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the second woodlanders desktop calendar...



May I just say that I am so happy to have survived January? It's a nice month, but seems like the dead of winter. I truly welcome February...it feels more bright and cheery, even though things are still quite snowy here.

Add some red (cheeriness) to your computer with the new Articulate Mushroom calendar desktop. This sweet mushroom may be small, but she has a lot to say and she is able to express herself well.



February's embroidery pattern will be coming soon!

making some dough...

We don't have television coming into our house. (sometimes we do, but we find that it makes life a bit more peaceful without it) You miss a lot of commercials this way, which is not a bad thing. We do, however, have DVD players and TVs. Recently in with the previews for a kids DVD, there was a Pillsbury commercial, and my brother Max was introduced to the Dough Boy.

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He made me come to see him because, as he said, he's the cutest thing ever. Oh, and could I please make one for him? I knew that we used to have a rubber figure of him, and I thought I would find that for him. But I couldn't find it. Max was disappointed at Christmas when the Dough Boy wasn't one of his gifts. And he's been after me since then.

Yesterday I drew up a pattern, and started making.

doughboy

I'd love to have this match the actual Dough Boy a little better, but Max is happy, and that's all that matters.

PS: Thanks for all of the Groundhog iPod case love!

seeing shadows...

We're just around the corner from a major holiday. OK, yes, Valentine's Day...but before that, Groundhog Day. For those of us in cold climates, the arrival of a small furry creature can be key. I'm still a few days early, but I wanted to give you time to be making something fun for this amazing weather prediction holiday.

groundhog case

What's inside this sweet little groundhog? My iPod Touch!

groundhog case

You can make one too...you'll just need felt (brown and black or gray) and embroidery floss. You'll also need some basic tools: paper, pencil, scissors, needle, pins.

The first step is to make a pattern. To do this trace around your iPod, or phone. Around that, add a little bit of space. The amount depends on the thickness of your phone/iPod. I added about 1/4", which was more than I needed. Draw some ears...they can be very simple. This will be for cutting the front and back out of brown.

Use that first pattern to make another piece that is exactly the same at the top, but is 1" longer, and squared off at the bottom. This will be for the shadow flap in black or gray.

groundhog case

Cut out your pieces.

groundhog case

Stitch a face to the front. I sketched an idea first, but just stitched freehand.

Layer your pieces as follows: Shadow, Back, iPod/Phone, Front.

Make sure the ears line up. Wrap the bottom of the shadow around so that it overlaps with the front. Now you know how to place it, and you may want to pin it with the flap on the back side of the front piece.

groundhog case

Stitch across the bottom with a running stitch through the shadow and the front piece.

groundhog case

Pin the front and back together, and continue stitching around the whole groundhog until you get back to where you started stitching the shadow/front.

groundhog case

groundhog case

You're done! Slide your iPod/phone in place and wait to see if we'll have an early spring!

NOTE: I have not attached a closure to mine. The felt sticks to itself enough for my use. But you could add a button or snap to the back very easily.

i seem to be having trouble...

soon to be stitched...

February's embroidery pattern is probably going to be one of my favorites for the year, because, well...how can you not love an Articulate Mushroom? But today as I was tracing the pattern I felt like I couldn't even trace my own pattern. What was that about? I just couldn't follow the lines. Crazy.

the last one

Speaking of having embroidery related troubles, I keep losing needles. As in, they are just somewhere in the house. They most likely have threads on them like you see here, but I don't know where they are. I'm forever searching, but with no luck. I'm hoping that they aren't found in someone's foot. At least they aren't terribly sharp.

Oh, and do you love that packaging? They are from an old sewing basket, and I'm not sure how long they've been around. But I do know that the Ben Franklin they came from hasn't been there for YEARS...

I'll be sad when my vintage needles are all gone...

hearts in the window...

hearts

Last year our front window was filled with LOTS of hearts, but this year I opted for less. These are cut from tracing paper, and strung onto crochet thread.

hearts

They look light and airy, and, sigh...I'm loving them.

hearts

hearts day origami paper...

Hearts Day Origami Paper

Since paper folding has been a little obsession for me lately (I like looking at it and thinking about it even more than folding it!), I wanted to help share that love a little more. I used some of my Hearts Day illustrations to make my own printable origami paper!

Now you can fold little designs that feature little designs! And of course, you could use these printable patterns for other things too. Just please don't use them for commercial purposes.

There are two PDF files. The first has the top two designs, and the second has the bottom two designs.


If only my printer was up and running right now, I would get to folding!

my wish list...

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You know how Amazon has that wish list feature? Life needs one of those. And then people could just check in and see what you'd like for your life, and take care of those things. Here's what my list would look like:

Get rid of the annoying little work things that pop up.

Feel well enough to sit at the computer long enough to get some good work done. (see image above)

Either
a) Have all of my messes cleaned up and organized, or
b) Not be the kind of person that lets the messes get to the point they are at.

Have someone to look after my business finances, because I fear that I don't care enough.

Brighter January days.

Either
a) Look more put together without thinking about it, or
b) Care enough to not just throw myself together.

See that the things that I'd like for my life are progressing.

and since this is a rather selfish list, I'll throw in one more...

Make everything in the world right and as it should be.

Surely I'm not the only one with a list like this...what would you put on your life's wish list?

folding paper...

I promised that more of my recent origami love would show up here, and there will be more! But today I want to share two things. The first is this book:

folding paper toys

folding paper toys

Do you see who that is in the picture? Shari Lewis! She co-authored Folding Paper Toys, and is in all of the photos. So fun!

We've had this book for a very long time (it was published in 1963, so was probably my mom's, even though it has my grandma's and my late "aunt's" name in it). I remember always going to it when I've been on past origami kicks, but I also remember always being disappointed at the selection of designs. They aren't all traditional origami, but my goodness, there are some very fun things here!

folding paper toys

folding paper toys

OK, next thing to share:

YIP2010 - 024

You know those adorable little puffy stars that you see all the time? These are hearts like those! Eek! I love them, and they are really easy. I found the video tutorial, and although it's a little hard to see, you can still figure it out. Make one, make a bunch! You won't want to stop!

Soon I'll have a little something for you to go along with all this folded paper fun I've been having...

she's reading your blog...

Yesterday I pulled up my blog to show my mom something. I walked away, and heard my sister call out, "She's reading your blog!"

Yes, my mom has seen my blog before, but not regularly. My mom's assessment seemed to be one of amazement..."It's like all the blogs that I read!"

So even though it may not be cool to be categorized in the same group of blogs that you mom really likes, I still take it as a huge compliment. She generally has good taste in things that she reads.

redwork = love...

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Redwork should be the official embroidery style of Valentine's Day, don't you think?

I stitched this up using my Holiday Jordnöts pattern, and instead of embroidery floss, I used thin crochet cotton. It was really fun to work with!

After those necklaces yesterday, I knew exactly what I would do with my finished work...a soft pendant!

Before I attached the Cupid Jordnöt to the felt, I cut two small-ish slits in the felt. To attach the embroidered muslin to the backing, I just stitched the border through both layers, and then trimmed around the whole thing. The "chain" is just a long crocheted chain, two times the length that I wanted my necklace to be. I looped it through the slits, and I've got a big soft pendant!

i am very ready...



Winter is feeling blah, and I'm very ready for Valentine's Day. All the red and pink and hearts and love seem to brighten up what can be an oh so gray season here. So even thought it's still a little early, lots of hearts are coming out at my house, and certainly here and in my Flickr stream.

These hearts are all lovely jewelry from the not so OrdinaryMommy. Truly wonderful pieces, don't you think?





Make sure you poke around her shop. I especially love her use of lace with felt. So creative!

jinkies...it's a scarf...

modern cravat

Lately I've come to enjoy the warmth of wearing a scarf...even in the house. OK, especially in the house...we keep things on the cool side here. Last night I made this mini scarf, or as I'm calling it, a modern cravat.

My sister promptly pointed out that it had a certain Scooby Doo quality to it. And she's right. It is reminiscent of Fred's ascot (although an ascot is tied differently), and the color is the same as Shaggy's shirt. I think this makes me like it even more.

The best part about this little project is that I had everything just laying around. The fabric is some cotton jersey that I had left over from a few Christmas projects. It's about 28" long, and around 9" wide (I had purchased a 1/4 yard of fabric just for cutting out shapes)

a bit of making...

I wrapped the fabric around my neck to get a sense for where I would place a button. This is centered, about 6" in from the end.

modern cravat

I took three strand of embroidery floss and braided them. They were around 10-12". Make the braid into a loop, and tie that around the base of the button. You may need to play with the size of the loop, so that it wraps around your scarf and hooks on the button comfortably.

modern cravat

This is how it looks flat. A little puckered, but that doesn't show at all when you wear it.

oh dear...

I like it off to the side just a bit. Jinkies! Cute and warm!

fail...

pompom fail

My brother is a big fan of Fail Blog. There are quite a lot of, um, questionable items there. But there is also lots of funny. (The link there goes to just the G-rated entries.)

Today, I had a bit of a fail myself.

You see, I thought that a pompom made out of crochet thread would be really cute. I had visions of it becoming a necklace. It turns out, crochet thread is really useful stuff. Just not for pompoms. When it failed, I realized that, duh, the reason that pompoms made from yarn work, is that the yarn is puffy. That puffiness helps it work. Crochet yarn...not puffy.

Oh well, better to try something and have it not work than to not try, right?

