Christmas crafts and Swap-bot item.

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a fabulous crafty time.  As I've mention before, I decided to make some of my Christmas presents this year so I figured I'd show you a bit of what I've been up to.

As I mention, I was doing some cat toys and I'm gonna show you a picture of one. I've made about 9 so far in various colors.  Without further ado, cat toys!

And this is the catnip pillow thats inside all of them...

I made individual hand sewn pillows filled with catnip.  They are a bit tedious since I don't have a sewing machine to whip them right out.  The pattern again for the crochet cat toys is here.

I've also found a pattern for dog toy.  Well its a wiener dog amigurumi that I turned into a dog toy. You can find the pattern here   I put bells in the head to make noise when they dog shakes it and I added a squeaker in the butt area because dogs love squeakers!  My first attempt of the wiener dog looks a little like balloon with elephant head.  I'm not sure why the pattern made the nose sooo long and pointy.  I'm currently in the process of making another one so I might try tweaking the nose a bit.  Anyways, here's what it looks like...

Haha, it looks like an elephant from the bottom view. Oh well, I'm sure the dogs won't notice.  Making amigurumis are pretty fun actually.  Once I get done with all the Christmas gifts, I'm going to attempt to make this cutest little owl or this tiny Yoda or maybe even a s'more!  I found most of these patterns on http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com.  

I finally received my Pin-Up Swap item.  Well, I take that back, my partner sorta flaked and forgot about it.  The swap host (who absolutely rocks) "angel" my swap. Basically, she made me a pin-up because I didn't receive one.  In all honesty, I'm kinda glad she flaked because I got the most awesomest pin-up ever.  Keni aka Snifferooski (her awesome blog here)  made me the cutest and sweetest pin-up ever.  I just look at her in utter amazement. I stalk her blog on a regular basis and her embroidery is so clean, neat, and just amazing.  She inspires me to do awesome things. I wish I had better pictures so you can see how amazing this is but alas, my camera = fail. 

Its just... its just so well made. I love everything about it.  Her cute little heart shape mouth, the colors, her hair, the tiny little eyelashes, her shoes, just everything is so perfect. You guys, I know I'm gushing but eeek its so awesome! One day, I will be this awesome at making pin-ups.  I think next time I attempt to make a pin-up, I'm gonna try to use fewer strands.  I normally use all six strands except on the face which I then use anywhere from one to three strands.  We'll see how that goes!

Well that's all I  have for now. Happy crafting!

Swap-bot Updates!

Hello All,

I just wanted to give you a bit of an update on things I'm working on.  I did receive two swap-bot items! Yay! I loveee getting mail so Swap-bot really became my new addiction.  The first item I receive was part of the Gina Matarazzo Hand Embroidery Swap.  She happen to use the same pattern I bought as well. Great minds think alike! I was kind of hoping for something different but this is good too. Sassyseamstress made my item and she stitched up a handmade tote... and "totes" love it! What? Do I hear a collective groan? It was funny!

Here is a picture of my new tote!

Cute! Here are some close-up of the stitches...

 I really like the two different color strands she used for the letters.

I really wasn't expecting a hand-made tote.  I bought one and stitched one up.  I really wish I had a sewing machine so I can make hand-made totes like this one.

The other item I received was from I'm New to Making ATC Swap. Brooklyne Did such a fabulous job making my own personalized ATC. Of course she drew a doxie which she knows would be the way to my heart.  Its pretty awesome!

The bottom card was her note to me. And here is a closeup of my Pookie.

So cute right?  She used some of my favorite colors as well.  Win! I'm currently working a birthday gift for Travis's Grandma and to give you a hint, its very similar to my Gina Matazarro swap item.

Now I leave you with a picture of my dear little pookie...

Happy crafting!

Yet another Swap-bot post among other things.

Hello all, I hope everyone is doing crafty things and enjoying their week.  So I decided to do another Swapbot update. I know, its consuming my life!  Crafty and otherwise.  I'm currently signed up for 3 swaps, and I just finished all my embroidery swaps for the year.  I decided to make all my Christmas gifts this year so I need all my free time for that.  So far, I'm working on a bagillion cat toys. I found this crochet pattern on www.craftzine.com.  Its a pretty cool website for all crafty things.  Anyways, I've made about 8 cat toys filled with little catnip pillows in each mouse.  I've tested one of my toys with my friend's cat and she absolutely loved it! Success!  She was rubbing her face all over it and carrying all over the place.  She even liked playing with crochet chain that's attached to it.  So I think all the cats getting this toy will like it.  I never realized how many friends and family members I know have cats! yikes and some have two!  I think I still need to whip up like 3 or 4 more.  I now need a pattern for dog toys.  I guess I'll need to buy some squeakers since dogs don't like catnip (I tested it when my own little Pookmister, he was not a fan of it). If I had time and patience, I would make dog sweaters but I that means I would need to make around 3 or 4 of them.  Noooo thanks. I'll have to think of something.

