Well, guess what?!

The poll has convinced me to start offering bendy dolls with faces as well as faceless dolls. I've been crazy busy working on a super giant order but I manage to eek out a few new dolls to add to the shop ( http://www.Dannielle.Etsy.com ), including some cuties with faces. More (both sorts) will be trickling in over the next couple of weeks but the trickle will be slow until I finish this order.

I've been working on my photography a bit too. I've been doing that boring stuff like reading the manual that came with my camera and trying to get a little more creative with my pictures. Photography is not my strong suit and I'm totally willing to admit it. But I also know that shopping online is just not the same as shopping when you get to handle the items. So I'm working on it. Do you notice any difference? Improvement?



Do you make this big of a mess when crafting? I am still dreaming of a crafting studio. I think I've mentioned that we have one in the works for me. It's part of our basement finishing project. Which is the most slowly progressing home improvement project ever! So until the time comes that I have a dedicated space in which to work, I make messes like this. All over the ottoman in the living room.

Hey, see that thread rack with all the little bundles of thread? That is the best idea ever! I don't remember on which brilliant crafter's blog I gleaned that lovely idea, but it's truly inspired!

I almost always stitch with 2 strands of embroidery floss. For the longest time those remaining 4 strands got cast aside until they banded together and formed this massive thread tangle. It was such a mangled mess that it wasn't useable. But it was also such a big ball that it was obviously a huge waste to just toss it in the trash. And then I saw the idea to use a thread rack.

So any leftover threads get quickly wrapped around two fingers and placed on the rack. When I'm stitching I look there first for the color I need. So if you are dealing with a tangled thread ball, I highly reccommend using a thread rack to store leftovers.

Shop Talk as well as misc chatter

We have Valentine's Day on the brain over at Collage. We'd love for you to check out our newest offerings and see if you don't just fall in love! (New items are available for preview until they're released for sale at noon eastern today!)



Speaking of love, we just celebrated the 7th birthday of my son, Mason, last Thursday. He's such a sweet, little guy! Can you believe that his requested birthday presents were a super soft blanket, a gameboy game, and candy. Those things together are his idea of a good time.

Oh...also! Book love! I have been coveting this book for the longest time. I finally got my hands on it and I adore it! I'm totally jonesin' for some spare time so I can play!!

I also read this book recently and it, too, was wonderful. I just love Louisa May Alcott's stories. I don't know how this one managed to evade me until now!



And another little something I'm completely in love with is the quilt I received in the Four Seasons' Quilt Swap. Look how absolutely at home it looks on my wall! Thank you, so much, Courtney!! (you can click on the picture for a larger version)

I'll try to not be so scare this week! :-)

Overwhelmed

Do you ever feel just totally overwhelmed? I do. And I am right now.

We've had a horrible sickness invade our household. A yucky sort of sickness with fevers that make you want to sleep 18 hours a day and chest congestion that leaves you feeling weak due to lack of oxygen and all that effort spent on coughing. It's finally on its way out the door now. But if you've been wondering where I've been, I've been in bed, sleeping and coughing.



During the holiday season I take a break from many of my responsibilities as I just get too busy with business crafting. My husband helps out more around the house and we take a break from homeschooling. This frees up time so I can do crafties as a full time job.



Right now my to do list is long and I'm wishing I could just have two more weeks of full time crafting so I could knock out the list. But school has resumed and my husband has returned the apron and laundry basket to me. Health is returning (yahoo!). And I have managed to cross a few things off the to do list, as evidenced by the pictures in this post. Progress is being made. It really does help to see it in pictures.

Shop Talk

New stock is available atCollage today. New items become available at noon (eastern time) but many are up for preview now.

All of my *Princess Nimble-Thimble* items can be seen *here*.

Yes, I did it. I made some needlebooks. I've been asked repeatedly to make some needlebooks for sale. I've been hesitant though. To be honest, they take so long to make that I've been concerned they'd end up being priced too high. Keeping my pricing reasonable is always a concern of mine. But then so is attention to detail. Finding balance between the two can be a challenge to say the least!

Since I've been asked about them so much recently I decided to make a couple and see how it goes. Perhaps there will be more in the future. I hope so. I just love making them!

Now that I've slept enough to feel normal again, I'll explain a bit about what the whole Collage thing is all about.