It did get me to start a set of photos on Flickr of crafty fails. And then I thought it might be fun to start a group too. But guess what? There's already a CraftFail group! If you've got pics of things that didn't work out...add them there!

Care to share a craft fail here? You know you want to. And we all promise that we won't point and laugh...

the plan as a list...

a plan

Oh, sweet lists. How I adore you. And you know it.

I made this list on my iPod Touch late the other night. But it still made sense the next morning. And even a day later! This list is a plan for accomplishing more for the shop and blog this year. Each week the goal will be to do all of these things. Even if only in small amounts. I think it will work!

And if you're into lists, you might enjoy following Andrea's list project. One list a week. What a fantastic idea!

folded paper favorites...

origami that I'm loving...

1. Origami Green stars, 2. Loop, 3. paper cranes, 4. Rings Mette Unit, 5. Paper Crane, 6. Origami Stars, 7. Colourful Cranes, 8. Tem cheiro de amor no ar, 9. Inflatable Piggy

I've been thinking about origami lately. Drawing it even. So I did a bit of searching and found these lovelies on Flickr. I also really like these penguins. (They weren't available for the mosaic) And how about this great book?

I have a feeling you'll hear more about my new obsession...

For now, do you have a favorite origami design?

pretty pompoms...

garland

I made pompoms and a garland last night! Very fun and relaxing. And a little messy.

The yarn that I used was Bernat cottontots, which was fluffy and fun, because it there's some variance in the yarn. Like a bouclé, but not so wacky. And I used Bella Dia's tutorial, but wrapped the yarn less so that the pompoms aren't so full...more relaxed. (Relaxed pompoms? Yes.)

The pink is a bouclé that I had in my stash. It came from Target a few years ago. I just made a long crocheted chain stitch. And then I tied the pompoms on...I love simple projects!

pom pom garland success!

My brother thought that it looked like a scarf. Interesting. I don't think that I'll be wearing my garland any time soon, but it could work...

it's true...

YIP2010 - 015

I really do love you this much!

Sometimes there are times when you feel like you need to let a few things go. Blogging and internet types of things seem likely candidates, but I love it so much, that they really are the things that I need. I might go crazy without this! But I'll be brief...

The shop is now officially updated with the new Hearts Day items! You'll find the Hearts Day embroidery pattern, the Hearts Day embroidered frames pattern/tutorial, and printable Journaling Cards. That's one of them up in the picture...they make fun little valentines, but they are great frames for digital scrapbooking too!

Gotta run for now! Hugs to you all, and thanks for being such a fun part of my life...a part that I just love so much!

a blur, and a winner...

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Today feels a little blurry. Not like it went by so fast that I missed it, although a little of that. Rather, it's more like I'm off. Not remembering things (and discovering things that were long forgotten...oops!), and sort of feeling like I can't keep it together. Ugh.

I treated myself to an extra cup of coffee with cinnamon vanilla cream.

OK, so a winner! I LOVED reading all those love song lyrics. Not all were familiar, so I looked some up, and a few I feared would get stuck in my head. (Coldplay, why do you plague me so?) But we're officially at the end of the giveaway, so here's the deal...

There were 15 comments, I put that into Random.org. And the winner is...

Laurie Anne! Congrats, and I'll send you your pattern!

Have a wonderful night, dear blog friends. Here's hoping tomorrow feels a bit clearer...

help how you can...

I'll be back later with a regular post (and a giveaway winner!), but for now...

I'd like to encourage you to help those in Haiti however you can. As you know, I'm a long time supporter of World Vision. They already have a presence in Haiti and are set up to give relief. Please consider donating to help them help others.

Maybe the most you can offer right now is prayer. That's no small thing! Please join me in praying for those who have lost so much, and for those who are working to pick up the pieces.

And if you can do both? Even better.

not me...

becoming me...

I feel like I've been talking about this now for a long time. But at last the time has come for more info to be shared!

What you see here is the complete(d) self-portrait that I did. It's in four pieces, and is a progression. The style is based on Ed Emberley's drawing steps, but is also about the process of becoming one's self. Becoming me...

becoming me...

The exciting thing about this is that it is part of a self-portrait show called "Not You" and is at the MINT Gallery in Atlanta. The show opens this Saturday and runs through February 7. I won't be able to make it to the show, so if anyone is in the Atlanta area and is able to make it, I'd love to hear about it!

Travis Smith is the curator of the show. We are Flickr contacts. That's how we know each other, and that's how I ended up part of this. Isn't the internet amazing? Never, ever would I have thought that I would have a piece in a gallery of any kind...so, whoa. And thank you, Travis!

becoming me...

(ps: the giveaway is still going in the post below, and on Facebook...don't forget to enter!)

i honestly love you...

kj+ds

Well, the stitching is done. Yay! I really like how it came out, and I think my parents will too. I even put it in one of my vintage frames...

