Disney Pixar Short Film Swap Part 1: Winson Hoop

Lately, I have been of participating in a few craft swaps, outside the ones from Bee Creative Swaps that I co-host. #disneypixarshortfilmswap, through Instagram, is the most current swap I completed. In this swap, I had to make a medium and small craft and include some extra goodies based on my partner's favorite Pixar shorts. Her favorite short and character is the adorable Boston Terrier dog named Winston in short Feast. As you can see from the picture below I based my whole swap package on it. I really enjoyed making the hoop, pearler bead magnets, and shrinky dink brooch all inspired by Feast. My partner got her package a few days ago and she absolutely loved everything she received and so did her dogs. I honestly wanted to keep everything for myself, but I knew they would be loved and treasured at their new home.

Here are my progress pictures of the Winston hoop I created:

My inspiration came from the Pixar short film Feast, but also from these pictures.

I always start with a sketch. 

Using my sketch as a pattern and cutting out my felt pieces. 

Embroidery work on felt dog.

Gluing the pieces together.

Working on the collar.

Gluing felt dog and collar onto hoop. 

Finished attaching dog tag to hoop. 

Sewed snack buttons (I got the buttons on BitsyNest, a shop on Etsy. Michael's use to have them but they don't stock them anymore) and glued background fabric to hoop.

Covered the back of the hoop with felt and embroidered my initials and date, which I always do, and the hashtag for the swap. 

The completed hoop!

Keep an eye out for Disney Pixar Short Film Swap Part 2 post, where I will share progress pictures of the snack food magnets and Winston brooch. 

The Big Wedding Embroidery Hoop

I made a 12 inch custom embroidery hoop as a wedding gift for my friends, Kevin and Becky. I told Becky I would embroider any saying she would like. Kevin has children from a previous marriage and Becky the wonderful step mom she is wanted her hoop to say, “Today we became a Family.” Her choice of words were perfect for what her wedding date would signify, not only to her and Kevin but the children too. Becky treats the kids like they’re her own.

Making this wedding gift brought me some challenges. One, I had never worked on a hoop this large. Secondly, embroidering on burlap was a new material I hadn’t embroidered on before. Lastly, I tried out a new stitch, stem stitch. I chose to use burlap and lace to reflect the theme of the wedding.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to complete the hoop by the wedding date. I wanted it to be displayed at the wedding reception but I didn’t master the stem stitch until I got to family. I seamed ripped the other words and re-stitched them. I knew this gift would be greatly cherished. I wanted it to look professionally made and stitched with love.

I gave Becky her custom hoop on Sunday and she loved it! It almost made her cry.

Fire Wife Necklace For Bride To Be

I went to a bridal shower last weekend and this is what I made for Becky, the bride to be. Becky is marrying a coworker of my firefighter named Kevin. Her gift included a heart trinket box, a fire wife necklace, and a gift card to Victoria’s Secret. I stained a wooden heart box and wrote on it with a white paint pen, inspired by a DIY tutorial. I embroidered Fire Wife onto a charm for a necklace and attached a fire truck charm to it.

Becky absolutely loved her gift. She can’t wait to wear it when she officially becomes the wife of a fireman. I can’t wait to make a Fire Wife necklace for myself too!

Day 9 of Creative Christmas: Embroidered Oven Mitt

This oven mitt with a picture of three snowmen sledding together went to my sister Aurelia and her husband Steven for Christmas. I embroidered the names of my sister’s family, Steven, Aurelia, & Isaac, above the heads of each snowman, made French knots over some of the falling snow, and sewed miniature buttons on each snowman.

I had this oven mitt left over from a year when I made cookies and gave them to some clients of mine; I was doing freelance work for. I original wanted to make my sister and her husband a family monster ornament to match Isaac’s little monster scrapbook but I ran out of time, especially since I had to mail their package to Spain, where my brother-in-law is stationed. When I found the snowmen oven mitt with daddy, mommy, and baby snowmen on it I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. Though not much work was involved embroidery it, I love how it turned out.

I added some of my homemade pretzels dipped in chocolate in the pocket of the oven mitt for them to enjoy. The oven mitt was the last item I needed before shipping my sister’s package to Spain. Everything in their Christmas package was homemade, the personalized Dr. Seuss blanket, the little monster scrapbook, and the embroidered oven mitt. I haven’t spoken to my sister yet but I have a good feeling they loved their gifts. She is a crafter like me by the way.

Stitch & Send

Wild Olive by Mollie is a blog I really enjoy reading. By reading her blog you can tell Mollie is a sweet and caring person and a stitching diva. In February, I participate in a Stitch Swap she was having on her blog. In October, Mollie posted about another stitch swap with a twist. Mollie called it a Stitch & Send. This time I would be making an embroidered patch and in return I would receive the wonderful feeling of making something for someone who is less fortunate.

I send my patch last week to Richmond, Virginia. I embroidered a little blue cloud raining on three smiling shaped flowers (flowers inspired by Mollie’s sketch). The flowers’ roots spell out Made With Love. The outer flowers, which are smaller than the taller one in the middle, are extending their pedals up towards the cloud.

Abbie, from Abbie Living, will sew the patches onto totes bags. The tote bags will be filled with donated toiletries and other living essentials for seniors, homeless, and families in need of Richmond, Virginia for Thanksgiving. The organization that puts this together is called The Giving Heart and I’m glad to be a part of it, even if just a little.

