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« January 2010 | Main | March 2010 »
This machine has no hope of ever working again, but its beautiful adornment was too much for me to pass up. I have no idea what I am going to do with it, but its decorations and engravings would make terrific embroidery designs don't you think?
I wish they made machines this beautiful today. While I really like my machine, it still just looks like a huge piece of white plastic. Not very inspiring.
Have you seen the new featured seller on Etsy, Ninainvorm? I hadn't seen her work before but according to her "as seen in" and "on websites" section of her profile, chances are I might be the only one. But they were too cute to pass up.
The original plates are adorable to start with, such great motifs. I love the birds and the stylized flowers, great inspiration for embroidery! The touches of color she adds is a nice little modern touch.
If you like them too, check out her blog for more of her work.
One project completed! This is a little embroidery pin that I made for G to bring to his mom when he visits her this weekend. She seemed to really like the placemats and napkins we made her for Christmas so hopefully she will enjoy this too. I had been thinking about making one for my Grandmother's birthday coming up and wanted to give it a shot.
I have never stitched on felt before and I really enjoyed it. But I do have a slight problem with stretching it out when I hold it. The first one I tried on some beautiful felted wool but I ended up stretching it out of shape terribly. So I used wool felt which was more forgiving.
I am slowly getting better at a few of the stitches. I still end up ripping things out and starting over a few times with different colors or different thread thicknesses, but I am making progress. I like that the projects are small so when I don't end up liking something, I don't mind as much since my time investment is so little.
The clutch still never got done. It was for G's sister. I guess that will just have to be mailed at a later date. I am ok with that.
I am drowning in incomplete projects and I really really really want to start some more. I am trying to discipline myself by giving myself deadlines or requirements before I start another. I have been unsuccessful so far. I am very stubborn sometimes. Instead of motivating myself to complete these projects, it just means nothing is getting done. I supposed doing something, even if its not completing my existing projects is still better than doing nothing, right? (how is that for justification :)) Ok, its weak, I.......will........finish.......this........clutch..........tonight.
Wish me luck.
When I graduated college my mother created a book for me that covered my life up until that point. Included in the book were photos of every play, chorus, event I was ever in, awards I had won, stories and horrible poems I had written (sad to say I wrote a poem to my freckles) cards I made for Mother's Day and most embarrassing some letters I wrote.
There were the usual letters to the Easter Bunny asking for "lots of candy", to Mr and Mrs Claus claiming to have been good all year and asking for "lots of presents" and then my favorite which was a letter to the police when for the millionth time I claimed I was going to run away because apparently my parents loved my brother more than me. My evidence to support my claim was that my brother was going to get the first plastic watch from the back of some cereal box we had been saving points for.
My plan was to hide in the back of my Grandparent's car who were leaving to go back home. The letter was adorned with Little Twin Stars tape. I was probably in kindergarten when this all happened and I still remember it to this day. I didn't even make it out of the drive way. I never did. I just packed my bag and sat by the road, apparently expecting something to happen, like a bus to magically appear or for someone to come and pick me up. But it never did. Eventually I got bored and went back home.
I was thinking about this all because of some great thank you emails I have been getting from my nephew. Here is the one I got this morning. Apparently the four gift cards really did make up for the fact that I was so late!
Dear K, G, and S,
Recently I received your gifts and I’m pleased to say that I enjoy them so very much since they happen to be some of my favorite gifts of all time! I have used them to purchase things such as my Lebron VI All Courts Basketball and will be continuing to use them in the near future. Thanks once more for all you gave me.
Bradley
These emails, along with all the drawings and pictures are going in a box until he graduates so he can have a good laugh at himself too.
Once we get better at controlling the kite I want to try out a denser subject matter, maybe buildings or a crowd of people.
I finally got the results I was hoping for this morning, no evidence of cancer! I am so thankful that my Dr just spit it out as fast as that when he called me, that's got to be my favorite thing about him. I thanked him for it and he laughed and said "I thought you might be anxious". I laughed.
Really he had no idea I had been war dialing his office for the past day and a half. I only left one message but called, oh about fifteen times yesterday to see if I could talk directly to his nurse. I finally got her this morning and she didn't have the results yet so she called the lab to track them down and ask them to fax them over, then had the Dr call me within twenty minutes. Thank you Elizabeth!
