it's halloween...

Here's what I hoped to make for Halloween. And actually, I came pretty close. All these things came into being, a few are just a little different than planned. Like these:



I have made this cookie dough more times that I can remember. But yesterday, I somehow misread the amount of powdered sugar required. Instead of adding 2 1/2 cups, I only used 1/2 cup. Yikes. Now we have something that is more like a scone. Still tasty, just not what I planned.





These are my favorite though. From the moment I saw Bakerella's cake ball idea, I thought EYEBALLS! Perfect for a Halloween treat! (and check out a glimpse of our haunted gingerbread house in the background!)

Okay, off to to pumpkin farm with the family (which includes an Indiana Jones, a Batman, and a Leopard). I'm in costume this year as Sarah Palin. (I'm still practicing my head tilt.)

my plan...

Just do it. I don't believe that I have ever owned anything that Nike has made, and I don't really have much interest in ever having anything Nike (nothing against Nike... sports just aren't my thing). But they have the right idea with their slogan. Because, sometimes that's really the best solution for getting things done. Just do it.

I was considering painting or stitching the sentiment for a friend, but since sports aren't my thing, I wanted something a bit more artistic in feeling. So I thought, "Just make it." No. Dumb. But then the idea of Make. Do. Create. came to mind. And it stuck. It's one of the things that I want to be about.

reborn...

I love babies. Everything about them. (Even the sometimes yucky stuff.) But this baby, is well, different. Have you seen "Reborn Babies"? They are vinyl dolls that have been "reborn" and made to look like real babies. When I saw one online once I couldn't stop looking because it really seemed real. "How strange.", I thought.

Yesterday, while walking through the toy show, we saw someone selling them. Actually, the guy at the booth was holding this baby, rocking it back and forth, and treating it as you would an actual infant. I couldn't resist...I had to hold it. The man gingerly handed it to me, and its head dropped back. Habit, or instinct, or whatever, kicked in and I quickly held its head up. But ITS A DOLL!

So my question is this: How creepy is it that people want such a realistic (and in this case, somewhat purple) baby at their house? My friend (who took the picture) votes for extremely creepy. I'm inclined to agree with him. But, you know, all that creepiness seems to fade away when you consider this. Um...ewww.

toy show finds...

One of my favorite places to go is the local antique toy and doll show. They have a couple each year, but I hadn't been to the last couple. Anyway, sometimes I buy things, sometimes not. But it's always fun to look. Here's what I got today:



Two metal stoves? The story goes like this: I found some metal kitchen appliances, and was taken by them. The stove on the left (with my favorite part, the turkey) was $12, but they accepted my offer of $10. I was quite happy with my purchase. But then I saw an old friend (about 30 seconds later...really!), who asked me what I had bought. "Oh, I have one like that! You can have it!", she said, and then proceeded to give me the stove on the right, as well as two other bags full of toys. So there you go. Two metal stoves.



I also acquired this little plastic figures. They were $1 for all four, plus a giraffe that my sister picked out. I love them. They were carefully chosen for their seemingly randomness, and now sit on my shelf in their little grouping. Sometimes the simple things in life bring one joy.

right now i'm...

...cutting out fish for Sunday School in the morning.

What I really should do next is...format about 30 photos and signatures for a client.

But what I want to do is...paint.

I have something in mind using some recycled materials, and I'm hoping that it will work out as well as it has in my mind. (You know how those things go sometimes) Anyway, it will require a bit of playing, so it gets put off. But not much longer. Digital is usually my medium of choice, but there's something about real paint on a board that is oh so nice.

By the way, this is my 500th blog post. Kind of amazing. I started this as a means to get myself to make, do and create. I think it has worked.

christmas time is here...

Hey! Christmas has come to the Wild Olive shop! I know that it seems early, and it is. But I figure folks will want to get a jump on their embroidery, baking and cards. So check out all the fun new stuff available!



Cookies for Santa is my favorite, but then, I'm partial to baking. Stitching up the cookie plate took a good amount of time, so I don't see myself making more of these cookies this year, but I can so see them as individual ornaments. Wouldn't they make a lovely gift?





The Tree Trimmers will be ornaments this year, but as there are only 4 main characters, it feels more doable. More Christmas is in the works, but these are the things that need a bit of early planning. Next up? Gift tags with some characters that have a gift wrap theme...

october printable time...

