YAY Cricut!!

Been working with the Cricut. Looked at a lot of videos on youtube. Finally decided to start a canvas with the word create on it and various flowers and yeah... After cutting many, many, many, MANY, trials on regular paper, I decided to go with my good paper. Wasn't totally happy with it so I put it on hold.

While I was searching youtube, I found THIS!!

I was speechless. Had to buy it. Been playing with it all day. I love that it uses any font that you have on your computer. Being a graphic artist, fonts are VERY important to me. They make or break a project.

Here is the first thing I did with the new software

 

I'm so so so excited!! I can't wait to get back to my big project. I also have a book of  clip art that I think will work with the new software.

And my beautiful boy Milo decided to join me

And yes, his eyes really are that color. they change from orange to yellow ochre to a light green. Really odd.

Happy Crafting!!

My new Cricut

My hubby bought me a Cricut Expressions for Christmas. I have been a little intimidated about opening it up... IDK why, I just am. I think the instruction manual was the biggest reason I hadn't opened it. I am one of those people that do better watching then reading. But today I decided today was the day. So I opened up the box and discovered a DVD inside. Ok, I thought, let's see what this thing can do. I popped the DVD into my computer and sat through the 39 minute instruction DVD. Now I'm excited and can't wait to give it a try. I will update again when I get going on my newest creation.

Wall Hanging

More Mod Podge!! I covered a B with some of my favorite fabric to hang in the dining room. It was quick and easy.

The letter B I bought at the local Hobby Lobby. I think it said it was MDF. Can't remember tho. The fabric is from a pack of fat quarters I bought. I used about a quarter of the fat quarter.

I used a light coat of MP on the front, so it wouldn't leak thru the fabric and make it darker.  I had to cut the fabric in places to make the fold around the curves. The white in the photo is the still wet Mod Podge. I put quite a lot on the back to make sure it was super sealed.

The finished B!!! I am going to attach a ribbon to the back and use that to hang it with. It was a fast and easy project.

Happy Crafting!!

Mod Podge

Years ago, I Mod Podged some dried flower petals (that came from my garden) onto a photo box. It looked pretty nice then. Cut to now, and the petals have turned brown and chipped away. So I thought I would Mod Podge fabric over it.

Top of the box.

First I Mod Podged the top of the box. I let it get good and dry.

The dark streaks is from the Mod Podge being too thick in places and soaking thru the fabric. I ended up putting a couple of layers of MP to seal it and get rid of the streaks. Unfortunately, this also darkened the fabric.

I then did the sides. I folded the fabric like you would a present and made sure the fabric went all the way over, into the inside of the lid for a more finished look. I then put a couple of coats on to seal it all up.

TA-DA!!! Finished! The top bubbled up a little in some places. I'm not sure if that's because I didn't use enough MP to glue it to the top or if I didn't smooth it down enough. But all in all, not a bad job. And it definitely looks better then it did lol. Now I have 5 more to do lol.







Happy Crafting!!

Quick Post

Have a lot of cleaning to do today. And the cats (or should I say Scat) is being bad today, jumping on the counters and being underfoot. It always puts me in a mood. But I found something in a cabinet that I can't wait to share!! Soooooo excited! I will take pics later and post :)

Fail

I forgot to blog about another cat toy that I made the same day as the Tube o'Nip lol. The problems I went thru trying to make it was only part of the fail. Continue reading to get the Epic Fail.

I wanted to make a little cat toy that they could bat around and toss into the air and do whatever with. So I got the idea to make a little cat head toy. I went to my computer and started to draw it up. Unfortunately on my laptop, the only "graphics" program I have is Paintshop or whatever the hell its called. I have a degree in graphic design, so I'm use to nicer graphics programs. It took me awhile to figure out the rudimentary tools. I finally got my cat head to look how I wanted. I went to print it out and low and behold.... the print screen couldn't find my printer. Long story short, I had to uninstall and the reinstall my printer. Thank god I had only installed it the other day so I still had the disk handy.

So I got it printed out, and of course it was too big. I reduced it. Too small. Tried 2 more times until I got the size I wanted. *WHEW* Printed it and cut it out.

