Under Construction

Cards as envelopes (or is that the other way around?)

This was what we laid out--her holiday drawing and words cut up and mixed with fabric and my text.

 

A quick(ish) trip to Kinkos and this collage was turned into envelopes and my handwritten letter was copied as well. Did you know colored paper copies are the same price as white paper copies at Kinkos? No more plain white for me!

 

I stitched up the sides on the machine, inserted the letters and obligatory family photos and stitched them closed completely. Good luck opening these, family!

 

Biscuit and I made these while Mr. H was at work today but fortunately he liked the non traditional approach. Phew! I don't know how they'd rank on Swistle's scale but I'm pleased to have the cards/letters nearly ready to mail before Dec 15. That's pretty good for me! And I really like the photocopied randomness. Let's hope the photocopy ink doesn't rub off in the mail system!

Spirited day

Biscuit and I must have been on the same crafty wavelength today--we really packed in the holiday spirit activities!

First up, shrinky dink ornaments. So fun! Color with pencils and cut out:

 

Bake for 3 minutes and watch them curl:

 

Voila!

 

Why yes, that is a picture of an orange toilet there on the center ornament. Not quite the holiday theme I was going for--maybe more of a New Year's ornament? We are deep into the world of potty humor over here so the toilet is apropos.

After ornaments, we moved on to gingerbread.

Making the dough and cutting out the house shapes and gingerbread people. I used this recipe and found the dough a bit soft but workable if you rolled it on the parchment on the cookie sheet. Good flavor.

 

I don't think my houses would pass inspection but they survived the decorating attacks of a 4 year old so they couldn't be too bad.

 

The roof trusses are certainly sturdy! For me, gingerbread houses are all about the Necco wafer roofs. I totally hogged the Neccos (which, by the way, I found at JoAnn Fabrics. Strange but true).

 

A binder clip went a long way in preventing frosting mishaps.

 

And finally, our tree, which has been making me happy during an otherwise rather crappy week.

The tree skirt I made years ago with my best friend.

 

And the glass tree topper I found for 50c at the thrift store the day after shattering my other, new, glass tree topper. Don't look at the oddly shaped tree top. Long story.

 

And that concludes my photojournalism for December 4, 2009. Trust me, it may have been boring but was probably better than an equal amount of space spent whining. Hope your holidays are shaping up wonderfully this year!

The Etsy shop is back to life! (and a craft fair is coming up)

After nearly a year of inactivity I brought the shop back to life: http://haworth.etsy.com.

THANK YOU all for your awesome ideas on this post. I know I owe many of you emails and custom items and will make good on that after I survive the show I'm doing this Saturday, December 5.

 
If you're in Sacramento, please stop by, do your holiday shopping and support one of our local elementary schools.

Cowan Elementary

First Annual Gift Fair

Saturday, December 5

10 a.m.-3 p.m.

3350 Becerra Way (Whitney Ave/Beccera Way)

 

I'll have loads of felted, embroidered rocks (can't stop!) as well as wood ornaments like the ones shown here and several other goodies I haven't shared yet.

And although I'm several days late for Thanksgiving, thank you for stopping by and reading this little ol' blog. I appreciate it!

Making grape wine

After spending the entire day in bed with an injured back (poor guy) we were able to rouse Mr. H in to a standing position by reminding him of the grapes that needed crushing.

 

We went wine tasting yesterday and the lovely folks at Lava Cap (visit if you're in the Sierra foothills!) let us roam their already picked vineyard for grapes they left on the vines. They left a lot of fruit so in 30 minutes we had a giant bag full. We are 90% sure they're cabernet sauvignon.

 

At 8:30 tonight, Mr. H felt up to moving around and Biscuit was excited to help "make grape wine." She stuck with the destemming project for a full hour and helped us destem four gallons of grapes!

 

Her helpfulness may have been partly due to the fact she was getting to stay up so late.

 

After we got the stems off, we had to crush them. I was lobbying for using a barefoot kid but we went instead with a potato masher (didn't work) then two bottles of wine (worked pretty well).

 

I'll let you know how it turns out....

