I'm not sure if I've ever ventured into this board before... usually my crafting extends as far as paper, and maybe some paint.  But, pillows?

For the Mini 12 Days of Christmas swap, my partner, redstar13 listed skulls as something she likes.  (She does like anatomically correct skulls and skeletons-- I admit these are far from that.)

I thought it would be fun to get some stuff not Christmas-y.  So I ended up with this!



And this!



And this!



They're made with cotton fabric and felt.  I did use a tiny sewing machine to reinforce the seams, but everything else is hand-stitched.  I really like how they turned out... I should play with fabric and felt more often!



Mahalo for looking!

One of the things I made for my partner in the Mini 12 Days of Christmas swap (redstar13) was this bracelet.



I wanted it to be simple and wearable, so I made jump rings out of thick black wire, and also wrapped some red and green wire rings too.  



I like the little dangling jingle bells!  (I am weird and very particular about jingle bell timbre, and I really like the way these sound.)  The clasp is a simple S-shaped wire.



Thanks for looking!

One thing I made for some family and friends this holiday season was this ornament!



I found some clear plastic (not glass-- they needed to travel and I was worried about breakage) ornaments... The snow base in the bottom is crayola model magic clay, and I had squished it in there with a wooden dowel.  I also used some snow-tex to give it snow texture along the ground.  The trees are pipe cleaners, which I trimmed with scissors and also donned with fake snow.  The other bits were just embellishments I had or found at the local craft store. 

Thanks for looking!

Wow, Anuenue's been having a lot of fun!  (I love the felted slug!)

I've finally updated Rupert's blog... here's a shot from our brewery tour we took when we ended up in Wisconsin for an extra day due to weather:



as always, more in the blog!

And here's a pic now that I'm finally able to upload stuff...  Wisconsin was COLD!  Brrrrrr.



Finally being able to catch up on updating the blog too:
http://www.mountainsandclouds.com/ruperts-excursion-craftster-lv-swap-r16.html

For the mini 12 Days of Christmas swap, my partner was redstar13, and for the first day, I decided to make her a little countdown flip calendar and easel for the eleven days leading up to Christmas, as well as Christmas Day!



The numbers are on a ring, so the next day is easy to find!





The easel is decorated with sparkly and shiny gel pens.



I think my favorite part is the tiny "Christmas" bunting!



Thanks for looking, and Mele Kalikimaka!

I had Rubylynns as a partner in the Ho Ho Ho swap!  One of her themes was a "Hot Pink/Cupcake Christmas."

One of the items I sent was this cupcake:


Which is also a tiddly winks game:

(Instructions are on the inside of the lid)


It's full of buttons and cupcake disks to flip into the cup!

I made this game for Rubylynns in the HOx3 swap!  Her theme I chose was Hot Pink Cupcake Christmas, and I wanted to send her something that could be used by her family too!

Here's the gameboard:


It's based on Candyland, and has the same idea (picking colored cards to move toward the end), and the prize at the end is little crochet cupcakes.



Cupcake pawns:




Cards:



And "special" space cards; the steps in baking cupcakes!


(these were made with hand-carved stamps, also included in the package)

And one more shot of the gameboard:




Thanks for looking!

Hi everyone,
I know this is late, but I had made these for Likls in the Falling for Autumn swap.

Little squirrels!




They're made of Crayola Model Magic clay and colored with alcohol markers.


I also made some little pumpkins out of paper clay.



And they're painted with sparkly watercolor.


Thanks for looking!

I had forgotten that I took step-by-step shots as I made this interactive ATC for WideEyedLife's "Scared Fish" theme in the ongoing ATC swap this fall!

Little Fish is just chillin'....


But gets scared....


And darts behind some seaweed!



Sometimes people ask how I have made these, so here it is!
(First of all, I want to credit this book: http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Of-Pop-Up-Engineers/dp/0689822243/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1355456532&sr=8-5&keywords=how+to+make+pop+up+books The Elements of Pop Up which I had gotten back in college and remember to dig out from time to time.  The mechanism in the ATC is inspired by one sample design in the book.)

It's basically a little pulley system.

I started off with two ATC-sized (2.5 x 3.5") pieces of cardstock. (You will need at least another ATC's worth of cardstock later for the backing on the card)



One of the pieces will be the background, and the other is for the 3-D/ moving bits.  I use an ATC to start, so that I don't make the pieces so big they don't fit on the final ATC.  It also gives me a sense of the layout of the card.

First, I drew my little fish (and colored him in).




and cut it out with an Xacto blade.



Then, I drew my seaweed patch and made sure it was big enough to hide Little Fish (with perhaps a little wiggle room).


(colored in):



Then I cut it out and placed both on the other blank ATC to make sure sizing and locations worked.  (and because I do everything backwards, I also cut out the pull-tab notch, even though it's probably better to cut that out after you make the pull tab.)



Then, I made a pull tab by folding a piece of cardstock in thirds (approximately-- it's okay if it's not perfect!)





And I colored in the background (it's not necessary to color in the spots that won't be seen )

(I also marked the spots where the holes for the string will be.)

I used a small hole punch for the pulley holes, but you can probably use a knife.  Just make sure the holes lie flat!



Next, I found my string (make sure it's strong enough to be yanked on a little) and little fish.  I put a glue dot on a small circle of paper...


and stuck the string on the back of the fish with it:


This way, the little guy stays secure in the same place on the string!



Next, put the two ends of string into the holes.  (Make sure the fish is right-side-up!)



Pull the fish to the hole farthest away from its hiding spot:


Turn it over.  I found the easiest way to do this is with another glue dot.  First, put the glue dot on a circle of paper or cardstock, and then lay the string ends on top of it, making sure they are not loose.






Trim the ends:



Now, remember that pull tab?  Line the "pull" end up with the notch in the card and lay it straight over the glue dot:



Cut thin strips of double sided foam tape to use as a "track" for the pull tab.



Put the tracks around the sides of the pull tab so it doesn't move all wonky-like.


At this point, go ahead and put a border of foam tape around the edges of the card as well, to create a uniform depth on the back of the card.


I like to put it on a larger piece of cardstock and cut it out; this way, I don't have to be super careful about lining it up with another card of the exact same shape and size!


Check to make sure little fish moves!


Now, find your seaweed and make a border with foam tape, but be sure to leave the side empty where the fish will swim in!  (the drawing on the back is just because I used the other side of paper where I messed up!)



Stick it on the card, and test it out!


Enjoy, and happy crafting!!