Simple Joys

Princess Eggwhites New Fashions!

Val's been working on some egg cozies. She's got another one in the making, but I wanted to post these since they were done and so-o-o-o adorable! 

Here is Princess Eggwhites with two adorable cozies to keep her warm.  She will be modeling them in this post to show you how wonderful her new ensemble looks.

The first one is crocheted.  It sort of looks like a crown for a very special egg - Princess Eggwhites!  Here she is wearing her cozy crown:

Her second ensemble is made of wool felt and covers her entirely to keep her extra warm and cozy.  She especially loves the brightly colored wool felt flowers that adorn her cozy - just in time for Spring!

We couldn't close the show without showing you the wonderful cotton fabric that lines this adorable cozy.

Stay tuned for more Princess Eggwhite fashions coming soon!

Cloth Paper Studio Challenge

I joined a challenge for February with the Yahoo group Cloth Paper Studio that I belong to.  The challenge was to create a collage with two colors that are randomly picked and assigned to you.  Some also chose to have a word selected for them to incorporate into their collages.  My two colors were caramel and rose.  Debbie the coordinator of the challenge sent me sample ribbon and paint chips which I incorporated into my collage.  It was my first time joining in on an art challenge of any sort.  It was fun.  I just gathered things that I felt went together with the color theme and . . . voila!  Here's my collage.  It's really simple, but I like the colors.

Clothespin Bags

Val made these adorable clothespin bags for the etsy shop.  She used a vintage pattern and cute fabric from her stash.  She added some vintage trim to a couple of them and all hang from vintage wooden hangers cut to size.  I love them!  Here's some pics:

Brooch Day!

   I have been kind of sick for over a week now.  I say kind of because I can't really pinpoint what's wrong.  I do have a scratchy irritating throat feeling, but not coughing anything up.  My sinuses are stuck, but nothing is running and I can breathe.  Well, I can sort of breathe.  I was actually having a hard time breathing today and I have been extrememly tired for over a week now.  After I used my inhaler in the afternoon though my breathing is better.  Okay, wait, this post is supposed to be about Brooch Day.  Boy, how did I start off on such a different topic - must be the strange illness!

Okay, so I've been home everyday, no exercising.  Today I decided to work on some brooches.  My girlfriend Val was saying that she needed a brooch to funk up a blouse she sewed.  I decided to finish up the loopy brooches to try and match her blouse (although I don't have the blouse with me so I'm relying on my memory - yikes!)

Here's pictures of the finished loopy brooches.

The button is a really light aqua blue color that I hope will match the blouse that I'm thinking of.

I actually crocheted this flower yesterday afternoon because I wanted to try the pattern out.  I finished today with the black button and attached it to the red cap.  My older daughter now likes the cap.  She said it made a huge difference.

Here it is one the cap.  I really need to get one of those foam heads.

Since the Ribbed Hat with the wonky stitches was originally intended for a guy, I wanted to make a flower to "feminize" it up a bit.  I made this bloom.  The colors are cool, but the style doesn't really match the hat.

Here it is on the hat.

Since I was on a roll, I decided to make a lace bracelet that I'd been wanting to make for about a week now.  When I was at Bella Beads last week Friday, I bought some connector things that I could put lace in.  I had intended on using a piece of lace that I did some silk embroidery on years ago.  I took a class from Creations By You and loved the lace, but never did anything with it.  I decided I would make the bracelet with it, but the components didn't fit.  I used another lace and here's the result

   

Here's a picture of the silk embroidered lace and the this lace.

I'm going to the shop tomorrow so I'll see if they have components to fit the embroidered lace.

While I was on a roll, I had seen a button bracelet in a book that I wanted to make.  I changed it up a little, but here's a picture of the one I made.  I'm curious to see how long it will last.  It's strung on ribbon and the ribbon is pretty delicate.  Sorry, the picture is indoors at night so it's really not that good.  And please excuse my skin!  Yikes!  I don't like seeing my skin zoomed in!

So I guess it was a Brooch and Bracelet Day!  It was fun!  Bye!

Val's creations

I went over to Val's house today to take pictures of her Mary Englebreitish fabric valentine postcards.  They are absolutely adorable!  So breit and cheery!  It was her first attempt at FME and I think they came out fabulous!  Take a look . . .

Here's the whole group.  They are being sent to people in her ME group who signed up for the valentine swap.  If you are in her swap I apologize if I'm ruining the surprise, but my readership is so tiny that I don't think any of you will see this.

