Decked out for Deathly Hallows Part 1 Swap

So... this swap happened several months ago for the premier of DH part 1 in November.  Yes, it has taken me this long to post!  For this swap we were required to craft 3 items for our partners: one large, one medium, one small and of these we needed to craft one wearable, one toy/accessory/game, and one edible.  Here is what I came up with:

A winged key necklace:



A very owly tote:

Handmade wands made from paper, hot glue, and paint using this tutorial:

Wand chopsticks:

A Potions Starter Kit, which you can see here in this picture with most the other items:

And a Molly Weasley inspired crochet shawl:

And I think that's about it :) I will add more details later.

Memory Bear

My Mother-in-law's husband passed away last January, so it was to be expected that January would be a tough month for her this year.  In an attempt to lessen the inevitable sadness that was sure to come, I made her a memory bear from some of his old clothing.

This was my first attempt at any sort of stuffed creature or doll, so it certainly wasn't perfect, but I am pretty happy with the way he turned out.  I used Simplicity pattern 5461 and 2 dress shirts in coordinating colors.  The bow is a little wonky, and I went a little overboard with the stuffing, but I still think he is cute.  As it turns out, dear MIL loved him to tears.

Bookmark Swap Round 3 - Bookmarks complete!

So I joined my first craftster swap, and had so much fun crafting for other people that I can't wait to sign up for more!  For this swap, participants had the option to be partnered up one-on-one, or placed in groups of 5 or 6 people.  I, of course, chose the latter :)  After playing around with this type of medium and that, I decided to stick with what I know best for this first swap - FABRIC!  Drawing inspiration from the Fabric Collage Bookmark by the very talented Lynn at Her Creative Spirit, and using this tutorial at PrintAndSew.com for printing on fabric, this is what I came up with.

The bookmarks themselves are made from 4 layers of fabric - 2 layers of print on the outside, and 2 layers of muslin inside.  I used the muslin as a stablizer for the applique, and to add more structure to the bookmark.  I originally had used Warm & Natural quilt batting behind the top piece as the applique stabilizer, and a piece of cardstock sandwiched between that and the back piece of print, but this turned out more "book friendly".

All the applique artwork and text were printed directly onto muslin before being applied to the bookmark.  Take a look at the finished projects (clilck the pics for larger view!):


For Spotnik - This one is based on the four elements and uses artwork Elements from daisuke88 at deviantart.com.

For Pogo - She mentioned she liked bird silhouettes, vultures, and the Poe quote from "Dream within a Dream".

For jungianwanderer - I tried to make her a nice, Druidy bookmark with spirals and a Tree of Life painting by Tim Parish.

For Knittingjo - A sister trekkie, she mentioned the Worf quote from TNG Episode "Qpid" as one of her favorite quotes, and Picard as one of her favorite characters/Captains. 

For squire_inaria - Inspired by a set of items on her wists (these Arthur Rackham pendants made by Onyxnox on craftster) and one of her favorite quotes.  This turned out to be my favorite one, so I printed a few extra copies of the illustrations for myself for later use in some project or another  :)

And here is a shot of all 5 together!

I am really quite proud of how these turned out, especially since I have never made a bookmark before.  I hope I was thorough enough in my stalking that my partners like them as much as I do!  :)  This was the perfect first swap for me as far as project size and requirements, crafting deadline, and theme.  For what seems like such a simple thing, it was a tremendous amout of fun... I can't wait to get started on some more!

New blog

Well, I've finally broken down and joined the blogosphere... or whatever it's called.  I am not sure how well this is going to work out, but I figure it's worth a shot - what's the worst that can happen?  A bunch of strangers from the interwebs find me strange and don't like what I have to say?  Well, seeing as how that isn't much different from my day to day life, I think I'll give it a go :)

Why am I starting a blog, you may ask?  One word (or, more accurately, URL):  craftster.org.  The single most addictive web-based community currently in existance.  If you haven't heard of it, you probably aren't reading this, since I plan to use this blog to chronicle my adventures in crafting.  Also, you are needlessly depriving yourself of a wonderous world of crafty goodness... get thee to craftster, straight away!

So... sit back, grab a cup of tea (or tankard of ale), and have a look around.  If you enjoy yourself, have a merry stay and come back anytime you like.  If you do not enjoy yourself, you are free to take your leave at any time.  Just don't feed the gnomes on your way out - they tend to get a bit cantankerous when overfed, and nobody wants an angry gnome on their tail... and I mean nobody!   :)