"

****

Here are two bags that I made this past week. The pattern is by Amy Butler - talk about talented!! She has many pattern books as well as a fabric line.

The bag is big enough for you to pretty much carry anything in it. I've been using it as

a reusable shopping bag - for groceries or thrifting.

Both of these bag are made out of cotton, have pockets on the inside for carrying your cell phone, money, etc., and are fully lined.

As will all of my items - just email me if you want me to make you one :) sing_82@yahoo.com

Tea Tins... Baby Stuff

2009-07-27T16:18:00.006-05:00

Here's my newest obsession = TEA TINS!

I, along with two other lovely ladies, am hosting a baby shower for our friend E. It's a

Tea Party theme, and I'm in charge of decorations. I've been scouting

all of the GoodWills and Salvation Armys for

these amazing finds. I know they arn't something that I've made...

(in following the theme of this blog)

however, I couldn't resist posting them.

****

Here though, is something that I've recently made.

A diaper bag - that my friend T purchased after seeing the one that I made for L'bug.

I like her's much better :) lol

T told me that she likes the color green and so that was my inspiration. That, and this

really cool felt that I found. Let me know what you think - and if you'd like one for yourself.

I used a belt for the handle - and some furniture binding for accents.

I loved the green buttons. It has two front pockets, a really nice organizer inside, and a bottle holder. It's completely lined... and, felt is naturally stain and water resistant.

My little L'bug

2009-07-18T18:35:00.006-05:00

Hello everyone. It's been awhile, but I am now back up and running after having our baby girl. We are almost all moved into our new home... a few boxes are lingering here and there, but they will all get taken care of in time.

I'm finishing up a couple of orders and so - there are no new items at this time for me to post. I will put up photos of a diaper bag that I'm currently working on for a new mom and old friend - I have to say... I'm liking it better than my own :) Of course that's usually the way.

New Baby / New House

2009-06-05T11:09:00.010-05:00

Hello all - I just wanted to give you an update. This will probably be my last entry for awhile. Our little L'bug is due any day now and we are getting ready to move into our new home.

Lots going on for us - but I promise I will get back to making things and posting them

as soon as possible :o)

****

I do however have a wonderful blanket made by my mom that I couldn't resist posting!

The finished product is about 2' x 3'

The bunny is about 5" x 3

My Mom: loves wool (one might venture to say that she's a wool snob... for those knitters - she's totally a Zimmermann-follower) ...she reuses old wool / spins new wool / wants to own an alpacha to always have wool *hehe*

As much as she is in love with the wool itself she also loves to knit!

She made L'bug a beautiful blanket and bunny!!

****

If you'd like to purchase one - just let me know!

A blanket of this size is - of course - wool... and is priced at $150

The bunny (wool as well) is priced at $30

Here are some close ups!

It's an Elizabeth Zimmermann's Mystery Blanket April's Knitter's Almanac Project.

(It's in her book...Knitter's Almanac that has a project for each of the 12 months of the year...the blanket is April's project

Basically what that means is - you can't tell where the blanket has been started or stopped :)

Hope you like it - and talk to you soon

Homemade is just so rockin awesome!

2009-05-18T11:43:00.008-05:00

Here are some Puzzle Balls that I made this past week. The name isn't completely correct - the balls arn't really a puzzle, but they are colorful and fun for babies to play with.

They have many areas that to grab onto to help with baby's

hand-eye coordination ;)

The vintage fabrics are also a big plus...

I made three different sizes - I'm a fan of making things in "threes."

I can either make them with fabric that I already have - or if you have a color theme in mind I can work with that too.

****

Large Puzzle Ball [7 inch diameter] $ 8

Medium Puzzle Ball [5.5 inch diameter] $ 11

Small Puzzle Ball [4 inch diameter] $ 15

*******

L'Bugs Baby Bedding!!

If you know me, I really like to have unique things and baby bedding was no exception.

I looked around, but couldn't find anything that really matched the

style that I want for L'bug's room.

I've only got 6 weeks left - so this weekend I cranked up the sewing and finally finished her bed quilt!

The star points are randomly placed throughout - they are made from pieces of fabric from my baby clothes / vintage japanese fabric / and other cute pieces that

I had left over.