This is from an all new pattern called "Hearts Day", and it is of course, all hearts. I especially love the bushel basket of hearts with text that says "I love you a bushel and a peck". Cute!

Also finished is something new that I have coming to the shop:

be mine...

Embroidered frames! Er, well...patterns for them. Included in the file will be six designs for embroidered frames. They are different sizes and shapes, and all are Valentine's themed. Also included is a tutorial for making a felt frame like I've made here, although you could use the frames in other ways too.

I'm really excited about these, and will probably make other sets of frames soon. But for now, to show how much I love you, I'm giving a pattern away!

To enter to win an embroidered frame pattern set, just leave a comment with a lyric from a love song! I'll choose a winner sometime on Thursday evening.

Oooo...and over on Facebook, I'll be giving away a Hearts Day pattern! Become a fan, and watch for the contest!

the go to colors...

the go to colors

Do you have certain colors that you reach for more frequently than others? When I'm stitching (ok...for other things too), brown is always a favorite. The two shades that I should just buy in bulk are 938 and 839. Sort of a deep, rich shade, and a lighter chocolate brown. Lovely.

Which colors do you use more than others?

wondering why...

filling in...

You know, when I started this, I thought that filling in these outlines would be a good idea. Now I'm wondering why. No, actually, I still think it will look nice...it's just going to make me crazy while I satin stitch this heart.

It's a new pattern (coming to the shop soon!), and is one that gets to be for my parents. You can sort of see a part of it, and can probably tell that it is a carved heart with initials. My parents initials. And I'm going to give it to them for the 34th anniversary of their first date...on February 13th. I do hope they like it!

i do believe...

...that any and all added holiday weight can be attributed to this.

Enjoy with caution, it is addicting.

a year in pictures...

YIP2010 - 007

At the top of my list of goals for the year is to take 365 pictures for the Year in Pictures group on Flickr. So far, I'm 7 for 7! I'm using it as a way to show a key thing from each day. Something I've worked on or accomplished. Or just a thing that should be remembered. I really like that it feels like a photo diary.

Today my picture is of the embroidery that I did. It's a new pattern, and a new sort of thing that I'll have in my shop soon. Not just patterns, but also a project that they all go with. Should be fun!

If you'd like to see where all of my pictures for the year are going, you'll find them in my YIP2010 set.

build a snowman...

A few months ago, my friend Stephanie suggested that I make a snowman pattern. One that could have different things to add onto it...you know...make it modular. (I think I like that word.) And so I sketched it up in my book, thinking it would make a great embroidery pattern for winter. Well...it sat in my book, but thankfully, the idea didn't melt. Instead, it became something a little different. And so I present to you...

snowman longing for the snow...

Steph's Snowman! (He's longing to go and play outside...)

This is a pattern that you can use for sewing, applique, embroidery or even cutting and pasting. Or a combination of those. So, download the pattern, and get started!

To make a stuffed Snowman (or Snowmam) here's what you'll need:

Steph's Snowman Pattern PDF
Felt: 2 sheets of white, and small amounts of other colors
Embroidery Floss
Stuffing

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Cut out 2 body pieces from white felt. From one of those, cut out a face opening. (This is optional, but is so cute, 'cause it looks like a kid dressed up as a snowman!)

snowman face

Cut out a face (from the second page) and stitch or applique on some features. Using a running stitch, sew the face behind the opening in your front body piece.

snowman buttons

To your body pieces, add on any other details. I went with simple buttons, which I stitched around first, then attached with the french knots. The button, heart, bow, flower, coal or necklace are good items for adding on at this point. For these, just cut around the outside of the shape, and add stitched details. Or you can simply embroider them on, and skip the extra felt pieces.

Once you've attached these things, sew the two pieces together, leaving an opening. Fill with stuffing, and then stitch closed. Of course, I forgot to take a picture of this process. I was just too excited to finish him up!

snowman scarf

Now, make some removable accessories. I stitched two scarf pieces together, and fringed the ends.

snowman hat

And I attached a hatband to one hat piece, then sewed around the two hat pieces. You can sort of see where I stopped here to leave an opening for my snowman's head.

snowman

And he's done! He is very much like the Costume Kids that I've made in the past...but those illustrations only show the face part. This is the whole thing, and the real deal! (I told my sister, I hope I don't seem vain, but I love this little snowman!)

You can also make an apron that has real ties to hold it on. Just cut out the outer apron shape, add some details if you like, and stitch some yarn through the top of the apron, leaving long ties. Or you could tack on some ribbon.

Of course, there are lots of other things that you could add...that's the best part about something modular!

To use this as an embroidery pattern, just shrink it down. Or if you have little ones who like to cut and paste, print out some pieces and let them go to town like my sister did!

Have fun, and if you make one (or a whole snow village) of Steph's Snowman, please add your picture to the Wild Olive Flickr group!