Projects!!!!!

Well, shoot. So I've been a big slacker. I've gotten inspired though!! http://sewcakemake.blogspot.com has been my newest inspiration! I am going to try and post once a week. New goal. Baby steps.

I've been sick with tonsillitis twice in the last two weeks, and that has taken a lot out of me. I am back in the saddle and have been working on stuff for a swap over at Craftster. I think some stuff turned out pretty nifty.When it arrives at it's destination, I will post some pictures.

Other things I have made in the mean time - lots of embroidery. Kind of obsessed with it. I am also very slow at it. Here are some of the things I have made - all for swaps!
Embroidery on a tee shirt: (photo credit-atsuko on Craftster)

This is a vintage pattern. There are so many super cute patterns available online that are generally out of print! Hoop Love Vintage Transfers is a spectacular flikr resource!









And some hoops.
This first one, I learned new stitches for. This was for an ongoing hoopla swap and I created her for burstofpanties (to whom gets photo credit). I think she is lovely! This is a sublime stitching pattern.

One of my favorite images.

Another hoop for the same swap - a Star Wars theme. I am a Star Wars junkie! I just wish my stitching on letters was more refined.....

This was for dewshinedrop, who took this photo

These next pieces were also sublime stitching, but I made them for my nephews and niece. My older sister has 8 month old twins! C (a boy) and K (a girl) are freaking adorable. They have an older brother, R, who was turning three at the party these were made for. Not to be out done, my younger sister has a 6 month old little boy, E. It was a cowboy/farm themed party and I decided all the little ones needed matching onesies. And I had to embroider them. Finished them the morning of the party. Right on time :)

I really need better pictures, but I only had a camera phone!!

I have another project to post, but it's more complicated, and I took some in progress pictures. Will need to get those up.... I will.... I swear.....

Stuff Made for other People

Whoo wee - well lookie here- It has been less than a month between posts!! I feel almost accomplished :)

I have done quite a few projects for other people. Most of them have been for swaps over on Craftster.org

I made some hairbows that are awesome, if I do say so myself ;)

I am seriously contemplating putting some of these in my  etsy shop.. I think they may be a sellable item!

I also made another snood. I really like making these! They take quite a while to make, but they are totally awesome!

These I will definitely be putting in my etsy shop. There isn't anything in there right now, but will hopefully be in the coming weeks!

I made this princess hooded towel - I like how it came out, but terry cloth is very messy to work with :)

I actually will probably making another of these, but with a different theme for my nephew.....

So those are the projects for swaps. A wide variety of crafts, but I love being all over the place! Hopefully more stuff to share tomorrow!

Not doing so hot at this blogging thing.....

So apparently I'm not the best at keeping up with this blog, but I HAVE been crafting!!
Mostly for swaps on craftster.org, but still - I have been creating!! I have made some fun stuff, but my favorite item, I forgot to take a picture of before I sent and my partner is MIA...... Bum deal. BUT - Here are some of the other things I have made:

A mail organizer- its fabric with some heavy duty interfacing. I made the bias tape that surrounds the edges out of some brocade. Its awesome! :) (image credit goes to PixieVal) I don't claim credit for the pattern. I got it from LondonPurple blog.

 This is the front view. The full thing is lined with heavy duty interfacing and fusible fleece. The pockets have fusible fleece and regular interfacing too.  I sewed pop tabs on the back to hang it by (woo hoo for recycling!) though the pattern recommended grommets.
Not too shabby if you ask me! PixieVal seemed to dig it too, which is what I was aiming for. I even chose the color pattern specifically - she mentioned in one of her lists or wists or something of the sort, that she is trying to decorate in autumn colors. I loved the color combo I used and I hope it was autumnal enough!

Another project I did for a swap over on Craftster.org was an AWESOME purple gemstone rosary. I think it was a jade, but I had taken it out of its labeled bag - oops! I love making rosaries, and Lo{ve} over on craftster was the recipient. I hope she will post a picture soon, cause I forgot to take one!! oops!

I chose to make some hairbows for another craftster in a swap and had SO much fun making them, until I burned the hell out of my finger with the glue gun. Never a dull moment here - the title of this blog IS "crafty if it kills me" so some injuries are expected!
Stephanie has twins, so I made 2 of each! They wear uniforms to school, so she gives them flair with hair bows -what an AWESOME mom!!