The backing and the border are made from a soft cotton that I found with my mom.

To add more detail I used a different fabric for the corners.

Making this quilt really opened my eyes to making "Memory Quilts." I looked online and there are several places that allow you to send them fabric from clothing.

You know - the clothing that you can't wear anymore, but has many memories so you can't bear to throw or give it away... also - baby clothes are another great idea for quilts.

What better way to preserve the memories than to have a quilt made out of them. The memory quilts I found online... on average run around $75 - $150 (plus shipping) depending on the size.

I'll gladly make a Memory Quilt for anyone that wants one - Now that I've got the thought in my head I'm planning on saving back some of L'bugs baby clothes and making on for her 1st birthday.

****

If you'd like one for baby / yourself / or as a gift - by all means contact me!

Quilt sizes can be anywhere from 36" x 36" [Approx. $45] to 60" x 60" [Approx. $ 90]

*****

Eclectically Home Grown

sing_82@yahooc.om

Old/New Furniture

2009-05-11T12:36:00.003-05:00

Thrifting, I would say is a favorite hobby of mine. I love finding furniture that's... a little under the weather, and fixing it up to look like new. Here in St. Louis, St. Vincent's is the best place to find the coolest pieces.
But really - anything that needs a little lovin' will do. I found this office chair in my parent's basement. It was covered in an ugly black/brown textured fabric, and was in desperate need of attention.

I got the notion to fix it last Wednesday night - It took me about 5 hours for everything... but the outcome is well worth it.

Most people are nervous about taking apart furniture, but truly it's quite simple. The old pieces of fabrics are your patterns for the new ones... As long as the basic structure of the item(s) isn't damaged the project will go smoothly with a little time and patience.

And, of course a staple gun :)

If you'd like me to recover anything just let me know -or- if you want to tackle a recovering project on your own and want some guidance feel free to email!

L-Bug's Going Green

2009-05-01T12:55:00.010-05:00

Ok, I'm not - if you know me - a massive "organic" person [love ya E] but I do love love love to

reuse stuff! p.s. the GoodWill is the best place to start :)

Here's L-bug's diaper bag that I made for her - about 40% of it is from an existing bag that

I didn't like - but hated to throw away. It's approx. 18" x 8" x 12" with two side pockets /

and inner organizer pouch / and two front pockets.

The strap is from the old bag.

Here's the inside - gotta love those organizers!
Here are the front pockets with a bandana as the liner - the teal color is the reused liner from the old bag. The gray side pockets are also from the old bag.

Let me know if you'd like a bag. I've made diaper bags for people in the past.

I can either go off a pattern or we can design it together if you want!

*****
Along with the "green" theme of this entry - I took an old t-shirt of mine and made some cute pants. This size is 0 - 3 months, and I had plenty of material from a med. size woman's shirt. Starting with a woman's med. shirt - I can also get a 3 - 6 month size pant.

I did make a 6 - 9 month pant out of one of my husband's shirts though.

Here's a step by step of how I made it.

First find a cute shirt -

Finish the bottom edges -

Finish the top

Sew up the legs

Finish sewing

Add the elastic - and...

Waalah! You've got some pants! :-)

If you want some pants - let me know. If you provide the shirt then I can make you some for

$5 a pair up to a 9 month size

****

Here's an apron that I made from a shirt!

A lady at my baby shower had one for her grandaughter to use when she comes to grandma's house and they do crafting projects. I thought it was such a cute idea that I had to make L-bug one!

Finding a shirt with a cute design is half the fun -

Apron's are $15 (using fabric that I have on hand)

*****

April "Showers"

2009-04-18T19:16:00.009-05:00

Ok - so I will admit that I have been negligent of my blog since I've been back

from vacation. However, I have been sewing and crafting - It's just that most of my works

have been gifts for friends (upcoming baby gifts / welcome to the world gifts)

as well as hostess gifts for my baby shower...

Little did I know that my absence was being noticed *lol*

A good friend of mine, MW, told me earlier today that I needed to update.

So I got to work and here are some of the newest pieces!

These first pictures are of baby burping rags. When I was at my mom's house a couple of

weeks ago she showed me this burping cloth that was shaped like an hour glass.

