Mint Delight

Update 5/4:  The winners have been announced.  You can see them at http://www.threadanimals.blogspot.com/.  I didn’t win this time / again – but I don’t care.  I’m pretty proud of my bear and purse.  I like that they made mine “Best Travel Companion”  

Hurray! I finished this with two days to spare before the deadline!  I’ve entered another Yahoo group “threadanimals” challenge.  For the month of April it was “What is your bear’s PURSE-onality?”  Each entry needed to show a bear with a purse – inside, holding, or whatever. 

If you recall, I had worked on a thread version of the Nordstrom Hobo Bag back in February, but I never seemed to quite finish it.  Maybe because I HATE sewing, and all I had left was to put in a lining and zipper.  I took this picture before the lining was added and with a tissue inside so you could get an idea of what the stitches looked like.

 

 

I’ve only made one other bear, but I’m beginning to realize I really enjoy working with thread – I just can’t work on it too long each night or I get cross-eyed.  The bear pattern is called Monique, but I’m calling mine Mint Delight.  Isn’t he cute?!

 

The bear is only 3” tall – 2” if he’s sitting.  The “purse” is 5 x 7 (at the bottom).  I used size 3 thread for the purse, and size 10 thread for the bear – except for the muzzle which was size 30.  Wow, is that small stuff!  I might have to stick with size 10 for now.

 

Overall, I am extremely pleased with the way they turned out.  Just don’t look too closely at the stitching on the inside.  (Did I mention I HATE sewing?)

National Scrapbooking Day – fun with friends

My good friend/neighbor, Jenni, asked me a few months ago if I would participate in National Scrapbooking Day. The day was sponsored by Creative Memories to help support and raise money for the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Since Jenni is a CM consultant (at least for now), she had her own table.  There was supposed to have been five of us to join her, but in the end it just consisted of her neighbors – myself and Angie.  That just meant we had more room to spread out.  And as you can see we had a lot of fun (esp. after some of us had a semi-liquid lunch!)  And amidst all gabbing, we were even productive at times!  Both Jenni and Angie are wonderful scrapbookers, and even though I don’t scrapbook at all, Jenni still wanted me to attend and show people that you can make cards with CM products.  Angie had a lot of fun experimenting with the Cricut machines others brought to “share”. The day ran from 9am-9pm.  Normally I can only make cards for an hour or two before I’m exhausted, but apparently great friends make for great crafting!  I managed to stay until around 4pm before I pooped out.  10 cards in 6+ hours doesn’t seem like much, but it was still a lot of fun, we did a lot of catching up (winter months make for poor neighborly relations!) and I did spend a great deal of time experimenting and trying new techniques.

Jenni had given me a CM card set to try out, so I tried to concentrate on using that instead of my regular card stock and my stamps.  Problem was, I usually use “plain” paper – just different layers.  All of the CM stuff was patterned paper, so I felt a bit out of my element.  But that’s good, right?

(you can click on the pictures in this post to see a larger view)

I was already late on a couple of cards for birthdays this week.  I was “saving up” my creativity for the weekend since I knew I’d have several hours to work.  The card to the left I made for my uncle David.  It’s actually designed to hold a picture in the “frame”, but I just put a sentiment inside.  It should get to him within a week of his birthday, so it’s still ok, right?

My aunt Margaret’s birthday was the very next day, so I knew I had to get her card done as well.  I made the little crocheted flower the night before.  I found something similar in a pack of buttons and decided I could make my own.  I think I’m beginning to like working with thread items.

Some of the cards below I don’t have a specific recipient in mind yet … so hopefully if you’re looking at these pictures you don’t mind if I decide later this one is “you”.

 

“Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is Optional. – Chili Davis”

 

 

Another one made with a “photo” card.  This time I made a flower by using the CM flower punch with three layers, and scrunched the first two layers to give it some depth (looks better in person).

 

 

 

 

Hoping to use this for one of the graduation parties we have this spring.

 

 

And for another graduation:

(as the day wore one, you can see me working my way back to my standard plain paper and stamps!)

 

These were the most fun of all.  CM just came out with a puzzle punch, and Jenni had one there for us to use.  I saw an idea on the web (Woman’s Day, maybe?) where they had flowers inside squares of the same color.  I think it turned out really cute for the puzzle pieces too!  I used my

Cuttlebug to pattern circles on the puzzle pieces.  I don’t think I like the mixed-up color version (on the right) as well, but not sure if that’s because of the color differences or because I patterned the paper behind the puzzle pieces instead of the pieces themselves.

