Hello fellow craftsters! This Christmas, my family has decided to make all our Christmas presents, which is what I usually do anyway. This year, however, is my first year teaching, so I didn't get the usual head start (read: having my list done by mid-August) and was worried I would run out of time.  Saint Martha of the Gluegun came to my aid with this lovely idea : http://www.marthastewart.com/309518/customizable-cross-stitch-projects

A trip to the crafts store and a few hours later, I've finished my sister's gift!


I'm thinking of doing another one for my mom with my brother in it too.  I've got lots of aida and floss left over.

Hi all! I made some terrycloth and sponge duckies for my cousin's baby shower.  They're made with facecloths and stuffed with sponges so that they can be used as a bath toy or as a wash duck.  I got the idea and instructions from Martha Stewart http://www.marthastewart.com/266169/washcloth-duckie?backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/handcrafted-baby-shower-gifts

I had trouble printing out the template, so I had to do a fair bit of trial and error, but I ended up with this:

Hi all! I just finished my first sweater, Knitty's Que Sera.  Sadly, I underestimated my bust measurement (or grew since I casted on...) and I can't comfortably button it up all the way.  Still, it's super cute when buttoned at the waist!

Hi all!  I'm doing my student teaching in a kindergarten class and we're just about to start our dinosaur theme.  My cooperant teacher wondered aloud about the possibility of turning the sand table into a fossil dig.  Since I had no plans for spring break, I broke out the salt dough:



I made a bunch of shapes and sizes to give a little variety.  The plan is to take all the sand toys out of the table and replace them with old paint brushes and sieve to "excavate" the bones.

I also have a small shoebox of real fossils let to me by my father in law.  Can't wait 'til monday!

Hello everybody!  The mister and I have set a date  May 20, 2012.  The latest idea is to have an outdoor wedding, with a ceremony a little before noon and a lunch picnic reception. I like the idea of a lunch reception because : A) Edmonton evenings in May can get pretty cold and   B) People are less likely to drink heavily

If there are any Edmontonian craftsters listening, do you think it's too much of a gamble to have an outdoor afternoon reception on a May long weekend?  Chances are it won't snow, right? 

 We haven't booked any location yet, but I think it would be fun to have the ceremony and reception at the amphitheater of my favorite park in the city.  It's fenced off, so you can get a liquor licence (unlike the rest of city parks).  There's also a permanent tent with wind screens and tonnes of seating, as well as the use of portable tables and picnic tables.  Anyway, here's a look at the possible venue:

Also, the amphitheatre is right next to a lake with paddleboats!  How much fun would that be?

Because it would be a picnic, the table decorations would be much simpler.  I think it would be nice for each family/couple to get a basket with their lunch and a tablecloth so that they could chose a table themselves or even a spot on the ground.  No need for centerpieces!  No need for a head table! 

Still haven't figured out how to decorate it yet, but I know there will be many crafty parts.  My mom and i will be making my dress (my grandma said she'd draft a pattern for me!) and my sister and FSIL want to tackle the cake. I know there will be other bits too, so watch this space!

EDIT: I went to a sample sale and came home with this
http://www.jacquelinbridals.ca/SearchDetails.asp?id=2461&crid=W&drid=CM
We're also going to move the wedding to June to avoid any possibility of snow.  According to the lady I've talked to, they're not booking the amphitheatre June 2012 until the end of May 2011, so I still have to wait a while before getting a deffinate date.

I've gathered ideas from the web and have decisions to make!

#1: Boxed or basketed picnic lunch?  I love the idea of collecting different styles and sizes of wicker baskets over the next year and a half and using them according to the size of family or couple or trio.  It would be cute to have a table full of different baskets with names attatched to them.  On the other hand, gabled boxes can also look really cute and would make the whole packing thing much easier and more uniform. One box per person instead of a basket per family.

#2:  What to do for blankets?  Somewhere on the web I saw someone who had made some with cheap bolts of fabric.  They were all different but in her colours and she had stacks of them on the table next to the lunches.  I would like to do something like that, but I'm also thinking it might be easier to get some table cloths in blue and yellow and use those as blankets.

#3: What else to put in the lunches?  Sandwiches, of course (a deli we love makes the best roast beef and turkey sandwiches), but what other kinds of salads/fruits/snacks would be portable and satisfying?

Hi all!  I dropped in on the local Anthropologie store a couple weeks ago and left with a hole in my heart because of these ornaments
http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?subCategoryId=HOME-HOLIDAYDECOR-ORNAMENTS&id=083097&catId=HOME-HOLIDAYDECOR&pushId=HOME-HOLIDAYDECOR&popId=HOME&sortProperties=&navCount=15&navAction=top&fromCategoryPage=true&selectedProductSize=&selectedProductSize 1=&color=015&isSubcategory=true&isProduct=true&isBigImage=&templateType=subCategory

I went on a trip to Kenya in May and they reminded me of my trip.  Plus, they were made with recycled storybook pages, which I thought was just the bees knees. I wasn't willing to pay 16$ for them, though, so I decided to try my hand at making my own.  I made one for me and one for the prof who took me to Africa.



I couldn't get a good picture because of the shininess of the gel medium I used.  The giraffes are made with scrap paper, scotch tape, pages from an old Theory of Knowledge textbook, gel medium (lots of it!), and acrylic paint.

If I have time and patience, I may make a zebra too. We'll see.

Hi craftsters!

My fiancé's cousin had a baby girl wednesday night, and I made this blanket in preparation.



It's an easy crocheted ripple stitch, nothing fancy, but I like it!  I chose the turquoise colour because at the time I didn't know if the baby would be a boy or a girl, and I HATE the typical pastels.  My FMIL thinks it's great because of the contrast between light and dark (babies can't see much colour at first).

Hello all!  I haven't posted for a while, but I've been a busy bee.  Here are the mittens I made for my mom for Christmas.  They were knitted in red lopi and looked like oven mitts before I ran them through the washing machine (5 times!)  I added a ribbed cuff inside them, which you can't see in the pictures.


I needle felted the little circles on the cuff, then embroidered snowflakes and finished the edges in blanket stitch using some extra yarn I had in my stash.

Hi all! I'm starting to put together some ornaments for our very first Christmas tree and I've been playing around with needle felting.  Here are a couple birdies I made:

This is my very first post on the wedding board!!  My now-fiancé popped the question on Saturday, without having planned to, and we chose the ring on Monday, so everything is still really fresh and new.  Now, because the engagement was unplanned, the sir needs a little while to adjust before we can finalise a date, but we've tentatively decided on summer 2012.  It seems so far away!

So that takes us to my question:  I've always wanted to make my own dress, so a longer engagement seems pretty ideal for this.  Should I start "research and development" now?  I know I don't want anything too complicated, so I could very well do it on  a shorter timeline...  What do you think?

Here are goofy sketches I made in class yesterday instead of listening about classroom management techniques.  Please excuse the christmas tree, I forgot my knitting and needed to doodle: