Finals week and somehow I ended up on Ebay.

50 orange Hello Kitty buttons… $2 and free shipping?

I can do that.

And my week is brightened.

(have i ever mentioned how impossible it is to take pictures of orange things??)

stress shopping is a win is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

My beautiful pet cactus, Cactus, is now officially a resident of cactus heaven. It was a good cactus, and I loved it as much as anyone has ever loved a cactus, but the Cleveland sun, especially the amount that comes through my window, was just not enough.

Cactus had been looking a bit peckish for awhile, but I kept hope that it was just having a dormant winter. But on Wednesday, its head popped off. Goodbye, Cactus.

My room and my heart are feeling rather empty, so I was compelled to make a memorial version of my beloved Cactus.

Much less alive and much more cuddly, the presence of Plush Cactus is slowly healing the prickly hole in my heart.

in memoriam is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

The creators of the book One Yard Wonders are producing a sequel, and are currently asking for project submissions. The deadline is April 1st (i know! sorry!) extended to April 11! but if you’ve got a pattern that you’ve been itching to publish, this could be your chance!

I decided to submit a pattern, but before finalizing I had to see the first book to make sure I was on the right track. So I picked it up from the library… it’s a darling book! Great pictures, some very cute projects, and the two things that every craft book should have but not nearly enough do: spiral bound pages and patterns printed on tissue and presented in an envelope.

Even though I had borrowed the book in order to use it as a guide, I couldn’t pass up a chance to make something as adorable as the “Peg Bear” pattern. So, shoving homework aside, I stitched up this little guy who is now affectionately referred to as Ninja Bear! Stuffed to the brink of explosion, he’s quite heavy, very huggable, and incredibly sneaky.

ninja bear! is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

does it get any cuter than this?

click the image to visit the blog entry and see the photo tutorial. so simple and cute!

button cookies is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

Today I am being surrounded by bright colors. This is a good thing.

happy whale pants,

the beginnings of a soft wool scarf,

wooden beads from ohio,

and a mirror that i decoupaged with magazines last week.

i’m trying to squeeze out as many projects as i can this week, because saturday it’s time to head back up to ohio! and this time it will be for quite a while! :)

and now for something completely different, i shall leave you with a haiku.

sunny sunday is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

Something possessed me to make these little bunnies out of all the heavy fabric I had around. “Delightfully handmade” is the best phrase I can think of to describe them… they’re quirky and fun in the way only handmade toys can be. And they’re all named Arthur. One-of-a-kind, huggable, carry-able… see them over at Fluffyland!

And now, for more shameless plugging: you can now become a fan of Fluffyland on Facebook! (and tell your friends!)

meet the arthurs! is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

Yesterday, my mom and I went on a college shopping spree. We headed to Target to peek at the minifridge of my dreams (it has a separate freezer – for ice cream emergencies!) although we didn’t actually buy it yet. Then we stopped by the outlet mall and looked through the Pottery Barn outlet. I was hoping for some awesome sheets, but they didn’t have any in the Twin XL dorm size. However, I did find my ultra-perfect dorm-ready rug. It’s huge, 7′ x 9′, but oval, and it’s blue, pink, green, and white. The braids are made of soft, fuzzy chenille, so it couldn’t be comfier. I also scored some clearance electric blue Pumas at the Puma outlet, and that made me very excited because my other cute & comfy shoes are just about dead. So that was definitely a successful shopping trip.

We also stopped over at Jo-Ann’s, because clearance is half-price and I’m planning on running a sewing camp during the first week of August. I’m planning to teach middle-school age girls the basics of sewing, and they’ll get to make and keep a pillowcase, a tote, and a pair of pajama shorts. I picked up some great clearance flannel, and I am very excited to pass on my skills to ensure the art of sewing doesn’t die off.

After all that running around, it was nice to have a calm, relaxed day today… not much that needed to be done, but still not so little that it became boring. I took pictures of the two latest totes, and put a bunch of Butterick patterns up on Ebay. There are a few for purses/totes, one for historical blouses and costumes, and lots and lots of patterns for outfits for young girls. If you’re interested, you can see my pattern lots here. I’m hoping to just get them out of the house, since we’re trying to clean out the basement, so whatever I can get for them makes me happy.

I also made my new, restaurant-class paninis for my mom, little brother, and myself for lunch. All they are is nice, fresh, Italian bread brushed with olive oil (i mix a bit of salt in, too), filled with whatever you like, and pressed into the sandwich maker. I like mine with cheese, turkey, tomato slices, and a few spinach leaves; Andy prefers just cheese. Whatever you put inside is made exciting just because the bread is so tasty!