I traced it onto my fabric and cut it out. Sewed it up. Had trouble at the ears when I turned it right side out, but I used the back end of my marking pen so it wasn't too bad. Poured some cat nip into it and stuffed it with stuffing.I even did a decent job of whip stitching the top :)

 

I liked it so much I made another. This time I didn't fill it with as much stuffing.

 

Yes, those are the fabrics I used on a sleep mask and my hubby's Kindle. Gotta reuse those scraps!!

 

Mojo really liked it. He's behind my ironing board pouncing on it lol.

Now comes the Epic Fail. I went to work for a few hours on Saturday. When I got back home, this is what I saw.

 

Yep, the toy was ripped open at the seam and all the stuffing was pulled out!! I almost cried lol. So now I have to figure out a way to make it stronger. That's where mom comes in. Thankfully she has a lot of knowledge in sewing and is a really great sewer herself. She made a lot of clothes for me when I was little. 

So remember kids, not everything you do will work out the way you want. For me, life has always been about trial and error. I guess that goes to crafting too. I will let you know if this Epic Fail gets resolved.

Until then, happy crafting!

Pig-Pig

I made a new critter today. It's a pig lol. Not too many issues sewing it. The biggest issue is I cut the ears wrong and then I had trouble sewing the corrected ears on. Let's get to the pics!

I used a cream colored sock for the nose and a pinkish sock with a purple cuff for the body.

 

I have a book for making these animals and the instructions aren't always clear. But I worked my way thru it. Had to take an hour break because of frustration with the ears. But after that everything went pretty smoothly.

Happy Crafting!!

Tank Top

I am going to attempt the Cut Sew & Go tank top today (I think). It's a really cold and snowy day here in Ohio so making something meant for summer seems a little ridiculous to me lol. If not, I will make another critter, this one for my niece.

New Craft!!

I started making what I've been calling Critters. They are stuffed animals made out of socks. I love making their cute little faces. That's when they COME TO LIFE!! lol

They start off with a sock. I really like the socks with the color block heels and toes. The heels (depending on the size of the sock) can become either the face (child's sock) or in this case, the belly.

This is the adult sized sock I started with.  I have a book on making sock creatures so I followed the instructions on cutting out my sock.

I will save you the boring details. I noticed some of my blogs have gotten quite long winded. I sewed the critter by hand and added stuffing. Then came the fun part... making the face!! I had a little trouble of course. After I drew the face on with a watercolor marker, I threaded my needle with thick thread. In order to hide the knots, you are suppose to come up thru the area where you stuffed the critter. (I've been calling it the butt lol) My needle wasn't long enough to reach all the way up to the head. I had to squish the little guy down pretty flat and grab the needle with my teeth and pull it out that way. 

I started on the nose and got all the way down to the bottom. The instructions said to make a french knot at the end. Having never made a french knot, I didn't realize that I was too far away from the bottom of the nose. The hubby said it looked like Critter had snot running down his face lol.

I ended up using my seam ripper and starting over. Didn't like my second nose either. Third time I got a good, snot free nose lol. Then I stitched in the mouth and eyes. Here is the completed critter.

And a close up of the face. Sorry it's blurry but I don't think I did half bad.

And Scat has found a new friend.

Happy Crafting!!

New Project

I have a new project to attempt. It's a Cut... Sew... & Go! Cost $14.99 and I got mine at Joann Fabrics. It's a cute little tank. Can't wait to try it!!

And I thought I would show you a cute pics of my boys. I hope you aren't sick of seeing them lol.

 

Until later... Toodles!!

6 Crafty Cats

Kindle Sleeve

I finally figured out what I want to call my newest project. It's a Kindle Sleeve. lol. The hubby wanted one to protect the Kindle that I bought him for Christmas. He said he felt bad putting it into his messenger bag without any protection since it could slide around in the pocket with his pens and wallet and papers. I really had fun with this project, it was the first one that I didn't use some sort of pattern or instructions on, I just used my brain :)

First I measured the dimensions of the Kindle. Then I doubled the length, and added 4 inches for the flap.

Looks high-tec doesn't it lol.

So I cut the fabric and batting to my measurements.

