may's desktop calendar...

You know, sometimes I'm amazed by how fast time zooms by and I'm discouraged. April zoomed by, but truthfully, I'm OK with that. The month had its ups and downs for me. And so...

WELCOME MAY! I'm happy to see you tomorrow!

And I'm happy to share this new desktop calendar for you! It features Measurable Measuring Tape. Enjoy!

cut it out...

So here's what I decided that I needed to learn! Paper cutting! Obviously, I'm starting simple. Both of these were cut freehand (which is how I heard that Elsita started) and I like that idea, but...I think that I will also try working with a template (like Skinny LaMinx does...her work blows my mind, especially after what I tried). Teaching myself will be a process.



The dandelion was cut with scissors. I have this case with three sizes of scissors in it, and this was the tiniest pair. When my sister saw them, she commented on now knowing my weapon of choice. Also, on how being a crafter apparently requires lots of different tools.



The Umbrella was cut with a knife. This definitely has more flexibility, but the knife I used wasn't the best for this. So, I think another new tool may be needed. That might make Anna even more nervous than the scissors!

This really comes about because I've been wanting to learn how to screen print. Not just the Gocco kind, although I want to be more creative with that too. But this requires thinking differently than I usually do with my illustrations. The block printing that I've been playing with is the same kind of thing. So I got to thinking about freezer paper stencils (I'm going to try that too) and that led me to paper cutting. Now in my mind it's all one big project/idea.

But I feel like it has potential...you know, with practice.

a few of my favorite (wearable) things...

Dear Sonia shared friends' shop links today (thank you!) and last week I shared some favorite shops that sell printables. This got me thinking that I should continue this, and share some more favorites. So...today, we have wearables.




Garlands of Grace sells the most amazing head coverings and headbands. They look so romantic, don't they?



Lirola makes me wish that I was the kind of person that could buy a $79 t-shirt. I love her work!



I just found this skirt from HartandLauren. One leaf is a pocket!



These shoes from NeitherOddnorEven are so ladylike, yes? This shade of blush pink is a favorite of mine.

Can't wait to show you what I've started learning! It will have to wait until tomorrow though, so you can actually see pictures taken in real daylight...

happy monday things...

-Taking pictures of oneself while standing on a bench. (will this get old? I can't imagine that it will)

-Crafting and coffee and a chocolate chip scone with a friend.

-Coming to the conclusion that it's OK to walk away from some things.

-Being encouraged in the life choices I make.

this is not pretty...

I'd like to warn you that this post is a little graphic. I'd like to prepare you for what I'm about to show you. Alas, there is no way to truly prepare you, so I'll just show you. My desk.



Now, I have never claimed to be a neat and tidy sort of person. Not even close. But this is a little crazy, even for me. The whole point of my having a desk like this was so that I could have a workspace. Pretty much the workspace right now is just where the laptop is. Ugh.

So...time to fix this. Actually, I've already started sorting and putting/throwing away a few things. But I have a feeling this will be an all week sort of thing. But I'm baring my soul, er, my desk so that you dear blog readers, can keep me accountable. Next Sunday, no matter the state of my desk/office/workspace, I will show pictures. I don't promise perfection (that just wouldn't be me!), but I do promise big improvement. Really.

an april workshop for you...

Hooray! The April Workshop is done! This took way longer than it should have, but first, I couldn't find just the right basket. The one I ended up using for mine came from Dollar Tree of all places!

Then, I was planning on sewing this on a sewing machine. But...the sewing machine is not my friend. I want it to be my friend, but you know, some relationships need more work and right now I just don't have the time to make it work. So rather than pull my hair out, hand sewing won out. Which actually made this a fast project for me. (All you sewing machine users...stop laughing at me!)

So, download the PDF and you can embroider Swift Sewing Machine (pattern included!) and add it onto a custom fabric cover for your basket of sewing notions. Enjoy!

a spark of color creativity...

I mentioned this a couple weeks ago, but, The Spark. It's a new challenge blog and this is what I came up with for the first "Color Combo" challenge. Frosted watermelon shades are a favorite of mine right now...so I went all literal. Very unlike me. But I do like how the eyes and mouth look like seeds at first, but then you spot them.

Using both paint and embroidery was a fun thing for this brooch. AND it looks quite lovely on my Eco felt, yes? I'm feeling all mixed media lately...

