Summer Crafting

Summer's a fun time for crafting. This summer I found myself working on lots of little things as I had time. I picked up this great storage case at IKEA and filled it with craft supplies for an on-the-go crafting kit! It worked great, especially for doing little projects away from home, like with my niece and nephew.

We made friendship bracelets and shrinky dinks! (BTW, all you pin-it-wherever bracelet makers: TRY A CLIPBOARD! It's so much nicer for making friendship bracelets.)

AND I got into something new: hand carved stamps. I was inspired especially by the tutorials here and here to try it out. It's a bit challenging but quite fun. Just remember to do your letters backwards so they stamp correctly! (You'll be so mad if you forget.)

I'm keeping my kit loaded for more crafting on the fly with friends, but I'm ready to tackle some larger, more long term projects, too. Farewell summer. It's been fun.

Swap Round Up

Recently I completed a couple of swaps and I wanted to post some pictures of what I sent and received.

First, for round 3 of the Scrappy Mug Rug swap group on flickr, I made this Dresden mug rug for my partner (with Innocent Crush, of course):

  

I also added in a pincushion made from hand-stitched hexagons, and a few shrinky dink pins!

And this is the mug rug package I received. Isn't the embroidery great?

 

I also shared in the {Urban} HOME Goods swap.

 

One of the things on my partner's wishlist was a Kitchenaid mixer cover. I was nervous to make it since I don't have one myself to test it on, but I found this tutorial and went from there and it seems to fit! I used my partner's favorite green and gray colorscheme with some stripes for fun.

 
 

I also included a couple of potholders, another partner request.

  

What I was really hoping to get was something I've been meaning to make myself but haven't gotten around to, and the sewing machine cover I received really fit that bill! I love the Hope Valley fabric and colors. And the inside is corduroy! I also got this super cute raccoon needle book. So sweet!

 

Here's the cover on my machine in my teeny-tiny sewing corner.

Swapping can be a lot of fun: getting inspired seeing what everyone is creating in a group, trying to guess what you will be getting, stalking your partner and trying to come up with something perfect for them. But it's also a bit stressful: working on a deadline, hoping your partner will be happy with what you create, hoping you'll like what you get. While I think my swaps have gone pretty well, I think I'm taking a little break from swaps for a bit. Maybe it was just doing two at once wearing me out, or the nagging feeling that I should be working on my project list first!

What about ya'll, do you swap? I'd love to hear your best (or worst) swap stories!

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. :-)