Seriously I was all calm and cool about doing the biopsy this time. I had been through it before and I knew my risk was low. It surprised me how relaxed I was about it all. I barely thought about it. Until Wednesday afternoon and I just snapped. I still didn't worry as much as last year, but I was serious about getting the news over with.
AND IT WAS GOOD NEWS!!!!! So good that I don't have to go back for a year!!!!!!
Thank you all for your kinds words and well wishes, it really meant a lot to me!
I saw a pin cushion by Namolio on the front page of Etsy yesterday. I was immediately attracted to the colors and beautiful designs.
I was so surprised to learn that they were crochet! I have never been a huge crochet fan, it just always seemed so grandma to me. (Although oddly enough neither of my grandmothers crocheted, but my grandfather did!) I guess I just didn't know much about it. But these really opened my eyes to the possibiliies.
I have been experiementing with tone on tone for embroidery and this stunning example really caught my eye. Such beautiful work!
I work in the tech industry and today Mattel annouced that Barbie's new profession is a computer engineer. They proposed architect, computer engineer, environmentalist, news anchor or surgeon and left it up to the voting public to decide. I was so surprised that engineer won.
Well to be fair Barbie the engineer won the online popular vote (viral campaigns among female engineers), the news anchor won the girls vote. They are making both. Obviously Mattel saw an easy opportunity to sell into the adult population. Knowing that this wasn't the kids first pick helped make this more believeable to me.
I took a quick poll and there was only two of us who didn't have Barbies growing up! That came as such a shock to me. It just goes to show how little I know about the women I work with, which isn't a surprise since my industry is something like 80%+ male. For years I was the only female in my department and everyone who has worked for me in the past 10+ years has been male. Besides I am shocked that I ended up in the industry in the first place, I went to art school, I wanted to be a musician and I have never owned a Commodore as a kid.
I had to laugh to stop myself from crying when I saw how they styled the new Barbie.
So pretty much, Barbie the computer engineer if just like everyone else. Ok I guess they got that right. And I hear she is going to run linux, that will help.
Not quite my usual post subject, I know. But last year when my Dr. brought up a biopsy she said some people report that its very painful and uncomfortable. And of course I had four nodules so they decided to biopsy two at the same time. I tried to find information online about what to expect and I found very little. So I decided to write this post in case I can help others.
The best thing my Dr did last year was give me a sedative to take before my appointment. The anxiety was seriously the worst of my experience. So today when I went again, I took it again.
Once there and changed into one of those flattering gowns, I had a technician walk me through the procedure and had me sign a release. Then I went into the room where they would do the procedure. A pathologist was there preparing my sample slides and laying out the needles the Dr would need. I laid down on the table with a pillow under my back and shoulders so my head would hang back and expose my neck.
When the Dr came in she walked me through the process again and what to watch for after I went home. Mostly neck pain or problems breathing, since they could nick an artery and look out for skin infections, both are rare.
After that she used the ultrasound to located the nodule she was going to biopsy and mark my neck at its location with a pen. Then she cleaned my neck thoroughly. Then a little anesthesia to numb the area. She gave it a minute or two to take effect and then took the first needle and guided it into the spot on the nodule she wanted to sample using the ultrasound. Once she got the needle in position she moved it in and out to try to scrap off some cells for sample. The whole time the needle is in your neck is less than a half minute. The sample is then put onto one of the specimen slides. The pathologist reviews it to make sure they have enough material to test. The process is then repeated with another needle in a different part of the nodule.
Last year I had about seven samples for each nodule, which is not typical. Four samples is usually more standard. Mine for some reason doesn't like to give up cells, which is actually why I had to test the one again this year.
While they are taking the sample you can feel some pressure in your neck, you can feel the needle moving into position. Its a strange feeling but its not uncomfortable or painful. The only pain I ever had was once she hit a nerve and I could feel the pain shot up my neck into my ear. It was a dull pain, not sharp at all and it only lasted a few seconds.
After its all over you have a small bruise and maybe a little swelling that goes away in a few days.
Then its just waiting for the results. The worst part of it all if you ask me.
I am not sure why but this was the hardest tutorial for me to write by far. It isn't because the project is difficult, because it isn't. For some reason I just had issues verbalizing things.
Hopefully it is clear. If you find an error or get confused, please send me an email. Thanks!
I hate to disappoint people and disappointing kids is even worse. Our nephew's Birthday was last weekend and we still haven't sent his gift. And his Birthday couldn't have been easier. All he wanted was gift cards. Ugh GUILT!