Anywho,  back to Swap-bot!  Let see,  as I mention I was doing a Pin-Up Swap, Gina Matazarro Swap, and Bluework Embroidery Swap.  I have finished all of them.  I've only received so far my Bluework Swap item so I have a picture of it.  Its quite beautiful actually.

Sorry about picture quality, my camera is still sucking. hard. I wish I could afford a new one but unfortunately, its not in the budget.  but she's a very lovely lady, doing some needlework.  She was wonderfully stitched and  I believe she used one strand for the whole thing so wow!  I know, what you are thinking, what did you make Perla?  Well, I stitched up this cute little bird, but I forgot to take a picture of it before I sent it to it's new home.  Rats!  I swear, I lose my head if it wasn't attached to my body.  Oh well, it was cute. But I do have pictures of the other items I made for my swaps! Woo hoo!

I made this tote bag for the Gina Matazarro Swap.

I absolutely loved how it came out, I almost didn't want to send it! It seems so happy and cheery! This pattern is just adorable.  My swap mate, really liked it so that's good!

Now for my Pin-Up Swap, I'm not really 100% pleased with how it turned out.  I guess I just don't have the knack for Pin-Ups.  Faces and people in general are not my strong points in embroidery.  I think I'll stick with animals and objects from now on, but it was a fun experience!  Anyways, without further ado, my "pin-up" girl.

Eeeks!  She looks like an albino black girl with dreads. Yikes. Honestly, the only thing I like about this is her shoes.  I'm sorry swap mate!  There was really no fixing her at that point, so I just had to send her.  I was down to the deadline and I didn't want to swap late so off I sent her.  Not my proudest item I've made but at least its done.  I guess that's what I get when making my own pattern.  I didn't want to use the ones used before in previous Pin-Up Swap so I looked online and printed a picture of a pin-up, traced her, and then stitched her up.  Obviously, my drawing/tracing skills are left to be desired so that's why she's a little funky.  Don't even get me started with her hair, I have no idea why it looks like that.  Anyways, my swap-mate was nice and commented on how nice her shoes were, lol.  oh well.

So now to talk about my current swaps.  Ok so I'm involved in a Coupon Swap.  Nothing very exciting about that except, I get coupons! whoo hooo. Next I'm doing I'm new to Making ATC Swap.  As we all know, I am new to making ATC's so this should be fun.  I have two partners and I have to make ATC based off their profiles.  They both like Vampires, Werewolves, and other fantasy creatures so I might make something along those lines.  OHHH Speaking of ATC's, I did finally get my Owl ATC Swap!  Its really cute!  Here's a picture of it...

I really like the button and of course, the adorable owl!  Its pretty artsy with sparkly paint/spray and glue glitter! It came all the way from Ukraine so that's why it took so long.

My last swap that I'm doing is Halloween Coloring Page which is where we color any Halloween theme coloring page.  So I went on the hunt online looking for a coloring page and I stumbled against this wonder! I absolutely love this guy's drawings.  So amazing and cute!  I finished coloring my picture today.  I'm so excited about it, I decide to show it before sending it to my partner.  I doubt she would stalk me anyways over a coloring page.

Totally awesome right?! Man, the picture is just so freaking cute!.  I took some more slightly close up pictures.

I printed the coloring page on some card stock (I usually use it for card making) and used fine-tip sharpies to color the picture in.  The fine-tip really came in handy for the tiny little bricks and roofing tiles. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I have to say this is pretty awesomely colored.  I hope my swap mate enjoys it.  I'm also gonna send her a copy of coloring page so she can do it as well.  If you all have time, you should definitely check out the printable coloring books on http://www.bluebison.net/ as well as their children stories.  I promise your face will melt off with cuteness it exudes.

Well, that's all for now!  I guess I should blog more often and do smaller posts, huh?  I will get better at this!  Enjoy your crafty week!

Swap-bot

So I signed up for the "Swap" on Swap-bot which is Blogger Followers Swap and I've been getting a bit of traffic. Hi  Fellow swappers!!  As one of my fellow swappers mention, I didn't have my widget for following my blog out so its up now.  It should make it easier.  I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend and I will update with my newest swaps later on.

Swap-bot Updates!

So as I mention before, I am utterly addicted to Swap-bot.  I recently received my swap items!  So as you know, I was recently in Sublime Stitching HAND Embroidery Swap and Embroidery in Yellow.  What I received for Sublime Stitching Swap is this...

Super cute butterflies!  The fabric is pretty cool too!  I would of never thought to use a pattern fabric like this but it looks pretty darn cool.  

For my Yellow Embroidery Swap I received this:

Superrrrrrr cute seahorse!  Omg, I love it! I'm not sure what I'll do with it, but I really do like it. I might frame it or maybe I'll do a collage of swap items onto a huge board or something. 

As I also mention, I signed up for Owl ATC Swap #2 .  This swap was a lot trickier than I expected.  Man, I did not know what to do and I was gluing owls left and right.  Finally I said, F it! I'll embroidery something and glue it to a small card.  So I did and this is the end result.

 I took this owl stamp and stamped the image to some cloth.  Then I embroidered the owl.  I swear, they are the tiniest stitches I've ever done.  I even had to use a regular needle and three strands for the eyes and tummy.  I thought the owl looked like it was shrugging so I added the "whooo knows" phrase.  Then I free-hand a tree and some leaves to finish it. I really like the outcome. 

So that's the stamp, and what it looks like when its stamped on paper.  Super cute right?  I thought it turned out pretty well.  

This is the back part of it.  Pretty simple, I stamped a tree image and dated it with my name.  My swap recipient shaylafish really liked it!  She commented on my blog, gave me a 5 with a heart and then blogged about it here.  I was blushing the entire time I read her comments.  Soooo sweet!  It totally made the trouble I went through worth it! I'm really glad she liked it.  I'm still waiting on my ATC, its coming from Australia so I know I'll be waiting a while.  I also recently found out the person you are sending to isn't necessarily the one you will be receiving from.  Its all pretty random.  I'm a little bummed cause I sorta tend to stalk my recipients and then I get the wrong idea on what I'll be receiving. It guess its suppose to be a surprise!  I still liked the items that I received so its all good.  

I'm still working on my pinup swap but I did finish the Gina Matarazzo swap. Hopefully, I'll have the pin-up done by swap deadline.  I already signed up for a new swap called  Bluework Embroidery R#2.  I love the color blue so this should be fun.  I'll start it in October when I finish my Pin-up.  

That's all I have for now.  Happy crafting! 

Swap-bot... my new addiction

Swap-bot has really become my new addiction.  I cruise the website at least 10x a day.  No joke.  I try to refrain myself from signing up for too many swaps but they all sound so fun!  So far I've joined Pin Up HAND embroidery  and as I mention previously the Gina Matarazzo Swap.  I've been thinking about trying ATCs or Artist Trading Cards.  Now they really look intimidating if you do a quick Image search.  I mean, I know they are suppose to be miniature works of art but damn they are amazing.  I just can't compete with that!  In my defense, they are mostly drawn, painted, sketched, etc and we all know that I can't draw my way out of a paper bag.  The best I can do is put together something using my card making and scrapbooking materials.

This is my first attempt at making one:



I think its cute.  I mean, its no work of art but its adorable.  I really wanted to join this swap, Owl ATC Swap #2 . I am consider a newbie (as I should be) but I hope someone is ok if they receive that! I used my adorable Owl punch, stamped the flowers and glued it all together.  I have to say the hardest part (and I don't know why) was making the girl's eyes.  I actually used real fake eyelashes that I trimmed to fit her eyes.

Anyways, gonna sign up and work on another one and see which one is better.  In other news, I realize the person that I'm gonna ship my embroidery swaps to is the same person!  Sweet, save on postage!  :)

What are all of you crafting at the moment?

Blog Update!!

EDIT: Ugh, I accidently deleted part of my post when i was trying to fix a picture.  Well, I think I remember most of what I put so lets try this again! 

I've recently been part of a lot of swaps on Swap-Bot.  I finished two of my swaps.  The first swap, I mention in my previous post.  It was a Sublime Stitching HAND Embroidery Swap.  My partner is Rainsembellishments and here are her  lovely blog and etsy store.   I made some sugar skulls for her since she mention in her profile that she liked them.  

Pretty eh?  I love that blue fabric!  I'll need to go buy some more from Hobby Lobby.  The next series of pictures are just going to be closeups of each skull and flowers. 

I am also part of swap that is called Embroidery in Yellow.  Now, usually I don't really care for the color yellow but I did have a lot of fun making this piece.  My partner is LisasTeaTime and her blog is here! I used the bluebird from Sublime Stitching books and then I free-styled a french knot sun.  She really liked it! 

Sorry the second photo is so blurry, my camera is on the fritz! booooo.  

I've also buy a few items from Stampin Up! They have products to make cards and scrapbooking.  Their stuff is fabulous but I usually don't have the money to spend like I would like to.  I would probably buy half the catalog if I could.  Here's a picture of my loot!

 I bought an Owl punch, 5 markers, a bird stamp set, two clear blocks and two-way glue pen.  My awesome owl punch makes the cutest freaking owls you've ever seen. Below are a few examples of the owls I can do.  

Sooooo cute right?  I also got a stamp set of little birds and bird cages.  Its that box that looks like a DVD.  here is a close-ups of the stamps.  

I also made something for my friend Maggie for her birthday but I forgot to take a picture.  Basically it was a rainbow with some clouds and her name spelled out.  She really liked it!  What I'm currently working on (when I'm not punching out and gluing together cute little owls that is! ) is another swap.  I just started on it and so far so good.  The swap is Gina Matarazzo HAND Embroidery which is creating a finished item using Gina Matarazzo's patterns that are either free or small fee.  Gina's website is also http://ginamatarazzo.com/ or http://spotcolors.wordpress.com/ .  She's seems pretty amazing!  My swap partner is jennlmsomerset.  She didn't have any website listed or else I'd add them.  

Well that is all for now.  Adieu!