Snew

Did you ever do that obnoxious joke where you start talking about "snew" just so you can get someone to ask: "What's snew?" and you can be silly and say back "Nothing, what's snew with you?" ;-)

Here's what's snew with me: My birdie embroidery was a runner up in the Fat Quarterly "WIN IT TO BE IN IT" Reader's Competition! There were some amazing projects featured, so I was very pleased to place. (If you're wondering what Fat Quarterly is, by the way, it's a neat e-magazine filled with patterns and interviews and lots of inspiring projects. Good stuff!)

There's some other little finished projects I've been meaning to post about... Firstly, I made another ereader cover. This one was a gift and I made it scrappy to match the receiver's interests. The French sheep were a big hit, as part of what my friend is doing with her nook is listening to French .mp3s while reading French files to learn the language better. Neat, huh?

Also completed a little outfit for my LPS Blythe. And decided on a name for her, which took almost as long as it takes some people to name their children! This is Cecily. Part of why I wanted an LPS Blythe was that when I see everyone's big Blythes I love all the custom clothes that get made for them. I wanted to test it out on a smaller (in size and investment) Blythe to see if I would like it. But honestly, I think it would be easier to sew for the regular size dolls. I did manage to make a tiny tunic and denim skirt, and I crocheted this little hat. I had meant to make boots, but it's ridiculously challenging creating clothes this small and I gave up! (This may be Cecily's first and last custom outfit.)

Finally, here's my incredibly easy fix to a sewing problem: I've been meaning to make a scrap bag or bucket for when I sew. But the thing is, I have a place where I store scraps, I really just needed a little container of some sort for clipped threads and corners and bent needles and the like. The solution? This nifty tray! It was about the easiest thing ever to make, as it's basically a square with the corners sewed up. So simple and so useful.

So, that's what's snew with me, what's snew with you?

Don't you just love little things?

Show of hands, who remembers Shrinky Dinks? I loved making these when I was a kid. And I was so happy to find a little kit at the craft store which included a few pages of the magically shrinking plastic.

Today, my crafty buddy and I had some time and a craft date planned via webcam. My inspiration was this cool umbrella mobile. I drew and colored and cut and punched and ended up with this: (Please ignore my scratched up pan, lol!)

 

I'm now old enough to pop these babies in the oven without an adult's help! After the joy of watching them curl up and shrink (and letting them cool) I used some jewelry findings to create a tiny mobile of my own.

There's a lot of fun tutorials out there with great ideas for Shrinky Dinks! You can make pins and necklaces and magnets and more. My buddy and I ended up making rings using this tutorial. It is a bit tricky forming the ring while it's still hot, but I love how it turned out.

If you want to make your own shrink jewelry, etc. you can find paper (you can even print on it) here. Or check out these cool Etsy sellers who have already done the work for you: Dillon Designs has great rings, LizzyJD has beautiful earrings, and Passion Flower has a variety of cool items.

While we're on the subject of small things, let me introduce my new little friend:

For a long time I've enjoyed looking at pictures of Blythe dolls. (Never heard of them? Do a search. And get addicted.) The real deal is a bit expensive and I'm not quite ready to spend so much on a doll... BUT there's a brand new series of Littlest Pet Shop Blythe dolls! They are apparently the same size as petite Blythe dolls. While they aren't quite as fancy, I think they're pretty cute and a good starter Blythe size at a good price. The one I picked out was Buckles and Bows. I'm still thinking on a name for her (yes it's a Blythe doll, but everyone always names them something else) and I'm looking forward to sewing tiny outfits for her. 

One last thing, I'm so excited to report that my TARDIS mini quilt was featured on Geek Crafts AND the Craftzine blog and now Nodwick! Woo hoo! Let's hear it for small things bringing a lot of fun and smiles. :-)