Christmas Recap

Recap pictures from our trip to Cleveland to visit CJ's family for Christmas...

1. The Angola rest stop on the I-90 Thruway. The rest stop is actually in the median of the eastbound and westbound lanes. There are parking lots on each side and bridges over the roads going to the building in the middle that has the bathrooms, McDonald's, coffee shop, and gift shop. I always like standing in the middle of the bridge and watching the cars go under. (There was a dad and his 2 little girls waving to the oncoming cars and seeing how many people waved back. It was cute!)
2. "Welcome To Ohio!"  We always stop at the Ohio Visitor Center on our way to Cleveland...usually because all of us could use a bathroom break (including the dog!)!
3. I was bored and decided to take pictures of the pretty, snow covered trees on the side of the road we we were driving, and I happened to capture this picture of an old barn.
4. My niece Rayne and the Barn Owl Nubbins I gave her.
5. My Christmas present from CJ...a necklace with a vintage key with a handmade glass bead from my friend Francesca DeCaire, who makes cool jewelry with lampwork glass. (check out her Etsy shop!)
6. My niece, Maria, with the flower hair clip that I made out of hot pink guitar picks
7. CJ watching the Doctor Who Christmas Special with the crochet blanket his sister made for him for Christmas.
8. My niece, Taylor, with a Ninja Nubbin I gave her.
9. Owl spoon necklace from Sunshyne Silverwear that I gave to Rayne (check out Sunshyne Silverwear on Etsy!).

Brainery Holiday Bazaar

Photos from the Rochester Brainery's "Brainery Holiday Bazaar"...

Bethany Gardens Bazaar

Photos from the "Bethany Gardens Craft Bazaar"...

Christmas In Medina 2013

Photos from a frigid day at"Christmas In Medina"...

Mayday Underground November 2013

Some photos from Mayday Underground...

1. Me wearing a domino necklace I got from a trade with cloud9jewels

2. Another artist trade.  Traded a fox for a fox with PeachesProducts!

3. The owners of "Andy the Traveling Nubbin" visited and showed me pictures of Andy's most recent trip to Sweden and Finland.

4. Moustache Nubbins
5. This girl comes every year to Mayday and wears this awesome shirt!

6. A One-Eye Nubbin finds a home in the pocket of a happy customer.

7. "Gertie" plays with my hat.
8. "Sergeant Waffles" with his new friend!
9. Cool Doctor Who themed stuff from Cat Clay and Papersaurus Creative. 

Vote for me in the RNEST October Team Challenge!

I entered my new Dapper Moustache Disguise Nubbin into the RNEST Team Challenge for October!  

The theme is "In Disguise". Please go to the RNEST blog and vote for me in the poll in the right sidebar. (as usual, you don't have to register for anything in order to vote!) Voting ends this Saturday at midnight! 

Make-It Monday!: Fox Stamp

As a continuation of my stamp-making frenzy last week...I got the idea to make a fox stamp from this post I found via Pinterest.  (*I just looked at the actual post for the first time...I didn't even realize she made her stamp the same way I did!  I thought she carved it out of a stamp-carving block from looking at the Pinterest image!)

I used a hole-punch for the eyes...that's why they're so big and perfect and round.

Real graffiti?  Nope...it's really just a book!

The book is called "Tag This! A Doodle Book".  It has photos of different urban environments that you can unleash your inner graffiti artist on and doodle to your hearts content!

What's-On-My-Worktable Wednesday: DIY Stamps

For tomorrow's homeschooler art class, I'm teaching the kids about stamps and letterboxing. I've made stamps with kids craft foam sheets before, but not the sticky-backed kind. I've always used hot glue. But I can't exactly let 6 and 7 year olds loose with hot glue guns... I'm pretty sure that's a recipe for disaster. And I find regular white glue is useless for anything but paper when dealing with impatient children. So I decided to get the sticky-back foam sheets to make life easier. As for the base of the stamps, I'm using wooden toy building blocks. I have a strange love affair with building blocks, and I can never resist buying a gallon ziplock bag of them for 50 cents from the toy section of my local thrift store, so I have plenty of blocks to spare! I also recycle the plastic spools when my thread runs out. I've used those before to make button stamps.

