In a Pickle

 Today's post is brought to you by the word, pickles.  Yay for pickles!  I love 'em, do you?!

When I found out my partner in the Phat Quarter Food swap had the nickname, Gherkin, I knew I had to go with it.  So I made her a pickle jar, with my attempt at a label.  It says, "Leslie's World Famous Gherkins.  Petites with a punch."  Originally it was to be a patch, but I think this came out better.  Now if I could have just got a good picture of it.  Taking pictures of round things is hard!

 I guess the fabric I used for the words was too thin, I've never had it stretch out like that before?  Any suggestions?  It didn't seem like that when it was one the hoop.

 I started by plotting out a pattern on the computer, mainly to play with all the different fonts.  And to get the oval shape even, I'm terrible at that sort of thing.  I transferred it onto the green fabric with my trusty Clover pencil and stitched away.  Somehow my stitching turned out a little crazy in the word, famous.  However, I'm learning not to beat myself up and obsess over every little thing, so I went with it still.  Once the stitching was complete I cut it out with pinking shears and stitched it onto the orange felt.

The jar is an upcycled Trader Joe's coffee can that I covered with vintage green linen.  I couldn't quite get the back seam right, so I used some coordinating ribbon to cover that up.  Not thrilled about that so I didn't take a picture, ha.  I finished up by attaching the vintage foodie trim with tiny dabs of hot glue.  Then I glued the entire patch onto the jar.  Added some felt to the lid, done!  I filled the jar with goodies and sent it on it's way.  My partner, Leslie, liked it, so I'm happy!

Ok, once I share pics of the foodie pieces I've received lately, I promise- no food posts for a while.

Donut Party!

On Sunday, my honey and I had lots of "us" time.  Between sleeping in, eating too much awesome food and watching football, we found time to do a little baking.  We made donuts!

Aren't they pretty?!

We used this recipe.  Despite following it closely, we had nowhere near 58 donuts, which is probably a good thing.  That meant we had too much glaze for the frosting, but oh well.  We had one minor set back, when Dillon kept telling me I was going overboard on the sprinkles.  Is there such a thing?!  It was alright though, I told him he had no idea what he was talking about and promptly went back to flinging sprinkles everywhere.  Thankfully, it was easy to clean up.  By the time we got out the broom to sweep up, our little sprinkle hound, Tequila, had already taken care of most of the floor.

Like I said, we ate too much good food that day, so there was no room left for donuts.  However, I've since tried them and they were yums for my tum.  I think they are excellent paired with a glass of milk.  I'm sure my guy prefers them with coffee.  Either way, tasty!

Hopefully, I haven't made you too hungry!  If I have, sorry!  Feel free to stop by and I will share my donuts with you.

Caturday!

It never fails.  When you are trying to get something done around here, a cute little kitty will come along and distract you.  Or in this case, jump into the laundry you're trying to take care of.

 

Or two may come along.  Either way, their cuteness is getting in the way of progress.

Sorry about the Instagram photos guys, I couldn't resist the convenience factor.  I can smell a pizza in the oven and it's calling my name.  Oh, I'm Mafiosagrrl on Instagram.... like that's a surprise, just call me "Captain Obvious!"  Are you on there too?  Lemme know!

Snapshot Friday!

Someone was obviously impressed by the gams on this gal!

In fact, they were so impressed they had to write it twice.

 A bargain at .25, wouldn't you say?  It makes me curious to see what the rest of this scrapbook looked like.

I'm looking forward to this weekend off from work.  I've got lots of Halloween prep in the works.  It's been hard to get into the holiday mood since the weather refuses to turn into fall here in CA, so I'm going to force it along.  I think it's time to decorate!  I need some pumpkins around this joint.  Be back soon!

I made this kitty for Connie as part of a swap we had.  She was kind enough to send me the largest Q-Snap you will ever see in your life.  It's made to be a floor stand for hand-quilting and I'm going to put it do good use.  Baby quilts here I come!  No, there are no little ones in our near future.  I just want to start small with my new hobby.

I found the canvas on sale at the craft store and fell in love with the circular shape.  I bought it with no particular project in mind, and now I wish I had picked up a few more.  Not for stitching though, it was a major pain as it was primed for painting.  Next time I stretch my own canvas for mixed media stuff.

Despite having a cute little dog named, Girlie, Connie loves cats!  Being a kitty lover myself, I wasn't lacking in cat patterns.  I used a vintage pattern that someone had shared in the Hoop Love flickr pool.  I've long since printed it out so I'm not sure who the original maker was, sorry folks!  Then I lightly tinted it with watercolors and stitched it for more definition.  I used Perle cotton and regular embroidery floss, divided into various #s of strands. 

I'm so glad that she liked it.  I'm always happy to send off things to a good forever home!  Speaking of which, I've got tons of happy mail to post about.  Including a package for a lovely lady from the land down under.  She will love me and hate me by time she get's the giant box of swaptastic stuff.  I decided to create one last goodie to make up for my tardiness and you know how that goes....takes forever.  I feel like the naughtiest swapper ever, I'll probably decline swaps for a year now!  Anyhow, more coming soon!  See you later, dolls.

Current State of Affairs

My crafting area is one hot mess right now.  This is just a small portion of the craziness.   And it feels like more a reflection of my life in general.   Trust me, I can't show you the rest.  I'm too ashamed.  Maybe I'll get a before shot as I attempt to master the mess.

Last time I posted about organizing the fabric into bins, but that's pretty much where the organization process stopped.  I need to get it under control and soon!  It's getting a bit overwhelming.  I tend to avoid the room when it's like this, which also means I'm not blogging and can't really work on anything but embroidery (which I take in the other room.)  Holy Guacamole, I need to get it together!  Be back with some projects that have contributed to this pitiful mess.

Best Pencils. Ever.

Despite telling me that I have enough paper and writing utensils to last me the rest of my life, my honey still indulges my obsession with stationary products.  I guess he just gets me.

These pencils he got me are just plain awesome.

The Shining is one of my all-time favorite movies. 

                      

Great, now I want to watch this movie!  Perfect movie watching weather too, gloomy and rainy outside.  I want to cuddle under a blankey with a yummy coffee.  Too bad that's not going to happen for a while, I've got too much to do.  I'm in the process of organizing my fabric stash into bins.  Exciting, I know.  Well, off to finish up!

Snapshot Friday!

My guy is the best!  He brought me to a place that has enough old photos for sale to have Snapshot Friday for the rest of my life.  Now you guys don't have to look at my boring ol' photos on Fridays anymore....if I posted one, I've been so bad lately.

I'm happy because I've missed the old timey photo Fridays.  I can't wait to go pick out some more from my new favorite store.

Look at the handsome devil I have for you guys today.

Gorgeous, huh?!  Kind of reminds me of Gene Kelly.  And that deckle edge?  Swoon.  This one definitely has me longing for a bygone era. 

I've got a ton of projects to share with you guys, once my sorry butt gets them in the mail.  See you soon!  I have the weekend off and plan on spending a lot of time working on bloggy/etsy stuff.  Hopefully making up for my extreme lack of activity around these parts lately. 

I'm a Bookworm Part III

Well, I tried to share this with you guys yesterday but it didn't work out.  Therefore today's post will be brought to you by the words, Technical Difficulties.  Somehow I've misplaced my card reader so I had to wait until I could use the boy's sexy beast of a computer.

Seems silly posting about a specific day once it's already passed, but here we go.  Yesterday was September 13th, also known as Roald Dahl Day.  Did you know there was such a thing?!  Awesome, huh?  Check out the official site, tons of cute stuff for the kiddos...or the young at heart.  Warning: there is happy music that may scare the heck out of you if your volume is loud.  I know this for a fact.

I absolutely adore his books and read most of them as a child.  To be honest, I'll probably be re-reading them for the rest of my life.  He's also written adult fiction which I can't wait to get my hands on someday.  I'm sure you know most of his children's stories have been made into movies, but if you've never read them- you must!  They're quirky and full of dark humor, but still maintain a sense of innocence...a combination hard to achieve.  For me, it's hard to pick a favorite!  Do you have a favorite Roald Dahl book?

Oh, hey!  Speaking of books, have you seen the new Feeling Stitchy button on my sidebar?  There is a contest for embroidered book covers on now through November 7th.  If you're a stitcher who loves to read, you must check it out.  I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!  I'm going to draw up a few things this week and see if I can get it together in time.

Be back sooner next time, promise :)  Bye for now, I'm off to work.

Big Winner!

Last week I received a check in the mail for my 1st place win.   Wait, what?!  Yeah, that's what I thought.  I had no idea what in the Sam Hill they were talking about.  Turns out, my grumpy ol' Gargoyle DID win at the fair!  I was totally surprised, seeing as how I not only attended the fair, but I had also already picked up my piece and had not heard anything about this.  I guess since it was displayed low, some brave kid took it or it fell off?  Either way, they gave me another one!

Apparently, not only did I win, I won first place.  Holy guacamole, I'm shocked!  Here's my plentiful bounty-

Don't spend it all in one place right?!  Just thought I would share, since I was pumped.  Can't wait to add to my ribbon collection.  I need some big poofy ones!

Oh, on a side note, I'm blogging from my honey's new Mac.....swoon.  So nice.  I think I'm in love.  And he's teaching me Lightroom.  Aww yeah, great photos here I come.  Good thing he's patient. 

Sorry it's been so long.  I've been crazy busy with work and there's been some commotion on the household front looking for a new roomie.  I promise, I'll get with it again soon.  Love you guys for your patience with my lazy butt.  See you soon!  Have a lovely Friday night.  I'll be off to bed soon, ready to pop up at 5am for work- blech.