Bird Card

This past weekend was my husband's birthday so I decided to make him a card in the folksy-birdsy style that I have been obsessed with lately. You may think that a guy might not like such a fru-fru style, but my husband studies birds and thus appreciates all my attempts at bird art.

For all those graphic designers out there reading my blog, I used both Illustrator and Photoshop. I find it easier to scan a sketch and then trace the sketch in Illustrator. Then I copy and paste the shapes into Photoshop to do the shading.

I like this little bird so much I might adapt this into our Christmas card this year. Sorry to spoil the surprise if you get one!

Kitchen Paint Color

So I have been fretting over this paint color for my Dad's kitchen. I wanted his house to have a Mexican color scheme... colorful, but not too crazy. So my original color scheme was to do a deep, dark chocolate brown on the far wall, a nice burnt orange on the tv wall, and a nice muted green in the kitchen. I ended up liking all the colors, but I really didn't like how the green looked next to the cabinets. The green is a perfectly nice green next to the white door mouldings, but it just didn't work with the cabinets.

Hence this project. I did a messy photoshop job to test out some colors and I am very excited because I have a definate favorite. Here they are... (remember there is a dark brown wall behind the camera.)

The original green.

This option shows a little bit darker green.

This options shows using the same dark brown that is on the wall behind the camera.

I think this brick color is my favorite because it has that southwest feel and it pulls out that weird rose color in the cabinets.


Let me know what you think!

Knit Pumpkins

This year I am a bit late in getting the Halloween decorations out. But when I was going through the closet I found something I just had to blog about. I came across my knifty knitter pumpkins.


Last fall I was blissfully wandering around Michael's getting overstimulated, as usual, when I saw something that made my heart beat faster and gave me that nervous twisty feeling in my stomach. I spied from the checkout aisle 2 beautiful knit pumpkins. Of course, I had to know how to make them and, of course, I left Michael's with several skeins of orange and brown yarn and the knifty knitter.

I know I am crazy about crafting, but I have to admit that I don't know how to knit... and I still don't. But I was able to figure out the knifty knitter and it was relatively easy. So if you love these pumpkins but don't know how to knit, don't despair..., just buy the knifty knitter and you'll be on your way to knit pumpkin bliss! (I know I sound like a commercial for knifty knitter, but I did really like it and even knitted a few winter hats to boot).

Turtle Stuffed Animal

I was going through my old emails and I came across this project and I just had to put it up. Last Christmas I somehow got it in my head that I was going to make a stuffed animal for my nephew. Don't ask me why I thought I could do this. My sewing skills are minimal and I have never made such a thing. But I thought, "How hard can it be?"

I started off by doing a little sketch.

Then I taped a bunch of pieces of paper together and drew out my pattern in "real" size.

Then I cut out my fabric and started sewing! It all sounds so easy now. It is amazing what time will do. Actually I remember ripping out many a seam and thinking, "Why am I doing this?"

It was difficult to sew the rim onto the shell because I overstuffed it a bit. I ended up hand sewing it on and cursing myself for not giving a larger seam allowance. I also puzzled over how to attached the shell to the body and I ended up sewing snaps onto the bottom of the shell.


But in the end it turned out OK. Perhaps the shell should have been a little bigger and I may have overstuffed the rim, but all in all I was pleased with my first stuffed animal toy.

Embroidery

I am so excited for my first post! Recently I have been obsessed with embroidery design. I have been buying embroidery books, I look at embroidery on the web, I check out library books about embroidery design... you get the picture.

So a good friend of mine recently had her second baby and I thought, "OK, now or never!" So I have never embroidered before, but this is how it went.

I started off with a sketch, which I traced in Illustrator.

I used this black and white version for tracing. I would tape it and my fabric to the window and then trace my design using one of those evaporating fabric markers. I usually only traced enough for an hours worth of work, otherwise it would evaporate. The marker usually lasted about 3 hours.

I also did about a million options for the colors. Below I have shown 2 options.

The whole thing took me probably between 8 and 10 hours to embroider. I realized that I couldn't be quite as detailed as my drawing, but that was kind of freeing in a way.

I am happy with how it turned out. I should have taken a picture of the back... not so pretty, but luckily it is framed and no one will ever see that side.

I was also super excited at doing more bird embroidery. Next time there will definately be more birds!