(I obviously will not be letting the children use X-acto knives tomorrow either!  I will be letting them use the stamps I've made though.)

I can't take all the credit for this project idea.  I got the idea for the buildings from this library book "Show Me A Story".  It's a cute book.  I recommend it.

What's On My Work Table Wednesday: Quiet Work Day

Just some pictures from a quiet work day...

Luna on the granny-chic crochet hexagon blanket I got at the MAAC thrift store on Monday.  It's so delightfully bright and cheery! (it was originally only $1.50, but since it was half-price day, I got it for 75 cents!)

Terra decided my cutting table was a nice spot to lay down since Luna was in the spot in front of the window.

Untangling and organizing my embroidery floss to the tunes of Sara Groves.

Sweater Monsters awaiting hand-sewing.

Finished Monster!  This one was my favorite of the day!

What's-On-My- Worktable Wednesday: New Nubbins In The Works For Fall

Here's a peek at some new styles of Nubbin I have in the works to be available at craft shows in the fall.

Dapper Mustachio Nubbin

I've done a moustached Nubbin before (two years ago for the RNEST "No-Shave-November/ Movember" team challenge).  I decided with this batch, I like it with just the moustache without the teeth.   I feel like I'm late on the moustache trend, but it still seems to be trending, since people still like it!  And my Facebook friends are loving this Nubbin so far.

Yellow & Grey Floral Print Barn Owl Nubbin

I also have another printed fabric that is yellow spots on grey that I'm making Barn Owls with.  It coordinates really well with the floral print, so these owls will look great displayed next to each other in a basket at shows.

White Arctic Fox Nubbin

In addition to the White "Arctic" Fox, I'd also like to add a Grey Fox Nubbin too....and perhaps some mustard yellow (inspired by Sleepy King's yellow foxes)  And for some reason, I've been having the urge to make one in turquoise-blue.  Who knows... blue foxes could end up popular!

What's-On-My-Worktable Wednesday: Washi-Tape Doodles

While trolling Pinterest for ideas for the homeschool art class this upcoming year and found this blog with a little doodle of a girl with her clothes made from washi tape.  Researching for art class makes me feel all (traditionally) artsy too, so I busted out my own small stash of washi tape and my Smashbook and made this little doodle...

Here's a wider view of my Smashbook page.  The words and crown were already printed on the page.

When you do art as your "job", it's nice to just make art for fun sometimes.   It's refreshing to just do something fun for yourself that's out of your usual medium.  The funny thing is that I didn't grow up sewing a lot. I liked to draw and paint.  Even in high school, I wanted to be a painter.  My original "what I want to be when I grow up" job was a "children's book author and illustrator".  Yeah... at age 5 I knew that was an actual job.  I blame it on Steven Kellogg... my favorite childhood author (who I've had the pleasure of meeting twice...once when I was 5, and again when I was 26).  Even though my preferred medium has changed, I'd like to think those early aspirations have influenced my work.  I did end up creating characters and making art that is greatly appreciated by children!

Thrifty Thursday! DIY No-Sew Recycled Clothing Wall Pockets

I had this idea pop into my head this morning... to use the breast pocket of a men's shirt to make another version of a no-sew embroidery hoop wall pocket!  (I'm sure I'm not the first person to have this idea, but I still think it's pretty cool!)

 It's ridiculously simple.  Find a piece of old clothing with a pocket, place it how you want it in the embroidery hoop, tighten the screw, and cut of the excess fabric around the edges!  Ta-da! 

The size of the hoop depends on the size/style of the clothing item or the look you're going for (if you'll notice, I did something different with the jeans pocket).  I used a 9 inch diameter hoop for the shirt pockets.  I used a smaller size for the jeans, since it was a bigger pocket and I was experimenting with a different style for the pocket.

This is a great way to save a piece of clothing with sentimental value... like your dad's or grandfather's old shirt... and turn it into some functional wall art.  Or if you don't have any shirts/jeans lying around ready for crafting, you can just hit up your local thrift store!  (all my embroidery hoops are from the thrift store as well!)

Enjoy!

What's-On-My-Work-Table Wednesday: One-Eyed Nubbins, Embroidery Hoops, and My Craft Room Companions

Back in June, I made a "Mike Wazowski" inspired Nubbin as my own little homage to "Monsters University" coming to theaters.  I ended up giving it to a friend's daughter who loves Mike Wazowski.  But that one Nubbin inspired me to make a new line of One-Eyed ,Horned Nubbins in multiple colors!

I only have them in 3 colors right now...Green (with blue eye), Blue (with green eye), and Purple (with orange eye).  They'll be making their craft show debut this Saturday at the August "Brainery Bazaar" at the Rochester Brainery.  This show will kind of be a "beta test" to see how well they sell.  I'll only have 2 of each color.  I have a feeling the green one will sell well because of the resemblance to Mike Wazowski.  Maybe I should have a few more of the green ones on hand.

When I posted the picture of my new Nubbin design on Facebook, a friend requested that I make a purple one with one horn and wings... a One-Eyed, One-Horned, Flying Purple People Eater!  That idea excited me and I just had to make one right away!  I'm sure I'll get more requests for this one too.  The only thing is, those wings are a bit annoying to make... especially to make 2 of them that are supposed to be the same.  I should try to see if I can make myself a template for them.

As you can see, I'm falling in love with utilizing embroidery hoops...largely due to Pinterest.  I have a friend from RNEST who does embroidery hoop art, and I have this stash of hoops I've gotten from the thrift store that I've been meaning to give to her... but I'm not sure that's going to happen now, since I have been using them myself lately!  Yesterday, I made this "wall pocket" for my craft room, inspired by this tutorial I found on Pinterest.  It was no-sew because the fabric I used for the pocket was already hemmed!  Although another no-sew option is to just fold the fabric over.  I do want to add an additional small pocket on the front of this though, to hold smaller items like small scissors or a seam-ripper.  And, as you can see in the Purple People Eater photo, I can use them for display/photo purposes too! (I just used some large pins to hold the monster in place to look like he's flying!)

And finally, for your daily dose of cuteness...here's Luna in her favorite napping spot in my craft room!  

Well, it's not exclusively Luna's spot...it's one of Terra's preferred spots too!  But they are good sisters and share it based on a first-come-first-served basis (with no fighting!)

I'm Still Here!

Don't worry! I am still alive! I've just been bad at blogging lately.  I actually haven't been online a whole lot lately, except for checking email on my phone and trying to keep up on Facebook. I think it's because I tend to get sucked into the black hole of the internet when I'm on the computer lately. I'll try to be better. In the meantime, here's a couple pictures of some sweater monsters I've made lately. (I've made more than just these two, they just aren't photographed)

Berries!

I've had an abundance of berries this week!  On Monday, I went with my friend Amy and her kids to pick blueberries at a local farm, Empire Orchards. And I've been getting blackberries out of my back yard all week!  They are huge and in abundance right now!  I'm thinking of making blackberry cobbler for church on Sunday.

(the black kitten is a barn cat at Empire Orchard)

Mini Mayday 2013!

Some quick photos of Mini Mayday from today!

We had some worries in the morning, since it was pouring rain when we got there to set up (and I was one of the few vendors who chose to set up outside).  But we still had some die-hard Mayday Underground fans show up in the rain with their raincoats and umbrellas to get the free swag bags!  And by noon, it had cleared up and was nice and dry and sunny!  And after borrowing some sidewalk chalk from the organizer (she'd used it to write a notice on the blacktop that there were more vendors inside) I'm feeling inspired to make sure I keep some of my own in my craft show supplies!  

What's On My Worktable Wednesday: Corlorful Patterned Barn Owls Return!

I'm working on making some more colorful, patterned Barn Owl Nubbins this week. I've made the Blue-Faced, Flower Patterned owls before, but the Neon Chevron ones will be making their debut at the Midsummer Mini Mayday show this Saturday!