I'll start off by saying I'll still have my etsy shop. The two shops serve different purposes and so I think there's a place for both.

To put it simply, the purpose of my etsy shop is to bring is a little extra to supplement my husband's income. While I enjoy creating things for that shop, I do aim for making things I that I think will sell. There are things I don't make because I fear they'd end up being priced beyond what someone would be willing to pay due to the time it would take to make that item. There are things I don't make because I think they'd only appeal to a select audience. And I don't think I have put the effort into finding that audience.



Collage is an interesting opportunity for me. By joining with other creative souls I'll be increasing the exposure of my offerings greatly. We all plan to offer *special* things at Collage. And I plan to offer things that I might normal not make with the intent to sell.



I'm going to allow myself to get as creative as I want. Oftentimes I hold back on some of the detail I'd like to put into something because I want to keep it's price down. I'm not going to worry about that sort of thing here.

Rather I'm going to create what I feel inspired to create. I'm going to work on things until I feel they're perfectly finished. And I'm going to create them as I see them in my mind's eye, without concern over whether something may seem odd or weird to some. Hopefully I'll find an audience that appreciates my art odd, weird stuff.



This angel, the "Angel of Virtue", is my first offering at Collage. When my husband first saw her he sighed and rolled his eyes a teensy bit. He does not appreciate the aged/stained look. He could not understand why I ruined what could have been a pretty doll with stains. He thinks I am insane to spend hours embroidering her dress only to scorch it in the oven. I know that many reading this are agreeing with him. That's ok.



I can't explain why she needs to be this way, but to me this is how she had to be. To me, she is perfect this way. I see personality is her that would not be there had she been all bright and pristine. The stains give her a sense of wisdom and a gentleness that would not be there otherwise.

I know this doesn't make sense to a lot of people. The upside is that I'm ok with knowing there's a chance that she may never sell. She's perfectly welcome to live here forever because I love her. To me, she's perfect.

And I'll pretend it doesn't bother me in the least if everyone doesn't see what I see. In truth, I do feel a little vunerable about this. But I know that it's my own insecurity showing and I'm trying hard to not let it factor in.

On another note, I've completely recovered from my night of no sleep and my house has recovered from my crazy weekend of crafting. So now I'm back to it. I am working on bendy dolls at the moment. Some for an order, some for the shop. So look for them soon, probably tomorrow.



And then I'm actually thinking of making some needlebooks to sell. I've been planning to create a tutorial but I've been asked about them so much lately that I think I may just make a few to sell as well. My arm has been sufficiently twisted. :-)

Just another Tuesday

"Another Tuesday" as in I'm finally getting to the stuff I'd planned to start on yesterday! But somebody had to do some housework around here. Turns out my middle name is Somebody.

Gearing up for a change of pace around here...new projects ready to go!

Thought I'd share a few things I'm loving these days:

1. This sweet gingerbread house to decorate online. (Thanks, Jenny!!)

2. This amazingly beautiful dress makes my heart all fluttery! And, yes, I need the pantaloons too! I wish she had the pattern available NOW. But it's definitely good motivation for the diet as I'm not so sure it would be quite as adorable on my body as it is on her body.


3. New, blue glasses that are fun and were very, very affordable. Please pardon the bizarre expression on my face. Self portraiture is not one of my talents.

Nativity finished. Baking not finished.

Yesterday's baking day was going along fine and dandy until I ran out of eggs. Uh-oh. Someone dropped the ball on that. Yes, me.

Oh well, we got 5 loaves of bread, 2 pans of pumpkin bread, and the cranberry and banana bread I had already mentioned. Check the recipe category in my sidebar for those recipes. I followed the pumpkin bread recipe for the cranberry bread. I just substituted a can of whole berry cranberry sauce for the pumpkin.



We'll be doing some baking tonight too. Only this time it's going to be cheesecake and pumpkin pies. Mason is thrilled. Those are his two favorites. And they're soft e that his hanging-on-by-a-thread tooth won't even interfere with his enjoyment.

And I have plans to concoct a diet-friendly dessert for myself. I have some fat-free cream cheese, a package of sugar-free cheesecake-flavored pudding, and pumpkin. Hopefully it works. Because cheesecake and pumpkin pie are my favorites too.



The nativity set is finished and will be off in the mail today. If you're interested, there are more detailed pictures here.

