Kitty Condo

Like most people who own cats Allan and I went looking around for a scratching post and I was appalled at the high prices and shoddy construction so we decided we could do much better.

We bought some wood, carpet and sisel rope after Allan sketched up what he wanted to build.

We have some really large cats so he gave it a large base with a two story cubby hole and two more shelves above that.

We brought it inside to finish it up and we had more help than we needed. We wrapped the bottom part in carpet and then wrapped the supports in sisel rope. I cut up some old bathmats for extra padding and hung a few toys from the bottom of the shelves.

(The little one next to it is one that my mom bought for $50 and her cat wouldn't even look at it)

We spent less than $50 on supplies and this will last a lot longer than that little one!

Pincushion

When I began sewing more I realized that those little tomato pincushions that you can buy in the store are useless. It is too small and it rolls away from me everytime I try to stick a pin in it! Not that I blame it, but I needed one that could take my kind of abuse! So I saw an idea on how to make a better one and I had to give it a try.

It all started with recycling a container and that is my absolute favorite way to start any project! I removed the lid and filled the bottom with rocks to make it heavy. This one is not getting away from me!

I gathered the rest of my materials together and got to work. I chalked an outline of my design onto green ultra suede and used dots of glue to hold my purple chenille yarn in place. I love knotwork and if you're careful and get it right it always looks fabulous.

I added a few beads and starting couching with gold thread.

After the couching I went back and added seed beads in the spaces.

Once I was finished with all the embellishing on the bottom I glued it onto the container. I was too busy with the sewing machine to take any pictures of the rest of the process. I really wish I had more arms.. or maybe just more control of my toes would work! Anyway, finished photo is at the top of the post, as always.

Sewing Shirts

I have always done a minimal amount of sewing when it was required for some project I was doing but a couple years ago I got a sewing machine for Christmas and I started to think about taking on something more challenging. In my mind, clothing is the summit of that mountain so that is where I headed. I bought a couple shirt patterns that I liked and got my mom to walk me through it the first time.

It really wasn't as hard as I had expected, as long as I take my time and triple check everything before I cut or sew anything! Once I got throught that first one, I was able to whip out several more in no time at all. The pictures aren't great but you can get the idea.

I really need to take a photo of this one while I'm wearing it because the sleeves are the best part. They are square (kinda like a kimono) so the back of the sleeve hangs way down without covering or interfering with my hand.

I made this one to wear to a friends wedding. It is made from champagne colored satin, belted above the waist, with lace trim down the front and around the sleeves. I added a pretty little pearl button at the top.

This one is made from crinkle gauze so it's really light and comfortable. The bunched sleeves and high belt give it a very Roman look. I hand embroidered the design on the front.

This is the second shirt I made. It's the same as the first but has longer sleeves.

My maiden voyage into the world of making clothes!

Pumpkin Patch MMC Part 10

The pumpkin patch is one of the last elements to finish before I start assembling everything in the aquarium, and here it is! I used more Bouganvilla thorns and lots of moss along with the pumpkins all glued down to a solid base.

Graveyard - MMC Part 9

I had so much fun making the graveyard. I used a foam core base and built it up with paper mache. The tombstones are made from polymer clay and then I landscaped the whole thing.

I cut some of my Bouganvilla branches to get those fabulous thorns.

I spent a lot of time trying to get some good tombstones. I used my celtic knot rubber stamps on some of them, layered beveled jewelry molds for others and a few of them I just hand carved funny names.

Witchy Woman of the Woods- MMC Part 8

 I have never made a doll from scratch before so this is another element I left to my mom. She whipped this one out in no time and I think she is appropriately creepy looking!

 Every woman needs a little bling, even an old hag like her!

 I adore the frayed and tattered look of her dress.

 She even has a little beaded veil over her long gray hair.

Scary Tree - MMC Part 7

I want several trees in my miniature scene but I wanted one really especially scary tree. I had visions of the mean tree from the Wizard of Oz that threw his apples at Dorothy. My mom took that idea and ran with it. In one afternoon she made this tree and his brother, the happy tree, for her fairy garden.

She used a wire mesh armature, covered it in clay and started sculpting. Once she had it looking amazingly like bark, she painted it many many times to pick up all the details.

I had also mentioned that I wanted to be able to light it from the inside so she left a hole in back for that purpose!

After attempting to make a few trees of my own (pictures coming soon) I am SO glad she took this one on herself!

More Recycled Denim

This is another purse I made from all those old jeans. It is much larger than the handbag and I did the whole thing in patchwork. The pocket is from the front of a pair and so it is very deep and I went a bit crazy with the beaded trim. Gathering some black lace into a circle is an easy way to make a flouncy flower.

I used a length of denim for the strap and connected it to the purse with the button from the waistband.

Black ultrasuede wrapped around both sides with some polka dot ribbon was the finishing touch.

Recycled Denim

I have a stack of old jeans that don't fit anymore or have too many holes to wear out in public. I decided to play around with some of them and made a few purses. This one is a hand bag with plenty of room for everything.  I used a leg of the jeans for the body of the bag with the hem at the top. I used the hem off the other leg for the handle.

 I positioned a back pocket and a coin pocket onto the front and trimmed them in rick-rack. Then I used the waist band with the tag and belt loops attached around the top. I finished that off with some frayed black ribbon and purple beads.

Mushroom Beach Glass Mosaic

I hung out with my mom one weekend and we decided to do some mosaics. We went and bought the cheapest concrete blocks they sell at Home Depot, along with tile adhesive and grout. She used broken ceramic tiles on hers (which I will post pictures of later) but I wanted to use beach glass on mine. I love the way it came out and it looks fabulous in my garden!

Livingroom Redo - Pillows

I decided to redecorate my livingroom and after getting the go ahead from the man of the house to add some color, I was all over it! I got out my fabric stash and started with pillows. I have a very eclectic bohemian style so my idea is no two the same and nothing should ever match! :)

 Chinese satin brocade floral print with purple satin on the back

Celtic knot outlined in gold thread

This is much darker purple than it looks here

Cream and blue silk

Soft fuzzy brown fabric with wide satin ribbon

Another Little Collage

This is another little collage I did because I have all these clay faces that I made a long time ago and wanted to use them on something. 

I started off with red tissue paper that I crumpled up and then flattened back out. I glued it down on to a piece of poster board and started painting it.

 I was in the mood to play with my beads so I choose a few small ones and played around until I came up with something I thought would work around the head. The face was plain white when I made it so more painting! Nothing too detailed, just some color!

I had to play around with the hair for awhile to get it just right. I used long pieces of wool and just wrapped and twirled it around until it looked interesting.  Once I had the hair right I used more beads to secure it and decided to glitterfy the makeup.

 I used fusible fibers, an old jewelry finding and a few more beads to finish it off. Then I attached the whole thing to a piece of foam core and glued heavy gold braid around the outside as a hanger.