This week on Instagram {3.14-3.24}

Good Friday, friends!

I'm combining the last two weeks because I didn't post as much as I usually do.

My phone (Sony Xperia) stopped working.  And I mean it completely bricked it self.  It took a few days to get a new one.  Then 4 days later, it bricked it self again.  I'm now on my third in 9 days.

Awesome.

Anyway.

Instagram, yay!

1. My biy is crawling.  It's an awkward jerky random crawling.  But it's also effective.

2. Baby's first mythos.  I love Greek mythology and Neil Gaiman.  Both of my kids are named after personifications and characters in Gaiman's The Sandman.  Violet Moirae (fate) and Westin Oneiros (dreams).  As it is Greek, there are beautiful explanations.  Google it.  :)  

3 and 4.  My dream catcher I won on a giveaway.  It beautiful!  It's by BettyB.  Like her page.  It's totally worth it to see what she makes. 

5.  New business cards with a preview of the new wordpress site.  This is my incentive to get the site going.  We're maybe 50% done now.  My husband is a software engineer.  I get domain names for my birthdays.

6.I bought a uke.  I hate learning to strum.

7.  Instamatic.  I need to take some photos and count and catalog all my old cameras.  So many are just so well made and good looking.

8. Sugar n Cream.  I love this color so much.  For an ex goth I really love these springy colors.  No shame!  I forget what I bought this for, but at the time I needed it.  :)

9.Size 6 toddler bowling shoes.  We took the kid bowling for the first time.  She's a smash and grab kinda chick, so she loved the concept.  My husband and I met through mutual friends at a bowling ally in 2002.  So, this was a bit of a special outing for us.   He's still a much better bowler than me.  Jerk.

10.  This afghan was started in September for a baby that was born 4 weeks ago.  :/  I'm not usually so behind.  I also like bright socks.

11.  A local theater plays free movies Sunday morning.  I took Vi to see how long she would last in a theater.  Longer than me.  This movie sucks.  But it was really fun watching her reaction to a theater.  She asked me for popcorn.  I have no idea how she knew. 

12.  Middle of the night exhausted selfie.  I still need a profile pic to put on everything that's recognizable.  As my "brand".  

13.  My boy is sweet and cute.  :)

14. My best friend most of my life moved to Italy in January.  I'm sending her a little care package.   This one is a little different from the other's I've made and I like this line up a bit better. It's tiny tho.  If her husband wasn't so tall it would fit in a 3" hoop.

15.  An antique wheelchair.  We were congregating in the hospital waiting test results.  They were not good.  I take photos when I'm upset.  And I have a thing for old medical equipment.

Do you have an instagarm?  follow for follow?  ;)

Sewing: Flannel Blanket tutorial

I found the cutest fabric for Violet's blanket.  She has a few of them, but none are really warm and he loves yarn to death so this was my solution.

Her birthday is tomorrow (!!!)  So I'm calling it an early 2 year birthday present.  

The fabric is flannel from Joann's I got a yard and a half and its the perfect size for a toddler bed/crib.

First I took pics and uploaded it to the blog, always the first step. Duh.

Then washed them.  Prewashing is one of those things that I've never done before but always seems somewhat important.

Then put them together.  You want WRONG SIDES OUT.  You are going to turn it inside out.

Next pin it up.

When its pinned you can start sewing.  Start like half way down the smaller side.  You have to leave enough open room to flip it inside out when the sides are sewn.

Sew it. 

I used this little blue take to tell me where to sew.  I matched up the shorter fabric to that spot.

When you get to a corner sew it at an angle to give you a nice rounded edge.  (If you read my blog you know I don't sew much. 
If I could do it again I would would make this more round.)

But this gives me the opportunity to show you how to do this extra special little trick.

Stop, pop the foot up but leave the needle in the fabric, move the fabric, pop the foot down, sew, pop the foot up, turn the fabric, sew.  

This is what it looks like;

Pop the foot up.

Back down and sew.

Back up and turn.

Back down and sew.

There it is!

I always do this on corners.  So handy.

Don't forget about the space need to flip the blanket inside out. Sew around and flip it.

Next we are going to sew around the edge again.  It will secure it and make it look pretty.  

First iron the edges to make it easier to sew.  When you get to that open space, iron it in so you can close it up.

I did this run a little closer because it isn't the stitch that keeps it together so I didn't have to depend on that.  I wanted to make sure I was running over the excess underneath.  

Done!  The whole thing took about 45 mins.

I asked her if she wanted her new blanket for bed.  She said uh huh!  Never says yes.  Just Uh huh.  I'll take it.

Happy Birthday Turtle!

Purple Giraffes

Cutest. Fabric. Ever.

Ever since my buddy Gail made Wes that gorgeous geometric blanket I have wanted to make a similar one for Violet.  It's flannel because it's cold in her room and she tends to tear yarn apart because she loves it so.

She just saw a ton of colors so I picked it out for her.  ;)

I can't wait to get started on this.  (Cause you know, I have nothing else to do!)  :D

Lil Cross Stitch Buttons. Wheeeee!

I have been knocking out little projects and working on larger ones.  I made a list yesterday, I have 14.  Not including the things still in my head.  I'm gunna need a nanny. 

I've been cross stitching for about 3 months and I'm ready to expand.  I like working with the smaller project.  It's really satisfying to complete something nearly daily and be much more portable.  An afghan can take months and it's going to sit in the same spot for a while. 

First was these...

Which I LOVE.  The colors are perfect.  I made them into earrings but they felt weird and I don't have the guts to wear them. So I'm going to rip off the earring back and make them buttons also. 

But I'm wearing them everydamnwhere.

Then this - 
I experimented with an idea I saw on Pinterest.  I LOVE this. 

I buttoned it and threw it on my pea coat.

Then I did a heart and a skull.

These are just something cute for Violet's coat.

The skull is done in Kreinik Metallics.  This stuff is great.  I have a huge assortment of colors to play with.  :D

She loves skulls and monsters.  She calls them "rawrs". 

The buttons are 7/8" and 1".  They have a few different sizes and I'm mos def going to be making more.  I love me some buttons. 

I'm planning a tutorial for the buttons.  That is.  If you want one...

Elements of Design Flash Cards

This is likely going to become a series.  Whether or not I do them ALL is something completely different.  I want to design the rest of the alphabet.  That would require me to read a lot more about design and color theory.  That's much of the reason I want to do it.  

These particular cards are for the Back to School Stitching Competition.  I really enjoy this site and this idea. 

I had a completely different design I was going to embroider having to do with cameras, I ditched the idea and started Value two days after my son was born.  The deadline was 10/15 but got extended to 10/20 (thank you!) so that gave me "enough time" to do Hue also.  

Stay tuned for the free patterns and color suggestions!

Embroidery: The Process.

In my recent experiments in cross stitch I remembered how much I loved the freedom of embroidery.  You can change your mind about anything a second before you do it.  

I like that freedom.

So to get me back in the groove I've decided to participate in the &stitches Back to School Embroidery Contest. Basically it's a call to create a flash card.  Simple enough that so many outstanding things can be created.  :)

&Stitches is a blog I have really grown to love recently and I'm excited to join my first competition.

They have some great prizes, but honestly, I'm more happy to try an idea on and see how it turns out.  I like a challenge. A chance to think outside the projects I have going on about at the moment.

Here I will share my little process for embroidery.  

When I began I would get these...

Now, there is nothing wrong with these.  But I have a craft M.O. I will try the recommended beginners level.  Once.  Do it correctly and skip about 5 levels and try that next.  

I like a challenge.  

It's just how I learn.  I mean, it's not life or death. Its fabric and thread. 

So I will make a pattern or download it from an awesome website, like Urbanthreads.com.  (<3)

Hook my laptop into my extra-special-embroidery-design-tracing-monitor. It's an old monitor with plexiglass taped onto it so I can put the fabric directly on to it and trace.  It's a modified light box and works perfectly.

I use a fine point disappearing ink pen.  They are about 6 bucks in the sewing gadgets part of your craft store. WORTH IT.

And it looks like this.

I picked out my fabric and thread.  

I have a simple design, it's about something somewhat technical  I want to keep it clean and just think about keeping the work neat and well done.  Not many bells and whistles here.  

Hoop it and dig in. 

I'm doing a whole lotta raised satin stitch.  It's going to be PRITTY!

Stay tuned!

It's good to have crafty friends! Handmade baby gifts.

I obviously love to make things.  I'm lucky that I have people around me that also love to make things.  It seems that all us craft nerds have really similar styles, or at least get each other's style pretty easily.

Gail made me a tons of stuff.  She's the resident seamstress. A baby carrier, burp cloths, bibs and blankets.  I LOOOOVE these shapes.  I had a little panic attack for a minute because I couldn't find the blanket.  It was in the hospital bag.  DUH.

Rebecca made the Solar System cross stitch.  This is perfect for his room.  And I was coveting it for months since she showed me her original. 

The chrome Robot is from Target, the shelf from IKEA and the W is also a gift from Rebecca.  Check out the artist at jimbot.com very cool collection. 

Jasmin, the master of combining fabric patterns and colors.  She made a couple of these for Violet, I'll have to get photos of them, cause they are gorgeous. 

Marsha, my aunt.  She made hats for Violet before she was born because I couldn't crochet yet.  She's an inspirational crafter.   :)  Just lookit that edge. 

Mom, my mom put together this laundry basket.  OMG.  You know how cute it is. 

Then there is a few things I made.  The booties were made from this pattern and the blanket that started the CHEVRON fever.  I bought this fabric at 4 weeks pregnant.  I was sure it was a boy.  I started and finished the blanket the week after our 20 week ultrasound.

This kid is going to be warm and comfy!

...He can get here now...

Just a little Sprinkle to show we care.

I always said this blog would be about my craft.  Not about my life or my children.  But today I'm going to muddy that area.  

You may have heard that I'm pregnant.  37 weeks, full term, today.  That means that not only will I have to begin the obligatory "how do I get this creature out of me" google searches but I'm pretty sure he dropped, like yesterday.  

Last weekend we had a shower for him.  Because my daughter and my son are only 22 months apart, we didn't need a whole lot of baby stuff.  But we do need diapers, wipes, "boy" clothes, etc.  But more to the point.  We needed a party.  Violet will have the photos and keepsakes from her shower forever.  She will be able to see that so many people came to "see" her and contribute to her life before she was even here.  

I felt sad that Wes wouldn't have that.  I'm a documenter.  I keep stuff.  Things have meaning to me.  I'm not a hoarder, far from it.  But I remember everything and Vi has a box of things from her life that I can pull out and explain what they are to her.  I was very sad Wes wouldn't have some of those things.  

So I kinda said screw it.  We are having a party for him.  For him.  To show that he is important and loved whether he is born yet or not.  

I'm glad we did.  :)

I designed and made the invitation and these little cards.  So there.  This IS a post about my craft. 

These cards made me cry when they were filled out.  I haven't done one yet.  It feels too important somehow. 

Onesie decorating.  

One proud little big sister and a Border Collie butt.

 The guys in the kitchen.  I love that that is where they hang.  Hey, Jeff, Make me a sammich!

We got some stuff, this is a hamper my mom had made for me. SO MUCH CUTE.

My little couch is less comfy than it used to be.... 

My mom, I can't get much done without her.  <3 you mum. 

Finished Onesies.  

Guesses.  I have disowned anyone that wrote anything over 10/5 and 9lbs. 

My family in our home.  I'm old and lame but damn it feels good to be a housewife gangsta.