Paper dolls!

Arianna's cousins are getting so big :) Here we are celebrating my sister's birthday (September12), but we went that day in the morning to a craft fair.  I was expecting a lot more of the fair, but I still managed to find 2-3 things that were lovely.  One of those were these doll papers for my nieces.

I think pretty soon Arianna is going to love to play with paper dolls!

52 Projects - #23 and 24 Journaling and crocheted flowers

I decided to participate in a 30 day challenge, and most of the pages were done last week so I combined that for my 52 projects, but did not have the chance to write about it.  Here are some of the pages that I made, each belongs to a different prompt for that day:

This is my cover...

Write about someone that impacted your life :)

Blogs that you followed (5)...

Some goals for you right now.

Favorite shows, music, food, hobbies...

What are you wearing today?

For this week, I crocheted some flowers and added to a barrette so you can attach to your hair.  I made 16 with different antique buttons as the center.  I was very happy how they came out.  These guys are part of a swap that I am participating.

In my daddy's shoes.

She loves to put our shoes.  Normally she goes for mine, but this time I caught her trying her daddy's shoes.  Yes, they are backwards.  They normally do that.  I am not sure why.  Does it make more sense to put the right  shoe on the left foot and left on the right one?  I guess so.

We had Grandma stopping for a little to pickup her mother's day present after having some delicious Chinese.

Some days I do so much that I make myself so tired and this time I could not go to the bed or the sofa to take a nap. 

Mommy loves this picture of me being silly in the car.

I had just woken up from my nap and realized that mommy had a present from her craft swap.  We opened it together.  It was beautiful.  Maybe she will take some pictures later of what she got.

Woken up and ready to go!

52 projects #18 - Pom Poms

For this week I'd been practicing pom poms.  I thought they will be easy, but I encountered a few glitches.  I'd been using leftover yarn because I don't want to mess up the one that I want to use for 2 projects that I have in mind.  The first one I want to make some barrettes for my daughter/ nieces and their dolls!  The second one  - I want to do a wreath that I saw made of pom poms and then you can add some other touches.  They are so beautiful.
So, can anyone give me some tips?  How to make sure they are perfect all around?  I was using a pom pom maker, but they were coming loose.  Do I need a different or specific type of thread to tighten them?   Here is a picture of what I have in mind.  I might change it a bit , but the pom poms are still there :)

http://bleubirdvintage.typepad.com/blog/2009/11/diy-pom-pom-wreath.html

Here are my best pom poms so far...

52 Projects - #15 Batman Blanket

I actually finished this one last Saturday, but could not post because it was a gift for my sister in law and I wanted her to be surprised.  I mailed it to her first :)  I did not do this in one week.  It actually took me almost 2 years to do.  But, last week was the only thing I focus because I was so close and wanted to finish.  So, here it is.  I was so happy I was able to finish a big project.  Now, I feel energize to do something else :)

These are some pictures of how it looks in the front, and I took a picture of how it looks in the back.  A lot of times, when I see a project I always wonder how it looks in the back, but they seldom put a picture.  I know it is not as cute, but sometimes is good to see so a newbie can get an idea of what to do in the back.  So, here is mine ;)

And Arianna saw the blanket and liked it.  She said "Mama is wonderful".  Then, she laid down for awhile and when she was not looking I put it away.  Now, I am making her a blanket. :)

52 projects - #14 Loom Scarf

 For this week, I focused in finishing my second scarf that I made in a loom.  I tried a different stitch because the first one (even though I love) the stitch is too loose for a baby blanket that I want to try.  Then, I found out a different one that has a tighter stitch so I tried it and loved it!   I know I should think Spring, but I am happy that I finished the scarf before the winter ;)

Someone asked me about the Swap Craft, there are different ways, but the one I am doing you make your project for 30 persons and mail it to one person, that person makes your package consisting of 30 things from the other people that participated and mails it to you.  When you send your package to her, you add some money for the shipping back... sometimes it is hard to let go of your creations, but I kept one for me and I think that hopefully they will like it and use it and appreciate it like I do.  I  view it as sharing something from me to you.  So, in that sense it is easy to let go.

52 projects #13 - Felt Flowers!

My swap craft is coming soon and I needed to finish this project so after 31 flowers (30 for the swap - one for Arianna) I am done and very tired.  No scissors for awhile!  But, I like the end result.  I was going to do something different for the center, but liked how the antique buttons look so I went that route.

It took me about 3-4 days to cut all the flowers... phew!1  I was happy when I was done with them.  Putting them together was actually fun!

