Xmas Craftin'

Here are some more things I've made.


Here are some more pillows I made! Making pillows is fun and I'm learning a lot in the process. The first is from the Black Apple/Sublime Stitching pattern. You can't really tell, but I weaved some glow in the dark thread on the ghost and on the first, middle, and last roof tops. I was proud of that. I wish I could get a picture of the glow but that never really shows up in pics.  At least not the little digital thing I have.

More Handmade Christmas

I like that I can embroider things for people because I think I am the worst gift-giver. I just don't know what to get people.  So I make stuff.  

Here is a pillow I made for a friend of mine. It's from the fan dancer pattern in the Sublime Stitching Embroidered Effects book. It's the first pillow I've ever made! I've got four more to make. I'm quite proud of that stitching...

Other Goodies

I made this for my friend Lynn from an Urban Threads pattern. www.urbanthreads.com

I made this apron using a Red Velvet Art font and some tarts I made out of felt that are also inspired by a Red Velvet Art tote. www.redvelvetart.com

That's all for now! I gotta get back to it!

Cards and Gifts

Why is everyone's fucking birthday in December?? My sister, my grandparents, my friend Liz... I guess I should make them cards.  Also here are a few Xmas gifts I have completed.  I sadly did not get a picture of my sister's card, somehow...

 
For Liz.  This is the first time that I have made a card with embroidery.  It's pretty easy.  The bird is from the Sublime Stitching Embroidered Effects book.

Stephanie Tillman

Have I posted about Stephanie Tillman yet? I think her illustrations are so funny with the little quotes. I've printed some of her illustrations out and made gifts for some people. This one is for my work friend Brooke. It sounds like something we would say to each other. And it's random and funny which are things we like.

I love it when I see pieces posted at work that I have given my friends. It's so fun to stitch these up for them!

Cate Anevski Facebroideries

My name is Joanne and I cannot draw a straight line to save my life. I trace my patterns onto the fabric and I try REALLY hard to get the lines straight but I just cannot seem to do it. Oh well. I guess I'll have to just stitch up a hundred of these facebroideries by Cate Anevski to get some practice! I don't know what it is about her illustrations that draw me in and really resonnate with me. They are weird and cute and on some level, a wee bit creepy. I am in love. I have several of these and lots of little fat quarters on which to stitch them! Hopefully I will get better. I want these faces all over my house, in random places!

Wedding Stitches

A friend from high school is getting married on November 7th, and I'm very happy for her.  It's strange... I haven't seen her in probably 15 years, maybe longer, but we are friends on social media, and she has invited a bunch of us from high school who were part of the weirdo crowd, and I think it will be a fun little mini-reunion, as well as a fun wedding in general.  I do love weddings.  

I made her this. It's from the Sublime Stitching Craft Pad. Sorry for the crooked picture. I am pretty happy with the way it came out. Just needs an iron and I'll pop it in a frame!

I also just bought the Sublime Stitching Country Cool and Word Balloon patterns, and three skeins of glow in the dark floss from a local shop here in Austin called Ginger's Needle Arts. They said they think she's discontinuing the Word Balloon pattern. I've learned that I'd better get my hands on her discontinued patterns or I'll never, ever have them. Boo! I think she discontinued the Handmade Nation one, and I'm sad that I didn't pick it up when I had the chance. :( Anyway, I have Christmas present ideas for those patterns and I can't wait to start them. That's all for now. Thanks for reading, Kristi, since you're mostly the only one who does ;) haha! And if anyone else happened upon this, thanks to you, too :)

Oh, they're weird and they're wonderful!

When I saw these Tara McPherson patterns that Sublime Stitching collaborated on, I had to get them. This is the only one I've done so far. I'm gonna give it to Rebecca because when I mentioned the patterns, she exclaimed how much she loves Tara McPherson's illustrations.

Wild Olive's Teeny Tinies- Image Heavy!!

