Birthday Cards

I thought I’d share the birthday cards I made for the gifts I gave on Sunday.

My friend and her daughter have their birthdays 5 days apart, so for now they celebrate together.

For our Hello Kitty loving girl, her mom loaned me her Hello Kitty Sizzix die.

The pattern paper is Sweet Nectar from K & Co. As you can see I added some Martha Stewart glitter. The sentiment is from CTMH.  

You may or may not remember the Angry Bird cupcake holder I made for a friend’s birthday back in September.  Well, our Hello Kitty friend is his sister and when she saw his Angry Bird cupcake holder, she wondered why she never got something like that. Well, that comment was noted and remembered and this is my finagled Hello Kitty-ish version of the cupcake holder (from the Sweet Tooth Boxes Cricut cartridge). I reduced the size by an inch or so. Inside we put a package of pink Tic Tacs (which were found by Jessica at the checkout counter. She has always had eagle eyes. Hee, hee.  Our friend seemed very happy with her own personal kitty. Yay!

And for her mom? I was inspired by a card made by my friend Barb here at The Buzz. In fact, I am the very, very lucky recipient of the card she shared in that post. It’s even better looking in person, I must say!

Anyway, Barb has been so kind and sweet to answer my many questions recently and with her  tips I was able to complete this card:

I learned how she adds the ink (Tim Holtz distress ink) to the image before taking it out of the Nestability. The ink I used is Antique Linen, I believe. And you can certainly tell that I spritzed the card with Shimmer (maybe I overdid it just a tad?  Nah…) The image is from Meljen Designs and is colored with Prismacolor and Koh-i-Noor pencils and odorless mineral spirits. The paper is from DCWV matstack, Autumn Splendor from last year. It’s the paper stack, not the cardstock stack.

Here’s another angle where you can see the glitter I added better. You can find the image here at Meljen’s Designs. They are so fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Few More Crochet Hats…

Jessica’s teacher told me that her son loves the owl hat I made for him. I guess he has, up to now, refused to wear any hats, but once he got the owl hat, he wears it all the time. Yay! She asked if I’d be willing  to make a couple more. Of course, I said yes.

Here’s the second owl hat…

I just changed the accent color and when I braided the tails, I grouped all of the same color together.

For the next hat, I kind of wanted to try a different style altogether and I hoped it would work out okay with her son. What do you think? Would a 2 year old like to wear something like this?? LOL

I just couldn’t resist this hat. I got the pattern from the same gal who shared the owl pattern. You can find it here. She says she hasn’t tested the pattern except on her own kids, but I went ahead and tried it anyway. I didn’t have any issues and it fit Jessica okay, so it should be fine (I made it the same size I made the owl hat). I got the yarn at Michaels. It’s the one she recommended and it sure is soft.  And thankfully, I had plenty of black buttons in my stash.

The teacher was in a meeting when I brought the hats to give to her today, so I just left them on her desk with a note. It’s nice to leave a happy surprise.

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are having a great day.

Crocheting Behind the Scenes…for Birthdays

I kind of dropped off the radar again for a bit. I’ve been crafty, but haven’t been able to share what I’ve been making because they were gifts and I didn’t want to spoil the surprise. But, yesterday, the gifts were given to their recipients, so sharing is what I aim to do! Be warned this is a long photo heavy post.

First up, one of our little friends loves Hello Kitty. Although this year, it appears that Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) of Disney Princess fame is carving out a niche in our friend’s heart. But Hello Kitty is still a love. Whew…because there was still a good chance she would like this little purse I crocheted…

It is so hard to photograph white, sorry. But, I think you get the idea. I found the pattern here. This was actually crocheted well over a month ago (yay, I was ahead of the game and not crocheting at the last minute). I liked the bit of gingham for the lining. Jessica picked out a little Princess cell phone lip gloss to tuck into the purse, thereby acknowledging both loves of her friend.  Our friend seemed very happy with her little purse.

Actually I was ahead of the game for all the projects I’m sharing today…yes there’s more…LOL

Next up…the recipient of the next items has an affinity for owls. And this year, more than any other, it seems that owls have exploded on the scene. Not just owls, really, really cute owls.

I was wandering Michaels one day, (if memory serves, the same day I got the book for Jessica’s doll dress that I knitted for her birthday) and I impulsively picked up one of those booklets they have in the yarn section that promotes the yarn behind the booklet. In this case, I came across this booklet and thumbed through the pages, not expecting anything at all. And I flipped past this next project and I was smitten…

Oh my goodness, it’s a Christmas tree ornament and it’s knitted! I guess I can knit a little bit.  I am really tickled with the end result of this little impulse buy. I love the eyes and lo and behold, I found those wooden looking buttons….in my stash. Don’tcha just love it when that happens?? There are other projects in this booklet that might find their way on my hooks/needles. I’ll share if that happens.

