A Dapper Raccoon and Some LOL Cats

These three ATCs were made for the January Ongoing ATC Swap on Craftster. The first is a sweet little racoon made for blupaisan. A secondary theme of hers was top hats and i think he looks dapper in his fancy hat. The raccoon is hand drawn by me on pieced felt bits. The background is scarpbook paper from my stash.

The next two cards were made for krafty_karasu's theme of LOL Cats. She also wanted some interactive cards and I knew Monorail cat would be perfect for a pull tab card. Pull the arrow and Monorail Cat "leaves the station." (I like to make a swooshy sound effect when I play with it) A little editing of the original pic and some cutting and pasting. I'm getting pretty good at pull tab cards.

Long cat is a quick bonus card for KK. I had him in my head for myself and knew she would also like one. (plus it was just two fold so not alot of work). Long cat starts out long but unfolds to be loooooong. I can't take credit for any photoshoping on this one. It is borrowed from the net.

Inchies and One Tiny Thing

A crazy month of swapping is almost over. Most of my partners have received in the Inchies, It's a New Year Swap and sloth003 got her One Tiny Thing yesterday.

I sent Miss Slothy a wallet because she hinted at it in the last OTT swap gallery. She said she liked bright colors and geometric paterns. Here is what I came up with.

And here is the prototype I made for myself. My last wallet made from a comic book was getting a little small with all the discount cards in it. My version also has no pocket for cash since I don't carry any. Oh, and button and ribbon closure (like the DS case) because I managed to forget to sew on some velcro.

Can you tell where my priorities lie? Fabric, books and books, baby!

This is the full set of inchies. 56 in all. I started with some crazy quilt blocks made from shiny bits of scrap. Cut those down and added embelishments. Way more hand sewing than I originaly planned on but garsh they look good.

Then I had this great idea that all my partners should have personalized inchie boxes to store them all in. I drew the boxes out in Corel, colored the base design with markers then stamed on the detail. I narowed the stamps down to two sets so I would go completely crazy. I really thing I had too much time on my hands that week.

When the boxes are put together they look like this.

I need to go get pics of the Ongoing ATCs I sent out as well as the 3x3 ATCs when they are finished off. I really impressed myself with those ones.

Goth and Sweet Lolita Swap

My darling partner, ojy, has recived and opened her pakage. I can now post pics and not ruin any surprises.

I made some boxes to pack everything in since I couldn't find anything premade that would work. This way I could make sure that it all was pretty and nothing would get damaged or smushed. I used some heavy 12x12 scrapbook paper and up sized box templates from all over the net. The paper come from the same color way so they all match and look spectacular together.


As soon as a saw a lace choker on ojy's wist I knew I had to make on special for her. Of course I couldn't just use store bought lace so I needle tatted up this beauty. This is the first large peicce of tatting that I've done. I love the pearls. They give it that extra bit of class. Oh, the pattern came from This 'n' Tat. I love the net!

Somewhere on the swap thread we were talking about good luck origami cranes and stars. I think everyone can use some extra luck and this is even personalized. I printed up some gradient squares with my partner's screan name and folded away. These whent in the octaganal box with a window in the top. I think I can fold cranes blindfolded.

Every Loli needs a mini hat. I took inspiration from a wist item that had peacock feathers on it. The feathery part is pin on since I didn't know what side ojy wears her hat. I could make babys all day long. Anyone want one?

At the last minute a kazashi hair accessory came up on ojy's wist (garsh I love wists). So happens I just bought the book Kanzashi In Bloom. I made a couple practice flowers for myself then put this lovley together. I am so impressed with myself I can't even tell you. Mike came up with the idea of shading the fabric for the look I wanted. I used colored pencils and blended them with my fingers. Sakura blossoms are my favorite. *sigh* So pretty.

Link to original swap thread here.

Inchies From Heaven

I just finished a great swap of inchies. I received my last set today. It was a welcome gift after pulling weeds at the demand of the army for 3 hours. I sent mine out last week and enough people have received that I think its safe to post my sets. (that and no one will probly read it anyway)

These buttons are attached with Diamond Clear. They are super shiny. I wish that I would have stitched them before glueing, oops.



These are called "In Stitches." Embroidery is done on denim squares filled with my favorite stitches.

From top left: Chain, Couching, Cloud fill, Button Hole, Basket Weave, Brick Stitch, French Knots, Sheef Stitch.



Here is a set of Origami. The animals are folded from one inch squares making it doubley inchified.

From top left: Crane, Blue Bird, Pig, Cat, Whale, Turtle, Butterfly

"Poker Night" set was made from a deck of mini playing cards to hold even mini-er cards.

From top left: CHEATER!, Flush, Aces and Eights, Pair of Jacks, Full House, Duces Wild, Straight Flush, Stright

Embossed copper sheets make up the "Copper Texture" set. I was going to add some patina or aging but they were so happy looking when this shiny. Oh, there is another four letter word but I decided to keep that one for myself. *snicker*

I cut out some mutants and other Marvel comic characters for the set "My Hero". This is my favorite set and my husband almost didn't let me send them out.

From top left: CPT America, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Spiderman, She Hulk, Thor, Hulk, Ironman.

These are the least inpresive looking set untill you hold them up to the light. The black squares are slides from a Veiw Master reel about sea life. I am very proud of myself for this set as I love to have art you can play with. I call the set "Look" in honor of being interactive.

I can't wait for all my partners to receive. I hope they all like what I made. I know I had a great time putting them all together.

I super excited to put there peices in the inchie frame to fill in those blank spots. I have just the place in my studio to hang the finished collage.

A Couple Quick Projects

I'm still unpacking and trying to get my house set up. As I go along I think of a million projects that still need to be done. It is nice to have a few small things to do at night when I'm worn out after all that house work.

I discovered a set of tarot cards that have been in storage for the last three years. This is a beautiful deck that needs a special bag. I had a peice of denim laying on the couch looking mysteriously like a pouch with a spiffy flap. So I embriodered up the seams and left the edges raw. I even found a perfect clear button that shows of the button hole.


These balls of plarn are sitting in the clover waiting to become a welcome mat. Each ball is made of 10 bags and takes about 1 1/2 hours to put together. Once crocheted they will carefully remove the mud from Mike's boots and stand up to the constant rain we get here.


Lastly, I promised the fine people at craftster that I would photo this as soon as I unpacked it. This set of inchies is titled "Sudoku No Choji". Choji is Japanese for butterfly and all the pieces have bits of Sudoku answers in them. I made the frame and mat back at the frame shop in Germany. I miss that place.

Much Swapage

I finished up a few swaps just before my hubby got home from his long trip to fight the bad guys.

First was the Reading Rainbow Swap. Partners sent each other a tote, a bookmark and a good book. How very appropriate since I'm SUCH a bibliophile. I crocheted the tote and made the bookmark from the same fabric as the lining. My partner had slightly different tastes in books so I sent her a blank book to use as a journal with a remade cover. I used suede mat board and inlaid a rose using the laser engraver to make the vector cuts. Then I found a copy of The Princess Bride at the PX and thought she may enjoy that also (plus it matched the tote so well). And as a bonus I included a couple book bracelets 'cause I had a few beads left over from the huge set I made earlier. [16 hours]

Next comes the Friend of Craftster Secret Swap. We didn't know who was sending to us and we could only stalk our partners without asking any questions. Unfortunately my partner was MIA for most of the round and not as easy to stalk as I could have hoped for. With her two themes, 8 Bit Theatre and Dragons, I came up with these projects. Some crossed stitched sprites with magnets on the back and a reverse stencil dye discharged dragon t-shirt. I cut out a silhouette of a dragon from freezer paper, ironed it on and sprayed a 50/50 bleach water mixture on the shirt. When the dye is bleached out I got the amazing reddish color underneath (much preferred to the off white you sometimes get on black shirts). Also included are some beer stickers because of her hobby of brewing and a couple iron on transfer pencils from her wists. Gwenyvarr has received her package but has not posted or informed me and the organizer that she has. More frustration ensues but I hope nothing tragic has happened to her. [6 hours]

