WIP and STOCKING MY SHOP FOR CHRISTMAS...

If you read my post from a few days ago, you know that I began an "experimental" dresden as a way to prepare myself for making my mom's quilt...which will contain quite a few dresdens.  Since I had NEVER made a dresden I thought using some of my scraps to see if I could accomplish the block at all made sense.  The dresden went together quickly and easily.  I wasn't quite sure about the center circle, but finally decided what made it seem "off" to me was the size.  Smaller looked better!

I immediately fell in love with this block and was going to turn my scrappy dresden into a mini quilt.  But with Christmas rolling around I decided to turn it into a 16" pillow cover and list it in my shop.  

Today I attached the smaller circle center and attached the dresden to the center of a beautiful piece of white linen (using my favorite stitch, of course, lol).  "Ellie" behaved herself today and didn't skip any stitches!  I think I put the fear of a visit to the sewing machine hospital into her!  I have sandwiched the dresden and will begin quilting the front part of the pillow when I have the next open block of time.  Stay tuned for the continuing progress on this happy little pillow cover!

Today I also listed a few scissor fobs in my shop.  Feel free to check them out and let me know if you have any questions.  I am REALLY on the Christmas binge here...both gift making and shop stocking.  Maybe it has something to do with the "burning bush" planted right outside of my sewing room window that has ALREADY started to burn!  Fall can't be too far away!

In other news...my plans for my Expanded Sewing Room and Guest Room have changed, and I am really, REALLY excited with our new plan.  I'm getting even MORE sewing/crafting/storage space!  

Take care and have fun crafting!

IT'S NOT A FAILURE....!

Yesterday, a very WISE poster reminded me that perfection isn't necessary.  Even on my good days I am only operating at 50% of the old me...and I should be PROUD of whatever I can accomplish given my constraints!  You know what?  She was ABSOLUTELY RIGHT (Thank you for being so wise!).

So today you get to see the front of one of the three mug rugs I am making for Christmas gifts.  It was supposed to be four mug rugs (one for guests), but the fancy stitch I used went crooked (okay, I went crooked while feeding in the mug rug...but we will blame it on the rug (or the weather), not my shaky hands, lol).  I MAY be able to unpick it all on a REALLY good day...but seam rippers can be deadly you know, lol.  Since I only need 3 mug rugs for Christmas gifts...it's no big deal.  Hopefully in a short while I will be able to finish the back of this one (need more rick-rack) and I will post more pictures.  (By the way...if you look at the bottom right of the rug you can see that my machine skipped some stitches.  Anyone have ANY idea why my machine would do that?  I was using Sulky thread.)

When I got thoroughly disgusted with my sewing yesterday I decided to move on to another craft that may not require such precision.  

About a month or so ago I was cleaning out my craft drawers and came across some polymer clay.  The clay had sat in my drawers, still wrapped, for at least 15 years.  I opened it, expecting a brick-hard rock of clay that had to be trashed.  Surprisingly, I was able to pull off a small chunk and work it until it became pliable.  I played for a bit and made 4 swirly flowers.  Hmmmm.  I think they would make cute scissor fobs!  So, before baking, I added some little jewelry findings.  Once baked all nice and hard I decided they needed a bit of shine.  I went to Amazon and added some Sculpey Glaze to my cart.  I was working toward a $25 Amazon gift card through MyPoints and would place my Amazon order only when it was free, or darn near close, with my card.   I try to get the absolute MOST for my money!  Fast forward a month or so and the Sculpey Glaze arrived at my door.

When my frustration hit yesterday I grabbed my bottle of glaze and a paintbrush.  How much trouble could shaky hands cause when painting on a bit of glaze?  Answer:  None!  Woo-Hoo, happy camper here!  While the glaze dried I pulled out some variegated pink and some white pearl cotton and made the peppermint stripe cording.  A few minutes spent in Word making up the tag and I was almost done!  I printed my instructions on cardstock and went over to my Sizzix to cut it into a cute little tag.  As you can see, my wording is not straight on the tag, but perfection isn't necessary on a tag.  So I popped the little scissor fob into a small plastic bag and added it to my giveaway pile.  I told you I was still adding to it, lol.  It's addictive!

However, I have a question that I am hoping one of you can answer.  When using one of the original Sizzix dies (red plastic bottom, foam looking dies inside) HOW do you center your wording on the die when you can't see through the cardstock?!?!?  Lol.  I know I must have done something wrong, but since this is only the second time I have tried to use my BigShot, I'm at a loss! My BigShot came with an Extended Multipurpose Platform that includes sandwiching instructions for many dies and embossing folders....but not the original!  Any help you skilled scrap-bookers can give would be most appreciated!  Like most things now-a-days, instructions included with the BigShot are minimal.  Gosh I miss the days of INSTRUCTION MANUALS!  Ha-ha....I think I just dated myself!

So that is what is new here in the Cottage.  I still have the other 3 fobs to glaze, but I will wait for another frustrating day when I feel the need to craft and my body won't cooperate!  In the meantime a nice mug of coffee and some breakfast sounds perfect.  I received a coupon for a free coffee from DD for my birthday this month so I think I will treat myself to a trip to DD for breakfast!  

Take care and see you soon back at the Cottage!