this is a big seller here in queenvanna-land, and this is just a slight variation. i love that this paper looks like fabric. very natural, neutral and pretty!
fresh in the etsy shoip this a.m.!!
took a large part of my morning off, but managed to make a 
what day is this? did i remember yesterday? dang, i’m all over the place. ANYWAY…. here’s today’s perpetual calendar! yay! i really do love this one. i’m into stripes and this color combo a lot lately! it’s in my etsy shop and on my flickr, too! =) 
for a girl that makes CALENDARS for a living, you’d think i’d keep a better grasp on what day it is!
that’s right!! another perpetual calendar! this one is a new design, and i put it in my etsy shop today! i like that this one isn’t particularly girlie, it’d be just fine for a guy, too!!
Valentine’s Day is almost here! I made a batch of cupcake for work, complete with handmade toppers.
This is a cooky owl. I started out by sketching out little owls and cut one out to use as a base pattern, but decided against it. I ended up looking at my favorite pic and then just free-form cutting out the owl pieces. Then, I hand embroidered the owl onto a bas fabric using different decorative stitches. I found the perfect beads to use as the feet in my bead stash and used bugle beads for his beak. The eyes are the same button but I decided to turn one right side up and one right side down. I think I am going to use this in a purse….maybe patchwork this into the flap…not sure yet. Just needed to do something crafty for the challenge *smiles*
Good news! We gained 5 degrees today, but I am sure we will lose that and more tomorrow. This is a great learning experience. Turns out we can do without heat in our home. It’s a little uncomfortable and it is best if you try not to move too much….cause when ya move, you can feel the cold air. Only one more day to go before the gas guy stops by! Though, they gave no indication of what time he/she will be here so who knows!
In the meantime I did handcraft a few more fabric brooches and started some bookmarks. A few of the brooches are still in progress. So, I would consider these in progress pics, but at least I did do something today *smiles* Since I joined Thing-a-Day February and the 365 Challenge, I HAVE to do SOMETHING every day!!
Here’s the pics! I am off to bed before it gets too cold to fall asleep…….
You cannot see it, but the rainbow bookmark — the clouds are scraps of eyelet. I love making these multimedia bookmarks. I did as many as I could today, but since my fingers are cold I don’t have as much control as I need to do more. They take fine fine motor skills *smiles*
p.s. I’m starting to feel well again!! Less coughing, fever reduced — hooray!!! That means after the gas guy stops by on Monday, I’ll be able to use my machines again! I love making bookmarks and handcrafting fabric brooches BUT I also miss stitching garments!!!
Today I made a sterling silver band. I applied a super-secret finish that makes the surface texture both shiny and matte.
This one is a size 7 and it’s available here: http://tinyurl.com/2mut2m
Still sick as a dog. My son is a walking germ. He spent the weekend with his great grandma and she is REALLY sick now. That concerns me. If she feels anything like I do, she needs to get her butt to the doctor. She has insurance and shouldn’t suffer like me.
Ok, so being sick, dizzy, coughing out my lungs, my sinuses feeling like they are bloated to the point of bursting through my skin….Despite all of this, despite the fact that I could barely raise my head off of a pillow, I knew I needed to do something today to build up inventory so that I can make some money some day. It is really hard to be creative when every orifice of your body is screaming
AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH
But………
fortunately……..
my orifices are all trained in persistent creative impulses *giggles*
*coughs* note to self: no giggling allowed while sick……
So, I am sitting on the love seat in my studio nursing a warm mug of herbal brew and I notice this:
Those are the scraps from the fabric brooches I made the other day. I think to myself — I sure wish there were some way I could use these tiny scraps. Then it hit me!!!! Bookmarks!!!