Now that Hubby is home I'm back to crafting more stuff. I'm totaly addicted to crochet right now and am much closer to the crocheted tire cover for my Jeep that I have been dreaming of. I'm also teaching sewing to the kidos again. Weekly classes with K and an upcoming class with Girl Scouts and SAS. Plus ALOT of people are asking about crochet classes (more than quilting amazingly). Lots of work to do at the real job after this nice 4 day weekend I gave myself. More projects to follow this week.

No Internet

I was without internet at home for almost two whole weeks. I never realized just how much I need the net to keep in touch with the outside world (read: sites work doesn't block). Fortunatly, all that down time let me craft my butt off. Along with a tote bag for a swap (pics after partner receivs) I finished up an Amigurumi Octopus, made a bunch of beads from a book and did my first entry for a Crafster Challange.

Here is Davey. As in Jones. It is a fitting name since I made him while watching Pirates of the Carribean and because he is "all tenticle-y." Some day I hope to make him a hat. Once I get a good human patern I want to make a Tia Dalma too. The pattern comes from PepperKitty on Crafster.

Family Photo: Luau the pig looks nervous and Cthulhu looks like he found a long lost relative.

Originaly I was going to cut up my junk mail to make these beads but it didn't have enough text. I LOOOOOOOVE words. I love them individualy, together as language and simply as texture in arty things. The simple black and white print looks great with some faceted beads, don't you think?

Lastly, my entry to Crafster Challange #24. The theme was to craft something to help with New Year's resolution. I want a tattoo so I decopaged and giant pickle jar and a blank book. The jar to help me collect some money and the book to keep track of ideas and sketches. There were some left over cut outs that I made into magnets.

Wiccan/Pagan Round 6 Swap

SoulAssylum has received her swap box so I can finally put up some pictures. These are all inspired by the Goddess Persephone. She has two very distinct aspects. In her stay with Hades she is the queen of the underworld and has been described as "she who destroys the light." On the other hand, as she comes out of Hades in the spring to visit her mother, Ceres, she becomes the Goddess of spring growth and rebirth. As a symbol of this I decided to go with her symbolic pomegranate. The fruit represents both sides of Persephone.

SoulAssylum specifically asked for some runes. These are wood burned with the Elder Futhark runes. The edges are finished off with green foil and a light coat of clear seal will protect them.

The first pomegranate I did is on this zipper pouch. It can be used to hold the runes or as a little wristlet purse. The motif is hand embroidered. Oh, and its from a sketch I did. I didn't pirate this one from anybody.


Everyone can use an extra blank book. They are especially nice to keep a record of what your runes tell you. The cover matches the fabric and lining of the zipper bag and also has an embroidered pomegranate. A few of the pages have been block printed with my very first lino-cut. I super love the way it all came out.

These little bits were made from an extra bit of wood from the runes. The rune is Algiz and stands for protection. Another little pomegranate is made out of polymer clay. Do you think I over did the theme? The Pentagram was inspired from my partners wish list of fairy furniture and encorporates her favorite colors of red and bright green. It is made from bits of the bush in my front yard that so kindly shared its stems with me.

A quick photo frame with her avatar photo inside. The glass has a cat engraved on it to kept watch over whoever is in side. I built the frame with some help from the wood shop guys at work. and it comes with extra mat colors if she changes the pic.

Lastly, as I was looking for my packing stuff, Ozzy begged for a trip around the world. Since I don't have a window to put him in here, I gladly obliged. He is a stained glass sun catcher I made a few years back. He now has a happy new home.