annaramma

Back from Vegas

I had a decidedly uncrafty vacation this week.  I gambled (and broke even), drank more than my share of vodka, shopped, wandered and enjoyed the spectacle. 

To sum up:
- Planet Hollywood is all bright and sparkly.
- There are a lot of waiters named Dan (I had two in the same restaurant).
- I am not a born gambler.
- I don't understand the lure of a yard-long margarita in winter, even if it is just 99 cents.
- I want these shoes.
- I could easily become a regular at Red Square. 
- Ice T and CoCo are remarkably normal people.  They were going through the buffet without any entourage or attitude. 

. . . and to all a good night!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Rainbow Pointy Kitty

Made from this pattern, Rainbow Pointy Kitty is making her way to Indiana.  Though not quite a swap, it was my Secret Quonsar gift.  I hope the recipient likes it.

It's a simple little pattern and a fun one to sew up.  Next time I'll probably do a different color for the face, or maybe the underbelly.  As always, I could have stuffed her a bit more.  But I was worried about bursting her seams.  Next time I'll go with even finer stitches. 

Apparently other crafters like the pattern, there's a Pointy Kitty Flickr group with all kinds of great ideas.  Just look at this little one.

My flock

This was my worktable during the height of my craft panic this month.  You can see my little partridges as works in progress, I like the fully hand-sewn ones the best.  The machine-sewn ones just don't have the same little crimpy edges.

You can also see this pattern hiding in the background.  My Pointy Kitty is made from rainbow fabric, felt and little rhinestone eyes.  Ooh blingy!  She's going to be a Secret Santa gift, so shhhhhhhhh!

Softie Soft

On top of all the craziness of Christmas, I had a baby shower to plan.  So, amid the poinsettias and chocolate Santas I picked up two dozen pink and green balloons.  Then there was the super-rich and chocolately cake.  Ooh, it was so good!

I also really enjoyed making the baby blanket.  It was a breeze and the little tabbies really make it unique.  I loooove the minkie backing too.  It's so soft, it's like you can't even feel it.  I had to keep it out of Nikita's reach, otherwise she was going to claim it as her own.

Oh, and check out the adorable zooriffic print!

Christmas for reals

It's now officially Christmas at my house.  The tree is up, treats are made, cookies are planned and gifts are being wrapped. 

I'm still on the fence about my new LED lights. They're missing the magenta light and I kinda miss it. Why LED makers? Why did you forsake the magenta light?

Bling!

If you're reading this, you probably enjoy glitter.  Maybe you've even considered the purchase of a bedazzler, used puff paints or thought "just one more sequin." 

Assuming all this is true, I'm thinking you're going to want to visit Mitch O'Connell's site and check out the Glitter Graphix over there. Go ahead, I'll wait . . .

Aren't those excellent?  Does the kitchy goodness get any better? 

No, fortheloveofpinkpoodles, it does not!

Get the EFF out!

This is just too much.  Way way way too much!  It's a doggie shrug!  And it's called Cables & Bits (from Knitty)!

Now I have been known to dress up my pup and she has been known to look adorable, but this has us beat.  What's more, the dogs actually look pretty darn happy and carefree.  None of them have that hang-dong "just take the picture" look, they're rockin' these fashionable little sweaters.

But will a make one for La Chienne?  Heck no!  Why, you ask?  Because I have come to the realization that I am not a knitter.  I can knit, I have knit, but it is not my bag, baby.  I think there's just too long to wait for results.  Once you're done, it might not even be what you expected.  Even worse, it might not fit and then you have to frog it and that's just depressing. 

No, like goldsmithing or plumbing, I'll leave it to the experts.

Chocolate, Vanilla & Strawberry

So we've talked about Neapolitan before and here it is popping up again. 

I had my card all ready for its recipient, my friend T.  T loves Neapolitan colors, although I don't think she likes the actual flavors that much (I know she does not like these).  So she needed the perfect wrapping to go along with the perfect card. 

Using, plain brown wrapping paper and leftovers from past wrappings I think I came up with a pretty little package.  Yes, I am one of those people who squirrels away pretty pieces of paper, ribbon and tissue to use later.  In fact, I was caught putting the bow and polka dot paper in my purse.  "We see you Anne, you're going to save that aren't you!?" 

And so I did!

Ooh, that reminds me!  I think it's sweet to save the wrappings from gifts and use them to make thank you notes. 

P.S. I was always one of those kids who ate the strawberry first (it was my least favorite), then alternated between the chocolate and vanilla. 

P.P.S. Some of the best papers I find are the patterns from inside greeting card envelopes.  Start looking, you'll catch the sickness too!

Am I bugging you?

This may be ooky for some people, but I absolutely love these insect mosaics from Form and Pheremone.  I don't see any prices on the works, but I would seriously consider buying any one of them.   

They remind me that I've been thinking about taking an insect mounting class at Paxton Gate.  I did some displays in high school, but I would love to try it again.  I think it would be especially fun with beautiful species, houseflies aren't nearly as glamorous. 

It also reminds me that I can  only imagine the patience required of Henry Dalton while creating his microscopic scenes.  He had to be a little bit crazy to enjoy making those pieces.  Leave it to the Museum of Jurassic Technology to have just the biographic information I was looking for. 

Baby it's cold outside!

It was pretty chilly for a bath night, but Nikita made do with her heated towel and cozy fleece blanket. Yeah, it's a rough life. 

Sugar Overload

So, my friend K invited me for a cookie, tree, gingerbread house decorating extravaganza.  She's German so she's all about the icing and candies and chocolate and gingerbread and over 400 cookie cutters and special German Christmas books and and and . . .!

It was a full-on childhood regression sugar freak-out and I loved every minute of it.  There were toddlers, parents, dogs toys, decorations and candy EVERYWHERE!  It was fabulous tasty chaos and somewhere along the way we managed to make:

- gingerbread stars
- butter cookies with stained glass (jolly rancher) windows
- gingerbread trees with crazy green icing
- marzipan fruits
- marzipan cookies
- a gingerbread train
- a gingerbread house (my very first!)
- a wonderful sticky mess

Both Nikita and I needed a nap after all that!

99 problems . . .

. . . but an octopus ain't one.*

I'm sure this will be all over the craft universe, but I just had to post it.  The full story is here and here. 

A lovely crafty grandma in Missouri made her 94 grandchildren their own personal octopuses, plus five for her own tree.  Even better, she does this every year with a different handmade ornament.

It would be a great heart-warming story no matter what, but it's all the better since those octopuses are out of control cute.  I just purchased the pattern from futuregirl, because now I can't imagine my Christmas tree without one!

*My apologies to Jay-Z

Good stuff

I HEART knickknacks.  I can't help it, there's just this grandma side of me that longs to fill every horizontal surface with adorable little (and not-so-little) things.  Here's a list of all the tchotchkes that are tempting me.

Elegant and Personalized Signature vases by Frank Tjepkema.  Watch out!  His site will give you a seizure!

Adorable vintage measuring cups on eBay.  They stack to make a little beehive!  Cute but not too cute!  Worthy of three exclamation points!

It has a function, but the form is what I love.  The Propello Minimalist Desktop Fan is so clean and simple with a small footprint.  Would I love it more in red, or maybe orange?  Yes, yes I would.

The cutey cute I, Grobot from Brooklyn 5 and 10.   Poking around on their site, there's all kinds of awesome stuff.  I love grab bag sites like that.  You could find something to satisfy almost any taste or oddity. 

A puffy cartoony toadstool lamp.

TV lamps, TV lamps and more TV lamps!

P.S. I love these photos that I found on Flickr.  It looks like she found a knickknack jackpot. 

Banana Pirate

So have I shown you all my monkey . . . my Pirate Monkey?

He was made for a Crafty Vixens trade featuring "old school" crafts.  When I think old school, I think sock monkeys.  There were bean portraits, crocheted doilies and other fabulousness.  There's just something satisfying about returning to the crafty projects of your childhood. 

In this case, I loved making the monkey, but I loved his accessories too.  I was giggling to myself as I embroidered the anchor tattoo on his tiny arm.  I thought about nautical stars for his chest, but then thought they'd look like odd monkey nipples. 

Want more classic craft goodness?  Check out this awesome book from Craftster, another great publication and Flickr (of course!). 

I think there's definitely more sock monkeys in my future.