postcard swap!

I sent out my postcards for the DIY Postcard Swap yesterday! Check out the swap's flickr group to see lots of awesome postcards made by participants!

I spent weeks brainstorming how to make my cards, and I finally settled on a little bit of embroidery on paper. I love to add to the challenge of a swap by using stuff that's been languishing in my craft supply collection, so I didn't purchase any of the stuff I used to make these. I had even pre-made the hexagons (2.5" I think) once upon a time for a paper-piecing project. I left the paper pattern piece inside the hexies and using my sharpest thick needle, I sewed them onto patterned cardstock with embroidery floss. Then I embellished the paper with running stitches, french knots, and a few other simple stitches. It is way easier to sew on paper if you punch the holes with your needle and then sew through them. Even so, I have quite the callous on my thumb! Is that what thimbles are for? I've never learned how to use them properly.

I had decided to glue my printed postcard backs onto the embroidered fronts, but when I couldn't find the particular glue I wanted to use, I went with my old stand by, sewing them together by machine. I can't wait to see if these hold up well in the mail. I'm pretty sure these dinosaur envelopes I made a couple of years ago arrived okay.

Here are my postcards!

postcard swap!

Hanna's hosting a handmade postcard swap on her blog. I just signed up, and you should, too! I can't wait to make my 10 postcards! Thanks, Kristin, for pointing me to this swap!

I'm also excited because my friend Caitlin and I are cooking up another swap with each other. She has made me the prettiest things when we have swapped before!

Hey, look! A post that has nothing to do with crochet!

security envelope package

Do they make security envelopes with the awesome designs on the OUTSIDE? If not, I know what business I need to go into! What a waste that the pretty patterns are hidden out of sight. Lately I've been turning them inside out to create new envelopes. This is a large package with a patchwork of envelope pieces sewn over a larger piece of paper. I folded the ends over twice and stitched it shut.

matchbox dollhouse

I made this ridiculously cute little matchbox dollhouse for a swap! I considered running out and buying a 250 count matchbox until I realized you can do it without one! I made my own using this template with help from measurements from this other template because the first template doesn't have the measurements on it, but DOES have a flap you need that is omitted in the second template. Make sense? You definitely need those extra flaps! I learned this the hard way after accidentally cutting them off of one side! Instead of printing out the template (which is an image file and could print a crazy size), I drew it using the measurements. I used a cake mix box, but any sturdy-but-thin cardboard should work. Use a craft knife and a straightedge. My only other tip is to not make the outside cover until you are done with the inside to make sure it will be loose enough to open but tight enough to stay closed AFTER you have covered the inside drawer with tons of paper that will make it slightly thicker.

The matryoshka doll and knitting bag are made from felt. The embroidery and crochet were done with size 10 cotton thread and a small hook. I made the shelf and sofa out of leftover pieces of cardboard. I painted the shelf with acrylic paint and covered the sofa in fabric. The miniature knitting needles are made from toothpicks and small beads. Why is making super small stuff so fun?

yo-yo potholders

I had lots of fun making these potholders for my partner, Tami, for the 2010 Great (Sewn) Potholder Swap! This is the largest yo-yo project I have actually completed. Exciting! I used scraps of cotton and linen fabrics to make these. There are lots of pictures of pretty potholders over at the flickr group! See what Tami made me here!

On a side note, it seems like every time I decide to commit to posting on my blog more often, real life interferes. Ugh, my car was totaled in a sudden hailstorm last month, and despite being insured in every way possible, I'm still waiting for it all to be settled. Oklahoma, I don't like you very much right now!

mini embroidery

I made this for Caitlin for our mini embroidery swap from this vintage transfer from doe-c-doe; she has lots of super cute ones in this flickr set.

I finished the back using this tutorial that Caitlin linked to, but I forgot to take a picture of the back. She has a photo of it on her blog here though. My beloved Sulky iron transfer pen ran out in the middle of tracing those millions of cross stitches, so the middle of the kitty's head was pretty much freehand. I went to Michael's to buy another one, and they don't even have a place on the shelf for them anymore. Time to find another source!