 

And last, but not least… I can’t take credit for these two.  It was getting towards the end of my stay, my creativity was fading, so I attended a make-and-take workshop they had.  When someone TELLS you what to do, it’s very easy to make two cards in less than 15 min!!

 

 

 

 

 

The best tip I learned from these cards was to add “bling”.  I’m going to have to go get me some now!

Storm's a comin' and yardwork

We are terribly dry - we haven't had hardly any rain for weeks now. But it looks like that's about to change! There’s rumblings in the air and it’s beginning to look dark.  Today was very nice weather – over 80ºF, but the weekend is supposed to drop us back down into the 40’s and 50’s while the precipitation continues to fall.

Since the weather has been nice the past week, Dave’s been busy working outside.  He had a local guy come and finally cut down that tree to the north of our house.  It’s been dead for a while and we’ve been a bit concerned because it was so big and leaned slightly to the south, that if a good wind knocked it over, it would most likely hit the house – or at least take out the deck.  Granted, now we have a tall “stump” – at least temporarily, but at least there’s no longer any danger.  Dave used some of the branches from that tree and others we’ve trimmed up to start working on the split rail fence he’s been wanting to build for years.  You can see the beginnings of it in the picture.  It may be a “slow” process, as he’s buying the cedar posts – plus it’s difficult to round up 10-12’ long rails, especially when you want them “free”.

He also rented a brush hog a few weeks ago and mowed down all the gooseberry bushes.  Partially so he could then get to the dead tree and burn a lot of brush back in there. That whole area was getting so thick that you couldn’t even get to the berries.  I’m sure they’ll come back.  We’re starting to see some of the little flowers – but no jack-in-the-pulpit or trillium yet.  We’re really happy with the way that both our yard and the paths around have filled in with moss – it all looks like the picture on the left!  It makes me feel guilty to walk on it, but I guess that stuff is a lot tougher than I think it should be.

“Knock on wood”, but we haven’t had the problem with woodpeckers tapping on our downspouts and gutters this spring like we’ve had in the past.  But maybe it’s because they have all kinds of dead trees to demolish this year.  Just look at what they’ve done to this scrap log – just in the last couple of weeks!!

Now if we could just get the moles to stop digging up the yard!!

Well, I guess it’s time to get inside.  I just saw some lightning!

4/27 update: At first, we thought the whole storm was going to miss us and all go north.  We had some pea-sized hail, but nothing to worry about.  But later it really started to rain.  I’m not sure how much we’ve gotten but everything has greened up quite nicely overnight!  But it can stop raining now.  We’ve had 3” in a little over 48 hours.

I love spring

After weeks of waiting, my daffodils are finally in bloom! I guess that means spring has arrived.
It seems that with the early warm-up followed by several weeks of freezing, I'm not going to see any more crocus blossoms - I saw a few about a month ago and nothing since.

The bunnies are already invading the flower bed, thinking those daffodils look tasty:
I just finished him today (Sat). I tested it for Bridgit on Ravelry. She will eventually make it available on Etsy. Her original version was done all in one (variegated) color and had a bow tie, but I thought it would look cute with all the appendages in different colors. Of course, the tail had to be white .


I'm really enjoying making toys / amigurumi. I guess this means I'll have to buy Mom a replacement for the polyfiberfill bag she "loaned" me .

I taut a told

I'm pretty stuffed up with a cold. Antihistamine helps, but it also makes me feel like in need to nap 24/7. Meanwhile, I have been trying to get some projects finished. I offered to test a Seahorse pattern for someone on Ravelry and I just put all the pieces together today:


I'm not entirely pleased with the way the way mine turned out - the head looks odd, especially when you see the original:

I think hers looks much better, but maybe the yarn I used wasn't sport-weight; it was scrap yarn, and I was guessing at the size. I'm relieved it's done. This was one of the few patterns I've ever tested that didn't have errors.

I have another pattern to try and test this week, a miniature teddy to start, my sister wants me to make her a bathmat like the one I gave Mom for Christmas (only in cranberry), and I've restarted a Tunisian afghan four different times - for some reason my count seems to be off. So, I feel like I'm getting nowhere fast. But I'm close to finishing one other project. I made this tote/bag out of wool. All that's left to do is to felt it - wash it in hot water so the stitches disappear. I've never attempted the technique before, so I'm reluctant to jump in. I may have to give it another week or so...


That's all for now. I hope all of you have a blessed Easter!

