Spell My Name Swap goodies

I have taken a break from swaps for a while, but signed up for a few in the last month, trying to get my crafting fix in before the baby comes.  One of the swaps I did is one I have done before... the Spell My Name Swap, where you craft an item for each letter of your partner's name.  First, let me show you the amazing stuff that I received from my partner stacysews:  

She made all kinds of awesome Star Wars and owlie goodies for the coming wee one.  And an awesome Miss Piggie eye cold pack for my tired eyes and aching head and some handmade lip gloss in a totally sweet little case for my inevitably chapped lips during labor.  Amazing, no!?  

So, for Stacy, here is the package I made.  It turns out we have similar interests and styles, so I didn't have to do that much shopping.  I did buy the yarn for the "hat of frustration" but I literally had all the rest of the supplies in my stash.  

Hat of frustration (a.k.a. Letter S: Skully Skullcap):  

This hat is the third one I made from the initial pattern.  The first one came out baby sized with a weird flared brim.  The second one was slightly better, but was toddler sized.  I ended up changing the number of stitches I cast on, the length I made it, and even the intarsia pattern, which had weird deformed "X's" between each skull.  I had some separation anxiety when I mailed it off after spending so much time working on it.  

Letter T: Tattoo inspired brooch

This one is based on an awesome craft I did with my super crafty friends Abbey and Jenni two years ago for Valentine's Day.  I made one for myself at the time that says "Pookie" on it, and I wear it the entire month of February every year.  Since Stacy likes tattoo art, I thought it only appropriate that she have a crafty badge to show off her crafty and hardcore sides all in one!  It's felt, and I used blanket stitch for the edges, a simple whip stitch for the "banner" and back stitch for the lettering.

Letter A: Alice In Wonderland embroidered art

Stacy had Alice in Wonderland stuff all over her Wist and Pinterest, so I knew I had to include something "Alice Inspired."  I ended up creating this sort of cameo outline design based on the Disney Alice and I included an "eat me" mushroom for our little heroine.  It was basic back stitch, since the pattern was so detailed around Alice herself.  I was quite pleased with how it came out.  

Letter C is the Cameo Cup Candle you can see in the first picture.  I apparently forgot to take a close up.  It is done with soy wax and natural vanilla scent so that she can use the mug when the candle is gone.  I love making candles... so simple and so satisfying!  

Letter Y: Yummy Cupcake Bunting

I had trouble with the letter Y.  I was thinking Yeti at first, but couldn't figure out anything yeti to craft. Then I saw the awesome cupcake bunting on Stacy's Pinterest, and KNEW I had to make it for her.  Since I already had my letter C, I thought, what are cupcakes if not yummy?  Bingo... letter Y.  This is a very satisfying pattern and project.  Super fast and really great looking when complete.  

I love the Spell My Name Swap.  It requires a bit of creative thinking, but for the most part, you can really craft things that your partner will love, and that fits their likes and personality.

Craft Overload!

I have been on craft overload for the last month. A whole slew of partners have received their items, so I can now share my craftiness:

First off is the iPod case I made for makaylalee. She collects fairies/fantasy things and wanted an iPod case, so I had to figure out a way to incorporate. I went with stenciled wings in gold and silver paint and pretty beads, buttons, and embroidery:

This is the front. Isn't that button beautiful!?

And the back:
Her initial and some pretty butterfly beads I had in my bead jar from one "imagined" project or another! Ha!

My other partner, Audio, collected hooplas (embroidery hoops as art pieces) and really likes space/Dr. Who/aliens, etc. So, I just happened to have some space fabric laying around... don't ask. And I went with a spaceman theme, as whenever I sketched an alien, it looked like a 5-year-old had drawn it!

And I thought it would be neat if it glowed in the dark, so I did some research and discovered that there is such a thing as glow in the dark embroidery thread. Who knew?! Anyway... it took me about 45 minutes to finally get a picture of it glowing in the dark. Who knew it would be so difficult? I think it looks totally cool:

Then, just as the other partner got a headband as her second item, so did each of these lovely ladies. Makaylalee got a fairy crown of flowers and leaves, fit for an elven princess:

And Audio got what was probably my favorite headband... a Dr. Who inspired one shiny Tardis blue fabric with "hello, sexy" embroidered on it, inspired by #11's love affair with his space ship:

The other swap I've been working on was a "creepy cute" swap, where I was again partnered with burstofpanties. I made her some potholders out of the fabric left over from making a baby quilt. Yes, I made a friend a Dia de los Muertos baby quilt... don't judge.

