When did it become June?

So, it's June already. How did that happen? Well with June comes the beginning of summer, though its been hot enough here for months.

But June brings other things as well, including the 30 Days of Creativity Challenge.

I have to say I'm intrigued by this, and very tempted to join in on the fun. The problem is I don't always have time every time to create something, and I feel like I can only count "dinner" so many times. The challenge starts today, and its after 6pm and this is the first chance I've had to even blog, let alone craft. Guess that's why they call it a challenge. :P

Well I may be starting late. But in the meantime, I bought a yard of this fabric for $2 over the weekend, but I still don't know what I want to make with it.

I really like it. I'm thinking something beachy or summery would be good, but I still haven't decided. Any one got any suggestions?

What I Sent

Oh I've been neglectful. I have been running around like a mad person, fighting multiple illnesses and a crazy busy work week(or two) before making it back to all my crafty duties.

I'm still hard at work on my swap items for the Dia de Los Muertos Swap, hoping to finish on Thursday so I can mail Friday. Tuesday is the last day to mail, but thankfully I don't have too much left to do.

I did send all my goodies for the Fabric Scavenger Hunt Swap and my partner received, so I can share with you what I sent her:
 

A reversible sewing machine cover(left) to fulfill something cozy. For senders choice some fabric(top center) and for something green I sent four FQs with green in them(bottom center). Embroidery scissors on a necklace for something sharp(right), and fabric weights for something bumpy(right).

The sewing machine cover was tougher to make than I anticipated. I read a couple of tutorials on it, looked at a couple of patterns and thought, "please its two rectangles sewn together, how hard could that be?!" and then attempted to proceed without a plan, resulting in many errors. Thankfully all were fixable but I wasted a lot of time redoing things because I didn't have a step by step plan. It's still a super simple project, though, and I'm planning to make one for myself, probably with a tutorial for you, sharing all that I've learned. :)

As for the fabric I sent, you'll see some of that pop up later. I ordered a lot of it online and had to cut my own fat quarters, since most stores won't send them to you that way, so I saved a bit of it for myself. Especially excited about that tea pot fabric.

The package that she sent me in return was absolutely amazing! I've had the pictures on my camera for a while, so I still need to post them, but let me tell you, I was blown away! Everything was perfect for me, she clearly did her homework, and I was especially impressed with the neatness of her sewing, as that's still something I have to work really, really hard on. But that's for another post. In the meantime, I'll be hard at work making ________ and some coordinating _______ ______ for the Dia de los Muertos swap, and hoping I finish in time!

Go and make things -W

PS- go RIGHT NOW to Sew, Mama, Sew's blog page and check out the absolutely amazing giveaways happening all across the internet right now! They started Monday but most are open through Wednesday and some even through Friday. There's some really awesome stuff up for grabs!

Button Mania

Lately I have been completely and totally obsessed with buttons.

I don't really have a button collection, but I'm interested in changing that very very soon. There are some seriously amazing things that people are creating/embellishing with buttons.

This is made entirely out of buttons. How cool is that?!

I've been browsing a new blog, Bonkers About Buttons. As the name suggests it is full of amazing button related projects, and even some tutorials, which is always a plus. Now, while I'm dying to make my own incredible button mosaic, some of the other projects on the blog have me inspired for Mother's Day.

My grandmother collected buttons that now my mother collects. This year for Mother's Day I'd love to make her something that honors both her and her own mother using or displaying some of the more special buttons. Here's some ideas that caught my eye from flickr and craftster.



here



here

There were other button shapes I found as well. Hearts and bunnies and a million others, but I think I like the tree the best so far, unless I can think of another image that means something

special to my mom or grandma. The image on the left is part of a button book. I love that idea too!

Got any other creative ideas?

All Work and No Play

OK, maybe some play. I've been dying to bust out the sewing machine this week thanks to oodles of pretty spring fabric I've been eyeing from my stash. When it comes to sewing projects though, I'm mostly drawn to small-ish things that I can finish in an evening or a weekend, generally while parked in front of the TV. I needed a new fun little something to stitch up- here's what I ended up with:

It's a skinny little wallet, or (and this is totally what I intend to use mine for) a business card holder! I got coordinating fat quarters from the fabric store and some lightweight interfacing and went to town.

This is the outside. Then I decided to modify a little and created a different version:

This one just has the one pocket, and the fabrics for the outside and pocket are reversed. I also used more interfacing on this one to make it a little more sturdy, which I definitely prefer.

On the next one I'd like to add some elastic and loop it around a button so that the folding wallet will stay closed and you can use it for additional things. I can make three or four of these guys (depending on if you go big or small) with just two fat quarters, so its a great stashbusting project as well.

I think they are pretty darn cute, and I definitely plan to make some more, especially since they are done start to finish in about half an hour. Can't beat that!

Introducing Alabaster Farnsworth

No St. Patty's Day crafts for me this year. After working on that dang zombie I never want to see the color green again. Instead, I'll be showing you something so terrible, so gruesome that words can't even decribe!

My what big teeth you have! Actually, they're quite small. I had a lot of fun making this guy at our last CCC night.

One of the ladies got the template from online somewhere, and several of us got caught up in the cuteness and neglected our other projects for our own little felt monster. It was quick and easy too, with good results- my favorite kind of craft. I'm thinking of making another one for the cat with a little surprise nip inside, but maybe I'll make hers a fish.

I'm hard at work on a snarky sampler with a 30 Rock theme- look for some progress photos sometime next week!