My mom was right

Taking kernels off corn is surprisingly entertaining to the four year old set. Gluing them on paper amuses even the 33 year old set.

 

Lucky I saved these cobs so I could take a peaceful shower Monday morning.

And then have an impromptu arts and crafts time. Fun!

Yarn wreaths, two ways

This one 100% inspired by this talented gal. But here's a tip, wrap the straw wreath in coordinating fabric BEFORE WRAPPING YARN or you will 1. run out of yarn 2. be constantly annoyed by shedding straw 3. not be satisfied with the wreath. Oh well. Learning experience.

The glitter letters and bird were in a $3 grab bag o' Christmas crap at the thrift store. Too bad this wreath looks awful against my dijon mustard wall. 

On to number two which is 100% inspired by my own embroidered wood plaques.

 

I'm thinking next time I'll do a real 3-d ribbon bow on top of the stitched wreath. Mr. H cut enough cherry plywood for me to make 4 of these so they'll be for sale on Dec 5 at the craft show.

 

Hooray for yarn.

::

Thanks for all the GREAT ideas on the last post. Keep 'em coming. I'm going to owe you creative folks a lot of stitched wood!

Ideas? There's something in it for you.

Well, it was about time my embroidery crush collided with my wood jewelry crush. The laser engraver has been broken for weeks and I have some really fabulous sticks cut and ready to go. I came up with this idea in the shower this morning (not a giant leap but I was excited).

 

They're not quite as polished/formal looking as the laser engraved pieces but I love them anyway.

 

And I can make them at home with tools I own which is a bonus. Heck, I can stitch them in bed while watching Glee on my computer. Double bonus.

 

So I just signed up for a Dec 5 craft fair (at Cowan Elementary school on Becerra in Sacto for you local folk) and I need some stuff to sell. Assuming the laser engraver stays broken, I want to do some more of these pendants/pins.

Here's where you come in. I'm drawing a blank on what to embroider on these. Keeping in mind:

1. I can't draw to save my life

2. straight lines are MUCH easier than curves (but curves are not impossible)

3. These little guys are about 1.5 inches across and I have to drill each 1/16 inch hole

4. abstract is fine. I'm thinking concentric circles (like tree rings) or even a simple square.

What would you put on there? Let me know and if I pick your answer to produce I'll send you a pendant/pin with your suggested design. (keep in mind I am the SLOWEST EVER when it comes to making good on blog contest prizes but I do eventually come through. And I am trying to turn over a new leaf in promptness). If you know me in real life you're doubly encouraged to enter--I know you guys are out there.

 

Just because I am eternally curious to see the back of objects I admire online.

Can't. Stop. Embroidering.

In the last several days:

A suitcase for princesswear (with embroidered crown of course)

 

Testing ornament designs

I think I'll skip the "connect the dots" look with the numbers. I like it but I seem to be in the minority.

More rocks. For this one Biscuit provided the art (although I didn't embroider the shrubbery)

 

A tv cover:

 

Here's how it looks (I'm working on new designs for these)

 

And while I was embroidering in bed this morning, my helper decided to sort my floss.

 

And find her four favorite colors: pink, purple, black and brown

 

Now if Mr. H has cut my piece of wood in the garage I'll be all set for my next embroidery project...

Freeloaders no more?

What a pleasant surprise when I was cleaning the coop today!

 

Our first, tiny, lonely, who-knows-how-old egg. Way to go ladies.

 

Whichever of you it was.

 

We had pretty much given up on eggs until spring.

As if I wasn't already obsessed enough with felt rocks

Now I can't. stop. embroidering.

 

And then taking bad photos of the rocks back in their natural habitat.

 

It is really, really fun to embroider rocks.

 

And now I am in the same quandary as the embroidered wood.

A girl can only fit so many embroidered, decorative objects in her home.

 

Which leads me to think about re-opening the etsy shop.

 

But shipping rocks, even small rocks, isn't that efficient. And running an etsy shop is less fun than embroidering rocks. So, in the meantime, I'm going to load my washer with two more stockings full of wool and stones.