Up next on the crafting agenda: mini bendy Hitty dolls and Christmas ensembles for the Annie twins.

A day of baking and stitching

Today is going to be a *big* baking day. I did this two weeks ago (spent about 5 hours baking) and it worked really well. Everything lasted just about 2 weeks. And it was so handy to just keep pulling stuff out of the freezer. So I'm doing it again.



I just pulled 2 loaves of banana bread and 2 loaves of cranberry bread from the oven. I've got about 5-6 loaves of whole grain bread rising. And I plan to make pumpkin bread, granola, and possibly cookies but the time the day's through.



Today's stitching project is to finish the nativity set...or come as close to it as humanly possible. The angel is finished. And all the other bodies are ready to be dressed and finished. So it could happen.





The animals, however, are finshed. The camel and donkey are both 4" tall. The cow is 3.25" tall. And the sheep is 2.5" tall. I'm in the midst of embroidering a blanket for the camel's back.

Hopefully I'll be back to post tonight about successes in both baking and stitching.

Dragons!

Dragons have arrived in my shop. They're made of wool felt, some of which I've dyed myself, and stuffed with wool. They're 6" tall.



I haven't made dragons in a while. Unfortunately they just take too long to make and making them isn't as profitable as it should be. They are one of my more requested items at holiday time though so I made a few assembly-line style to shave off a little construction time.

I have to admit, this dragon is one design that came out exactly as I intended. And I love that!



When I was first asked to create a dragon I was a little torn. I have issues with fierce/mean/fighting toys and I wasn't so sure I wanted to create a fire-breathing killer. But then I thought of all the sweet, not-so-fierce dragons in storybooks and decided that I would make a dragon if I could manage one that looked kind and playful...like a puppy ready to pounce. And, somehow, I think I actually managed to do just that. At least that's what I see when I look at them.



Over the next few days I'll be finishing a nativity set I'm making with large-sized bendy dolls and felt animals. And then I plan to spend a little time on restocking my shop with new earrings and perhaps a few necklaces. I'm just waiting for my bead order to arrive! It's shipped so I know it will be here soon. And then it will be time to work on some surprises for the new business secret I'll soon be revealing.

Busy, busy!! And I totally *love* it!

Weekend plans and secrets revealed

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend so far! We're having gorgeous autumn weather with temperatures in the low 60s. It's that kind of weather that makes you want to open the windows and scrub the house shiny.

There won't be too much scrubbing going on here this weekend. The bare minimum, actually. Instead there will be lots and lots of stitching. I've got some orders to work on (I just sent off the order pictured) and a few more things to finish up for my etsy shop.

Also, weekends have become baking time around here. Last Sunday I baked myself silly: 3 loaves of whole grain bread, 3 loaves of pumpkin bread, 5 dozen muffins, 3 dozen mini muffins, and a pan of weird brownies that ended up crumbled in some banana muffins. The freezer is still well stocked except for bread. I'll need to make more tomorrow.

Speaking of bread, I finally found (thanks to a net-friend's recommendation) the *perfect* whole grain bread recipe. It's the best ever, I think. Soft and spongy. Totally worth the little bit of extra work.

On another note, I'd like to chat a bit about my patterns. I'm often asked about my patterns for things you may see throughout my blog that I don't have listed over there in my free patterns and tutorials. Please know if the rambling I'm about to do doesn't answer a question you may have, just ask. I'm not bringing it up because I don't want to be asked. Rather I'm bringing it up because I'm asked so much that I can only assume there are many people who are wondering but haven't asked.

So here's the deal- Some patterns are pretty easy for my to create and explain. I love sharing and these patterns are the perfect thing for me to share.

But I haven't shared them all. And the biggest reason for that is that I have this (silly?) dream of one day writing a crafty book. Or at the very least making some patterns available for sale. Also, many of my patterns are in a very rough state. Some are literally cut up sketches and nothing more. There's a lot of work that would need to go into some before they were presentable.

The book thing is the big dream though. Unfortunately I haven't the slightest clue how to go about pursuing this dream.

I'd also have to figure out how to present them more professionally first. Handwritten, hand-drawn scans are fine for here (though I'd like nicer here too), but not good enough for *the big dream*.

