Birthday Gifts for a Friend...

Okay, since the party is in just a few hours, I can pretty safely share these projects without the recipient (Hi Becky) seeing them. If I had posted earlier and said, don't look, I'm pretty confident she'd go ahead and look! When I said I was busy earlier, with not much to show for it, these are the reasons why.

Becky is a big fan of owls and, even before I asked her for ideas for a birthday gift she might like, I already had a plan in mind. She just confirmed what I was already thinking. Don't you love it when that happens?

Since I'm currently having a love fest with my Cricut I looked for owl images and wasn't disappointed. This owl is from the Cindy Loo cartridge.

Not much to explain as it is pretty straightforward. The only thing I might change, if I could, is the background paper. Unfortunately, I didn't have any other paper that would work well. 

I loved this foil accented paper in the Amber Autumn stack.

I'm really pleased with the end result of this little project.

*Ü*

Here is another owl, a squishier kind.

His name is Rupert.

(or whatever name Becky decides)

 The pictures don't really do him justice.

He is rather cute, dare I say a smidge elegant, in real life.

That's a really royal looking purple yarn. And a bit of dark green and tan.

What I really liked about this pattern is its unique design.

I hadn't done an amigurumi piece using double crochets before.

 And the "ears" are adorable!

I found the pattern here on Etsy. 

If the link doesn't work, type in Rupert the Owl and the listing will show up.

He came out larger than the sample shows, mostly likely because I used worsted weight yarn, and possibly, a larger crochet hook. That just means there's more to love, right?

I also asked Becky what ideas she had for her daughter, Julia, whose party we are attending.

Julia loves Hello Kitty.

Well, kitties of any persuasion, but Hello Kitty in particular.

So, I looked for a kitty image to use in my Cricut.

The one I found is not quite there, but close enough,  think.

Somehow, I don't think Julia will object.

And I lucked out when I searched for Hello Kitty crochet patterns. I found one here, that turned into this:

Bumblebee Hello Kitty!

 Complete with wings!

Isn't she a cutie bee?

The blogger translated the pattern from a Japanese one. She did okay, but hadn't tested it before posting. Luckily for me, I have enough crochet experience under my belt that I was able to adjust for a few errors in the translation. 

And, the pattern called for a crocheted ladybug, which I made, 

But the consensus was it was too big!

I had a some ladybug buttons in my stash that I was able to use instead.

I didn't realize when I started that Hello Kitty has a yellow nose. I thought it was black. But, thankfully I learned the real nose color before I used that color. LOL I'm hoping Julia will be happy with her kitty.

So, this is what I was busy with earlier this week!

Amy's team won their game today...yay!

Hope your weekend is going well.

Thanks so much for stopping by!