Photo Shoot at the Park

Went to the park last week.

It was a beautiful day!

And I could not help but to take photos of my children.  I'm so blessed!

These little monkeys are so adorable (at times)!

Not to bore you with photos of my family.... I'll share some of my creations with you, too!  (I'm opening up my online shop next month, so keep your eyes peeled for a spectacular giveaway soon!)

Kitty Peanut (14" soft doll) with hand-embroidered face.  I love the butterfly print!

Pirate Peanut (with the same butterfly print fabric).

 And here's another Pirate Peanut, being modeled by my chubby 17 month old Sprout!

 Nana Peanut out for a stroll in the woods.

 Another Nana Peanut - with green hair! (Yes, my Sunshine is saying "Cheese!")

 This one has minky hair - and a tiny stowaway! 

Do you see the three blind mice?  How about baa baa black sheep?  

This one was finished AT the park!

Here's one of my favorites - me, sewing, Sunshine talking my ear off (trying to climb on me), Spunky being noisy and very active in the background, and off to the side (off-camera) being his typical quiet autonomous self, is my Sprout.  This is how I spend my days (though not always at the park).

Pocket Peanuts (3" pocket dolls / finger puppets)

 All of my kiddos LOVE the "peanut people"!!! 

 Pocket Peanuts come in a Kitty Edition, too!

Easy on, easy off - even for toddlers!  

Meow!

Did I mention I've got pirates, too?!!

I'm wondering how many of you got to this far in my post. 

Sometimes I have a difficult time knowing what to leave out.  

So if you've gotten this far, thank you.  

I appreciate you very much.  

Peek-a-boo!

May the peace of God, which passes understanding, be with you this week!

:) Caren

Odds and Ends

I've just been working on my sister's chair cover thingies but the machine I'm using keeps snapping the thread.  I gave up in frustration after the fourth time I had to re-thread it. Some day I will own a sewing machine - one capable of doing at least a zig-zag stitch.  But what right have I to complain?!!!  My friend loaned me (indefinitely) her grandmother's sewing machine.  What a dear, sweet, trusting friend.  

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things". (Philippians 4:8)
This verse gives great insight on keeping positive, and how to stay that way.  I could grumble and complain, but I'm not going to.  And since you are reading this, I'm going to let you see a bit of my thinking about "such things".  In pictures!

 First off, this past year I was thinking about a "label".  I kind of like this one.  It's my own design and a professional could probably do better.  But for now, it will work!

Then there are the many embroidery designs I've done.  Like this one.  I kind of like it, too. Here's how my first attempt turned out:

Not the greatest (I was trying to figure out which way I liked to wrap the letters).  But it's a fun start, right?

And then there's fabric.  Does fabric make you happy, too?  Well, these gems are from my quilting friend Brooke, and I made this piece of loveliness with some of them:

(And my Sunshine looks so adorable in it.  I love this fabric - thank you so much, Brooke!!!)

Here's a UFO from my pile: a quiet book.  These are the pieces for my OHIO TIC TAC TOE and PLANT THE VEGGIES pages.  The tic tac toe pieces are buckeyes and ladybugs (state tree & insect) and velcro on/off.  The Veggies are carrots, potatoes, and beets and are inside pockets.  If any of you have made quiet books before, you know how much time they take.  I really do want to show you the finished pages, but that will have to wait for a bit.  


And still keeping on the "such things" theme, here's some more:

A sweet "Mermaiden" I made (from Hilary Lang's book Wee Wonderfuls).

And a couple of pincushions.  The one on the left is a porcupine (I made his nose a little too platypus-ish, but he's still cute.) 

Alien Blobbies (another cadamsCREATIONS original)

And here's the robot I made for Spunky when Sprout was born.  He actually designed it (pretty great for a 4 year old, if you will pardon my bias!)

And the "E" bag I made for my sister.  I was so impressed with how well this bag turned out.  It was one of my first bags!

OK, I know this blog is about my crafty stuff, but here's a little randomness about me:

I love big fat fluffy squirrels.  (These were in my back yard.)

And last (but not least) for the day:  I love my Sprout, who just recently turned one year old.  He's grown so much!  I remember when I found out I was pregnant he was about the size of a blueberry, so we called him "baby blueberry".  Then he was born and had to be in NICU for a little bit, and when I took him home he shrunk.  And kept shrinking.  On his 23rd day (after losing almost 2lbs) he was hospitalized.

Oh yes.  Look at those eyes!  He's beautiful.  Anyway, he's better now, and growing like a weed (hence the name Sprout).  He started standing on his own on Christmas day, and just took his first step (toward me!) today.

This was at his birthday party - after he devoured his cake (though I'm not sure how much of it actually got IN his mouth!)

Oh, writing this post was good for my heart.  I am so amazed at the things that my hands have made in the past year (that's about how long I've been sewing) and grateful for the friends I have (new, old, creative, and not-so-much). And just thinking about the growth and development of my youngest child (and my other two as well, but that's for another day....) makes me smile.

Hope your life is full of "such things" to think about.  I encourage you: keep those good things in your remembrance.  It will do your heart good!

Blessings,
:) Caren

Blessings and Button Joints (& a Patchwork Horse)

I received a great deal of gorgeous fabrics from my bloggy friend Brooke (Silly Mama Quilts) a few weeks ago and some of it was already pieced together.  I know Brooke makes some top knotch quilted items (mug rugs, table runners, quilts, etc.), but I decided to go altogether different with this material.  This Patchwork Horse seemed just the thing!

 

If you haven't been following my blog, I'll catch you up: I like making soft toys!  I ran across this Patchwork Horse pattern in a book entitled "More Softies Only a Mother Could Love", and knew it was time to try my hand at this thing called button jointing.

(Please excuse my off-kilter photography - my point and shoot skills are pretty basic.)  The buttons on this horse are not just for show.  I threaded my 3-inch doll needle with some extra strong thread and sewed them completely through the body, to the opposite leg.  When it's all said and done, the legs can move around!

See?!!

If you can't tell from the photos, the fabrics are all Christmas-y (Basic Grey's Fruitcake, Figgy Pudding, etc.).  The legs, mane and tail are all from a vintage pillowcase.

Look at that MANE!!!  It's spectacular.  I really like the raggedy, raw edges.  And the ears - I chose one red and one green.  Don't think anyone will notice, but since it's a Christmas horse I thought it fitting (maybe I should have made reindeer instead?!!!)

Patchwork Horse (pattern by Abby Glassenberg - http://www.whileshenaps.typepad.com)

I am really excited about button jointing now.  It won't happen with all of my soft toys, but I love having a new "tool" in my toolbox.  So thanks, Abby, for the instruction, and thanks, Brooke, for sending me such a wonderful assortment of fabrics, and for quilting with quality (I'd have been really bummed if the stitches didn't hold up to my stuffing - I really pack it in there!)  

Show and Tell

I got a surprise last week in the mail. A bloggy friend of mine sent me a USPS box stuffed to the gills with designer fabrics. Like A HUGE stash. Big pieces, small pieces, and everything in between! Talk about being blessed! I mean, I have a pretty good stash of thrift store fabrics (shirts, skirts, sheets, etc.), but WOW! I'm talking DESIGNER fabrics. I'll introduce you to my generous friend in a future post, but for now, I'd like to show you just some small bits from my new stash (which now has been re-named "the GOOD fabric store"). So let the show and tell commence: