the pink toque. a craft blog

This Blog Has Moved!

2008-09-26T17:57:00.005-06:00

Just a head's up... I have officially moved the pink toque craft blog to a new home, hosted by my webhost and now using the Wordpress engine for better functionality and design control. (check out the screenie, sweet, huh?) I've already submitted my new blog address to DigiFree's site and am hoping that it'll be able to pick me up over the weekend when Maria has a chance to add the latest batch, and so you'll soon be seeing my freebies again advertised on the DigiFree blog like they should be.

Please change your bookmarks to
http://craftblog.pinktoque.com
(or http://www.pinktoque.com/craftblog, whichever suits your fancy) !
I will no longer be posting freebies here and you'll only be able to get them at the new blog site.

What are you waiting for? You've already missed some freebies ... so head on over to the NEW and IMPROVED Pink Toque Craft Blog! Check out the info and details in a formal announcement HERE. See you at the new site soon! :)

"I Love the Chicago Bears" Quick Page Freebie

2008-09-21T12:37:00.003-06:00

It's Sunday, and you know what that means... FOOTBALL!

As promised, here's a little quick page for you in celebration of the Chicago Bears! This quick page coordinates with my "I Love the Chicago Bears" freebie kit and the add-on pack freebie given away yesterday. Be sure to snag them if you haven't already! Don't you love the photo I used as my example in the preview? My little Winston, decked out in his Bears jersey. Though I am not sure what's going on in today's game... Tampa Bay is beating us?! Halftime is over so I'm back to the living room to watch the second half... cheer for the Bears, ok? GO BEARS!

Download my "I Love the Chicago Bears" Quick Page HERE.

Hope you enjoy the freebie as much as I enjoyed making it :) I have a few more quick pages and a couple other freebies ready to give away soon. Look for them this week!

"I Love the Chicago Bears" Mini Add-On Pack

2008-09-20T14:22:00.004-06:00

With the 2008-2009 football season officially upon us, I thought it was time to whip up a little add-on pack for my "I Love the Chicago Bears" freebie kit I gave away last month in anticipation of the new season. In week 1, my Bears lovingly ensured the Indianapolis Colts suffered a loss in their very first game ever played in their brand spankin' new Lucas Oil stadium. Being originally from the south side of the Hoosier capital gives me the right to rub it in a little bit, as the rivalry between the Colts and Bears is a big deal in my family, as I've mentioned before. While I watched the game in absolute glee all snuggled in on the couch with my boys, I have to admit I was super impressed with the new Colts stadium. It's really amazing!

In week 2 the game was unavailable for me to watch because I was back home in Indiana and my dad couldn't find a station carrying it -- not that it mattered, since the Colts were playing Minnesota at the same time. I was saddened to hear/see the updated scoreboard ticker showing the Bears losing to Carolina at the very end of the game :( Oh, well... we'll get Tampa Bay this weekend to make up for it ;)

Anyway, hope you enjoy the little add-on pack. It includes 8 slide-type frames with various goodies -- some with complementary coloured masking tape, some with a little bracket stapled to it, and some that are just plain. You'll also find a separate journaling bracket, two cmdz doodle borders, two photo corners and 3 papers. This add-on pack coordinates perfectly with my "I Love the Chicago Bears" freebie kit, and if you're new to the pink toque craft blog, you'll want to be sure and pop over to nab it from last month. And per usual, don't forget that all of my freebies are free for personal, non-commercial use only. Check out the TOU included with my downloads and don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Download "I Love the Chicago Bears" Mini Add-On Pack HERE!

Oh! And I almost forgot... come back tomorrow for a freebie QP I whipped up using this add-on pack :) You won't want to miss it! See you tomorrow, and GOOOOOOO BEARS!

Tyney123's Featured Huugs

2008-09-20T10:41:00.003-06:00

Happy Saturday :)

I just wanted to take a moment to feature a wonderful knitter named Tyney123 who sent me a fabulous photo of not one, not two... but THREE Huug the Hug Monsters that she has knitted using my free pattern. Aren't they adorable?! The blue one was made first and belongs to Tyney while the other two are destined to be Christmas presents. How sweet! I absolutely love the expressive faces on these Huugs. Makes me want to cuddle them! This picture is property and copyright to Tyney123 and was posted with permission.

If you want to make your very own Huug the Hug Monster, check out the free pattern! And special thanks to Tyney for sharing :)

Absence and (Finally) Freebie Friday

2008-09-19T11:16:00.005-06:00

Hi everyone.

This Friday I have a quick page that I just threw together. I have a few other freebies that are ready to go, but I've been gone for a week or so and want to make sure I was completely finished with them before I release them. This week's quick page was inspired by the seemingly hundreds of fall layouts I've seen recently. I love autumn colours and I wanted to make my own! No special kit was used... I just went through my resources and started designing my perfect fall layout. It's 3600 x 3600 pixels in 300 dpi and ready for your favourite fall photo. And as usual, it's for personal, non commercial use only! Don't forget to check the TOU included. If you have any questions about how to use the QP or the TOU, don't hesitate to contact me :)

Sorry for my absence and for missing last Freebie Friday. My grandpa went into the hospital and my husband and I flew back to Indiana to be with family. He passed away last night (well, this morning) a little after midnight. I designed a little page with a photo of him that my grandma gave me. It's such a great picture of him, and it's really how I remember him best. The last few years has been hard for him and my whole family. He's had Alzheimer's for several years now and then recently caught pneumonia. While in the hospital for the pneumonia, he had a massive stroke, about two weeks ago now, and never woke up again. He will be missed so much. Rest in peace, grandpa. We love you and will never forget you.

Much love and hugs to your families. Have a wonderful weekend <3

Download my Fall Foliage Quick Page HERE.

"The Hoosier State" Quick Pages Freebie!

2008-09-07T17:05:00.005-06:00

I managed to find a little time this weekend to put together a few quick pages for you using my freebie kit for "The Hoosier State." If you missed parts 1, 2 and 3 of the set be sure to check back a few posts to nab them for yourself! The quick pages are all 3600 x 3600 pixel pngs. To use them, all you have to do is paste them as a new layer like an overlay over top of your photos in your favourite image editing software. It usually lines up best if you open the quick page first, then arrange your photos over the empty spaces, then shuffle the layer(s) that your photo(s) are on underneath the quick page layer. If you have any questions on using them, don't hesitate to email me. :)

In other news, today is the first official regular season Bears game (versus my hometown team of the Indianapolis Colts!) GOOOOOOOOOOOOO BEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our little family is all prepped for the game and I hope to get another scrapbook page or two together using my "I Love the Chicago Bears" freebie because Winston was an absolute doll and posed wonderfully for me in his little Bears jersey earlier, as you can see.

Download "The Hoosier State" Quick Pages set HERE!

Happy (Football) Sunday and hope you all enjoy the quick pages. :)

"The Hoosier State" Freebie Part 3 of 3

2008-09-05T10:03:00.005-06:00

It's Friday and you know what that means... Freebie Friday! :) Hope everyone has had a great short week -- and now on to the final piece of "The Hoosier State" kit, part 3! If you've not been following my blog the last few days then you've missed out on parts 1 and 2, so be sure to flip back and grab them so you can have all of the Indiana goodness at your fingertips. Part 3 is a bit 'cornier' than the previous two pieces and consists of the final two papers, some corn-y notepaper, two more kinds of corn elements, another peony and a wheat inspired mat, a little wordart and wooden elements, a new button and a handful of bows, an acrylic state of Indiana and two more ribbons, with one being of the hand-beaded variety. It's a beautiful final piece (if I do say so myself) and now your Hoosier state kit is all complete!

Don't forget that this freebie kit is for personal, non-commercial use ONLY, as specified in the TOU included with all of my freebie downloads. Please be sure to read the TOU before using any of the items in the kit, and contact me if you have any questions about it.

Download "The Hoosier State" Part 3 of 3 (final!) HERE.

My ultimate goal is to make a quick page or two for you to give away late this weekend or early next week, but we'll see what time allows; you know how it goes. I hope everyone has had a wonderful week -- enjoy your weekend and "The Hoosier State" and hope to see you back again soon :)

"The Hoosier State" Freebie Part 2 of 3

2008-09-04T14:28:00.002-06:00

It's day 2 of my Hoosier state freebie kit and I'm proud to give away 2 more themed papers and 14 more elements towards the complete set! Today you'll get a little Indy 500 flavour with a cute road ribbon and wooden cut out car, plus word art, another frame and some more buttons, bows and ribbons. You'll also snag my cute little gemmed and felt corn paperclip! (which you might recognize from my "Healthy Balance" kit) You've almost got the entire Hoosier state set, so be sure to come back tomorrow so you can pick up the final piece for Freebie Friday! :D

Don't forget that this freebie kit is for personal, non-commercial use ONLY, as specified in the TOU included with all of my freebie downloads. Please be sure to read the TOU before using any of the items in the kit, and contact me if you have any questions about it.

Download "The Hoosier State" Part 2 of 3 HERE!

And like I said yesterday, Indiana is near and dear to my heart and always will be. So if you make any fab layouts with "The Hoosier State", please let me know so I can show off how awesome you are :) Thanks for stopping in to nab part 2 (oh, are you a first timer here and missed yesterday's part 1? Click HERE!) and I'm already looking forward to seeing you again tomorrow for part 3. <3

"The Hoosier State" Freebie Part 1 of 3

2008-09-03T08:53:00.006-06:00

Happy Wednesday :)

This week I have three days in a row of amazing freebies for you, being kicked off today! And what's the topic? Well by the title you've probably guessed -- "The Hoosier State." Most of you that have followed my blog (or notice the blog design or header) know that I'm a Hoosier girl... originally from Indiana, but now living happily ever after in Canada for over two years. I decided to create a big freebie kit dedicated to where I grew up because I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the Hoosier state, even if I don't technically call it "home" anymore.

I finally finished the kit last night, and together there are 8 papers and 40 different elements in this one including wordart, frames, mats, ribbons, peonies, notepaper, corn (lots of corn!), clips, buttons, bows, and even a few acrylic elements and wooden pieces such as the state flag, the state itself, and some Indy 500 items. All in a colour scheme that reminds me of Indiana. The kit was too big for one zipped file so I decided to break it up into 3 pieces and release all of the parts over the next three days. Each day contains at least two papers and a random handful of the 40 elements. This Friday's Freebie Friday will be the final piece, and once you download all three, you'll have the entire kit.

Don't forget that this freebie kit is for personal, non-commercial use ONLY, as specified in the TOU included with all of my freebie downloads. Please be sure to read the TOU before using any of the items in the kit, and contact me if you have any questions about it.

Download "The Hoosier State" Part 1 of 3 HERE!

I would really love to see what you do with the kit -- please send any layouts you make to me and I'd be happy to feature you here and show off your creativity. If I get around to it this week, I may release a quickpage or two. But don't hold me to it! Be sure to check back tomorrow (and Friday) for parts 2 and 3 to complete the set! I hope you like "The Hoosier State." Thanks for stopping by :)

Latest Layouts

2008-09-01T14:57:00.009-06:00

First of all, HAPPY LABOUR DAY! I finally got around to some digital scrapbooking of my own today and scrapped up some memorable new photos taken in the past couple weeks. I just wanted to pop in and share them with you!

The first involves my handsome husband and I, and uses papers and elements from Summer Splash by Christine Ousley, christinescraps for BTST.

The second is a compilation of some photos with my friend Michelle. Michelle was my maid of honour in my wedding and has been my best friend since moving to Canada. We met when we were both working in the Human Resources department of Safeway. We've both found new jobs but do just about everything together. This page is dedicated to her friendship and uses elements from the Citrus Berry kit by Vicki at AWP (A Work in Progress).
I love Vicki over at AWP so much that I used another one of her freebie kits, Fired Earth, for this layout of Lucas and I. Aren't we cute?
This last one I did using the Express Yourself freebie kit by RPENN. Yay for girls just wanting to have fun! This is me with Kim and Michelle. We're hawt mamas!
The hanging date tags you see in the last two are not part of the kits mentioned but instead are from scrapmatters.com by the Golden Girls digital designs. They're super cute! Anyway, just wanted to share what creative things I've been up to this holiday weekend; hope you liked the layouts! Enjoy the rest of your long weekend.

My First Crochet Handbag

2008-08-31T11:39:00.008-06:00

So I found a great pattern on the Lion Brand website for a Crochet Handbag, by Drew Emborsky. It's such a gorgeous shape -- I love the pleats! I decided since I had a bunch of off-white yarn hanging around that I would give it a go and see if I was a.] capable of following the pattern, and b.] I liked the end result. In the end, I love the look when it's lying flat, but prefer it was a bit taller/deeper than the finished result, and maybe not quite as wide at the base... at least for my personal usability preferences. In my opinion the dimensions looked great flat but made for some strange interior space when the purse was in use. Full it looked a little funny but flat it looks fab! But maybe that's just me. Check out a "full" pic below and compare it to this flat one, maybe you'll see what I mean.

The pattern itself was super easy -- all single crochet with ONE pesky row (row 15) where I had to follow the written instructions to form a pleat. And not just one pleat, but six total in that row! And then you had to do row 15 twice, because you had to make two side pieces to form the bag body. I got some help from fellow ravelers to interpret the instructions and I finally managed to get the hang of the pleat :) Yay! Beyond row 15, the rest of the pattern was super simple. My seaming isn't all that great, but I'm learning. I've made some modifications that I plan to use on my next try and I hope it turns out the way I invision the perfect version of this handbag to be. Once I pick out some delicious brown yarn (after all, you can't wear white after Labour Day, and with that coming up tomorrow, I only have one day to use this purse, LOL) for a more season-appropriate look, I'll give the modified version a go. If that works out I'd love to post the mods for anyone else who might be interested :) As you can see, I didn't make the little flaps (mostly because I had different handles than what the pattern called for) and I decided to add little crochet flowers as an accent. All part of the modifications, I tell ya. In the end it was a great project. I can't wait to make another! :)

This little crochet handbag will be off to the bowling alley with us this evening for some dinner and fun with friends. Enjoy your holiday weekend!

Freebie Friday: Healthy Blance (Part 2 of 2)

2008-08-29T18:53:00.005-06:00

Woohoo! It's Friday! And not only that, it's the Friday that kicks off a nice long weekend. Hooray! So let's get down to business and share this week's Freebie Friday goodie :)

As promised last week, I have for you part 2 of 2 of my "Healthy Balance" series. This time the freebie includes two more full-sized 1200 x 1200, 300 dpi papers, two torn papers in solid cardstock, another ribbon, a frame with a blue ribbon button and ribbon hugger, acrylic cherries, some torn notepaper (perhaps for journaling your goals on) and 5 gemmed fruit and veggie paperclips! They are soooo cute.

If you missed last week's part 1 which included all of the full-sized gemmed fruit and veggie embellishments and the first paper and measurement tape bow by Kirsty Smith, you can grab it HERE.

Hopefully these two kits will add some healthy spunk to your layouts. I mean, who can resist cute little gemmed fruit paperclips? Not me! Download "Healthy Balance" Part 2 of 2 HERE!

Hope everyone has a safe and healthy Labour Day long weekend -- take care and see you soon! I've got another freebie ready to go and freebie plans for next Friday already in the works :) Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you back soon!

Recent Craftings

2008-08-26T17:52:00.007-06:00

I don't know if "craftings" is a real word (And based on Firefox's built-in spell checker, it isn't.) but for today and for my blog post title, it is a word. This week I've finished two projects: a purple bouclé scarf for my mom for Christmas (Yes, I am ahead of the game) and a little tiny turtle for Somer. The scarf was knitted from a beautiful skein of Bernat Soft Bouclé that I picked up while in Penticton a few weeks back, in a colour called The Big Purple. What a fun name, huh? It's 65 inches long and really soft and pretty, at least I think so. I hope my mom does, too! There's no real pattern involved with this bad boy -- I co'd 15 sts on big size US 15 / 10.0 mm needles and knit until the scarf reached my desired length of around 65 inches. I love the big loopy look to it.

The tiny turtle is from a pattern called Tiny Striped Turtle by KristieMN. It was surprisingly easy and quick to make up, and I think it turned out so cute! Somer likes turtles and she's had a rough month or two so I thought I'd surprise her and send a tiny turtle her way to say hello. Don't tell her yet, though... he's so cute I haven't mailed him off just yet hehe. I think my favourite part is his wee little tail poking out. And you probably noticed mine doesn't have a striped shell. Well, crochet is fairly new for me and the idea of switching yarn so often on such a small item kinda intimidated me since I'm not really all that familiar with how changing yarn colour works. Instead I crocheted the entire shell one colour. I'm still on the hunt for safety eyes (Who seem to be hiding from me at Michaels.) so I cut small round eyes out of black felt and hand stitched them on with thread afterwards. He's a cutie!

I've been rather busy this week and doing a little crochet in my spare time (I started on a crochet blanket last night... BIG endeavor for a newbie!) but I'll have a digital scrapping freebie, Part 2 of 2 of the "Healthy Balance" mini kit, for you on Friday. I've also got a few other digi scrap items in the works, they're just not finished and ready yet. Soon! Hope you have a great week :)

Freebie Friday: Healthy Blance (Part 1 of 2)

2008-08-22T17:13:00.006-06:00

Happy Freebie Friday everyone! :)

For today's freebie I have part 1 of 2 of a new series I call "Healthy Balance." Recently I was turned on to MyFitnessPal and I *love* the site. I was looking for a free food diary to use so I could keep track of my meals for digestive reasons and I've been wanting to get in better shape so I joined up and can't get over what a difference it has made in only 5 days! It's a really powerful thing to track your food intake and see how many calories or fat or sodium you're consuming. It's definitely helped me to make some healthier choices this week and stick to my goals. And wow is it motivating to keep on going and stay on track! The community is so helpful, inspiring and supportive -- it's like a little family :) Anyway, the theme for this week is tribute to a "Healthy Balance!"

This little mini kit contains 8 gemmed fruits and veggies: an asparagus, blueberry, some cherries, an apple, corn, grapes, an orange and carrot. It also contains one paper and one measurement tape ribbon/bow (a cu item courtesy of Kirsty Smith that was recoloured to be similar to the measurement tape I have :D ... thanks, Kirsty!) This is part 1 of 2 like I already mentioned... next Friday I have an addition to part 1 that will include some other healthy goodies in the theme and some more paper :) It's the perfect little mini kit to enhance digital scrapbook pages displaying your own healthy choices and improvements because those successes should be scrapped about!

Download "Healthy Balance" part 1 (embellishments, x1 paper and bow) HERE

Be sure to check back next Friday for part 2 to complete the set! And if you have suggestions for other parts/pieces to include in this set let me know and there may be more after part 2. And if you decide to try out MyFitnessPal, let me know, too :) It's a great resource and a great community. Have a happy and healthy weekend and thanks for stopping by! :)

Sunday Share

2008-08-17T16:13:00.004-06:00

Hi :)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend. We've spent the day cleaning the house -- it was really overdue! I got a wonderful email from MAKNJ, who shared how she used my "A Day at the Beach" digital scrapping overlay -- aren't the special touches that she added fab? I think the photo of her son is just wonderful, it turned out perfectly! Be sure to check out the rest of MAKNJ's photos on Flickr HERE! Thanks so much for sharing, MAKNJ! :D

If you missed my "A Day at the Beach" overlay freebie, you can snag it here on 4shared.