She said that when I was born they were very popular because they fit over the shoulder

much better than a square or rectangled one. I looked high and low at the stores when I was

registering for baby gifts and didn't find them anywhere - so - I made my own!

In about an hour I made these 5. I love all of the fabrics. The I Heart World one is nice

because it's from an old t-shirt of mine and very very soft :)

The pretty lady shows off how they work.
*****
I have also recently learned to silk screen using wax paper! It's so easy and it allows me to
make up my own designs. The traditional pink and blue onesies are nice and all, but
I'd much rather dress L-bug up in something a little bit more creative :)

Domo Origato Mr. Robato!

The money one was for M-bear (MW's little girl) and I couldn't show it off until today

because today was her shower and I didn't want her to see it before hand.

The HourGlass Burp Rags are $ 3.00 and the HandPainted Onesies are priced depending on the design - As most of you already know - If you'd like any of these things feel free to email me at

sing_82@yahoo.com

Master Buck Book Series - Book One! Complete!!!

2009-04-03T15:38:00.005-05:00

The Ever-Lovin' Beginning Of A Legend

is the first of many books that I'm illustrating. It's a Christian Children's book

series written by a close firend of mine, Tudy Hoffman.

She wrote the wonderful stories, and I illustrated them!

All of the books are hand bound (by me) with love. ;-)

The covers come in a varity of colors. Not only is there the sage green option like the one

shown, but there are 5 other styles to choose from. It all depends on what

I have on hand.

Here is a picture of the inside front cover.

The books are about a bear, named Buck Master - He starts out as a small bear and then

grows up. Along his journey and adventures he meets many other

woodland creatures.

The coolest thing is that Tudy actually makes collectible Buck Master bears that go
with the books! He's absolutely amazing looking - fully jointed, and weighted. Each one is hand
made and so they all have their very own unique characteristics.

In this book he meets a beetle bug - and learns that you always need to be mindfull of

others around you, and if you want to have friends you need to be

friendly. :-)

The book is 10 pages long. Approx. 4.5" x 9"

Here's the inside back cover.

At the moment I'm working on the pictures for her next book:

Buck and the Bickerbugs

It should be coming out later on this year!
Each one also comes with this coupon too!

****

If you'd like to purchase one of these one of a kind books,

they are $25

(including tax and shipping & handling)

You can email Tudy Hoffman directly at:
edwhoffman@att.net

Copy Right Master Arts Collection MAC / Tudy Hoffman

Use of images, illustrations, story line, and/or other design characteristics is prohibited.

Ready for Mexico... but there's always time for Sewing!

2009-03-20T15:19:00.006-05:00

As most of you know next week D and I are going on vacation! - However I couldn't resist

this cute lamb pattern!!! I know, I know... more baby stuff.

But

I did make a very nice dress - if you are or have been pregnant you

will understand how difficult it is to find

really flattering things to wear

First thing though... the Little Lamb-pil-stilts-kin

(my fanastical hubby named him) hee hee

Let me know if you want one!! And if you want a boy one or a girl one... or both ;-)

******

Here's the dress I was talking about.

I believe it's one of my Butterick patterns - not one that I designed, but very cute.

It can either be a halter top like the one shown or have regular straps.

The bust area is gathered and lined.

The pattern can be lengthened or shortened depending on the style. We have

a more formal event and so I made this one floor length.

The back is tied and so - no zipper!!!

2009-03-13T14:16:00.013-05:00

Summer Outfits!
Here are three outfits that I made yesterday - Each set has
a jacket, pants, and a cute matching pair of shoes.
I've had a lot of requests for boy clothing and so here is the first of many to come -
of course I couldn't resist throwing in a little girl one though *wink.

This boy one is a light orange, blue, and white stripe - with a hint of brown.

I used light green buttons with a snap front.

I hand dyed the pants to match the orange color in the jacket.

Here's another boy set. I've been doing some silk screening - long story short...

I made the jacket and I thought it needed something else, so I

slik screened a yellow airplane on the font and the back. I totally like it much more :)

The base fabric is a Japanese print of light blue and navy.

