Mirror, Mirror on the Wall....

Mirror, mirror on the wall

I ticky tacked objects on you.

But will it be loved by all?

Late breaking news flash...

I started an Etsy shop.  Unfortunately Etsy won't let me forget that I actually opened the shop in 2008.  Geez, give a gal a break.  Can't I start fresh? Well, my first handmade oddity is my magic mirror.  No, it won't take the pounds off.  Or make your jowls shrink.  Oh, how I wish it would.  But it is original!  And made with mischievous love.

I'll probably add photo cards.  And maybe some art prints to my shop.  I mean there are only 90,000 photos.  And 10,000 handmade mirrors.  I'm sure mine will sell no problem. Why are you snickering?

Head to my side bar to visit my new (old) shop!  Or click here!

An Apple Today

Every year I commit to a new green pledge.  Usually they are simple and pretty easy to stick to.  A couple years ago I decided to stop purchasing gift wrap.  I reuse wrapping paper, brown paper bags and newspaper comics.  This year I discovered a new super easy Holiday craft thanks to Pinterest.  On Pinterest someone used torn pages from a book to decoupage round ornaments with.  They looked so sophisticated with silver glitter.  

But I'm not very sophisticated.  Ha!  Plus I didn't want to destroy any books.  So I used more newspaper comics.  Gotta love Snoopy.  And I already had some old boring plastic apple ornaments.  I may have gotten a little glitter crazy.  But you get the drift.  It's just decoupage.  So easy a kid can do it.  

Now I have a couple links to share.  The first is a link to this year's Tomie de Paola contest.  At www.scbwicontest.blogspot.com  I illustrated an excerpt from, "The Yearling" in pencil.  Wish me luck!

And I also have a link for Leontien at A Rural Journal  Holiday cards are being sent to brighten her Holiday season as she battles cancer.   

Feather Inspiration...

I thought my latest sewing project would be the perfect follow up to last week's bird post. I'd been planning to make a new purse all Summer.  Then my husband picked up this blue jay feather in our yard and inspiration finally struck.

My Webe purse did not have enough pockets.  And you can never have too many pockets I say.  Plus it didn't survive the wash.  But I used it as a pattern of sorts.  And I used the pillow shams from my old denim love seat for fabric.  We gave away the love seat when we redecorated our house.  But the pillow shams were brand new and had never been used.  My denim pockets rug is the backdrop for this post! Of course, I didn't do this project on my own.  There is never a shortage of help.  The feline variety.

Making pockets.

I used a piece of fabric that my Mom gave me a long time ago for the contrasting top.  I sewed the two pieces together for a purse front and back.

Pockets.  I drew the loop pattern on the denim with colored pencil.

I painted my inspiration feather on with fabric paint.  Then ironed it to seal the deal.

Then I sewed the pockets on the back.

I sewed on the feather emblem.

I sewed the pockets onto the lining fabric.  I had this fabric on hand from some curtains I made a long time ago.  In fact, I didn't buy one thing for this whole project.  Not even the zipper! 

Here I'm sewing on the strap. It is also made from an old curtain.

The inside.  I used the zipper from one of the pillow shams.  

So far I LOVE this purse.  It is so light weight and handy with all those pockets.  Now I just need another feather to inspire a Winter purse.  I'm thinking cardinal...

Got Moss?

Got Moss?  Well, I did.  So I decided to make a wreath. It turned out really earthy and pretty.  I made little birch trees and placed them inside.  And also used one of my homemade mushrooms and a fake bird's nest.  It's easy.  Here's how...   

I started with a 15" green wreath form and a roll of Super Moss/Instant Green. 18" by 48".  I traced the wreath shape on the back of the Moss.  Cut it out and glued it on.  

Then I cut out 2" strips and glued those on.  I just used Elmer's.  I put the natural edge towards the front of the wreath.  If an edge doesn't want to hold, stick it with pins until it drys tight to the edge.

Now it is completely covered.  I had a little unwanted help.  My cats were buzzing around me like mosquitoes during this project.  

I drew trees onto muslin fabric and cut out a front and back.  I added around a 1/4 inch seam.

Here I sewed the two sides together.  Turning the long strips inside out was a chore.

Now I'm stuffing them.  Another chore.  Sigh.

On to the painting.  I used white fabric paint.  But acrylic would be fine.

Now for the fun part.  I took markers and added the birch effect.  You can see in the background I've already attached the bird's nest.  I used green craft wire.  You'll need a wire cutter for this part.  

I already had a mushroom from a Christmas craft project.  See my labels for a demo on how to make these.  (under crafts)  I took a screw driver and just poked a hole in the wreath foam base.  Then I just stuffed the mushroom in.  That is how I attached one of my birch trees as well.  You can just randomly place them at will.  Two of the trees I attached to the back of the wreath with the craft wire. I also attached some fake sticks with the wire.

 A fake cardinal sits on top.  A real one proved too difficult...

