what i've been up to

repost for creative me monday! i don't have anything current to share for this week, so i'm linking up this old post. the necklace at the bottom that i made for my mom is still one of my favorite necklaces i've ever made!

i thought i'd catch you up on the crafting things i've been doing. i made a couple more buntings. they were really fun to design. and, i had my first sale! a friend of mine saw the buntings that i did for my nieces and she wanted me to make one for her daughter! she used it as a decoration for the birthday party and then hung it in her daughter's bedroom. i also have been working on some jewelry and perfecting my felt flowers. i attached my first pin backing. not a hard thing, i know. but, it was something i had never done before!

warning: you are about to see lots of pictures. :)

this first bunting was for my niece who turned 8 this past fall. she loves fashion, art and flowers. i drew the letters free hand, directly onto the felt, and then cut them out.

the finished project

the 'fashion' circle. i free hand drew the dress. i did a little hand embroidery and used a button for the belt detail.

the 'art' circle. i did some hand embroidery on this one as well.

the 'floral' circle. loved this one.

this next one is the bunting i did for my friend. it was a little more involved. the colors she chose were the colors she was using for the party. light pink, hot pink and bright orange. the theme of the party was princess/make up. she asked for the picture circles to be a princess crown, a lipstick, and a butterfly. and, she wanted to know if i could add some sparkle somehow. i said, 'sure!'. here is the final result.

oh, and note: if you buy glitter paint, be sure to buy more than one! i bought the glitter paint at joanns. i ran out and needed another bottle. they didn't have any more!! the packaging had changed and they didn't have the same colors!! i went to 5 different stores before i finally found the 'old' box at walmart. so, buy a backup just in case!

with this one,  i wanted to pick a 'princessy' looking font. i found a font online that i really liked, enlarged it, printed it out and  then traced the letters onto the felt. 

the 'princess' circle. i found a picture of a crown online to use as a reference and then freehand drew this crown onto the felt. i added sparkle and orange by sewing orange crystal beads on and using glitter paint along the bottom.

the 'make up' circle. again, i added the detail with the glitter paint. *sparkle*

the 'butterfly' circle.  i used the orange glitter paint around the wings and the orange crystals down the center  for detail and even more sparkle. :)

after i did this bunting, i had extra material left over and decided to make sophia a headband for a fun little extra happy birthday present.

i was really happy with the way it turned out.

i had my daughter try it on to make sure it would be a good fit.

onto christmas presents! i had plans to make a skirt using the circle skirt tutorial from dana over at made and a supplies roll up (the next lesson in my online sewing class) that would be filled with colored pencils and a little sketch book for my nieces. the night before i was going to have to mail these gifts (yes, i am a procrastinator), my sewing machine stopped working. i did everything i knew how to do to fix it, but it was a no go.  so, i made them cute little bracelets with matching earrings. i didn't take pictures because i was freaked out about the change of plans and having to get the gifts mailed out, blah, blah, blah. they were cute and the girls loved them and they know that as soon as my machine is fixed, i'll be making them their other things. we're just extending the christmas present happiness, right?

ok, the gifts i did make. last year for christmas i bought a jewelry making book and for her gift, i told my mom to pick something out of it and i would make i for her. she starred a bunch of stuff and said she'd be happy with whichever one i chose and i'd know for future gift giving what she'd want. i love my mom. :) i made one for her birthday and for christmas i picked another one of the pieces she had starred. (she really loves when i make her jewelry. for real.) for this necklace, i wire wrapped each stone by hand. and, the design is slightly different than the one in the book. in the book, it's only one strand, but when i tried it on, it felt like it was too long to be by itself so i added the second strand of wire wrapped stones. it is a little heavy, but my mom loved it.

 the necklace

the matching earrings. my mom loves matching sets.

and last, but certainly not least, the flower pins for my lovely sister-in-law, gina. i made her three pins and a pair of earrings. i forgot to take a picture of the earrings, but i loved the way turned out so much that i'm going to make another pair just like them for myself! the flower pins were really fun and pretty easy to make. the poinsettia looking one, was hot glued, the other two were sewn. the centers of each of the flowers are buttons. i cannot find the link to the tutorial for the gray flower. i apologize. i found it a long time ago and now can't find it again. the navy flower is just a smaller version of the gray, but i scalloped the petals for a slightly daintier look. the tutorial for the big flower in the middle can be found here.

i think they turned out so pretty. 

i showed these to friend of mine and she liked them so much she wanted me to make some for her to give as christmas presents! isn't it fun to know that other people appreciate the work that you do? it's also, for me, an affirmation. i do good work. people like what i do. i am creative.

well, that gets you all caught up with my craftiness. hopefully there will be lots more to come in the new year!  happy crafting!!!