DIY: Valentines Party

On Saturday, I invited some good friends over to make valentines. When we put all of our supplies on the table, it took us a few mintues to take in the mass of pink and red papers.
Each guest, as a party favor, received a crocheted heart pin that I made. (And everyone wore pink and/or red! We were all very festive.)
It was a great time and I hope to have more card making parties in the future.

Here are some pictures from the event:

a bouquet of love

I don't remember the last time I bought a greeting card from the store. With a collection of scrapbooking papers, paper punches and a ridiculous assortment of Martha Stewart crafting supplies, I try to make cards for all sorts of occasions. (If I do buy cards, I try to purchase handmade cards.)
This card featured happens to be a birthday card. With it being a February birthday, why not give it a little Valentine's Day twist. I used a Martha Stewart layering daisy punch, a heart punch and then connected them with a simple silver brad. To give it more of a flowery feel, I stitched a few lines to make stems. The paper is from Stampin Up!. (They have some really pretty patterned papers!) The inside message reads: "Sending you a bouquet of love on your birthday!"
Maybe this can be some inspiration for handmade cards or even valentines.

DIY: Valentines, this Saturday at my apartment from 11-3 pm. I can't wait to send some more love to friends & family.
How are your valentines coming?

DIY: valentines

I just finished six different designs of valentines at the studio. Some have pressure prints (the wood grain) with hearts or doily motifs. I'm happy with how they turned out and hopefully will sell some of them on etsy.com. If you want more, see the rest of my cards on MountainPiePress on etsy.com.

(Pressure print with hearts)

(Pressure print with doily)

I'm also having a DIY: Valentines Party at my apartment on February 5th. The "official" event details are on facebook.com. Is anyone else getting as excited about handmade valentines as I am?

feeling disconnected

Oh! to be without the internet.

I have been feeling disconnected from the world. Here is an elephant that I crocheted and has not yet been sewn together. I think he knows how I feel.

I have tried to keep busy this past month since I am currently jobless. I find myself with lots of time to do all the projects that I've wanted to do. Have I gotten to all of them? Of course not. 

I went to a letterpress workshop with Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. at the Genesee Center for the Arts and Education a couple Sundays ago. I learned how to do pressure prints (which I incorporated with some of my valentines). If you haven't heard of Amos, look him up http://www.kennedyprints.com/. He's pretty fun. 

This is the poster that we printed at the workshop: "There is no spll chek in letterpress."

**This coming week, I will be adding valentines to my Etsy store. I will let you know when things are up. I have about six designs that I'm working on. I'm so excited & I just can't hide it**

February Challenge: Make your own valentines.

1st [Christmas] Sampler

I hope everyone had a blessed, relaxing and enjoyable Christmas. My holidays were very merry and bright.  My entire family, including husbands and babies, were all in one house; a task that is getting harder and harder as the years go by. We made Christmas cookies, watched classics like, A Muppet Christmas Carol, and ate delicious food!

I had come accross this Chirstmas Sampler over the summer as I went through old McCalls Needlework and Crafts magazines (from the 80s). This pattern was simple and sweet. Only to be done with red floss, but I thought that I'd amp up the color a bit. This is my first sampler and with some confidence I'll say that it won't be my last. It has it's mistakes or as my Mom says "humility marks," but I had fun with this project and it didn't scare me away.

New Years' Resolution: Craft more.

Georgia the Giraffe

Being an aunt is pretty awesome. Not only do I get to play and cuddle up with my nephews, I get to buy them cute clothes and toys.  What's better than that? What about making the clothes or toys?

Since I started up crocheting a little bit ago, I found some super cute stuffed animals to make. I've done a little bit with the owl ornaments, so I thought maybe I could up the scale a little. 

My sister requested a stuffed animal giraffe for her son for Christmas. She sent me to the Lion Brand website lionbrand.com . It was pretty much the cutest thing you'd ever seen! I was ready to take on the challenge, but I one little draw back: I didn't know if I'd have enough yarn to make it. My mom has a whole arsenal full of yarn from my grandma who used to knit up a storm. She gave me some golden rod colored yarn that I thought would be perfect, but was there enough? 

