Saturday, January 29, 2011

A Strawberry Tutorial for You…

Supplies:  wool felt in green, white and red; white beads; yellow beads; beading thread or very strong sewing thread; green yarn or embroidery floss.

1. Start with a circle shape, I used three sizes (2 3/4”, 3 1/2” & 4 1/4” across) cut it in half.  I like to use freezer paper with the felt as you can iron it onto your felt and then cut your shape…makes life much easier.

2. sew straight edges together, turn right side out.

3. sew a gathering stitch around the top and stuff with fiberfill. Really stuff that little sucker good!!!  You’ll be amazed by how much fiberfill you can get in there! You could stuff it with a little sand or bb’s for weight but make sure to have fiberfill in the top portion to hold it all in.  Pull gathering stitches tight and tie off.

4. take a length of your yarn (about 7-8”) and tie a knot in the end. Poke knot into top hole. Using the thread that is left on your needle, pulling tightly, sew back and forth across the hole and occasionally going through the yarn until the hole is completely closed.

5. sew white beads randomly around the berry pulling tightly so you create a divot where the “seed” is. Knot off in the top of the berry by doing a few backstitches.

6. for the leaves, cut out two starfish like shapes, one slightly smaller than the other.  cut a hole in the center and pull yarn through the larger one.  sew leaf down by coming out near the juncture of two “leaflets” and back out the center.  repeat around the whole leaf cap.  repeat with the smaller leaf cap.

7. cut out a 5 petal flower or two for the top. sew to top and add yellow beads to the center.

There you go! Hope you find my instructions clear enough.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Hattitude…

I made a hat.  It turned out pretty cute.  I wanted to show you a picture of it, but it didn’t look right just laying there on the table.  No style. No “hattitude.” So, even though I hate pictures of myself here it is on my head:

hat

It only took me 45 shots to finally find one I would post online!

Tomorrow, I’ll show you my strawberries!  I didn’t make them the way Paulette from Beedeebabee did, so I though I would try to do a simple tutorial for you.  They are super easy!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Where Oh Where…

…has my crafting mojo gone?

Oh where, oh where can it be?

With my yarn and threads and material galore,

Oh where, oh where can it be?

Do you ever get into a crafting “funk?” I don’t seem to want to finish anything I have started. I don’t seem to want to start anything new. Nothing really seems to be inspiring me. I guess it must just be that time of the year…or maybe the month…for the last couple of months!

It’s not that I haven’t been seeing some darling free projects online. There are lots of those. Here are a few I have found recently (just click on the picture to be taken to their site):

I also have a couple of lovely stumpwork books by Jane Nichols that I received for Christmas:

Front cover - Stumpwork and Goldwork Embroidery, inspired by Turkish, Syrian and Persian Tiles

AND a kit to go with the above book:

So it’s not that there aren’t enough projects to keep me busy…I just don’t seem to have the energy. I think I just need a break…a vacation… How about a European tour…that would be fun. Or maybe a trip to the South Seas where it’s warm and blue and sandy beaches galore. I wanna be like one of those famous people who, when asked, say “I’m going to Disney World!”

Since none of those lovely things are going to happen anytime soon, I think I just need to add a bit of springtime here in my northern climate. I believe I will start with Paulette’s felt strawberries. Hopefully I’ll have some done to show you tomorrow!

Peace Out!

Monday, January 24, 2011

Friday, January 7, 2011

A Match Made in Africa…

***please double click the video to see “all” of it…I can’t seem to make these videos fit my blog width***

Isn’t this just the sweetest thing ever!?! The animal kingdom can be so incredible and we as “thinking” animals could learn so much from them!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

A Night at the Roxbury???

I just thought this was too cute not to share! I especially love the fish in glasses in the bucket! Apparently, I have been spending a little too much time over at youtube, but on a positive note, I’ve been finding some share worthy videos! Tomorrow I have a really heartwarming one planned for you to see…hope you enjoy!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Do You Have ORT’s???

Or, for that matter do you even know what ort’s are?  Well, let me edju-macate you!!!  ORT stands for “old ratty threads.”  What the heck??? You say. 

Over at It’s Daffy, there is a totally useless stitch-along (TUSAL)going on. What we do is to take a picture, on the new moon of every month, of our ORT’s. We post it on our blog so other’s can see what we have been doing.  Did I mention the prizes?  Guess you’ll just have to go here to get all the details!!!

So, here is my picture:

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There is still time to sign up if you want to…come on…you know you want to…

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year!

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Well, the champaign has been drunk.  Well wishes given. Resolutions made.  As I did last year, my resolution is to not make New Years resolutions.  I’m terrible at keeping them.  I’ve tried and I ALWAYS fail!

Instead I have hopes.

I hope to…

1.  Continue in my endeavor to eat more healthily. 

2. Continue with the exercising I started doing. 

3. Treasure moments with my family (even my two oldest, supposed adult, baby birds who really need to leave the nest…soon!!! lol).

4. Have more patience.

5. Do a better job keeping up on the housework.

6. Have a more positive attitude.

7. Recognize and appreciate the more simple pleasures life has to offer.

I think that is a good list.  They are not resolutions, just wishes.

I hope you all have a wonderful 2011!