And speaking of sharing... I finished up a crochet project this weekend that I thought I'd share, too! It's a "Bitty Baby" from the pattern here (and on Ravelry here) by Hannah Kaminsky. It turned out... ok. It doesn't look too bad, but I know where each and every imperfection is and it makes the finished project not feel quite as nice as I was hoping it'd turn out. The pattern itself was fairly easy for a newbie crocheter like myself (just taught myself last week or so) and the hardest part (in my opinion) was stitching it all together at the end -- the head was such a pain to stitch to the body, and I wasn't sure I was really stitching the arms and legs on properly. I'm not very confident that my stitching-things-together skill (yes, that's a real skill) is very good. BUT, here it is anyway. I'll chalk this one up to practice and perhaps try making a few more for some of our friends that have recently had a baby in the past few months or are due in a few months. I think everyone we know has had a baby in the past year or will be having one soon. No, we're not ready yet ;)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and have a great week <3

Freebie Friday: Buttons in Bloom!

2008-08-14T20:37:00.006-06:00

Summer is nearing its close, kids are getting geared up to go back to school soon (if they haven't already), and that means we'll be seeing less and less flowers as the weather gets prepared for the upcoming fall months. I was thinking about how great it would be if I had a green thumb and could keep pretty plants all year long successfully, and then this idea hit me. What better way to keep the spirit of summer flowers alive all year than to have some ribbon and button flowers? Ribbons and buttons never wilt or die and their colours stay fresh and vibrant forever. Plus you don't have to remember to keep them watered. You, too can enjoy flowers as long as possible with my "Buttons in Bloom" mini element pack for this week's Freebie Friday!

The kit comes complete with 9 different flowers -- flowers in 8 different colours and 1 multi-coloured one. Plus there's three different kinds of stems that come separately in the kit so you can build your flowers with the blooms the way you want to -- with tall or short stems, etc. And if you want to add leaves, I've even included some felt leaves for you as an added touch.

Buttons in Bloom is chock full of flowery goodness with no green thumb requirement. Help preserve summer and download them today!

Download "Buttons in Bloom" HERE :) Enjoy them and have a great weekend <3

"Back to the Drawing Board" Freebie

2008-08-12T17:40:00.004-06:00

Just a quick freebie for you today inspired by the mad rush to get ready for a brand new school year. (And a new teaching school year for me!) Today is the first day of school back in my hometown of Greenwood, Indiana so I decided that this little mini pack would be perfect for the occasion. (Even though the first day of school is a couple weeks away yet for me here where I live in Canada now.) After all of the school supply shopping is done and the new clothes are bought, you're going to want to settle down to scrap your child's first day at school. I thought maybe a little chalk alpha would inspire you. And for added good measure and high marks, I've included two bonus elements! Not only does today's freebie contain my "Back to the Drawing Board" chalk alpha, but you'll also find a cute little knotted apple button ribbon AND chalkboard paper, all designed by yours truly and free for personal, non-commercial use. The alpha consists of lower AND uppercase letters, numbers, and some punctuation. I've also included a few specials such as the "#" sign, the words "grade" and "year" and then the little "st", "nd", and "rd" abbreviations so that you can easily use the alpha to put titles like "1st Grade" on your scrapped pages, for example. I hope you like it!

Download "Back to the Drawing Board" HERE

Good luck in the new school year! :)

Lots of You Love the Chicago Bears...

2008-08-11T17:53:00.011-06:00

Happy Monday! I know, I know... usually those two words don't go anywhere near each other, let alone in the same sentence or expression! But I received some inbox goodness and it brightened my day so I just had to share it with the rest of you.

GailG used the "I Love the Chicago Bears" freebie kit I gave away yesterday and made some fab layouts! Check these out (click to make full-sized)

Aren't they great? And what a beautiful family! (Posted with permission.) You know you want to snag your own copy of my "I Love the Chicago Bears" freebie now... so go grab the papers HERE and the elements HERE! I have a couple ideas for possible addons in the future, but I've been a little busy lately -- I plan to get around to it sometime soon, maybe in time for the start of the regular season. Hope everyone had a nice Monday -- thank you SO MUCH for all of the awesome comments on the freebie yesterday, and special thanks to GailG for sharing her talent!

I Love the Chicago Bears Freebie

2008-08-10T11:43:00.007-06:00

GO BEARS GO!

I love the Chicago Bears. In case you do, too, I've created a new freebie kit to kick off the start of the football pre-season that I cleverly call "I Love the Chicago Bears." ;) It comes complete with 6 papers and 31 elements! Being born and raised in Indiana originally (within sight of the buildings of downtown Indianapolis), you can imagine how my love for the Bears clashes with my family's love for the Colts.

Due to the size of this freebie kit, I had to break it into two pieces:

Download "I Love the Chicago Bears" papers HERE
Download "I Love the Chicago Bears" elements HERE

Two Christmases ago, my dad surprised me with a handmade fleece Chicago Bears blanket -- you know, the kind that has the fleece tied fringes around the outside edge? It was surprising because my dad's not much of a crafter AND because he put effort into making such a nice gift that was Chicago Bears (we do a lot of Bears vs. Colts trash talking during football season -- thank goodness for my awesome rate calling card.) And then I realized he had written on a few of the fringes... to the tune of "Bears suck!" and such. I sure love that blanket and love it even more when I find one of his funny fringes. You can see the blanket on my lap in the photos of the layout I'm sharing here, using my Chicago Bears freebie kit, of me with Oliver all dressed for a big Bears game on TV the season before last. Oliver is an Urlacher fan, as you can tell by his jersey. Looks like we're going to have to get Winston his own jersey this year!

Hope you enjoy the freebie kit! For personal, non-commercial use only blah blah blah don't forget to read the TOU, I'd love some blog comment love if you like the kit! Happy Sunday, and GO BEARS GO <3

Knit & Stitch CROCHET Add-On Freebie

2008-08-09T11:05:00.009-06:00

I'm very happy to present a little addon pack (by request!) to my Knit & Stitch kit for the crocheters out there... I have for you the Knit & Stitch Crochet Add-on Pack! By request from jetfuelonly. (and butterflies by request of lwlittlebit!) I whipped up a few little extra pieces to add to Knit & Stitch for those who love to crochet. It's timed beautifully with my own personal experience in crochet -- I just taught myself this week actually, after a failed attempt to learn at Christmas. And by fail I mean that I just couldn't figure it out on my own and gave up. I've been nagging at myself to try again, and I finally got the hang of it on Tuesday and have been happily practicing and learning more since. The Knit & Stitch Crochet Add-on comes with 5 metal crochet hooks in several kit coordinating colours, 3 felted butterfly ribbons, and 3 new butterfly gem stitch markers. I hope you like it!

Download the add-on pack HERE.

So sticking with knit & stitch news, I completed a scarf for myself recently and have started a second one done in a similar fashion that I plan to give my mom for Christmas. While we were vacationing in the Okanagan a few weeks back I picked up some big size 15 needles and some soft Bernat yarn that was on clearance... one big skein in burgundy & rose and one big skein in purples. I didn't use a pattern per se, but just cast on 20 stitches and knitted until the scarf was as long as I wanted it to be. I have a scarf that I was given a few years ago that is 100 inches long and it's too long for me, so when knitting this one I wanted to stop at a length that was more comfortable. That length turned out to be around 65 inches. I used big loose stitches on those big needles and fondly refer to the finished product as my loopy scarf. I've decided to make a slight change in the "pattern" for my mom's scarf: I think 20 stitches wide in this gauge is maybe a tiny bit too wide, so on my mom's purple scarf I've only cast on 15 stitches. I think I like the width of hers better. She's only a little shorter than I, so I'm thinking 60-65 inches long will be good for her also. I'm looking forward to finishing this one!

And since I mentioned my newly learned self-taught crochet abilities, I should maybe share it! Here's a little peek at my practice swatches and first attemps at spiraling and going beyond just the single crochet stitch. I've practiced single and double crochet and feel confident about those two stitches so far. And yesterday I successfully created my first flat round spiral! I know, baby steps... but I see a lot more crochet in my future, it's so fun and quick! YAY for finally learning crochet.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and hope to see you back tomorrow for my big Chicago Bears freebie kit! :)

Happy First Freebie Friday!

2008-08-08T18:01:00.006-06:00

Yay for my first "Freebie Friday!" I've decided to start a promotion on my blog called Freebie Friday. The idea behind this promotion is to help keep me on track to give away at least one freebie a week -- on Fridays. Now I know what you're thinking, "But Lesley, you've given away several freebies this week! What makes Fridays special?" Well, this week has been an exception to the norm because I've had lots of time to create a lot of freebies, but I'm trying to be realistic and think long term. Life tends to get busy and I know there will be weeks where I don't have as much time and am not able to make as much. I'm also a little craft ADD and do a wide variety of crafts here on my blog besides just digital scrapbooking so one week might be just spent knitting. (especially with colder months just around the corner.) But by starting this promotion, it'll help ensure I have at least one digital scrapbooking freebie a week to give away, even on the busy weeks. So while there might be multiple freebies in the same week, Fridays will be guaranteed. Or at least that's my personal goal.

To kick off my first Freebie Friday, I have a little mini pack for you called "Think Pink." What better way to start a freebie promotion on my pinktoque craft blog than with something pink? You can download it HERE.

Some freebies will be big, some will be small, but there will always be something to give away here on Freebie Friday to keep you coming back for more :) And if I find time to squeeze in extra freebies in between, even better!

Hope you enjoy "Think Pink!" Don't forget to come back tomorrow, because I have the Knit & Stitch Crochet Add-on pack ready to go, and then I'm really excited about what I've got for you on Sunday. See you soon! :)

Colourful Crayons & Scribbles Mini Freebie

2008-08-07T17:03:00.003-06:00

Today I've got just a tiny freebie for you -- a set of eight classic colour crayon embellishments! Each crayon comes with its own coordinating crayon doodle mark, too. Just a little something small to wish you a happy Thursday (yay for tomorrow being Friday!) :)

Thanks very much for all of the wonderful comments on my latest freebies. I enjoy each and every one. I'm glad to know there are actually people out there who download and use my things (like Ljprince on scrapbook.com, you're awesome!) because it inspires me to keep on making more for you. Tomorrow I'm going to unveil "Freebie Friday" with of course yet another little freebie as part of the promotion, and then this weekend will also be full of freebie goodness with a Knit & Stitch Crochet Add-on Pack coming (by request thanks to your input on the Knit & Stitch freebie!) on Saturday, and a nice big Chicago Bears freebie kit coming Sunday to kick off the start of the football pre-season. I love football. GO BEARS!

You can grab Crayons & Scribbles HERE. :) They're perfect for that upcoming back to school craze that's just over the horizon for many students. I know back in Indiana we started the new school year just before the middle of August, but here in Alberta, Canada schools don't go back until the first week of September. Either way, crayons seem fitting for this time of the year, so hope you like them and can find good use for them!

See you tomorrow with more freebie goodness you won't want to miss <3

love,

Lesley (Toque)

Knit & Stitch Embroidery Alpha Freebie

2008-08-06T17:17:00.003-06:00

I am horrible at keeping quiet when I've got a surprise and/or a present to give, and after my hint (ok so I just flat out told you) in yesterday's post when I gave away my big Knit & Stitch freebie, you are most likely not surprised to see this lovely Knit & Stitch embroidery alpha today that coordinates with the kit. And if you are surprised, well yay because that was the original intention:) The coordinating alpha comes with both upper and lowercase and a few punctuation marks. Hopefully it will add that finishing touch to your titles or other text by giving them a fantastic stitched look.

Speaking of the Knit & Stitch kit freebie, I received a comment request on yesterday's post by jetfuelonly asking about the possibility of a crochet addon. What a fantastic idea! I will try to get a little crochet addon pack to enhance your Knit & Stitch freebie by the end of the week! And what timing, too -- I am just learning crochet myself and finally getting the hang of it! :) Anyway, the crochet addon I'm planning so far will just consist of crochet hooks (and a little felted butterfly thing or two, by request!) because I'm drawing a blank-- is there anything else crochet-specific that I'm missing that I could package with the hooks addon? If I get inventive maybe I'll try to crochet a square (it would be veeeeeery simple and most likely not the most even stitches since I'm still working out the proper method for getting consistent tension, lol) and photograph the texture to make an overlay for a background that looks more like crochet, since the backgrounds packaged with the original Knit & Stitch kit are stockinette/knitting based. If you have any suggestions, let me know! I could probably have it ready by Saturday :)

For now, download the Knit & Stitch Embroidery Alpha HERE!

I hope you enjoy the alpha and stay tuned for a new freebie tomorrow! Be sure to check back, crocheters, I'll be sending you some freebie love in an addon pack for the Knit & Stitch kit later in the week :) Thanks for the suggestion, jetfuelonly!

BIG Knit & Stitch Freebie, Yay!

2008-08-05T19:02:00.002-06:00

I am SO excited to present my newest digital scrapbooking freebie kit: "Knit & Stitch!"

With 11 papers and 51 elements, Knit & Stitch is the largest freebie kit I've made to date! The preview doesn't do this set justice because I couldn't fit everything onto it. I decided to go with a colour scheme I've been wanting to play with for awhile -- my traditional (favourite) brown and pink combo with a sea green or teal mixed in. And then a little touch of cream to complement the bolder shades.

So what kinds of things are in the Knit & Stitch kit? Let's start with the 11 papers -- 6 soft knitted and 5 crisp linen style. There's also a delicate sheer cream paper mat with a felt flower trim that looks great layered over the background papers. Speaking of felt flowers, you'll also find similar felted flower ribbons, a plain fabric ribbon, and two rope cord elements. And that's just the beginning of the embellishments! There's 10 different kinds of fabric flowers, some with button centres and some with tall (and short) rope stems. I've included two frames with satin ribbon frame huggers, and two kinds of knitting needles: bamboo and metal. There's two pressed metal labels and two sets of word art using knitting words. I always include a few buttons and brads, and so there's a set of small butons with laced string in this one along with three square glass knitted brads. Since this is knit and stitch, you'll find three sets of straight stitching in the set colours and three sets of blanket stitches, too. And there's 8 different kinds of beaded knitting stitch markers that I had lots of fun creating. For tags, you'll find three traditional tags with satin bows and then my favourite: three felted tags in circular, rectangular, and word bubble shape, outlined in stitching. These are so cute that I think I'll make a mini addon pack later down the road just of tags and include a few more felted and stitched shapes. Whew! I think that includes it all! I really, really enjoyed making this set. If you've spent any time at my blog before you might've noticed that I do a lot of knitting and sewing, too. Combining my knitting and sewing love with my digital scrapbooking love just makes this the ultimate set for me! I may try to do some quick pages with the set to give away later on, just because I can't wait to scrap a page about my latest knitting project. If you make anything with my Knit & Stitch set, I'd LOVE to see (and feature you on my blog!) so be sure to send me some mail with your creations or drop me a comment with a link to where you have your layout posted.

Due to the size of this kit, I had to break it into three pieces:
Download Knit & Stitch papers #1 HERE
Download Knit & Stitch papers #2 HERE
Download Knit & Stitch elements HERE

Don't forget to leave me some blog comment love if you like the kit! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do :) And you didn't hear it from me (ok, yes you did) but there just may be a sweet embroidery alpha ready for you tomorrow to go with this kit! I'm not good at keeping surprises so I'll just confirm that there IS a Knit & Stitch embroidery alpha sitting here waiting for you tomorrow, so be sure to stop by to grab it!

Psssst.... you know what would go great with this freebie set? My fabric brads mini pack freebie! Includes 20 round glass fabric patterned brads that will perfectly complement just about any scrapbooking project.

Sneak Peak: I've got freebies to give away every single day this week and enough ready to share that will take me into early next week, so be sure to check back tomorrow for more freebie goodies! Here are some hints of what's to come: crayons, a new promotion I call "Freebie Friday", something pink and FOOTBALL! (Go Chicago Bears!) ... you don't want to miss it! :)

Asparagus Elements are Ready!

2008-08-04T11:04:00.004-06:00

To keep with my "Asparagus" theme (check my two previous blog posts for the paper pack #1 and paper pack #2 freebies released already!) I made some embellishments to go with the asparagus papers! These turned out pretty well I think -- I really love working with Photoshop! Take a look at the "Asparagus" Element Pack and see what you think! And if you need the paper, you can download paper pack #1 here (linen based papers) and paper pack #2 here (random designs in the asparagus colours.) Whether you pair these embellishments with the paper sets or not, they'll complement your scrapping well in any green, brown or beige theme you've got going! The element pack comes with 17 fantastic embellishments for you to enjoy. And as always, in high quality 300 dpi resolution.

I hope everyone has had a great long weekend! Grab the "Asparagus" Element Pack HERE and be sure to drop me a note with what you think :) Enjoy the rest of your day!

Asparagus Paper Pack #2

2008-08-03T11:39:00.006-06:00

As promised, here's the second pack of "Asparagus" colour themed paper. If you missed the first pack, check out my previous blog post and grab pack #1 here. Both paper sets are 3600 x 3600 pixels in 300 dpi! And to stick with the theme and release all of the pieces fairly close together, I'll try to get the asparagus embellishments and mats ready for tomorrow's post, too. I've got posts lined up with freebies to take us well into the middle of next week, I'm so excited! Hopefully you have been (or will) see an improvement on my creation quality -- I feel like Photoshop has opened several more possibility doors and that I'm getting better all the time. Enjoy today's little freebie, and I hope to see you drop by tomorrow to pick up the asparagus embellishments :)

Download "Asparagus" paper pack #2 HERE and have a great Sunday!

Mmm... Asparagus?

2008-08-02T22:10:00.007-06:00

I don't really have a special love for asparagus or anything, (though we do have an inside joke about it) but the name seemed fitting to describe the colours of the paper pack freebie I have for you tonight! You know how I mentioned yesterday that I had a bunch of freebie ideas rolling around in my head? Well this wasn't one of them, but I got suckered into trying out blends in Photoshop (yes, I said Photoshop... I have been using Paint Shop Pro faithfully all this time and kept resisting the move into Photoshop, but... alas it has suckered me in.) and somehow these papers came to be. This is paper pack #1 of the "Asparagus" colour scheme (in high quality 3600 x 3600 pixels and 300 dpi) and tomorrow I'll throw up paper pack #2 for you :) The first pack here is all a linen texture and in the second pack I tried messing around with blends and different overlays. Not too bad for my first items in Photoshop! I've made a couple elements that go with all of these papers but I'm not done with them yet. Look for them sometime next week!

I have a little knitting and stitching themed kit that's nearly done, too -- done mostly in Paint Shop Pro with one or two items that used the help of some of the capabilities of Photoshop. I think I'll be using a little of both from now on, at least until I get used to everything in PS. There are some things I can do in PSP that I haven't quite figured out in PS so there will be a lot of switching between programs until I feel comfortable. I'm pretty excited about some things I learned today and I even started on a mini kit (resulting from some PS experiments with my favourite shades of pink!) that I'll eventually finish for those of you out there that love pink as much as I do. So many kits on the go and so many more ideas bouncing around in my head that I want to make! There just aren't enough hours in the day.

To snag Asparagus linen paper pack #1, click HERE. Hope you like it :) Don't forget to read the TOU, blah blah you know the routine. Personal, non-commercial use only and all that. Enjoy! And be sure to leave me a note if you liked the paper :)

My Recent Layouts and Pages

2008-08-01T17:38:00.007-06:00

I've spent so much time lately planning out my beachy layouts for our trip last weekend to Penticton that I just haven't had time to sit down and put them together with the actual photos! I've also spent too much time making and not enough time using my creations or new freebies that I've downloaded from others, so I've got some fun layouts to share this post so that you can see what I've been doing besides taking photos and practicing my design skills.

This page (up, right) and layout I designed using a freebie kit I made not too long ago called "My First Tattoo." In honour of my first tattoo, of course! My husband and I got small matching tattoos and with it being my first, of course I had to scrap about it. At the time I couldn't find any kits out there that seemed to be "tattoo-ish" enough so I just made up my own. You can snag that freebie kit HERE in case you missed it.

And of course, the big family road trip last weekend to British Columbia had to be scrapped about! The highlight of the trip was that it was our first family road trip with our new puppy, Winston the mini schnauzer, who is 6 months old. Not only was it his first big road trip, it was also his first time at the beach and his first swim. Our 5 year old border collie, Oliver (Winston's big brother) has been to Penticton several times and has swam in the lake on the beaches there before, but this was a first for Winston, so Oliver showed him the ropes and we took them to an off leash doggie designated section of Okanagan Lake to experience it all leash free. So in a way it was also Oliver's first time getting to swim freely, too. I took more pictures that day than I did any of the other days combined! This first layout here (up, left) uses an overlay template for the photo with wording and elements that I created last week in honour of the upcoming trip in a mini kit that I named (surprise!) "A Day at the Beach." You can snag that freebie mini kit HERE in case you missed it. The second (below, left) is a layout of my design using elements and papers from "On va à la plage" by Créé par Latham

These are just a few of the pages I've put together recently -- and of course one page isn't nearly enough to cover all of the excitement of our trip... so for the full album of our trip check out my digital scrapbook! (The trip and most recent family stuff is in the Family Life album). I sometimes just do a page or two at a time and upload it to the appropriate album there, so it's always changing. Like just recently our little Winston got his first ever haircut... another one of those "of course I had to scrap about it" situations. (You know what I'm talking about!) The traditional schnauzer cut on him is so adorable and I feel like he's all grown up now with his pronounced old man beard. Be sure to check it out in the Oliver and Winston album!

Wow, I've been a busy crafty blogger this week. I think I've blogged nearly every day so far! I imagine things will slow down a little now, but stay tuned... I have some ideas for some new creative freebies rolling around in my head that I just may get a chance to bring to digital life soon for you :) Take care and have a fabulous long weekend!

More Huugs to Feature!

2008-07-31T18:29:00.004-06:00

A few months ago I designed a free pattern for a knitted stuffed monster that I dubbed Huug the Hug Monster. Since then several people have made their own version, and I love featuring them! Sophia Dembling recently made a Huug of her own, which turned into a hilarious ordeal involving her Huug's face. I love it when I see the way others create something, because no two Huugs are ever the same! Sophia did a little experimentation on her Huug's face which turned into what she calls a disaster, but I call cute! Though I do have to agree with her -- the face and the Huug body separate were adorable. Together... well... not so much ;) This photo is copyright to Sophia and her permission was given to share the picture.

Emma also wrote me to tell me about a Huug she made for her boyfriend because they were going to be apart for awhile. She told me that having a Huug to give her boyfriend helped make that time where they were unable to be together more bearable. Stories like this warm my heart and inspire me to make more freebies such as free knitting patterns and digital scrapbooking freebies to share. I'm glad to know that something that took shape in my mind and turned into a fun little knitting project brought joy to someone else. Be sure to check out these fabulous knitters and a big special THANK YOU for your emails :)

Retro Teal Freebie

2008-07-30T17:10:00.002-06:00

A new freebie, yay! While it's obvious that pink is my favourite colour, I'm pretty passionate about certain shades of teal or sea green. It just seems like a summery colour (and even goes well with pink & brown!) -- I may have to come up with a set that uses all three of these colours, but for today I have a little mini kit for you that I've dubbed "Retro Teal." It comes with 6 papers and 15 elements in several various shades of yummy sea green. Just the refreshing kick you need to supplement or complement your digital scrapbooking this week.

Download it HERE. Don't forget to read the TOU, personal use only, blah blah blah, all that normal stuff. Enjoy! :)

Back With a Knitting Project in Progress

2008-07-29T19:03:00.007-06:00

Weeeee're back! We've returned from our family trip to beautiful Penticton in British Columbia, and we had a blast! We spent most of the day Friday soaking up the sun at Okanagan Lake in the newly fenced in and designated off-leash doggie beach with Oliver and Winston. Oliver was happy to be free to swim without the burden of his leash and really enjoyed fetching his floating orange chew toy. Winston was quick to chase after Ollie, even into the water, until he realized he could no longer touch the bottom. Though his rear end sank like a brick, his doggie instincts prompted him to paddle as fast as his little front legs could and he was an absolute riot. Once he got used to the idea of the ground disappearing from beneath him he would make short trips out into the lake after us, as long as we weren't too far. Once he reached us we'd pick him up (more like he'd climb up our legs) to give him a break before sending him between us or back to shore. He loved it! They both did. Towards the end of our swim you could tell Oliver was exhausted but he just couldn't resist the urge to swim out and back a few more times. You can see all of our exciting photos HERE! There are some really good ones :) AAAAND I put together a little video of our adventures that you can watch HERE.

And what would an 8 hour drive between Penticton and Calgary be without something crafty?! We hit a Zellers in Penticton for a few items and they had some Bernat Soft/Boucle yarn skeins on sale for half off and I just couldn't resist. Especially since Lucas' grandmother had brought along her sweater project and had shown me her method of knitting. I realized that she knits continental style while I was taught and currently knit english style. It was interesting to see the difference and she seemed to fly through her project. After reading up on it, it seems most agree continental is faster. Thanks to the fine folks over at KnittingHelp.com (my knitting bible), I'm going to try and pick up continental knitting. I'd like to see if picking up continental will be easier or harder for me than being taught english style by Lucas' mom last summer. I really enjoy english style knitting, but it'd be nice to find which method is the fastest for me in the end. I have a few ambitious knitting projects on the horizon in time for the holidays this year planned already, and I'd like to find which way will help me get the projects done in the most efficient manner. Plus I hear if you're fluent in both methods, doing colour work via "stranding" is easier down the road, something else I'd like to learn. Anyway, I picked up two skeins of yarn -- one in Burgundy stripes and one in The Big Purple. I started a scarf for myself from the burgundy skein on the ride home and if all goes well (which it is so far!) I'll make my mom a similar scarf from the purple skein since that's her favourite colour. I'm using nice, big 10mm/US 15 needles and knitting loosely and I think casting on 20 stitches might be a bit too wide. I think for my mom's scarf I'll only cast on 15 stitches. I'm not sure how long the finished scarf will be -- so far my burgundy one is at 50 inches and I just plan to go until I run out of yarn or until it seems to lay comfortably and suitably on me length-wise. I have a knitted scarf that I received from a student several years ago and it's beautiful, but it's 100 inches long and drags too much on short little me, so I plan to make the scarf long enough, but not too long... whatever that means ;) So I guess I'm shooting for a finished length of around 75 inches... in between where I am now and "too long."

That's about all for this update -- but I've got a little digital scrapbooking freebie planned that I'll have ready to give away sometime this week that I can't wait to share with you :) I also really need to spend some time doing some digi scrapping of my own to show off some of the fab photos from our trip! And I've got some updates and photos from a few other knitters out there who have taken advantage of my free Huug the Hug Monster pattern. All of this and more coming later this week! Thanks for reading :)

A Day at the Beach Freebie

2008-07-21T12:05:00.004-06:00

I am so excited -- Lucas and I are packing up the boys (our dogs, Oliver & Winston) and taking a road trip to Penticton, British Columbia later this week to spend some time with friends and visit with Lucas' family. We try to hit Penticton at least once or twice a year, and this weekend seems to be the last chance that we'll have to make a summer trip with a new busy season starting at work soon for Lucas. Not to mention a new school year is quickly approaching and teachers go back August 28. So we'll be spending Thursday - Monday soaking up the sun!

The last two times we've gone to Penticton were either in the fall or spring. It's been 2 years since we were able to time our trip to enjoy the best part of being in Penticton: the beaches in the summer! When we went in the spring and fall of 2007 it was a bit too chilly for Lucas and I to do any real swimming, but Oliver sure enjoyed chasing the waves and experiencing the beach for the first time. He did some swimming, but we weren't really prepared. We've been looking forward to going out when the weather was kind enough that the lake would be an enjoyable temperature for the whole family, and that's our plan for this week. Even more exciting is that now it will be little Winston's first trip to the beach. We're hoping for some really memorable photo opportunities as he touches sand for the first time or comes in contact with his first wave. We're sure Winston will be fearless once he sees his big brother swimming. Aren't we a little sad? We're getting all camera crazy and excited about our dog experiencing the beach for the first time. Can you imagine how we'll be when we have actual kids?! Haha.

Anyway, in honour of our upcoming trip I've made a little mini kit freebie for you all called "A Day at the Beach" ... because we'll be spending several entire days at the beaches of Penticton this weekend! The kit includes a 3600 x 3600 pixel 300 dpi overlay "frame" for your photograph with "A Day at the Beach" written around it. Layer this onto a great beach photo and enjoy the effect of the letters cut out onto your picture! In the preview image above I used a photo of Oliver checking out the beach at Lake Skaha in Penticton in the spring of 2007, just to give you an idea of the effect you can get from the overlay when you use your own photos. Along with the giant overlay comes 4 elements: two sand-filled glass brads (square and circle), a sand button and a starfish object. I've included a little how to for using the overlay in case anyone has any questions. You can download the mini kit HERE, and be sure to leave me some blog comment love if you do :) Enjoy the freebie and enjoy your week! <3

New Freebie: Bubbles!

2008-07-12T14:40:00.006-06:00

TWO freebies in one day?! Be sure to read the post just before this one to also grab the "My First Tattoo" minikit! :)

With teaching done for the summer, I've picked up an office job to keep me busy during my "off season" so I've not posted in a bit. But what do I do in my spare time at work? Plan out freebie kits I want to design when I get home! And that's where "Bubbles" comes in.

My newest freebie is my biggest one yet, and even includes my very first alpha! Everything is made in 300 dpi and the background papers are 3600 x 3600 pixels. "Bubbles" includes 4 background papers, 1 glassy blue capital letter alpha, and 27 elements total! And what kind of elements are we talking about? Well, let's see... brads, bubble frames, seahorse metal frames, doodle swirls, scalloped journaling paper, seahorse buttons galore, and several ribbons... too many things to list and picture in the preview image, that's for sure! All in a cool summery blue palette (with a hint of lime!) that will make you wish you were lounging beach-side someplace exotic.

Give "Bubbles" a try and see what you think! If you download, please give me some blog comment love and feel free to leave me feedback so I can make even better freebies in the future. As always, everything is completely free* for personal use to thank those out there who so freely share their own designs, knowledge and kindness with the digital scrapbooking community... thank you for being my inspiration! Download here and enjoy!

* Don't forget to read the TOU included with all freebies. Everything is free for personal, non-commercial use, but do not redistribute the files or claim them as your own! Don't forget to give credit where credit is due if you make something with this kit and post it somewhere. Full TOU can be found zipped up inside the kit. If you have any questions about it, don't hesitate to ask. :) Thanks!

Freebie: My First Tattoo

2008-07-12T14:10:00.001-06:00

In honour of my real first tattoo, I made a mini digital scrapbooking kit! With this being a first in my life, I wanted to of course scrapbook the event, but I couldn't seem to find much in terms of kits about tattoos that sparked my interest. When all else fails, make your own, right? So that's what I did. I got my tattoo last weekend (it's just smaller than a quarter and in a discreet location, for those that know me personally hehe, nothing major or something you're going to notice!) and have been putting this together bit by bit as the week has gone on. I need to get my layout together using it, but I thought I'd put this out there in case someone else could find a use for it or even just some of the elements for their own scrapbooking endeavours :)

"My First Tattoo" is made in 300 dpi with the background papers measuring in at 3600 x 3600 pixels. The mini kit includes 6 background papers and 21 elements. Stay tuned -- with all of these freebies I need to take some time to actually put together the layout ideas I have in mind for them and scrap my own stuff to share. If you make any cool layouts with any of my freebies please do share by sending me an email or commenting and linking me... I'd love to show them off here, too! The download can be found HERE (zip file), and a note when you nab it here on my blog would be great :) Thanks and enjoy!

P.S. ... I've got another freebie to give away today, too! Stay tuned for "Bubbles" ....

Two New Freebies: Fabric Brads & Summer String Doodles

2008-07-06T10:43:00.009-06:00

I think I've become obsessed with creating digital scrapbooking elements. It's all I'm doing in my spare time! I've been working through the various tutorials over at Scrap Stuff with PSP and I can't get enough of Shawna's knowledge. Today I have two mini freebie element packs to give away: fabric brads and summery string doodles :) Lucky you, you guys will get all of the things I'm making as I learn, haha. That could be good or bad considering I'm doing better at some things than others lol.

The fabric brads element pack includes 20 fabric brads in all various shades of colours. It's the perfect complement to any page! Summer string doodles are just that: doodles made from arranging string into summery shapes. I imagine them adding a little spunk to a child's layout perhaps. I was test driving Shawna's string tutorial and somehow ended up with these. I guess summer is on my mind! And it's no surprise -- the weather has been beautiful lately :) Both element packs created in 300dpi. Snag the fabric brads HERE (zip file) and the string doodles HERE (also zip). Enjoy! Hope you like them :)

133 people (117 rar/16 zip) have downloaded the Neapolitan minikit I gave away in my last post, which blows me away! I'm glad that so many have given it a go, and the positive comments I've received here and on the files at 4shared make me glow with happiness. Thank you! Sheila has created her own layout using it and isn't it fab? Her layout is fantastic! (And I'm not just saying that because my husband is one of the subjects of her photos, lol). She is patiently and eagerly awaiting her own ordered copy of My Memories Suite ... my goal is to convert everyone, it's such awesome software for creating digital scrapbooks! One day, My Memories Suite and I will take over the world. Ok maybe not. But I better tear myself away from creating digital elements... these wedding thank you cards won't make themselves!

My First Digi Scrapping Freebie: Neapolitan

2008-07-04T22:30:00.005-06:00

Woooo, I'm proud to release my very first freebie for all of you digi scrappers out there: Neapolitan, inspired by my favourite ice cream (which just so happens to be my favourite colour combination as well -- can't you tell?)

I'd be nowhere without the magic of Shawna over at Scrap Stuff with PSP Tutorials, though. She is the inspiration and reason this freebie was made possible. I just started learning how to make my very own digital scrapbooking elements today, and because of her amazingly generous tutorials I'm starting to get the hang of it! Thank you, Shawna, for sharing your PSP knowledge so freely and giving so much to the community. I can't wait to work on more of her tutorials and to learn even more tips and tricks to creating great freebies so that I can give back to the digi scrapping community.

The Neapolitan minikit contains three background papers and twelve elements. Everything is done in 300 dpi, and the backgrounds are 2400x2400. Everything was created in Paint Shop Pro 8. Please be kind as it's only my first freebie. I know I've got a long way to go, but I'm confident I'll only get better from here :)

Download Neapolitan HERE! (.rar file) -- if you prefer .zip, click HERE instead. :) If you download, please give me some blog comment love! I'm completely and totally open to any comments, suggestions or other constructive criticism... it will help me learn :) If you have any problems with any of the files, just let me know. I hope to be able to put together some other freebies in the near future, so stay tuned! Thanks for all of your support and enjoy! <3

Our Digital Wedding Scrapbook

2008-06-29T19:55:00.007-06:00

An entirely new digital scrapbook to share, a complete new blog design AND two posts in the span of the same weekend? Look at me go!

That's right! Even though I mentioned in my last post that I wasn't sure I'd find the time... I sat down and made myself focus on our digital wedding scrapbook this weekend, and 40 pages later... voila! Of course I used My Memories Suite by Polaroid (Can I possibly rave enough about that software? I think not.) and I am proud to say that I'm an old pro at it now; every single one of the 40 pages I personally designed and built from scratch myself. It was actually hard to stop at 40... there are SO many fabulous pictures from our wedding weekend that I was sure I would be sitting at my computer for weeks. Thankfully the creative juices were flowing this weekend!

So where can you find the full 1200x1200 digital pages? We've created a new page on our personal website just for our scrapbook albums, so head on over to Our Wedding album to view them all now! :) You can also see them either in my digital scrapbook Flickr set or in my scrapbook.com Wedding Album. If that link doesn't work for you, head on over to my scrapbook.com profile, then navigate to my gallery from there and look for "Our Wedding." If you're going the Flickr route, the first page of the wedding album series starts here; just click forward from there. Enjoy! And please be sure to let me know what you think :) Thanks to Lucas being a web coding genius, you can always see all of our digital scrapbooking albums on our new page: Lucas and Lesley's Digital Scrapbook gallery.

Just Married! And a Few Changes Around Here

2008-06-27T14:45:00.013-06:00

Hi!

We're back from our fabulous wedding weekend in Las Vegas, and it's time to update my blogs and show off all of the crafty things that were part of the celebrations. I am most proud of the wedding gift I made for Lucas -- a scrapbook. And if you've read any of my more recent posts, you know I mean a digital scrapbook made with My Memories Suite software. I showed off a Christmas album I made and an album I made of our two dogs... but for the wedding gift album I took it one step further and had Polaroid, the company that makes My Memories Suite, do the professional printing and binding of the digital scrapbook pages and ship it to me as a physical scrapbook. The result was amazing! I was worried that the print quality or the book quality wouldn't be as good as I was hoping for, but it was just as good if not better than I was expecting, and I will definitely be turning future digital scrapbooks into real life book creations this way. Kudos to Polaroid! I did my best to take some photos of the actual book once it arrived (see right), but you just gotta see it in person to do the quality justice. You can see the full digital version in my scrapbook.com wedding gift album. If that link doesn't get you there, head over to my scrapbook.com profile and navigate to my gallery and then to the Wedding Gift Album.

Our favours were a lot of fun. We didn't do anything too terribly crafty, but we did order photo coaster sets and personalized shot glasses. The photo coasters came in sets of two, and we put a 2"x2" photo of us (seen here) in one of the coasters, and printed text with our names and the wedding date for the second coaster. They turned out really well. We put them in little pink paper bags and stamped the little bride and groom design that we used for our invites on the front of the bags. We used some cute brown and pink polka dotted ribbon to close up the bags, and I made little personalized tags to string up with the ribbon. The tags sported little pink poker chips with our name and the date on them plus the words "thank you" scrolled around the outside of the chip. While it wasn't much, seeing all of the finished favours together made us proud of our efforts.

