Tuesday, February 23, 2010

glove frog



Small, cute and really quick to make. My husband says he looks angry- but most frogs do ;)
I admit that I hesitated to post this, because there is a small amount of wasted material (see step 12)- but you can felt this and save it for a small separate project. I used a non-stretchy glove that was wrist length- so you may have to adjust step one for your glove (and most likely you'll have less waste!) supplies:
  • one glove
  • needle and matching thread
  • 2 pipe cleaners
  • fiberfill/ stuffing
  • beads/ buttons for eyes
click on the tutorial to print/ save, as usual it fits on a 8.5 x 11" sheet



Monday, February 22, 2010

catching up

I've been away visiting lawyers and accountants with my husband and our business partners so I have a few things to catch up on. First, as usual, a big thanks to everyone for the encouraging words. I try and read/ respond as much and as fast as I can- but this week I dropped the ball (if only you knew how backed up in craft tutorials I am!) - I apologize to Rachel who asked me a question, and it took a while for me to respond. I will edit the about me section to include that it's okay to link to any of the posts.

Tomorrow I will try and post/play this beautiful blogger game Amy recommended. There are so many great sites out there that I regularly visit - and not just the "big ones" either- I'm a bit of a Luddite, so it may take longer(!) to figure out.

Last but not least, a big thanks to Heather of Dollar Store Crafts for posting the Owl Oven Mitt tutorial


Sunday, February 14, 2010

dachshund pillow





The inspiration came from admiring Charley Harper prints (and a dog in an old blueprint magazine). I used 2 pieces of T-shirt transfer paper and a piece of canvas. Once I had cut out the separate pieces from the transfer paper I arranged them on the canvas like a puzzle (upside down in my case) and began to iron. Please be sure to not overlap the pattern pieces ( I assume it could mess you iron up). If you don't like the small gaps created by the seam, fill them in with embroidery, acrylic paint or a permanent marker.
The only issue I had was that the area you need to iron is huge and can make it difficult to peel off the backing. If this happens to you do the following: after you have ironed down the whole pattern according to the instructions, place the iron on one corner, wait 5 seconds, take off the iron and peel back that corner as much as you can. When you get resistance, place the iron over top that section for 5 seconds, and repeat this process as needed, making your way across the pattern. Once the iron on was set (and cooled) I cut an approximate 1" border, sewed it to a backing fabric, and added a little stuffing (mmm it's so soft). Click on the images below to save/ print



Happy Valentine's Day


With a lot of hurry up and wait company wise, and even more snow on the driveway, we broke down and decided to celebrate Valentine's day early this year and went on a inexpensive vacation to Mexico (we were supposed to be going to Asia this year) . Despite the sunburns, we had an awesome time. Now it's back to business.
Happy Valentine's Day everyone! ( and Happy Louis Riel Day while I'm at it)


Monday, January 25, 2010

Circus Mouse Door Stop



This guy takes less than 1/2 hr to make and he's pretty strong for his size ;)
Click on the images to save/ print - as usual it will fit on an 8.5x11" piece of paper.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

hoo loves you baby!


Inspired by an old ink well I picked up in Jerusalem a couple of years ago - This valentine owl's head flips up so you can put candy or a rolled up letter in him! Click on the image to save/ enlarge - tutorial and pattern should fit on an 8.5x11" paper.
you will need:
  • inner tube/ roll from a used roll of paper towels
  • scissors
  • glue stick (or tape)
  • printer



Thursday, January 7, 2010

bling necklaces




I was admiring the necklaces on the anthropologie website, and lucky for me there's not a store for hundreds of miles- so I went through my craft supplies.
Felt can be substituted for foam on these projects (and yes this will the last mention of craft foam for a while, I promise). Also the tutorial patterns are general placements- you can see in the photos that i had to modify the pattern slightly based on what I actually got in the "rhinestone grab bag", I suspect you would have to do the same.