January 31, 2012

Contemplative pup



Ok so I don't think he's actually contemplating anything aside from when the heck I'm going to get ready and take him outside. I was actually trying to take pics of my latest finished project and he kept trying to sit on it or right in front of it. I can't post those pics until tomorrow after I give it to the intended recipient, who obviously reads my blog at the young age of 20 months. If you look closely at the pic below you can see a little sneaky peak :)

January 30, 2012

what I did this weekend...


You guessed it, I knit owls this weekend.  I went out and bought some more after work on Friday and then set to it when I got home.  The yellow one was a custom order, the pink/navy a gift, and the green a potential gift this week.  The little one is my favorite of them all.  He's only 2 inches tall and so light and soft.  I've never knit on needles that small (size 2s I believe, but they may be 3s...I can't find my needle gauge thingy...and I have 2...) but it was fun!  I bought the aqua yarn with plans of making some more headbands while testing a pattern I wrote and hope to sell on ravelry in the next month or so.  

Enjoy the cute phone pics I took and stay tuned for some other crafts soon!

he's only 2" tall!

sunshine owl

traffic light?

for sophie


January 26, 2012

Love puff

 So I've been sick the past few days and knitting helps me pass the time at home without wearing myself out. Last night I made a valentines owl puff. I knit a similar one in greens today but I need more eyes to complete it. Maybe David will take me to the store where gets home, because I'm too doped up on Benadryl to drive anywhere. 

 

Ps. Did y'all know poodle noses and paws are iPad compatible? Well, they are and Chuy let's me know it when he's tired of me playing on my iPad or phone...silly little pup!

January 25, 2012

Owl puffs


 My favorite kind of animal is a tiny knit one!  I love making these little guys. I've done bunny nuggets, monster chunks, and now owl puffs. First of all, the names are fun enough, then you see how cute they are!

One of my old co-workers, and one who still works with David, has a birthday today. Ginger loves all things crafty as much as I do so I wanted to make her something small and sweet.  I found the pattern on ravelry and fell in love. I can't wait to make more. I appreciate a kindred spirit who loves to make things to give to people, and Ginger is definitely one of those...plus she loves Jesus too!

Here's to cute owls and the amazing women in my life!

January 23, 2012

new project!

 I've been searching for some kind of jewelry hanger for my necklaces ever since we got married.  There seem to be many options out there for a counter top jewelry display, but not many at all to mount on the wall.  I wanted something fun but not ridiculous.  I eventually gave up and put 3 nails in the wall next to our medicine cabinet and hung my headbands and necklaces there...and groaned every time I saw it.

yay for blurry pics
I was perusing pinterest last week and saw a picture of a canvas with some hooks on the bottom that someone was selling on etsy.  It looked simple enough and I thought I can totally do that for my necklaces!

The next day we went to Michael's and I bought an 8x10 canvas and some smaller/longer ones for some other crafting experiments (see my mini hall makeover from the other day).  I had the soft gray fabric on hand already and picked the hooks up at Lowes.  I simply cut the fabric to be a few inches larger than the canvas, stretched it around and stapled with our little staple gun.  I then added 2 strips of thin white ribbon for a little pizzaz.  I was going to find a patterned fabric but decided that might be too much with necklaces hanging in front.  I like the simplicity the ribbon adds.  Fianlly I screwed 9 hooks in.  These were a mother to get in!  The first one was easy, then they started getting dumb.  I think some were screwed through a knot in the wood, and others through the layers where the corners are held together in the wood frame.  Needless to say, my fingers were sore after the final hook.

To hang it in our bathroom I simply put 2 nails in the wall and set the top of the frame on them. I figured it's not holding a lot and is very likely to get bumped where it is so no need for a more complex hanging device.
 
ribbon detail
I love how this turned out, as simple as it is, and I can't wait to figure something else out for all my hair flowers and bows.  They're about to fall off the ribbon I have them hanging on and I want more storage room so I can make more :)

Shiny tealy goodness


Here's my first decorating project post-Christmas.  This sad dark little mini hallway is just a nook between the guest bathroom and our craft/music room.  There's no direct light to it, no color, and no cheer.  It's been easily overlooked during the past year.  We did have a canvas we glued some stuff to on a church family retreat hanging here but neither of us liked it and so it came down without hesitation.

An old, sad, white mirror one of my old roommates bought in our dorm days had been sitting on the floor with the intention of being hung by the front door for a few months.  When I held it up in its planned place neither David or I liked it there.  We looked around and decided it could replace the old canvas thing in the little nook.

We got it hung and liked it but the colorless area still looked dead.  While getting a canvas for a jewelry holder (coming soon!) I picked up some long skinny ones to play with for this area.  I also bought some cup hooks and awesome turquoise spray paint.  


Skip ahead a day and Ta-da! The little splash of color did the trick perfectly!   I painted the canvas the same color as the mirror, then added 3 cup hooks and stapled on some white ribbon with sparkly silver dots for some added punch.  I originally thought about painting some fun design but decided the area needed something simpler...and sparklier :)


Now, I can't wait to start on some of my other projects around here...and see what else I can spray paint turquoise!

January 20, 2012

Button necklaces


In a last minute effort to make something cute that my cousin and her two pre-teen daughters would like, I created these. I found the bails at Michaels and thought a button might be fun.

I used each girl's favorite color. The big purple and green buttons are actually old buttons from our MeMaw. She has old tins full of old buttons that I get to raid. I loved getting to make something for her great granddaughters that held something old of hers.

I've since made one for myself with some awesome silvery black buttons and plan to make some more for my etsy shop soon. Do y'all like the buttons? Would anyone buy one of these?

January 19, 2012

I think I'm ready to get back in the swing of things!

Hello blog land!

I have been a bit absent from this area of my life the past month of so.  Life gets real busy for me in December with crafting, Christmas singing, family gatherings and this year a road trip to Georgia for a friend's wedding and more singing.

This made for nearly a week of laying around like a bum doing nothing but snuggling with my pup, watching netflix, reading on my ipad, and basically training to be a world-class sloth.  It was awesome.  At one point I was seriously wondering if I was pregnant because my energy was just zapped and I craved chips and salsa all the time.  ALL the time!  I'm not, don't get excited if you're one of those out there picketing for a baby Wall as soon as possible (coughsophiecough).

A few relaxing days at home with the hubs and getting back on my iron pills to combat some anemia have really been the best cure.  We finally got the Christmas tree and decor taken down and now I'm excited to decorate the apartment more and have a few craft projects waiting to be done and then documented here.  My goal this year is to really get better at putting my crafting ventures on here.  I mean I know Chuy the poodle is the cutest creature alive but there's only so many pictures I'm sure you want to see of him.  For every chuy post I hope to have a craft post.

On that note...here's a cute, blurry pic of Chuy playing with his dead raccoon stuffy...


I have two knit monsters at home waiting to have some eyes attached to their empty heads then stuffed.  Then I have to sew appendages on, which is where I really slow down, I hate finishing, so tedious.  Hopefully these will be done soon and photographed for your viewing pleasure.  Also hopefully soon because they were totally both intended as Christmas gifts....oops!

January 6, 2012

Road trip

We road tripped it to Augusta, Georgia the day after Christmas for our dear friend's wedding. It was a long but fun drive. Having 3 drivers really helped, but sitting on your butt for 19 hours can still get old. We had a fun time and David and I look forward to more road trips in the future :)