The best model ever! She was actually shy in the beginning, but build her courage :)

Realized that I like the mustard- burgundy combination too much, but I tried to make each one different :)  First time working on felt flowers and one day my baby will help me to make them again :)

ADDED later:  The pattern was an idea from a magazine that I get Southern  Living.  Although my flowers are style different they are the same in that it uses four sets of "flowers" to make one flower.  The actual shape was done by me using a quarter and a compass :) , but I am sure there are something similar somewhere. Also, that means that I cut 124 flowers to make 31.. phew so yes I was very happy when I was done with the last one.  And finally, family helped me as well.  Arianna either modeling a flower or telling me if it was perfect or awesome or ok and throwing some of the leftovers in the garbage and Mike helping me picked the buttons for each set of flowers.  :)

52 Projects #12 - The beginning of two projects and the end of one.

I am afraid that I could not take pictures because my battery needed to be recharge, but there are two projects that took some of my time this week.  I joined a Swap Craft and I needed to start the stuff that I am going to make since I need to do about 30 of something I could not get too glamorous meaning too lengthy.  I decided to live in a Felt world.  I kind of went crazy and bought almost if not every color I saw and after drawing many ideas that came to my mind I think I settle down in 2 different ones. Next week you will see pictures of all of it.... I am in a Felt world for sure!

My second project is another loom scarf with a different stitch... I am about 1/4 done!

And I am very excited about this super long project that I am doing the cleaning of the last stitches, yeah!  Can't put pictures yet, but very soon.  I cannot believe I am about 98% done :)

So, sorry for no pictures... but  this week was full of get together with so many awesome people.  In oone of those days, we went bowling with Ari and she loved it.  I did not take my camera, but Mike managed to use his phone so as soon as those are downloaded I will share at least one.  She was so great and just loved it.  She made me smile so much that day.  Those are the moments that fill my life with joy and I love when I can embrace those moments totally. Who knows maybe she will be a great bowler!
Have a great weekend!

Indulgences

Browsing for ideas for a friend I came across this set that was being auctioned at ebay.  I loved it (even thought it is missing 2 states which I will complete myself).  It has 2 things that I love - flowers and cross stitch.  Even more, the cross stitch part can be done in parts.  Not a big piece of fabric to start with, excellent size to put away and have close by when I get a bit of time.  I can try to set a goal of 1 or 2 flowers per month and not feel overwhelm.  The only problem? A lot of people want it.  Maybe for the same reasons? So, I bid as much as I will pay for it and went to work (the auction ended while I was at work).  So, I did not know until next day if I won or not. 
As you can tell, I did :)  I looked everywhere else for the set and I could not see it.  I know the set was made in Denmark awhile back, but I don't know the year.  This as you can imagine will be a big project and I will start as soon as I decide what type of fabric to get.  Yeah, it is an indulgence... but I hope to make it into a quilt for keeps.  Now I set myself for the record.  ;)

52 Projects #10 - Scrapbook, doodling and a doll...

This weekend I took some pictures so you can see how the Cricut looks:  Shots of how it is when it is closed or open are posted first.

Then, you can see all the lights going on once you program what you want.  Can you see that little "drop like" cartridge on the right?  That is where all the information is stored.  Then, you press what figures you want and how many.  Hit Cut and it goes. ( I always program more than I want because you will save from wasting paper - which is one of the negative things of this machine. In the other hand, the blade cuts more and you need to replace it more often, but I figure I will used some of the extras in other things)

Then, you hit unload paper - and you can start to peel the paper.

I have a box where I leave the extra ones for later...

Found the scrapbook I wanted to use - A black cover with ivory pages.  The picture took longer to figure out... but this one is the classic one.  It is the first picture that I can remember of us together.  The one where I wanted all the beanies that he had given me ( and some that I bought myself) to be in the picture.  See, instead of flowers I wanted beanies.  So, I still have a lot of those although I have given a lot of beanies to charities by now.  We did go crazy for those critters for awhile. You see that camel?  It is one of my favorites.

And after playing with the pieces - this is the configuration that I liked.

Looking for the picture I found some scrapbook pages that my sisters in law and I did the first or second week after Arianna was born. Oh, our baby :) 

And finally... here is the doll that I managed to finish today! Here is the before picture.  It took me awhile to pick a face I wanted to draw.

And here is Anita!  (well, that is where this little girl is going...)

 Here are some faces that I did for my dolls....

And some doodling it... I am trying to decide if I want to color these 2 drawings or not?

It was a nice crafty week for us :)  Arianna started to draw faces.  I will take some picture of that for a future post :)  Have a great week!