Will this project EVER get finished?!!!

Do you have projects like that?  I usually tell people to start small so they don't get overwhelmed and quit before completion.  On this project, however, I did not take my own advice.

So what is the project?  Well, this is a little in-process photo I took.  It is the applique for a chair cover.  Not just any chair cover, though.  See my sister has seven kids.  And she asked me a while back if I could make something that gave each chair a name (assumedly so there were not so many squabbles over who sits where).

She has 12 dining chairs total, and if my math is correct, that's 9 family members plus 3 guests.  So I'm putting names on 9 and the other 3 will be different creatures.  (A frog, a cat, and a lizard - they live in Florida).  A while ago I scored some discounted vinyl at the Joann's in town.  Since most of the family is under 15, I wanted to make sure these were fully machine-washable and would stand up to a lot of abuse.

So I made most of the names out of vinyl with reverse-appliqued letters.  Praise God they turned out pretty good!  That was a LOT of work.  See, here's how it went.

First, I printed out the names.  Then traced them onto Freezer Paper (I love that stuff!).  Then I ironed the freezer paper right to the front of the vinyl. Beneath the vinyl is a fabric (fabrics for all of the names were different).  Took it to the sewing machine and stitched around each letter (like I said - a TON of work - most of it was hand-cranked instead of using the pedal).  Then for the fun part!

I took my itty bitty embroidery scissors and cut out the inside of each letter, to reveal that fantastic fabric underneath!  See how the vinyl makes those letters POP?!!!  Super coolness!!!

My sister is in town right now on vacation, and this was supposed to be her Christmas gift, but as you can see, it's not finished.  So I took her to dinner last night (thanks to husbands who took care of the kids!) and showed her first the fabrics, then each of the name/creature plates.  She was astonished.  Loved them.

So now, I just have to add the plates to the fabrics, make all 12 into pillowcase-style chair coverings, and hem.  No biggie, right, now that the hard part is over.  Should take me a bit less than the 6 months I've already been working on this project.  No problem - what are sisters for!
:) Caren

Miss Badger

Meet Miss Badger.  This little friend was made from a thrift store wool sweater that I washed in hot water to "felt" it.  I could not share this project with you all before now because she was a Christmas gift for my sister in law, whose maiden name is Badger (she was a teacher, hence "Miss Badger").

Miss Badger and Foxy were great friends.  (I introduced Foxy in this post).  They were both made using patterns from the book Countryside Softies, which I highly recommend to anyone interested in using felted wool for soft toys.

Look at this tail!  I love the button joint!

I love all the little stitching details.  The body was machine stitched, but everything else was done by hand.  I was going to add a little bow, but I kinda like her just as she is!

Now that Christmas is over, I am looking forward to the new year.  I look back at this year and am so surprised by all of the creations that have emerged from my hands.  To you, dear readers, I offer my wishes for a wonderfully creative, and peace-filled 2012.
Blessings,
:) Caren

A Hedgehog's New Home

Hi all!  Just wanted to let you know that I used Random Number Generator to pick the winner of my giveaway, and I'm happy to announce that THRIFTAHOLIC (from Toronto, Canada) will be giving one of my hand-made, felted wool hedgehogs a new home!  Thriftaholic, I've emailed you.

Have a very merry Christmas!
:) Caren 

Traditions Around the World

(source)

The poll from my readers on Monday's giveaway post was so enlightening.  First of all, a HUGE thank you to all of you who commented.  I had people from HALF of the United States (25 states!) as well as Austria, Canada, France Germany, Greece, India, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa, Turkey, and the U.K.!  (And that was only the people who told me where they were from.)  I think it is a wonderful thing that you all, though you are so far away, can be as close as my computer!  

My husband and I have been talking about traditions lately, because we would like to start some with our children.  We follow Jesus Christ and want to give our children the understanding of why we celebrate Christmas, but aside from the spiritual, there are things that are just plain fun to do during this season!  That is why I asked you about your traditions (that and the fact that different cultures are very interesting to me!).  So here's what I found out from you, my dear readers, in those comments.

(source)

First of all, there were several holidays mentioned, including Winter Solstice, Christmas, Diwali, Thanksgiving, Easter, Hanukkah, and Yule.  If you are looking for traditions to start with your family, maybe you could adopt one of these:

Giving and receiving presents, putting Santa's footprints in talc on Christmas morning, attending church or temple services, advent calendars, watching "It's a Wonderful Life", putting up a nativity (or seeing a live one), putting up a tree (better yet, cutting your own tree and/or greenery), decorating, hanging lights (or driving through neighborhoods to see theirs), caroling, and drinking hot chocolate.

St. Nicholas shoe

Some more traditions involve St. Nick's shoes, having family devotions, sending holiday cards, seeing "The Nutcracker" (or dancing in it!), Christmas pageant, cleaning and/or painting the house, making gifts for others, inviting others for dinner, "adopting" a military family for the season, reading special stories, such as "The Velveteen Rabbit", "Twas the Night Before Christmas", or the Christmas story from the Gospels in the Bible.

Wow.  That's a LOT of traditions right there!

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!!!  I've saved some of my favorite comments for last!  

Did you know that in Austria, they do not have Santa, but they have "Christkind"?