And a semi-matching apron out of this amazing sugar skull fabric:

Then, for probably the creepiest piece, a zombie finger chapstick holder. I found the pattern on Ravelry, and thought it was hilarious, so finally had a reason to make it.

I made a second keychain from an awesome cross-stitch pattern I found free from the creator of the Creepy Cute Crochet book. Love her, love her patterns. I went with Cthullu. I've never cross-stitched for real (I've made some of those cheesy things with the "x"s already printed on the fabric, but not actually followed a pattern from scratch).

It's done on size 14 cross stitch plastic so that it's nice and sturdy. I love the shading on him.

Then, I tried something totally new and made a monster clutch bag:

It's made out of fur, which I learned is really difficult to sew with, and lined with some funky bamboo-ey fabric I had laying around in the lime green color of his eyes. And, the most awesome part is that he has two snaps-- two magnetic snaps that go all the way through the fabric with these funky brads and don't require sewing. I love them and am now obsessed.

Finally, the piece de resistance, an amigurimi octopus:

Isn't she sweet!? She got into a bit of a scuffle with a crab and lost an eye, but still looks cute as ever with her little bow.

Anyway, that's everything... I know it's a lot, but I've had such fun making awesomeness, that I couldn't not share. :)

Eco Craft Swap

Here is the latest swag I made for a craft swap. The theme was Eco/Hippie, and my partner was really into trees, so I tried to go with as many tree-ish things as I could. I also made some cat toys for her kitteh and some fun gift tags made out of recycled security envelopes, done with some paper cut-out stamps I had of a butterfly and a dragonfly. I may do that craft again for myself for gift tags at birthdays and holidays!

The one thing that my partner really wanted was a pair of fingerless gloves. I found some really luscious malabrigo worsted alpaca yarn in a colorway called dragonfly. pretty. And the gloves have a mild waffle-weave on the top of the hand.

Then I tried something a little different. I made these fun pins with three different buttons glued together and some fabric leaves made with scraps. They turned out pretty awesome, I think.

My partner had these fun tree appliques listed on her Pinterest board, but there was not a pattern for them. I ended up writing up a pattern and made them for her, and also sent her the pattern, as she is a crocheter, so she can make some more for herself if she wants.

Finally, my favorite thing that I made for this swap. I do not consider myself an embroiderer, but I saw a really neat faux bois piece on her Pinterest, and decided to try it out. I put her and her boyfriend's initials in the middle of the heart that is "carved" into the wood. I'm totally psyched with how it turned out, and hope to make some more. Wedding presents, anyone?

80's Cartoon Swap

So, as promised, the rest of the awesomeness from the 80's craft swap:

That's everything. I'm pleased with how it all turned out, I must admit. Close ups, now:

Beetlejuice Bag featuring Lydia and an awesome purple bow with a skull and crossbones button.

My Little Pony fleece blankie. This awesome fabric courtesy of a garage sale in Eugene, OR. Thanks, Auntie Carol!

Jem Artwork. Stickers over a notecard, painted black, and stickers pulled off. Easy Peasy and totally awesome!

She-Ra candle. Okay, it's totally naughty and sacrilegious, but it's also probably my favorite item I made! She-Ra, Lady of Etheria, with Kowl as the baby. :D

And the awesome last minute extra I found at a creepy little re-sale shop that had lots of comics and even more taxidermy.

Craft Swap Goodies!

My awesome craft swap partner, Robin, has officially received her package of goodies from the Trick or Treat bag swap. That means I can post the crafty goodness on here! First off:

The most important part of the swap was to craft a really awesome bag. I happen to be well versed in the bag making, so that was pretty easy. I did have some major fabric-choosing anxiety, though, and walked around JoAnn Fabric with a completely different scheme that I didn't even like, before I went back for the plaid fabric and found the cute little vintage print hidden among the thanksgiving fabrics. This is the first time I've done a trim with a bag, and I think the little pom pom trim turned out really well. I also reinforced the handle with batting, which is my new favorite idea to keep the handle comfy and also to keep it from getting all scrunched up at the top.

Robin has two boys, Jakob and Bailey, so I couldn't leave them out of the craftiness! I made each of them a little bag with their name on it with the left over lining fabric. I free-handed their names with a bleach pen and added a little spookiness to each one.