Here are some Teeny Tinies from Wild Olive. They are so danged cute!  Not sure what I'll do with them... These are so wittle tiny that it was hard to do some of them.  I finished most of these watching TV super late at my parents' house.

Le Petite Prince

Have you ever read The Little Prince? A bunch of people I know are obsessed with it. I guess it's what the hipsters are into these days... and so naturally I had to find out what the fuss was about. It is, at the same time, cute, sweet, and heartbreaking. I'm really happy with how this turned out. I'm not sure what I'll do with it but... I'll figure it out! 

"On ne voit bien qu'avec le couer. L'essential est invisible pour les yeux". It means, "One sees well only with his heart. The essential is invisible to the eyes." One day, maybe I will learn French.

First Wild Olive Teeny Tiny

 I love random things and I love tiny things, so the Wild Olive Teeny Tinies pattern was RIGHT up my alley!  I finished this one today... the pic is a little blurry, and I'm sorry, but I'm not a photographer.

Teeny Tiny Tub!

So Many Patterns, So Little Time

I have so many things I want to stitch up. I have a ton of Wild Olive and Sublime Stitching patterns I've not done yet. I have a ton of other stuff as well that I've just found or people have passed down to me as well. And I've drawn up a couple of little things myself. I never know where to start, and I always get overwhelmed, so I decided to make a list. I have friends who have moved into new apartments, birthdays, and Christmas coming up, so I made a list of people I'm doing embroidery projects for, and I started on it Thursday. I did this one from an Urban Threads pattern. Yes, I know, they are evil, but I got this stuff before I knew they were evil and I'm not about to pitch it! I made it for my friend who's just moved into a new place.

This is another for his roommate- the pattern is by Annie Oakleaves. Here, I tried my hand at coloring the fabric. I'm a terrible color-er. I have the tendency to color in one direction and then totally switch it up, and I have to learn that is a no-no. But I think it came out okay anyhow. The satin stitch for his cape is pretty good, I'm very proud of that!

That's it for now!

Dreams of Coffee and rain

 I love the Red Velvet Art girls.  I have been looking at their art and their sketches, and they are so cute.  I found this one and printed it out so I could stitch it up for myself.  I personalized it a little to it fits me- the hoodie and the hair!  I love love it!  It fits my personality pretty well, as I love rain and coffee!

October Friends

I have at least three friends with October birthdays. Branden, Chenin and Rebecca. Branden is a man and I don't think needs any embroidery pieces. Chenin I think lives in CA and would probably love an embroidery piece so maybe I'll hit her up for her address. But Rebecca lives here and she loves the embroideries I have done for her. I think I ran across this on a vintage pattern site, but I can't remember. She has a similar tattoo.

Sublime Stitching x Model Citizen

I saw this on Sublime Stitching's blog and I can't find the pattern for sale, so I printed it out and stitched it up for my sister. I thought it was cute that this tiger girl is kind of punk rock with tattoos, and I thought of my sister immediately!

The Cake is a Lie

Here is something I made for my boyfriend. It's from some game he's playing... Portal, maybe?  I got the cake from an Urban Threads pattern, I think, and then I just did the letters like old school computer font.

Deathwish Dena

Ooookay, here is a Roller Girl that I did for my friend Deathwish Dena, who just joined a roller derby team here in Austin. I forget which team. So see, I'm not that gooda friend.

Anyhow, this is a Sublime Stitching pattern that I borrowed from a friend. For some reason, I was sort of intimidated by this one as well. Maybe because it's so detailed. But I think it came out nicely!

Mystery Gift- Thank You!

So I was sitting here at home, watching those horrible Judge shows on my day off, when there is a knock at my door. When I opened the door, there was a dude who handed me a padded envelope. Inside that envelope was the Sublime Stitching Craft Pad, which has tons of rad embroidery patterns. I did not order this. There was no invoice for this in the package. Using my amazing skills of deductive reasoning, I came to the conclusion that SOMEONE has sent me a gift, and for some reason, did not include anything telling me who they were! I love mystery gifts. If you're reading this, thank you so much. It makes me feel special.

