Mother's Day Gifts and an Embroidered Card

I can't believe how quickly things are moving these days. I kept thinking I had enough time before Mother's Day to make gifts. The realization that Mother's Day was only a day or two away came at some point on Thursday night... and I had to hop to it and make some gifts for my Mom, Aunt/Godmother, and Grandmother.

I opted to make some small clutches from the Bags: The Modern Classics book by Sue Kim. I really love the patterns from this book, and of the three patterns I have tried, each has come together pretty quickly and wonderfully. 

This pattern is called the Glenda Clutch, and honestly, I need to sew one up for myself. This is just too cute of a pattern to pass up and it took me less than an hour to finish. I found a remnant of the mustard floral fabric at the local discount fabric store. I wish I could find more! It's a very lovely fabric. I haven't decided if I want to add buttons like the pattern suggests. I guess I have 24 hours to make that decision.

Halfway through purse making, I realized that I hadn't made anything with embroidery. I had bookmarked this DIY embroidered card link found over at How About Orange, and honestly, I didn't think that I would finish it as quickly as I did. The pattern comes from Miniature Rhino, who I have just recently become a huge fan of. Check out her shop, and her book, Stitched Gifts, and if you aren't a fan already, you will become one as quickly as I have.

I printed off the template, poked the holes, and got to stitching. I think it took around 30 minutes, so if you are reading this right now, and still want to make something for Mother's Day, this card is a quick and adorable addition to any gift.

Thank goodness these are finished. Now to get back to dissertation writing.

Hope you have a very Happy Mother's Day!

Until Next time.

xo,

K

New Stitches and Marinara

It seems that time has been getting away from me. I used to try to blog once or twice a week and lately I have been occupied with the elements of grad school - research, ethnographic work, reading, & writing.  In order to not go crazy by only focusing on my work, I embroider to relax, decompress, and enjoy my time off from school-related items.

I found these patterns from some amazing and inspiring women. The Hedgehog and Bunny are from Follow the White Bunny (the link to her shop is on the right-hand side bar of her blog). If you haven't checked out Nicole's patterns, you must! They are adorable!

I have a teeny tiny obsession with hedgehogs. Just a teeny one, though... :)

I am a huge fan of Nana Company. Her photos are just so lovely and calming. Everytime I read her blog, I just want to quilt and stitch the day away. She has this free pattern... Do small things with great love. I just adore it, and had to stitch it for myself. 

I found the owl pattern over at the Teeny Tiny Happy Things etsy shop. I think I bought all the patterns in the shop. They were all too cute to pass up. The bunny pattern is next in line to be stitched up. 

Aside from stitching, I needed a little comfort food. After the events of last week, in Boston and in Texas, my heart was just too heavy. I know someone who was severely injured at the Boston Marathon, and I couldn't really find a way to reconcile my feelings. Over the weekend, I happened upon a farmer's market of sorts; a church near my house was selling 60 pounds of produce for $10. I had to see what this sale was all about. I paid the $10 and received a crate of tomatoes, a crate of bell peppers, a box mixed with squash, cucumbers, & corn, a bag of green beans, and four containers of cherry tomatoes. I have no idea how I am going to make use of all this produce, but the crate of tomatoes was turned into Marinara Sauce today. This is definite comfort food for me.

Now all I have to do is wait for the marinara to simmer for a couple of hours.

Until next time!

xo,

K

Action Packed

It seems time is blowing by, full steam ahead, and I am trying to keep up as best I can. Last week was one of the busiest I have had in a while. It started out with my birthday (March 31st), which was also Easter Sunday.

My mom made me the BEST CAKE EVER. I had told her, in passing, that I thought it would be fun to make my birthday themed this year: Under the Sea. I had seen this cake on a package in the cake decorating aisle at the craft store and thought it was fun, and funny. Well, my mom, being the talented and creative lady that she is, proceeded to make me this amazing cake.