Viola!  The fun part of this project is that you can just use what ever natural things you can forage for. Or make your own.  Acorns, sticks, fungus, feathers, rocks, pine cones...anything goes.  Use your imagination.  It's all good!  P.S.  I just read in the paper today that they are starting to use moss to clean swimming pools.  Who knew!  For less crafts and more cats visit www.gattinamycats.blogspot.com

A Crafty Owl for Christmas

I always try to do at least one crafty Christmas project.  Then I can pawn them off to friends and family as gifts.  Some people open up these homemade presents with joy.  Others with revulsion.  One relative (undisclosed identity) held up my mushroom craft from last year like it was a stinky rag.  Oh well.  What can I say. 

  This year my project was a hoot.  And easy to boot!  I drew a simple owl design on tracing paper.  Then traced the cut outs.

I went through one of my bins of fabric scraps.  I have two black hole sized bins dating back to college.  I'm not joking.  I cut two owl backgrounds out of the swirly fabric.  And all the cut outs out of different colors of felt.  I sewed and stuffed the owl with 1/4 inch seam.

Then I used embroidery thread to sew on all the parts with buttons for eyes.  If you want to try this easy project just print out the pattern below.  Easy!  And then you can wow your friends.  Or at least that is what you'll think.  They will smile and secretly plot to give you a lump of coal next year! 

P.S.  Be sure to stop back on Wednesday for a really delicious and savory recipe.  Squash ravioli and cream sauce with all the fixings.  And pass on this owl post to any crafty comrades. Thanks and happy blogging in 2012! 

I took a scissors to my stupid slippers!

I thought I would take a little blogging break and re-post one of my crafty Christmas posts from 2010.  This one still brings a smile to my face.  I started a little Christmas sewing project this year.  But I'm so darn busy that it will probably become a New Years project.  Sew for now.  Hee hee.  Enjoy this one...

These (were) my old Haflinger slippers. I'd hand stitched the soles back together numerous times. And unfortunately for me the rubber dots had completely worn off on the bottom. I said unfortunately because my feet slipped out from under me a couple weeks ago while attempting the basement stairs. The vacuum I was holding went flying and so did I. After bumping down to the bottom the first thing I saw when I composed myself were two scared and adorable kitty faces peeking down at me from the kitchen. "Call 911 kitties!" I shouted. I'm kidding. My elbow was throbbing and my behind...well I won't go into that! Luckily no broken bones. But it was time to buy new slippers.

But Haflinger's are so darn expensive. So I hatched a plan to extend their life even further. I cut off the tops and used my Christmas tree cookie cutter as a template. Two trees per slipper top.

I cut out two more trees from this green fabric.

I used this Christmas card as a star template. P.S. It was from the in laws!

I cut out the stars from the center of the top felt tree. Then glued the three layers together.

I attached a red bell to the center of the cutout. And threaded the star to the top. And just for fun I also attached the Haflinger label. I'll never forget that these used to be slippers!

Viola!

Then I rewarded myself with a new and improved pair of Haflinger's. These have a sturdy rubber gripping sole. But just in case I taught my cats how to dial 911. The end.






Be sure to stop back on Wednesday for a new recipe!

Feather...Pillow

I love feathers. These are turkey feathers if I remember correctly. And they are the inspiration for today's sewing and painting project.

I drew the feathers onto tracing paper. Then I used blue transfer paper to lightly apply the image to some muslin fabric.

Then I used fabric paint and voila...feathers.

Here I've sewn the pillow together with a contrasting fabric backing. It will cover another pillow like a pillow case.

I applied some fringe and it's done! My new feather pillow is just one of a million crafty projects I've been working on lately. I might be exaggerating only slightly.

Like this one. Does everyone recognize the middle feather?

I tied one on last night!

Full disclosure. The night in question was actually an afternoon craft session. And the only questionable behavior was from my naughty cats!

I bought 10 ties for around 20 bucks at Arc Value Village.


The average price was around $1.99.

I bought a foam wreath circle from the craft store.

I needed furry help for the next steps. Not! I cut off the pointed base of the tie at 12 inches. The narrow parts I continually wrapped around the wreath form. Pinning the ties in place with 2 pronged fabric pin/tacks. Sorry no photos of those.

Akua was daydreaming.

Hana inspects my pile of cut tie parts.

Now for the decoration. I wrapped the wide pointed ends around the wreath. Pinning them in place.

Viola! I pinned decorative beads on the front to look like tie clips. It actually took 11 ties to complete the circle. I had to steal one from my husband. He hates them anyway. And he boldly stated that he wouldn't even take a job if they forced him to wear one!

I thought it would be fun to do another little giveaway. If you can guess which tie is his I'll send you a set of 8 of my original photo cards. (with beautiful Costa Rica photos)Since there's only one stripped tie(bottom left) we'll number that 1 and continue clockwise to the last tie #11 (bottom right) Just leave a comment and the tie # and description. I hope you'll play along and even pass my blog link on to other friends that might enjoy the game. And if you'd like to follow my blog be sure to do that too. I just lost 2 mysterious followers. Boo Hoo!

Blog update 3/23 We have a winner! More on that later...

P.S. Be sure to check out more crafty cats at http://www.gattinamycats.blogspot.com/