Yes! There was enough! (...but I had to make its arms a little shorter than the pattern called for, leaving me with a scrap of yarn to spare.)

The pattern is called  Georgia the Giraffe . Boy or girl, this pattern is adorable and it only took me a little over a day to get it done. Perfect for any nephew of mine.

holiday sales

Two weekends ago, I was in two holiday sales: the first was at the Printing & Book Arts Center, where I rent and work on my printing, the second was at my sister's apartment. These being my first sales, I was kind of nervous and didn't know what to expect really. By the end of the sale at the Center, I was talking more and trying to explain how I print everything. It was an experience I hope not to forget and will build off of in the future.

I am now selling my cards on etsy.com. http://www.etsy.com/shop/MountainPiePress?ref=pr_shop_more. It's a great website for handmade things and vintage pieces. Once you start looking, it'll be hard to stop! Happy handmade Christmas!

[Almost] vegan magic

A few weeks ago, my husband and I got to visit some of our friends that are vegan. (As of late, they now eat eggs, but still no dairy.) When we went out to dinner, the babysitter that stayed with their kids and made vegan cut-outs. To be honest, I was a little unsure, but they were delicious! The recipe was from the cookbook, Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope. I quickly copied down the sugar cookie cut-outs recipe, but then stumbled upon "Magical Coconut Bars." If you really know me, you know I'm all about coconut. This recipe has also been called "Seven Layer Bars" or "Magic Bars." Instead of using butter with the graham cracker crust, you use margarine and instead of sweetened condensed milk, you cook a can of coconut milk and some brown sugar on the stove. Genius!
The day after I got the recipe, I made these magical coconut bars. They're [almost] vegan because I didn't have any margarine, so I used butter to make the crust. That's what happens when you have to make do... and like my Mom always says, "Butter makes it better!"

Supersize Me

I had a request for a bigger owl. I tried to take the smaller owl and double everything, but it didn't work. After some failed attempts, I went online to find another animal that I could turn into an owl. I found a teddy bear; of course I didn't need the arms or legs. The result: Papa Owl!

I made another small owl to show you how much bigger we got.  I hope that the little boy this is a Christmas present for, loves him as much as I loved making him.

Deck the halls ...or door

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I said that I was going to be making some banners for the holidays. There's a set of large wood type at the Printing and Book Arts studio, and I knew they would be perfect! Each letter is printed on a 4.25" x 5.5" piece of 100% recylced cardstock. Each letter is strung together with various festive ribbons (red, green, silver and gold). I hope these banners help to bring cheer, joy and hope this season.

Grandma's Slipper Pattern

You will need 3 colors, a H hook (or larger to obtain the correct gauge; 16 sc = ~4")
This pattern is for a Ladies' size 7-9. I used an F hook and it made a size 6.

Motif A (make 2):
With MC, ch 5. Join with sl st to first ch to form a ring.
1st rnd: Ch 4 (counts as tr). Work 17 tr in ring. Join with sl st to top of ch 4. 18 tr. Fasten off.
2nd rnd: Join B with sl st to any tr. Ch 2. (Yoh and draw up a loop) twice in same st. Yoh and draw through 4 loops on hook. Yoh and draw through rem 2 loops on hook - counts as cluster. *Ch 1. (Yoh and draw up a loop) 3 times in next tr. Yoh and draw through 6 loops on hook. Yoh and draw through rem 2 loops on hook - cluster made. Red from *around, ending with ch 1. Join with sl st to top of ch 2. Fasten off.
3rd rnd: Join A with sl st to any ch-1 sp. Ch 3 (counts as dc). 1 dc in same sp. *5 dc in next ch-1 sp. (2 dc in next ch-1 sp) twice. Rep from *4 times more. 5 dc in next ch-1 sp. 2 dc in last ch-1 sp. Join with sl th to top of ch 3.
4th rnd: Ch 1. 1 sc in same sp as last sl st. 1 sc in each of the next 3 dc. 3 sc in next dc. *1 sc in each of the next 8 dc. 3 sc in the next dc. Rep from * to last 4 dc1 sc in each of the last 4 dc. Join with sl st to first sc. Fasten off.

Motif B (make 4):
With MC, ch 5. Join with sl st to first ch to form a ring.
1st rnd: Ch 4 (counts as tr). Work 17 tr in ring. Join with sl st to top of ch 4. 18 tr. Fasten off.
2nd rnd: Join B with sl st to any tr. Ch 2. (Yoh and draw up a loop) twice in same st. Yoh and draw through 4 loops on hook. Yoh and draw through rem 2 loops on hook - counts as cluster. *Ch 1. (Yoh and draw up a look) 3 times in next tr. Yoh and draw through 6 loops on hook. Yoh and draw through rem 2 loops on hook - cluster made. Rep from *around, ending with ch 1. Join with sl st to top of ch 2. Fasten off.
3rd rnd: Join A with sl st to any ch-1 sp. Ch 3 (counts as dc). 1 dc in same sp. *5 dc in next ch-1 sp. (2 dc in next ch-1 sp) twice. Rep from *4 more times. 5 dc in next ch-1 sp. 2 dc in last ch-1 sp. Join with sl st to top of ch 3.
4th rnd: Ch 1. 1 sc in same sp as last sl st. 1 sc in each of the next 5 dc. *3 sc in next dc (corner made). 1 sc in each of the next 8 sts. Rep from * twice more. 3 sc in next st. 1 sc in each of the next 14 sts. 3 sc in next st. 1 sc in each of the next 3 sts. Join with sl st to first sc. Fasten off.
Sew motifs along with the diagram.

Sole:

1st rnd: Beg at center back heel seam, join MC with sl st. Ch 1. 1 sc in same sp. Work 1 sc in back loop of each sc around. Join with sl st in first sc. 80 sc.
2nd rnd: Ch 1. 1 sc in first sc. Draw up a loop in each of next 2 sc. Yoh and draw through all loops on hook - sc2tog made. (1 sc in next sc. Sc2tog) twice. 1 sc in each of next 19 sc. (Sc2tog. 1 sc in next sc) 8 times. 1 sc in each of next 19 sc. (Sc2tog. 1 sc in next sc) 3 times. Join with sl st to first sc. 66 sc.
3rd rnd: Ch 1. 1 sc in each sc around. Join with sl st to first sc.
4th rnd: Ch 1. (1 sc in next sc. Sc2tog) 3 times. 1 sc in each of next 12 sc. (Sc2tog. 1 sc in next sc) 8 times. 1 sc in each of next 12 sc. (Sc2tog. 1 sc in next sc) 3 times. Join with sl st to first sc. 52 sc.
5th rnd: As 3rd rnd.
6th rnd: Ch 1. (1 sc in next sc. Sc2tog) twice. 1 sc in each of next 11 sc. (Sc2tog. 1 sc in next sc) 6 times. 1 sc in each of next 11 sc. (Sc2tog. 1 sc in next sc) twice. Join with sl st to first sc. 42 sc.
7th rnd: Ch 1. (1 sc in next sc. Sc2tog) twice. 1 sc in each of next 9 sc. (Sc2tog. 1 sc in next sc) 4 times. 1 sc in each of next 9 sc. (Sc2tog. 1 sc in next sc) twice. Join with sl st to first sc. 34 sc. Fasten off. Sew flat sole seam.

(This pattern is a Bernat pattern. I didn't make this pattern; I can't take the credit. I just copied on here to make it easier to follow. The original pattern can be found at http://www.bernat.com/pattern.php?PID=4739&cps=21191 .)

If you make a pair, send me a picture of them and I'll post it for everyone to see!