Poofy Clouds!

Hey, guys!  Just checking in on this rainy Saturday.  I have to make it quick, I'm on my lunch break!  I wanted to show you a custom piece that I made for my co-worker, Liz.   

She's going to her family reunion this summer and every year an auction is held to fund the next year's reunion.  Isn't that such a good idea?  Well, she wanted to bring something handmade, as a lot of her family is into Art and crafty stuff.  She commissioned me to make something fun.  She told me to surprise her and this is what I came up with:

I was experimenting quite a bit with it, but I'm quite pleased with how it came out.  She loves it and that's all that matter.

Ok, I'm back now.... 5 hours later, didn't finish on my lunch break.  Dillon wins that bet, but I tried! 

Anyhoo, on this piece I used lots of different techniques and materials.  A tiny bit of machine stitching to join the blue and green fabric and attach the label to the back.  Then some applique with felt and fabric, a little bit of poly-fill stuffing and tons of hand embroidery.  I even used some divine twine for the mini-bunting....I love that stuff.  I wish I had a huge crafting budget, I'd get it in every color. Someday....

Here's a close-up for a little more detail.

I finished off the back by sewing a label to some oilcloth and gluing it to the inner frame.  Check it out!

So, I can't decide what my favorite part is, the mini-bunting or the poofy clouds.  What do you think?  

Hoping to check in with you again before the weekend is out, lots of projects and silly photos to share with you guys.  Enjoy a craftastic weekend!  See you soon!

Best Weekend/Worst Blogger.

Hey, guys!  So, who get's the "World's Worst Blogger" award for the month of May?  ME!!  I've done a pretty cruddy job of keeping up on things lately.  I've been feeling a bit "blah" lately and my poor blog and etsy has suffered for it. Thankfully, I've still being pretty productive with other things though.  New regiment in effect, hoping it'll make a difference around here.  Thanks for sticking with me guys!

Even though it's a bit overdue, I still need to tell you about the Stitching Party with the girls!  It was seriously the best weekend.  I got the opportunity to catch up with old friends and get together with others for the very first time, it was amazing.

To bed super late and up way too early, we headed out for adventures.  The guy to a boring symposium, me to a craft party- yay!  My gal pal, Josci, and I met up with Katy and Maureen of Sew Lovely Embroidery and Lisa of A Cuppa Tea with Me!  It was so great because we've been online stitchy pals forever now but this was the first time we got together.

Can I tell you, Katy and Maureen totally spoiled the heck out of us.  Check out the sweet decorations, it's it darling?!  (I stole this photo from Sew Lovely's flickr, it's chock full of gems like this.)  There was a ton of yummy food, tea, champagne...everything a girl could ask for!

They even gave us the cutest goody bags, I told you- spoiled.  Check out all the cute loot I got:

We stitched, we bitched.  Traded tips and quips.  All in all, we had a great time.  Here's all us girls together.  Yeah, I'm inadvertently giving you guys a glimpse of my bra...leopard nonetheless.  Classy, huh?  Someday I'll get it together.

It was a gorgeous day, the weather alone would have made the weekend fabulous.  Beautiful, isn't it?  I feel so lucky that I got to spend such a lovely day with great people.

Thanks again to Katy and Maureen for hosting a lovely afternoon, you ladies rock my sock's off.  From your patterns to your sweet words of encouragement, you are always amazing! xoxo

So, can you guys see why I had such a great time?  Thought so.  Tons of stitching lately, so lots to come.  Stay tuned.  See you soon :)

Winners!

So, yeah, I tried to post this yesterday but silly Blogger was not cooperating.  Figures, when I actually go to do something....  Anyways, with the help of my assistant, the winners have been chosen.

 

And the lucky ladies are AlwaysInspired and Corvustristis!  Yay!!  I'll be contacting you gals very soon to get all the details.

 

 Errrr, 3rd time's a charm, maybe?  The laptop died during my 2nd attempt to post this, possibly forever.  I'm working on our other computer and quickly getting frustrated with the awkward desk set-up.  *Breathe in, breathe out*  Ugh, guess it's time to bite the bullet and start saving some money.  New Macs don't just buy themselves.  I'm just grateful we have the other one to use still.

For the next few hours, I'm challenging myself to get a ton of things crossed off of my to-do list, so I  can have a nice relaxing weekend with the guy.  It's his birthday tomorrow!  Thanks to a trade, I have the weekend off...Yay!  It also means I don't have as much time as originally planned for this darned list.  Let's see how much I get done before work tonight!

Have a craftastic day, I'm off to be a busy little worker bee!

Caturday

In the evening and on weekends our neighborhood is really quiet, so Chunky is allowed to go outside while it's still light out.  He pretty much just lays on the porch and makes silly noises at the birds.  

While he's not doing that he plays his favorite game.  It looks like this.

He sits at the door and meows super loud....over and over again.  When you try to let him in he will turn around and ignore you.  A few minutes later, he will do it again.  It could really go on for hours if you indulge him.  After several dozen interactions like this, he will finally come in.  At that point he will saunter to the back door and demand to be let out again.  He scratch his favorite tree, then right back to the front door to play again.  It's a vicious cycle.  Like I've said, he runs this place.

P.S.  That's the roomie's new car in the background.  Every time I see it I expect Joe Pesci to come walking up the house with a baseball bat.

To Hold Me Over.

A few of you guys already know, but I'll let the cat out of the bag.  I have a huge giveaway in the works, I'm totally excited about it.  I can't wait.  While I work on that, I figured I would have another small one.  You know, just to hold me over until the big one.  Can you tell that the anticipation is killing me?

I've gotten so much positive feedback about my Arcade Barrettes and Brooches, so I thought I would show my appreciation by giving away a few of those. The winners may choose a style already in my shop (more to come tomorrow!) or I will make a custom one just for you.

I'll choose two winners on Wednesday, May 11th, 2011.  To enter, simply leave a comment telling me about your favorite thing to make lately. These are among my favorites right now.  So, what do you love to make?  Cookies?  Crafty Stuff? Loud noises?  Tell me, I need to know!

Be back soon to tell you all about my fabulous weekend stitching with the gals!