Saturday, August 21, 2010

BYU Cougar Amigurumi

I had this idea to make a new amigurumi. I was testing out some shaping to amigurumi while making him. You can't really tell from these pictures but his arms and legs curve. I finally figured out how to make that work. ^^ I wanted to also add lots of details like the footpads and beads. I hope you can see them all. I would imagine taking him to football games. ;D I do wonder if he really looks like a cougar though. My dad kept making fun of him by saying he looked kind of like a deer. D= Oh well. I also made his sweater removable but I doubt he will have it off that often. ;)

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Mule Designs on Etsy!


I've finally done it! After lots of people giving me feedback and support I have finally opened an Etsy Shop. Say hello to Mule Designs! I'm so excited that I can't even tell you. It's been a long time coming and I have lots to sell. I have well over 20+ things already made for the shop. The only thing now is to put them all up for sale. Wish me luck everyone! <3

I also have a business card! Feel free to share it. ^^

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Memories Quilt

I finally got a chance to make myself another quilt. I have only made one big quilt and a smaller one in the past. Those quilts were probably easier than this one. The main reason is that they were both made with squares of the same size. This one is definitely not all the same size.

I call this my 'Memories Quilt' because it is made with t-shirts, denim, and fabrics that all have some memories attached to them. Lots of the t-shirts are from Youth Conference, Girl's Camp, and high school. There are some that were from trips we made as a family, but in reality they still happened when I was in high school.

It took me a total of 3 days to finish this quilt. I did most of the cutting on the first day; sewing and cutting the front on the second day; and then basting and putting the edging on the third day. This quilt is BIG, too. It's a little over 5' wide and 8' tall. It'll definitely be nice to take out at school since it will fit over my bed there nicely. And it will be good to have to lay out on the grass with or take to football games to stay warm. ;)

Want to know how I did it? You can see that a lot of the pieces are the same size. I made piles of shirts that I knew would fit in the same template size; each row was a pile. Since I was doing four across for the t-shirts I knew it would be good to use the scrap fabrics I had to make triangular pieces. (These pieces were already triangles because they were headbands in the past.) I was able to also get more fabrics on the quilt that way. When you enlarge the picture you'll see that some of the pieces had to be made to fit into their square shapes. I just used fabric from the same t-shirt to make it less apparent. Then I sewed the rows together and then the rows to each other. When you get that part done you need a bottom layer of fabric and batting. I trimmed those to the same size as the top and use a yarn darner to bast some yarn through all three layers. Then you pin and sew on the edging!

To be honest it really is an easy project. You just have to make sure that you have the time to actually do it. I like how mine turned out and now this way my t-shirts and fabrics will last a lot longer!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Fast 'n Easy Hooded Towels

A couple nights ago---for thirty minutes TOTAL--- I made these for my kids:

Hooded Towels!

All you need is: one large towel, one hand towel, matching thread and sewing notions.

I mostly followed {THIS} tutorial from {Make 'n Takes}.

MY CHANGES:
I (my husband) ripped the seam out of the top of the hand towel and that's where I sewed for the top of the hood. Then I pulled opposite corners together and sewed across the top to create a flat top---instead of a pointed one.
I also sewed right sides together since I had a raw edge.
I used the leftover half to create the first letter of each of my kid's names.

The finished project is really large on a toddler/baby, but they'll grow into it. And, what a perfect baby shower gift for all of us who have expecting friends (and even the older siblings too)!

Really easy, really fast and now my kids have towels that aren't ones we've been using since our newlywed days.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

New TLS Technique

I found a new technique for TLS (for me that is) I thought it would be perfect to make some easy and cool looking polymer clay goodies. I first had to think of things that I would want to do with the technique; and then it hit me. This is what came out of my recent polymer clay madness.

Since I'm a fan of The Hunger Games Trilogy and with the upcoming release of Mockingjay, I thought it would be perfect to make some things for me and other fans to have for the celebrations. I started with easier thing first and then went on to the harder stuff. These are what I made for The Hunger Games. (The first two will show up in my upcoming Etsy shop.)



Book charms.



Mockingjay pendant.



Trilogy bracelet.



Book thong.



Katniss' mockingjay pin.

I also did some other charms using the same technique. These are things that will shop up in my upcoming Etsy shop. I also liked how these turned out.



Twilight Saga book charms.



Legend of Zelda pendants. Logo and heart container.

Friday, August 6, 2010

Fast 'n Easy Jewelry

This week I added a few new items to my jewelry collection.

For the bracelet, I used a tutorial from Little Birdie Secrets {HERE}. The only difference for my bracelet is I tied knots in between my beads. I also made sure the beads wouldn't pop out by putting a dab of FabriTac on each of them.

I used {THIS} tutorial from Smashed Peas and Carrots for the rings. I loved how they turned out. I used mod podge for the cover coat and instead of getting a cover button kit, I got the snap together buttons in the same size.

I LOVE how these turned out and they were super inexpensive to make. Just another craft to be addicted to. :)

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Amigurumi & Cosplay Status



This is another amigurumi to be sold in my future Etsy shop. I like the contrast in yarns and thought it would be perfect for a cute little bear! The picture is horrendous so I'll make sure to have a better picture up for Etsy. I'll let you all know when that happens. I just want to make a few more things before setting it up. ;)



Some of you may know that I'm working on a new cosplay. This one will be Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy VII. For him I had to make some faux metal. I used a tutorial posted here. I actually changed it up a a bit. I made the pieces the same way but then I only did a layer of Elmer's glue, no water. Then I have five layers of gold acrylic paint. Attaching the pieces to the boot covers and glove that I made turned out to be harder. I had to end up using super glue and it worked really well. I'm pretty happy with the results being my first time doing this method. What you do think?

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

More Silhouette Giveaways

So---As I stated in {this post} I didn't get one of these amazing machines for my birthday--- the funds just weren't there. :(

BUT--- there are a few sites out in the blog-o-sphere ready and I'm crossing all fingers and toes... praying that I win ONE of these... check them out....


Check them out and enter yourself... or just think lucky thoughts for me. :)