Liquid Paper

Complimentary Monkey

This is Søren’s monkey. Søren is 14 months old and his parents call him their “Complimentary Monkey” (there is a song that goes with it), ergo the title of my post. The monkey impersonation that Søren does inspired me to make him this little monkey. It goes something like this: Søren squats down and cocks his head to one side and places his little fist on his hip while he wiggles his elbow back and forth and makes the “ooh-ooh” monkey sound. (I also made it because I couldn’t go another week without working on a project!)

I used the same craft book for this monkey as I did for the bird in this post. (isbn 1003959887) This monkey is very tiny – just 3 inches tall. His mouth got a little wonky but I had to sew everything on really well so that Soren wouldn’t be able to yank his limbs and such off.

My favorite part of this project was making his little bandana – it makes him look so cool, don’t you think? These pictures were taken in downtown Oxford, Ohio where we are now located, at least for the next 5 days.

Are You Bored?

I'm on vacation right now so my posts will be fairly intermittent. In the meantime, you might want to check out my Crafts,etc. photo album. There you'll find pictures of all my Teensy Pins as well as a few of my other craft projects that I've actually finished. Now I’m off to get some coffee and croissants!

Sarah and Anna

This week I got to spend some quality craft time with my nieces Sarah (8) and Anna (6) in Minnesota. These girls amazed me with their sewing abilities! Sarah used a pattern from Martha Stewart Kids to create this adorable puppy out of socks. Anna and I each made a little bird using a pattern that we found in a Japanese craft book. They did almost all of the sewing themselves and chose all of the fabric and embellishments too!

This is Sarah's puppy – isn't it the cutest thing ever! I just love how sweet it looks.

This is Anna's little bird – I love how cute and colorful (and soft) it is. It was also Anna’s idea to place it on this little nest of yarn for me to take it's picture!

And finally, I made this little bird for my new niece. Today my sister and my step mom will travel to Ethiopia to go and get little Ruthie and bring home to her new family!

If you could... will you please pray for a safe, quick and smooth trip for all of them. And that her husband and six little (and some not so little) ones at home will have safe, quick and smooth week too. Thank you so much!

Home On The Range

Yesterday I finished June’s "Home on the Range" themed apron for Tie One On. I used a vintage pillowcase that I picked up at a thrift store. The little deer is made of wool felt and hand stitched onto the pocket. If only making skirts were as easy as making aprons!

Pashupatina!

It finally arrived... my necklace from Pashupatina. Maybe I shouldn't obsess over a necklace (or at least not admit to it) but ever since I found Natalie's site I've been waiting for her to add more inventory. After asking her to add my name to her e-mail updates list and checking her site about twice a day anyway, I noticed that she was uploading new images with a "coming soon" banner. Ah-ha! A couple of days later when I received the e-mail from her saying that they were now for sale it only took me about two seconds to scramble over to her site and choose the one I wanted.

I really, really love her work so please bear with me a little while I show-and-tell. I promise not to be too unbearable and limit it to just one picture okay? The necklace has about four agate beads, one pearl, copper leaf and other glass vintage beads. *sigh of contentment*

A Friendlier Project

I'll give you one guess what this is for! I've already abandoned the skirt-that-fights-with-me for this nice little deer and a much more Laurie friendly project.

WANTED: Someone in the Houston area interested in giving a frustrated would-be skirt maker and wearer a sewing lesson. I can even come to you... I'll be in Minneapolis, MN | Wheaton, IL | Oxford, OH | Reading, PA this summer traveling with my husband while he teaches. I can offer Teensy pins and matching pincushions in exchange. Not to mention my sanity. You think I'm kidding, don't you? Ha!

Mod Dots Pincushions

I finally got the last of the Teensy pins packaged and ready to go the post office today. Phew! Now maybe I can finish the skirt I've had in mind to make. I've been inspired by the unbearable Houston heat and adorable summer skirts that Tania, Angry Chicken and Thimble have made. (I know there are more but I can't remember where I saw them, so if you made one and posted a picture on your blog please let me know about it!) I've made a couple of skirts in the past but it's been a while since the last one. Unfortunately, I'm too stubborn to properly follow any pattern or instructions so we'll see how my version turns out. My attempts at clothing are always an interesting mix of chaos and futile perfectionism so I’ll be sure to post the results for your amusement.

Here are the Mod Dots pincushions I made to send with the Teensy pin swaps.

Teensies by Request

This week I completed my last batch of Teensy pins for my swaps. Here are a few new ones:

Someone's (you know who you are!) puppies:

Here is one of Joleen's favorite things (I love the smirky smile on this little raindrop):

And last but not least... a whole choir of owls:

Too Much Good Stuff?

Can you get too much good stuff in the mail? If so... then I've done it! The only thing I regret is that I can open each of my packages just once for the very first time. I’m addicted. Thank you to everyone!

Here are some of my favorites:

Nicole sent me this adorable drawstring pouch that she made with all of these goodies inside. I absolutely love everything!

Jenn completely spoiled my with all of these vintage buttons, fabrics (only a few a which are pictured here), trims and adorable vintage cards.

The next package to arrive was a huge assortment of fabrics from Katie. She sent me so many that I had a tough time picking which ones to photograph. Here are just a few of my favorites as well as some the buttons and a coupon for her shop! Hmm... I guess that means more goodies for me.

Look at this handmade felt and crochet garland from Debbie. All of these colors are going to look great in my office/craft room. I can't wait to finish organizing it. And... a pink crocheted little needles case (pictured center) snaps closed for easy carrying.

I was the last person to get in on Amy Ruppel's "Hello Summer" online sale last month. Her paintings are made from resin and wax. Mine is titled so i says...

And last but definitely not least is my Little Small Clothesepin Peep: Aunt Lucy from The Small Object. Her packaging alone is worth placing an order!

Light and Shadow

The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them
which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Matthew 4:6

The Texas sun is brutal. Yesterday afternoon as it scorched the front of the our house it cast a unique shadow into the dining room and I couldn't resist snapping a few shots to see how they would come out. Another benefit of my intermittent gardening is that our front bushes grow up very tall and wild and a few stems stretch out from the mass of branches to find the sun. The effect of their shadow on the curtains reminded me of the Until Dawn Curtain by Tord Boontje. As for the quality of the image itself, I'm not sure that the effect translates very well as a photograph but it will help me to remember the moment.