Saving paper

I keep reading about people that print off EVERY pattern that they see and like online. If I did that I think I'd have a room full of paper! Plus, I often find that I might save a pattern and then go back later and think "why?" and delete it. But there is a better way - save to your computer and then print only when you're going to being a project! I have seen various tips on how to do this, and I will try to summarize here:

1. I love the PDF format. It's neat and compact - all the pictures are saved with the document, and just about every computer has Adobe Reader (or some other PDF reader). Adobe Acrobat which creates PDF documents can be expensive, but there are free alternatives. These are a few I know of (I use the first and am not that familiar with the others):

• PDFCreator (http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator)
• doPDF (http://www.dopdf.com)
• CutePDF (http://www.cutepdf.com)

All of the options above create a “printer” when they are installed. Whenever you use the File –> Print option in a window, regardless of whether it’s Word/Notepad, Internet Explorer/Firefox, etc. it will show a PDF printer option. When you select it, it will create a PDF document on your computer.

You can even set up the PDF “printer” as your default printer, so it will automatically try and save to your computer instead of printing. (Click Start>>Control Panel, and double-click Printers. Right-click over your PDF printer and select “Set as Default Printer”).

If you really like to see everything in Microsoft Word, there are ways to convert PDF documents to Word, but I haven’t tried that yet (See the Download blog for more information)

2. There are some instances where the PDF format creates an ugly copy, or worse yet, might not capture the entire web page. I’ve often seen this happen when trying to capture from blogs or other pages that have wide margins. In those cases, I will click and drag across the text I want to capture, Edit-Copy, and then Paste into Microsoft Word. This will also save any pictures you copied and should give you a nice clean copy. If there extraneous pictures or text, it’s easy enough to delete just those parts before you save.

3. Another option I’ve heard of it to let your browser do the work. In Internet Explorer, you can use the File, Save As… and make sure it saves the document as a Web Archive, single file (*.mht). In Firefox, it’s File, Save Page As… and make sure it says Web Page, complete (not HTML only). These options should grab all the information needed to redisplay the web page again.

I personally don’t use this option. Firefox’s save complete doesn’t always work the best (although there is an add-on called Save Complete that helps) and it adds a folder to your system for every web page saved. MHT formats are better as everything is saved into one file (there is also a Firefox add-on for creating MHT files – UnMHT). But the problem I really see with using the Save options in the browser is that you don’t have any control over what is saved. It saves EVERYTHING! Not just the text and images, but audio files, Flash animations, applets – and it will also include any advertisements on the page. Now granted, you might see adverts and extra text in a PDF print document too, but those documents don’t end up with as much “bloat” as the Saved pages would.

Regardless of how I save the web page, if I’m saving a pattern, I also try to save a copy of the picture separately into the same folder (right-click, Save Picture As… or Save Image As…). At times it’s easier to find a pattern by using an image software program and visually scan the pictures to find one I want to work on. I don’t want to have to open all those document – I just like looking at the lovely pictures!

I hope this advice helps you to save paper and keep your life organized! Let me know if you have any comments or other alternatives I haven’t heard of yet.

Edited 4/7: I forgot to mention the most important part! If you're saving patterns to your computer, don't forget to make frequent backups!

First pattern (free)

I've decided to offer my Music Note Puffies as a free pattern. You can download the PDF version at my website (update 4/7) and now on Ravelry. (You will need Adobe Reader to view the PDF).

Materials Needed:

• Small amount of any sized yarn or thread, depending on the resulting size you want. For the sample pictures, I used a baby/sport (#3) yarn.
• A crochet hook several sizes smaller than normally called for with yarn. Sport yarn usually calls for an F/5 (3.75mm) hook. I used a B/1 (2mm) hook for the example to create super-tight stitches. You can use a larger hook but your end product will be bigger. I did use an F/5 (3.75mm) hook for the stem as the stitches didn't need to be as tight.
• 1 craft stick (pipe cleaner) per music note or other stiffener. Using thread, you may want to try florist wire.
• Fiberfill stuffing
• Yarn needle for weaving in ends

Note head:
Rnd 1: 7 sc in a ring (7)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (14)
Rnd 3: *sc in next st, 2 sc in next st*. repeat * around (21)
Rnd 4: *sc in next 2 st, 2 sc in next st*. repeat * around (28)
Rnd 5-9: sc in each st (28)
Rnd 10: *dec, sc in each of next 2 st*. repeat * around (21)
Rnd 11: sc in each st (21)
Stuff with fiberfill. Before you fill completely, bend the pipe cleaner end over by 1" and then again (two folds). Insert into the fiberfill and leave the end sticking out.
Rnd 12: *dec, sc in each of next 1 st*. repeat * around (14)
Stuff more fiberfill if needed.
Rnd 13: *dec* around (7)
Close up the final loop with the pipe cleaner sticking out. Do not cut the yarn yet.

