Sunday, February 28, 2010

Last Day of the Month!!!! ...Matryoshka

Day 28: Matryoshka
I was going to add some pink
cheeks but I haven't got 
any felt in that colour.
And the felt that I do have tends
to pull apart when you 
try to sew with it,
since it's the cheap acrylic kind.

I think that I really need to 
order wool felt online 
or make my own. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Final tally
This project..no new supplies
Total month $21.38 and
the majority of that was on
two projects that were 
new to me 
(making stamps and embroidery).

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Day 27: owl

Today I'm off to see the Beatles,
  actually I'm seeing a cover band, 
a very good cover band called Rain.
So I picked this small knitted
owl as today's project.
It was very easy even for 
a non-knitter like me .
Day 27: a little owl

I didn't have any owly yarn
so I mixed plain beige
merino with some leftover
dark brown kid mohair.
Free pattern here

Friday, February 26, 2010

Day 26: green chicken potholder

Day 26:  chicken potholder
I was really hoping this would be a
quick project but then realized it had 2
sides to be crocheted plus I decided to
watch the Olympics
while I was making it.
I was going to make some
green eggs to go along with it.
Oh well. 

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Day 25: Egg cosy

Day 25: Egg Cosy
When I sew on the blue door later
tonight it will officially be 
a gnome house egg cosy.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Day 24: scrap happy teacosy

Day 24: scrap happy teacosy
I came up with this pattern while
 watching the men's Olympic hockey
games today.
I wanted it to hug my teapot 
and also to leave the knob 
on the lid naked.
It was nice to use up a lot of scrap yarn.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No new supplies

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Day 23: 1951 Betsy doll and The Big Bang

Day 23: Betsy McCall magnet doll
that were introduced in the 
McCall magazine in 1951.
One Pearl Button 
came up with a tutorial to
turn them into magnetic 
paper dolls.

Since I had been gifted with part of
 a magnetic sheet, I set out to make a set 
to give to my niece when
she is a little older.
Problem is ..the magnetic clothes don't
actually stay on the magnetic doll.
At first I thought I had done 
something wrong and then
I noticed one of the comments
that said that the same thing
happened to her.

Brilliant idea but unfortunately
a bit of a glitch in the execution.
They will however work 
if both the doll and clothes 
are stuck onto a fridge 
since the clothes tend to be a 
bit wider than the doll.
I'll have to revisit this and
see if I can work around this 
problem since I think this
project is worth it.

While I had the magnetic sheet out
I thought I'd make up some
magnets for myself of my
favourite characters on tv.
The Big Bang  characters in magnetic form
Actually while I was working
on this I came up with another
project involving 
Sheldon, Leonard, Raj, and Howard
but it can't be completed
within a day so it 
will have to wait.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Day 22: Gold medal

Day 22: Gold medal
Every morning my husband 
makes me a delicious 
cappuccino and for that he
definitely deserves 
the gold medal.

I really had to make this
one on the fly but 
thankfully hubby was still
happy with it.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No new supplies today.
Total $21.38

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Day 21: crochet Tawashi

Day 21: tawashi
Tawashi is a traditional scrubbing brush
but the modern equivalent includes
anything from sponges to yarn
(crochet or knitted) 
scrubbers like this one.
is in symbol form and the
written instructions are
in Japanese but, if you
are patient, it is not difficult
to figure out.

The trickiest part is figuring
how to put the 4 rings together.
I made this one with cotton yarn
with a 3.5mm hook so that
the fabric would be course enough
to wash dishes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Still $21.38 spent this month

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Day 20: Kitty keychain

 kitty keychain


I'm always losing my
keys in my purse so I
hope this kitty makes it easier 
to find them.
The designer made them into 
juggling balls ...I really 
like that idea too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No new supplies for this
so total this month $21.38

Friday, February 19, 2010

Day 19: an owl egg cosy

Day 18: owl cosy
This project was like a last 
minute essay.
You finish it on time but
you really don't want 
to hand it in.

I like some parts of it, namely
(I did change the wings)
and I was happy with the fabrics 
that I chose.
But I don't like the look
of leaving the edges raw and
I'm not happy with my
embroidery.
 Day 18: owl cosy back

The back actually was going
to be the front and I had cut
out wings with Elvis on it.
I thought it would look so cool
but it just didn't work 
although I liked the look 
of the guitar.


