Some Crafty Endeavors

Ok, so it's time to post all the crafty stuff that I've kept under wraps for the last few weeks. I had to wait until the various recipients had done their receiving before posting. In order of receiving, here we go. This one was for my mom. Since she's a travel nurse, she can't really cart around a bunch of pictures of the kids. So, I was trying to think of a way that she could have something to remind her of the kids without it being a framed picture. My idea was that I could get the kids (well, the two that are old enough anyway) to embroider a small simple piece that we could incorporate into a card. The card could act as a frame of sorts and it would fold flat so it wouldn't take up room in a suitcase. Sebastian actually seemed way into it when I mentioned it to him, which surprised me, but I guess it shouldn't have. I should just learn not to be surprised by anything he says or does. Anyway, I asked what design he would want if he could do anything at all and he said "a heart inside a heart inside another heart". So, I made that simple design in Word and then traced it onto a piece of an old shirt of Sebastian's. I showed him how to do the first few stitches and tied his knots for him, but other than that, he did it all by his lonesome. Here are the pictures:

fresh off the hoop



on the card we made



the inside of the card (Sebastian picked out all the papers)



close up of the message



In case you can't read it, it says 'Nanny I love you with three hearts'. Awwwww. So cute, right? Oh, and here's the envelope:



I used this template thing that I got from Hobby Lobby a while back that lets you make a card and envelope out of any type of paper. So, isn't Sebastian's little embroidery the greatest??? I thought it was so awesome. He was very proud of himself when he finished, as was I, of course. He was so funny too because while he was "embroilering", he'd take a little break and then say "Well, back to sewing!". It was so fun to watch him. Now, for the most awesome part. I took pictures of him while he was working on it.

Here he is, concentrating fiercely





And, mugging for Nanny





I had the pictures of Sebastian working on his project printed out and included those in the card for my mom. She loved it!! So, that was the first project. The next one was for my cousin, Carrie. She's having a baby!!!! If I'm correct, she's actually due today! But, no baby yet. Anyway, Carrie is one of those people that very much appreciates the handmade. That could be because she does a lot of artsy handmade stuff herself. But, I think it's more likely that it's just part of her personality makeup. She's kind of an old soul, if you know what I mean. I tried to think of something that was really functional. I thought of making the baby some hats, but honestly, they live in Mississippi and the winter there is only two months long and is likely to be almost gone by the time the baby gets here. I didn't want to make any garments like a sweater or soakers (she's going the cloth diaper route) because baby dimensions are so variable. It would really suck to knit some really cute sweater or soakers, only to have them be too big or too small or just not fit until it was seasonally inappropriate, etc. So, I made her and the baby some washcloths. I picked very neutral, organic colors and just did some simple stockinette with a seed stitch border. I made them a kind of smallish size so they would be baby friendly, if she chooses to use them that way. Here are the washcloths.

Chocolate brown



Camel



Cream



I also made her these things called soap sweaters. It's just a little cozy thing that you knit around a bar of soap. It's supposed to serve a few purposes.

1. It keeps the nasty puddle of soap goo from forming under the bar of soap.
2. It helps work up more of a lather.
3. It adds some scrubbing action.

I made three of them and I used a soap that's gentle enough for both Carrie and the baby. It's Burt's Bees Milk & Shea Butter Body Bar. For the sweaters, I used Noro Kureyon. It's a self-striping yarn, so believe it or not, all of these soap sweaters came from the same skein.







Here they are, all together



As you can see, I added a little handle for hanging. The pattern is on Ravelry and it's here, in case anyone is interested. But, I used these modifications because the original pattern is for an oval bar of soap and the ones I used were rectangular. I love how these little things turned out. I think they're super cute. And functional! I might make some for us soon. Carrie said she liked the things I sent and I hope her and her soon to be baby enjoy many relaxing baths with them.

Last, but not least, here's what I made Justin for Valentine's Day. He gets a present present too, but this was my "card" to him. It's a little book of things I love about him. Here's the cover:



It's about 5 inches tall, to give you an idea of the size. The back cover looks the same minus the hearts and title. It's cardboard, wrapped in brown craft paper and laminated. The title says "25 Things I Love About You And About Being Married To You".

Now, for some of the individual pages. They were all made by making little mini-collages on small pieces of card stock that were then glued to larger pieces of card stock and subsequently laminated, hole-punched, and held together with binder rings. In case any of them are hard to read, I'll just type out the messages on each of them.




This one was made by using a die cutter for all the little flowers. I glued them down individually to a piece of sky-colored card stock. It says "You buy me flowers for no reason".



This one was made by tracing some individual sports balls off the good ol' internets (our printer is busted). They were colored using Prismacolors, then glued down to the royal blue card stock. It says "You don't like sports, so I don't have to watch them on t.v.".



This one was also traced, but this time directly onto the yellow cardstock, then colored with Prismacolors and outlined in Sharpie. It says "When Sebastian asked if he could be a ninja when he grows up, you told him 'yes'". I just thought that was sweet and encouraging. You know, a 'you can be whatever you want' kind of sentiment.



For this one, I glued one of our used and unfortunately, losing, lottery tickets down to the neon green card stock. It says "You fake spend our nonexistent lottery winnings with me". We do that a lot. We talk about what kind of house we'd buy, who else we'd buy houses for, whether or not we should get a hybrid car or wait and see if they come out with something more advanced and awesome, how we'd invest our winnings, etc. We get pretty detailed, heeehee.



This one was traced directly onto the neon green card stock and shaded with Prismacolors. I added the "stink lines", haha. It says "You never have stinky pits". And it's true!! Justin has never smelled bad for as long as I've known him/been married to him. Plus, his armpit hair is always really dry and poofy, never sweaty. This is all probably TMI, but oh well.




This one was just made by cutting out a little bit of an Etnies box and using some of the Converse tissue paper that comes with Converse sneakers and gluing it to the pink card stock. It says "You indulge my sneaker obsession". I have a lot of sneakers. I could always use more, though.



This one was made by tracing the picture of a scrabble tile and shading it with Prismacolors, then using a Sharpie for the letter J and number 8. I then glued that to the blue card stock. It says "Even though I'm a really poor sport and act like an asshole, you still play Scrabble with me". I'm kind of the worst sportsman ever. When I'm winning, I'm all "YOU SUCK" and "IN YOUR FACE" and when I'm losing, I'm like "I'm just gonna quit cause there's no way I can catch up" and "hey, that's not a word--I'm gonna look it up" and that kind of thing. So, that's 7 of the 26 pages. There were 25 plus 1 bonus page. He really liked it a lot:) He said that it was very sweet and also that it gave him a peek into my totally random thought processes.

From Justin, I got a big stuffed gorilla (it's really soft and cute) and a giant Hoops and YoYo card. I'm also getting a custom made bag to replace my somewhat raggedy diaper bag. I need a kind of big bag even though Dorian is old enough now that I don't have to cart around so much stuff every time we leave the house. Still, though, l always have to have my knitting with me, plus Dorian's diapers and his cup and his wipes and an extra set of clothes. Plus, my little wristlet wallet thingy and sometimes a brush. The bag will be this style:







But, the outer part of the bag will be this fabric:



All of the bags are named for places in London. The one I picked is called "The Chelsea Tote". I told the seller that I trust her judgment for choosing a lining fabric. If you saw her other bags, you'd know why I trust her. It's from an Etsy shop called London Purple and all of her bags are just gorgeous. I can't wait to get it!!! So far, the seller has been really wonderful. She's been very communicative, friendly, and prompt with replies to any and all of my messages to her. You guys should check her out if you can. Also, her prices are extremely reasonable, especially for custom bags with designer fabrics. Justin thought it was kind of weird that I was picking out my own gift, but I'm thinking 'what better way to make sure I get something I really like?'. AmIright? Till next time, guys! Happy Valentine's Day!