And finally, I have been SO itching to share this last gift. Yes, my friend got totally spoiled because of the plethora of really cute owl items out there this year. I just couldn’t help myself. See if you agree that I couldn’t resist this pattern when I came across it on Pinterest…

Isn’t this neat? As I said I found the idea on Pinterest and that led to the purchase of the pattern here. You have to check out this crafter’s Etsy page! My goodness, such cuteness!

I was initially drawn by the owl blanket/afghan, but didn’t think I would have time to get that made. But this tote sucked me in, big time! I substituted the yarn though. The pattern calls for 100% cotton yarn, which I don’t have in my stash anymore and there were 16 colors…sorry, too many for me to pick up for a project, so I went through my yarn and had enough Super Saver type yarns for the owls. I did pick up the brown (Michaels Loops and Threads brand) and found a pretty turquoise color at the second hand store-love the serendipity of that one.

Again, this was crocheted well ahead of time and about 2 weeks ago I went to Joann’s to find a fabric for the lining. Not having made something like this before I asked the gal at the fabric cut counter for help and she immediately told me to look for this owl fabric in the nursery section of fabric. Nursery section? What a great idea for decor for a nursery. I was so pleased at how perfectly it fit with the tote.  And the gal who helped me so loved the tote, I took her email address and sent her the information on where to get the pattern. Love sharing like that!

So, for weeks now I have been itching to share these projects with you. And I’ve also been resisting other owl items I’ve seen every where I go. And now I finally have. Hope you enjoy!

Thanks for reading if you got this far.

On this Veteran’s Day weekend I salute those in uniform who fight for our freedoms. You deserve all the honors coming your way. Thank you for your service and sacrifices on our behalf.

 

Hope you have a wonderful start to your week! Thanks so much for stopping by.

Pinterest Inspired Project

I found a crochet project on Pinterest and wanted to make it asap for the teacher we know who is going to have a baby in January. I’m very happy at how it came out and the teacher loved it. Yay!

 

Didn’t it come out cute? I know I’ve seen these types of hats around, but I hadn’t researched how to get the pattern. When I clicked to the blog where this pattern was shared and it was free, well, I just had to use it! The blog is Repeat Crafter Me and here is where you can find the pattern.  You should check out the blog. Sarah is very talented and shares great ideas. In fact, I started following her blog in Reader, I liked it so much.

This hat didn’t take long at all to make either. I was almost done in one session sitting in the van waiting to pick up Jessica. I didn’t finish only because I took just the brown and blue yarn and couldn’t crochet the other pieces because I didn’t have the yarn with me. LOL

I don’t know how long the baby might even be able to wear this, but part of the appeal of this hat is its smaller size. Sarah has larger sizes posted, too, so I will try some of those as well.  Thanks for the inspiration, Sarah!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great night!

Happy Halloween!

Well, goodness, I’ve wanted to share this  for days and for one reason or another didn’t get to do so. Guess today is better late than never, right?

My friend, Barb, over at The Buzz has been charming me with her cards featuring Meljens digital images. (You can find her shop here). Barb does a fantastic job coloring with her Copic markers and recently posted how she adds glitter to her cards in this post. This card is completely inspired by Barb’s excellent work. Thanks for sharing and inspiring, Barb!

I used that super cute Haunted Manor paper from Doodlebug. Now, you all know I don’t have many markers and am much more comfortable with colored pencils and odorless mineral spirits. That’s what I used to color in this card. It was a fun image to color. I added the background using chalk and a small pom-pom.  I have to admit though, I think Barb’s skills in creating backgrounds way exceed mine. *Ü*

Next up is a little project Jessica and I worked on together for her class.  

Jessica did a great job stamping the “happy, happy, happy” and “halloween” from CTMH’s Seasonal Thoughts stamp set. She had to practice a little though to get the right touch. As you can see, witches were a part of the project. I found that stamp, a wooden one (gasp) at Michaels last Halloween in their dollar bin. Didn’t use it last year, but it sure came in handy this year. 

Here’s what we (okay, I mostly) made. 

Are these not super cute? I got the idea from Diana Gibbs blog here.  And I happened to have a brown Sharpie marker in my stash. You can see a bit of the Tootsie Pop peeking through. Very fun.

And here’s a funny shot of Amy pulling out pumpkin guts last night.  LOL

Happy Halloween to you and yours. Hope you have a fun and safe time trick or treating or celebrating in your own special way. Thanks for stopping by!

Halloween Printer’s Tray

Oh my, did I have fun this afternoon! I’m probably the last person to pay attention to this idea, but better late than never. I decorated a 7 Gypsies Printer’s Tray with Doodlebug’s Haunted Manor paper and a bunch of fun embellishments. Check it out!

I’m very happy with the final result. I bought the tray a month or so ago, but haven’t been able to play. I knew for sure I wanted to use Doodlebug papers and today, everything kind of just fell into place. In addition to the 6x6 pad of Haunted Manor paper and Doodle Twine, I bought a sheet of die cuts and added them here and there. Some have pop dots and others don’t. I also found some goodies at Michaels, the sequin kitty, the owl (these two are ornaments), the bat and the “bottles” of scary stuff. The buttons were in my stash and the blingy spiderweb/spider is from Michaels last year. I  thought it would be fun to try to make a very small rosette. I cut three 6 inch strips 3/4 of an inch wide  and scored them at 1/2 inch intervals. I tried with two strips, but I couldn’t get it to lay flat. The brad on the rosette and the candy corn brad are from Hobby Lobby. I was tickled to add the googly eyes as well. All in all, this is the type of Halloween I like, cute and fun! Thanks, Doodlebug for the great paper that inspired me!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Hope you are getting into the festive spirit and are having a great week.

Happy Birthday, Jessica…the Big 1-0

And now I can reveal why I haven’t had much crafty stuff to share the past week or so…I’ve been getting ready for Miss Jessica’s 10th birthday party. Screeech…what? There is no way that she is 10 years old. In fact, Steve kept telling her that we weren’t going to have a party after all so she would stay nine. She was on to that idea. She knew that wouldn’t stop her turning 10. Darn.

Warning…picture heavy post coming up…click on pictures to enlarge

Here’s the birthday girl this morning.

  

She’s wearing a necklace my friend made and sent to her for her birthday.

And this is the main reason I haven’t posted. I know I said I wasn’t much of a knitter, but when Jessica found this book in Michaels several weeks ago, she pleaded ever so prettily about my getting it. Of course I told her no, we weren’t there to get that in my mean mom voice.

Obviously, I knew I was going back without her to pick it up and to work on a project for either her birthday or Christmas, depending on if I could actually create a project. It is knitting after all and I’m not much of one.

So…I’ve spent several school hours working on the purple dress you see on the cover and I managed to finish on Friday.  Ta-da! Oh and a time or two I left a piece out and had to finagle a way to hide it so she wouldn’t notice.

 

I had one happy 10 year old when I came out with Jessica Anne wearing the dress. Yay, mom says with a fist pump. Guess maybe smaller projects are okay.

The theme of our party was Pirate, inspired by the tv show, Jake and the Never Land Pirates. Jess enjoys watching it in the morning before school.

 

Here is the cake table. Thanks so much to my friend, Susi, who graciously loaned us the candelabra, chest AND jewels to set the mood.

 

 

The girl pirate on the show is Izzy and we made these little bottles of pixie dust for the girls who attended. Izzy wears a pouch full of pixie dust to help the fellow pirates out on occasion.

 

The cake is my take of the idea shown on the Family Fun website here. Thanks to Susi’s kids for loaning us the mini figure pirates and cannon.

 

I knew the cake wouldn’t feed everyone, so we made some simple cupcakes, too .

A couple of more shots of the cake. It is reminiscent of Bucky, the ship in the Jake and the Never Land Pirates show. Jessica colored the sails and Amy added the Rolo candy for the Crow’s Nest. I personally liked the plank on the back end. LOL Anyone remember rootbeer candy? Or am I totally aging myself? We added some to the cake because they make great barrels. I ate one and was instantly transported back to when I was growing up.

 

Our pirate girl ready to par-tay. I found that shirt at the thrift store yesterday by a totally serendipitous fluke. The hat, too only we added the skull to it.

  

Some of the decor. I found some great pirate themed party supplies at Hobby Lobby and took full advantage of their 40% off coupons. The die cuts on the window are cut from my Cricut using Life’s a Party. My friend, Felicia graciously loaned me that cartridge. Thanks, sweetie! I need to take a picture of the front door where we had a map and the phrase pirate party.

 

Playing a game where you drop a penny into the water. At the bottom is a small bowl or shot glass that you are trying to get the penny into. The kids seemed to like it.

 

Birthday girl looking pretty happy.

 

We also played the same dice game that we played at Amy’s party and the Cookie game as well.  This  young man sure likes this game! He’s pretty good, too.

 

And after the party, Jessica had a great time putting together one of the gifts she received.

Oh and the cake…

Destroyed…but in the best way. Yay!

Whew, I’m pooped, but happy to have another party under the belt and a happy 10 year old.

Thanks for stopping by and reading this, if you even got this far!

Hope you had a fun weekend and are ready for a brand new week.