She decorated our whole dining room with a mermaid/under the sea theme and I LOVED it. I couldn't believe she had gone all out. She used Laffy Taffy to make edible starfish, crabs, and octopus on the cake. It was fantastic!

I drive back and forth from Tucson to Nogales somewhat frequently. My dissertation research is all based in Nogales, and my parents still live there, but I live in Tucson. So, coming and going keeps things on a time crunch.

In the midst of my birthday, Easter, houseguests, and working on my dissertation, I decided to join in on an Art Mart event held at Hotel Congress in downtown Tucson on April 6th. I have to say, though, that my dear friend, Rudy, the amazing artist behind La Mosca Roja, encouraged me to get a booth, so, I credit him with this adventure, and I am glad I accepted the challenge.

The only photo I have of my booth was taken with my cell phone. I was so frazzled the day of the event, that I forgot to take my camera. My best friend, Fernanda, made amazing Mexican Wedding cookies, and I sewed up cosmetic bags, wallets, bunting, tote bags, and hand embroidered handkerchiefs. It took me two weeks to finish everything, but it was worth it. I met some great people and I was so happy to see that people liked what I made, which has me thinking that an etsy shop is not too far fetched of an idea... I sold my stuff under the name of Bobby Pin Stitches, might work as a shop title...

It's a new week, and I am trying to get back into my routine of writing and embroidery. I can't believe I had an action-packed week like last week, but it was wonderful.

Have you ever had a booth at an art or craft fair? How was it? I would love to hear all about it.

Until next time.

xo,
K

Embroidered Easter Baskets

I found some free Easter-themed embroidery patterns around the internet a bit ago and was able to stitch the majority of them up. Once I finished, I had no idea where to put them or what to do with them. 

I have this problem where I find embroidery patterns online, and I hold on to them for a while, and sometimes it either takes forever for me to try them, or I never try them out at all. Does that ever happen to you? 

These patterns are available here and here. 

This pattern is courtesy of Follow the White Bunny. 

I am having problems finding where I got this pattern from. This is another issue that comes up when I hold on to things for too long... I can't remember or it's a challenge to find the source. If you know where this image is from, or you are the artist, please let me know!

When I made the time to work on these, I felt very satisfied to finally try out some patterns I had been holding onto for a while. I realized I could make little fabric easter baskets like the one I made over at Feeling Stitchy, and I was totally excited! Nothing makes me smile more than infusing embroidery into usable and functional items. I shrunk the size down about 3-inches, and made four mini baskets with the embroidered pieces on the front.

Now I just need to fill them with treats for the fam and surprise them with some handmade Easter baskets. 

Until next time!

xo,

K

A little Instagram love

I am not typically a fan of things like Facebook or Twitter. I get why people like them, but after trying both out, I realized quickly, that they just weren't forms of interaction I liked. I guess I am a little traditional in that I really prefer face-to-face interaction. That being said, I was a little skeptical of Instagram, until I tried it and now I am addicted.

I admit, I have been using it more than I have been blogging. Mostly because it's a little faster for me to snap a photo and upload it right quick. If you are on Instagram, let me know, I would love to check out your page, and if you would like to check mine out, I can be found as: @bobbypinbandit

I like to post pictures of my embroidery and sewing projects. Sometimes I post hikes, food, and drinks. Other times I just post goofy things I experience or things I like to photograph. I have found some very inspirational people on Instagram, both with embroidery, quilting, and just in general!

How do you feel about Instagram?

Until next time!

xo,

K

Happy Pi Day!

Today is March 14th (3/14), which means, it's Pi day!

I am not a big math person, and I am not ashamed to admit that on my own personal hierarchy of subjects, math is the lowest on the list, BUT I never turn away from celebrating something and I do use math everyday. So, let's celebrate this mathematical constant. 

Pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter and is represented by the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet ("π") and is often written simply as "pi"(USA Today). Pi is an irrational number, meaning it can never be written as the ratio of two integers. The most commonly known fractional equivalent of pi, 22/7, is only accurate to two decimal places of the actual pi value. Since pi is irrational, it has an infinite number of digits in its decimal state, and will never end in a repeating pattern of numbers... 3.1415926 (Wired).

I think today calls for a slice of pie... maybe pizza pie. 

Will you be celebrating pi day? 

Until next time!

xo,

K

Tutorial: St. Patrick's Day Banner

 

It shouldn't be a secret that I love banners. Bunting, banners, flags... I love them all. I am really getting into St. Patrick's Day this year, it's not something I usually get into. I think it has to do with the green. I love emerald green, like the kind of green in Oz (as in the Wizard of Oz). Because I am in love with emerald green and can't get enough of it I knew I needed to really take advantage of decorating with it, so banners had to be it!

The idea for this banner came to me as I was cutting some shamrocks from my sister's awesome St. Patrick's Day freebie/tutorial. Now I want to share it with all of you. It took me less than 2 hours and looks super cute hanging from the mantel in my living room. 

Supplies needed:

-Newspaper

-green construction paper

-twine or string

-glue

-glitter

-hot glue gun 

-Shamrock template

Begin by printing out the shamrock template, cut out the largest size, and trace it onto the green construction paper. Note: I found a pack of construction paper at the corner drug store for $3.

Cut the shamrocks. I traced and cut six shamrocks.

Crease the leaves of the shamrock by folding the petals in half and only folding the leaf portion. 

This stage is optional, I glittered three of the six shamrocks just to add a little sparkle to the banner. Feel free to glitter all six or leave them plain. 

Take six pieces of newspaper and cut into 5x7-inch pieces. 

Cut a triangle out of one end of the newspaper piece to create the flag or banner look. This cut should be on one of the 5-inch sides of the newspaper.

Fold the opposite side of the piece you just cut, about half an inch. 

Take a 60-inch piece of the twine or string, and place it right in the fold of your newspaper piece. Run a thin line of glue from the glue gun just beneath the twine or string and quickly hold the fold down. Be careful not to burn your fingers. Repeat this step for the six newspaper pieces.

When you finish, flip the banner over and it should look something like this.

Using the glue gun, put a small bead of glue on the back of a shamrock and place it on the center of the newspaper piece. Repeat for all the shamrocks. I used one plain shamrock and one glittered until I filled the banner.

Let the banner dry for a bit then hang it up and enjoy!

Hope you get to give this a try.

Until next time.

xo,

K

WIP's & Stitches

Do you ever feel like your to-do list is a little too long? I am at that stage right now. I feel like I gave myself a little too much to do, but I love stitching, so I am not bummed and definitely don't want to complain. I have quite a few embroidery projects to finish, but I love stitching so much, it almost doesn't feel like work. 

I find embroidery patterns and sewing projects that I want to try, so I add them to the pile of things to do. The pile is starting to get a little high, so I need to do more stitching and less looking. Good thing most of these projects are birthday gifts for friends and loved ones.

I have been thinking about St. Patrick's Day, a lot, as well. I am not sure why. It's not a day that I typically get into. Maybe it's because I have found some great patterns over at Split Stitch. I stitched her pattern for a little hat and it was finished super quickly. She has some darling patterns in her shop.

I am not sure why I love embroidery so much. It's something that just makes me happy. I like to try to stitch everyday, even if it's just a little before bed time.

My sewing room doubles as an office, and a guest room (guess you could say it triples), and my little Douglas likes to sit on the day bed in my sewing room while I work or embroider/sew/craft. 

Since we had an odd icy cold day yesterday and some lingering snow today, we stayed indoors and got lots of work done. Well, I got work done, Douglas just supervised, like he always does. I am not sure what this squinty-eyed face means, but it made me giggle, so I had to photograph him. I still have lots more work to do and things to make.

Hopefully I will have more complete work to share next time.

Until then!

xo,

K