Sunrise - Christchurch, New Zealand

Or that New Zealand sees the sunrise first in the world? (How cool would that be, to have sunrise church service on the beach overlooking the ocean?!!!)

(source)

Or, did you know that in Germany, they do not do any washing during the "Rauhnächte" (rough nights), which go from December 24 to January 6 as it's said to bring bad luck to hang washing up to dry because who knows what strange creatures might use them to play tricks on you ...  

Here are a few unique traditions from the U.S. that you may want to adopt, like:
- Have Thanksgiving dinner, complete with spaghetti for the vegetarians (or baked tilapia (fish) for the "health-conscious") 
- Go out to a restaurant for Christmas breakfast and "leave an obscenely large tip".
- And last, but not least, is the tradition that I am going to start with my family today:

Making garlands for the Christmas tree from Fruit Loops! 

(You knew I'd be adding in some home-made creative stuff here, right?)

So from my family to yours, Merry Christmas.  May the light of God shine on you, no matter what holidays or traditions you hold to!

:) Caren

p.s. - Stay tuned to cadamsCREATIONS - the winner of the giveaway will be announced later today!

I am a Design Artist

[If you are looking for my giveaway post, click here]

I was contacted a couple of months ago by Pellon (yes, Pellon - the makers of the fabric stabilizers like Wonder Under!).  They asked if I was interested in becoming a design artist for them.  [Are you kidding me?!!!]  I was going to try to describe for you how excited I was about this, but there are no words.  Suffice it to say that I was doing a happy dance (for days!).

I did not consider myself "a designer", per se, but why not?  HELLO: my blog name is cadamsCREATIONS, is it not?  I guess I had never thought of it that way.  So now I am happy to introduce myself to one and all - yes, folks, I am a design artist!

So without further ado, let me tell you about the project I've just submitted to Pellon.  It is my very first, but there's more to come!  This project is a fun one.  It's all about making your kids artwork into an embroidered wall hanging.

My tutorial walks you through the entire process, step by step, with photos to help you along.  It looks complicated, but really it is not.  Your finished piece will use simple (yes, SIMPLE - I see some of you rolling your eyes) embroidery, reverse applique, a bit of machine sewing, and some bead work.  Did you know Pellon has a website with free tutorials?  It's at www.pellonprojects.com, and I'd love it if you were to check out my full tutorial on the Pellon website (click here).

If you do make a wall hanging of your kiddos artwork, please do let me know.  I'd love to see it!  I promise to oooh and aaaahhhh over it as if it were my own (though I'm not sure I could like anything more than I adore these little "space aliens" - they capture my Spunky's creativity AND his sense of humor - but I guess I am a teensy weensy bit biased!).


Have a fantastically creative day!

:) Caren


P.S.- I'm working on project #2 for Pellon, so stay tuned!

Giveaway Day!

[Update: this giveaway is now closed.  Congratulations to Thriftaholic, the winner!]

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!

It's Giveaway Day here at cadamsCREATIONS!  For those of you just visiting for the first time, welcome!

My little blog is where I share my fun creations: soft toys, bags, photo props, embroidery, applique, kids clothes, and other things that I dream up along the way.  I'd love for you to follow along and comment if you are inspired.

On to the giveaway!  One lucky commenter is going to win a unique, handmade, felted wool hedgehog!  But which one???

Will it be Snoot, with his adorable expression...

...and heart tattoo?

Will it be Sniffles, with sprigs of hedgie spikes sticking out through her buttons?

(All of my hedgies are about 90% hand-sewn)

Or will it be Stella, with her quiet, reserved manner and monochromatic color scheme?

(she's got a quirky little heart tattoo, as well!)

Tell you what.  I'm going to let the winner decide!  And just in case you'd rather make your own felted wool hedgie than win one, visit this post for a free tutorial and pattern!

HOW TO WIN:
Up for grabs: One unique handmade hedgehog (cadamsCREATIONS original).
How to enter:  Tell me, in the comment section below, where you're from and if you have any faith-based or cultural traditions in your family (I love hearing about other cultures and no, your comment does not have to be about Christmas).
Who can enter:  Anyone - anywhere in the world!
Giveaway Details (per Sew Mama Sew rules):  Comments will close on Friday December 16, 2011 at 5pm PST and winner will be announced by Sunday December 18th via email (and this post will be updated as well), so make sure to leave me your email address.
(Special thanks to Sew Mama Sew for hosting this Giveaway Day!)

Please note: You do not have to follow my blog to win this giveaway.  I encourage you, however, to look around and if you like what you see, do follow.  I love to give inspiration where I can.

Thanks all, and let the commenting begin!
  :) Caren

Pindsvin, the Danish Hedgehog

Here's a little peek at my embroidery project for the week.

My sister got me the Pindsvin (Danish for "hedgehog") embroidery pattern from Nicole at Follow the White Bunny.  I don't usually go by patterns others have made, but this one pushed me out of my "outlines only" comfort zone.  I was stretched to do some fill work for the spoon as well as the hedgie fur/spines.

 I have to admit, it turned out pretty sweet.

(Did anyone else notice that my circle is a bit wonky?  Hopefully not too terrible for my very first attempt.)  Anyway, thanks, Nicole, for such a fun little pattern.  And thanks E, for such a fun little pattern!

Blessings, one and all!
:) Caren