these were for 2 different swaps.  they have both been received, so I am safe to post them.

for the first swap, I made some things based on the video games in the Kingdom Hearts series.  this is a Riku card from Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories that I made into a patch:


this is the sprite I used:

the second is Buttons from My Little Pony.  I put this one on the cover of a needle book.  I had originally planned on doing that, but then I ran across this needle book by cacauate and based mine on it:


this is the sprite I used:

I decided to add the sprites I used for these projects. 

you like?

another swap item.  my partner received, but the TMNT mug was shattered.    stupid post office.



done with, you probably guessed it, puffy paint.  I'm not as good at it as Onyxnox or skarinja, but I'm happy with them.

now that my partner has received, I can share this awesome bag I made for our swap.



it was originally an XL t-shirt (so that I had plenty of material to work with, and since I can't cut straight lines to save my life, I needed it).  it's made of 3 layers of material mainly because the t-shirt fabric is that amazingly annoying new material that is so light and stretchy that it would never even hold a soft cover book.  I've got a layer from the t-shirt, interfacing that's supposed to be iron-on but doesn't cling to anything, and purple cotton for the inside color (her favorite turtle is Donatello, so I had to use purple since that's the color of his mask).  I even used purple thread.  

I want to post a tut for this since I don't see one on here, but I don't have one ready yet.  as soon as I do, I will be sure to add it!

it is now 3:25 am as I start to type this.  I stayed up when I should have gone to bed and made a rough tutorial.

materials that I used:
1 t-shirt
1 yard of heavy purple cotton for the "lining" (had some left over)
1 yard of medium weight interfacing (had some left over)
2^1/2 yards thick cording
9 inches of bright green nylon webbing (this is the item whose name escapes me in the tut)
purple thread

bear with me, this is my first tutorial.









also, when I added the loop, I did like you see on school backpacks and stitched a square, then an X in the middle.  for durability I guess.

one last step...after putting stuff in it and closing it...ENJOY IT!  show it off to your friends.  be the envy of everyone you see. 

I hope that's clear enough.  if not, MESSAGE ME!  I'd be happy to try and help you figure out what you may be stuck on.  and remember, you can play around with the tut as needed.  like, if you have a shirt like the one I used in the tut where the picture would be totally lost in the final scrunching, you can add fabric to the top to make it longer.  or you can make the whole thing shorter and have a square pack.  or add to the side and have a wider one.  do what you need to do to make it work for you.  and remember...HAVE FUN!

and don't forget, if anyone makes one of their own, link it here so we can all see the awesomeness of what you created.

and it is now 3:46 am as I hit post.  I'm going to bed now.

upon looking at this thread, I had this loading issue:


like the picture's titled..."huh?"

I got this idea from SuzNTX.  I fell in love with it the minute I saw it.  here's my version:


the blue kind of reminds me of blue, blue waters somewhere that isn't here (we have muddy waters, sometimes green waters).  my partner LOVES the video game/manga Kingdom Hearts, so I had to incorporate that into a sewing accessory.  the blue could be like the beautiful waters of the characters' island home.  the paopu fruit (think of it as the baby strawberry on traditional pincushions.  yup, there's a little emery pouch in there) is an item found in the world of KH.  now she can have Kingdom Hearts at her fingertips while sewing.  

I'm really behind in posting these.  but here they are now.    I'm always making more, so I'll have to add them when I get them done.


first we have my Dark Crystal themed pincushion.  my partner loves Kira, and I imagined that if she were a seamstress, she might use a pincushion something like this.  I found a picture of either Kira or Jen sitting on the ground surrounded by little purple flowers.



the second and third were for a Twilight swap.  one is a sparkly red apple, the second is based on Isle Esme.  beautiful blue waters surround a kidney bean-shaped island.  a little feather made of polymer clay sits on the island while a coffee bean like boat sits on the shore.  yeah, my polyclay work is kind of lacking when it comes to tiny items.

I'll have more to post as I send my swaps.  if I get a person who sews a lot for a partner, they're getting a pincushion.  I've got some together now for current swaps, but I'm not showing them off until my partners receive. 

so I just got back into cross stitch a few weeks ago and I've been making all kinds of stuff.  I'm still working on a potholder for myself, but it's not finished yet.  it will be posted as soon as I'm done with it, of course.  but for now, I give you this:



I found the Maneki Neko sprite on some website (stupid me, I didn't save it) found it, used this website to make her name pattern (I found it using Wikipedia.  can you believe it??), then used my Japanese/English dictionary to make the "un" pattern.  that's Japanese for "luck" (that is what my dictionary states and it is a reputable one.  the website I checked it against says otherwise.  it's wrong, I'm right).  he's one stitch longer than the sprite that I used, but you'd never know it unless you studied both pictures.  I wasn't paying attention to where I put a stitch until I was on the opposite side of the pattern.  so I just went with it.  but like I said, you'd never know it.  I'm just anal like that.  

what do you think?

has anyone ever used them?  I am specifically talking about the Jewel Effects, Antiques and Precious Metals.  I picked up some the other day when I was at Jo-Ann's thinking they would be so pretty in some of my projects, but they are doing nothing but p!$$!ng me off!!!  it knots up so easily, gets stuck in the fabric and the metallic part gets stripped off.  if you've used it, do you have any tips on how to make it easier to work with?  I'm about ready to return what I haven't opened.

I made this forever ago.  I used pieces of scrap fabric I had laying around.  her body is made from a pinkish shirt that no longer fit me, the wings are made from some Barbie clothing I still had for some reason, and her panties and long vest are made from this beautiful Victorian-looking blouse I ruined.  I miss that top.  anyways, her hair is just pieces of blue yarn pulled apart to give a crimped look that I love.  I even made her a little black necklace.  and yes, her non-existent bellybotton is pierced.

inspired by Onyxnox's etched unicorn canisters, I decided I wanted to try glass etching.  I have TONS upon TONS of glass vases, candle holders, etc., but I was kinda nervous about doing the etching.  I finally went out and bought the cream and puffy paint (just like Onyx used) and let it sit.  with Mother's Day coming up, I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do.  at first, I thought about doing more jewelry for her.  so, I set out to Wal-Mart to see if I could pick up something a little different to use with what I already had.  I always love going to the aisle where they have vases and the fake flowers to see what glassware they have.  and there it was; a thin purple vase.  she LOVES purple.  I decided this is what I was doing for her.  I decided on the font I wanted and taped the printout to the inside of the vase and traced it with the puffy paint.  I let it dry all night and finished it today.

we'll do this backwards so the correct picture shows first.    please ignore the date.
the finished product


the etching cream in place


the puffy paint and painter's tape covering the vase


what do you think?