Doodle Stitch

I found this doodle stitch online and printed it out so I could stitch it up. It came out really cute! I worked on most of it this morning as I waited for an oil change. I love how portable this hobby is. I can do it ANYWHERE! I just don't like it when people stare and ask questions. It's annoying. But I'm always nice, because hey, maybe I would be curious too. This is an Aimee Ray pattern.   I love her doodly style,

How I got that border so damned wonky, I do not know...
 

Weekly Woes

I've been really busy this week. My car broke down and I had to go car shopping and stress about that for two days. Then I went to the premieres of Cabin Fever 2 and Zombieland. It's a wonder I've had time to do any sort of embroidery. But I did! Here is one of my very favorite things- a mushroom house.  Pattern by Annie Oakleaves.

Anniversary Weekend and More Embroidery

We went to San Antonio for a night to celebrate our 3rd dating anniversary. Besides making fun of many, many things, this is what I did on the way.

I'm giving this to my mom after I iron and frame it.

And here is my first embroidery done from a Natalie Dee picture. She is awesome. I plan to do several more. If you're not familiar with her, visit her at www.nataliedee.com.

Wild Olive Stitching and How I Need More Practice

Here is another Wild Olive pattern I did. My embroidery never looks smooth, the cloth always looks pulled too tight around the stitches. Maybe my cloth isn't tight enough in the hoop? I have one of those spring hoops I use, but it doesn't keep the fabric stretched tight at all. I think I may graduate to a plastic hoop rather than the spring one.

I don't know if you can tell in the picture, but on the little "shiny" spot, I used silky silver thread so it looked like it was shiny.

Some Pretty Shitty Embroidery...

Okay, here are two new ones I did. The first one is from the Kitschy Digital Goods Kawai Fruits pattern. I chose the wrong fabric for this. I thought it would look cute but the pattern is sort of lost in the business of the gingham. Plus, the fabric itself is not the best to stitch on...

And for your viewing pleasure, a crude hanger. I have no idea why I think this is cool.

I have to get to work, so that's all for now!

I'm baaaack!

Sorry for the brief hiatus, some other things were distracting me from my creative time. But, I’m back to it, and will happily post my stuff again. I like to write a ton on my blogs, but I think I will refrain from doing so and just post some photos of what I’ve done. I also have another project going on, inspired by Twinkie Chan. You can find her on Facebook. She does these amazing accessories, mostly knitted or crocheted, and they are food themed. My favorite stuff of hers is her scarves. They are SO awesome. I may have to buy a couple, even though it doesn’t really get cold enough in Texas to wear them very often. Anyway, I can’t knit, and I can’t crochet, so I thought I’d try my hand at making light scarves out of fleece. I just need to come up with some designs. When I get around to doing so, I will definitely post them. Until then, here is some stuff I’ve done in the interim: First, my Love/Hate Relationship barrettes. Yes, they’re giant, but I am an admitted victim to the giant things in my hair trend. I was thinking of making smaller ones, sewing them together, and making smaller barrettes and some pins as well. My boyfriend drew the banner, because I cannot draw.

Wow, it's been a while...

I have been really busy of late, so I've not had much crafty time. I've also been very broke, so I haven't had a chance to get some supplies I need. A good friend of mine is coming in from Brooklyn this Saturday. I don't know if we'll get up to any crafty stuff, but if we do, I'll be sure to blog it. If not, I'll be back in full force after she leaves on the 28th. Until then, here are two things I've done recently.

From a WildOlive pattern:

Let's Make Cute Stuff!

There are so many cute little projects in "Let's Make Cute Stuff" that I didn't know where to start. I decided to make a couple of little purses. One of the cool things about this book is that it showed me the easiest way to put a zipper in a pouch. I learned to put zippers in from someone who apparently liked to do things in a very complicated way. But now, I can make tons of these. And I am thinking about coming up with my own designs and maybe selling them on etsy. Here is my "Bad Guy" coin purse. It's my first attempt at such a thing, and I think it came out pretty good. Looking closely with my hyper-self-criticizing eye, there are a few things I need to work on, like the stitching is showing a little on the bottom seam, but I'm very pleased with it. So was my boyfriend's cat. I put it on her just fooling around, and then when I took it, she grabbed for it. She was very interested in it. He is super cute, though!

Bachelorette Party Recovery

I'm recovering from a wild bachelorette party, so I don't have a lot to say. I did these things. I am learning how to make cute felt things. Tomorrow, I'm getting the "Let's Make Cute Stuff" book I posted about earlier. I made some little templates and stuff, and I wanted to test what sort of thread I needed to use. Here is a cute pouch. It's so tiny, like I have no idea what I'm gonna do with it, but I just wanted to make something.

New Endeavors

I've been a busy bee learning new crafty things and discovering new things.

1. I got a yo-yo maker to make yo-yos. In case you don't know what they are, the easiest way to describe is that they are round discs of gathered fabric that you can embellish to make a bunch of stuff. I've only made two and I need A LOT more practice. The two I made are at work, maybe I'll bring them home and photograph them and then post them here in an edit.

Summer Weekend Fun

Okay, this week should be much less hectic than the past two. The only crafty things I did last week were the following small embroidery projects: I found these cute little patterns while just browsing around online for embroidery pictures. The first is Wild Olive, as is the last, and the middle is Annie Oakleaves (Thank you Kristi!).

I ordered a whole mess of food themed patterns from Wild Olive a few weeks ago and will post them as I stitch them.

I do plan to try my hand at a few other projects this week. I'm working on a really cute skirt, too. I'll post as I finish the projects. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Slackerific

I've been super busy, and here are some things I've made the past week during my busy streak. I embroidered these cute little cherries. Unfortunately, I chose some evil, evil fabric, and it puckered a bit. But I still think it looks okay! The design is from Kitschy Digital Goods, and there is another with a strawberry and a watermelon, I think. I should have chosen easier fabric... oh well.

And I covered some buttons with some nice fabric. I put magnets on the back and sent them to a few friends.

I did this one earlier in the month. I love the fabric. My ex's mom gave me a crap ton of fabric scraps that I will probably be stitching on.

I've been so busy the past couple of days, though, that I've not done much crafty stuff. I'm going through withdrawals. I'll post more this week.

Pen Pal Art

I used to work at Hot Topic, and I made a lot of friends there. I really loved that job, and we were like a little family, just a buncha weirdo outcasts who found our tribe. I left in 2001, but I have kept in touch with several of the friends I made there, one of them being Rob. I used to call him Rob Slob, which was actually pretty mean, and I don't know why, but he didn't seem to mind. Rob is super cool and he is a fantastic artist. I recently saw him when he came for a visit and he wanted to start trading art via mail. I said that would be a cool idea! I made this little card to send him.

Maybe he'll like it.  Maybe not. 

Ursa Minor

I think it would be cute to do a whole series of constellations. Here is Ursa Minor.  It's not anyone's design, I just drew it up.  

An Invitation To Your Damnation

Hi, everyone. Thanks for having a look at my new blog. This is the third one I've done. The other two were cooking blogs. I love cooking, but the thing is, I do tend to make the same things over and over, only making something new every couple of weeks or so. This blog will be about crafting and making things, decorating, random stuff, tshirt surgery, recycled crafts, random adventures, random life stuff, etc. I will post pictures of stuff I like, stuff I want to make, stuff that I am working on, stuff that I have finished, and things that inspire me.  

I hope this blog is enjoyable and I hope it inspires or at least motivates people to be creative, make their own stuff, recycle things into crafts, not being afraid to try new things and fail, and enjoy the process of creating and learning.