Felt Fun-atic

Etsy is a dangerous place to leave me with some free time. After perusing for fun items and silly inspiration, I was instantly captivated by several sites selling felt play food. I literally laughed out loud when I saw a latte kit, as well as a muffin tin, whisk and bowl – all crafted from felt. I had no clue what kind of skill level was required for these projects (“intermediate” was listed on some of the patterns … but really, how does that translate to the felt novice?), but I decided this was something worth investigating.

With the assistance of my loyal friend Google, I found several sites with free felt food patterns, and I headed to my nearby JoAnn’s to check out their felt selection. I wasn’t deterred by several patterns talking about dying wool felt, speaking of “crafters felt” in four-letter-word tones. The little pre-cut … CHEAP … sheets of recycled fabric would be just fine for me.

In typical fashion, I started two projects at once – bowtie pasta and a sandwich. Every time I’d see the progress on an item, I’d just start laughing because it was so cute. This was really my first excursion with fabric and my sewing machine. My thought: I should probably tackle something a little more suited to a sewing newbie before I tore into pillow covers with zippers. Isn’t felt food a natural starting point?

I found patterns for all kinds of adorable items – sunny side up eggs, a grocery bag, bacon (complete with an internal pipe cleaner to make it “crinkle”), carrots, frosted animal cookies – the options really were wide open. And I became somewhat obsessed. Not only because my niece’s birthday was quickly approaching and I needed to mail her felt gift, but more so by the choices I wanted to provide for her. Of COURSE she should have the option between bread and toast when making her sandwich – this gift would be unacceptable otherwise!

I’ll admit … it got a little out of hand.

Luckily, the play food was a hit with the two-year-old, and I already have a head start on her expanded collection for Christmas. But to me, the most interesting aspect was the unintended ripple effect. As I’ve been sharing some of my crafting adventures with dear friends, I’m reminded by the surprised looks of many other friends that this is not a side I’ve expressed in awhile. It’s been so joyfully therapeutic for me to feel like I’m playing again while engaging in the creative process … and a good reminder not to put off that “therapy.”

Next up on the felt agenda: baby mobile for a friend. We’ll see how my replication and pattern-making skills shape up for this sweet little thunderstorm!

Going Postal

A Zoo Of A Halloween

I love celebrating. Big or small – it really doesn’t matter. I enjoy special preparations and all the touches of care that go into decorating for changing seasons, cooking a Christmas feast or showing some cultural flair.

Growing up, I eagerly anticipated the Saturdays when Mom would bring a box of decorations up from the basement so we could help dress the house. I also knew this meant a special surprise from my aunt would soon follow in the mail.

My aunt was one of many who helped me see joy in holidays. For every occasion, she would send individually addressed cards to me and my sister – a big deal when you’re not accustomed to receiving mail. And this wasn’t just run-of-the-mill mail. The cards were always the kind that made me smile … and often included an extra little surprise, like a stick of gum or a dollar bill. Plus, the envelopes were penned in beautiful calligraphy, and equipped with seasonal stickers and a special stamp. It was almost as if the “boring default” flag stamps weren’t allowed. I remember thinking I wanted to be that kind of aunt when I grew up.

Never fail, every holiday brought a card with a loving note. The cards even came when I moved to college, and still come now that I have my own household with my husband. I firmly believe my aunt helped me cultivate the bit of pleasure I receive every day when getting the mail.

Fast forward to this summer. Remember my mention of borderline hoarder tendencies? I have a hard time tossing personal things … even if those things aren’t meant to keep forever. I decided to sort through my boxes of mail, collected through the years, and consolidate. (Is it frightening that I speak of these boxes in the plural tense? Or that I’ve sorted through them a time or two before?) What did I find? Numerous holiday cards from my aunt, kept treasured away for their sweet sentimentality. Some of my favorites I’d even used as holiday door decorations while in college. I had to laugh when I discovered a date on a postcard – 1989. Wow.

So, instead of keeping these thoughtful notes stuffed in a box, I decided to honor my aunt’s postmaster career by putting a new twist on these old cards. And what a great reminder – take joy in celebrating life’s many occasions!

Pilgrim Turkey

Clean Inspiration

In college, one of the tasking commands from my professors I came to dread was the ever-enlightening, “Just be creative!” Seriously. Do you think I’m trying to make things boring? But when those words demanding creativity were asked of me, I felt a distinct pressure added to the assignment.

My best ideas kind of sneak up on me. I might be thinking about a certain project, but I often have to let it sit and just percolate in my mind for awhile. And oddly enough, the “winning” ideas often come to me in the shower.

For me, the shower is a relaxing place with no distractions, where I energize for the day or wind down for the night. I let my mind wander, ticking through my mental checklists on auto-pilot. Somehow bouncing around thoughts and ideas in the little space is therapeutic to me. I enjoy this quiet time each day.

I first realized “the power of the shower” my freshman year of college. I may have worked on a project for hours, but when I finally stepped away, relaxed and let my mind just play with the concepts, I’d come bursting back into our room with a grand idea in tow. My best friend and roommate at the time laughed that if I ever owned a company, I needed to install an awesome shower in my office to speed my brainstorming along.

I remember a specific occasion in my first job after college. We had just purchased a national ad with an incredibly short deadline, and we needed copy immediately. I pounded text all day, brainstorming with our group to try to find a concept that worked, but nothing was dynamic. I asked to let it rest overnight, and even when I went home that evening, my mind was spinning. Sure enough, I hopped in the shower the next morning and the headline and idea came to me. With a little tweaking and an in-house photo shoot, our ad was out the door to the publication.

Granted, the shower is not an instant fix for me, but I think it’s important for everyone to have a place or space where your mind is free to test things out. Commanding creativity may not be realistic, especially on a deadline, but allowing inspiration to flourish and learning to tune in to that inner “idea spigot” is always valuable.

Here’s one of my recent crafting projects that came together in my mind during my morning shower. Check it out on my Etsy site!

Natural Love

HOW Did You Make That?

Red Hot

In 2007, a dear coworker/design mentor and I traveled to the HOW Design Conference in Atlanta, Ga. This was my first time attending a creative conference, and I was nearly overwhelmed by how many things appealed so vividly to my senses. The speakers were passionate, the graphics were beautiful, everyone had a shared interest in something artsy, and people appreciated dorky type jokes. It was great.

And good gracious, were there freebies.

Every major paper distributor was there, promoting their newest products, pushing anyone and everyone to take their inventory to far reaches of corporate and agency life. And take we did. We did so much collecting to share what wonderful options were available – we even got to pay extra luggage fees at the airport for our treasures.

In my excitement of seeing so many selections, I failed to realize that the rather large corporation I worked for would most likely have a binding contract in place with the company who supplied the copy paper. And even though beautiful things existed, that didn’t mean we could have them … or afford them.

So. There sat my mound of lovely samples no one cared about but me, soon to be filed away with my other “creative stuff” at work.

Fast forward three years. I’ve now moved half way across the country, and I still had a vast majority of these samples in my possession. Why, you ask? They were too pretty to throw away or recycle.

Have I mentioned my tendencies to hoard?

In my ongoing effort to reduce clutter, I started pulling out these samples, dismantling the binding, and checking out what I really had. Frankly, it was an odd assortment, but sometimes that provides great inspiration.

The first piece I cut into was a vibrant catalog with an awesome striped envelope. Just look at how many different cards with such a wide range of styles have come out of this one piece!

Modern Traveler

 

Smooth Ride

Home Sweet Home

Celebrate Life

Sports Unity

What’s even better – there are still a few images/backgrounds from this one small catalog I think have potential! To me, this is upcycling at its finest. And one less thing to find space for the next time we move.

You Know You're Friends When ...

Best friends are really one of those sweet treasures in life. The people who help ground you, give you an honest opinion and call you when you need it, even if you just have five minutes to talk.

I never really knew what a best friend was all about until I went to college and met one of my roommates. And I didn’t like her at first. Here was this uber athletic chic who was, on first glance, the exact opposite of me. My idea of a good workout was taking the stairs, holding my choir notebook “properly” the entire hour and wiping down the dining room tables.

Since living quarters were small, we learned more about each other, and all I can say is I am thankful.

We walked side by side on our very different college journeys – from track meets and cadavers to speeches and photo shoots. We met our first boyfriends/future husbands … and told each other everything. (We married great men – they get our relationship.) We stood side by side at our weddings. And her sweet baby and I even share a birthday!

We’ve shared many things in the years we’ve known each other. But one way you really know the extent of friendship is when you share trash.

Even though our styles are different, we both enjoy crafting and we respect each other’s talents. When I recently visited my dear friend, as we chatted about projects we were working on and trying to reduce clutter in our lives, the light bulb flashed. She had finished a large scrapbooking project and had a stack of trimmed paper “ends” she just couldn’t make herself toss … and I was making cards.

Naturally, I gladly accepted her trash, and we were both pleased.

I’m not sure if this exactly classifies as helping me reduce clutter in my home … but it’s always great to turn trash into treasure!

The rest of the materials from these cards come from my wedding. The black background is a portion of the classy ribbed cardstock I used to create pocket fold invitation jackets. And the ribbon … yep, I’m that girl … it’s saved from a gift. (Is it sad that I even remember what gift it came from? I have a memory like an elephant!)

With each project, I keep trying to make things a little better or learn a new way to improve my processes. I’ve also been striving for the perfect card – straight stitching, no extra needle holes, no pulled ribbon – it’s a lot harder than it seems. I taught myself a new finishing trick on this Halloween set – I’m now pulling ALL of the threads through to the back so the front of the card has no stray thread ends/knots. I’m quite pleased with the results! And I think this card is as close to perfect as I’m going to get.

See the Trick or Treat card set and some of my sewn cards on Etsy.com.

And thanks, friend, for being my best friend … and enabling my crafting. I’ll help you curl ribbons any day!

Kickin' - Not Quittin'

I don’t remember what brought on the project, but one summer Mom asked me if I’d be interested in learning to embroider. I was young, but even then I was always up for new crafting ideas.

Now that I think about it, Mom probably wanted to keep me and my sister occupied during the long, hot summer afternoons.

Regardless of motive, Mom let me select a pattern from the plethora of Aunt Martha’s iron on transfers she had available. I chose a kangaroo. And I chose to make it mint green.

Apparently realism wasn’t a big deal to me at the time.

As I sat on Mom’s lap, slowly starting to make my first row of Xs to construct the kangaroo’s foot, I was struck by how long this was going to take me to finish. Patience has never been one of my greatest strengths.

I remember burning out when Mom set us down with different projects one evening while The Sound of Music was on TV. I’m sure the movie is great, but to this day, I just can’t shake the antsy feeling that washes over me whenever I hear the opening swells of “The Hills are Alive.”

The kangaroo tea towel sat incomplete in a closet for years, her poor green foot the only thing showing forward progress. When I was in junior high, I decided I wanted to start embroidering again, and I knew I had to finish that kangaroo. I wasn’t going to quit on my first project.

Even though the embroidery floss had faded and my kangaroo took on two-toned appeal, it was a victorious day when she was finally complete. As I moved on to other projects, I started to see the fun in watching words and images take shape with every stitch.

I’m not sure if I have Aussie animals in my plans for future embroidery work, but I have enjoyed making some fun pillowcases in the past few weeks. I think we all take pleasure in the little things that make our everyday “normal” feel special - regardless of age or stage.

Sing, Sweet Singer

If there is such a thing, I’m pretty sure my grandma was my crafting hero. She was the woman behind Berniece’s Window World, and boy, did she have the mother load of fun stuff to play with.

And she shared.

There were always drapery fabric sample books we could dismantle, and enough Tacky Glue in the awesome gold bottle (remember my affinity for shine?) to keep any project from falling apart.

I remember one summer when Grandma let me and my older sister use her cute black Singer, the first sewing machine she owned. Grandma threaded it up, gave us a few instructions, watched us sew for just a bit, and then let us go.

Unsupervised.

We sewed for hours, making all kinds of patchwork blankets for our dolls, pillowcases to cover some scraps of foam Grandma found for us (I’m telling you – she had everything), small purses, and anything else our hearts desired.

I was on cloud nine.

Before my grandparents’ household auction, my family asked if there was anything I wanted. We’d spent so much wonderful time in my grandparents’ home, and it would have been easy to find things rich with sentiment. But they were all just things, and I didn’t want our home to turn into a shrine. However, I didn’t have a sewing machine, and I just didn’t want Grandma’s beautiful little Singer to go to anyone else.

After sitting in my home for several months, this machine and I have recently bonded. Keep in mind – the extent of my sewing experience is pretty much what Grandma taught me that summer. But thanks to my trusty friend Google, I found an old manual and have since replaced belts, applied lots of oil, wound bobbins and started zooming along. Sometimes a little irregularly, but zooming nonetheless.

Grandma had a bit of a fearless spirit when it came to creating, and she always encouraged whatever project I was elbow-deep in at the time. I’m pretty sure that’s part of what makes me think I can tackle any project – including this little Singer.

Plus, it still makes me smile when I finish a project and think of her saying, “Beau-ti-ful!”

Check out my latest sewn cards on Etsy.com.

Bling

I like things that shine.  Luckily for me, I married a man who enjoys giving me jewelry.  (He’s a keeper for many reasons.)  When I was young, sparkle made anything better.  My favorite accessory was a necklace made from “gold nuggets.”

Frankly, it resembled beat up Mardi Gras beads.

But that necklace also matched my favorite shorts – elastic top hand-me-downs that were silver with gold side stripes.

Remember – I’m a child of the 80s.

Bless my mom’s heart, she let me wear whatever I wanted … around the house.  But she just didn’t see the same beauty I did in those shorts.  They made me feel special.  Maybe even a bit classy.

I remember planning to run away one summer, and I slowly started packing away things to take with me in the red Radio Flyer wagon.  (I was going to live in the hayloft at the farm with the cats – at least I had a plan.)

Top of my pile – the metallic shorts.  And marshmallows.  A girl’s got to eat.

While I didn’t end up running away, my love of bling continued to develop.  In high school, I was heartbroken when my super cool, slightly-magnetic, “appropriately shiny” hematite bracelet slipped off my wrist and broke.

I must explain – I’m built a little like a baby giraffe – tall and somewhat gangly, with scrawny appendages.  Bracelets often aren’t my best pal.

I crawled around on the driveway, searching for all the tiny hematite pieces to attempt to reassemble my bracelet.  I never found them all, but I saved those pieces for years.  I think this new creation is some modern bling worth celebrating.

With or without gold nuggets and shiny silver pants.

See the listing for this necklace and another hematite creation on my Etsy shop.

Spicy Creations, Martha Stewart Style

In high school, our public speaking block included an assignment for a demonstration speech.  Even in our small class, I had been bored to tears listening to other students painfully describe how to do simple tasks we all could accomplish.  And had accomplished.  I wanted to do something no one else would do.

And, I won't lie, I wanted a bit of a chance to emulate Martha Stewart.

I just loved how whenever she made ANYTHING on her show, it went together so smoothly.  She was clearly not a people person, but she still made even the dorkiest crafts look great.  And she used crushed glass glitter - talk about impressive!

I eagerly prepped for my speech, setting up the ingredients in different stages to properly allow for my time slot.  Unfortunately, the table I'd be using didn't have shelves underneath for a "magic TV reveal," but I made due.  The speech went flawlessly, the classroom smelled great, my peers weren't asleep, and my crafty teacher asked several interested questions - I certainly played to my audience!  My family soon received numerous shapes of scented ornaments for upcoming holidays - my dad's "waste not, want not" philosophy runs deep in my veins. 

My grandma so enjoyed my crafting that she had one of her snowbird friends bring back cinnamon for me from Mexico.  This cinnamon is a coarser grind than U.S. baking cinnamon, so it makes a great mix to add some texture and color to the ornaments.  I love the gingerbread man in the photo because the spice coloring makes him look like he has a heart.

Check out the Scented Cinnamon Ornament listing on my Etsy site for more photos!

Opportunities in Abundance

In the past few months, I've observed that most people don't see losing their job as an opportunity ... and certainly not a positive one.  When I suddenly found myself with idle hands and extra time, I knew this was not an opportunity to waste.  In my quiet time, I really started thinking - during stressful times at work, what did I long to do? 

What did I miss because I was too busy?

Growing up, my parents gave me a wonderful gift - a large basement table for crafting and plenty of shelves to store supplies.  I would cabbage on to anything - scraps of lace from Mom's sewing projects, lovely rocks from our crushed limestone driveway, beads from broken hair bands - you name it, I could see potential.  My crafting projects evolved, but every step of the way, my family never discouraged me from trying something new ... even though they rarely saw my vision.

So I opened my dusty craft tubs, filled with "treasures" saved for the perfect project.  Magazine clippings, "fancy" invitation paper, ribbon of every size and color.

Check.

As I began sorting and seeing, everything came together.  I lost track of time, staying up until the middle of the night bonding with my Xacto knife and sewing machine.  For the first time in a long time, my hands and my ideas were working in tandem, and perhaps more importantly, I was having fun.

Here begins the story of my Etsy shop.  I'm looking forward to telling the stories behind my favorite items, and sharing the origins of a few pieces ... most likely revealing a few of my borderline hoarder tendencies.

Thanks for sharing this opportunity with me!