Busy little bee!

I know I've been slacking on posting here, but I've been a busy little bee!

So many babies are on the way, plus my niece had a baby. My go-to handmade gift is a crocheted baby blanket. So far, two of the blankets are done.

This blanket was made for two good friends of ours, crocheted with Lion Brand Pound of Love in Antique White. The pattern is called Bundle of Joy, from the Leisure Arts booklet Baby Afghans to Crochet. Normally, I use either Bernat or Caron baby yarn for blankets, but I wanted this one to coordinate with their nursery theme.

Once I got the hang of it, the pattern was relatively easy. I think I had to frog a few different rows about three times. 

My niece chose purple for her brand new baby girl. The only problem was that I couldn't find ANY purple baby yarn at Wal-Mart. I know, I know... why not just go to a craft store for the yarn? Because my wife has classes and she puts up with me asking to be taken to the craft stores (about a half hour away). I finally found some at a Wal-Mart in Pennsylvania the day before Easter. 

The FREE pattern for this purple one can be found here 

I've just started the third blanket, so for now, I'll just show the colors I'll be using. 

Happy February!

I'm so far behind in my posts. I'd hoped to publish at least one post a week, but a seriously nasty upper respiratory infection knocked me for a loop for nearly all of January Not only did I quit smoking (again), but I'm almost back to my normal crafty self!

I never finished all the handmade gifts I had planned, just ran out of time. I'll update with pics of the things I did finish in the next few days.

Homemade Holiday

Since I haven't worked at all this year (meaning I'm broke), I'm going to make something for everyone. I have 20 days left to create all the gifts. O.o  I've started on three on my list so far...

Gifts for Son

Idea One

10%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Idea Two

0%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Idea Three

0%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Idea Four

0%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Gifts for Daughter

Idea One

0%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Idea Two

10%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Idea Three

0%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Idea Four

0%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

 
Gifts for Mom

Idea One

100%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Idea Two

0%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Idea Three

0%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Gifts for Wife

Idea One

0%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Idea Two

0%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Gifts for Others

I'm going to make several of one item and give it to multiple people :D

Son

0%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Daughter

0%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Mom

0%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Parents in law

0%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Ex

0%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Former MIL

0%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Aunt J

0%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Aunt F

0%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Aunt S

0%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

My twisted friend D

0%

01 Dec 2014

25 Dec 2014

Welcome back!!

It's been FAR too long since I've posted here, let alone crafted anything. I've gone through so many life changes in the past few years and I'm ready to get myself back into crafting. It's the one thing that helps keep me out of trouble, and sane! Please bear with me as I revamp my blog, I want to clean it up a bit.

Now that I have an actual craft room, I've been trying to get it organized. Trust me, I know that's a daunting task for any creative type. But I'm bound and determined to keep my room ready for whatever crafty idea that grabs my attention at any given moment!

Crafting is always more fun when you have a friend! My friend Freaky created a blog called Crafting Beties. It's for the two of us to challenge each other (because we can be super lazy sometimes).  This month's challenge is an adorable crocheted reindeer. Pop on over to the new blog, leave a comment or join us as we create!

Cleanup!

Our Fearless Crafter coughs and sneezes at the dust as it swirls around her. She throws open the windows and pulls the sheets off the furniture "been far too long since I've visited my craft room" she mutters to the huge dust bunnies that really should have been called dust monsters.

Greetings Folks, I apologize for my absence. Check back soon for some updates.

Belated Valentine's project

It's been brought to my attention that I forgot to post my Valentine wreath, the one that I used spray glitter. I stand here, holding a bunch of oopsie daisies. :)

I made the wreath using wooden heart shapes, probably the 5 or 6 inch size ones. I painted them with acrylic paints. I wanted them to look like those little candy hearts, so I used (older ) dimensional Polymark fabric paint in Medium Pink Shiny to write different things on each heart. Except for the three at the top. For those, I used Tulip dimensional fabric paint in Multi and wrote a nice quote that's been popping up all over the place "Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much."

Here is the wreath after paint and words:



Not enough... it need's something. I think to myself "What would the Crafty Chica do?" Snapping my fingers as it comes to me... GLITTER! But I didn't want to do it the old fashioned way, so I decided to try glitter spray. The only glitter spray I could find was Tulip's Fabric Spray Paint in Sparkling Star. Not a big deal, it should still spray glitter on my project, right? Right.



I had an extra wooden heart that I used as a test piece for getting a nice even flow of paint for the text. (I always have bad luck with huge globs spurting out at the wrong moments). So I sprayed the test heart. One coat seemed a bit light, so it got a second. I was happy with the results.

When Irish Eyes are Smiling

Recently, I taught a polymer clay button class at work. I not only learned a new technique that I really love, but I had a lot of fun teaching others about polymer clay. Raku is a ceramic firing technique named after a Japanese family, and the pieces can be used for tea ceremonies. There is so much information on the web, so give raku pottery a peek.

I was inspired to create this hand-held polymer clay covered mirror. I call it "Irish Eyes", in honor of my sweet Irish lass - DollieJo


Unfortunately, due to possible copyright infringements, I cannot divulge the exact technique that I taught. If you took the Clay 101: Buttons class at Joann's (#8425423), you have the student sheet for the technique. I will share the particular supplies I used

Supplies:
Sculpey III in black
FolkArt Metallic Pure Gold 660
FolkArt Metallic Emerald Green 663
FolkArt Metallic Pearl White 659
Sculpey Glaze (gloss)
Makin's Clay "sand" texture sheet from Set A 38001
Rubber Stamped brand wooden mounted stamp - 3314R Geometric Swirl Background
Darice brand 3-inch round mirror
Polymer clay basic tools (rolling machine, straight blade, baby wipes)

I created the heart in Raku style, barely covering the cut edges with a bit of gold to give it a worn gilded look. I covered the mirror in plain black clay, cutting the clay in a 3-3/4 inch circle, leaving enough clay to cover the edges and create a lip on the front. I used the texture sheet to make the clay look like a stone. I very lightly applied a bit of the pearl white paint, trying to give a mottled stone look to it. I hadn't counted on that paint getting a bit brighter during the curing process. (that's why it looks "shiny" at the point of the heart - its the pearly white paint, not a shiny spot). I baked it for 20 minutes total, on top of a round cookie cutter. Finally, applied a coat of the glaze just to the heart.

Thanks for looking!

Photo a Day - Week in Review

Sylar (Monster baby)


MOOOOM!!! QUIT!!!


mmmm pistachio muffins


Look deep into my eyes... you will bring me salmon


Crocus pocus!!


Orange you glad I didn't say apple?


I think I'll let you take a picture, but no autographs.

Photo a Day - Week in Review

Jerry Garcia

King Tut thingy I'd like to know more about


Evil Sock Monkey head buckets


Must be nap time


My favorite movie snack


Bouncy!!!


Pillow I made with Paisan

One Little Setback

I've put aside my project for #onelittleword for a moment. I let old behaviors and fears influence my creativity. My painting has been sitting on the side, waiting for my return.