friday find

i've been on a mission to find a really ornate frame for as little as possible. i want to refinish it and give it a shabby-chic feel to house some embroidery i've been doing. it's proving to be a difficult task. i hit up three thrift stores and two antique malls and didn't find anything to my liking.

i did make one purchase. a crewel embroidered pillow. i picked it up for $10 and am thinking i can do something that would resemble the isabella fiore handbag i posted a few weeks ago that i absolutely love. i'm finding it difficult to even consider taking a pair of scissors to it. it's so lovely as is. i'll keep it on the back burner for now.

i did end up finding a plain frame on saturday. for now i'll distress it, give it a nice decorative mat and see how it turns out. it's not going to be completely what i wanted, but it'll have to do for now.

bottlecap craft

it's been awhile since i actually posted a craft project. and since i need to get back in the swing of things i'd thought i'd start here. i found this tutorial online a few weeks ago and went to town collecting and making bottlecap pincushions. the caps are the ones you'd find on a 16 oz. plastic bottle of soda. yet another recycling craft.

easy, fun, and a small help to the environment.

lady and wood

on our way to san antonio, i passed the time working on a few projects from the "doodle stitching" book i got a few weeks ago. here is my first project done in completion. too cute. i've been on a ladybug/wood grain kick lately. right now i'm working on another altoid tin. next week i'll start brian and irina's throw pillows along with setting up shop. goal for the month of february is to get something up and going. i'm about 75% there.

we decided not to do anything for valentines day. at least that's what we told each other. no gifts, no nothing. aaron came home with a big bouquet of flowers and i had made some valentine brownies. originally i made a batch of sugar cookies that turned out horribly wrong. i followed the recipe for cookie-cutter cookies, but something went awry. they were heart-shaped and they weren't burnt but they were rock hard. so into the trash they went.

when desert time came around, i used the heart cookie cutter to cut out a brownie, put a scoop of vanilla ice cream, added a few raspberries, powdered sugar and chocolate syrup. it looked divine. i almost ran upstairs to take a pic of my creation. aaron was impressed. all in all, we had a good day!

x2

here's the second wrist cuff i made. it's pretty much covered from top to bottom with stitching. i just finished sewing a back to it to hide all the handywork. i gotta figure out how i want this one to close. i cut a slit in the back but it's not working as nicely as i'd like it to. now off to figure it out.

wrist art

here's the first wrist band i finished earlier in the week. mixed up all the new stitches i learned. added some buttons and presto! i did another, more complicated one but i'll have to add it tomorrow. want to get a good photo in the sunlight.

here it is laying flat. i'm a little disappointed with the picture quality lately of the camera. i usually take photos outside but with the weather being what it is, i've had to resort to indoor photo sessions and the lighting doesn't do anything justice. meaning, it looks way better in person. it probably doesn't help that we've been taking the camera on all our snow excursions. and it's been dropped a few times. i'll have to look into better techniques or invest in a stay-at-home camera.

this week i concentrated on working on a swap where the sendout is monday. yes, i bit the bullet and signed up for one again. it's an owl swap. i finished and mailed everything today. hopefully my partner receives soon so i can post all the "owlie" goodness i made. look for photos early next week.

sew original

today i hit up sew original, one of the nicer fabric stores i've been to. they carry the pricier fabrics that, of course, i love. after purchasing an abundant amount of sale fabric, i decided to make a impulse buy. doodle stitching. i'm infatuated with these cute, idea books. i've bought a few japanese zakka books and have my sewing bible (that i got freecycled). it's always good to keep feeding the mind's eye (i retained some college training). i'm still gonna use the internet, but i like having a hard copy to have for instant inspiration. and this one is full of super cute projects. you'll probably see what i mean soon. tomorrow i'll post this weeks craft of the week. goal for next week: set up shop. and i mean it!

another felt creation

i gotta a little sidetracked on my way to making criss-cross coasters. yes, felt hair clips. 24 of them so far. i had bought a packet of snap clips a few weeks ago, knowing i'd eventually get around to making them. now is eventually. i first practiced using craft felt. quality isn't great, but served it's purpose. they're the neon looking ones with somewhat morbid designs. the pastel ones are made of wool felt. what a difference in quality. aaron convinced me to stick with cheery themes when making ones i want to sell. makes sense, a majority of the population would rather put cute than creepy on their child's head. i'll still do a few creepy quality ones, but unless there's a popular demand i'll stick with cutesy. now you'll know what will be occupying my time on our drive back to illinois monday/tuesday.