Here was my first one:
The most AWESOME thing about this is that I am able to use even those teeny weeny bits of thread that are not usable otherwise. Suddenly a whole entire world has opened up to me. A whole new hierarchy or textile usage!!! So, I went on to do these:
I really wish I had some fine tip pens or markers or whatnots. I totally used to dig drawing with those back in my art crazy days. I mean back when I wanted to draw and paint for a living. Anyhoo, I don’t have any, but I am going to buy some the next time I go out. I want to add some sayings and etc to the bookmarks. I am really good at calligraphy too so maybe I will do some of that with the fabric bits.
I mean, that first one I made, the little triangles were from me notching out a scrap for a brooch. So, they were in my heap as triangles. How nice.
Fortunately, my in-laws got us a laminating machine as an anniversary gift since we were both math teachers. That means I have all the supplies to laminate these for durability. Here they are all laminated:
Finally, I had to add a tassel or whatever to them. Going with the theme of using all scraps and stuff, I tied fabric bits, bias tape bits to them. I also added some embroidery thread into the mix and not all of that was in pieces BUT it is vintage embroidery thread so it is sort of being recycled anyways *smiles* Here they are all finished:
They are just darling! I cannot wait to put them in my etsy shop. I also cannot wait to make more of them. You should have seen me sitting there with glue, tweezers, and scissors with all this “trash” laying around. It was very exciting to be able to use the smallest of bits!!! I have some ideas for more bookmarks to make. If I am still dying on the inside tomorrow, I will make some more bookmarks and possibly some more fabric brooches….who knows, I will do something crafty. Besides, I joined the Thing a Day for February AND the 365 Challenge so I have to do SOMETHING crafty every day!
OH, I made these last night after my blog post:
Not the greatest of pictures, but they’re still pretty!
I’m so excited that I have a ton of stuff to put in my etsy shop. Being so sick has been slightly good for me because it has forced me to think of clever ways to be productive without moving too too much.
Sewing is very physical. I stand A LOT cutting and ironing. I know it sounds silly but after I put my time in for the day I am tired as though it were a regular job. If I had hardwood floors I may be able to set it up so I would roll around all day — that would be funny.
Well, I hope you enjoyed my awesome bookmarks!!! I forgot to sign and date the backs of them because I was really hurting by the time I got out my laminating machine. They will each be completely unique because I make them one at a time. They are mini works of art *smiles*
I am so excited to share these with you! While I was sick today I knew I still needed to get a few things done — especially because of the February Thing A Day *smiles*. My mom has been bugging me for well over a year to make some brooches & I kept procrastinating. Well, for some reason I finally listened today.
These little buggers are a lot of fun to make because I can focus on them one at a time and make them all totally different. They take a lot longer than I thought they would because they are completely handcrafted, but it is well worth it.
I am going to have to take better pictures before I list them for sale. I have already designed the card that they will be sold on so now all I need to do is either buy the right paper to print them myself or go to the printer to have them done. That or I will use vistaprint cause I can spend relatively little with them and get exactly what I want.
Anyways, I will be carrying a line of brooches from now on in my etsy shop. Here’s my first batch:
I love that I can use buttons and trims and beads AND I get to play with my fabric stash. I know there aren’t very many there, but I did work for 8 hours today (if that tells you how long they take on average). I hand stitch them and I also use liquid stitch (fabric glue) on them because I am paranoid about them staying put together. A lot of them are more dimensional than the photo shows. I will have to make sure that when I photograph them for sale that I figure out how to show how cool they are.
I’m really proud of them!! Oh, I almost forgot this one:
That one is my favorite because of the special beads I used on it. It is also made out of the prettiest hand dyed egyptian cotton. I am a sucker for peach *smiles*
Yikes, day 5 already? I cannot believe I have actually made a thing a day for five days in a row — that is crazy *smiles*
I have to keep this posting short cause I’m sick *pouts* Here’s what I made today:
I also made this, but do not like how I chose to pleat it. So, I will be finding someone to give this to due to its imperfections.
I also started working on this last night and then again tonight:
I didn’t draw anything today, but I did sew my first stuffed toy for sale on etsy! I slapped together this flyer with photos and my shop banner. Shameless self promotion indeed 
