AMIGURUMI HIPPO!!

I bought a book at Michaels: Vanna's Choice Easy Crochet Critters

And I FINALLY finished my HIPPO!! Including yarn-embroidered nostrils (straight stitch) and eyes (french knot)

The first, and possibly last amigurumi animal I create (not, Hubby wants the monkey, and I like the penguin and lion too much, lol!)  One more "task" off my list! :-D

-Betsy

Thing Thursday - Baby Presents!!

So within the past few weeks, THREE friends have had little munchkins :-P All little baby boys, and all SUPER adorable. And because I'm fairly impatient... I'm going to show you all what I'm giving each of these munchkins... but in the event that their mommy's read my blog... I'm not telling who's getting what :-P

SO:

A Merry Go Round Blanket (Crocheted) from Red Heart

It's a simple pattern, and really fun. There's so many ways you can change it up with different yarn colors, etc. It's made from Lion Brand Yarn's Baby Soft Sportweight yarn (100% machine washable and dryable - important here people...) and I got all nifty and used "Baby White Pompadour" which is a STRAIGHT yarn, but with one strand being a reflective shiny white. Too bad I learned the hard way that they don't sell it at MY Michaels. Ah well. HOWEVER, Since I don't like gauging, or really following directions, my blanket is not made TO the pattern... but it'll give you the overall idea on HOW to make this blanket. I started this one a LONG time ago... I'm not a very diligent "hooker" :-P

A Stuffed Turtle (from Make It and Love It)

This was made of cotton fabric I had left over from other projects. The red and green were from a gator backpack I never finished (and never had an intended recipient for anyway, so it's all good) and the blue is leftovers from my bean bag chair! All the pattern pieces fit together on an 8.5x11 sheet of paper (and it's free on her blog), so it's PERFECT for scraps you may have lying around. I WANTED to do the shell in Red, Yellow, Green and Blue... but I apparently have no yellow cotton in my house. I even contemplated cutting up something... to no avail though...  It still came out super cute! It doesn't take MUCH stuffing (although Make It and Love It stuffed theirs MUCH more than I did... I like squishy toys :-P) All-in-all... it probably took me maybe 2 hours? Not bad, considering I definitely didn't just "sit down and sew it."
 
A Car Seat Canopy (reversible even!) from Sweet 'n' Sassy Girls: A Mom Blog

(A special thank you to the Thrift Shop for letting me borrow a car-seat off the rack to take this FAB photo.

Yes, I'm aware it's a little blurry... it was time to go home, lol)

I really liked this project. Next time, I may not make it reversible, but solely because it's SO much easier to not have to line up the little tabs on either side and sew them together (aka, I'm lazy). The other side is a solid navy blue. It's made of seer sucker, since it's a summer baby - this way, Mom will be able to keep the sun off munchkin (and dirty fingers, and sneezes and curious strangers), but baby will still stay nice and cool. Having thrown it over my head... it's kinda nice in there! :-P  This one sewed up pretty quickly too - again, about 2 hours for the first go-round!  In fact, this MAY become my "standard 'welcome to the world' gift"... It used 2 yards of fabric, and basically 4 inches of velcro. Bean may get one of these with fleece on the inside and "windbreaker" material on the outside. You could even make it with just ONE yard of fabric if it was fleece (doesn't need to be hemmed) or if you hemmed or bound all the edges somehow (oooh... crochet bind the edge maybe?)

All that's left now is to write these mommies some notes and take a trip to the post office! Which means I better get moving, since it closes in an hour...

Anyone out there been doing any fun projects lately? Post a link in the comments so I can check it out!

-Betsy

Christmas Present Sneak Preview! :-P

So 1st of all, I'm excited about this... I've been meaning to make one for about 2 years. 2nd, the gift recipient is 6, so I'm not too concerned about her seeing her present early. 3rd, I had fun taking/editing the pics of it... so I'm sharing :-P

Merry Christmas Goddaughter! :-P

And yes, I realize it fits me, and a 6 year old's head is a bit smaller... but I haven't washed it yet, and it's REALLY stretchy.