There was one other little thing I made for Lucas to go along with his album: a little stuffed ball and chain! As a joke I sewed a little stuffed ball and added a keychain chain to it to finish it off. He really liked the gesture and we got a good laugh out of it. Now my crafty efforts are focused on building an actual wedding scrapbook album now, showcasing photos from our wonderful wedding weekend and all of the fun we had with friends and family. I'm also trying to figure out what I want to do for a summer job since I'm done teaching this school year, so stay tuned for that wedding scrapbook as I have time to devote to working on it. If you want to see all of our wedding photos, we've got them posted HERE. I can't wait to creatively collect those into a digital album! All of the photos really turned out well.

You may have noticed that my posting name has changed slightly, the actual name of the blog is a bit different, and that my profile isn't quite the same -- due to my name change I needed to change my email address that was linked to my blogger account. I managed to shift this blog over to my new gmail account, so the profile is still me, just on my new email. It's all mostly the same, though! I also decided to give the blog a bit of a face lift since I was starting "fresh" with my new profile, and now more than ever, this blog's subject matter spand across many various types of craftd instead of just knitting or sewing... especially with my latest obsession with digital scrapbooking. Hope you like the changes, and thanks for reading!

New Album and a Purse!?

2008-05-15T19:00:00.009-06:00

So in my last blog post I maybe seemed just a little obsessed (lol, understatement) with my new digital scrapbooking software, My Memories Suite by Polaroid. My obsession only grows stronger and more passionate the more I use it!

Last week I finished an 18 page scrapbook of our dogs, Oliver and Winston, and I uploaded the pages to scrapbook.com and to my Flickr account. Compared to the first album that I made with the software back when I got it at Christmas, it's obvious that I've learned a lot by using it more. Once I got the hang of how to use all of the creative options the software has to offer, it only made my final result with my most recent album that much more professional looking. My first album, the Christmas one you can see on scrapbook.com, was mostly me just using the premade layouts that came with the software with very little added input or creativity from my end (mostly because I was just getting the hang of using it.) I am proud to say that I personally designed from scratch each and every page of the Oliver & Winston album. As in, I started with a completely blank page and built every detail of every page from the ground up. It of course took a little longer than my first drag and drop album, but it was SO incredibly rewarding! I LOVED the experience and I can't wait to work on our wedding album now.

Speaking of the wedding album, I picked up two really awesome sets from ScrapGirls.com in preparation for next month's celebrations. I plan to design the pages with a combination of The Vegas Collection and the Nuptials Collection to create a memorable album of our wedding weekend in Vegas. Look for it sometime at the end of next month after we get back and I've had time to go through all of the digital photography. Only 35 days to go!

And be excited because I finally pulled out the sewing machine over the weekend. It was collecting dust in the basement (we still have yet to set up a good crafting area for me down there) but I was in desperate need of a new, summery purse -- thank goodness the beautiful weather lately inspired me -- so I tried something new. The design is new for me and a first for pleating AND using plastic handles that I bought at Michaels instead of making my own from fabric. I was even brave enough to make a little matching zippered makeup bag with the pleat design and mini handle. I think it turned out alright. I'll be sporting this one in Vegas next month and have plans to make a smaller pouch to carry around on the big day from the scraps of my wedding dress that is being hemmed in time for my next fitting appointment.

So that's my latest crafty update! It will most likely be a bit too busy between now and June 20 for me to update much, but stay tuned for new albums after we get back! Enjoy the long weekend and hopefully fantastic weather! :)

My Memories Suite: Digital Scrapbooking Goodness

2008-05-06T10:41:00.009-06:00

Per usual, I've been slacking. Well, sort of. My knitting and sewing projects have been put on the back burner, mostly due to the fact that Lucas and I's wedding is coming up next month! Yes, I can officially say that our wedding is next month. With that being said aloud, I feel like there are hundreds of things to do in a short amount of time even though I know the major things are taken care of. We officially purchased our wedding bands last night, the last BIG thing on the to do list. Favours have been ordered, my dress fitting is coming up in less than a week, we've ordered the personalized matching shirts we plan to wear after the wedding, and I've even found time to work on something secret and crafty for Lucas as a wedding gift. Unfortunately I cannot disclose that yet, but you can be sure it'll be posted and blogged about soon enough next month. Look out Vegas, here we come!

So what have I been doing crafty in the meantime? I've stumbled upon digital scrapbooking! Not just recently, but it was only recently I've had time to put into giving it a go. Back around Christmas I ordered some really awesome software that got me all excited about the prospects of digital scrapbooking: My Memories Suite by Polaroid. I've got several scrapbooks in the basement collecting dust because they're unfinished. Mostly due to lack of nifty embellishments that you've gotta shell out loads of cash for, not to mention several trips to the store to buy. I keep meaning to get back to them, but instead I keep photos and items like movie ticket stubs in a box for whenever I finally do get around to working on them again. Those boxes are collecting dust, too. Back just before Christmas when I was home one day I caught one of those infomercials. Now I know what you're thinking... BUT this one turned out to be a gem! I watched an hour long program about My Memories Suite and it got me really excited. The idea that I can scrapbook without messy glue and 348993639749574908 little things to have to keep organized (not to mention buy in the first place and then store somehow) on a computer seemed like a really fab idea, especially with as computer geeky as I am. And it is fab! I bought the software and used it to make an album of Lucas and I's holiday trip to Indiana to visit my family at Christmas. The program made it really easy and it's soooooo user friendly!

With the wedding coming up next month, I decided I'd try to make our own guest book, and of course I will be making a digital scrapbook album of the wedding itself. I started looking into digital scrapbooking more on the web and have found lots of great, creative resource sites out there. The best part about My Memories Suite (to me) is the fact that the software uses common image file types such as .jpg or .png, which means I am free to add all kinds of new images myself to the software's directories. Most of the other digital scrapbooking software I tested in comparison to My Memories Suite uses unique file types of their own, so that means you are limited and cannot "think outside the box" and add your own new stuff to use without having to pay the company for new products. This excites me because I'll be able to use our scanner and scan in images of movie ticket stubs and other items I'd normally glue into a regular scrapbook and add them digitally the same way, just with less mess.

Another thing I like that I haven't explored yet with the software is that you can export your digital pages in a huge variety of formats. Not only can you export them as a normal image file like .jpg (which I have done in order to add them to my scrapbook.com gallery) for use on websites, etc., but you can also make DVDs out of your albums and other interactive stuff such as iPod videos. The software lets you add video and sound clips to all of your album pages, making them truly interactive. Then you can export them to DVD and watch each page, including all of the video and sound clips, on your television or iPod. I can't wait to do an album on the dogs and send a DVD off to my parents, for example. You can ALSO export entire albums or selected pages to the My Memories Suite website and order a photobook from them. The software will export your pages to the Polaroid server and then you can pick and choose how you want them printed and bound into a hardcover or soft cover album that Polaroid will then physically ship to you. Alternatively, there are ways to export the pages in high resolution so that you can take them to a professional printer locally and have the same thing done if you wish. Check out what I have up so far at scrapbook.com: our Christmas 2007 album! It was my first time using My Memories Suite but it turned out great! The more I use it, the more creative I am and the better and better my pages turn out :)

It doesn't really matter what your computer knowledge or creativity limits are, you'll be able to use this software. It's very user-friendly and simple, and for those who aren't sure where to begin, it comes with loads of pre-created templates for various occasions. You can also download more layouts and completed templates from their website for a small fee. But then the beauty, as I mentioned earlier, is that if you're creative enough you can easily add more images and items to the software yourself since it's all done with .jpg and .png formatted images. For example, I found some awesome digital scrapbooking blogs and websites that offer free templates and kits -- a kit usually including various papers, embellishments, and word art or alphabets -- for download. There's lots of people out there making really awesome digital scrapbooking resources and making them available free or super cheap. With My Memories Suite, you can easily download freebies and add them to the software's directories and use them with the program just like any of the pre-loaded content. This makes the potential of My Memories Suite limitless to me because I'll always be able to add more. And I'm just starting to look into how I can make my own digital page kits and getting the hang of designing my own templates. It's so fun!

I mentioned I found some great resources and freebies, and so I'd like to share my favourites so far. First of all, scrapbook.com is a great resource. Their forums are full of helpful people, and then you can show off your scrapbooks there, too. And it's for all forms of scrapbooks, not just digital ones, though there is a handy digital scrappers section. Another great site is computerscrapbook.com -- focusing on digital scrapbookers. They have some freebies and some great designers working there, and their prices for kits are pretty good, too. I've purchased already from scrapgirls -- a Vegas themed digital kit to use next month for the wedding -- so I recommend them, too! Lots of fun stuff and good prices, plus you can immediately download your purchase :)

For freebie downloads, I love shabbyprincess.com! There are so many awesome free digital page kits available, and all of the designers are amazing! Lots of things you can purchase, too, but their freebie section is probably the best I've seen so far. High quality stuff! Via scrapbook.com I've come across several designers that have blogs here on blogspot where they share their freebie findings and produce freebies that they've created, too! Some of my favourites are Tripalee Talks, fresh brewed coffee, Happy Scrap Girl, Aprilmouse, and DigiFree so be sure to check them out!

Whew! Well that's it for now, sorry if my rambling post sounded a bit like an infomercial. I swear that Polaroid did not pay me to write good things about their software -- it really is awesome and I love it! I'm super excited about upcoming album ideas I have. I'm totally done with the old way of scrapbooking. It's too messy and expensive in comparison!

Lindsay's Unique Duck

2008-04-14T11:18:00.004-06:00

Yay! It's a glorious Monday and yet another person has found my Knitted Duck Plush pattern useful! Check out this beauty by Lindsay -- aren't the non-traditional colours fun? Lindsay's duck is way adorable. I really love seeing people try out my patterns. The photos are copyright to and property of Lindsay, who emailed them to me and gave me permission to post and use them here. Thank you so much for sharing these, Lindsay!

I love featuring other knitters and getting emails from people who have tried out my amateur patterns. It really makes my day to see someone else make a duck or a Huug! Especially when they add their own artistic flair. If you've tried out one of my designs, please let me know and I'd love to feature you, too. :)

Quack! Quack! Have a wonderful week!

Max's Huug the Hug Monster, by Phyllis

2008-03-26T20:55:00.005-06:00

It's so exciting when people find and try out my amateurish patterns. It's even more exciting when they share their creations with me, and I get to see someone else's take on the idea. Today was one such exciting day, and I'm very pleased to feature Phyllis Ray's version of Huug the Hug Monster, a free pattern I invented and posted a few weeks back. He is very unique, no? :)

Phyllis sent me an email today, complete with pictures, to share her own version of Huug that she made for her grandson, Max Marcussen! Isn't he adorable?! (Both Max and Huug!) Phyllis and her grandson live in Connecticut, and the three-eyed hug monster was a big hit with Max. Phyllis says that she has four grandchildren, so there will most likely be more Huugs in her future! That sure is a lot of hugs! :)

The images in this blog post belong to/are copyright to Phyllis Ray, who kindly granted me permission to use the photos that she sent me for this blog feature. Thanks so much for sharing your work, Phyllis! I loved seeing another Huug made, and am even happier to see the smile on Max's face :) Take care!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-21T23:19:00.007-06:00

Just in time for Easter, I whipped up a new little design: meet my tiny knitted "gribbly bunny!" This little guy is made from satin-y acrylic yarn, which makes it really smooth and easy to work with. The pattern is one I developed myself, and I have plans to make various creatures based on the same design in the future. The series will be called "gribblies"

from urbandictionary.com:
Gribbly/Gribblies:
“In gaming, an enemy/monster that is small and/or insignificant, and usually serves no purpose other than to irritate the gamer/opponent.”

and

“In tabletop gaming, a small annoying monster that does little more than irritate.”

So these are just tiny little insignificant creatures hiding in nooks and crannies that will do little more than just irritate you if they cross your path. They like to pester and annoy whomever they come in contact with, and I like to believe that gribblies are to blame for all of those little irritating setbacks in your typical day. Having a bad day? Blame it on the gribblies! Stay tuned for more in the series down the road when I get time to create all of the ideas in my head for other little gribblies :) There just aren't enough hours in the day!

heyknithappens' Edgar

2008-03-08T12:11:00.008-07:00

Happy Saturday everyone! I just wanted to feature the work of a fantastic newer knitter like myself named heyknithappens on Ravelry, who made their very own knitted duck plush from my pattern that I posted a few months back! I love seeing someone else use a pattern I invented, especially when I'm such an amateur at it! You can check out heyknithappens on her blog here: Hey, Knit Happens!

Even more exciting is to find out that she is from my hometown area :) Even though I'm living on what seems like the other side of the world from there now, it's always a nice surprise to meet others who share the same interests and familiarities of "home." Small world, huh? Just in case you can't check heyknithappens out on Ravelry, you can see Edgar, her version of the knitted duck plush, along with all of the other awesome stuff she has knitted on flickr for your convenience. You should definitely check her out... just look at the cute things she has knitted!

The images in this blog post belong to/are copyright to heyknithappens and come from her flickr photo stream :) The first photo is [1] and the second is [2]. Enjoy, and thanks for sharing your work, heyknithappens!

Huug the Hug Monster©

2008-03-02T09:04:00.012-07:00

On my way to work the other morning I got an idea in my head for a new knitted plushie pattern I wanted to create. I wanted to name him Huug, and he would be the Hug Monster... so Huug the Hug Monster©! I made a few sketches and started guesstimating stitch counts and then went home and began testing. My final result turned out pretty much how I wanted it; the face is something I want to work more on. The original idea was that Huug has two small beady little eyes and two fairly big buck front teeth sticking out. I'm not so good with embroidery on knitting, so I hope that my future versions of Huug's face turn out a little better with some tweaking. Anyway, he was originally released here as a fairly popular free pattern, however due to a retail venture I've decided to remove it. Sorry :( Huug the character and his knit/crochet pattern was officially and legally copyrighted recently for said venture. I will share more Huugs I make in the future and more backstory about this wonderful creature in the future instead.

Huug the Hug Monster© can / will come in many different colours -- I just used orange because this Huug is for my fiance, Lucas. I envision Huugs of every colour of the rainbow and even made from fuzzy and furry yarns to make hairier cousins.

A New Member of the Family

2008-02-26T07:03:00.007-07:00

As if we weren't already busy enough with moving into a brand new house a few weeks back and preparing for our upcoming June wedding in Las Vegas, Lucas and I decided to throw more fun into the mix of life by getting Oliver a little brother. As most of you know, Oliver is our handsome 5 year old border collie/brittany spaniel, which means the newest member of the family is a new puppy.

Lucas and I have wanted a new puppy for a long time. We'd always put it off and said we'd wait until we had a house with lots of room and a backyard. Well now that we have a house with lots of room and a backyard, we started thinking again about adding to our family. We weren't sure exactly what we wanted, but we knew that we wanted a female (ha!) and that we wanted a small dog. To get some ideas, we visited a pet store in the area to browse. We really liked the look of some miniature schnauzer puppies we saw, and we were also considering miniature dachshunds now that my entire family seems to have one. We started browsing the classified ads and shelters and came across a family on the north side of town who had a litter of miniature schnauzers they were selling. We decided to meet the puppies and see how we felt. I should've known that once we got within range of puppies, we'd not be going home empty handed. We're such suckers.

From the very beginning when we first entertained the idea of getting a new puppy, we'd planned on getting a female. And then we met the little boy of the litter. Not only was he adorable, he was all white! He looked very different from his furry traditional salt 'n' pepper coloured sisters. The litter came rushing out to meet us, and we couldn't take our eyes off of the little male. He melted our hearts and we realized we were going home with a little brother for Oliver instead of a sister like we'd planned. Not everything happens as planned; Oliver was actually chosen under the same circumstances when I picked him out. I went in to the shelter with the intention of picking a female and instead came home with Oliver -- mostly for the same reasons we chose the white male schnauzer -- his colouring made him unique and just that much cuter. He absolutely stole our hearts.

We brought our new puppy home and introduced him to Oliver, who wasn't sure what to think at first. It took us a day to finally decide on a name, and we picked Winston. It just seems to fit! As a schnauzer he has a little beard, and our little guy's beard is white so we decided that only an old man kind of name would work. Oliver wasn't aggressive towards Winston, but he did try to avoid him for a few days. Thankfully Winston is incredibly laid back and calm, which complements Oliver very nicely. We've had Winston for a week now, and Oliver has finally warmed up to his new playmate. Oliver even plays tug-of-war with Winston! And typical of siblings, the younger one follows the older one around and wants to do everything that the older one does. Winston wants to be just like Oliver. (For all of our sakes, we sure hope that Oliver stays unique, lol.) And at first, Oliver didn't seem to be too keen on having a little shadow, but we've noticed over the last day or two that when Oliver realizes that Winston isn't following him around anymore, he misses him and goes to find out where he is. Oliver is incredibly social with people, but isn't very social with other dogs so it took him a few days to figure out HOW to play with Winston. Now that they are getting along, we can focus more on helping Oliver to lower his voice when he plays. Oliver is so much bigger and louder than Winston, but he's definitely improving and figuring out how to use his "indoor voice" when he plays with his little brother. They're really cute together when they get going!

This blog entry wouldn't be complete without pictures, and of course, we've taken loads of them. With our good digital camera gone, I've had to resort to the old icky one. It takes even ickier video clips, but I've put together some low res/low quality footage of Oliver and Winston playing together, too. You can see all of the pictures we've taken so far of our new family member HERE and check out the videos HERE and HERE. I've got a newer video that's a little better quality (Lucas' cell phone takes better video than a 6 year old digital camera), but I still need to convert the format and put it all together, so you may want to check out my videos to see when it's up. The photo page is updated as often as I can tear myself away from my boys to upload, and is constantly changing, so be sure to check back to see more. Wish us luck on housebreaking! ;)

Where Have I Been?

2008-02-05T12:18:00.000-07:00

Holy lapse in posting, Batman! I've neglected my poor blog for nearly two months now, but that's because I have nothing newly made to share! With our trip to Indiana for Christmas and our big move later in January, I've just not had time. While I'm sure you were all waiting eagerly on the edge of your seat this whole time, dying to know what crafty goodness I'd been cooking up, sadly I'm here to report that my crafting supplies are still in boxes, waiting to be sorted and put away in the new basement. So what's been going on all this time?

Well, now that I've mentioned it... you can guess that a lot of what's kept me from updating is that Lucas and I moved into a brand new house a little over a week ago. It was not a scheduled event initially, but the increase in break-ins (including our own townhouse) in our old area prompted us to seek out greener pastures. We lucked out and found a gorgeous new house that was just recently built in a newly developed neighbourhood. The house was finished being built a week before Christmas, and thanks to the help of Michelle, Jeff, and Jeremy, we successfully moved in last Saturday. It took two full UHAUL trips and a lot of blood, sweat and tears... but we're finally mostly settled in. The house is so new that it doesn't even have grass yet; the builders plan to lay the sod for our yard in the spring. It has hardwood floors throughout the main floor, carpet upstairs, and together the two floors are just over 1400 square feet. That doesn't include the additional 700 square feet that make up our unfinished basement! We have lots of glorious space -- almost more than we know what to do with -- and it's a dream come true. I think Oliver loves the abundance of the big spacious windows the most; his favourite new place to be is either in the front office or lounging lazily on the middle landing of the carpeted staircase so he has the perfect view out the window over the foyer. And it was like the builders had our little family in mind when they put in the tall, skinny window alongside the front door -- it's the perfect width and height for Oliver to greet visitors, framing him perfectly.