So, anyway, that's why I have a stash of patterns that I haven't shared. I want to be prepared just in case my secret big dream should ever have the chance to become a reality.

Oh my stars!

I just finished this star garland. It's 6ft. long and each star is a little over 4 inches. This one is for a trade but I'll definitely be making another one of these for my home!

I'm working on finishing up some Annies (one for a trade, one for me!) this weekend. They're turning out really neat. I can't wait to finish them and show them to you!

Hitty and Yo-yos

I know. I know. You think I fell off the face of the earth again, right?

I haven't. Still here. I just had to get some new batteries for my camera. Posts about sewing and craft projects are wholly unsatisfying without pictures. So I just waited until I had batteries.

First up: Hitty (finished!) and her yo-yo quilt.



This is the practice dress. I wanted to sew her clothing by hand and I wasn't feeling fully confident about sewing on this scale (Hitty is 6.5" tall). Now I'm feeling brave enough to cut into the fabric she came with.



Her clothing is all removable so I'm sure she'll end up with a sizable wardrobe before it's all said and done.

Here's the back view. I need to scoot the button over on her belt so there isn't a gap. Oops! It appears her slip is showing!



I'm still learning how to make needle-lace to trim her outfit. So there will be an update at some point.

Oh, and the kit for her ladderback chair has arrived. Can't wait!



My yo-yo obsession continues. These aren't up in my Etsy shop just yet (Etsy is being persnickety at the moment) but will be soon!

New Projects

Some new projects have been started in the past few days. The first is a quilt. It's another group project of the local mamas who frequent the message boards at Amitymama. A woman named Patsy who we knew through the boards passed away recently. People sent in fabric squares and others volunteered to make quilts...8 total...one for each of her 7 children and one for her husband. We volunteered to make one of them.


I'm also beginning work on my birthday present, Gail Wilson's Hitty. I'm a bit paranoid starting work on her. I want her to be perfect.

I'd been coveting Hitty for a while now. You know I have a soft spot for dolls who are alive. ;-) I had to get her book to add to my little collection of books about dolls who are alive. An old copy from ebay. A new copy just didn't seem right.


And, finally, I have succumbed to the allure of the Clover Yo-yo Maker. What did me in was the fact that they make one in the size "extra small"!! Oh my gosh, it's the cutest thing ever. The finished yo-yos are just over 1/2" wide. They are totally doll sized. Irresistibly tiny!

Finished!

Christiana's christening gown is all finished. The bonnet was an afterthought but it really seems to finish it off nicely, don'tcha think?

I ended up hemming it all by hand because a line of machine stitching just seemed wrong. And I don't know how to do a blind hem on the machine.

Oh! And there was a buttonhole emergency. I couldn't find the buttonhole foot to my machine that has one-step buttonhole capabilities. My other machine does horrid 4-step buttonholes that always look awful.


So I pulled out my handy-dandy embroidery book and followed the directions for making buttonholes by hand. And I thanked God that I'm the type who learns best from books. The buttonholes had to be done today. And you know what? In my opinion, it looked perfect. Not that my buttonhole making is flawless, but rather that the handmade buttonholes really suited the old-fashionedness of the dress.

All the leftover linen gets to stay here, too! I've been eyeing the instructions for cutwork in the embroidery book!

One big project finished...just one more to go (the Wild Things quilt!).

Checking in!

I've been crafting!!

Jewelry:



Embroidery for a friend's daughter's christening gown:



Working on sewing the gown itself is on today's agenda. And my friend is coming over tomorrow so we can finish up. The christening is this weekend!

And progress on the "Wild Things" quilt:



Don't mind the dampness on the monster's face. I had just "erased" the water soluble ink. All of the applique pieces that have been made so far are stitched down. The embroidery is almost finished. This monster needs some claws oh his feet and he'll be done. The other monster needs all of his embroidery. Then I just need to add all the greenery and stitch it down. Then piece the border. Then my favorite part...the quilting!



And just for fun I'll share what happens when a person stacks all of the beads they were playing with on top of the cart used to store the beads. And then moves the cart. As the wheel falls out. Tragedy. This happened more than a week ago and I still need to resort everything. I just scooped it up into one container and there it all still sits.