Thursday, February 18, 2010

Day 18: Red Riding Hood

I had so much fun yesterday
making  the Ninja , I decided
to see if I could come up
with a pattern of Red Riding Hood.
Day 18: crochet + cork == Red Riding Hood 

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Day 16: my first stamp

Day 15 my first stamp
Oh I can see how making
these stamps can get addicting.
Yes there are a ton of mistakes
in this but I'm still really happy
with my little owl.
(Tell me you can tell 
that it is an owl).

Today I was so busy, 
actually this whole week will
be busy so I may have to
try my hand at carving again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Carving tools $14.00
So far this week $21.38

Monday, February 15, 2010

Day 15: money pouch

Day 15: money pouch
We will be going to Italy in
May so I made this pouch to hold
all the coins that we'll need...
for tips, for parking, for gelato.
Free pattern here 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No new supplies.
This month $7.38

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Day 14: part crochet/part fabric bag

'Pay attention to me!'
The whole time I was finishing this up
my sweet cat Oreo was on the floor 
crying for attention. 
I turned to get my camera from 
the shelf behind me and 
this is what I found when I turned back.
Underneath her is this bag. 
Day 14: finished bag
I tried a couple of different 
drawstrings but couldn't find one
that I liked so I'll find something
the next time I go to the fabric store.
Here is a wip where only
the bottom is finished.




Day 14: wips bag


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No new supplies.
So far this month $7.38

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Day 13: Mermaid

Day 13: Mermaid
This is my first embroidery.
 Yesterday was a merfish and
today is a Mermaid.
The stitching is complete, 
I just need to remove the clear
transfer sheet that has the 
pattern marked on it
(you might see some of the blue
marker that should dissolve
in water).

and while you are there check
out the rest of this talented artist's work.

I'm so glad that I finally got 
around to making this.
This challenge was the kick 
that I needed...I'm hoping
to tackle a second embroidery
project this month (fingers crossed).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For this project I bought transfer
sheets and floss for $6.00
Total this month...$7.38

Friday, February 12, 2010

Day 12: merfish

Here is my first modest attempt 
at making a merfish.
Day 12 Owl with merfish
This pattern comes from one
of my favourite blogs
resurrection fern.
Her blog is very unique and inspirational! 
But actually the first time I saw 
this pattern was on flickr
when I saw the work of AnniePurls.
As you can see I have a long way to go. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zero $ were used to buy supplies
so total this month $1.38 cents

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Day 11: a surprise for me

 A while back I found this 
pattern that was in Japanese;
 it didn't include a picture of the actual 
project and only included charts.
So when I started it I had no
idea what I was making,
it was, in a way, an act of faith.

What I could tell was that it didn't involve
very many rows or stitches
so I knew it was probably
doable in a day.
This is what I made.

Day 11: small mushrooms

When I finished the individual
pieces and  realized what they were,
 I recrocheted the underbellies
of the mushroom caps in a 
lighter blue.
I like how the other colours
worked out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today I unravelled some of my 69 cent
scarf to use for this project.
Total this month...$1.38

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Day 10: teacosy made from thrifted hat

Day 10: teacosy made from thrifted hat
When I found this hat yesterday 
at the thrift store I didn't know
what I would do with it
but it was such pretty colours 
that I couldn't resist.
Thrifted hat and scarf
Both the scarf and the hat
were each 69 cents.
Normally I would just wear the
hat but it was a toddler 
size so that was out.
Then I realized that it
would make a perfect teacosy.

First I tried to sew a band of
stitches on either side of 
where I would cut
(this technique has always
worked in the past).
 Making a slot for the teapot handle
But it was so thick it wouldn't
go under the pressure foot so 
I sewed the rows by hand.
The second I started to cut I
knew I was in trouble because
all the stitches started to unravel.
So I put tape on the back to 
temporarily stop more unraveling and
resewed the edges with yarn that
I had unraveled from the flaps.
Then I single crocheted over the edges
to clean up the mess.
I had been thinking of cutting
a hole for the spout but because the
side and top were made in one piece
I knew that I might ruin it.

I have to say that I'm very
chuffed at my new teacosy and
I'm going to be on the lookout
for other suitable hats.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cost 69 cents.
So far this month 69 cents

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Day 9: I wear my heart on my sleeve

 Day 9: I wear my heart on my sleeve...sort of.
Okay, so I wear it on my wrinkled shirt.
I know this is a ridiculously simple
project but hey... it's still cute.
But the cool thing about this project 
is all the endless possibilities 
and this would be great for
both adults and kids. 

Can you imagine making little animals 
(maybe climbing monkeys like in the 
barrel of monkey game),
characters from books,
letters to spell words,
holidays (ghosts, black cats, xmas trees, 
bunnies), flowers, pets,
the list goes on and on.
I think I'll make a batch
of book related ones for my nieces.
They would love Max (wild things), 
hungry caterpillar, Charlotte,

Should I even bother with instructions?
Cut hearts from felt 
(I made mine in in different
sizes with the larger at top.
Cut a slit in centre and then pop
it on after you have buttoned up.
Time-- 2 minutes 
 I found this idea in a Martha booklet 
in thrift store.
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No new supplies so zero $ so far.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Day 8: poppy coaster

Day 8: poppy coaster
The front coaster is finished.
The black stamens are embroidered 
 using thread and, although you
can't tell, each petal is separated 
by a  ridge of backstitch 
using the red yarn.
Finally the flower is backed with felt 
held in place with a blanket stitch.

Stephanie Garcia

 I enjoyed making this one so
much I decided to start two more
to be finished another day. 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everything used for today
was stash so zero $ on
new supplies so far this month.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Day 7: Korknisser

Day 7: crochet version of Korknisser
These two guys look a lot better 
than this picture reflects. 
The one on the left is made 
with Noro Kureyon,
 it has beautiful shades of green.
After I took this picture I realized
that I hadn't given them eyes
so I'll replace this picture soon.

The original pattern for these Korknisser
is for knitting but I made
a crocheted version.


Saturday, February 6, 2010

Day 6: Do you think this will get taken too?

A while ago I discovered that
my front corner post was missing.
Missing post cap before replacement
A week later I went out to discover
that someone had popped a broken
dog toy over it.
Broken dog toy replaces missing post cap
I left that toy on it quite a 
while and then it hit me that
it would make a nice base
to attach a crochet project.
Today I made this.
Side view of new crocheted post cap
Here is the top view.
 Day 6 missing fence cap blooms

Friday, February 5, 2010

Day 5: Flowers for her hair

Day 5: flowers for her hair
I knew I was going to 
be busy today so I picked a cute 
but fast project.
for the flower part. 

Simply add a button on front
and a piece of felt on the back
and sew (or glue) it onto a 
bobby pin.
~~~~~~~~~~~
$0 spent so far this month

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Day 4: framing up vintage children illustration

Day 4: art for my walls
Sorry for the poor lighting (again)
but I wanted to show it in my room.

I have a couple of rooms in my house
that are bare of any artwork.
So today I'm framing a page from a 
vintage children's book
that will go in my bedroom.

I chose an old Italian book 
called Cappuccetto Rosso.
Cappuccetto Rosso
Isn't the illustration delightful!
Il Lupo, con un balzo divoro
Cappuccetto Rosso.
The wolf, with a leap, devoured
Red Riding Hood.

 As you can see the picture
covered two pages so  I scanned
it into Paint and blended
the colours over the centre fold.
The plastic frame was simply given a 
lick of light grey paint.

I'm totally happy with the 
result and I'm looking forward
to finishing more of these.

-----------------------------
Todays's supplies were all from 
my stash :o)

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Day 3: A spring bird

Day 3: spring bird
I've been wanting to make this
for a while ever since I saw this

Today is overcast so
this pic isn't quite as cheerful
as in real life.
I had these tube shaped beads
which turned out to be 
perfect for it's eyes.
I'll eventually make four birds,
one for each season.
This one is spring.
----------------------

New supplies for this project $0
Cost so far $0

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Day 2: small notebook cover

Day 2: Cloth journal cover
A while back I sewed some covers
for a few notebooks to send in a swap.
I had an extra notebook for 
myself so I sewed up a cover
using some leftover muslin,
stamped it, and added a couple
of crocheted embellishments.

I think if this wasn't a day
project I would have spent
a little more time on it
but for now I will pop it
into my purse.

Also my sewing machine
is acting up and I
may have to take it in.


----------------------------

This project used all stashed items
so total spent so far $0

Monday, February 1, 2010

Day 1: Ugly Bunny Pincushion

Ugly Bunny pincushion
Actually I think he's quite cute.
Pattern was really easy to
make... I'll put him to work as a
pincushion just for needles.

Supplies that I needed to buy- $0

Crochet Max from the Wild Things

 Who doesn't love Max!! I'm really happy with this cute little guy Pattern by Carla Mitrani  You can find her on Ravelry  Max Patter...