I don't know about you, but I find that cupcakes can make a bad day better. So if you're feelin' cranky, get yourself some cupcakes, then print out these Cranky Candy Corn cupcake picks, and you'll smile again. But if you don't have cupcakes, and you have to take a picture of the picks in a hand instead of a tasty treat, well, that may be cause for crankiness.

Download and Enjoy!

a family moment...

When you're part of a family with 8 people, dinner is almost always an experience. Tonight was certainly one of those experiences. First, dinner boiled over in the oven, so the house filled with smoke. And I'm not sure if it was good or bad, but the smoke detector didn't go off. Hmm...

Anyway, the dinner tasted fine, all liked it. But half way through the meal, for no apparent reason, my little brother shouted out:

"Sock-Lay Blues!"

Oh yeah, always an experience.

beginning fall baking...

Yesterday felt like the perfect day to start some baking, and today wasn't bad either, so I've been making a few treats. Red velvet mini bundt cakes with cream cheese frosting, sugar cookies (which got some pumpkins piped on the top), and Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cinnamon cookies.





These Peanut Butter Oatmeal cookies are super yummy. I used Coconut & Lime's recipe for Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies and then made a few tweaks. First, I tripled the recipe. Hers makes 2 dozen, which would have been gone almost immediately. Next I used a little bit of cinnamon (about 1/4 teaspoon for her version or 3/4 for mine). Finally, I took out the chocolate chips, and added a little extra oatmeal. Yum. I did consider drizzling a bit of chocolate on the top to be all fancy, but left it off for this time.

so many things...

Do you ever have those times when you just don't know what to do with your time? There are things that you know you should do, but as for fun things, nothing really sounds right. This is not one of those times.

Actually, the opposite is true. I have so many ideas for things I want to make and do. So many projects that are waiting, and I can't begin to find enough time to work through them all. And just when I think that I couldn't possibly consider another thing, a new idea comes to mind, or I find some fun project or pattern. Times like this overwhelm and excite me. But I think that good things will come from this.

The latest thing that I found comes by way of my mom. In her searching today, she found the site PatternBee.com. All kinds of great things there, including some wonderful free embroidery patterns. (I printed out the Autumn girl from the Theme Kids Quilt Blocks set.) But what I really want to buy is the Alice in Wonderland embroidery pattern set. So fantastic!

But one thing at a time. For now, I have much more Harvesters stitching to do, Halloween and Thanksgiving treats to plan, plus Christmas will be coming to the Wild Olive shop soon!

more needlework & crafts...

I promised that I would show you a few of my favorite things from the the old Needlework & Crafts magazine that I picked up this week. And so, some ads and projects that I love:







More on Flickr.

exclusive...

As a special gift to those to join (or have joined) the Wild Olive mailing list, I'm creating some very special, very exclusive illustration doodles. They are called the Mailing A-List. They'll be gracing some very special, very exclusive printables, and embroidery patterns.

The first download is available now...Printable Address Cards with Legendary Letter on them. Just type in your contact info and print the PDF!

But you have to join the Mailing A-List to do that. Look for Legendary Letter in the sidebar, and add your email to the list. Once you've joined, you'll have access to this and all future files!

change...

I've been feeling like change lately. Actually, I'm calling it, not being stagnant. And so, the blog got a quick update to its look tonight. with more adjustments coming. But they'll be small...I think.

warm up my coffee...

My Miffed Mitten embroidery is all done, and now it is a coffee cuff! I think that I will wait a while before using this, because, well, mittens and the color scheme should not be seen until it gets colder...like, after Thanksgiving. But I was needing to stitch up the new pattern, and this seemed like a perfect useful item to add it to. Plus, coffee cuff sounded simple.

The thing is, I couldn't find a for real pattern online. Sure, there were knitting/crochet patterns (not what I wanted), and even tutorials, but no pattern for a basic fabric cuff/sleeve. Everything I found said, use a sleeve from your favorite coffee shop. So I went to Starbucks. Guess what? It wasn't a size I liked! So I took it and modified the size a bit. And now, a super simplified tutorial (with template) on how I made mine:



1. I started by stitching my design onto a piece of plain fabric that was about 4.5 x 11 inches.

2. Then I fused that piece to some wool felt that was the same size, using double sided fusible web.

3. Next, I cut out my shape using this template and my scallop shears.

4. To avoid fraying, I sealed the edges with clear nail polish (I wasn't in the mood to go out and buy real Fray Check).

5. Finally, I wrapped the cuff into its cuff shape, and sewed it closed.



Pretty simple. Honestly, I'm not sure how it will hold up long term, and how I'll go about cleaning it when needed. But this was a fast project, so if it only lasts me one winter season, I'm okay with that. Now, I just need a nice latte to try it out...

five things...

I'm quite horrible about journaling regularly. This blog, and the semi-consistent posting that goes on here, is a small miracle. So imagine my joy when I saw this oh so lovely idea. Five things. That's all that gets written down for the day. Just five simple things that happened during the day. I think this is the perfect way to remember the special, the mundane, the lovely.

I started today.

needlework & crafts...

It's festival weekend around here, so my sister and I went to the craft show. Here's the thing about traditional craft shows. They're so...traditional. There was very little that I hadn't seen before, and in most cases, that you couldn't find a few tents away. Which is all good and well, but give me Etsy any day.

But while we were wandering, we stopped in a few antique shops that we had never visited. Cute stuff. But this magazine was my find for the day. This is the Fall-Winter 1969-70 issue of McCall's Needlework and Crafts magazine. So much goodness is contained in these pages. Those outfits on the cover? Priceless. And wait until I scan the paper bag costumes. Too much!

But seriously, it also has some patterns for felt marionettes and elf plushes, adorable Pennsylvania Dutch embroideries, and more. Plus the ads themselves are a delight. I promise to share throughout the week.

The best part? It was still the cover price of $1.

how i found myself singing...

..."Baby it's Cold Outside" and "Snow" (from White Christmas) in the middle of October. When you are sitting at your computer and working on Wintery things, you just can't help yourself (or at least I can't). Winter Warmers will be the second (of 3? 4?) Christmas embroidery pattern, and I'm hoping to have them all set to go at the same time. Not sure when that will be yet, but soon, I hope...

yo gabba barbapapa...

I'm new to Yo Gabba Gabba, but when I first saw it, I thought, "This is so cute and retro!" And then I found this toy of mine from when I was little. It's a Barbapapa. They are of course different, but have the same feel. They both make me happy.

a little behind...

Boy, I skip a couple days of blogging, and I'm all off! Actually, I feel a bit behind on so many things lately, but what are you gonna do? I am thrilled to say that I've completed the Cookies for Santa embroidery. See a glimpse of it on Flickr, and you'll get to see the entire piece when the pattern is officially finished (it still needs a few tweaks).



The biggest fun project I've had going was making hot pepper jelly. It's one of my dad's favorite things, and he's gotten me hooked as well. Call us crazy, but we enjoy a little bit spread on pizza. Really.

Anyway, I've never made jelly by myself, but it seemed reasonable...I should be able to do this. So, I'm going at it, mixing things in, stirring...



and boiling...



and then...whoa! That foam you see is the start of the whole pot boiling over. The biggest mess ever. I wish I had a picture of this, but I'm talking serious panic mode. The whole stove top was covered in a layer of boiling jelly. And we're still working on getting parts of it clean. 3 days later.



But then things got back on track and I was able to fill the jars. Even with the loss of a chunk of it, I still ended up with more than I was expecting. So, that's good.



The best part is that after processing the jars, all sealed the first time! Yay! Can't wait to start enjoying it!

updated to do...

My to do list from a couple days ago is coming along:

2) Upload picture of yummy cupcakes. Done!

4) Decide best way to build email list to update folks about news and specials in the shop. Done! See the new mailing list in the sidebar to sign up!

5) Wait excitedly for new aviator bunny pattern to come in the mail from Wee Wonderfuls. (she's only a few towns away, but the mail routes further away before finding its way here) Done! It came today and is super cute! (The pattern that is...as if I have had time to make the thing!)

7) Figure out if this is possible to do before October 1 (wait, that's Wednesday!) Done! It's not possible. But technically I only wanted to figure out if it would be possible to complete my list by today.

I was talking with a friend today about lists. She avoids them. I am comforted by them. But I don't even need to always check off the items on the list. Sometimes it's just nice to think through things and get them on paper. Then I can revise, move on, or occasionally, complete them! The to do list in discussion here will be completed...I can feel it!