Only problem was that I didn't cut my lines straight. Everything sort of leaned to the left (sings that Beyonce song) When I put my fabrics together, the edges didn't meet up. So I hunted down a metal ruler and squared off my fabric from the edge.

The black line is my new squared off rectangle. You can see how far off I was.  With that done, I got off to work!

 

Sewing went really well. No really big problems there. The problem came when I layed the Kindle on the sleeve to see how much room it had. Remember when I said I had to square it up? Well that took valuable space off my measurements. It was a really tight fit.

Not much room to sew the sides together. So now what? Do I scrap all my hard work and start over? Or do I soldier on? I talked to the hubby and he said I should keep going. And that's what I did (thank you babe for having faith in me) I conjured up my inner Tim Gun and "Made It Work"

I wasn't sure if I could even get the sleeve under my pressure foot. Once I doubled the fabric to create the pocket it was so thick, I had to wiggle it under the foot. But I got it to work. I slowly sewed up the sides (sorry no pic showing how close to the edge I was) The sewing machine did freak out on me twice, stopping dead in its tracks and cursing at me in its beeping language. I just manually raised the needle and continued on.

I finally finished it!! It is extremely snug, I must admit. Took quite a bit of work to wiggle the Kindle down.

After I took the Kindle out, I added a velcro closure that I hand sewed on. I only went thru the top layer of fabric so you wouldn't see the stitches when the flap was closed. And the second time we wiggled the Kindle into the sleeve, it wasn't as snug as the first. So hopefully with use it will get easier and easier.

The husband loves it and can't wait to show his friends at work. lol. I guess that's all that really matters :)

I am considering making some and trying to sell them on Etsy.com. I am TheGoddessEnyo if you want to look for me once I get things to sell. I'm also going to put my sleep masks up.

Thanks and happy crafting!!

6 Crafty Cats

Finally Finished

I finally finished the sleep masks that my Mom embroidered the other day! A few kinks along the way, but that's just par for the course for me lol. Ok lets get to it!!

First things first. This is why I call the blog 6 Crafty Cats. I can't do anything without a few of them wanting to know what I'm doing. See the following pics:

This is Scat. He's 15 and probably the friendliest little guy you'll ever meet. Here he is laying on my sewing machine cover. The second I pulled out my chair, he jumped on it and ran his fat butt over and plopped himself down lol. Here is another shot from my vantage point:

As I'm getting ready to work, another cat Poo came up to me. He likes to sit there and meow at me. If he doesn't get to see what I'm doing, he will pester me until he does. Here he is sniffing my scissors:

It's never boring here lol.

I started out by making marks on my pattern to line up the elastic and to keep future projects consistent.

I then sewed my first mask, the zebra print. Everything went surprisingly well, at first... When I was finished and was turning the mask inside out, I discovered I made the opening a little too small, making turning right side out difficult. No biggie, I managed to get it turned.

Sorry for the blurry pic. I hope you can see it ok. My camera sucks at closeups.

I was smoothing the seams and feeling quite proud of myself. And that's when I noticed... a slight puckering (for lack of a better word) in the nose area. The fabric wasn't laying flat and was folded over. Like this:

Kind of hard to see it but if you look really close into the curve I think you can make it out. As I got up, voicing my opinion with a lot of 4 letter words, another cat showed up in my chair:

This is Mojo. He's about 3 now. He came in from outside as a little stray that showed up with another stray that I had been feeding. He's a shy little guy and does not like kisses lol.

I took a break, went out, had dinner with the hubby and thought about the puckered mask. I remembered seeing somewhere a diagram about cutting seams on a curve. You cut little triangle points up to the seams. So I thought I would try it. Couldn't hurt right? Well..... IT WORKED!!! *Happy Dance*

I got up, ran to my husband and showed him. (and did the happy dance again) Upon returning to my work area I saw this:

Here are the 2 masks completed. The zebra print is for a friend's 9 year old daughter. Her room is hot pink and zebra print. The pink leopard print is fro my 6 year old niece. It says "Big Sister". She was so excited to become a big sister in April of 2009. It's hard to read, but since she can't read cursive yet, I wanted a nice pretty font.

Well that was my adventure for the day!!

From Scat and the gang, take care!!

6 Crafty Cats