And just a side note, one that lacks a lot of color, today my sister caught this picture of me...I like.

happy earth day...

A day when you should embroider a happy earth. On this lovely earth day, the sun is shining here, and things are turning all nice and green. And being such a pleasant day, I thought I should whip up a quick pattern for you to enjoy. This guy is pleased to have been made with love. Now we just need to treat it with love and respect.

Click on the image to get any size you want from Flickr.

a few of my favorite (printable) things...

Wow. Life has been feeling very busy lately. Like, for a month. Each week I go, as soon as _______ is done, it will get better. But then, there's always another thing. All of this is to say, today felt like there was just enough time to do the things that had to get done. Barely time for other things. And I was thinking, what will I blog about? How about some of my favorite Etsy things?

Just to narrow this down a bit (because there is so much that I love on Etsy), I thought I'd share my favorite printables. Now, I make and sell printables for my own shop, so I suppose these folks are my competition. But really, there are so many different styles and items out there, that I'm ok with sharing the love.



Little Paper Dog has the sweetest designs! I especially love the printable notes and mini book sets.



Printable 3D tree cards? LOVE! Find them from Go Make Me.



govango has all kinds of fun printables, like the stationery above. Also, her prints are soooo cute!



The Small Object. Need I say more?

That last one is probably something I should buy. Then at least the mountains of things I want/need to get done will look cute on their list!

it's all about me monday...

I was going to say something about how I'm not really the kind of person that wants things to be all about them. Because I'm not. But the fact that I keep this blog and write about all the things that I like and do and on and on, might make it seem like it IS all about me. Hmm. At least for this Monday (and maybe last Monday? is this a theme?), it's all about me.



Two weeks ago I showed you a picture of my plan for a stitched up self-portrait. And now it is finished. Sort of. Actually, what happened is this. I had stopped stitching for some reason (there are always distractions here), and was at the point you see. And then, when I cam back to it, I realized that I kind of liked where the line stopped. Could I leave it unfinished? As a person, I'm unfinished, so it made sense. So this unfinished portrait is finished.

(and apparently it does really look like me, because my 9yo brother saw it and said, "is that you or Anna?"...which really seals the deal...everyone says Anna and I look alike.)



Another week of bench monday. Really, this is too fun. This week I even used the self-timer. As I was getting ready to take the photo, I moved things from near the piano so that it was a nice clean shot, and then I set the camera on our overstuffed chair, climbing into the chair to look through the lens. To focus the camera properly, I set a play bucket on the piano bench, which I had to quickly remove as I hopped onto the bench. This shot was my second try. And not once did my mom or brother comment. It seems that this sort of thing has become far too normal.

And one last thing.

Today I was making a chart. I wrote my name in one of the squares. Then realized that I had spelled my own name wrong. It's pretty common for people to misspell my name, because Molly is the more common spelling. But no, here's what I did: Molle. Not Mollie. What does that mean?

more printing fun...

My dad brought me some white block printing ink to try out. So I started thinking, what would be fun to print in white? Oh yes, a paper airplane. So I used my little design and carved up another stamp.



This one on fabric was with acrylic paint. None of these have faces yet, but they will. I'm contemplating how I'll do this. Paint? Maybe. Embroidery? Likely. I like the idea of combining the two medium. On fabric, I think it will look very nice. On paper? Even better!



These on kraft paper and wood are the block printing ink. Nice thick stuff, that. I love the white on the kraft paper, but I printed one on wood too. Again, I'm liking it. The one thing is, this ink takes a while to dry it seems. It has been almost two hours and I'm still finding that it's a bit wet. Hmmm...

printmaking attempt one...

Last week I carved up these stamps, and last night I tried out a few prints. For all of these I used acrylic paint, which I kind of like. But for some of the substrates that I tried...not so much.



This first one on canvas just didn't work at all. I didn't even bother stamping the handle on.



Then I tried it on kraft paper. Again, not so great. But I liked the look of the paint on the kraft, so I tried just painting, not printing:



Besides the fact that I didn't even make it match the others exactly, I feel like this one is just blah. It's things like this that give me feelings of mediocrity.



The good news is that this print on watercolor paper came out really well, I think. The imperfections are still there, which I like, but generally, it has decent coverage, and you can see the texture of the paper.