I haven’t done any sewing today, and haven’t even been inspired much to do so. At first I was surprised, but as I looked around the sewing room it was obvious why I am not eager to start a new project. I have lots of cleaning to do… ugh. Last night, while I was on the phone, I sewed the head and arms on this little Funny Bunny (as I call them). I’m using that as my excuse for her lopsided “hug me” position. She’s still pretty cute, though… maybe the thought of making her little dress will be enough incentive to get me to start cleaning. I also think she might need some sort of nose; however, my embroidery abilities are quite sub-par.

Whether I clean or not, I’m pretty sure it’s time to get myself out of the computer chair and onto more productive things… I hope you are all taking advantage of the beautiful sunshine and fresh breezes of the last few days!

oh, the ways we spend our days is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

Every Christmas, I make something new and (hopefully!) exciting for my friends. The challenge: finding the perfect balance between fun, functional, and easy. I want them to love it, I want to be able to personalize it for each person, I want it to be more than something they’ll just throw on a shelf… but I don’t want to go crazy when I have to make a bunch.

This year, I started early. In November, I started thinking. I wanted to use my embroidery machine; I wanted to come up with something cute and clever. When fleece went on sale the day after Thanksgiving, I had it.

With this adorable navy polka dot fleece, I made scarves! I drew the whale on the computer and turned it into an embroidery applique file. The appliques are fun and painless with my machine; I’ve been working on a few more that I hope to use in the future! So each girl got her own fabric for her whale, based on favorite colors and even with a dash of personality.
I used green minky, hot pink fleece, light pink, hot pink, then turquoise corduroy, lavender flannel, blue and blue & white stripe flannelette, and orange fuzzy mystery fabric (no idea what it is but it’s awesome!)
They were fun. They were cute. But after getting so many compliments on my pocket scarf, I realized it was lackiing. Seriously, seriously lacking in the pocket department.
So each end has a simple navy fleece pocket, handsized and cozy. No zippers this time; I wasn’t about to do nine of those, are you kidding me?

And of course, the happy ending; my fabulous sock monkey wrapping paper was torn into, and I got lots of hugs and smiles. I’ve heard they get lots of compliments. :) I’m happy.

And then, we get to the best part of my Christmas. Of course, I love presents as much as the next person.. but what I love most is when that next person loves the present I have made for them. Last Christmas, I made Ben a Goomba, the Mario character, proving that 15-year-old boys are not too old for stuffed toys. This year, I had to top the Goomba. Could it be done?

Andy, my 9-year-old brother, is obsessed with Cartoon Network’s Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. I watch the show sometimes too.. it’s amusing, and I love the art/colors of the animation; it’s actually very inspiring to watch! Andy loves Bloo, the main character: an imaginary friend who is a joking, rule-breaking, sarcastic imaginary friend. He has an extremely simple shape, and I figured I’d be able to do it.

I cut four shapes out of fleece that I knew would make a good body shape, then made a circle to connect them all at the bottom. Somehow, his eyes took forever. I pinned and repinned, cut and recut, but they never seemed to be in the right place or stay perfect circles. I finally just sewed them on, feeling like they were in the wrong spot and would look completely ridiculous. I stitched a little mouth and began to stuff him.

And he was perfect.

Ben, Andy, and I always exchange our sibling presents for each other on Christmas Eve. When I threw Bloo at Andy, who saw only a big mass of wrapping paper, he said, “i wonder what this is!” and tore away the wrapping. When he turned it around to see Bloo’s face, he yelled, “BLOOO!” and squeezed him and wouldn’t stop hugging him. I was close to tears, I was so very happy.

That is the moment that made my Christmas perfect.

♥ p.s. i’ve added a few more pictures detailing steps 9 & 10 in the Starburst Wrapper Bracelet Tutorial; if you were having problems figuring out how to connect your links, hopefully this clears up any confusion!

winter weather advisory: whale flurries! is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

I’m in present mode, full-swing. I’ve finished the presents for all my girl friends at school; they’re all the same basic thing, but personalized with their favorite color/fabric I think they’ll like. I also made something for my boyfriend which I think he’ll like. And as soon as I get the right fabric, I’ll be working on something for Andy, my little brother. I love making gifts for people; it makes me feel so useful, special, and creative! By making things, I can have it just perfect for each person. It’s just so fun to make people happy! So I’ll have pictures of all this stuff once it’s been received; the chances of anyone seeing a picture two days before she gets her present is slim, but I don’t want to risk ruining the surprise!

I made this plush balloon dog for my friend Molly for her birthday. She’s a professional facepainter; she gets tons of money for sitting under a tent at a park every weekend and painting kids’ faces. She’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever met, and it’s the perfect job for her. She recently went to a ballooning convention/lesson and was really excited about it, so I figured something like this would be perfect for her. It was a big experiment, but it wasn’t too hard. I made a long tube of the crazy colorful polka dot flannel, stuffed it, and twisted it like a real balloon dog. Then I handsewed over each twist, and put on eyes! It took quite a bit more handsewing than I had expected, but it was worth it. She loved it and found it hilarious and adorable; I was happy.