Here's a front and back:

 

Here's a close up:

 

Here's a close up of another one:

 

She also showed me this crocheted magnet? that she made.  It is one of her first projects in crochet.  I think it's a bit big for a magnet, so I said, "Oh a potholder!"  It's still adorable!

Here it is next to a stepping stone.  See what I mean about the size?  Heh ... heh ... heh ...

Here's a close up:

And finally, she gave me a giftie!  It's a coaster that she made using this tutorial at Allsorts.  I love it!  Here's some pics:

She wrapped it in ME tissue and made this little card for the front.  It says, "A coaster for your cup of tea, A special gift fro you from ME!  Enjoy some quiet time.  She also included  a packet of Hawaiian Natural Tea.  So sweet!

Here's a photo of the front:

Here's a photo of the back:

I love it!  I'm drinking the tea right now as I'm typing this.  Thank you, Val!!  BFF!

Crafty Bucket - Finished!

Woo hoo!  I finished the crafty bucket!  It wasn't as simple as it looked on the tele.  Actually, I guess it would have been if I had an industrial machine that could sew through all the thickness!  I broke 2 needles making the bucket.  The instructions they give on how to figure out the measurements actually work!  So did the cardboard compass thingy to draw the circle!  The fact that the circle actually fit correctly amazed me.  I was going to use upholstery fabric like they said to, but Val and I went to Savers and she picked out this cool fabric for me.  I ironed interfacing onto it, but I think I should have used a stiffer one.  It still works okay though (I may have broke more needles too!)  I love the fabric!  Now . . . what to put in it . . . Here's a pic as promised!

Work in Progress

I saw a project today on Uncommon Threads.  It's a craft bucket made out of an old pair of jeans and fabric.  I learned something new.  They showed how to measure the opening on the bottom of the jean tube and create a circle to fit in it.  That creates the round bottom of the bucket.  They used a piece of cardboard as the compass to draw the circle.  It was pretty cool.  It looked pretty simple and made sense when I was watching it, but now I have to see if I can actually do it.  I want to add handles to mine.  Here's the link to the project page.

Here is a pic of my work in progress.  As you can see I haven't gotten very far.  I'll post a pic of the finished project soon - I hope!

Flower Power

Today I did a little bit of flinging (cleaning out the junk!)  I packed a box of craft items that I no longer foresee having any use for.  One of my daughter's volleyball team is going to have a swap meet sale soon so I was motivated to start decluttering.  OMG!  I have so much STUFF!  I think I have a sickness.  I'm pretty sure of it.

Anyway, here is a brooch I made with the crocheted loopy flower.  I added a fabric yoyo and a little red button to it.  I'm putting it in the etsy shop.  I feel happy when I look at it.  Yay.

Zipper Flower

My girlfriend Val and I saw a zipper flower at the Gap attached to a handbag or something.  Anyway, it was sold attached to the handbag.  We thought it was really cool, but didn't want to buy the bag.  They didn't sell it separately. We thought we could make one.  Then she googled and found this  which is exactly like the ones we saw attached to the handbag at the Gap!  They are so cool!  I love them.  I finally had some time to try to make one tonight.  Okay, mine is no where as cool as theirs, but it's my first attempt.  I'm pretty confident that I can make a nicer one with a longer zipper.  I just used what I had.  I think if I get a longer zipper or even a long strip of the diy zipper I can make one just like the $70 one!  I just can't spend that much on a flower no matter how cool it is.

Here's my very feeble first attempt at making one:

BTW my version cost me 5 cents.  I got the zipper on sale - 20 for a buck!

I "heart" red and white

I was browsing the blogs yestesrday and came across this. It just made me happy!  Then I went to this flickr group.  I am now in love with red and white.  Maybe it's left over from Christmas, or maybe it's in preparation for Valentines!  Anyhoo, I cut these out yesterday:

And started making these:

I'm not sure what I'll make with these yet.  Some ideas roaming around my little h i99ead:  a garland for next Christmas (yikes!), Valentine's garland, embellishment for Valentine cards, embellishments for tags or gift ties. . . anything else?

Then I remembered this bracelet and earring set I made a while ago:

I'm in love with red and white!  It's got me energized to create.  Yay!

Here's my current list of projects I want to get done:

~ Flower brooches (Simply Pretty)

~ Valentine and birthday cards (Simply Heartfelt)

~ make more jewelry for the etsy store

~ make tissue holders

~ crochet  pillow and attempt amigurumi animals (I'm going to try Myra!)

~ knit something, anything (may take you up on the Aloha Knitters group Barb!)

~ sew bags

That's about it for now - whew!

Purse Organizer

I finally made one!  My girlfriend Val showed me a picture of one of these a while ago (maybe actually a year ago).  My purse was so crowded that it was making me crazy!  Everytime I took out my wallet or checkbook, I had to rearrange everything to put it back in.  Yuck!  I finally go so irritated that I decidded to make one.  I checked out Crafster and a few other websites (So, so sorry but I can't remember the blogs that I checked out).  I just checked out Bella Dia and remembered that it was her blog that finally got me inspired again to make it.  Thank you! I finally decided to take the plunge and try one.  I am not skilled when it comes to sewing so it took me forever to make the first one.  Here' a picture of it:

I tried it out and it worked!  Yay!  I decided to make another one for Val for Christmas! 

Thought Keepers and Pincushions

I just put these in the shop.  These fabric pages are so cool!  Val made them!  I love them.  I wanted them, but she said, "No."  Can you believe it? 

Here's the Thought Keeper called "Wish Upon a Star."  Each one is fully decorated on the front and back.

   

This one is called "Hopes."

Here's one called "Dreams."

And last but definitely not least, here's "Sweet."

I also put a couple of my flower pincushions in too!

See the warm sun's rays on my pincushions?  Yup!  The sun's out!  Yay!  The sun is back in Hawaii and it feels great!  We still got a little drizzle here and there but it was a gorgeous day in Hawaii nei!

Some Finished Things

I know it's been a while since I posted.  I have been so busy!!  I will be leaving on a short trip so I won't be posting again until sometime mid-next-week.  We're going to Las Vegas and Utah (skiing - yay!) I can't wait to hit the slopes!

My daughter's birthday is tomorrow so I've also been busy with that.  We're having a birthday lumch with her class and I am picking up food from three different places.  I'm crazy.  I don't know why I did that.  My girlfriend is helping me though - she's picking up the cake and making the li hing pineapple.  Thanks Tammy!  I'm picking up the mochiko chicken and chili.  I made a seven layer taco dip and bought the bite size round tostitos (they're just the right size!)  I am also making rice and celery sticks and baby carrots with ranch dressing.  I was going to make potato/macaroni salad, but ran out of time and energy - sigh.  We put together a simple goodie bag with chocolate yan-yan, skittles and big hunk.  Tomorrow night we'll go to a restaurant to eat Japanese - yum!

Here's some things I finished last week:

The bento bag is finished - yay!  I'm thinking about making a few of these for the etsy shop.

 

Here's the pincushion we learned to make on the same day.  I'm also thinking about putting a few of these in the shop too.   My girlfriend Val picked out the fabric.  I love how the mottled lime green fabric, contrasts with the pink Japanese print, but picks up the subtle greens in it too. The button is a vintage button from my stash.

This is a little lap blanket/quilt that my daughter wanted me to sew for her before my trip.  She's been wanting a puppy fabric blanket for a while and the fabric finally came on Friday.  She's been taking it everywhere with her (bed, car, couch, wrapping the dog in it . . . )

Here's a close-up of the fabric.  Aren't the puppies cute?  The backing fabric has paw prints all over it.  I folded it over to the front (it's the brown edging) and stitched it down instead of using the binding.  I didn't have enough of the brown binding and she could't wait for her blanket.  It actually came out cuter I think with the paw print edging.

Until next week . . .

Japanese Bento Bag Class

Val and I went to our class today to make the Japanese Bento Bag.  It was so much fun!  We had a great day.  We didn't finish so we're going back next Thursday.  Since we only have a little more to go the instructor is also going to teach us a cute flower pincushion too!  Can't wait.  Here's a pic of my progress so far. 

The instructor taught us an easy way to do the flying geese.  You can't be too "anal" though if you use this method because she says it's not an "exact science" method.  If you want to place your triangles in certain areas (she calls these "fussy triangles") then she recommends using the traditional method.  We had to alter the pattern a bit because the dimensions she gave us to cut out our squares were a little too small.  We just adjusted and it came out fine.  The dark blue fabric are the handles and the sides of the bag.  The pieced rectangle is the body with a loop for a button closure.  It was so much fun!

Fabric Flowers

My younger daughter's volleyball team is going to Florida in June for a tournament.  We decided to make these fabric flowers to give the girls on the teams we play up there as a little "omiyage" (gift).  We're also thinking of little macadamia nut packs and perhaps some keychains or something else that we can get donated.  Each parent has to make 15 to give away and one in the team's colors for our own daughter.  The fabrics were generously donated by one of the mom's friend whose family manufactures clothes.  Here are some that I made and the various stages of making them.  We're also thinking of making some and selling them at our concession stand to fundraise for the trip. 