Upcoming Craft Shows June/July 2013

Here are a couple of my upcoming summer shows!

Midsummer Mini Mayday!
(THIS) Saturday, June 29, 2013 10:00am until 4:00pm
256 Alexander St, Rochester, New York 14607

Lyndonville AFS 4th of July Craft Show

Thursday, July 4, 2013 11:00am until 6:00pm 

 25 Housel Ave, Lyndonville, NY 14098

Monsters University!

My parents took me to see Monsters University for my birthday!

I kept joking that I felt like I was 5 years old... even though it was my 31st birthday!  The day before, I had made a special Mike Wazowski inspired one-eyed Nubbin to celebrate!

As for the movie, I loved it (of course!).  I'm so geeky though, all through the movie I kept thinking that I was looking forward to when the DVD comes out so I can listen to the director commentary!  I like listening to the director commentaries of my favorite movies when I sew...especially animated movies.

It's Going To Be A "Bazaar" Weekend!

FYI: I'll be at Rochester Brainery's June "Brainery Bazaar" tomorrow! (10am - 6pm)

(By the way, I love this logo! So clever!)

"Brainery Bazaar is a monthly arts & crafts show held at Rochester Brainery the 2nd Saturday of each month from 10am-6pm. Join us in June as we welcome back some of our May vendors and welcome new vendors, too! As always, the first 25 people through the door will receive a FREE Brainery Bazaar tote bag filled with free swag from some of our vendors!"

"Help up spread the word by sharing the event on your FB wall, please! Also, if you stop by tomorrow, remember to use the hashtag #BraineryBazaar if you snap a photo and please tag us at @rocbrainery."


The next day (Sunday) I am going to another craft show called the "Dichotomy Art Bazaar", but I will be there as a shopper, not a vendor.

As disappointed as I am that I didn't get into this show, I am kind of excited to go to a show as a shopper. So now I can actually check out the booths without worrying about getting back to my own booth to relieve whoever is helping me (usually either my mom or my husband).

Make-It-Monday: Rubber-Stamped Fabric Keychain

Here was my process for printing the fabric for my keychain...

I was going to use Staz-On ink for this, but I couldn't find my black inkpad.  But I did remember that I had bought some black fabric paint awhile back. (I must have bought it for some project, but I can't remember what that project was).

So, you can do this with your own rubber stamp. All you need is... 

• A Rubber Stamp (mine is a custom hand-carved stamp from Jackbear Stamps, but you can use any rubber stamp)
• Fabric Paint
• Foam paintbrush (you could also use a cheap foam sponge)
• Small artist's paintbrush
• Fabric you want to print on (I used both a cotton muslin and canvas)
• Small piece of scrap wood (optional)
• Iron & pressing cloth (I used a scrap piece of my cotton muslin)

Squirt a bit of the fabric paint onto the foam brush.  Use the artist brush to spread the paint around and into the foam.  The foam will be like a stamp pad. 

My stamp was a bit larger than the foam brush, so instead of pressing the stamp down onto the foam, I held the stamp in one hand and used the foam brush to dab the paint evenly onto the stamp. (I tried doing this earlier with a regular paintbrush before I decided to use the foam brush, but the paint went on gloopy and uneven, which made for a uneven, gloopy-looking print. So I definitely recommend using the foam instead.)

Press the stamp down evenly onto your chosen fabric.

I used a piece of scrap wood to help make sure the stamp was pressed evenly.

Lift up the stamp, and Voila!  Stamped fabric!

My bottle of fabric paint said to let the paint dry for 24 hours and then heat set it with an iron...but I have to confess, I only waited maybe 1-2 hours, since it seemed plenty dry, and I was anxious to make my keychain!

I cut out the design and zig-zag stitched it onto a piece of printed cotton, then made a simple, tiny pillow, stitching in a bias tape loop for the split ring to attach to.

I got this orange & white polka dot cotton fabric from a box of fabric scraps a friend gave me.  I don't work with quilter's weight cotton a lot, but I have lots of scraps with different prints that I've accumulated from friends, so I am looking forward to making more of these in different patterns!