So as you can imagine, shortly after getting back home from our Christmas trip to the States we had a lot of work ahead of us as we packed up the old place and made arrangements and worked out the details of the move. Once we got into the new place we had a lot of unpacking to do, and the basement craft area is unfortunately on the back burner until we can get everything else in place and get the basement wired properly for electricity outside of the laundry and freezer hookups. Eventually I will have an amazing craft room to work my magic in, but until there are places to put it all away in an organized fashion, my fabric and yarn stashes will have to wait patiently in their boxes. So don't be surprised if it's a little longer between updates for awhile. :(

Now that the move is behind us and we're settling in, it's time to focus forward. That includes the Serj Tankian concert coming up in next month -- our tickets were Valentine's Day presents to each other this year. I can't wait! Serj is one of the lead singers of System of a Down, my favourite band. Lucas treated me to a System of a Down concert last July, and I'm really looking forward to seeing my favourite member of the group perform his new (and absolutely brilliant) solo album live. If you haven't heard Serj's solo album, I highly recommend picking it up. His voice is music to my ears! The smaller venue concert at Mac Hall should be fantastic!

It's also time to focus back on the plans for our upcoming wedding, which have kind of been at a stand-still due to the move. By Christmas we had picked out the chapel in Vegas and fully paid for the package that we wanted, but we now need to make our flight and hotel reservations in the near future. We're hoping February will bring a great Westjet seat sale, so cross your fingers! Any future details will be put up on our Wedding Website as they are planned.

Hope you had a Happy New Year, and best of luck for a fabulous February!

Christmas Craftin' Complete!

2007-12-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

With only a few days to spare before we head back to Indiana for Christmas, I have completed all of my Christmas gift knit projects. YAY me! Now that I don't have any time sensitive projects with a due date, I can focus finally on attempting that neck warmer for Lucas. As you can see, Oliver decided to help me knit this one for "daddy." :) We have the most handsome dog on the planet, by the way.

So what Christmas gifts have I finished (since the epic blanket) that I haven't shown you yet? Here's the list of recently completed works in progress... which means I can officially take them off of the WIP list. I can't wait to give these to their recipients on Christmas day!

Tiny Toque Christmas Ornaments. These were so fun to make and turned out so cute. First of all, I love the word "toque" and since it's more a Canadian word (and not one that my family in Indiana is familiar with at all), I decided to make a bunch of these little toques in Christmas colours, which I then turned into tree ornaments. The tags hanging from them will teach my family members this new fangled word and increase their knowledge about Canada ;)

Reindeer Dishcloths. I made one of these each to give to my two grandmothers. The photo doesn't do these justice -- the reindeer is very subtle, but definitely there! (And unlike the pattern says, they really are reindeer and NOT moose!) I packaged up one cloth with a cute decorative Christmas soap (a snowman soap or a Christmas tree soap) in a tiny little holiday basket. They will make sweet little gifts.

Ducky Washcloth. This one I made for my best friend, Somer. It's a similar idea to the reindeer dishcloths, but this one is made instead from a super soft satin acrylic yarn for the face instead of a 100% cotton blend. It's got a rubber duck that is fairly easy to see and less subtle than the reindeer cloths. I plan to package this up with some rubber duck soap that I got for Somer at the Calgary Festival of Crafts a few weekends ago and the knitted duck plush I designed just for her. (below.) Pattern for this washcloth was found here.

My Knitted Duck Plush. I am really proud of this one, probably because it's my own pattern, and technically the first knitting pattern I've ever made and shared with anyone. You can read all about that process here and get the free pattern for yourself :) It's also been published on Ravelry here. I knitted it to go along with the other ducky items for Somer. I think she'll like him a lot... I know I like to hug him! :)

Baby Santa Toque. Last on my list was a baby-sized Santa toque to give to my cousin's new baby that I'll finally get to meet on Christmas Eve for the first time. This was knitted from a pattern in a great book I borrowed from the local library called Simple Knits for Cherished Babies by Erika Knight. All I did to achieve the Santa look was to start out with white yarn and switch to red for the body instead of knitting all in the same yarn. And then I added a festive white pom-pom for the finishing Christmas-y touch. I can't wait to see this one on.

So that's about it! While it's very satisfying and relieving to have completed my Christmas crafting in time, I'm also feeling a little empty! There are lots of things queued up for me on Ravelry to try out, though, and I've got this neck warmer project on the go, so I'll do my best to keep busy! Perhaps I'll use my Christmas vacation time to learn crochet... ? Move over, there's something new for my plate!

I think I'm going to need a bigger plate.

Free Pattern: Knitted Duck Plush

2007-12-15T12:22:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I attempted to make Lion Brand Yarn's Pocket Pet Duckling. In the end, I didn't like the Fun Fur, didn't like the fact it was a duck without wings, and really really disliked the look of using felt to make the beak and feet... wishing instead that it was truly a fully knitted duck. My solution to a better knitted duck plush? Make my own!

I use the same concept of knitting a square that is folded in half to make a triangle for the duck's body as inspiration, but that's where the similarities end. This duck sports fully knitted wings, feet and beak, and sits up on its own instead of laying down. Here's the pattern!

Materials
Size US 9/5.5mm needles
Bernat Satin Solids yarn in Sunrise yellow
Bernat Satin Solids yarn in Sunset orange
ribbon, tapestry needle, black yarn for eyes or seed beads

If you can cast on, use the plain knit stitch (garter stitch), can knit 2 together (K2T) and bind off, you're set! Here we go.

Duck Body
* CO 30 sts
* Knit (garter stitch) 50 rows
* BO, leaving a 12 inch tail

You now have a square. Fold it in half so that you form a triangle. Using your lengthy tail and a tapestry needle, stitch up one side of the triangle. Open it up and you'll see that you now have a cone. You may wish to flip it inside out so that your seam looks neater. Stuff the cone, keeping in mind that the pointed end is going to end up being the head, and the seam goes up the stomach of your duck. At the top of the cone, you'll have an extra "flap" that you now fold over like a triangle. Sew the edges closed, and you've formed the rear end that the duck will sit on. Shape it to "sit" up on its rear like in the photo. Now it's time to make the other body parts.

Wings & Feet - Make 2 in Yellow and 2 in Orange
* CO 9 sts
* knit 5 rows
* K2T, knit 5, K2T (you have 7 sts left)
* knit 2 rows
* K2T, knit 3, K2T (you have 5 sts left)
* knit 2 rows
* K2T, knit 1, K2T (you have 3 sts left)
* knit 2 rows
* K2T, knit 1 (you have 2 sts left)
* K2T to bind off
Weave in ends. Stitch wings and feet to duck in appropriate places. I positioned the wings so that they were like hands -- sewing them on their side so that the pointiest end where I bound off was facing the stomach. I used the bottom seam as a guide and lined up each foot along that seam when I stitched it on.

Beak - Make 1 in Orange
* CO 7 sts
* knit 5 rows
* K2T, knit 3, K2T (you have 5 sts left)
* knit 2 rows
* K2T, knit 1, K2T (you have 3 sts left)
* knit 2 rows
* K2T, knit 1 (you have 2 sts left)
* K2T to bind off
Weave in ends. Stitch beak to duck at the end of the face, making sure the pointy end where you bound off is hanging a bit over the edge of the face. Once you've stitched the back of the beak onto the face, fold the pointy end under the "chin" and stitch down, making a more blunt beak.

Tie a ribbon around the duck to clearly define the neck area. You can make eyes either by sewing on black seed beads or embroidering the eyes with black yarn. Voila!

Enjoy the pattern, and if you make any ducks, I'd love to see them! Send them my way to knit.sew.paint.purl at gmail.com and I'll showcase them here :) Remember that the pattern is protected under the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Creative Commons license, and anything made from it may not be used for commercial purposes. You may not make anything from the pattern and sell it or resell/redistribute the pattern in part or in whole.

As you can see from my WIP list, I am almost done with all of my Christmas gift knitting and crafting with one week to go before we leave for Indiana. Check back soon to see a final post before Christmas to see all of the little things I've finished lately just in time for the holidays :)

Christmas Craftin'

2007-12-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

My Christmas projects are coming along nicely, and there's been so many little ones that I've not been able to keep up post-wise with it all. Here's a photo to give you an idea of where I am right now. I'm still working on my tiny toque Christmas ornaments for my family members back in Indiana, and I've got lots of gluing left to do to finish making all of the Christmas cards I plan to send this year. Admittedly I am sending out less this year than before, but I think that's because I have better contact with so many people now via Facebook instead.

I am especially fond of the tiny toques. Not only because they're cute, but because they play a role in my 2nd annual Canadian Christmas tradition. Last year I was unable to go back home to the states for Christmas, so I made my family members a stuffed moose -- something that represents Canada -- to send in my place for hugging. I've decided to extend that, and this year I am making the tiny toque ornaments as my "Canadian item" of the season for family members. Last Christmas they got moose, this Christmas they will expand their vocabulary by learning about the wonderful word 'toque.' I plan to attach little vocabulary notecards to each ornament with the definition of a toque and its proper pronunciation and whatnot for fun ;) The big difference this year, though, is that we will be home for Christmas -- yay! Lucas and I are really looking forward to our Christmas trip to Indiana in a few weeks.

The Calgary Festival of Crafts last weekend was a blast! There were so many awesome crafty items to browse, and I even picked up a very unique item made here in Alberta... a Christmas tree ornament crafted from recycled computer parts! This is going to make a great gift. And speaking of gifts, I've added a few more things to my knitting to do list/works in progress. When I was at the craft fair, I got a really fun rubber-ducky-in-soap that I'd like to package together with a ducky washcloth for Somer. That means I need to make a ducky washcloth, lol. I'd also like to try my hand at making a second (and better) version of the plush knitted duck to go along with that. I still need to block the blanket for Lucas' mom, but I hope to get that done this weekend. And I learned that my cousin and his wife will be home for Christmas as well, and I'll finally get to meet their 4 month old son. If I have time, I'd love to whip up a cute baby Santa toque to give him when I meet him. I found a great pattern in Erika Knight's book, Simple Knits for Cherished Babies that I borrowed from the local library. Wish me luck!

One last note of importance... I finally got my Ravelry beta invite! I was so excited that it was hard to do anything else but dig through the site and see what all I could do. It's an obsessive compulsive organizer's dream. I've not had enough time to thoroughly comb the site because there's so much that it seems overwhelming at first, but I have gotten the basics set up and plan to spend more time perusing once my Christmas projects are done. I'd also love to do a more detailed write up on it and my experiences there when I get a chance. For now I need to make some other Ravelry friends -- my screen name is pinktoque, so be sure to add me or say hi if you're also enjoying the beta! More on that to come ;)

Sew Buttons!

2007-12-01T19:40:00.000-07:00

Today I decided to set the needles aside and do a little much-needed sewing. I pulled the sewing machine from the depths of the cold, dark basement and dusted it off. I had forgotten how much I love my sewing machine... it had been too long! Not only did I have an order to complete, but I also had been wanting to make myself a new winter-appropriate purse.

The purse is a new design that came to me a few weeks ago -- I'd wanted something more roundish, but I really like my hobo-style Brooks bag, so I combined what I liked about those two ideas and came up with a great stripey bag and matching pouch. Lucas and I went into Fabricland yesterday and rummaged through the "Buy 1 Get 3 Free" bin and came out with some winners -- namely the yummy striped fabric I used for the outside, and the luscious brown corduroy I used for the liner. They paired together really well, and I dug around in my button stash to find a few that matched to spice up the front. I really love it.

The new purse is just in time to accompany me to the Calgary Festival of Crafts, which is in town this weekend. The girls and I are going out tomorrow and plan to spend the day there. It's only $5 to get in, and there's over 200 booths to browse... plus I'll be there with Michelle, Claire, Kerstin and Megan... what's better than friends and crafts? I hope to get some good ideas for next year's Christmas gifts and perhaps pick up a thing or to for my grandparents while I'm there tomorrow. Should be fun!

Also completed today is an order for Susie -- some pouches and bags to carry domino holders. They're colorful and fun to make! I got into a groove and got them all done this afternoon along with the purse. I feel really productive today! I should probably switch gears to work on handmade Christmas cards, but I kinda want to knit a few more of the tiny toque Christmas ornaments I'm making, too. My list is slowly dwindling down -- there is a light at the end of the crafting tunnel! I shouldn't have any troubles getting all of the gift items done before our trip to Indy in a few weeks, but cross your fingers!

A Finished Blanket and a Marriage Proposal

2007-11-27T17:11:00.001-07:00

I know it seems that all has been quiet on the blogging front the last few weeks, but I can assure you that real life behind the scenes has been anything but!

This past weekend was especially busy; Lucas and I got engaged on Saturday and then we hosted Thanksgiving on Sunday for a few friends. It was a whirlwind of excitement! We went out into the Canadian Rockies to check out Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park, and Lucas got down on one knee and pulled a ring out of his pocket there along the shore of the lake and proposed. It was perfect and completely unforgettable. You can read all of the details and see photos on our personal blog: lookatusgo!

As you might've guessed from the photo, I've been working hard on the blanket for Lucas' mom. I was determined to get it done by a personal deadline I set for myself of December 1. I am proud to announce that as of today the blanket is officially off the needles! It's only set at 99% finished and still listed as a work in progress, but that's because I plan to block it this weekend and give it a good stretch. The photo is what it looks like now, pre-blocked. I'll post an updated picture after this weekend with the final dimensions and pattern. It sure feels good to have completed such a massive project! And I have plenty of time to focus on some other projects now in time for Christmas, such as working out the last minute kinks of the moose dishcloth pattern I've designed so I can try it out and make some for my grandmas. I've also got to get working on tiny toque ornaments. The list goes on and on...

Since I signed up on November 18, I've been patiently awaiting my beta invite to Ravelry. I can't even begin to describe how excited I am about digging into it. From what I've read by those already in the beta along with the virtual tour I took and some reviews I read on various sites, I anticipate a new obsession. If you haven't already checked out Ravelry, I highly recommend it! Right now there are 4905 people ahead of me and 4113 people behind me in line, all eagerly awaiting their invite.

Alright so there are 25 days until Lucas and I head to Indiana to spend Christmas with my family, and so that means 25 days to get all of my Christmas gift projects done. I'm not sure if that's enough time, but I'm sure going to try! Expect a flurry of activity now that the big blanket project is finished as I work hard to complete a lot of my smaller projects between now and then!

Halfway There

2007-11-15T17:51:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the big sale that's going on right now at Michaels, I snagged some goodies that I've had my eyes on... new circular needles and DPNs that I hope to use when I try my hand at making some socks and toques done in the round. I also picked up some new yarn that was on sale, and Lucas picked out some alpaca yarn for me to make into a neck warmer. And as promised (to myself), I haven't opened my new goodies to use them yet... not until I've finished the blanket for Lucas' mom, which I'm determined to finish before I turn my attention to any other projects. (As you can see from my WIP list.)

And speaking of the blanket I'm working on for Lucas' mom... at 135 rows and 20 inches long (without being stretched at all), I'm officially halfway finished with the project. Holy motivation, Batman! It's taken me just under 2 weeks to get this far, so I am fully confident that I can complete this project before December 1st, my personal goal. In my free time away from the needles I've sketched out and planned a pattern of my very own -- a raised moose profile dishcloth! I plan to make one each to give to my grandmas for Christmas. The pattern is nearly complete, but like all of my other projects, I won't be starting on them until the blanket is under my belt. Stay tuned to see those come to life (hopefully soon!) and to get the pattern for yourself... as long as it turns out the way it does in my head ;)

I looked today at some specialized bags and containers that Michaels sells for toting around knitting supplies and works in progress, and I've decided (after some encouragement and support from Lucas) that I am going to sew something myself instead. I think a few modifications to my generic tote bag pattern will result in a nice and personalized knitting bag for yours truly. Plus I'd like to make myself a new purse anyway since my summer purse is looking a little out of place now that winter is fast approaching. Chalk up two more projects on my to do list!

Blankets, Toques and Sales, OH MY!

2007-11-09T09:44:00.000-07:00

The blanket slash afghan (what's the difference?) that I am making for Lucas' mom for Christmas is coming along swimmingly! I am really glad I switched to circular needles for this project and am doing it all as one big piece -- it's really coming together nicely. As of yesterday I had hit my 50th row. That seems like a lot, but I've still got 220 rows to go! At 50 rows the blanket is around 7.5 inches long without being stretched very much, and I'd like the finalized length to be around 40-45 inches. To make me stay consistent on this project I'm setting a goal of 10 rows a day. If I do 10 rows a day every day this month, I can theoretically be done by December 1, which will then give me plenty of time to work on a few much smaller and less time consuming gift projects in time for our trip to Indiana at Christmas. This is totally doable! Some evenings I may have time to do more than 10 rows (at 130 stitches per row and with me being a fairly new knitter, it takes me 9 minutes per row, so that's putting aside at least an hour and a half every night) and on the weekends I hope to be able to do even more. And as you can see from the photos, I've changed up the "pattern" a little bit, too. More about that when it's done!

To ensure that I stay on track and get my 10 rows a day done and complete this blanket by my personal deadline, I'm not allowing myself to purchase the set of DPNs that I want so badly. I'm dying to knit in the round and give socks/toques a try, especially after hearing how much some of the readers on the knitty coffeeshop forums prefer DPNs or a combo of 16" circulars with DPNs for such projects. I've found a free pattern or two that I can't WAIT to try and have already picked out what size DPNs I need... but I just can't allow myself to buy them until I'm done with the blanket. Well... that was my plan. See, I know in my heart that if I pick up DPNs that I will totally allow myself to get excited about breaking them in, and I'll start multiple projects that I'll want to work on and those projects will compete with getting the blanket done. I was feeling pretty proud of myself for setting this goal and the prize for reaching my goal would be to reward myself with DPNs, but then I got the Michaels ad in the mail last night, and the plan went downhill... sort of.

Michaels is having a HUGE sale this weekend. The flyer that I got had the normal 40% off any one item coupon, but there were two additional 50% off coupons on the front to help ring in the Christmas craft season, too! The 50% off coupons work just like the 40% one -- it's 50% off any single item in the store, but one is good for this weekend only and then the second 50% off coupon is only valid next Friday, November 16.

The flyer itself is filled with mostly Christmas-y things, but on the back there is a full page spread about how EVERY YARN in the store is 25 - 50% off from November 10 - 16. I can't pass a sale or coupons like this up! Tomorrow Lucas and I are going to go and I'm going to use my coupons on a nice set of Takumi bamboo DPNs and a matching set of 16" circulars. Since yarn is on sale, I'd like for Lucas to pick out some yarn that he really likes so that I can make his requested neck warmer and toque from it. However, to stay true to my original goal with the blanket, I'm not allowing myself to USE the new needles or start a new project until I'm done with the blanket first. I will be strong! (But you might want to cross your fingers or pray for me, just in case.)

I have spent some time lately reading and following other knitting blogs I come across. There are so many fantastic and talented people out there from all walks of life and from every corner of the globe, and it's so interesting to read about their life through their knitting. From this perusing I discovered Innocent beverages' charity project, The Big Knit. I found out about it too late to contribute this year (The deadline was October 22), but I am SO in for next year! With my online nickname being "Toque" (or "pinktoque"), it's not surprising that I was quick to follow a simple pattern to make a tiny little pink toque of my very own. And just like the site says, making tiny toques is incredibly addictive. I've made 3 this week (shhh, they were super quick and didn't detract from my blanket work that much, really!) and I hope to have a ton to send in next season. If you've not heard about The Big Knit, you really should give it a look. Innocent beverages puts up an easy knitting pattern to make a very simple and tiny knitted hat with their specific size requirements. People all over the world make the little hats and send them in, and they are then worn by the company's beverage bottles and sold with them. For each little hat that gets purchased, the company donates money to a charity that helps the elderly keep warm this winter. It's a great cause, and so many people get super creative and come up with amazing variations on the pattern that result in wonderfully unique little toques. I was feeling adventurous and even attempted knitting with more than one color for the very first time, resulting in the dual pink toque and the orange and yellow toque successes. Aren't they just adorable!? I feel confident that I can knit with multiple colors when I finally get around to knitting a life-sized toque and neck warmer for Lucas now.

Quacking Up Over Knitting

2007-11-03T13:28:00.000-06:00

I finally put the finishing touches on the knitted plush duck I attempted a few days ago. It's based on the pattern by Lion Brand with a few Toque-ish adjustments. The basic idea is that you knit a square -- I believe the pattern calls for garter stitch -- and then you fold it in half to form a triangle and sew up one side. You then have a cone that you need to stuff with polyfill, sew closed, and add your ducky details. The beak, feet, and eyes are all cut from felt just like in the pattern, (I wish I were savvy enough to have been able to knit them all together as part of the pattern instead), and sewn on. I was really unhappy when I was finished at first; I enlarged the pattern to begin with, didn't use fun fur like the pattern called for, decided to use a stockinette stitch instead, and somehow it just didn't look as "cute" and "duck shaped" as the Lion Brand pattern when I was done. Lucas suggested adding a few stitches to form more of a line/definition between the head and neck, and I did. I also decided to embellish on that by adding a ribbon. See what you think! I've decided to keep this one as a tester and perhaps use some more "fuzzy" yellow yarn that I found in my assorted box in the basement next time. I'd love to make one for Somer for Christmas. Oliver thought it was pretty fantastic, but he's a little biased. I think he thought that the duck was for him, lol.

Yesterday I posted my back-and-forth thoughts on whether or not to use circular needles to knit the blanket I was wanting to make for Lucas' mom for Christmas. I decided to take the plunge, risky I know, but it's going really well! I will admit I probably should've chosen a smaller project to serve as my intro into using circular needles, but it was only awkward for the first row. I'm only on the 6th row, but already by the 2nd row I was feeling more comfortable with the setup. I'm really looking forward to this blanket now! I can already see how much better the finished product will be. I'm not doing anything fancy; I nabbed a pair of size 10, 36 inch Takumi bamboo needles for the project and some jumbo skeins of yarn that fades between various shades of blues, which is Lucas' mom's favourite colour. On the needles I casted on 130 stitches and plan to go back and forth between knitting a row and purling a row, or stockinette stitch, because I like the way it looks when it's done. And that's it. I'm really excited about the final product already, and I've got loads of work yet to go. I'll keep you updated ;)

To Circular Knit or Not to Circular Knit?

2007-11-02T14:15:00.000-06:00

In my last update I was excited that I was about 25% into a blanket for Lucas' mom for Christmas, and currently I'm 37%. I've never knitted a blanket before* and since Lucas' mom was the one that taught me how to knit, I have been determined to knit her a blanket for Christmas as a way of thanking her and showing her what she had taught me put to use. Not really knowing much meant I somewhat went blindly into the project, and I found from reading various websites out there that a typical way to knit blankets is to knit a series of squares (sometimes referred to as "granny squares") and then knit/stitch them together in a way that is somewhat seamless. This seemed like a fairly standard method and something I could handle, so I grabbed skeins of yarn that I had** of the same worsted weight and had planned to just make a bunch of random coloured squares to stitch together to make the blanket. But then I learned about the magic of circular needles.

The potential of circular needles is astronomical, at least it seems that way to me now as a somewhat newbie knitter. It never really occured to me that I could knit flat pieces on circular needles, or that circular needles would allow me to knit larger, wider flat pieces than I would be able to accomplish with two regular needles. To me, circular needles were for projects where you needed to knit solely in the round and regular needles were for making flat pieces. Realizing otherwise was like a newfound discovery, and suddenly my whole way of thinking about knitting changed. Using circular needles on the blanket project would cut out the middle men of blocking each individual square AND having to stitch them all together, both being things that intimidate me a little bit. I think that alone would save me an incredible amount of time and stress in the end, though eventually I will need to learn and master both of those techniques. Baby steps!

So now I'm torn. Do I stop now and start over with a pair of circular needles? Do I have time? I currently have 15 knitted squares complete out of a grand total of 40 that I had originally planned on doing, so not quite halfway yet and less than two months to Christmas. I was thinking that I could put the 15 finished squares to good use instead of giving up on them completely -- I mean, a part of my heart and soul went into those already, and I'd hate to use them just as random dish cloths in the kitchen. My next thought was to go with a pillow idea like I had once toyed with, and maybe make a knitted pillow for my mom out of the squares. That way both Lucas' mom and my mom would have something knitted from me for Christmas.

Helping me to discover the potential of using circular needles on a more regular basis is Theresa Vinson Stenersen of Knitty.com. Her circular needle technique article blew me away! Not only do I have a good gauge of what size/length of needles I'd need for various projects, but the step by step photographs are incredibly clear, up close, and easy to see. Her intro and explanations are very well written with lots of details and already make me feel comfortable giving this technique a try even before I've had a chance to pick up a set of circular needles. I then discovered the Knitty Coffeeshop message board where, alongside of craftster forum, I will be spending a fair amount of time! I've also read now in more than one place that using circular needles over time instead of flat needles (now that I know I can use circular needles for both!) is easier on your body because the needles more evenly distributes the bulk of the weight of your project instead of your wrists, which I found interesting.

All of the signs seem to be pointing me to try out circular needles. What do you think? If you're a regular knitter or someone who is experienced with knitting on both regular and circular needles, what do you recommend? Do you think it's worth my time and effort with less than 2 months to go to stop at square 15 of 40 and start the blanket over again on circular needles instead? At any rate, I think I will sweet talk Lucas to make a trip over to Michael's this evening after work, just to satisfy my curiosity and excitement about learning something new in the realm of knitting to improve myself and my techniques. I'll update later with my decision and post my status with the project after I give circular needles a try. Wish me luck!

* I used a Knifty Knitter flat loom to loom knit a blanket for Lucas a few Valentine's Days ago, but I didn't know anything about traditional knitting with needles back then and had no idea what I was doing when I joined the loomed squares together, thus the result looked nice but couldn't withstand the test of time or everyday use.

** Lucas and I went garage sale'ing a few months ago and came across a steal: someone was selling an entire box of various skeins of yarn in all different colours and weights for $5. So I've got this huge box of both new and leftover skeins of yarn in the basement to pick through.

10 Squares Down, 30 to Go

2007-10-27T17:11:00.000-06:00

As I've mentioned in a few of my most recent posts, I've been working on knitting a blanket for Lucas' mom for Christmas. Now that my zombie projects are done in time for Halloween and Tom's event (going on this evening), I am fairly clear until Christmas, so it's time to turn my attention towards items I'm making as gifts for the holidays. The blanket is probably the largest and most time consuming project on my plate, but definitely something I think is worth it. Lucas' mom taught me the basics of knitting back in June when she was here visiting us for a few weeks, and so it's important to me to knit her something to show her what I've learned.

Based on a fleece throw we have here at home, I've decided that my blanket needs to be about 25 inches wide and 40 inches long. It won't be HUGE or anything, but it will be something that Lucas' mom can wrap around herself like a hug. I plan to knit a bunch of squares and then sew them together to form the blanket, and so I made a pattern that's fairly basic and easy for a new knitter like me to handle. I just have to do it 40 times. As far as the yarn I've chosen, I've not picked out set colours -- in fact, to make it more interesting I've decided to make squares out of all of the yarn in various colours I have lying around the house that are all of the same weight. I'm using size 9 (5.5 mm) bamboo knitting needles and 100% acrylic , 4 ply worsted weight yarn. The basic square pattern I'm knitting goes something like this:

- co 20 st
- k 1
- p 1
- repeat x12 (for a total of 13 sets of k 1 p 1, or 26 total rows)
- bo

It's nothing fancy nor do I know much (or anything really) about gauge, but for me, this pattern creates a square that is approximately 5 inches by 5 inches. So that means my blanket will be 8 rows of 5 squares sewn together if I want to get the dimensions I estimated based on a throw we have in the living room. I've just completed my 10th square, so I only have 30 more to go at an hour each (or longer if I'm paying close attention to the television or movie we're watching) between now and Christmas. I think it's a manageable project, as long as I don't let myself procrastinate. I'll keep you posted on my progress - wish me luck!

Zombielicious Halloween Bash

2007-10-23T06:35:00.000-06:00

My friend Tom is MC'ing an event here in Calgary this weekend called GoreGames. It's basically a big Halloween bash with some interesting games like a "bloody t-shirt contest" and whatnot. Not really my thing at all, but Tom is being an angel and promoting my online craft shop by giving away some items I've made and donated to the event. He'll be giving away prizes to the various guys and ghouls for winning the different party games, and he's got 4-5 things just from me to give out! Over the weekend I made 2 hand painted zombie plushies and 2 plush "dead bunnies" with hand sewn skeletal faces as part of my donation to "the cause." The zombies will have my online shop website etched into their backs and the bunnies will come with tags, and Tom will have a whole slew of business cards as well. It's exciting being promoted to a large group at such a big event here in town, and I can't thank Tom enough for the exposure.

In related news, the official Calgary Zombie Walk was cancelled and rescheduled for in the spring, but many ghouls took to the streets this past weekend for fun anyway. In a way I'm kinda glad that they'll be doing it officially in the spring... perhaps that will give me enough time to fashion up a big load of mini hand painted zombies to sell cheap at the Walk... once again helping to promote the site and my art. Fun!

My list of crafty stuff seems to be dwindling down a bit... I'm still working on a knitted blanket for Lucas' mom for Christmas, even though it's been a week or so since I last did a square. I'm starting to wonder if maybe I should think small and do a pillow or pillow case instead. I should probably make my list of Christmas gifts so I can see how much crafting time I'll need to get everything done. We'll see how it goes!

Wedding Projects Completed!

2007-10-01T17:16:00.000-06:00

In my last post I had quite a to do list, and some of those items were time sensitive and revolved around my little brother's wedding coming up this weekend. I am happy to share the fruits of my labour -- a plush 4 tiered wedding cake made to be a near exact replica of what my brother and Holly's actual wedding cake will look like on Saturday. I also finished the small handbags/wristlets that I was making for each of the bridesmaids from the alteration scraps of my bridesmaid dress. They turned out a little smaller than I would've liked, but they were as big as I could possibly make them based on the scraps that I had to deal with.

My mom is making Herman and Holly's wedding cake, so I tried to make my replica look as close to what she is designing from cake and icing as I could. The cake is 4 tiers tall and made completely from white felt and every detail is hand sewed. It features frilly white scalloped trim on each tier and I used white fabric paint to embellish the sides with the "lacy" design, much like my mom has done with icing for the real cake.

All total this cake stands just over a foot tall with the flowers on top. I used a mixture of various purple felt (with green felt leaves) to make the flowers as well as fabric from the actual bridesmaid dresses (scraps) to decorate the top. I think I am mostly excited about the fact that Herm and Holly don't know that I am doing this, so it will be a surprise for them when Lucas and I arrive with it on Thursday evening. I hope that it will be a wonderful display piece at their reception and the best part is that it is a cake will last and can be kept long after everyone has eaten the real thing :)

I haven't totally finished my crafting project list -- now that the time sensitive stuff is out of the way in time for our trip to Indiana this weekend, I can focus on the zombie and monster plushies that I am making for our friend, Tom, to use as prizes at an event he is hosting at the end of October, and I can spend some time working on more squares for Lucas' mom's knitted blanket project for Christmas. I'm hoping to be able to get some more squares done on the flights to and from Indiana. Happy Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend, congratulations to my brother and his soon-to-be-wife, congratulations to our friends Joe and Jeri, who are also getting married this weekend, and happy birthday to our handsome dog, Oliver, who turns 5 years old this weekend while we're gone. What a busy weekend! :)

Anyone Need to Staple Something?

2007-09-18T16:11:00.000-06:00

So per usual, I got busy and forgot to post my crafty endeavors. Recently I designed and brought to life a plush stapler that I envisioned in my head to give as a gift to my friend, Michelle. I worked with Michelle and a handful of other great people in an office building for a few months, and Michelle and I are big The Office fans. We kept joking that we were going to put each others' staplers into a Jell-O mold like one of the pranks on the show, and so as a parting gift I wanted to give Michelle something to remember me by when I left the office job to get back into teaching. I actually designed the pattern on scrap paper at work during some server downtime one day, haha. Armed with felt and my sewing supplies, I made use of my time as a passenger in the car when Lucas, Oliver, and I took a little mini family vacation to British Columbia over the Labour Day long weekend to finish it. Michelle loved her gift!

My new crafty to do list has a few time sensitive items on it -- my brother's wedding is coming up October 6 and I am making a plush wedding cake and 3 small bags for us bridesmaids for it. Also getting married on October 6 are our friends Jeri and Joe, and I'd like to make them a plush wedding cake, too. If Jeri gets the scraps from her wedding dress back in time, I'll be making a small bag for her, also.

Another time sensitive project is to make some plush zombies for the Calgary Zombie Walk 2007 coming up in October as well as a little event where a plush zombie or two will be donated as prizes at the end of October. And then... Christmas is coming up, and I of course am going to be making quite a few things. I've decided that since Lucas' mom taught me how to knit back in June when she was here visiting us that I am going to knit her a throw blanket for Christmas.. and that project is turning out to be bigger than I realized. I plan to blog more about that project specifically as I finish various knitted squares. More to come on that!

Whew! I'm a busy girl... stay tuned for more crafty goodness and to see if I can complete my project to do list in time for all of my deadlines!

Wolf Hat and Tooth Pillow Pocket

2007-07-29T11:23:00.000-06:00

So what's new? This weekend I finished two projects for friends, a Wolf Ear Hat and a little tooth pillow with a pocket.

A good friend, Nanaki (Shane), requested a wolf ear hat, and so I immediately remembered a tutorial I'd seen on Craftster here. I then set to work on making a wolf ear hat, and this is my finished result! It's made from soft fuzzy polar fleece in a mottled gray and white pattern and soft pink inner ears that are hand sewn in. I hope he likes it! (Model in this photo is Lucas, he was so kind to help me by modeling the finished hat so I could photograph it before I sent it off.)

A friend and coworker has a daughter that is just itching to lose her first tooth; it should be happening anytime now! To help prepare, I designed this little tooth shaped pillow that has a front pocket built in that looks like a mouth, so she can safely keep her first (and future) loose teeth protected for the Tooth Fairy's visit. I can't wait to give this to her :)

That's about it for now, I've got some upcoming sewing projects to do, but I just received my official Alberta Professional Teaching Certification, so I'm busy in my spare time getting my teaching portfolio dusted off and ready to go for interviews so I can teach next school year. It's all so exciting!

Future plans in the sewing realm include a toque section on my store website to sell handmade fleece hats (toques) this season, and a couple of Canadian-related specialty items that I've got rolling around in my head. Until next time...

RAWR! Plush Rancor

2007-07-14T10:48:00.000-06:00

So this is what I've been working on for the past week or so, a plush version of the monstrous rancor creatures from the Star Wars universe. I'm really proud with how he turned out! I had the idea and started sketching pattern pieces on lined notebook paper, and in the end, the finished product looked just how I wanted it to. It's a great feeling making something and doing it right the first time :)

The rancor is made from felt and stands nearly a foot tall at just over 11 inches. He's about 10 inches wide, and though he may look mean and grumbly, he really is sweet and cuddly :) So what am I doing with him? Well I'm auctioning him off for fun and in-game charity in the Star Wars MMORPG that I play, Star Wars Galaxies. I hope he sells well!

This weekend I have a few PinkToque shop orders to fill and overall life is really grand! I've not has as much time to craft lately now that I'm working (finally!) full time, but I'll do my best to keep updating and working on projects here and there :) Thanks for looking!

What's New?!

2007-07-10T21:51:00.000-06:00

I am ashamed to say that it's been so long since I've posted anything crafty. Since getting back from my trip to the states to visit family and friends, I've started working a real job and so I've not found as much free time to craft as before. That doesn't mean I haven't been creative, though! For more on the other non-crafty things going on in my life right now, check out Lucas and I's personal blog: Look At Us Go!

While in Indiana I learned how to make beaded necklaces, and my mom and I made several together. They're fairly simple - just some bead wire with the clamshell clasps and a variety of beads found at various crafty shops. I've got some beads that I picked up while in Indiana that are in desperate need of being turned into a new necklace creation, but I just haven't taken the time to do so.

Thanks to a little help on the kfb, or knit front to back, from the kind people at Make One Yarn Studio (a suggestion from Claire, thanks!) I was able to complete the mini heart knitting pattern I've been trying to do forever. Since figuring the pattern out, I've made several little plush knitted hearts to hide in various places for Lucas to find. They're so soft and cute! I'd love to make a whole army of them someday. I tried my hand at felting for the first time, but it really didn't turn out so great. I think it's because I tried to felt by hand with hot soapy water instead of using the washing machine, so next time I'm doing a load of laundry I'll see if my felting turns out any better using that method instead. I just couldn't justify doing a whole load of laundry just to felt a couple tiny hearts. We'll see!

And my latest completed purse order was for a friend at Lucas' work -- a black and white polka dotted Banff with dark red interior. I think it turned out pretty cute :)

That's really about it in the past several weeks. The Indiana trip and the new full time job has kept me pretty busy, though I've started up a new little stuffie project that I can't wait to finish and share -- it's currently a secret, though! Look for it soon :) Happy crafting!

Ellie the Sock Elephant

2007-05-20T15:26:00.000-06:00

Meet Ellie, a sock elephant!

Lisa of Q.D. Patooties made the tutorial and I just picked out great kiddie socks and followed it. Lucas' mom loves the color blue and collects elephants, so when I found these socks I knew it was just meant to be.

It's May long weekend in celebration of Victoria Day on Monday here in Canada, so I'm enjoying a relaxing weekend before I head out to Indiana next week. I leave early Thursday morning, so I've got a couple days to finish a few projects up before then. This weekend I made Ellie, a little dog bed/pillow to give to my brother and his fiancee for their two new Dachshund puppies, and I made a new bag for one of Lucas' co-workers based on an old bag that she had. I'm trying to think ahead, and Father's Day is the next big thing coming up that I need to craft for... we get back from Indiana on June 7, and Father's Day is a little over a week after that, so I need to plan now to ensure whatever I make will get to my dad on time due to shipping. I was thinking about trying to learn how to make felt or fleece slippers, so maybe that's what I'll do!

