Autumn Brooches

Some nights I make things and I feel like I should probably never craft again. I will have to say that last night was definitely NOT one of those nights. Kitsch asked me to teach a class so we decided on Fall Brooch class (to be followed up by a Holly-Day Brooch class in December), in early November. I was kind of cramming to get them done so I could photograph, package and drop off to the shop....which never means a good outcome. Although, I'll have to say I'm pretty happy with the way these cuties came out.

These would make lovely boutineers, brooches or corsages for an Autumn wedding, a nice hostess gift, or cute stocking stuffers for all the ladies in your family. I'd be happy to take custom orders :)

I may make another batch tonight for Glass Gardens to showcase at the Portsmouth Farmer's Market, which is every Saturday at 10 a.m. Stay tuned for class details, or check Kitsch's class schedule for updates.

Thrifty Thursday

Last time I was home I went to visit my Buni. We spent a lot of time catching up and chatting about our current craft projects. I had taken one of my quiet books to work on (which, consequently, no work actually got done) and explained to her my newest felt food creations. I could see her eyes lighting up as we talked, only to find out she had some supplies she was dying to give away.

Lucky for me, it was everything I use (well, except the large glass jar of seashells). Embroidery floss from her sister (which is more than 25 years old), fabric, beads, glue sticks, a random Christmas ornament and more. She tells me she has heaps more in her garage, so maybe we'll go exploring that when the Spring comes around.

Thrifty Thursday

I'm excited to show off my newest creations, which have been handcrafted for a great cause! I was asked to donate some Fairview Place goodies for the Crystal Ball for a Cure silent auction. Since the event is always held at the Oceanfront (this year it's at the Contemporary Art Center in Virginia Beach), we decided to go with an ocean theme. We're putting together a baby basket with lotions, wash clothes and fish-shaped baby toys, along with my handmade ocean-themed quilt and "Ocean Pals" quiet book.

I could not be more honored and ecstatic to be apart of such a great event. I went a few years ago and it's so much fun, now they've given it a Halloween theme and encourage attendees to dress up. If you want to buy a ticket there is still time, check out the details here.

If you'd like to custom order a themed baby quilt or book, please shoot me a message. And don't forget to check out all the handmade goodies over at the shop.

#28: New Embroidery Stitches

Obviously, I do a lot of embroidery. Typically, I only use one kind of stitch, which can get pretty boring. So, I was determined to learn some new stitches this summer to make some more interesting patterns in my books and even on some of my felt food. I consulted my Martha Stewart Encyclopedia (yes, I do own a copy) and started stitching away.

It's actually quite harder than it looks! I love the chain stitch, but definitely need some more practice at that. And I'm thinking the long and short stitch could make a nice design on some of my new felt pastries. I have a long way to go before mastering any of these techniques, but practice makes perfect, I suppose!

I'm tackling the second annual 92 Days of Summer list.
See the full post and list here and comment
if you want to help me cross a off a few!

#79: Photo an Hour

I wanted to do a photo-an-hour project for the Summer list. None of my days are really too exciting so I decided to capture my average Saturday (not spent at the beach). It was quite eventful for the 92 Days of Summer list since I was able to cross off four items. What a day!

 10 a.m. Breakfast and checking email

11 a.m. Picking up the CSA from the 5 Points Farmer's Market and buying a little birthday present for Mike's mom (from a local artist, #58 on the list).

 Noon  Craft Swap at Kitsch, checking off #57 on the list

 1 p.m.  Lunch for Mike and I (BLT for me and turkey and bacon club for him)

2 p.m. Salsa from all the tomatoes I got from the Farmer's Market.

 3 p.m.  The rain arrives and I took a little catnap on the couch

 4 p.m.  Freelance work for Amerigroup... isn't that flow chart sexy?

 5-6 p.m. Daily dose of felt food cutting...

7 p.m.  Dinner from Del Vecchios, if you haven't tried it yet, order immediately!

 8-10 p.m. Million Dollar Listing: L.A. and the Orioles vs. the Indians.

11-Midnight  The felt food is coming to an end for the night.

 

I'm tackling the second annual 92 Days of Summer list.
See the full post and list here and comment
if you want to help me cross a off a few!

Store Update

Have you seen the latest goods at Fairview Place? I've just updated with a few new felt food items that look tasty enough to eat. I've been inspired by some girls over at Kitsch to add pancakes, bacon and eggs to the menu... Oh, and some cookies as well. So, you can imagine what I'll be working on next week. Stay tuned for more felt food goodies in the (very near future).

 heading to the pretend baseball game? don't forget the peanuts!

cheese (pepperjack and cheddar, of course), crackers and sausage for the perfect pretend picnic.

pretend circus? gotta have popcorn!

smaller box of chocolates, for those on a diet ;)

DIY Baby Mobile

I feel like I've become the Queen of Baby Crafts, ha. One project inspires the next and the possibilities become endless. Plus, with all the babies (coming) in our lives, it only seems right to have lots of goodies ready :). My latest project is a baby mobile. I've been wanting to try one of these for a while and although this is a bit of a crude attempt, I'm learning quite a lot about the process.

I'll give you the bare bones of this project, as I'd like to eventually turn this into another Fairview Place custom order item. And, honestly, I'm still working out the kinks so this process isn't full proof quite yet!

What you'll need:

felt
polyfil
ribbon
twine
a wooden wreath
embroidery floss, buttons, needles, thread

What you do:

Cut out your bird. Embroider an eye and designs onto the wings. Sew up your bird (including the ribbon into the top of the bird) and stuff with fiberfil. Repeat six times.

Attach the ribbon to the wreath with a button. Cut leaves from varying green colors and sew onto the ribbon. Tie the twine into big circles in three places on the wreath. With some extra twine, create a loop a the very top to hang the mobile (I'm still working on adjusting the heights of the twine so it hangs straight...).

New at Fairview Place

Click here to see the Color of Outfits book

If you haven't stopped by the shop lately, do it now! I've updated some stock and added new felt books! The Color of Outfits is one of my most favorite books yet! It probably also took the longest to make – but totally worth it.

Click here to see the Forest Friends book.

I'm also trying out a new type of book with no words at all. You can encourage your babes to create their own story, identify colors, count the number of stitches and more. The three new books, Forest Friends, Colors of Outfits and The Wild West are for sale only at Fairview Place.... What are you waiting for? Head over now!

Click here to see The Wild West book.

Thrifty Thursday

It doesn't get much thriftier than getting something for free! My crafting fairy god mother (i.e. Adrienne) sent me a big box of embroidery floss she recently acquired and didn't quite have the use for at the moment. It's lovely, isn't it? I can't wait to get the 127 skeins of floss ordered in my floss organizer - although it might take a few weeks to complete this project!