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

Learning New Things

I am working on my project for the "Modern Mini Challenge" over at Ellison Lane Quilts.  Jennifer has been doing a blog series on Mini's so we can find our inspiration - there are some wonderfully talented folks out there in blog-land!

This is my first "quilt".  However, as you may be aware, I am a free spirit when it comes to design, so I have to admit that my mini will be functional.  Not as in "it hangs on the wall and looks pretty" kind of functional, but as in a "hey, that's way cool - what do you mean it hangs on the wall?!!" kind of functional.  Confused yet?

OK, I'll reveal a little bit about my project on this post, but I want to wait until it's done to reveal the whole shebang (mainly because it's not finished yet!).  Prior to being sidetracked into this challenge, I was working on a "Quiet Book" for my children.  So every page had "something to do".  That bled over into this quilt a little bit.  

These adorable aliens can go INTO the house and space ship.  Yep, those bits are not just for looks, they are actually pockets!  Yay for keeping kids busy!!!  

(Speaking of keeping kids busy, has anyone seen my third alien?  I think someone toddled off with it....)

I admit I am no professional.  I am probably going to be crazy enough to try to make another one of the space ships.  I learned a bunch while doing this one.  First off, I learned how to make buttonholes with my new (to me) sewing machine!

Not excellent, but it'll do for the kiddos.  (Thread snapped in the middle of sewing.  grrrr.)

I had some fun trying to figure out exactly how to make the space ship.  I added the ric rac with itty bitty French knots to add a bit of color.  I like how it turned out!

I also got to "play" with Peltex.  It's really neat stuff (of course - it's made by Pellon!).  It is a thick stabilizer with heat-activated adhesive on both sides.  It makes the aliens (and space ship) sort of stiff but flexible - like spongy cardboard!

Typically, after I put something together I look at it and think of all the embroidered bits I can add.  I was not sure about the Peltex, because it is so thick.  However, it was surprisingly simple to sew through - even by hand!  

Here are some of my house windows.  My original design has a porch, too, but I'm working on that.  I love that I can sit and do a bunch of hand-embroidered details on this project.  Makes it relaxing, fun, and doesn't feel alien to me (ha!).

I only have until March 5th to finish it up, but I'd better get cracking - especially if I want to re-do the space ship with all of my new found knowledge!

Aliens on the Brain

I'll admit it.  I'm a little boy-crazy.  In a crafty sort of way.  Yep, I love my boys to pieces, and I love "making stuff" for them.  My 5 year old Spunky is such a creative little guy.  I bounce ideas off him continually.  He's got great input into my creations.  He named this one (below) "Salien" (because he's got what looks like a sun on his face).

We were discussing aliens a couple nights ago and he had "a great idea!", so he drew me an alien.  It was so stinkin' cute!  He described every part of it, from the shape, to the eyes, "then there's a mouth, and another mouth, and stripes like a zebra, and this one squiggly stripe goes all the way up to his second mouth!!!".  And yes, I do know that he was stalling because he didn't want to go to bed, but those are the moments I cherish...

So, yeah, I've had aliens on the brain.  Here's how I created 3D aliens from the pictures: two scraps of quilting cotton (Spunky picked the fabrics), and an old t-shirt.

I am no good at free-hand copying, so I used an iron-on embroidery pen and some freezer paper to make a transfer, and after I transferred it, I copied over the lines with my fabric pen.  It was my first time using this method and it worked beautifully!

Sprout saw me taking pictures of the aliens and made a bee-line over to investigate.

He started TALKING (ok, babbling, but who's to say the aliens can't understand?  Never know, maybe he was speaking their language?!!).

He was so excited he even gave me the nose-crinkle that I adore!

Spunky got home from school and was thrilled.  Now if I could only figure out how to make antennae that are kid-friendly, I'd be a super-hero momma!

Blessings,
:) Caren