Finally, on this linen-like fabric...a favorite result. Again, you get the texture of the fabric showing, but it is a nice enough print. The size of this is about 5" square, so I think that it may end up as a patch or a pocket.

I have another new stamp that I am looking forward to carving and trying out with some block printing ink. I'll be eager to see how that comes out, and what other inks I might try. Fingers crossed that the next round of trials come out well!

a cut above the rest...

Some people might think that what I'm about to say is crazy. But not you. You'll completely understand me.

I have favorite scissors.

And I get rather possessive about them. As in, these are my special favorite scissors...so don't you be touching them!



Let's start with these little ones that were mine as a child. They are Sanrio Little Twin Stars scissors. Or at least the little case is Little Twin Stars. But that makes them soooo adorable, right? Here's the best part, they cut really, really well. So I use them for my embroidery scissors.

Here's where I read your thoughts. "Why is there that little section missing from the handle? Is that some sort of special handle?" OK, so maybe you weren't thinking that. But here's my sad story. One day, I dropped these scissors. And, seeing as how they are around 25 years old and, ahem, brittle, the handle broke. Of course, I was heartbroken, but couldn't bear to give them up. I use them this way still.



Now, new favorite scissors. But first a little background. My office doesn't have a door. I'm really fine with that. But...My office is also the place where my little brothers and sister go to for fun supplies. Tape is a favorite, but scissors, well, they love 'em. So I was always having to go hunt for scissors. It got to making me really crazy. And not we're back to those pictured above.

I got these at Target for around $1 on clearance. (They are by Maped and are called Tatoo Teen scissors, in their school section.) They were so cute that I got two pairs. These seemed like a good idea, in case one went wandering. When I got them, I was figuring on just using them for general use...paper and such. Imagine my glee when they cut fabric (felt, cotton, canvas) as well as any $30 scissors do! Really, I can't say enough about these amazing things! If one can fall in love with a pair of scissors, I'm there. (And to follow up on going missing supplies, everyone in the house knows that the brown printed scissors belong to Mollie...so don't take them!)

There you have it. Favorite scissors, old and new. Now, tell me that you understand. You do, right?

stitching paper airplanes...

I'm way overdue in creating a promised coffee cuff for a friend. So today I finally got started. This sweet little paper airplane has been something I've been doodling for a while, and it seemed just perfect for his coffee cuff. And I'm thinking it would be perfect for one for me too.

If you'd like the pattern so you can make one, make sure you're on the Mailing A-List! (See sidebar to sign up.) Then watch your inbox, because this exclusive embroidery pattern will be emailed out tomorrow morning! (if you missed the email, you can still join the list, then head to the files section of the Google Group!)

rainy days and mondays...

OK, so I admit to shamelessly stealing the song title of this post from my my sister. She already made the reference in her own bench monday picture.

But the day did get me down. At least a little. It's cold and rainy. (Yesterday was so nice!) The ball game I had tickets to got rained out. (After my brother and I sat at the ball park for over an hour.) And now I'm feeling a little flu-ish. (And here I thought I would be the one in the family to stay healthy!)

The day hasn't been all bad though. My brother and I still had some good time together, and he entered his first bench monday picture (it's becoming a family thing...each helping each other with shots when needed). And soon I will prepare for some snuggling in on the couch to watch a movie and sip some tea.

easter morning...

He is risen!

easter treats...

Oh my. Poor Peep. My family was a little disturbed when they saw me make these. I was a little disturbed at how much delight I found in sugar-coated marshmallow bunnies with lollipop sticks up their...ahem. But when I saw them on Bakerella's site, I knew that I would have to make some. Moving on...



Traditionally we have a lamb cake at Easter, so the plan was that I would make that, plus some cupcakes. So yesterday when I read on Inchmark about this recipe, I went crazy and knew that although from scratch would take longer, it really sounded worth it.



I was right, they are AMAZING! If you like coconut at all, make them. Here's my advice. Don't fill the cups as full as I did in the picture above (mine fused together). Also, the recipe says it makes 18-20. Even filling mine as full as I did, it made 24, plus a few minis (because I ran out of full size pans, and didn't feel like baking two rounds). And yet, there was still WAY more frosting than I needed. Enough that I'm going to make a coconut cake just to be able to enjoy the frosting. Mind you, the cake is fabulous too.



Back to the lamb cake. For some reason, this cake always feels daunting to me. I'm not really sure why, but it is. So I talked to my mom and convinced her that we could just have cupcakes. The coconut ones, plus some others that I would make all cute. Mini is cute, right? Well, one chocolate cake mix produced 72 mini cupcakes. That's a lot to start with. But then I went for actually making them cute.





Decorating took a while. Probably longer than that blasted lamb would've. But I do think they were worth it. I tried out the bunnies and chicks 3 ways, and went with the version on the right for each. Aren't they sweet? The chick are my favorites, and my sister likes the ones where the frosting swirls a bit at the top of their heads and makes it look like a little tuft of feathers.



Wishing you and yours a sweet and blessed Easter!

raindrops...

...keep falling on my head. Well, actually, not. The sun is even shining! But I've had these rain illustrations on my mind. So now this Unhappy Umbrella, that I have grown to adore, is an embroidery pattern. I haven't decided how I'll use this embroidery, but I keep thinking of it as a rather large patch. So perhaps I'll attach it to a bag, or if I'm feeling bold, to a t-shirt.



And then, here are the stamps that I carved yesterday. The books that inspired this are Lotta Prints and Printing by Hand. I'm itching to try some screenprinting, but that is a bit more involved. So stamping will have to do for now.

These stamps are set to make some prints, and then, fingers crossed, fabric. Not sure how that will go. And I'm also not sure what kind of ink or paint I'll have the best luck with. And do I just experiment, or jump right to some kind of expensive ink made just for this type of printing? So many questions. So much fun waiting to be had.

principles...

...of uncertainty.

Yesterday I read this book. (I learned of it from this picture.) The entire thing. A good chunk of the time, I read out loud to my sister. It was wonderful.

It made me want to create my own book like this. A journal of things that I see. And the thoughts that go with them. So what did I do today? I took a walk, picked up my sister from work, and we took our Thursday walk to get coffee or lunch or something. We saw many interesting people and things, as usual. But did I pull out a notebook to remember the things that I saw? no. Grrr. But I will next time. really.

(I did, however, start carving some new stamps tonight, after getting another book on printmaking from the library. Pictures tomorrow.)

write them on your doorframes...

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (emphasis mine)

I took this quite literally recently, and painted the first part of this on the doorframe of my office. You'll notice that there is no trim there, which is very common in my house. There's something about that last little bit of finishing. The exposed frame seemed a perfect place to add a reminder of this oh so important command for me to see everyday. It also is viewable from my bed, so when I lie down and when I get up I can see these words. (And when trim goes up, it will still be there...so at least I'll know)

The entire script on my doorway is the Jewish shema, with the addition of Jesus' command: "The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. And love your neighbor as yourself."

getting started...

I have all these things started.



Or almost started.



Or nearly started.



Or at least mentally started.

Let's see...it's Tuesday night. How far will I get by the weekend?

monday photos...

Have you heard of Bench Monday? It's new and it's lovely. Well, this picture would be lovelier if there wasn't snow on the bench. Come on, April! Get it together!



Technically, this wasn't taken today, or even on any Monday. But I wanted to give you a sneak peek at what I'm working on for a new pattern. And...

To show off a picture that uses one of the new Cinnamon Rose actions that my sister and I just got. This one is the "After" action, and is my favorite. I have much photo playing to do...

Last thing before I run. I've never really done challenges for photos or craft inspiration, but since I'm on a roll with Bench Monday, why not, right? Check out The Spark. I'm getting ideas for the first challenge that involve canvas, paint and embroidery. This could be fun...

to be embellished...

(you'll have to forgive the photo...it was getting dark, but I just had to share this today)

Back in December, in the class that I took from Elsie, one of the projects was an embellished bag. Like the felt charm cuffs that I recently made, I never got to it. In this case, it has been for lack of a good bag to work on. I found a corduroy one which I like, but it hasn't inspired me yet. But then at Goodwill, I found this leather backpack.

The color is nice, and the weight isn't too heavy...just right. Oh, and it was $2.

There is no lining, just the backside of the leather, but this is a plus, I think. I'm going to line it with a cute print. Maybe a tiny floral? or stripes? But before that is all in place, I'm going to add some embroidery to the outside. I think it will be so sweet! Now...what to add...