Completed Project: Embroidered Notebook

When it’s my turn to host book club, I like to include a craft project for my Bookies (my book club members) to do, other than reading the book I choose. My craft project was to decorate a notebook. Christi, my friend and a fellow Bookie, inspired the idea, after seeing all the wonderful notebooks she decorated for our craft show in September. If you click here you’ll see in the pictures some of the notebooks she made on a table. When decorating my notebook, I first wanted to cover it with an old pair of jeans and include pockets to insert pencils. When I started looking at the jeans and thinking of all the work it would entail I changed my mind. Instead, I took out some of my old Urban Outfitters catalogs from years ago. Note: this drives my fireman crazy because I have so many magazines I never use. I keep them because I know one day I will use them. Like this! I love Urban Outfitters’ photographers because they have an artistic yet elegant way of taking pictures of their products, using color filters, over lapping, and other cool techniques photographers use to make photos look different.

Many pages catch my eye, the one I used for this notebook in particular. It literally spoke to me. “Life is a quilt. Each day a unique square but together they fit perfectly,” it said. I’m not sure if the saying makes sense. I don’t consider myself a poet of words; I express myself more through my artwork. Plus, my grammar, sentence structure… my writing skills in general aren’t great. Thank goodness for spell check. I embroidered the saying on the page. I thought to myself, “What would I use this notebook for?” It would be my journal and those words would be what I would want to read before I meet my pencil to those pages inside, to write about my square, my day that day. To remind me no one day in my life is going to be the same as the other. Each day is completely different, unique, even if slightly. Though some days will be good, bad, and the ones in between. We sometimes think, life sucks; life is joyful (I hope to experience more of those days), etc. Life is life. Before I would wish some of the days I’ve lived would have been different. I now think…I wouldn’t change a thing. This is my life. My squares have molded me to the person I’m becoming, the person I am! Yes, “Life is a quilt. Each day a unique square but together they fit perfectly.” Together they make my life; they make me! I want this journal to remind me of that. When my days have me down or when I read this journal as an older me, I want to say, “Life wasn’t that bad.”

If you’re wondering what the confetti like squares (actually tissue paper) mean on the notebook, they’re my future squares waiting to be sewn, I mean lived. I covered the inside of the notebook with pages from Urban Outfitters’ catalog pages too and the back with blue cardstock paper.

I can’t wait to see how The Bookies decorate their notebooks. I will take pictures of their notebooks to share with you.

Sneak Peek at Craft Show Items

There’s a sneak peek at some of the items I’ve made for my first craft show, which is titled, “Out of the Dust.” It’s an African themed craft show. These six little animal nursery hoops are my favorite items I will be selling at the craft show. I hand embroidered the animal printed fabric and painted each frame to match the embroidery design of each hoop. No embroidered hoop is the same. Each embroidered hoop has its own unique landscape. I wish I could keep them all. I am keeping the little red elephant with water coming out of its trunk, to some day display in my future baby’s room.

The Princess Sleeps Here

One of my old co-workers, Josh, who joined the Navy, had a beautiful baby girl named Rileigh. His wife, baby Rileigh, and him came home to visit family and friends, from South Carolina where he is stationed. I got to see Rileigh last week for the first time at a get together the Buetows planned at Red Robin for friends. Not only was I excited to see their beautiful baby girl that looks just like her daddy, I was able to give Rileigh her belated baby shower gift.

The Buetows had mentioned they would visit in July so I had decided not to mail their baby gift, which I knew would take me a long time to complete, especially since I had just started my Phlebotomy class. I also wanted to see their reaction when they opened Rileigh’s gift. While shopping for cross stitch kits last year on eBay, I saw numerous adorable cross stitch kits for babies and said to myself, "I want one to display in my futures baby room one day." While trying to decide on what to get the Buetow for their baby shower, I realized a personalize cross stitch would be perfect. No store bought gift they might get two of, but something made from the heart with love, and lots of patience.

I found a cute cross stitch kit by Dimensions on eBay that says, “The Princess Sleeps Here” with a banner at the bottom to embroider Rileigh’s name. I’ve never done a cross stitch this big, 5” x 7”, and this time consuming. I love the way the words change color like a rainbow, which is what took so much time. All in all, all the time put into the cross stitch was well worth it. I know it will be displayed in Rileigh’s room for many years. I found the crochet flower doll at an antique store called Carriage House. Once I saw the doll, I knew I was meant to find it for Rileigh. The doll’s pedals match the cross stitch perfectly. Embroidering Rileigh’s name on the doll was a given. I love embroidery people’s names on stuffed toys I get for them. When Brettany, Josh’s wife, opened Rileigh’s gift she asked me if Rileigh’s name was already embroidered on it. Her comment made me feel good. Of course, I told her I did it. I’m glad my embroidery skills are decent for her to think it was store bought. The Buetows were very thankful for Rileigh’s homemade gifts. I can’t wait to see pictures of Rileigh when she's big enough to hold her little flower doll.

When it’s my turn to have a little one, I hope someone too makes something as special as I did for Rileigh for my little boy or girl.

Fancy Owl for Stitch Swap

One of my blog followers (hint, hint – Debbie) told me the other day that she keeps looking at my blog awaiting for pictures of my “Fancy Owl” which I embroidered for the Wild Olive Stitch Swap. The wait is over. Here is she!  

I hope my swapee likes it. Her motifs were owls. I designed the owl myself. 

I’m so proud of my little “Fancy Owl” embroidery with its bottom eyes, pearl (beads) necklace, and lace frame. I hated to see her go but I know she will be loved in her new home. Click here, and take a look at all the other wonderfully done stitch swap hoops. One of them out there is for me. I just know it. I’m so excited. I love happy mail.