Stem:
Wrap the yarn around the pipe cleaner at the base once. Place hook under pipe cleaner and grab yarn with the larger sized hook; pull up loop. Sc around pipe cleaner until you have enough to cover approx 1 ½ to 2 inches – as you work, keep pulling sc's back to base of note for a tighter fit and to hide any "fuzz" from the pipe cleaner. Finish off.
Bend the top of the pipe cleaner over a couple of times, just like you did for inserting into the note head. Be careful that you don't bend too much of it, because this needs to fit inside the flag. Cut off the excess pipe cleaner.
I found it made the note head/stem connection area look cleaner if I ran a few connecting stitches between the two close to where they meet. Do not stitch too far up on the note head or you will distort the look of the stem.

Flag:
Ch 17, turn.
Row 1: Sc in second ch. Work across in each stitch: sc, 3 Hdc, 5 Dc, 3 Hdc, 2 sc, sl st in final stitch. Ch1 and turn.
Row 2: Work across in each stitch: 2 sc, 2 Hdc, 7 Dc, 2 Hdc, 2 sc, sl st in final stitch. Ch 1 and turn.
Row 3: Sl st in 2nd stitch. Work across in each stitch: 1 sc, 2 Hdc, 6 Dc, 2 Hdc, 2 sc, sl st.

You should now be back at the "tip" of the flag. Fold the flag over and sc the top half. Fasten off with a long tail. Place the flag over the top of the stem. Add a little fiberfill if necessary to "puff" the flag.
Use the long tail to sew the bottom of the flag together. I used a whip stitch, and made sure I caught both sides of the pipe cleaner when stitching. Or you could bring the yarn to the bottom and sc the halves together like you did for the top. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Bend the stem so it is bent at the bottom and top but straight in the middle.

© 2009 Carmen Nuland. This pattern may only be used for private individual use. No commercial sales or use is permitted. Do not post to any website (Links to the pattern are acceptable). You may make the item and sell it. But do not sell the pattern for any reason.

Please email me or leave a comment if you find errors in the pattern or if you need clarification.

Stash organization

Do I have a great husband or what?! My original stash organization (cardboard boxes tipped on their sides) worked for a while. But I keep adding to my yarn stash, so the boxes went higher and higher, and eventually started leaning. I was just waiting for the day when I'd bump them too hard and the building blocks would tumble. Dave offered to build me a set of shelves. He finished it earlier this week, and tonight I put it to use. It looks great!

The big problem now is that I need to start using up yarn faster than I buy it... there's no room for expansion and as you can see, there's not much room left in the cubicles. Still, I love it!

March Music month

March brought another adventure with the ThreadAnimals Yahoo group. Last month they had a March Music month swap. The idea was that I needed to make something related to music and send it to another member of the group. The only requirement was that it not be a bear (people on this group make a lot of them) Since we had an odd number of people, they did a round robin - so the person I sent to was different than the one who sent to me. The package I sent to Teresa contained a couple of classical music CD's I found at the Dollar Tree, and a card I made. This was my first attempt at combining needlework and paper. I liked the border, but wasn't as happy as I could be on the rest of the card (the musical symbols are stickers placed on punched circles).


I had a tough time coming up with a "thread" item to send to Teresa. Mom found some angel patterns with musical instruments, but I've never starched anything before and wasn't sure I was up to the challenge. So instead I decided to try and design some musical notes. The bottoms are a variation on an egg pattern, and the rest I improvised. These were made with yarn - I believe it was baby/sport weight yarn, so they're just slightly smaller than a real egg. I had thought about developing a pattern in yarn and then switching to thread, but decided I really liked this color combination, so they stayed a larger size.


The same day that my package arrived at my swap partner's place, the package sent to me from Sue arrived. These are unbelievable! You can see how small they are. She thought about making the little ones into earrings, and I might do that. Either that or Crandall might get to keep them. The larger ones actually rattle! They are so cool!


This is the first time I've ever participated in a swap. In a way, it's a little stressful - worrying that your partner isn't going to like what you make, but it's worth it for the fun you have in the end.