Check out what Caitlin made me!

My favorite part was the variegated floss I used for the "thread" on the spool and on the cross stitches on the fabric in the basket. It kind of just looks like a lighting issue in this picture, though.

my embroidered buttons!

These are the embroidered buttons I made for my partner Caitlin for the Feeling Stitchy embroidered button swap! She likes blues and greens and when I found out that she loves French knots, I was excited to experiment with them to make these covered buttons! The result is pretty textured on the linen I used (with a layer of thin interfacing underneath to cut the shine of the metal that showed through the loose weave of the fabric), and I love it! I found it hard to make anything that wasn't pretty abstract with the French knots, so I settled on this flower-ish design. The larger one in blues is off-center due to a mistake I made in cutting, and I considered re-doing it, but I actually really liked it after I got over my error, so I left it as is. Hey, look, my buttons were featured in this post on the Feeling Stitchy blog, along with some of my favorites from flickr!

here you can see the vintage card I put the buttons on!

And I did finish my pear potholder! I really like it! :) The back side is the green wool felt.

And I made another crochet potholder. The side in the second photo below is a pattern from Beyond the Square - Crochet Motifs, a pretty cool book (another Christmas present!). The "star" side was improvised!

more needlebooks, embroidery in progress, and FS button swap!

needlebooks

Guess what? I've been making more needlebooks. It takes way longer with this crochet border, but I'm not going to let that stop me! What do you think? I like these better than the others! :) The border seals up the opening for turning that I would normally struggle to conceal and hand stitch shut, so I guess that saves a few seconds...

I just had to use that ladybug button with the hedgehog & ladybug print! I like the square one better, though. I am strangely drawn to square buttons.

needlebooks - inside view

embroidery in progress!

I went through my vintage embroidery transfers this weekend, and I rediscovered several really cute ones made for making potholders (these were inherited from a beloved family friend, which makes them even more special to me!). Do you have any of these? If so, maybe you have had the realization like I have that people must have used super tiny potholders back in the day! I totally made it bigger around the edges than the dotted lines on the pattern indicated. I'm finished with it now and will share pictures soon (edited: pictures on flickr now!), but here is a progress shot. I love this cute little pear so much! I knew I had to make him match my Orla Kiely pear potholder! Some day soon I'm going to run out the lime colored linen napkins I used for this and many other little projects, and I don't know what I'm going to do then!

This was the transfer that I REALLY hoped would work, and it was the only one of the three I tried that would still iron on. Even so, I still had to trace over the light red lines with my fabric marker. I'm just going to have to make new transfers with the ones that wouldn't work.

buttons made by Caitlin!

Speaking of cute! I am so in love with these adorable owl buttons that Caitlin of salty oat made me for the Feeling Stitchy Embroidered Button Swap! Owls! Gingham! They are so freaking cute! I can't wait to figure out what to use them for, but until then, I'm content to just stare at them!

other goodies in my package from Caitlin - chocolate not pictured...(because I already ate it)!

I love the little box she put them in, and the card those snaps are on is so cool! I'll put up pictures of what I made for her as soon as she gets them in the mail! :)

geeky video game crafts

Have I told you how much I love swap-bot? Sometimes a public swap catches my eye, but participating in groups has been a way more convenient way of being notified of swaps that match my interests. One of my favorite groups is Geek Swap Central. If you are into video games, comic books, or anything geeky, check it out! Here are a couple of zippered pouches and an ATC I've made for GSC swaps.

Cross-stitched on linen.

side A; made from a Legend of Zelda/Super Mario Bros. bedsheet!

side B

Bubble Bobble ATC; cross-stitched on paper then sewed onto felt.

I've gotten some really cool things in return, but my absolute favorite is the freaking awesome Mario mini-quilt from Yoshi, seen here on her blog, Diffusible Interfacing.