We got him four gift cards and fancied them up by making a little bag for them. The shock and awe technique of bad aunts. Hopefully he will be forgiving.
Here is the third embroidery design I created for a younger friend of mine who is really a girlie girl. Its a little hard to tell from the photo (the sun doesn't exist in Winter in the NW) but I created a two-toned flower wreath. I think it turned out girlie without being too cute, which is what I was going for.
Next up, I will show you some alternative samples of these three designs to show how easy they are to change their look and feel with just a few alterations, including one without embroidery.
P.S. Thanks for being patient about the tutorial, they always take a little longer than I estimate.
The tutorial is almost done, but I can't wait any longer to share it with you! I hope you like this project, I am really happy with how it turned out. These little clutches are so easy to make and look cute with and without embroidery. Its quite roomy and easy to adapt to your style or personalize for a friend or daughter. I made a few samples that I will be sharing with you over the next few days to give you some ideas.
Leave a comment by Monday 15th to enter my February give away of a kit to make your choice of one of these designs. Julia is the winner of this month's flickr pool giveaway. Please email me your choice of
clutch design and your address and I will get it in the mail to you. Check out the Christmas
stocking she made using old ties following the maggie makes tutorial, its stunning.
Ok, back to the clutches. The first I designed for myself. I adore the grey/blue windowpane fabric (I bought lots of yardage so I am sure you will be seeing it again), it goes with so much and I really wanted a simple, understated embroidery design. So I created this sweet twig and mini flower pattern. I added a little simple touch by using two buttons, one that is a rich amber color and then an etched shell button on top.
The second design I created for one of my best friends H, who is classic all the way. I originally tried a great navy blue pinstripe fabric but the result seemed too ordinary so I moved on to this khaki and grey windowpane with an ornate monogram design and really love it. She wears a lot of black, blue and white so the khaki clutch will be a great accent.
I have one more design which is for a much younger friend of mine that I will share with you as soon as we get some sunlight to take pictures. I will also post some other samples I created and some detail shots including the interior fabrics.
I hope you like them!
For my February attempt to lessen my impact on the earth, I have decided to use reusable shopping bags. Not grocery bags, I already try to do that. But I mean normal, I am going to the book store, fabric store type of shopping bags. So when I ordered my I am not a paper cup cup (Thanks Kristin for the push, I am using it right now!), I ordered a few of these compact reusable bags by Flip and Tumble. I love their bright colors and they fold up so small and are really light. Just don't ever expect them to look at good as in the first shot since they get wrinkly from being all balled up.
Scenes from my day.
Top photo is some sweet graffiti that obviously was meant for someone else today, unless beat up converse and boring grey sweatshirts are your thing.
Bottom photo is the last of the Birthday candies. Seriously something that makes turning older worth it. Shipped by my Aunt for my Gammie from Rhebs. I adore their truffles and vanilla creams.
Have you ever come across something online that you just instantly love? Something new to you, that you never would have thought of existed but that finding it just makes that spot in the pit of your stomach ache and your mind race?
These amazing works made of colored pencils did that to me this morning. I found them through a wonderful blog (Facil y Sencillo) that I can't read, since I have forgotten all the Spanish I learned in high school, but that I follow for the beautiful photos and amazing finds like these!
The top photo is of a sculpture by Jennifer Maestre.
The bottom two photos are brooches by Maria Cristina Bellucco.
Simply stunning.
My week reminds me of those t-shirts from the 80's (?) that said "My parents went to ________ and all I got was this stupid shirt".
I have been working on a project that I was really excited about. I planned, I researched, I thought it would be easy. But it wasn't. The main material was wood and it had to be thin.
I tried door skin, which splintered horribly. Then I researched hardwoods, but they were too heavy. Then I looked at balsa and basswoods. I was so sure the bass wood was going to work so I went to stain it. Oh no wrong stain! Oh well it was close enough. Then I transferred my design and started cutting, only to learn I have no skill with a saw and its obvious when the wood is as thick as it was.
So I am back to the drawing board. I think I might try to find thinner basswood and bribe G to do the cutting for me. If that doesn't work, its on to plastics.
I haven't given up yet, but I am close. A week of this and other crafts and all I have to show for it are these wooden buttons for a different project, which btw isn't turning out as I planned.
Today is definitely a Monday.