It has three pearl buttons and a snapped front.

I had found this embroidered fabric at JoAnn's when they were going closing one of

their stores! I didn't have enough to do a lot with it, and so when this pattern

only called for 1/2 yard - I was sold.

I put rose colored flowers on the toes of the shoes to match the jacket.

This jacket has two pockets, is also a snap front, and has three pearl flowered buttons.

Here are close ups of the little shoes.

Let me know if you'd like a set - they's work great as an Easter Outfit :)

Baby Stuff

2009-03-06T10:20:00.004-06:00

Shoes-Shoes & More Shoes!

Ok, I love these!!

I found the pattern online by Stardustshoes - excellent pattern by the way.

It's very easy to read and follow. The best part is, that it

only took me an hour from start to finish for each

pair - plus it's a chance to use all of those cute scraps that you can't bring

yourself to throw away, but can never find

a decent project to make with them.

I made these yesterday on my day off.

The light blue ones (shown below) are cool because I silk-screened a pink

butterfly and some blue hearts on them. (I could really get hooked on silk-screening.... maybe

I'll try it on some onesies or something fun like that... Yea! A new project for next week!)

My favorite of the three pairs are the blue ones with the buttons. The material is from

an upholstry swatch that I got from JoAnn Fabrics. I think I like them the most

because they look asian.

*************************
Baby Sling
No ties / No clasps / No velcro!
Here's a neat baby sling that I made yesterday too. This isn't the first one that I've
made of these. A girlfriend of mine is getting ready to have a baby boy
and I made her one about a month ago. The size of the sling is made specifically
for your shoulder to hip measurement so there is no need
for ties, clasps, etc.

It's sewn with french seams (basically it's a seam that's sewn twice for strength), it's lined with a soft fabric for additional support and comfort for the baby, and it has a
pocket in the front to hold burp rags, pacifiers, and whatnots.

Ready For Spring

2009-03-03T12:39:00.001-06:00

Ok so here are couple of my latest "makes"
This one is an Irish Lace scarf that I found online - the pattern is free from Lion Brand. Let me know if you want one -

I really liked this pattern because it was easy to memorize - so I could work on it during

traffic :) It's approx. 52" long and 8" wide / with 5 flowers. I used a

cream button that's hidden under a flower to secure it when

it's wrapped around you.

******************************************

This project was one that I finished about a week ago - however I haven't had a chance until now to put the pictures online.

A girl friend of mine, M - told me about these shopping cart covers / high-chair covers.

All of the ones that she saw at the big box stores were in "not so pretty" fabrics, so

she went to Old Time Pottery and got this beautiful

flower print.

She's tested it out with the little C'bear and said that it works great -

It has elastic all the way around the edge so that it will take the shape of the shopping cart (or) high-chair, and two leg holes with elastic as well.

Then when child is playing toys and food won't fall onto the floor.

I'm really excited because I went to the library and got some books that have some amazing inspirational ideas - lots to try!

Upcoming projects are homemade silk screening, some spring touch-ups for the home, spring/summer dresses, and of course - more cute baby things :)

Welcome Home

2009-02-23T15:49:00.001-06:00

This blog is a place where I plan to show and sell my current works and discuss my love of crochet/sewing/yarn/and fabrics. I'll also have my latest inspirations posted for other fellow crafters to enjoy.

My thinking is if I have a place online to post my work I will be motivated to create more! *high hopes* I'm 22 weeks pregnant, living in St. Louis with my fantastical husband. I have many many creations and I usually give them away - the fun for me is not necessarily the finished product but more the journey of making it.

Here is my latest work(s). If you like crocheting the pattern is very easy and only took me about an hour and a half to make. It's one of the ways that I keep myself occupied while my husband watches sports center.

The pattern is from YarnyDays. I found that it's a little off on the directions, and I did try contacting Yarny, but for some reason her site wasn't up that day. It's missing one (DC,ch1,DC) in Row 2 to complete the second sleve. [if you read the pattern you'll totally know what I'm meaning] It is nice b/c it has no seams

The pink jacket is for a girl friend of mine and the tan/brown one is for my little Lilly, but if you want a jacket like this for your own little one feel free to email me. :o)