Bowl of comfort

Hey, thanks for the doll-love! I posted her over on Craftster, and everyone over there was so warm and welcoming to this former "lurker." The pattern is just so versatile... I saw someone alter the head and actually make a horse doll with it! My next doll project will, hopefully, be based on "Coraline." There are some pretty amazing adaptations of her into doll-form on Craftster! I loved the book, and can't wait to see the movie when it comes out on DVD...but not until July!

I am finally starting to feel better and get my energy back, thankfully. Yesterday was spent doing my LEAST favorite thing, which is switching the girls' summer/winter clothes out. Since they are so close in age, I have to decide what won't fit Brianna anymore and what WILL fit Bella. Then there is the putting away of old and new. I am not done yet!

My e-friend, Rebecca, shared a delicious potato soup recipe with me, which she got from her sister. I made this about a week ago on a rainy, yucky day, and it was really good! The girls asked for 2nds and 3rds!

Baked Potato Soup

-5 large baking potatoes, baked

-1/4 cup butter

-1 medium onion, chopped

-1/3 cup flour

-4 cups half-and-half

-3 cups milk

-1 tsp salt

-dash pepper

-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

-8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Peel the baked potatoes and coarsely mash with a fork. Melt butter in soup pot and add onion. Saute until tender. Add flour, stirring until smooth. Stir in potatoes, milks, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat until heated through. Top each serving with shredded cheese and bacon bits. Yield: 12 cups.

(Randi's Notes: I only made a half-batch, like usual, and it was a lot of soup! I decided to mix half of the bacon and cheese directly into the soup, and it was good. If it gets too thick, just add some more milk to thin it out to your liking.)

I made The Amish Cook's Whole Wheat Batter Bread to go along with it. Following my friend Jessica's advice, I increase the amount of honey to 3 Tbsp. It is perfect everytime, and NO kneading involved!

☺☺☺

I hope everyone has a nice, relaxing long weekend! The only planned thing we have is Brianna's dance recital tomorrow afternoon. HOPEFULLY we can get some things done around our house!

Beady buddies

(My little bead-boy from Variation, who just made friend with my post-Easter find from today)

A while back, I stumbled upon a new Etsy shop that I found extremely charming. Though open less than a month at the time, she was pushing 30 sales! I was impressed. Her creations are the type of unique, "why-didn't-I-think-of-that" sort of thing that all of us creators are constantly striving for.

Variation makes little bead-people out of vintage beads and findings. Almost as charming as the people themselves are the PHOTOS on her listings. I can't imagine the time she puts into them. I told her she really needs to start a side-business of selling prints of her images ☺

I LOVE this one in particular! Consequently, she purchased some of my chenille pups, and they seemed to get along very well with her own little bead-friends:

Check out Variation on Etsy and Flickr !

♥♥♥♥♥♥

In other goings-on, my husband is working diligently in painting/staining/varnishing and hanging trim for me. Can you believe that we have lived here for nearly 2 years and I have little to nothing hanging on my walls?? I can't wait for the big unveiling so that I can hang up some lovely artwork from my bloggy-friends Bunzi, Mushy, and Jenny . Can't wait for the unveil? I am sure you can scour their blogs and find the trade-details ☺ For now, I must go make some more "balls in shells" for supper!

Bunny Pieces

The days have been getting away from me. I had hoped to have a whole gaggle of bunny-kids in the shop in time for Easter, and here we are nearly a week until E-day!

I did have enough time to get a handful of sweethearts done, and I hope to get them photographed and listed soon...hopefully by tomorrow! That should give me a couple days worth of sales that I can get them shipped out in time for Easter ♥

Today we took the girls to the big egg hunt in our town. Bella's age group (1-2) was first, of course. She got upset and just plopped down on the ground, crying. The parent's aren't supposed to help, but we were kicking eggs her way and trying to convince her to pick them up and put in her basket. She ended up with 2 pieces of candy and vouchers for TWELVE oatmeal cream pies! LOL

Brianna, on the other hand, really got into the action this year. She was very focused and excitedly picked up so many eggs! She got quite a few little candy bars, plus vouchers for a small can of root bear, 4 cartons of chocolate milk, and two bags of chips. She also had a $1 in an egg, which she bought some gum with and shared with us. What a good little girl ♥

We have so many free promotional pictures (plus a set of professional ones) of the girls with chicks, bunnies, and lambs from this year, I may end up doing a whole post dedicated to that soon!!