-Betsy

Friday Post on Thursday :-P

So I was hoping I'd get to type here that I was a MASTER PAINTER and got ALL the paintings I was "supposed" to do this week *cough*month*cough* done. Instead, I decided to learn first-hand what one of the medieval torture methods felt like. And to think... I managed to do it while painting. I'll pause on that so people can stop reading later if they have weak stomachs ;). Needless to say, we ate well this week (What's for dinners to be blogged about... mmmmmm), but I did not get many paintings done. Only 8 more to go and then the big reveal this summer :-P I'm hoping for at least 1 tomorrow... but then it's gotta pause until after the move. At least they aren't taking as long to dry as I expected...

As far as Etsy goes, I have gotten a few questions as to some images, and a few sales (yay!) but had to raise my prices (boo!) hopefully it doesn't hurt the sales. I was TRULY giving stuff away ;)

I did finish another pair of BOOTIES for a friend of a friend. The yarn was so soft and silky! They feel fabulous!

So that's my crafty-ness this week... if icky owie things make you go "blech!" Stop reading here. It's been nice, see you next week. :-P











So medieval torture. I ripped my fingernail off. Not the whole thing (fortunately) and amazingly, I didn't even "break" the nail. I just ripped it off 1/4 of the way. OW!  I was trying to push paint out of a tube (old paint... OLD tube... not a good combo) and so I was using the table to push on it - like you do with the last of the toothpaste? And my hand slipped, and slammed into the table. And apparently, my fingernail went in the opposite direction as my finger. (makes ME cringe typing it. GROSS) I jerked back quickly, grabbed my hand, gasped, looked down, and was not comforted by the sight of blood. DARNIT! So I trimmed off my fingernail as close to my finger tip as I could ( I thought it was broken and wanted the smallest "flap" I could manage to have to deal with) and threw some antibiotic ointment and a couple of bandaids on before grabbing an ice pack and retreating to my comfiest chair with my hand over my head. I proceeded to sit like that the rest of the day, because I was now grumpy, in pain and mad that I didn't finish my painting. And that's no way to try and finish a portrait. This morning after my shower, I was brave enough to CAREFULLY remove the nail polish and discover that I did NOT break it (which is good - no flap) but i did trim it REALLY low - so I'm going to be uncomfortable for a few weeks now. Awesome. I was a little bummed that it wasn't gross - it looks like a regular finger nail still... just tender. I like it when my owies LOOK owie.  Plus, I was excited to possibly enter it in to the Hunduddle Hussy's Road Kill Contest (knowing full well it wouldn't win, but thought it might give the Hussy a chuckle) So that is why I'm not finishing my paintings. It's PART of the reason I didn't paint today (I didn't paint today because I got sidetracked) and I might use it as an excuse to not paint tomorrow. We'll see.

Nate's Presents

So I'm pretty sure you're supposed to like, span days with your posts, not front-load them all on one day... but I have my ducks in a row today, so you're getting it all darn-it! :-D

My friend Julie is having a little boy Nate soon... and here are some knit bits (although the blanket is crocheted) that he's getting when he makes his arrival :-P

 

His brown booty (working on this guy's pair) He's also the inspiration for the Almost Chuck's and once I finish his pair and Almost Chuck's pair... I can do the pair of Closer to Chucks :-P lol

Mr. Blue Booty (this one has a pair, it's just with Julie already)

His blankie!!! Crocheted, and way easier than it looks!

Scnazzy artsie shot of the blankie.

And I'm stoked, because I made all these things, and I still get to have people see them, cause they aren't for sale, so I can't put them on Etsy :(. But they can go here!!

The Almost-Chuck

So I got my camera out... and the battery was dead. So I got my spare battery out... and it was dead. Awesome. Especially since the spare won't take a charge! Raar!  BUT, I did get some juice flowing, and took a couple pictures of my almost chuck, which is still missing his pair... but I'll get to that eventually. :-P

Aren't those little laces too cute?!?!

And that little rough sole edging and capped toe!!

 

And it's even got a little tan sole on it!!

But then again... I might be a bit biased :-P