Basically, I’m always much more excited to give gifts than I am to receive them. A great reaction is the best present for me! I just like to be appreciated and show my friends how much I love them. Still, it is fun to get little things too. :D

So, that’s the great part about Christmas. And I also have the benefit of not having to shop during this madness. I did need some fabric, but I stocked up on Black Friday.. otherwise no other shopping was necessary, since I have enough other fabric at home to last me at least three lifetimes.

But on Saturday, when I went to Jo-Ann’s for my 2 hours of work (yes, I work 2 hours a week.), I got to be part of the madness. First, I went on the quest for a parking spot and finally found one halfway across the plaza. Then I got into work and cut away at fabric, but the line never grew shorter and the people never stopped coming. Many of them were perfectly nice, polite, calm, etc… but there were quite a few frenzied shoppers, lacking the time to wait in such lines because of all the other stores they had to hit up before they could go home and hastily sew up the last of their gifts. Once my shift was over, I trekked through the parking lot, got to my car, and got to the line to get out.

It took me an hour to get out of the parking lot.

I’m serious.

I got in my car at 1:08, and got out of the parking lot at 2:15.
JoAnn’s is in the corner of the plaza, and the entire thing only has two exits. Obviously, there are way too many stores for a parking lot with two exits. Plus, one of those stores is a Toys R Us. And there’s a Target, and a Circuit City. Not that those would be at all popular during the holidays.

For an hour, I moved about an inch every minute, because as I made my way towards my exit, at each row more cars would come out of their spaces and go in front of me in line. Somehow, I managed to stay polite, patient, and cheery; I just had to remind myself to stay in the Christmas spirit, even though times were trying, and I prayed for lots of extra patience. Then I was late to my friend’s Nutcracker, but luckily I didn’t miss her solo as the Sugarplum Fairy!

I hope all of you have a safe, blessed, happy, and thankful Christmas!

last christmas, i gave you my heart.. is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

As always, I can’t help but feel a bit upset as summer leaves. And by “bit upset”, I mean I was really, really dreading the start of school.

Good:
♥ senior year! wow!
♥ seeing friends every day!
♥ back to school shopping!

Bad:
x waking up early
x homework
x when am i supposed to sew?
x college application time is coming fast….. ah!

Basically, everything just gets crazy.

So before school started last week, I decided to finally get the craft room cleaned up a bit. During the year, I’m only going to have little pieces of time to sew & craft, so I don’t want to spend my precious creative time cleaning up all of my WIPs. Of course, looking around now, I realize that I’ve already made a pretty big mess with a batch of magnets I just made, but i’m trying. Above my sewing machine, I have all my little mousies on a shelf, peeping down at me. To my right, on my nice clean bookshelf, are all my whales and the two big mousies that are left. I didn’t realize that keeping everything clean would have such a huge impact on my creativity; all of my ideas seem so much more feasible when I actually have room to work.

Right here is my nice clean sewing table, and my wall of fun stuff. All my thread is color-coordinated, of course. I’ve got little drawers filled with all sorts of works-in-progress, and my most recent batch of unfinished whales on top. Alice keeps them company.

This is the inspirational part of my wall, with my small bulletin board covered in fun stuff, a whale dot-to-dot from my friend Molly, a Coke ad from Katie, and an M and a heart from Grace; all of this is because my friends always encourage me in everything I do and I love them! The Coke ad is one of my favorite things ever, though… it says,

make it the latest trend, then abandon it, and start a new one. make it something that turns heads. make it you. make it real. make it an overheated sewing machine at 3am. make it transform a pile of scrap fabric into a next level handbag. make it new. make it sparkle. make it do the talking for you. make it something everyone will call a statement, but you’ll just call a random tuesday.

It’s basically the story of my life.

Hanging on the shelf below my mousies are my ribbons form my trip to New York’s garment district, because I haven’t been able to cut into them yet, they’re too pretty! I’ve also got my little butterfly I made, with wings that detach with a bow; I want to make more sets of wings eventually, so they can be changed. I think that would be fun. :D In front of Alice are four plushie Starbursts that I made quite awhile ago… I’m not sure what I’m going to do with them. They’re soft and squishy, but they don’t serve much of a purpose.

And now I’ve got to get back to my AP english homework, then hopefully have some time for whales, magnet making, decoupage, or whatever I decide to do next!

(also, please forgive the funny blurriness of the pictures; last week it rained nearly every day, so the lighting was not ideal.)

summer? where did you go? is a post from: Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog