Urban Street Bazaar this Weekend!

For all of you DFW people, this weekend is the Urban Street Bazaar sponsored by Make: Your Creative Outlet. There will be over 50 indie designers there! Make has had several of these bazaars, but this by far is the largest one yet. I believe that there will be over double the number of booths that were in the June bazaar. I will be going with on Saturday, and will post some pictures next week! Here are all of the details:

Where:
at 2632 Thomas Avenue @ Boll
Dallas, TX 75204

When:
Friday - Saturday - Sunday 9/29 - 10/1 2006
Friday 5:30 - 9pm
Saturday 10am - 9pm
Sunday 11am - 4pm

How Much?
FREE!!!

The Urban Street Bazaar also got posted on Craft Magazine's blog; check it out here.

Travel Bag on Superbuzzy!






My travel bag is officially on Superbuzzy! Check it out here!

I know these aren't craft related, but I thought I would share some of my pictures from Costa Rica. Mike and I went there for our honeymoon in May, and had an amazing time. I would highly recommend traveling there! We stayed on the Pacific Coast side of the country. Here is a lovely view of the Golfo de Papagayo from our hotel lobby:














This is a picture of the large iguana that was sunning itself just outside our room every morning. I affectionately named him Iggy. There are tons of iguanas in Costa Rica--we saw about 10 of them just walking to breakfast each morning. The morning was the best time to spot them. As the days warmed up, they would hide out in the shade.














Here is a picture of the sunset on the second night of our trip. We took a sunset cruise in the gulf, which was organized by our hotel. We saw lots of dolphins on this trip, and even saw a blowfish floating on top of the water. Enjoy!

Bon Voyage Travel Bag

Here is my newest bag! I made this on Saturday morning with some fabric from Superbuzzy, which I just can't seem to get enough of. The fabric is a cotton/linen mix (I think), and has a nice slight stretchiness to it. It has these cute little swirly figures printed on it in red, with an aqua airplane every so often.













So I used a sturdy aqua cotton fabric for the lining, and accented the bag with red pockets on the inside and outside. I think the red and aqua color combination is fun, and sort of unusual. I used red thread for the top-stitching and on the handles, to really bring out the contrast.















Superbuzzy is going to post a picture of this bag on their gallery page! The owners Kelly and Mariko are collecting pictures of items made with their fabrics and displaying them on their website. My Bon Voyage Travel Bag should be up soon--how exciting!! By the way, if you are in the market for some cute Japanese fabric and other sewing accessories, please check them out. They have a great independent business, and have been very kind to all of their customers. I can't wait until my next order gets here!






Bon Voyage!

Tropical Print Purse

I made this purse a few weeks ago, and enjoyed photographing it outside! I think it looks quite cute nestled up against this tree.

Here is a close-up view of the other side of the purse:

My bonus picture for this post is of the sunset last weekend. We went to the Addison Oktoberfest just north of Dallas. You can see some of the tents and attractions in the bottom of this picture, along with a lone balloon floating among the clouds. This sunset was just beautiful--even more so in person. Enjoy!

Christmas 2005 Handmade Presents

Isn't it irritating that stores feel the need to stock their holiday merchandise as soon as Labor Day is over? The holiday season keeps coming earlier each year! Does anyone really have the overwhelming desire to buy tree ornaments or gift wrap in September?! Halloween hasn't even happened yet people!

Well, regardless of how I feel about that, it gets me thinking about what I'm going to make for everyone this year. Here is a picture of the scarves that I made for everyone last year. I made 7 scarves total, for my sister, my stepmom, my sister-in-law, my cousin my brother-in-law, my father-in-law, and my brother-in-law (Those are in order from left to right).

I also made potholder sets for just about everyone I know! I sewed about 45 potholders in all! My friend Monica was a wonderful assistant, as she cut the squares for at least half of these. She was in a mode, and wanted to express herself with a rotary cutter. I think cutting perfect squares appeals to her perfectionist nature! It was fine with me--her help allowed me to make enough for all of my family and my good friends. I now have a distinct groove in my cutting mat at 8 1/2 inches. Here are pictures of the potholders:

















My sister Tracy also requested some more potholders recently, so here is a picture of the set of four I made for her. She likes neutral colors, so I used cream and linen colored fabrics with very soft prints. I took this picture in my photography class at Make, by the way!

Crafting Supplies Bring Happiness!

I have purchased or received lots of new crafting supplies in the past couple of weeks, all of which have lightened my mood after stressful days at work. First, the almost infamous hedgehog fabric from Superbuzzy!!:














I checked the Superbuzzy website patiently every day, knowing that the hedgehog fabric was going to be for sale soon. One morning, there it was! I ordered some right then, and it came in the mail last week. I got these cute little hedgehog buttons as well.

I also went on a felt-buying spree at Michael's last week. I was actually there to buy some more yarn for the blanket I am working on, but couldn't resist stocking up on these felt squares. Felt has the lovely advantage of not needing a seam allowance, and I learned to appreciate this when making my scottie dog. I plan on making some more plushies with this felt, and experimenting on some other projects. What could be better than a rainbow of felt!




This item is definitely in the same league as these! My friend Jennifer gave me this yarn keeper yesterday, and it really made my day. Right now, I'm using a big black bucket to hold my yarn while crocheting, but this will be much more compact and cute. It has a hole in the top lid, and a handle for easy carrying! Thanks so much Jennifer!














Bonus picture!
Here's Sadie again, sitting in the kitchen waiting for Mike to come back inside.

Cute and Easy-to-Make Baby Hats

It seems that I am at the age where everyone I know is having babies! Of course, I like to help new parents out by sending them stuff from their baby registry, but I can't just stop at shopping. I have to give them something handmade too! Hence, these very cute little baby hats! I used a modification of this pattern on the Bev's Country Cottage website. Instead of using single crochet, I used double crochet in both the front and back loops. This website also has a head size chart, where you can adjust the circumference of your hat from preemie size on up to adult size. The basic rule is to make the circumfence 1 to 1 1/2 inches smaller than the person's/child's head.


For the pink hat, I added a row of single crochet in seafoam green yarn for edging, and a flower in the same color. I used the free pattern at this blog, which also includes another type of flower and a butterfly applique. I made this pink hat for a coworker of mine that had a baby over the summer--I made the blue hat below for the son of my cousins-in-law, and the yellow hat for our friends' baby.











There are hundreds of free crochet, knit, and sewing patterns for baby items out there on the internet, and these items are wonderful for giving to charities. Here is a link of charities in the US where you can donate handmade items to. Most of the major hospitals also take newborn and preemie hats for their neonatal units.

Bonus Picture!

Here is my dog Sadie looking oh so cute! She is carrying a soft bone toy that I made for her out of fleece. Enjoy!

Bright Crochet Washcloths

Here are a couple of crochet washcloths that I've made recently. Washcloths are a nice project because you can try out a new pattern or technique, and finish a project quickly. This first one is from the Spring Shells washcloth pattern from the online magazine Crochet Me. This link also shows you how to crochet a matching bath fizzy bag, but I haven't tried that out yet. Sorry for the dark pictures, but these were taken before I learned my new tricks from the product photography class at Make!














This washcloth is the Bumped Shells Dishcloth pattern from the JP Fun Crochet Club website.

Both of these patterns were easy to follow and taught me something new!
I hope you all are enjoying the Labor Day weekend! Happy crafting!

Crochet Grocery Bag Dispenser and Beer Cozy


The only thing better than knowing how to crochet is knowing how to crochet things that are actually useful! There are only so many scarves that one can make before thinking, "What can I make that I can use all year round?" Here are two projects that I finished a couple months ago that fulfill that need to be practical! First, here a grocery bag dispenser that I made on in one evening while watching TV. The pattern is available for free here from The Crochet Dude. He had the ingenious idea of using two ponytail holders: one for the ring at the top, and one at the bottom to pull the bags through. This worked very well. I did add more single crochet stitches around the top ring than he called for in the pattern, just so the ponytail holder wouldn't show through.

Here is a picture of the grocery bag dispenser (aka dog poop pick-up bags) in action! I used Lily Sugar and Cream cotton yarn, and for the beer cozy too.

Here is a picture of the beer cozy that I made, using variegated cotton yarn. I found the pattern at The Midnight Knitter's site here. This pattern worked up very quickly too.

By the way, that is my lovely husband in the background there, holding the beer can!

Happy crocheting!

Coziest Red Shawl...Finished in the Hottest Month of the Year!

I just finished this red shawl last week or so, and I am really happy with it! I used the pattern from Cool Crochet by Melissa Leapman (another crafty Melissa!). The pattern was very easy to use--I find her patterns to be well-written and easy to understand. And yes, I am modeling this shawl outside in Texas, and it was about 103 degrees (40 degrees C)! It has been 100 degrees (38 degrees C) or more every day this month except one! Wool yarn + oppressive heat = sweaty Melissa! Mike took these pictures pretty quickly!

Here is a close-up of the diamond pattern:

And here is a close-up of the edging:

Hope you like it!

Lovely Crochet Dolls from the Avocadolite Farm









I found these incredible cute crochet amigurumi dolls from the Avocadolite Farm recently. The owner of this site, Thalia, creates and sells a variety of these small dolls. But I have to say, these two Japanese girl dolls are my favorite!















Flower Dog Arrangements!!














I found these on Merwing's Blog--they are so cute! These would be a great gift someone's birthday in October (hint, hint, Mike!!). Browse Merwing's blog while you are there--she makes amazing stuffed animals and creates wonderful art!

Happy Birthday Monica!

My friend Monica is celebrating her birthday today! I made her this lovely sunglasses case that I think she will enjoy! I found a quick tutorial on the Craftster forums here . I hope she likes it! (I also hope she doesn't check my blog in the next hour before I give it to her!!) Best wishes to Monica for another wonderful year!

Little Pink Purse



Here is a little pink purse that I made last month. It is about 5.5" tall and about 8" wide. The outside fabric is a pink and brown tweed, and the inside is a pink denim. I also put a teeny-tiny pocket on the inside with the tweed fabric!


I took these great pictures of my little pink purse at the Product Photography Class at Make in Dallas
This class went over the basics of taking more professional-looking pictures of your products if you are selling them, as well as how to edit pictures using photo editing software. The class went over lighting techniques, and even showed me how to use features on my own digital camera! I finally found out what that button with the tulip icon is for! (It allows you to put your camera lens extremely close to your item and still focus.)

At this class, I also met a great DIY-er here is Dallas who makes beautiful jewelry. Check out her website!

Jack Sparrow Doll



I found this great amigurumi doll on the Craftster website here!
It was created by a gal named Amy, whose shop is here,
and whose blog is here.

The details on this doll are what make it amazing! She is so talented! I just ordered some patterns from Roxycraft to make an attempt at my first crocheted doll--we'll see how it goes.

By the way, Mike and I saw Pirates of the Carribean 2 a couple of weeks ago. I'm not a big movie-watcher, so it takes quite a bit to get me to the movie theater! We both enjoyed it, although not quite as much as the first one. The action and special effects definitely overshadowed the characters. Without giving anything away, I will say that when it ends, you know that there will be a third movie!

Scottie Dog

My first plushie! I got this pattern from Jenny at the Allsorts Blog (click here for the pattern and pictures of her scotties).















This is my first real attempt at a stuffed animal, and I am very happy with it. I used felt, two small red buttons, and red embroidery thread. The heart on the scotty bum was my own original creation. All of the sewing was done by hand! My technique could use a little improvement, but I think it's not bad for the first time. The pattern was very easy to use too. If you are interested, check out the Allsorts Blog--she has tons of cute crafts there.

Enjoy!

Greetings!

My name is Melissa, and this is my first attempt at a blog here in the internet universe. I have been perusing many crafty and artistic blogs for new ideas and tutorials, and thought to myself, "Hey, I should do that!" I then obsessed for a week or two about what to call this blog, since it needed to be something that encompassed my love for sewing, crochet, creativity, and craftiness. And here we are! I am hoping to use this blog as forum for posting my completed projects, sharing ideas, and passing along the great things that other crafty women are doing!

So, for my inaugural post, I would like to share with you some of my favorite websites!

Whip Up: handcraft in a hectic world

There are about 25 or so contributors to this great site that is updated pretty much every day. They post ideas about every craft imaginable, including sewing, jewelry, ceramics, crochet, knitting...the list continues. The site is a great resource for tutorials, as the contributors search them out on the web, and conveniently link them for you. As soon as I figure out all of the features on my blog, I will definitely be linking them!

Crochet Me Magazine

Founded by Kim Piper Werker, this is one of the best crochet sites I have found! The patterns are modern and funky, and are free! The online magazine is updated quarterly, and you can sign up for the free emails.

Savvy Seams

Savvy Seams has free sewing patterns, including bags, headbands, oven mitts and cozies. She also has a great assortment of links and resources.

Craftster

Craftster is one of the best and most well-known craft sites out there. Check out the forums for ideas, tutorials, and pictures of craftiness!

I will be posting lots of pictures soon! Hope you'll stop by again!