We're also experiencing pool tragedy here. Saturday I awoke to find the water had turned green. So I added a shock treatment. The green instantly disappeared but was immediately replaced with milky, cloudy water. I tried adding clarifier yesterday but messed up by adding way too much. Apparently I'm quite bad at guessing how many gallons of water the pool holds!

So the water is cloudy and over-chlorinated. I have no idea if it's ok to use or not. Which is a bummer as the pool is where I've been doing my exercise. (I'm still working on losing weight...down 44lbs so far!). I suppose I'll give it a few days and see if the cloudy goes away on it's own. All of the other water levels show to be perfect when I test them so maybe I just need to be patient. And do icky exercise in the meantime. Bleck!

Oh! Netflix finally decided it was my turn to see Miss Potter. I loved it!! Watched it twice this weekend.

And then, this morning, I received an email from The Fat Quarter Shop with their sales and new additions. I could not resist the Beatrix Potter Victorian Nursery line. So a "jolly pack" and half a yard of the green pansies fabric are on their way to me. YAY! I have this book of embroidery transfers that will go nicely!

Well I've got a bit of housework calling my name. Then it's on to sewing the christening gown. I should have more pictures very soon!

Still here

Thank you for all the commiseration regarding summer stealing all the crafty time. Of course, now that I know I'm not the only one, it's starting to feel like it's ok. Only it's not ok. I miss my crafty time.

I've been in serious deep-clean and declutter mode the past few days. That can't be a bad thing, even if it does infringe on potential crafty time.



I did, however, eek in a little. I had to finish this apron that was languishing as a UFO (unfinished object) so I could be cute while cleaning.

In the backround, off to the left, you can see some of the banana bread I made today. Somehow the 24 muffins have disappeared (I didn't even have one, I swear!) since this afternoon. But I also made 2 13x9 pans so there's plenty left.

Banana Bread

1 3/4 cups flour (2 cups if I use 3 bananas)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda (I use 1 1/2 tsp if I use 3 bananas)
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs (3 if I use 3 bananas)
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cups + 1 tsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Mush bananas. Add wet ingredients. Mix. Then add dry ingredients (stir, shallowly, to disperse the baking soda within the dry ingredients) and mix together until just combined. Don't overmix. Bake at 325 degrees until it passes the toothpick test. Makes 18 muffins or one 13"x9" casserole pan (spray pan with oil spray before pouring batter in). Recipe does not double well so make one batch at a time.

Revisiting the A-line skirt tutorial

I took new pictures and redid the A-line skirt tutorial. (link in sidebar as well) All the blurry pictures have been replaced with clear and neatly captioned photos. Yay!

(Tiarnna, time for you to get busy making skirts!!)

And here's me (fresh from a mile and a half walk, so be kind) in my new skirt.

And this picture is the perfect segue for mentioning why my crafting has slowed down lately. You see, I've been dieting. I started six weeks ago and have lost 27 pounds so far. I just made a page at SparkPeople.com. If you use their site to track as well you can find my page here if you want to be SparkPeople-friends. :-)

As of the beginning of June, I've been exercising. I've been walking after dinner. Often with the kids. And often with a stop at the playground-which just happens to be exactly 3/4 of a mile from our house.

My old routine was snuggling up next to my hubby to do some crafting while he watched tv. Yes, I watched some tv, too. But I mostly listened. But this new routine of walking all over creation has put a serious crimp in my crafting schedule.

Quiltiness

I finished this little quilt (18" square) last night. I got a little carried away and embroidered some vines and flowers in all the peachy triangles. It's listed for sale in my Etsy shop.

Only four more to finish! (What was I thinking making five little quilt tops at once!?!)




I just love looking at the backs of quilts. As I'm quilting I stop to peek at the back every so often so I can watch it grow.



I also made this teeny tea cozy over the weekend. It has a little pot just like the one on top of the teacup underneath it.

Oh, I wanted to mention... I created a Flickr group for showing what you've sewn using any of those patterns or tutorials over <----there (in my sidebar). Please, someone, add a picture so I don't feel like a pathetic dufus that no one will play with.

Also, if you haven't put your name in the hat yet there is still time (4 more days!) to sign up for the Cottage Charm Giveaway. Eighty-seven names in the hat so far! Exciting!

I plan to redo the skirt tutorial very soon. I did that with my old camera and it's not very clear. I can do better. :-)

I spent a little too much time doing quilty things the past few days. Housework beckons...