Sewing...

I found some time today! It was hiding behind a snow day! I really do despise winter, but it definitely becomes tolerable when I get to spend the day at home catching up on things because everything has been closed due to the weather.

First, I did some stamping. I dug around in my craft bin for bits and scraps of paper to stamp small images on so I could send them off in my IYP5 Swap box. My swap partner makes ATCs(Artist Trading Cards) and these will come in handy. I fretted over exactly how to go about this for a while... Do I stamp in colors, on colored paper, multiple images in different colors? I finally decided to stamp an alphabet in black on white card stock, each letter stamped five times, and then I stamped all of my small stamps(my collection isn't that large) once on white card stock with a light grey ink. I figured she could color them in with the medium of her choice. But I also included a note telling her that if there were any images that she loved and wanted more on/in different colors, don't hesitate to ask. In that package I also included a ton of scraps and little leftover bits of card stock; perfect for ATCs.

Next I tackled the clip on earrings I've been fucking around with for weeks. Jewelery just is not my forte... But I did tell her that I'd send a few pairs(foolishly thinking that this would be fairly simple). I finally managed a pair!

The flowers are shrinky dinks. I drew and colored them with watercolor pencils and, after shrinking, I sealed them with clear nail polish. Not bad, but I won't make jewelery again for a while...

Now I'm sure you're scratching your head wondering why the title of this blog is sewing and here I've been rattling on about everything but! Well, I got to spend some time at my machine today! And then it started having issues(minor one's I'm sure, I think I just need to give it a good cleaning). First I made the pillow for my IYP5 partner that I started a while ago. I really like the way it came out!

My camera can't do the fabric I used proper justice. It's hand dyed with blues and greys in it. Sort of reminds me of a stormy ocean. It really makes the green stitching pop. I am very pleased with the final result of this one.

I took a quick crafty break of sorts and hemmed my hubby's new jammie pants while I had my sewing machine out. Not very craft related, but sewing is sewing and I need all the help I can get.

And then... you caught a glimpse of him already... I finally got around to making my sock monkey! I got a kit during SSS5 from one of my partners. Then, I never actually sat down and sewed him. Unfortunately, I think he is what caused the issue with my sewing machine; I ended up finishing him by hand. Despite the fact that my hand sewing skills suck(big time), I really love the little guy.

His arms and legs are reeeaaalllyyy loooooooong, but I think that's just part of being a sock monkey. My daughter really likes him too, she woke up from her nap, caught sight of him and immediately wanted to hold and squish and abuse him(as toddlers often do). Good for him that she's a young toddler(turning one at the end of this month) and still puts things in her mouth so she can't be trusted with his button eyes. I have yet to name him... any suggestions?