Pom-pom Head

*Update* I have listed the Bunny-girl and white dog in my Etsy shop now!

Here is a little "Pom-pom Head" I made yesterday afternoon while watching Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist. This is another technique from the craft book, but I embellished it to make it "squishified."

The body/ears are made from pipe-cleaners, and the head is a handmade pom-pom created from 100% cotton yarn. I think she turned out really cute!

It is my intention to get the dogs and puppies listed either tonight or tomorrow afternoon. I may go ahead and list this bunny, or I might make a handful of them and list next week. I haven't decided ☺

We are off to my parent's new house soon so that my husband can with the finishing touches...I am bringing supper, so I better go check on the apple-crumb pie in the oven!

Pipe Cleaning

(A little pipe cleaner teddy bear, which was the companion to the doll I sent to Bunzi in our trade)

I am still tinkering with making my own "light tent" to help take better pictures of some small things. Have any of you ever done this? I am following this tutorial . I played with it this week, and now I have a few photos to show of my addictive, fun new hobby!

This Japanese craft book I purchased on eBay from Hong Kong has some of the coolest ideas in it you have ever seen. The best thing is, it basically teaches you a variety of techniques, and you can really use your imagination to customize and create new animals and other creatures. Since I cannot read Japanese (is there anyone here who can??), I just have to follow the photos/diagrams. Here is a smattering of what I have done:

Mr. Owl (which Brianna swears is an eagle). It is hard to see in the photo, but he (and all of the rest) are very much 3-D and has a tail.

There are actually two different designs for "bear"; this one is supposed to be more of a real bear/animal, while the one I made Bunzi is a toy/teddy.

Brianna was me for a chicken to go with the little Easter chenille chicks that I have, so this is what I did during naptime. Can you say bribe?? He is a little ratty-looking around the feathers, as he has been handled by small hands quite a bit.



Mr. Fox is one that I definitely took some liberties with. In the example, he had a yellow stripe running down his tail! Now, we all know that real foxes have white (or black) tipped tails. As a side note, I had a pet arctic fox as a child from 6th grade until I was in college. I lived in Missouri, not Alaska ☺ I may have to do an all-white version and try to recreate him!

These are my practice ones. I have made about 15 different animals, so far. My favorites are the dogs, which I am getting quite good at. I need to take some photos of them, but I have given them all away! Good thing I stocked up on thousands of pipe cleaners from Hobby Lobby. I have been looking for a low-ticket item for my Etsy shop... do you think these would be something you, personally, would buy? I'd love the input!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Cupcakes by candlelight

When I go to get Brianna from preschool, I usually arrive about 10 minutes early. It is a great time to flip through a magazine or read a chapter for a few moments. If anyone is a cupcake lover, you better go grab the current issue of Martha Stewart Living before it gets replaced with the newest one! There are some really insanely-good recipes in there (and awesome decorating inspirations). I used up some ripe bananas and made these cupcakes from one of the recipes. They turned out so nice and round, and moist enough that I am not even going to bother with frosting. The candle... well, it was just a nice touch. It is "spring" scented, and lighting it made me a little happier.

I really apologize because I am just feeling super-guilty about all of the things I have been meaning to post and haven't gotten around to doing. Heck, I just now updated my anti-virus software...only 247 days after expiration! I have participated in some fun trades (which you might have read about here and here . I also won a giveaway ! That was really cool and unexpected. I will definitely speak more about those things later. And my Hong Kong eBay purchase? It was a special, rare craft book. So, let's just say I have to make a Hobby Lobby run tomorrow because PIPE CLEANERS are half off this week!! I have piles of little creations that I have been trying to photograph, for your viewing pleasure ☺

Again, I am trying to rearrange my time (and manage it a bit better) to get some stuff done and spend more quality time with the girls, puppy...AND Daddy, too. I have so much to do and so much that I want to do (ie. sew!!) that tends to get shoved to the side. Send me your prayers/good vibes/etc. to help me...because I need all the help I can get!