Aren't they cute? I had so much fun playing with ribbon  - there may be more in my future!

It's St. Patrick's Day so I bake! (plus a St. Patrick's project I did last week!)

Today is St. Patrick's day, the NCAA tourney is on TV (watching the Aztecs right now!!) with three teams I am rooting for in the Big Dance (Ohio State, SDSU and my alma mater UCSB - go Gauchos!). So, while I SHOULD be re-writing my dissertation, I am baking and watching college basketball. Eh, oh well....
So today I tried Suzie the foodie's version of the Fast Bread's Irish Soda Bread. It looks LOVELY!! It just came out of the oven and smells wonderful!

Look how pretty it is!

It tastes great too! The caraway seeds are the kicker. They add an amazing flavour!

Here is the recipe

1 1/2 c whole wheat flour

3/4 c regular flour

1 tbsp dark brown sugar (I used light brown because I didn't have any dark)

2 tsp caraway seeds

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 tbsp melted butter

1 c buttermilk (I didn't have butter milk so I acidated some 2% with 1 tbsp lemon juice - for more info just google buttermilk substitute!)

1 tbsp molasses

Preheat oven to 375 F

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Add the milk and molasses. Mix the dough (I used a Kitchen Aid Pro 6 with the dough hook on 2). Mix til all of the flour is absorbed into the dough. Grab the dough out of the mixer and put it on a parchment lined baking sheet (my addition to the recipe, not from Suzie). You are supposed to stretch it into an 8" oval. I kinda did that. It was loaf shaped, but pretty thin. It WILL rise in the baking process. I scored the top 6 or so times with a sharp knife and baked it for 35 minutes.

This made the house smell lovely! The molasses cooking and the fragrance of the caraway seeds is amazing!!

I sliced a piece off, put some butter on it and YUM!

So there you have it! My version of the Irish Soda bread! Happy St. Paddy's!

A week or so ago, I made some hand towels for St. Patrick's day.  Ok, I didn't actually MAKE the towels, I embellished them. Again it wasn't my own idea, I borrowed it from Sew4home.com, but I modified it!

I used the same basic idea, but  rather than using just fabric strips, I used my handy dandy bias tape maker (the 1" version) and made some bias tape with some sparkle fabric. 

Isn't it cute?! 

So I used this fabric, made tape, but not on the bias. I did not want it to be stretchy, so that is why I did it that way. 

This is what we wound up with:

Kinda cute, if I do say so myself!

One more project for this post, I promise! I need to get up to date and STAY up to date!

I did a similar thing for Valentines day (both the hand towels and this banner thing project!) and I loved it! 

This is just a sweet little banner for St. Paddy's. Some shamrock foam shapes and some ribbon with a hot glue gun is all it takes! I think if I can find flowers or bunnies I may do an easter one! 

So fun and so cute!! I didn't come up with the idea, but from Kitty Cats and Airplanes. I think it turned out super cute!!

Well, that's all for now. Aztec's won and UCSB is getting it's ass kicked. Let's hope it turns around!

Not Dead Yet.

The recent days have brought about an intense level of stress, not to mention extreme dislike of Marine Ecologists. My Master's dissertation feedback has arrived and I am not a Marine Ecologist, but the University thought that Marine Ecologists should mark a dissertation on Forensic Anthropology.

Moving on....
In an attempt to save my sanity, I have been trying to craft it up. I have purchased these handy dandy bias tape makers (the little metal thingamabobs, not the smart machine) and am in love. I had purchased a 1/2 inch one last week and broke it out last night. Today I got a 1 inch one and CAN NOT WAIT to use it.

After cutting strips along the bias, you slip it through and press it into form. It is awesome for single fold bias tape. To make double fold, you just fold and press again. I have never been a big bias tape person, as its just another thing to have laying around, but now that I can make it with really awesome fabrics, I will be using it a lot more!

When my projects are complete, I will post some pictures :)

A

This is what they look like:

Starting point.

Well, here I go. I wanted to start this blog as a place to share my crafts and to brag too :).

I figure I can be a bit rambling and share some stuff I really dig. Maybe someone will read it, maybe not! We shall see I suppose!