*awooga* fun stuff coming

Some lovely stuff is tripping down Mmmcrafts Lane in the next few weeks of April. I realized the other day that my blog's 3rd birthday has (once again, duh) snuck up on me, so I'd like to plan a little celebration soon for that. I also have some series contributions/giveaways coming. I hope you feel tantalized. Because now I actually have to follow through. Wish me luck! ha!

more scrap cards

For two much-loved brunettes. Making them is therapeutic. Just me and colors and glue.

happiness is...

...finding you somehow picked the perfect color for your living area. I'm so excited to see this first coat going on today. It's the perfect subtle greeny blue. SW6211 Rainwashed. Picking paint color drives me super nutty, so it is nice when it works out.

It is also quite nice to be 'stuck' in my craft loft all day so I can stay out of their way as they paint. If I could just find my Canon battery charger I'd say it was a trifecta of happiness, but I'm still working on the charger part. Where is that dangety thing?

what I'm up to

Looks like a big stack of fabric pancakes.

I'd rather be finishing my needle books, but I've had an uncharacteristic rush of practicality. I am going to go ahead and complete Thing 2's duvet cover now that I have finally finished the dingety dangety blasted zig zag cover for Thing 1. Which turned out quite well, amazingly, but I need to get another duvet insert for it that doesn't appear to have gophers tunneling under it. I bought it at IKEA for super cheap and I guess after washing it all the stuffing decided to clump together.

Thing 2's cover will have a bunch of circles appliqued on it like the above. I have a white twin sheet that I've cut to the size of the duvet top and now that I have all the circles assembled (per this beautiful tutorial from Purl Bee) I need to map out a grid and start sewing them on. I thought briefly about stuffing the circles lightly so they seem puffy, but that sounds like way too much work and I'm not sure i'll like it. I just want to play it safe and git 'er done.

They are both going to need new pillow shams too, but I have to just focus on that later. I will get all this done soon and I will blog it and I will be so happy. (Maniacal smile frozen on face) Oh, yeah, and the kids will be happy too. That was the point of it all.

don't look, Kristyn

I had these visions last week of making some handmade gifts for my lovely friend, Kristyn, who is about to have her first baby. Her shower was on Saturday, and before then I had scaled back my grand imaginings to a simple taggie toy to go along with the nursing cover and books I had bought. Which I started making the morning of the shower and (surprise) didn't get done in time. So Lord willing, I'll give it to her when the wee boy is born. By which time I hope to have made some bibs and burps to go with it. Hope springs eternal.

I used Chez Beeper Bebe's clever, free rainbow sunshine plushie pattern (love it, thank you!) and scraps of chenille, fabric and ribbon from my stash.

on my table

A happy mess.

But around my table, a not-so-happy mess.

I'm in the middle of a series of needle books. There's tiny pieces everywhere. I just love putting those things together. I'm also putting together some IKEA shelving for the not-so-happy mess. Being able to walk in here and be able to reach all my felt will be so great.

thanks again and again, Beth!

I have a craftsy friend at church, Beth, who is always surprising me with little handmakery gifts and cards - just because. Thank you, Beth! You are swell. The latest offerings from her shown above are samples of sewing themed papers (left) and fabrics (right) she thought I would like, and a tiny handmade sewing kit. Love it all, and especially that stitch sampler fabric. Beth is a Stampin' Up Demonstrator, by the way, so she'd be glad to put you in touch with your inner stamper if you are interested. She also teaches craft classes at our local Hobby Lobby, so you can ask her about that if you are in the metro Atlanta area.

why didn't I buy this a long time ago?

This is so much better than eyeballing the felt online and trying to guess at the exact shade. After I received the sampler I strung them together so I wouldn't lose any swatches. They each have the color name and number and it also came with a floss guide that gives the matching shade in DMC. Bad news is there are a lot of colors in there that I didn't realize I couldn't live without until now.

Much better in person. But still I can't seem to find a true, bright magenta in wool-blend. Might have to spring for the 100% wool felt for that particular shade. I have some thrifted wool felt in that color but I only have teeny tiny scraps left.

great leapin' scott! thanks so much.

Wow, folks! All the needle books have been sold. Thanks so so much for your lovely comments and for your purchases! If there are still some who are interested in purchasing one, I do plan to make more.

needle books in the shop!

Update: There is a pattern available for this now: the Flora Needle Book pattern, available for instant download at Etsy and Craftsy.

Do your needles need a colorful new home? The needle books I started in San Antonio are finished and for sale. For more information on each, go to my etsy shop. Late Note: the pink one is sold, and the blue one shown here is sold but there is another blue one in the shop almost exactly like it. Thanks!

I really loved making these. Some people like to jog to release stress, I like to cut out tiny, tiny flowers. I got the idea from Jessica to use a light coating of fabric stiffener on the cover of each to make them a bit more durable, except I used Aleene's Stiffen Quik instead of Stiffen Stuff. You just spray it on and microwave it for a few seconds to dry. I really like it. It doesn't alter the look of the felt at all, but gives the cover more body.

I'm in the middle of making an experimental pin cushion to match the books.We'll see how that goes.

mmmcrafts is now on Facebook

Ok, my blog finally stepped into the 21st century. Mmmcrafts now has a facebook page, if you'd like to like it, baby (sing it like Donna Summer). Blog updates will automatically appear there as well as random posts about my crafting life. I'm still figuring out how to manage a page but I think I got the basics down. I'm still resisting Twitter though.

Also, I'm excited to share (my first) crafty interview with Rebecca Restrepo of Examiner.com! She's also an addicted maker and you can find her blog here and her shop here.

Lastly, I've got the needle books done and ready to list, but have to visit the post office first to get the word on shipping costs.