♥♥♥

Sweet Nothings

Today was the Valentine party at Brianna's preschool. Since Matt is still home with his back (Yes! Another week!), he and Bella went with us. You get 17 four-year-olds, their teachers, parents, and younger siblings in one room full of cupcakes/cookies/candy, and it turns into a madhouse! She had fun, and came home with a big bag of Valentines and goodies.

(In this photo, she is showing me that she chomped the head off of her cute teddy bear ring-pop!)



Yesterday, I received a large box via UPS from ProFlowers.com. That has become my husband's favorite place to order my flowers from. They really do send nice, fresh flowers. I am glad he steered away from roses, and instead gave me a huge bouquet of tulips and iris. The buds were closed tight, but by this morning, they were looking really nice!




Being a sock-monkey enthusiast, I HAD to get this card for him when I saw it at Target the other night. It plays music when you open... somewhat seductive music, I might add. ☺

Tonight, I went and bought a fresh salmon fillet, cut it into steaks, and marinated it in my *special* sauce. I just wing it, mixing together honey, orange juice, fresh grated ginger, minced garlic, and any array of Asian sauces I might have on hand. While the fish is out grilling, I strain the marinade, and bring it to a boil; then, I thicken it with a little cornstarch. It makes a really good sauce for the fish! I have to say, tonight's version was the best one to date. Not a flake was left ☺

Heart in my hand

Does anyone want a quick Valentines Day handmade project? I saw the link to this free pattern on the Plush You blog last night and I decided to give it a go while watching tv, and I finished it up this morning. You've still got time yet!

As I rifled through my yarn stash, I decided to use this super-vintage, salmony-red yarn. It has almost a white frosty sheen to it, which I had to use the flash to try to pick up in the photo. I found it entertaining to be using yarn as old as me! This is part of the stash from my husband's crafty 90-year old aunt.

Here is how she turned out! Super-cute and chubby. That frosty, glittery-ness really suits this heart. This pattern reminds me strongly of a sweet friend's recent projects.

♥♥♥

Love in each stitch -♥-♥-♥-

I hope everyone is recovering from a peaceful, cozy Christmas! I am having a hard time getting back into the swing of things. There is a touch of post-holiday letdown, especially as I contemplate my plans for the looming New Year!

I am (FINALLY!) going to share a boat-load of photos of the handmade things that kept me busy in the last several weeks.

This is a little Batman-esque doll that I made for my friend's 3 year old son. She wanted to get him a doll, but her husband wasn't so keen on the idea. I decided to make him a somewhat "manly" one as a compromise.

I used the roly-poly-ish pattern of my penguins and freehanded this little Batboy. I gave him a cape with a "P" for Payton. Fleece made this doll very soft and squishy.

This is the tree frog/toad duo that I crocheted, reminicent of the amphibian pets we had this summer. My girls received these in their stockings. Although the same pattern was used, it is amazing at the size difference of the finished product just by using different yarn/hook. (I may go back and give them better mouths later on...I am not too happy with the plain red felt ones).

I have a few of these little vintagey, plastic baby dolls lying around, and one night I decided to crochet her some clothes. Then I remembered seeing some tiny baby bottle party favors at the dollar store...and it just evolved from there!

The end product is a tiny, pocket-sized baby doll that my 4 year old can play with anywhere! I whipped up a little Moses basket for her as a bed...she is still waiting for her blanket ☺
♥♥♥
I was stumped as to what to get my mom for her birthday... when I had a great idea! However, I wasn't sure how to carry it out since I am not a portrait-type artist. After much deliberation and playing around on my photo program, I am satisfied with the results.

What I did was make a doll of each of my girls, using the Black Apple doll pattern (which can be found on Martha Stewart's website). Since I cannot paint lovely faces like Emily, I ended up ironing on their faces instead!
(Please forgive the horrible/yellowish lighting in these images)

My sweet baby, Isabella. Hair pattern was altered to be more Bella-like.

