Sunday, November 25, 2007

Nice Mice weekend

First of all, thanks to Kristin from Sew Mama Sew for leaving me a comment on my blog. I swear I never thought anyone would read it but I appreciate your words. :)

Another successful crafting weekend. It seems that now that I've truly commited to crafting and finishing at least one project a week I feel more whole. Crafting completes me. :)

My daughter and I did another project this weekend. It kept her busy while Dada studied. I am determined to make this part of our weekly routine. She really enjoys it and hopefully this will teach her to make art and crafts (or art and craps as she says) part of her life. We made Mousey and his Bed and while I was hesitant about the colors she picked and even tried to convince her otherwise (bad mommy). But she stuck to her guns and Mousey came out adorable. Next time, she does what she wants. She even came up with an idea for the bed. It is red (her favorite color) covered with a lot of yellow triangles that she cut out (cheese). Again I will have to post a picture. Note to self: Must invest in a digital camera!

Now at night lie (from right to left), Teddy, who has been squished into another doll's sleeping bag, by the wall; Mousey and his snazzy red sleeping bag in the middle and my little one curls up next to them. Must think of our next project for next weekend. If anyone happens upon this blog, any suggestions?

I am still working on the Quilt-A-Long week 2 block which is coming along very nicely considering it's my first (and if I finish it will have done 2 things this weekend! Woo hoo!). It's the hand sewing that takes time but I do it at night before going to bed and it's quite relaxing. And then more wonderful gifts to make on Sew Mama Sew's November Handmade Holiday gifts. I was already thinking of making aprons for a few chef-types, purses for bag lady-types, a few wallets and keychains for weathier-types, couple of crayon rolls for kids, 2 striped kitties (meow-meows) for my twin nieces, a bathmat for our own apt and then...I see the lovely kitchen sewing projects. Perfect for a couple of aunts. I think I will not be able to fully settle on my Christmas list and what I am going to make for whom until November 30th.

Happily crafting...

Monday, November 19, 2007

Embarking on craft adventures

Day One. I hope blogging gets easier as I am not sure exactly what to write...type. I wanted to start this mainly to track my own craft adventures. I have become an avid fan of many craft blogs in recent months and have been feeling so inspired. So a couple of months ago I decided to start knitting again.

Needless to say what I first did was go online and look for inspiration and then saw such beautiful and fun projects and then such gorgeous yarns and such interesting blogs then wanted to buy knitting pattern books and yarns and then started checking out eBay. And then in one moment of clarity I looked at my stash and decided to use what I have first (mainly so my husband doesn't freak out).

So I started working on a pair of navy knee high socks from Knitter's magazine Socks, Socks, Socks with some Patons Kroy sock yarn I had. I have made a pair of basic booties from this book before so I figured it would be a good place to start. So far I have worked through half of one sock but due to normal life obligations, that project sits at the bottom of my backpack, traveling with me day to day, yet to be completed. Hopefully with the Thanksgiving break I will have some extra time to dedicate to them.

This weekend I was so good. I did major cleaning of my closets and ended up with a pile of clothes to donate/ hand down and a few undonateable items that could possibly be useable in a future projects. I remembered having seen adorable owls on Craftster and thought it would be a great project to do with my 4-year-old daughter. She helped me pick out colors, cut fabric, stuff him, picked button eyes and found an excellent beak for it. But I have no sewing machine so the hand sewing made my daughter, Little Miss Impatient. Well "Owlie," as she has named him, came out absolutely, adorably cute. In fact, when she woke up the next morning and saw that Mama had finished sewing him up she was so happy that Owlie went to school with her today. <Picture to come> Definitely more Owlies in our future.

So now I am a crazy crafter planning my weeks ahead. Today I joined the crazymomquilts' Quilt-A-Long. I have always wanted to try quilting but have been a bit hesitant to do it totally on my own and figured this was a perfect way to do it. No pressure of being in a class, in the comfort of my own home and yet not totally alone. I think we will end up with many a quilt block pillow until I can commit to a full quilt. I also found another treasure, Sew, Mama, Sew! Handmade Holidays 30 Days of Gifts to Sew. I can assure you my daughter and I have a great few weekends ahead!