3 bears 3 burp cloths

And my first attempt at crayon tinting! I perused the tutorial offered at Pimp Stitch and made some lazy girl shortcuts, below.
The embroidery Pattern glommed from doe-c-doe's site. She graciously shares embroidery designs and while I am no fan of "cutesy", the three bears were perfect for a 3 pack of baby burp cloths. doe-c-doe's illustration had all 3 bears in one illustration but I split up the kvetching family by downloading the graphic, printing 3 copies, trimming each bear individually, tracing with an iron-on transfer pen and ironing 1 bear each on 3 burp cloths. Note: I did not use the mirror image option on my printer but should if image is directional.

Skipping 2 -3 steps in the crayon tinting process, I simply filled crayon color after the transfer was ironed. Then I placed a clean sheet of paper over the tinted graphic and ironed again to set color.

Next was stitching. With a little touch of femininity for Mama Bear.

After completing the first bear,

I realized the stitching could be hidden in the many layers of the diaper with only knots on back. My next lesson to learn is how to use waste knots.

(I still maintain burp cloths were wrongly named.)

Monkeys of the day

My friend Jawn gave me a vintage calendar from his grandmother's stash. (People give me stuff!)
You should know I love me some anthropromorphic monkeys!
The artist is Lawson Wood and his chimpanzee series brought him success in England and America in the 1930's.
Thanks Jawn!

Sammy

at Icanhascheezburger.com

I make a difference!

Last week I was in the WalMart fabric department and what did I spy with my little eye? Little orange clearance stickers on Wright's bias tape but NOT EVERY color. Only the packages with THE OLD LADY!! I think we should anticipate a new look from Wright's.

And I am claiming credit for it.

Water meter cover of the day

If you don't have the cojones to steal a New Orleans water meter cover, the easiest and cheapest way to bring home a piece of art is to do a charcoal rubbing. Just make sure you don't get any party gravy on ya!

Craft room upgrade

When pressed for space, designers will tell you to look up for storage. My craft room is getting cramped what with all the stuff people give me and the 20 roll lot of serger thread I purchased from eBay. Found 2 aluminum shelves at IKEA and installed them above the closet doors.

Wanna see more pix of the Skitzo Leezra Studio? Click HERE and even more at Flickr.

Say I'd like to know if you've the notion

Vintage notions, I say.

Oh, how I love me some estate sale junk.

Check out the lady with the bouffant fonky hair.

"Doesn't she look smart?"

Craft supplies

When I opened this box, the contents reminded me of the crazy dried chicken parts at exotic food stores in Chinatown but upon closer inspection I realized that my order for 15 pairs of bamboo purse handles had arrived. Yay eBay!

Already have fabrics selected for my next handbag binge. These are from my last binge.

Water meter cover of the day

Hey, I showed ya an actual water meter cover from New Orleans the other day but unless you've spent time in the Crescent City, you might not know that it is a revered design icon and is copied and reproduced in every imaginable form.

Purchased a silver charm at Gary's Arts & Crafts and strung it with glass beads on elastic thread for an immediate gratification project.

Please to enjoy, my Sewerage and Water Board Crescent Box water meter cover charm necklace!

Love to organize, hate to clean

Instead of vacuuming or dusting, I tidied my closet.

Nevermind the dust or cat fur,

take a look at my neat closet and laundry room!

Frogs on the wall

These pressed glass discs with holes are called "frogs" and are used for floral arranging. The frog is placed inside a vase and floral stems go in the holes. You can find them at flea markets, eBay and sometimes at garage sales.

Here is how I display my collection.

Baby model

Eileen and Ernest had a baby boy!

Here he is in his reverse applique onesie!

The "C" stands for Cutie!

Frugal fake

Would you guess this was a $8 black plastic planter from the dollar store?

Hating me some plastic so I watered down some terra cotta acrylic paint and slopped it on. The messier, the better.

More note pad organizers

Whipped a few notebook thingies this week with a little illustration to show where your cell phone will fit.

Shiny Stuff of the Week 9

~~OR~~What I did last night instead of cleaning my house

Sis and bro-in-law gave me the remaining material left from their kitchen ceiling project. (People give me stuff!) I used it behind the top shelf in my laundry room.

Please to enjoy!

Crayon carrier

My friend asked if I would make a crayon roll-up caddy for her son. I used the tutorial posted over at Skip To My Lou and whipped this proto-type with a ribbon tie closure.

Figuring a little kid might not know how to tie a pretty bow, I made another with a button and the best kind of closure - a hair elastic. A tip: when reinforcing stitches for high stress closures, use smaller stitches for strength. The tutorial calls for iron-on interfacing but I skipped that because my selected fabrics were heavier weight canvas and upholstery grade.

These are SO EASY to make! All straight stitching and fun fabric choices. Good thing I didn't learn to make these early in my sewing endeavors because I might not have stopped. Addictive, I tell ya!

Examine your back side

My mom taught me to always check out the reverse side of fabric. Sometimes it is more interesting or a more muted shade than the front.




With this fabric for my Craftster swap partner, I used both sides for 2 different items. One side has more blue; the other, more khaki.

Flip on over, let me look at you from behind!

Wright rant, part 2

Hey, looka, I bought a couple packs of vintage hem facing at a recent estate sale and dang-it-all if it doesn't include how to instructions on the back!

You may remember my rant letter to Wright's in April. NOW I gotta send this photograph to them, suggesting that they revise their packaging, the idiots.

Alternate use for a water meter cover

I am not saying you should steal a cast iron water meter cover the next time you are in New Orleans, but if you did, you could have the guys at work make this cool cocktail table for your patio.

Read my story about absconders of covers HERE.