The boys also got their own candy loot, which was a little more their speed. Skittles, Starburst, and Chocolate eyeballs. Awesome. I think much like a 7-year-old boy, so it was fun to do this for them. :)

Here is all the goodies that went inside Robin's bag all packaged up. I made four napkins out of the plaid linen fabric and used that to package everything. Below is the goodies (sans candy) all laid out:

I made that awesome potholder out of some sparkley cotton yarn I found at Hancock Fabric in Sioux Falls, SD. It was on super sale for 93 cents a skein! I had made it a while ago, not really knowing where it would end up, but it was the perfect addition to Robin's bag loot. Also, you can kind of see the rosette pin I made out of that same plaid fabric I'm obsessed with. I've tried to make rosettes out of fabric before, but haven't had much success. I threw out the rule book and tutorials I had found on-line and just made it the way I thought that it should be made, and it worked perfectly! I get a little obsessed with rules sometimes and forget the instinct part of crafting.

Finally, the piece-de-resistance was the crafted items for Robin and the boys. I purchased a candy-corn hat pattern, as she had listed one on her wist and I was dying to make one. It knit up really quickly, as it's a super thick yarn, and it's totally adorable with the little point on the head. She said she wore it out and got some great responses from people, so that's nice to hear. Also, I found a cute little batty pattern, which I love, and made one for each boy out of the remainder of the sparkley black cotton yarn from SD. I think they turned out great!

Craft Swap Goodies!

So, rubylynns received my package yesterday! Pictures have been posted on Craftster, so I can now post it here! Her verb was "stitch" and I took the quote "I'd rather be stitchin' than in the kitchen" as my inspiration.

Here is the "in the kitchen" set:

These are the potholders and dish scrubbies that I sent to her. She loves pink and all things girly, so I went with the pink and purple with a dash of yellow to mix it up a bit. The African Violet granny potholder turned out so well that I'm making one for myself. (that's the one with the yellow in it):

And the apron. rubylynns told me she's decorating her kitchen in vintage owl prints, and I had this awesome fabric that has been waiting for the right pattern. I also made her a little flower pin with a vintage button on it, since there was a necklace with one on her wist:

Now for the "I'd rather be stitchin'" portion... mug cosy and bracelet:

It's hard to tell in the pictures, but the yarn is covered it sequins, making it totally girly, despite it's neutral color.

You can see it a little bit better in this close up of the bracelet:

The bracelet actually was the starting point for the whole box. rubylynns had a similar item on her wist and I thought it was so cool, but wanted to make it my own, so I used this funky sparkley yarn (which was very strange to knit with and a total departure for me!) and some awesome vintage buttons that I had taken off an old peacoat i found at the thrift store. I thought the idea of a bow bracelet was really cool, but I couldn't really find a pattern that I loved, so made it up as I went along, button holes and all!

I've been informed that rubylynns LOVES all of her pressies, and I'm so happy that I had her as my first craft swap partner. It was so fun to craft things that I really love for someone else and know that they would love them too. I may now have gone from a Craft Swap Virgin to a Craft Swap Junkie!

Craft Swap Virgin

I have never done a craft swap before. The idea of them always intrigued me, but every time I read through the rules and protocol, I felt like it was too much to deal with. But a month ago, I bit the bullet and signed up for my first craft swap. If you are not familiar with the concept, it is a way for people who make crafts to share their crafts with others across the country (sometimes even internationally) and to receive a fancy schmancy package of goodies in return! Frankly, I like presents and make way more crafts than I will ever need or use, so this concept is perfect for me!

My first swap was a verb swap. Each person picks a verb and when they are partnered up, the partner has to make items inspired by that verb. I picked scavenge due to my slight obsession with thrifting and re-use. My partner, rubylynns, picked stitch. Seriously the best verb for me since everything I do is "stitching." It turns out that she loves hand knitted items, but has not had a lot of luck learning to knit or crochet herself, so I loaded her up. We also apparently love all the same things-- owls, skulls, pin-ups, retro, crazy colors, vegetarian food, folk music-- we are seriously so much alike, so crafting things for her was totally fun! Pictures of everything I made for my "separated at birth" craft companion will be posted as soon as I receive word that she has received the package I'm sending today!

Long story short: I am no longer a craft swap virgin!