See you in a few weeks!

It's Official: I'm Official!

2007-05-17T19:02:00.000-06:00

This isn't "craft" related, but it is something so big that has such a huge impact on my life in general that I just must share :)

So the day we've been waiting 9 months for finally arrived: as of today, May 17, 2007... I am an official Permanent Resident of Canada! As I reported a few posts ago, I received notification at the end of April/first of May that I was approved for Permanent Residency, but today was the actual day I went in to the Calgary Immigration office to be granted the official status.

I know there was no reason to be nervous, but my stomach was doing flip flops all morning. I kept worrying that I would forget some important piece of ID, or the photos I had to have done wouldn't be perfectly to spec... I was just worrying that SOMETHING silly would go wrong and they'd reject me. It all went off without a hitch, of course, there was just a lot of waiting.

I took a train downtown and met Lucas at his office and we walked to the government building where we waited for about an hour for my name to be called. We spent more time waiting than the actual "interview" took - I basically went into this tiny room to sign papers and that was it. The woman asked me a couple of simple questions, but they were all things that were listed on the document in front of me anyway, lol. I signed everything and she gave me my copy of the paperwork; this piece of paper I will guard with my life, as it is not only a temporary placeholder for the actual Permanent Resident card that I will receive in the mail in a few weeks, but also something I will need to keep for future dealings with the immigration office. This document doesn't guarantee anything for travel purposes, but I'm still taking my trip to Indiana next week. The teeeeeny tiny slim chance they'll give me a hard time once I'm back in Canada on the way home since I don't physically have the card in my hand doesn't really worry me; after all, I am legally a permanent resident now. Worst case scenario is I'll have to spend a little longer in Indiana or they'll scold me and make going through customs once I'm back in Calgary take a little longer than usual, but it's really a non-issue. Nothing we can't handle. It's been nearly a year now since I've seen my family (I hit my year mark just before I leave Indiana to come back), and now that I possess official status, I've gotta see them. I miss my little brother the most, but don't tell him that or I'll totally deny it. You know how it is.

So ya, it's been an exciting day! We went to a restaurant called Milestones afterwards; fitting, if you ask me. Lucas took that great picture above of me holding up my Permanent Resident document at the restaurant as we celebrated. We came home and celebrated with Oliver, and now we're going out for ice cream! Oliver seems a little confused because we kept telling him he was now officially a permanent dog resident of Canada, but he didn't seem to mind not understanding what we were talking about since he was getting lots of attention over it. "Whatever you say, mom, just keep hugging me!"

In the near future our plans include getting me all packed for my trip to Indiana next week; I leave Thursday. Because it's a big deadline, black-out-date period for Lucas at work, he has to wait a week before he can come down, but he'll be joining me in Indiana with my family the following Thursday and staying the full second week with me at my parents' house. Our itinerary is pretty full, and once Lucas arrives, starts off with Tripoly night with my parents and taking Herm out for a belated 21st birthday celebration and college graduation celebration. I can't wait to see everyone!

Pouches Galore

2007-05-12T17:46:00.000-06:00

Recently Lucas and I were doing some spring cleaning and filling up a bag of old clothes to take to Goodwill. I saved an old pair of jeans and shirt of his that I loved and promised to reconstruct them into something new and useful. This set is what I've done with the jeans and shirt so far. On the left is a Canmore Wristlet, and on the right is a Canmore Coin Cube. Each have denim outer fabrics from his old jeans and are lined with his old blue and green "hawaiian" print shirt.

Last night our roommate came home in a panic because he had been invited to a birthday party for his good friend's young daughter today and needed a gift. He had no idea what to get for a little girl, so I whipped up this Canmore Wristlet for him to give to her, made from Strawberry Shortcake fabric. What little girl wouldn't love a mini pouch or purse she can carry around all of her little stuff in?

And now I think I really need to focus on my knitting. A few weeks ago, Lucas' mom was in town and she taught me the very basics -- casting on and the basic English knitting stitch. I'm trying to teach myself binding off and increasing/decreasing from KnittingHelp.com and KnitWitch Instructional Videos, but I've been so busy making little things and getting prepared for my trip to Indiana that I've put off practicing and learning new techniques. I'd love to be able to practice knitting on the plane, but I have a feeling knitting needles won't be allowed in my carry-on bag. Oh, well.

Updates on my Countdowns!

New Purses

2007-05-10T15:51:00.000-06:00

I've been busy!

My store website opened last week and I've had several orders to fill. The most recent order I completed was for a hobo-type bag that I call the "Brooks" purse. It's got a fairly neutral, sturdy outer fabric and is lined with celery green on the inside. It closes with a snap. I hope I end up with a happy customer!

The next set is my favorite! Some of you know that I moved to Canada last June. 9 months ago I applied for my Permanent Resident Card, and I just recently got news that I was approved. Exactly one week from today I get to go pick up my Permanent Resident Card and I'll be all official. That means that I can take a trip back to the States to visit my family, and exactly two weeks from today I am traveling to Indiana to do just that, for the first time in a year. I'm so excited about my trip and getting to see my family and friends from back home that I wanted to make a new matching purse set just for the occasion. This is what I came up with.

The purse is another "Brooks", the lined zipper pouch is a "Gadsby", and the sunglasses case I refer to as a "Sundre." (all cities in Alberta). They're all available on my store website if you're interested. I was wanting to make something new to use on my vacation, and the citrus liner fabric inspired the whole matching set. I even made the two little citrus-y felt appliques that you see on the front, and then I hand sewed them on. The purse and the glasses case both close with a snap, and I put the perfect sized pocket that I divided up into a cell phone section and a place to store pens, because those are the two things I tend to lose easily in the sea that is the bottom of my purses. Woohoo!

I made another matching set this week, again, I felt like I needed something fresh and new to use as Spring finally showed Calgary some love. I enjoy the ease of the Brooks purse because I can throw it over my shoulder and have my hands free, and it's large enough that I can put loads of stuff in it. I used canvas for this set on the outside, and it's lined with remnant fabric that I found at a thrift store when Lucas' mom and I went shopping back when she was visiting us a few weeks ago. I think the combination is very fresh and crisp, and it's been a breeze carrying all my stuff around. This set has a Brooks, another Sundre, and the little triangular pouch is called a "Canmore." After using this for the first time yesterday when I went downtown to meet up with a friend of ours for dinner, I fell in love with the simplicity and functionality of the Brooks. It's perfect for running errands or being oot and aboot. I'm glad I made my vacation set feature a Brooks design, too. It seems like it'll be great for all the running around I plan to do when I'm in Indiana.

Alright, that's about it for now. But never fear... there's always more to come! :)

It's Been Too Long! What's New...

2007-05-07T13:33:00.000-06:00

Wow! It's been so long since I've last posted, I'm way behind on sharing! There's so much new to share so I better get started. First of all, my online store opened on Friday of last week, and I've already got 5 orders I'm in the process of filling. The web address is http://shop.pinktoque.com :)

Most recently I've worked on Lucas' mom's Mother's Day gift. I made my mom a purse and already shipped it, but we worked on Lucas' mom's gift this weekend and I shipped it today. She likes Scrabble, so I came up with an idea to make a plush Scrabble board turned into a pillow.
The back is made from soft fuzzy "monster fur" to make it more snuggly. Isn't it great?

Back to my obsession with plush food... Last week I crafted some homemade plush sushi and fortune cookies. The fortune cookies can come with various personalized messages. I'm selling them now at my online shop.

And speaking of plush food, my plush cake and donuts are officially on display at the Cafe Kino exhibit in the UK this week. The exhibit of fake food runs until the first week of June. My cake already sold, so that's great! I get 100% of the profit from selling my items, so the cake alone will more than cover the shipping fees I spent to send the items out there. Yay for already being ahead on the first week of the exhibit!

Meet Bernard Moo! He's a cow that I designed and made from baby soft fleece. Isn't he sweet? He has a counterpart named Betsy that is designed in my head, but I just haven't gotten around to making her yet.

I also made a new moose plushie and named her Matilda :)

Here are a couple of the new purses and pouches that I've made. The purses are all "Banffs" and the pouches are called "Canmores". Pictured are Canmore Wristlets and Canmore Coin Pockets (slightly smaller than the wristlets.)

Whew! I think that's it crafting-wise! My application for Permanent Residence here in Canada was approved last week, and my appointment to pick up my Permanent Residency Card is set for May 17th. YAY ME! I'll be all official and able to finally work again this month :) It's been nearly a year since I've seen my family, so I booked flights today to make a trip back to Indiana to see family and friends on May 24th. I'll be staying a full 2 weeks. Since it's a black-out deadline period for Lucas at work, he'll fly out separately and meet me down in Indiana on May 31st and spend the second whole week with me. We'll fly back together on June 7, just in time to celebrate my one-year-in-Canada anniversary :) What an exciting month it's been so far!

Tutorial: Handpainted Photo Bottlecap Magnets

2007-03-24T16:57:00.000-06:00

So earlier this week I finished up my Easter gifts - stuffed bunnies holding little plastic eggs. I made magnet sets to stick inside the little eggs as little additional gifts for Lucas and I's family and friends. Here's how I made them!

Materials
bottlecaps
acrylic paint
paintbrushes
small photos
Mod Podge
magnets
super glue

Optional Materials
toothbrush

Gather your materials and wash your bottlecaps thoroughly. Nothing worse than giving a painted photo bottlecap magnet to your grandmother who starts asking where that beer smell is coming from. I found that by soaking my bottlecaps in hot sudsy water first, it was a breeze to clean them. Rinse clean and let them dry completely.

Step 1
Let's paint your bottlecaps! I started by giving each one a primer coat of white, then once that was dry, I painted each one individually with a coat of acrylic paint in my desired color choice.

Optionally you could spray paint your bottlecaps or dip them in paint if you're in a hurry or if that's easier for you. If you choose to spray paint, be sure to do it in a well ventilated area, preferrably outdoors.

Step 2
Once each bottlecap has its main coat, you may wish to also do this optional step to add a little flair to your flat color caps. I dipped an old toothbrush into yellow paint and held it close to the bottlecaps and then ran my finger up and down the brush part. This creates a great speckling effect, and gave my finished bottlecaps a little added yellow speckled flair.

Step 3
Let your bottlecaps dry thoroughly. While they're drying, it's time to plan out what images you are going to use as your magnet subject. My magnets are going to be given as mini spring/Easter gifts for friends and family, so I chose to use little photos of Lucas and I and our dog, Oliver. Small photos give your magnets a personal touch, but small stickers or even just handpainting a design works well, too. So do images found in magazines.

Before cutting up pictures, I made a template circle and cut it to fit the insides of each bottlecap. Once I had a template, I traced the shape onto my photos, then cut them out and tailored each to be sure they fit exactly how I wanted them to.

Step 4
Here's where the Mod Podge comes in. I chose Mod Podge because it's both a glue and a sealant, and that's really helpful for this project. Mod Podge comes in matte, glossy or sparkle finishes, so choose the one that best fits your project's style. I chose matte for this project. First, using a paintbrush, I applied Mod Podge to the inner circle of my bottlecap where the photo goes.

Next I gently eased the photo into its spot with my fingernail. Once the photo was glued into place, I then used the Mod Podge applied thinly over the entire inside of the bottlecap, including the photo. That's right - paint Mod Podge right over the photo and the inner side of the cap. It will look funny at first, but don't worry- Mod Podge dries clear. Just be sure you don't heap on globs of it, or it won't dry as well or as neat. Beware if you're using cheap plastic paintbrushes that tend to lose their bristles easily... you don't want a strand of paintbrush "hair" in your finished project.

Set your bottlecaps aside to dry. This process can take anywhere from 30 - 60 minutes, depending on how thick you applied the Mod Podge. Thicker coats take a bit longer to dry thoroughly.

While the inside of your bottlecaps are drying, you may wish to flip them over now and apply a thin coat of Mod Podge to the outside of the bottlecap. This gives your finished project a uniform look and helps seal the paint. If you're using glossy or sparkle finish Mod Podge, you'll definitely want to do this.

Step 5
Once everything is dry, it's time to apply the magnets! I bought a long roll of magnet where you peel off the backing to reveal a sticky back. You can cut the magnets into your own chosen sizes. I cut up the magnets into small squares that fit nicely on the back of each bottlecap. I removed the backing, but added extra strength to the stickiness by adding a dab of super glue before applying. Affix magnets to the backside of your bottlecaps and allow the glue to dry completely before use.

Voila! You now have handpainted photo bottlecap magnets to use on your refrigerator or share with family and friends! Experiment with different images, colors, and Mod Podge finishes to make unique magnets that suit your style. Make a set of Christmas magnets or Valentine's Day magnets, or just make some that match the decor of your kitchen. They're quick and easy to make in large quantities, and make a great gift. :)

Whew! It took longer to insert all the images into Blogger than it did to write the tutorial up. Is there a trick to inserting images so you don't have to go to the top and drag them down to the correct place where you want them inserted into your paragraph each time? Maybe I'm missing something, but it's really annoying when you have a fairly long blog post and lots of images to insert throughout. Why they always default to the top and I have to drag them down is beyond me. Maybe I'm just doing it the hard way?

Oodles of Bunnies

2007-03-21T13:52:00.000-06:00

Well, it's officially Spring and Easter isn't too far off... so I've been busy with an Easter project that involves bunnies, and then bunnies also became the theme of a set of gifts we sent off to various couples that we know who are expecting this year.

First, the "baby" bunnies

These little guys are 10 inches tall and made from mint green fleece. They have peachy fleece cheeks and felt eyes, all handsewn on. We know 4 couples that are due this year, including 2 from our families (Lucas' brother, my cousin) and so we wanted to send something cute and cuddly to congratulate them and wish them luck. Don't worry, I added a note to the tag to remind the expecting parents to remove the ribbon before giving to a little one. (because someone always asks.)

So there are the first 4 of a total of 12 bunnies I've made in the past week. Next up, the Easter bunnies! These will be gifts to our family members - my family in Indiana, and Lucas' family in BC. At the time of this writing I've got 4 of 8 completely finished and the last 4 are halfway done and just in need of some facial features and accessories.

Made from the same template, these are also about 10 inches tall and made from fleece with the same fleece and felt features. The biggest difference here isn't the color of the bunnies, but the fact that they come bearing gifts! In the left hand of each bunny you can see that it's holding a string, and hanging from the string is a tiny plastic Easter egg. Each egg has little hinges that allow you to open it and stick lots of goodies inside. An Easter gift that carries additional gifts... how genius! The real genius with this idea was Lucas, who saw the plastic eggs in a large variety pack at Michael's this weekend. I was originally just going to make 2D eggs from felt to have each bunny hold in their hand, but he saw these eggs and noticed that each had a pinhole in the top so I could easily string them up and sew the string to the bunnies' hands instead. I think they turned out much better this way!

So what kinds of goodies do I plan to put inside? I originally decided to make a set of spring magnets to put in the eggs using the glass pendant technique I described in an earlier blog. Lucas (always the genius and such a supporter of my crafts) suggested putting each of our faces on one and our dog's face on one to make a complete set of 3 magnets. The small pictures of us aren't showing up very well using the glass pendant idea, so I pulled out the bottlecaps I'd saved from our last poker night and started painting them. The idea is that I'll put a photo of each of us inside the painted bottlecaps, gloss and seal them, and then glue the magnet on the back. They're a work in progress, though. So far I have only painted the bottlecaps. Eventually each bunny will be bearing gifts of magnet sets ;)

Whew! I think once I'm done with all of this and have shipped off the last bunny I won't be making anything that has to do with bunnies for a very long time.

Simon the Claustrophobic Turtle

2007-03-16T09:41:00.000-06:00

Meet Simon the Claustrophobic Turtle. You might think that the idea of a claustrophobic turtle is funny, but to Simon it's definitely no laughing matter! Because of his affliction, he wears his shell like a backpack instead of retreating inside of it when there's danger. So how does Simon protect himself if he never goes inside his shell? Why, he takes his shell off his back and uses it like a shield, of course!

Watch out for that angry murloc, Simon!!

Simon is made from felt and stands 6.5 inches tall and is 4.5 inches wide. He is a special present for my little (21 year old) brother, who actually has a live pet turtle named Simon, the inspiration for this project and its name. More pics from different angles here.

Plush House Ornament with Tutorial

2007-03-14T13:24:00.000-06:00

Some good friends of ours just got engaged AND they bought a house and move in on April 1st. They have a thing for Christmas tree ornaments, so I decided to make them a little congratulations gift for their engagement and their new house by making them a little plush house... ornament :)

I had the idea the other night when I went to bed, and layed awake making a list in my head and designing the house and how I would make it and put it together in my head. (my brain never sleeps it seems.) The next morning I started working on it. I don't have a pattern to share since it's just a bunch of squares/rectangles with a couple triangles, but I did take a lot of pictures along the way to give you an idea of what I did so I could present a half-tutorial for anyone that might want to make one for themselves :)

Plush House Tutorial

First I cut out the pieces - no bottoms or tops for the square that made up the shape of the house nor the rectangle that made up the garage:
Every little item like the bushes, fireplace, window and door was cut by hand from felt and carefully handsewed on. No machine on this one! It's way too small and intricate for my personal sewing machine abilities, anyway. I'm digging the handmade look that the showing stitches give it, though.

I formed the roofs and then started putting the walls together:

Once I had made the walls and sewn the roofs to the walls, it finally started to look like a house. But as you can see in this pic, it wasn't holding its nice square angles very well, so I made a miniature cardboard version of the house to insert inside. It's important to note that even though the cardboard model looks like the house and garage are connected, they're not, and I inserted them separately.

Once the sturdy cardboard inserts were in, I stuffed it with polyfil and then traced on a piece of cardboard the shape of the full bottom. (instead of a separate bottom for both the house and garage.) Theoretically this shape would just be one of the squares that made up the house and the longer rectangular side. I also cut a felt piece of the same shape to form the final bottom:

I sandwiched the cardboard between the bottom of the freshly-stuffed house and the white bottom felt piece and sewed up around the entire bottom edge:

Voila! I forgot to mention that just before I inserted the cardboard supports in the house that I used embroidery floss to make the hanging loop, and knotted it well inside so it'd not come out. I chose a spot in the roof that was somewhat centered as far as the entire final piece goes so it'd hang as evenly as possible.

And that's it! This is a really basic house - if you use your imagination you could make many more squares and rectangles and make your house much bigger and more complex. It's all up to you! I hope that our friends like it! :) The cardboard inserts and polyfil really makes it sturdy and hold its shape well. I'm really happy with it!

Maple the Miniature Moose

2007-03-12T16:51:00.000-06:00

Maple is a legend (to me) and she doesn't even know it.

Much to the dismay of my close-knit family, I moved 1800 miles away from my hometown in Indiana to Calgary, AB Canada back in June of 2006. No regrets... it was one of the greatest decisions I've ever made, and I am now living happily ever after here and am really happy :)

I planned to make a trip back to Indiana to visit my family at Christmas, but by the time October came around, I realized that the Canadian Immigration process takes much longer than I had anticipated, and I had to accept that I'd not be able to make the trip as planned. Instead, I decided I'd handmake something soft and huggable to send home to my family members in my place for Christmas.

I've always been crafty, but I'd not done much with plushies, let alone made a pattern for what's in my head. Back in 1995 I created a group of storybook characters for a children's book project that I wrote and illustrated. It wasn't until 1998 that I finally got the series of characters copyrighted, and by that time I had written several children's books that I'd also illustrated using these little characters. (I never pursued getting the books published - that college thing and starting my teaching career was a bit more important.) Anyway, my family was well acquainted with the whole gang because I used the characters on the front of all the handmade cards I'd made for various occasions. They were "famous" to my family and friends.

So here I was, back in October, trying to come up with what I'd make for my family for Christmas that could be hugged in my place since I couldn't make the trip personally. I wanted something that was somewhat representative of Canada since that's where I was, and it hit me... Montgomery Moose! One of the characters from my little series seemed perfect. The problem was capturing the original drawing of Montgomery in a plushie pattern... something I had no experience with. I knew how Montgomery needed to look when finished, but creating a pattern that preserved that look was harder than it seemed. I tried, but it didn't seem to be quite right. I was talking to a new friend here in Calgary who told me to check this great crafting forum, Craftster, and see if I could find a pattern or someone else who had made a moose plushie before to give me a hand or help critique the pattern I'd tried to make. And the rest is history. Here is my original post (one of my first!) looking for a moose pattern. In the end, I scrapped the pattern I'd made and modified a plushie pattern from a japanese crafting book that sewingstars had posted in another thread, and I was happy with how the new Montgomery turned out. I then crafted 4 that got sent to my family back in Indiana for Christmas. They were a hit!

So where does Maple come in? Well, today I was cleaning out my craft pattern drawer and trying to organize. I found the original sketches of Montgomery Moose from back in October - my first attempt at a pattern - and I decided to finish that original moose that never came to be. I also decided to name it Maple instead, since I'd made a little maple leaf cut-out to put on her tummy... it seemed more fitting. Now that she's done, and not to mention now that I've had several months' worth of experience in making plushies and even drafting my own patterns now (thanks to the great people of Craftster and their support!), I can see where I'd make changes now in order to get her to look just right. I know what I'd do differently "next time", and if there is a next time with this pattern, I know I'd make it better. But for now, the one-and-only original Maple will sit here next to me at the computer so that I never forget where I've been and where I'm going... in life and on many other different levels, too.

Maple is made of felt, and for this project I completely sewed her by hand because it only seemed natural... when I designed Maple's pattern, I didn't have my sewing machine yet, so I would've sewn her by hand anyway. The one arm and leg that I'd already started on before scrapping the project was handsewn, so I made sure the rest was done just the same.

What else did I do this weekend craft-wise? Well I made a decorative gift bag to package up my Stuffiepup for craftymumto2 so I can send it to her this week. It's denim on the outside and lined with cute spring Scooby-Doo fabric that has Scooby-Doo wearing a raincoat and playing in puddles with a little yellow duck. I love it! And I hope she does, too :)

More Plushies - New Stuffiepup and Penguin

2007-03-09T15:01:00.000-07:00

Meet Roger! Roger is intelligent and spends his days working crosswords or playing chess when the humans are away. He has a real knack for Sudoku puzzles, too. Roger is the fourth stuffiepup in the series, and there are two more yet to be made to complete the full set of them. With a busy weekend coming up, it'll most likely be next week sometime before they're finished.

After I made a red penguin stuffie for a friend, another friend of mine has been wanting a penguin of his own, too. He hadn't told me what color(s) he wanted for his penguin so I hadn't made one yet. This week he got into a bad car accident. Thankfully he will be alright, and so I decided to just make a normal colored penguin stuffie to send as a get well gift. I think it turned out okay.

I think I'm finally getting "sick" for the first time since I moved to Canada 9 months ago. I was amazed that I didn't get sick during the worst of the winter at all. Normally I get sick a few times in a single winter, but I've been lucky so far. I felt a little under the weather once, but it didn't last and I didn't really get full-on sick or anything. I've been feeling a bit sore and swollen in my neck glands recently and I finally started feeling a twinge of a sore throat yesterday. I'm hoping it's just a bit of a cold and I'll be able to combat it with Neo Citran and cold meds. Guess that means I'm gonna have to get working on stuffing those lambs... all four are waiting to be stuffed and sewn shut now, and that sounds like the perfect "lying on the couch getting plenty of rest" project.

Meet Walter

2007-03-08T11:40:00.000-07:00

Walter is the newest Stuffiepup member. Walter is always on the go (a little A.D.D.) and enjoys hanging his head out the car window and eating grass. He's a bit of a brown noser and likes playing hide and go seek at night.

The gang at this point includes Dennis, Doug and Walter, but there will be more before I'm done.

Pieces for Roger are all cut out so I should finish him soon, and there are two other variations I have pictured in my head that I need to start cutting out to make Oliver and Frankie. (Oliver will be tan/brown and white [not a coincidence, it's on purpose] and Frankie will be black and white.)

So far:

Spring Purse & Stuffiepups!

2007-03-07T11:46:00.000-07:00

Thanks to craftymumto2, I was inspired to make a spring-y purse. I made this one today, and have decided to give it to my mom for mother's day. Ya, I know mother's day is still months away, but when you find the right fabric that just seems to fit... you go with it, ya know? I think she'll like it. I used the glass pendant technique to make a matching zipper pull from scraps of the outer fabric, but since there aren't any zippers on this purse, I've just tied it decoratively to one of the handles instead. I love it!

I finished my first official, finalized version of my stuffiepups yesterday evening. The golden one's name is Dennis, and Dennis has a stumpy discolored tail, but it's not polite to bring it up because it brings back painful memories. He's pretty sensitive about it. The white one's name is Doug, and he enjoys bubble baths and likes having his nails clipped regularly. Doug is a die hard Sinatra fan, too. I have the pieces cut out to make two more variations for now (with two additional variations in my head), and then I plan to photograph them together. Dennis will be sent to craftymumto2's loving home after the photo shoot :)

I made a bunch of the glass pendants to be used as zipper pulls yesterday with my logo on it to use on purses I sell. It was a fun project and Lucas helped me out while we watched hockey. (Yay, the Flames beat the Blues!) I'm still working on those lambs, albeit slowly. I'm in the middle of too many crafting projects I think. Is that even possible? Right now the fourth one is waiting to be sewn together on the sewing machine, and the three others are waiting to be stuffed and sewn shut. And they'd probably like me to put their ears on, and give them eyes and a nose. Lamb stuffies are so demanding!

How To: Easy Glass Pendants

2007-03-05T13:33:00.000-07:00

So I got an idea from someone who had made a zipper pull out of a flat-backed glass marble (which I had a bunch of already), and then as I was digging around on the Craftster forums for more inspiration, I found a few different ways to achieve the look. I have come up with a few of my own ideas and wanted to share my preferred method and suggestions on this fantastic (and addicting!) craft. I bet you can't make just one!

A quick note on the photographs with this blog/article
Please forgive my crappy photographing of this craft - I'm just learning how to use the macro setting on the digital camera successfully with the right lighting, etc. Bear with the bad pics for now, and once I take some better ones, I'll replace these... because these really do not do this project justice at all.

Materials
Mod Podge
Super Glue
flat-backed clear glass marbles
scissors
small images or designs

Variations on Materials
You can use other types of clear crafting glue gel instead of Mod Podge, or a hot glue gun instead of super glue. I like Mod Podge because it seals well in addition to being a clear "glue" which is important in this project, and I prefer super glue over a hot glue gun just for less mess and prep, and (in my opinion), more glue control. I tend to have a lot more uncontrollable clumps of glue when using a hot glue gun and I can't stand those long thin strands of sticky hot glue leftovers that get everywhere. Thinner, clearer super glue in a tube seems much more manageable with less mess. And you don't burn your fingers on it!

Optional Materials (depending on what you're making)
wire (20 or 22 gauge)
jump rings
nylon cord
fishing line
thin ribbon
chain
felt
magnets

So Where Can You Get Great Images for Your Glass Pieces?
Stickers work exceptionally well. They come in tiny sizes and a wide variety of subject matters. One sheet of tiny stickers can make hundreds of pendants if you find just the right sticker. Good for specific subject designs, and when you apply a sticker to your preferred background paper first, it creates a neat raised effect on the final product.

I love using pieces of scrap fabric because it's great if you plan to add a zipper pull to that fabulous new purse you just made. By using a scrap of the fabric you just used in your sewing project, you can create a fantastic matching pull or embellishment that really looks professional. Have a plain bag that has a funky lining fabric? Make the pull out of the lining fabric to bring out the fun in the bag and add a splash of color to the drab exterior. Lace works well because like fabric, it gives a textured look to the image behind the glass.

Pieces of decorative scrapbook paper are instant hits with this project because you can find all sorts of designs and colors in various pieces of paper meant for scrapbooking. Good for abstract designs, too.

Print them out! The Internet has a plethora of imagery right at your fingertips on any subject. If you can't find something small enough, use free image manipulation software such as GIMP to resize it to fit your needs. This would be a fabulous idea for those who have their own logo or signature icon that they use for their crafty "business", because a printed logo behind glass on a zipper pull or attached to your craft would leave a lasting professional impression on your customers.

Products around the house are other locations for inspiration. It sounds funny, but the design on that Kleenex box or the character on that cereal box will look great when made into a glass piece! If these images are on packaging that's too thick or difficult for your project, try scanning them from the product package with your computer scanner and printing them out instead. Check the previous tip on resizing them if they turn out to be too big.

And don't forget, there's always magazines and catalogs that are full of designs just waiting to be cut up and made into a new pendant!

Method
I use a paintbrush and spread the Mod Podge evenly on the back of a flat piece of glass marble, then lay the marble flat side down on top of the image I want to use. I immediately apply pressure to further even out the Mod Podge and seal the image. When that's dry, I'll cut nice and neat around the glass piece for a perfect image fit. I then tend to add another thin layer of mod podge to the back after trimming, especially around the outer edge (being careful not to get on the sides of the glass) to ensure that my image is truly sealed onto the marble.

Other Suggestions
Don't limit yourself to just clear glass - lightly colored glass gives neat hue results. Using felt on the back can help cover up glue gone wrong, wire, or just add a nice soft touch to the finished product. And thin ribbon or fishing line is a nice alternative to nylon cord if you're making pendants, pulls, or ornaments. Have a really abstract or fantastic plain color image to use and want to make it even more interesting? Try baking the glass marbles in your oven in a pan for 45 minutes at 500 degrees F, and then immediately pull them from the oven and dump them into ice cold water to fracture the insides of the marbles. This will add more funk to the finalized look and spruce up a plain colored piece. Be sure to wear protective eye covering when baking and dumping the glass marbles into ice water on this one, just in case!

What Else Can You Do With These?
The potential is overwhelming! There's all kinds of great things you can make from this simple craft. Here are a few that I came up with off the top of my head.

Pendants
By applying a little wire that has a loop in it via super glue on the back and adding a jump ring, you've just created a pendant that you can then string up with nylon cord or a chain and voila! Instant necklace that's easy to change as often as your outfits. I also like to use fishing line instead of thick nylon cord for more of an "invisible chain" look. It also doesn't break out my neck like metal does.

Zipper pulls
This idea was my inspiration to look into this craft further, and done similarly to the pendant method. Instead of adding a nylon necklace cord or necklace chain, add a small simple loop chain or thin ribbon that you can attach easily to zippers or sew into your projects.

Bracelets
This uses the pendant method, but instead calls for two wire loops on either side of each pendant and uses multiple jump rings to fasten pendants in a row. Once you have a good length that will fit onto your wrist comfortably, add your preferred method of bracelet closures on the end jump rings. I suggest adding a piece of felt or decorative fabric to cover the wire on back side of each piece to make the bracelet look cleaner with less of a raw look when its worn. Other light hues of glass besides just clear also work well in this project.

Magnets
After you've applied the image, add a thin layer of super glue on the back of your sealed glass piece and attach a magnet instead. These make great decorative magnets for your fridge!

Good luck charms
St. Patrick's Day is coming up, and I found a bunch of tiny shamrock stickers that I applied to white paper and used. I covered the back with a small piece of green felt to give it a soft finish, and it sits nicely on desks or in a drawer or pocket and brings good luck to anyone you give them to. You could use any image for this - a heart for love to slip into your loved one's pocket and remind them that you're thinking of them, or even just a smiley face to brighten someone's day. The possibilities are endless when you pick the images, and you can create a great little token to give those around you to suit any occasion.

Ornaments
By creating two of these glass pieces that are similar in subject matter or colors and then gluing their flat sides back-to-back with either super glue or hot glue, you can create an ornament! This may require a bit of time since you'll want to make sure you pick out two glass marbles that are similar in size so that the backs line up as best they can. Don't forget to sandwich a loop of thin ribbon in between the two halves before gluing them together so that you can hang your new glass ornament when it's done.

Mosaics
I've always wanted to use mosaics to cover the entire top of a little side table or decorative table. With this project, you can create very unique and one-of-a-kind "mosaic pieces" by crafting a bunch of various glass pieces to use as your mosaics. They can be all clear with similar images behind them or different colors with all different kinds of images instead. Once you've made up a couple hundred, you can easily use caulking or a cement paste to affix them in your own artistic arrangement to cover a table top or other item.

The possibilities really are endless. I'm sure you'll find other uses for these glass pieces, too. They're really addicting; once you make one, you just want to keep making more. You'll also notice yourself looking for great "glass piece images" on all kinds of things now. It really helps to open up your eyes to all of the great imagery around you! Capture your life and beautiful images with this craft and enjoy all of the various ways you can use them to embellish your surroundings.

Tropical Blue Triangle Purse

2007-03-03T16:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm at it again. This time I've made a new purse. I haven't decided which city in Alberta I plan to name this one after to stick with my purse-naming theme (which will be noticeable once I actually finish that store website), but I LOVE the shape of this purse.

I made a bit of a flaw in this one that is hidden in the way that I photographed it, so I'll need to make another... but now that I've made one, I know what I'm doing and the next ones will be even better :) I can't get over how much I like the shape and proportions of it. I think my next one will be a tad bit taller, however.

The purse is made from the same tropical blue canvas outer fabric and soft blue floral print cotton lining that I used to make the tote bag from last week that ended up being a wedding/honeymoon gift for my best friend's sister. I can't get enough of this great fabric! Now that I've found a new design I am in love with, I'm picturing all kinds of different fabric pairs that I want to try with this one. I think on my next go around I will reinforce the canvas a bit more with fusible interfacing just for added sturdiness. What do you think?

Commission Project: Plush Mokona

2007-03-02T12:23:00.000-07:00

Someone on DeviantArt commissioned me to make a plush version of a Japanese manga character named Mokona from CLAMP that they had done a drawing of. Click HERE to see their drawing.

After checking it out and working on a few rough draft patterns, I came up with a pattern I felt did the project justice and came up with this interpretation.

Ta da! A plushie version of Mokona. I don't know much about Japanese anime or anything like that, so here is some information from Wikipedia:

"Mokona is the pen name of the lead artist, colorist, and composition designer of the all-female manga-creating team Clamp. Mokona is the main artist of most stories and was also several times in charge of design. Her art style is the trademark of the studio. She is the namesake of the character Mokona, who appears first in Magic Knight Rayearth and later in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and ×××HOLiC."

My plush Mokona measures about 10 inches tall and body-wise is about 8-9 inches across including arms, or 15 inches wide if you measure ear to ear. Perfect hugging size! I'm really happy with how it turned out! Made from baby soft flannelette and fleece with some felt features, all handsewn on. If this thing is popular, maybe I'll make more and sell them ;) Speaking of selling things, I really need to finish my store website. I would also like to make a few variations of the stuffiepups to show off. I got a bit more helpful feedback and would like to make a 100% finalized version that I plan to sell available. So far I've come up with some different names for each variation, and am working on their "backstory" and a way to market them. I'm thinking of a simple collar around their neck that I can then attach the little info card onto about each one. We'll see how that goes.

Update on Stuffie Dog Prototype

2007-03-01T13:58:00.000-07:00

So after some suggestions on craftster, dA and from friends, I decided to try out arms/legs on the prototype.

Someone told me that without arms/legs/something that it kinda just looked like a golf club cover. We want to steer clear of that connotation! So here is my first go at it with only arms:

I was still getting the "golf club cover" vibe, so I tried adding feet, too.
I think this looks much better! I don't know what it is, but with these arms/feet he seems to suddenly have more character than a "cover for something" ... I think I like the arms and feet combo best so far.

And name suggestions so far have been "stuffiepups" and "logdogs".

Any thoughts?

Stuffie Dog Prototype - Needs Your Input!

2007-02-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

I saw a print on a random fabric while I was browsing at Fabricland yesterday and took a pic of the print with my camera phone. Then I was thinking about it and woke up this morning with an idea in my head, so I sketched out a pattern and made this prototype.

What do you think?

I can't decide if I like it without arms and legs and/or if I should add arms or legs or both. It's a little rough around the edges, but that's mostly because he was a first go - the pattern pieces I designed myself and some of them had to be adjusted a bit when I put it all together. I imagine these _____ (insert witty or cute name for these things here) coming in a variety of colors or even patterns, based on customer feedback. Like if you wanted a black and white one, that could be arranged. Or if you wanted one with a spot around its left eye, or something. That kinda thing.

So I need feedback - what do you think of these things in general? What do you think of them with/without arms and/or legs? And what kind of witty and creative name should these things have? The future of these _____ lies in your hands!

Tropical Totes

2007-02-27T18:35:00.000-07:00

I think I'm going to post here more regularly to show off stuff I've made in my free time... like a crafty blog :) Last week I made a tropical blue tote to give to my best friend's sister for her wedding to take on their honeymoon. I showed a pic of it to my mom who liked it a lot and commented that she and my dad are going to Florida in May. My mom's birthday is at the end of April, so the timing is perfect... I decided to make her a tropical "Florida" tote bag for her birthday that she can take on their trip.

What do you think? Here's the one I made last week that was given as a wedding present:

Not too bad, eh? The fun part is that this is just a slightly larger version (with longer handles) than most purses that I make. I keep talking about opening up an online shop that uses PayPal to handle the monetary transactions so that I can sell custom made purses and bags like this, but I never get around to finishing it. A site has been in the works for weeks. Oh, well. One day I'll finish it. If you want to see all of my previous crafty creations, I've got a DeviantArt account you can browse.

I'll post again when I've made some of my in-progress projects, like little stuffed lambs (we know 5 couples that are expecting right now) or a 2D version of the rabbids from Rayman Raving Rabbids, my favorite Wii game.

Until next time...

Erm

2006-09-22T06:46:00.001-06:00

Ok I don't know what to actually put on this blog, though I could always turn it into a crafting thing. I already have too many websites and too many blogs elsewhere, so instead I'll just link to all of those places and you can go from there until I decide to do something official with this blog.

Scoob and I's blog/photo gallery/social calendar/etc.
http://www.lookatusgo.net/

My gaming website and articles/blogs (updated the most)
http://www.pinktoque.com

I think that's enough to get you started! :)