Mini crochet fun

One. More. Week.

Yep - just one more week before school is back in session here in Loudoun County.  I might be jumping for a joy.  You see that's what happens when it's the third kid and you are 22 years into parenthood!  Not because I don't love her, not because I don't enjoy, not because I don't appreciate her and how lucky I am to have her - I am just realistic.  I need a breather and she needs WAY more to do than I can provide on a daily basis!  I do wish I had gotten more checked off on our summer fun time list than I did but I am happy for the fun things we DID do.  She is super excited to get back to school too.  This will be her first year going full day - I think she'll be fine.  I also think my house might finally get back to normal and I will be glad to get a routine going again.  I have visions of all I will accomplish in those long hours alone!  In silence.....and uninterruptedness........

We have had LOTS to do in our last week that's for sure.  This past weekend Pezza cheered for her little football team for the first time and perhaps got a glimpse of what the hell this whole cheer thing is.  It was only scrimmage games.  Our first real game, with parents and bleachers will be this Saturday.

Pezza is the one on the far left with her daddy's sunglasses on...

And in crazy cat lady news...

No I didn't find this pic on the internet to accentuate my point - that is actually the cat tree in my basement :P  It's got all the cats but our two old orange cats on it!

Anyway, Baguette & Brioche were adopted this weekend!  SO very happy for them to find a loving permanent home.  Their brother, Bun is still with us - his eyes are not getting well enough for him to get fixed but we are going to try on Thursday.  I want to keep him but hubby is worried about long term costs.  Plus he's a wee bit naughty...But oh my LORD is he a sweetie pie!  We also have one named Buddy - another Maine Coon we thought might hit it off with Bubba but we aren't sure it's going to happen :(  And then there's Biscuit - the momma.  Such a mess!  She can't go to adoption events because she is too scared so I have to hope someone will see her on the website for LDCRF and ask to meet her.

I DO have a crafty endeavor to share - not paper but still crafty!

Remember the dollhouse I have been building for a million years?  Ok only two but it sure came to a screeching halt for awhile.  Just waiting on hubby to cut the center walls now and then we will be doing the final work.  In the meantime we have collected furnishings and Pezza picked out a living room set.  I decided I wanted to try my hand at crocheting an afghan for her - I have been crocheting since I was a kid and some of my older readers may remember some of the crocheted embellishments I have shared in the past (the link is to my old blog on Wordpress.)

I told her she could also use it on the kids bed:

I made the kitty blanket and pillows too.  How perfect is that Cat bedroom set for us?!?!  She decided she wanted this one in the living room though so I am nearly done with another one for the bed.  I so admire the intricacy of the really good mini crocheters on etsy - they use even tinier thread and hook than I am here.  I so want to be able to do that eventually.  But I will probably need a magnifying glass to do it.  I am also considering doing some miniature mixed media artwork to hang on the walls....

Have any of you done miniature crochet???  Any advice???

seed bead fun!

hi all!

my adorable little daughter has a new comeback she uses on us whenever we tell her what to do/not do - "FINE! i guess you want me to be sad and DIE."  really!??!!?  we aren't even in school yet and we're gonna go THERE already?  i swear she needs to be on stage or something.  ridiculous amount of drama.  my mom says i was the exact same way - surely not!  right now she is sitting next to me with this great big plastic horse (think american girl dolls) who she says she found in the woods and he is very sick - the feigned concern on her face could score an oscar.

i had several requests for the name of the pattern i used for my purse - can't believe i forgot to mention it!  the patterns i have used so far are Palm Harbor Purse-onalities  and i have to say they are really really not too difficult.  including ZIPPERS which have scared me for years!  the one i just finished is Sandra Sue's. there are several more i want to try too!

{Pezza is now pretending to ride aforementioned plastic horse...}

i am itching to get back in my studio after having taken a break for too many days - i am really at my emotional and spiritual best when i spend time in my studio every day so i am OVERDUE! i have so many ideas running around in my head for my art journal!  i may try and spend some time down there this afternoon while drama miss is at pre-school.

meanwhile i wanted to show y'all what i have been working on in the evening in front of the TV - it is a beaded crochet pouch - i will stash my money, license and debit card in here when it's done:

it is sitting on the fabrics for my next purse adventure - a small across the body stash purse to carry around on the floor at cha - also from palm harbor - it is called Patty's Bag and it can hold alot of stuff for being so small!

i believe i posted this pouch once before when i first started it but i got the pattern from etsy - out of the flames - it was a bracelet that she transformed into a pouch.  Lori is fabulous to work with!

it is a little more than halfway done!

i just love seed beads!  anyone else?