Breast Cancer Blocks by Val

My friend Val belongs to a Mary Engelbreit AOL group.  They decided to participate in the breast cancer quilt block thing.  Sorry I don't have a link because I'm not exactly sure which one it is (I tried to google it and found several).  I love the fabrics and the blocks she made.  Great job Val!  Here are the blocks she made and the little something extra she did with the scraps!

This is the first block I did and was the easiest.  The instructions were sent with the fabric from Sharon:

Here is the chrysanthemum block that looked easier to do than it really was:

And this is my "val" block that I did using the extra fabric that was left.  It's like a postage stamp block but with no design:

And finally, with the leftover leftovers, I made this fabric postcard as a thank you for Sharon.

Hope she likes it.  I loved the colors of the fabrics.  And what did YOU make this weekend???

Finally Made One!

I finally made myself a needlebook / case!  I have been wanting to make one for years!  I used Mary Engelbreit fabric.  The front piece is cut out of a collage type fabric and the back piece is pieced together from different fabrics.  I found the perfect button from the lot I got from ebay a couple of months ago.  The pages are wool felt.  I love it!  It's my perfect Valentine's Day present to myself!

 

I love the scottie - "Ain't he somethin'!?!"

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine Scottie!

I went to my friend Val's house yesterday and we did some crafty things while "talking story."  She was working on a Chinese New Year pincushion for Megan at Beetlegrass for a trade.  I saw some Valetine Scotties all cut out and asked her if mine was made.  It wasn't.  So I looked for one with my initial and decided to sew it up myself!  She got the idea from All Sorts I forgot, but I'll link it when I find out.  Val's scotties are done in a Mary Engelbreit theme / color.  ME loves scotties too!  Here's the finished Scottie!  Oops!  Our camera is out of batteries.  Will post the pic as soon as I can.

Please. . . if anyone knows who made something very similar to this scottie where we could have gotten the idea let me know.  I want to give credit and link it.  Thanks!    I finally found it!  It's All Sorts blog!  Yay!

I had to make a donation to Goodwill so we decided to check out the nearby quilt shop and bead shop.  We bought some fat quarters the quilt shop had on sale for $1.00 each!  I'll post the ones I got as soon as I get batteries for the camera. 

We went to the bead shop, but Val got hypoglycemic and had to each lunch so we left to eat at Ige's.  Mmmm!  I had the sparerib plate lunch and Val had the kalua pig and long rice plate lunch.  Yummy!  We went back to the bead shop after lunch and val bought some beads to make a "Chinese Bracelet" as she calls it for a friend from her Mary Engelbreit AOL group.  Jackie (her ME friend) has been making "signatures" for people in the group.  Val asked her to make some for me too even if I'm not in the group and she did!  The bracelet is a "thank you."  I'll post pics of the bracelet when Val sends me the pic.

My Creative Friend Val

My girlfriend Val is so creative!  She made this baby quilt for her son's friend's sister's baby.  The Curious George fabric was a Goodwill find a while ago.  She cut out squares of the pictures and put together this quilt with his name in letters blanket stitched on.  The back is a green fleece.  It is hand tied with brown embroidery floss.  The yellow box is a Curious George book set to go along with the quilt!  Isn't it adorable?

Here's a close up:

   

Val also is involved with a Mary Engelbreit online group.  They are a pretty active group but you have to be on AOL to be in the group.  I don't have AOL.  Some of them keep AOL just to stay with the group!  She made this pillow for a birthday swap. She painted the name with acrylic paints.  I love the vintage trim (she got the trim before they started to remake them).  Lucky Patti!

Cute Owl Fabric!

Okay.  I just had to get this!  I saw it on a couple blogs and I thought it was so cute.  Then my girlfriend Val had some so I got to see it in person.  I went to Ben Franklin Crafts today to buy some yarn and guess what I saw there . . . yup . . . the owl fabric!  Yay!

Almost finished!

My girls spend their own money on their presents to their school friends.  This year for Christmas, I decided to try to save my girls some money by sewing their presents.  Last year, my older daughter bought Jamba Juice cards for her friends which cost her $5.00 a present and she bought 20 presents.  I told her I could sew drawstring backpacks (which the girls all use to carry change of clothes for sports and dance) for $3.75.  She said she wanted to do that.  What I forgot is the time it would take to sew all of them!  Yikes!  Well, I guess that's what mom's are for.  Anyway, my younger daughter said she wanted to give them too even if they were more expensive than what she spent last year.  Out I went to get more fabric :)  Anyway, I am finishing up the last 7 today (32 in all) - Yay!  Here are some pics of what they look like and the fabrics used.