I used some of my mom's old quilting materials (that she recently destashed to me!) to make all of the clothing. I think it is regifting, in a good way. I also gave them coordinating cozy felt scarves.

Since 4 year old Brianna has longer hair, I added some brown locks to the front, overflowing her scarf.

They would never be confused with a Black Apple original, but my mom loves anything with the girls faces on it. I think they served that purpose ☺

Enough photos for today! I cannot take anymore of Blogger's anti-spacing gremlin attacks!! LOL

Playing with Pipe Cleaners

♥Shop Updated♥

(My turkey, cooking in my rotisserie. I LOVE it!)

I hope everyone had a yummy and safe Thanksgiving! We had a nice, long 5-day weekend in our house...which left me scrambling to get a few finished things on Etsy this morning. After all of the picture-taking/editing/resizing, my mind is fried! Check out the shop and take a look ☺

Cinnamony Cuteness

This time last week, I started working on some ornaments to donate to the church's bazaar this weekend. I decided to work with cinnamon dough, and it is really fun!

It handles like a thick playdough and it cuts wonderfully! I used my collection of Christmas cutters for the shapes.

You are supposed to let them dry out a bit before baking them. The cinnamon really scents your house...lovely!

All baked, then glittered... just waiting to get the rest of the ribbon attached and the final touches completed.

Prim Gingergirls

Plump Bears

Sparkly Snowmen

Dapper Gingerboys

Shining Stars

Glistening Pines

Nose-diving Deer (thanks to Blogger!)

☺☺☺

What do you think I should sell these for? The larger ones are 3 inches tall, and the smaller counterparts are 1 1/2 inches tall. I plan on selling them in sets of one larger and two smaller. Would you pay $3 for a set? More... less?

What doesn't sell can be returned to me. Do you think these would sell on Etsy... should I put them up as a PIF?

♥♥♥

Off to make a pot of chili to combat this chilly, blustery day!

Happy Thursday, Blog-Buddies

A Waddle of Penguins

Yes, a waddle is the technical term for a group of penguins. In this instance, I might just call them a happy family ☺ I have been playing around with vinyl lately, and the idea of penguins kept coming up in my mind. First, I was inspired by a very adorable t-shirt graphic. Then, Sunnie Fairy and MushroomMeadows both made random comments re: penguins. That was all it took to motivate me ☺

Here is the daddy, whom I call Toppy. He and mommy stand approx 10 inches tall, and are made of heavy duty vinyl fabric, wool and craft felts, and stuffed with polyfil and rice. He has a little felt cap (which is attached).

This is Tippy, the mama penguin. She has a red heart simply embroidered on her tummy, and a little felt bow on her head. She wears a removable crocheted scarf, which looks like it is covered in frost. My friend almost walked out the door with her yesterday!

Lastly, meet Bob, the baby penguin chick. He is different from his parents, as he is made of soft fleece fabric. He is also stuffed with polyfil and rice, and has a spotted felt scarf to keep his little body warm.

These sweet friends will also be in the shop when I get it updated. I wonder if someone will want to welcome one (or all) of them into their home for the holiday season?

♥♥♥

L♥ve Birds

Aren't they sweet? I am quite proud of my swanish pair. They have been an off-and-on project for a while now, and are almost ready for the shop. (I still need to sew those feet on...LOL) Today is not a great day for pictures, as it is overcast and dreary. We even had a short bout of wet snow! I hope to get some decent pics taken and posted to the shop as soon as possible.

This one is the beautiful, graceful white swan. She is made of high-quality vinyl, wool felt, and a bit of simple embroidery. I weighted their bottoms nicely with rice so that they will stand up well. I guesstimate them to stand at 10-12 inches tall.

This one, which I introduced to you before, is the one I think of as the "Ugly Duckling", before being transformed into the lovely swan. She looks rather coy, don't you think?

I am toying around with the idea of making some baby-size versions of these, but definitely not out of vinyl. I think it add a certain charm and vintage feel to these large ones, but it would just be too hard to work with for a smaller size. Maybe fleece, instead ☺

Have a great weekend! Enjoy the weather if it is nice... or curl up with a book if it isn't.

♥♥♥