Non-traditional Easter Basket

Instead of an Easter basket, I received a pink toile bag with a needlework reference book. This gift reminded me of how much I love toile. When I worked at a fancy pants cafe in high school, the tablecloths and chair fabric were covered in blue toile. That is when I fell in love with the pattern. It represents sophistication to me. I can understand why a lot of people would hate it, but I love it so intensely. If I have a little girl, I'm going to decorate her room in pink toile.

The needlework book is very old and grandmother probably got it from an antique store. It's a great gift and I was surprised to find some great notes in the margins and some bookmarks in pages that I found very useful. I'll be trying out some new stitches soon. I have a lot of projects on my plate, but I've gotten lazy. I'm fired up about stitching again after reading the book, so I think I'll get to crafting again soon.

New Year, more crafting

Happy New Year everyone! I am very optimistic about the new year, even if it is filled with uncertainty. It will undoubtedly be filled with challenges, but I'm prepared to meet them head-on.

The only resolution I'm going to make is to stitch more. I really want to work on my projects more than once a week. Craft nights were such a wonderful idea because some weeks I just don't have any extra time to sit down and stitch. My girls are so motivating, too. They are so talented and fun. They are the perfect company, really. Our last craft night was at Dayna's house so she wouldn't have to be away from her new PS3 for too long. Admittedly, I am spending a large amount of time with my new video games. I got three... two for the Wii and one for my DS. Anyway, back to craft night. I actually finished the wine bottle on the wine trivet I'm making. I still have the border of grapes, wine glasses, apples and table cloth to complete. No pressure, right? I took a photo of what it looked like at the beginning of craft night.




Here's Dayna working on her cherry blossom bag. She is so creative and her projects are adorable. You should check out her esty store.



We're going to get together this weekend and again at the beginning of next week. Should be good motivation to get me through this project.

Completed Apron

I finished two projects, but I just haven't been here to talk about them. The holidays are hectic times, as I'm sure you know. Since I finished these last two projects, I've started one and hit a wall. I don't know what it is, but by the time I get to crafting, I'm exhausted and lethargic. Even at craft night I just look at the projects in my craft bag and wish that they were already finished. This isn't good when Christmas is coming up and I still have three presents to finish.

I'll quit my whining now and post pictures of the apron I made for my Best Pal. I put little gnomes on them because she loves them. I really like how the vines on the bottom turned out. The satin stitch took a while, but it looks nice if you ask me.







Yeah, I'm going to iron it before I give it as a gift! I have one more apron to work on, but I think I'm going to wait and make it for myself. I really love aprons and I don't have one of my own currently.

As far as Christmas presents go, I'm nearly finished with gift shopping. I've had a lot of fun with it so far. I love Black Friday and I made my way out to a nice mall with my cousin early that morning. I did get some good deals on stuff I needed and a purse that I didn't need. I have an unhealthy obsession with designer bags.

I'm getting back to work now. Happy crafting!

Inspiration strikes again

I am completely finished embroidering Telisha's apron now! It looks great. I will be posting pictures later when they're uploaded. Lonnie and I got a wild hair this morning and we're finally learning to cross stitch. It started because I thought I would make my friend Jeff a Simpsons themed piece for Christmas. I actually found a pattern that kicks so much ass that I had to get it. It looks pretty involved, so I thought I should get some practice in before the pattern gets here. That's when Lonnie and I headed to Hobby Lobby on our lunch break. I'm going to make a wine trivet for Lonnie. Luckily I don't have to hide it from her. And hopefully it will turn out nicely, even though it'll be my first cross stitch.

In other crafting news, I figured out how to make my own cross stitch patterns in Photoshop. I've made two so far today. One of a mudkip (joke for my roommate) and a Jack Skellington for Lonnie. Lonnie is actually cross stitching a bear right now and it seems to be going well.

And if you were wondering what ever came of my cupcakes, wonder no more. The Subway Alumni received them and ate some. Proof is in the video below!

Trying New Things

This weekend I worked a lot on the apron I'm making for my best pal, Telisha. I am using the same gnome pattern that I used on Kris' purse earlier. I went to Hobby Lobby and picked out some new floss and a floss roller. It was only 99 cents, and thank goodness because it doesn't work at all. It looks a lot like a fishing reel and it rolls the floss onto the bobbin very loosely. I don't like it at all. I think I actually left it at my parents' house, too.

Tonight is craft night at my place, and we'll be watching Forgetting Sarah Marshall while we get crafty. I will hopefully finish up most of the apron.