OCCC - ahhhhh embellies....

SO i don't know if anyone has noticed but i am on a serious embellie kick lately. So OF COURSE i jumped on the OCCC challenge - pick a fave embellie and build a card around it - my dilemma? what ISN'T my favorite embellie...so i picked several hee heee! i know i used a sketch but can't for the life of me figure out which one....weird..anywho here is the card:
How adorable is this little girl?? i have had her for awhile but had not used her yet i don't think. so let's start with the embellishments i picked. i made this pink crocheted border and really wanted to use that and i also wanted to use some flower soft on another image. finally i have some neglected spellbinders dies i wanted to start using -everyone knows the nesties but they also have some other really nice dies. SO i used all three hahahhaha!! i live by the saying if some is good more is better. i colored the image with copics and added flower soft to the flowers and grass.

I am still adding products to the website and will continue until i get them all up but it is a slow (and tedious not so much fun) process. i am expecting the flower soft this week *crossing fingers*. more things in the works but you will have to wait a bit for that :)

have a stampy day!

MOJO 72 contest

i got a chance to play with the MOJO sketch this morning - which is good because it is contest week :) - here is the sketch->

and my card (i know, minus a layer but i liked this better so......):

Here is a closer look:
i couldn't decide on a paper for the background so i made my own using the little hearts from the Polkadot Pie Loveys with Pezzy stamp set and Versamagic Red Brick dew drops (all on sale 25% off right now!) I filled in the blank spaces with Fired Brick distress stickles. the black dot paper, red patterned paper and dotted ribbon are from the bo bunny Pezzy's Pick kit. The main image is from the Polkadot Pie Chocolate Treats 2 and colored with copics. i crocheted the heart and border and stamped the sentiment in more versamagic with a studio G sentiment from series 29 *blowing kisses to iceepenguin/charlotte for sending them to me*.

be sure and check out what else is on sale as i continue the markdowns!!

Flower Soft Tutorial I

As promised - the first of several Flower Soft tutorials!! flower soft is an almost spongy, sprinkly, brightly colored, light as a feather material that gives realistic look & texture to images. for my card i am using the current sketch from SCS ->






And here is my card:

this card was quick and easy to do yet doesn't look like it :) my kinda thing!! The paper is all SU, crocheted flower is handmade by me and the cool little square embellies have just a touch of pink shimmer! Notice the bead pop in the center of the flower of COURSE!


I chose to use this adorable new Karen Lockhart Stamp - Lilac In Pitcher - from my dear friend Susana's store - i fell i love with it as soon as it was released and just new i had to have it!

I stamped on white cardstock from Papertrey Ink with Black Memento Dye Ink (one of the best to use with copics.) I only used 6 markers for this image - step 1 shows my first layer of darks (i work from dark to light - i know many people do the opposite...). For the flowers i used RV29 and the vase YG67 - this is an easy stamp because it has the shading sort of built in so i simply followed that. Step 2 i added the mid-tones - RV23 and YG63 and in the last picture i added RV21 and YG11 - color over the previous color you laid down with each lighter color. If you want brighter highlights you can lightly stroke some in with the blender marker or use the ranger inkssentials white gel pen.

And now time for some quick flower soft. I still have a limited supply of colors as it was hard to get for awhile. the larger pots are from last year which i received from Catherine for my birthday, the smaller ones are from a christmas kit i received from the UK and are similar to the container in the new boxed sets I will be carrying in the store.

I mixed the greens to use for the leaves and i mixed the red and pink to use for the flowers.

For now, because i have never had flower soft glue, i used glossy accents. however, after using the glue at the show (CHA) i am a firm convert and ordered extras! but just dab your glue where you want it on the flowers - no need to be to exact here and it is better if you DON'T just cover the entire image. i dabbed it sort of along where the light meets dark on each one.

Then just dump it on. YEP just like that. like glitter. you don't even have to be neat about it.

i know "SHUT UP" right?

Shake off the excess:

Dump on a little extra fine MS glitter if you like:

next a few dots where there are leaves - no need to cover completely

Again just sprinkle on some green:

And here is your finished jug of flowers!!

I cut mine out with a nesties die and inked the edges.

i thoroughly enjoyed this quick and simple card - i REALLY want to hear what y'all think!

hugs!!