I ordered a few things on the Internet last week, too. First, I'm addicted to the TV series True Blood, so I ordered the first book in the Sookie Stackhouse series, Dead Until Dark. It was only $3 and I couldn't help myself. Next, I'm making some cupcakes on Wednesday for the guys at the Subway Alumni Show. I bought some icing tools that I've never tried before. Why not get fancy, ya know? The tools were actually very cheap on ebay, too. As a bonus, they're not used, either. Heh... Using used utensils freaks me out. Anyway, I'll get to try those out, along with a new recipe I found for funfetti cupcakes. It looks delicious.

You Don't Gnome Me! Completed Project

It took me a few days longer than I thought it would, but I finished the bag I was working on. With the elections (I am a rabid media watcher) and me being sick, it was a little overwhelming. But as Corey and I watched Gone Baby Gone last night, I stitched the final touches on my cute little gnome.

This weekend I am going to start on Telisha's Christmas present, an apron with gnomes on it. She was my gnome inspiration, actually. She has cute little gnomes on her front porch and even has shirts with the little dudes on em. Hers will be a little more elaborate than this bag, so it will take a little longer. I'm going to my parents' house this weekend, so I will have a lot of down time at night when they go to bed and on Saturday when Mom works. And of course Monday is craft night, so I'll have several hours to work on it then.

Again, I need a new camera. Mine is actually on the fritz right now and only works when I gently coax it. Some of the pictures aren't too bad, but the one of the little cottage is just way too blurry.

Coming To The End Of A Project

This weekend was a good one filled with candy, hockey, and family. Corey and I visited his son, Carson, for Halloween and took him to his football team's party at the hockey game. His coach did lose him, but he was found and we never have to deal with those parents again! Other than all that hectic stuff, I did get some stitching done. I am nearly finished with the purse I'm working on now. I put some cute little gnomes on it for my BFF Kris. Tonight is craft night, so I'm sure I'll complete what I have left of this project. Then it's on to the next Christmas gift!

I have a good feeling about this. If it only takes me one week to complete a project, I'll have all of my Christmas gifts finished way before the deadline. And since I was sick last week, I didn't get to stitch as much as I normally would, so perhaps I'll finish two projects a week. I really don't have that many to make, either. We're going light on the present giving this year.

I found this pincushion on Etsy.com earlier and I loved it! I keep losing needles in the couch, and I think this would stop that. Not to mention it is completely adorable. I might just have to break down and buy it for myself after Christmas. I've been a good girl and kept the shopping to a minimum, which is a huge deal for me. We went clothes shopping this weekend and I actually didn't buy anything for myself. Granted, I was having a fat day, but there were still shoes I really liked!

First Project

I finally finished my first embroidery project! I am so excited that it turned out as well as it did. It's funny how you can see the improvement from one part to the other. I started the satin stitch on the star to the very right. You can tell that I got better as I practiced on each star.

It's very exciting to have this new craft. I look forward to the progress I make on future projects, too. I have so many ideas and I can't wait to start. I'll be starting on Christmas presents at our next craft night.

Clearly it's not perfect, but I am very proud that you can even tell what it is! Well that's all I wanted to share right now. I'm craft-free for the evening and watching Six Feet Under with Corey. It's good to relax.

I love cupcakes and crafting

I've had a personal blog for about five years now. It's mainly private and I get my feelings and emotions out in it as well as update on my day-to-day. After meeting my friend, Katie, I found her blog and a community of bloggers who write specifically about their crafts. I find this to be exciting, because I love talking about embroidery, baking, cooking, etc. Not many people in my real life get as excited about these things as I do. I've been silently following Katie's and other blogs and now I've decided to start one of my own. Even if no one reads this, it will be a place to catalog my projects, recipes and ideas.

Sometimes when I start something new, I dive right into it and then after about a month I lose interest. With a little inspiration and motivation from my friends, I have started a new hobby and hope to continue it. Lonnie, Dayna, Katie and I meet usually about once a week and we call ourselves "The Crafty Cupcakes". It's a lot easier to be excited about a project when someone tells you how cool it is!

Currently I am working on my first embroidery project. It's a pillowcase (the first piece of cloth I picked up) with a light house scene on it. I'm having fun trying out different stitches and finding new ways to add texture and color. Katie has helped a lot with that. I have books and diagrams, but it's so much easier to have someone demonstrate a stitch to you! I have a few rocks to stitch on there, and I should finish the piece tonight.

I have also decided to make a few things for Christmas presents this year. I found some free patterns online for a tote I will make for my best friend, Girl Kris. I will be using a gnome and fairy pattern my boyfriend, Corey, bought me for my birthday from SublimeStitching.com to make an apron for my best pal, Telisha. I also have a few patterns picked out from that website to use on some tea towels for my aunts and mother. As soon as I get paid on the first, I'm heading to HobbyLobby to pick out some materials! I'm pretty thrilled about it.

Hopefully I'll have a picture of my completed pillow case for my next post. Until then, I'm going to work on making this blog look snazzy!