thecraftinista.com

Update your bookmarks, people!

2012-04-21T02:20:00.001-03:00

I have a new site! Yay! It still needs some tweeks and what not but I'll fix 'em up shortly. Now when you type in thecraftinista.com, you aren't directed to a blogger site but my own domain. Hoorah.

Go there now - www.thecraftinista.com

Much thanks to my brother, Greg, for helping me out on this :)

Springtime Cupcakes!

2012-04-15T19:13:00.012-03:00

I'll let you in on a little secret - when I make cupcakes, I often use a cake mix.

SHOCK AND AWE!

I know, I know, it's a cheat but I just figure it's cheaper than raw ingredients and they rarely ever fail. The key to making it not just taste like a typical boring cupcake is to add new ingredients to it to make it unique.

Like....

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I haven't had marshmallow fluff since I was a wee child. It's full of horrible sugar and it's AMAZING! I can see myself using Fluff for more cupcakes in the future. Perhaps S'mores cupcakes?

Here's my recipe for Strawberry Shortcake Vanilla Bean Cupcakes.

Cupcakes
1 box white cake mix
4 egg whites
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup buttermilk (or 3/4 cup milk plus 3/4 tablespoon lemon juice*)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp vanilla bean paste

Filling
1 cup marshmallow cream
1/2 cup strawberry jam
1 cup icing sugar

Icing
500 ml whipping cream
1 tbsp strawberry flavoured gelatin powder
1 cup icing sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350º and place liners in cupcake tray.

2. In mixing bowl, combine all ingredients except cake mix. Blend well. Sift in cake mix to ensure no lumps of mix will be in the cakes. Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated. Try not to over mix.

3. Fill cake liners 3/4 full and bake for 15-17 minutes.

*if you do not have buttermilk, you can substitute it for 3/4 cup milk and 3/4 tbsp of lemon juice. You should prepare this mixture 10 minutes before starting the recipe as you need to give the milk time to sour.

Once the cakes have cooled, cut a piece out of each one for the filling. I happen to have a rad cupcake tray that bakes each one with a hollow centre from the get-go. It saves on time and each one looks perfect!

4. Combine all ingredients for the filling. Spoon into hollow cake centres.

I love the use of vanilla bean paste in baked goods. I love the look of the speckled vanilla beans throughout the food. I find it appealing.

5. Whip cream until hard peaks form. Add gelatin and icing sugar.

6. Pipe whipped cream onto cupcakes just before serving and garnish with a strawberry.

I brought 15 of these to a friend's place last night. There were six of us and they were eaten in about an hour or so. Impressive!

I'm moving once again...in just under two weeks! I'm looking forward to it. Closer to the city and work, and I'll be living alone once again. My crafting time may be lessened in the next couple of weeks but it'll be worth it.

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Two pairs of pears.

2012-03-28T09:27:00.004-03:00

I created a new pattern for a large pear amigurumi. Pattern & tutorial coming soon!
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Peanut Butter + Cookies = Happy Jennifer

2012-03-26T10:32:00.004-03:00

I luuurve peanut butter cookies. And peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips are even better. But what's EVEN better is if these cookies also have oatmeal AND peanut butter chips.

Oh yes.

And no, they are not diabetic friendly. Not even close.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup natural peanut butter (don't use Kraft or any other processed peanut butter. Get the 100% natural peanut butter. Trust me, you'll thank me)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla bean paste (you can use vanilla extract - if you have to)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp hot water
2 cups flour
1 cup ground oatmeal
1 bag chocolate chips
1 bag peanut butter chips

Preheat oven to 350º. Cream together butter and peanut butter until light and fluffy and then add sugars. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Mix baking soda, salt and hot water in small bowl and add to butter/sugar mixture. Add flour & oatmeal, one cup at a time. Blend cookie mixture until well blended and is rather fluffy. Add chocolate and peanut butter chips. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Roll dough into a ball and place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes.

You may not have to cook them as long as I do, but I happen to use a 3 oz. cookie scoop so my cookies tend to be pretty massive. If you prefer to make a smaller cookie, you may only need to bake them for about 10-12 minutes. Just keep and eye on them and when the bottoms start to brown, get 'em out of the heat!

And last but not least, EAT THE COOKIES!

If they happen to last more than a day or two, I recommend putting them in the microwave for about 15 seconds or so. They get all warm, gooey and delicious.

Enjoy!
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Gaga over Zig Zag

2012-03-09T00:16:00.009-04:00

After I made my sister, Rebecca, a zig zag blanket for Christmas, I knew I had to make one for myself. Zig zag stripes + purple & grey? Hellz yes! This time around it only took me about two weeks to make, a far cry from the six weeks it took me to make my sister's blanket and a super duper far cry from the year it took me to make the blue and grey blanket that I made a few years ago for my living room.

So many pretty colours! Purple, grey, black, oh my!

I think it turned out pretty well! The colours match the rest of the decor in my room - especially my duvet cover and the art above the bed.

The fur babies are a huge fan of the blanket as well!

Every time I worked on it, Mags decided to sprawl across it, forcing me to move her each time I had to switch sides.

Vega seemed more interested once I was getting close to the end of it. Anytime I left the room, she curled up on it. Adorable? Yes.

And not to be outdone by the girls, Pete joined in to the snuggle-a-thon as well!

Shockingly, the blanket is covered in animal hair already....I can't imagine why! :)
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This scene looks familiar to me.

2012-02-28T11:48:00.003-04:00

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Cats + Felt = Love

2012-02-20T00:14:00.000-04:00

I tend to make a lot of felted items. I love how they look and how durable they become after the felting process. Little did I know, cats seem to love felted items as well. Doesn't matter where I put them, one of the cats seems to find them, curl up and sit/sleep on them. Below is some photographic proof.

Two kittens, one bag.

James just chillin'.

Tiny Magnets lookin' pretty adorable, if I do say so myself.

Vega gets into the action as well.

Magnets figures that there is room for her as well. "Move over Mom!"

The bag is smaller than Vega but she tries anyway.

Maggie tries this one out as well.

Now don't get me wrong, the furry little buggers lay on everything. Coats, pieces of paper, flyers, projects I'm currently working on, everything. But something about felt just draws them to it. And it's the WORST fabric to try and get cat hair out of.

Until next time! I'll probably post about my attempt at auditioning for the Food Network's Recipe to Riches! And no, I didn't make it on the show. Jerks.

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My name is Jennifer and I am an addict.

2012-01-24T21:10:00.003-04:00

I am addicted to colour.

Phew, I feel better now that I've finally admitted it. I've been battling this addiction as far back as I can remember. As a child, I remember hiding in my closet as I organised the clothing in my closet by colour, lightest colours of the spectrum to the darkest. Garments that had colours of multiple palettes, had their own section at the end of the closest where they hung in shame, not to disturb the colour flow of my more solid colour clothing.

Pencil crayons were arranged in order and numbered at the bottom so they wouldn't get out of order. Crayons often had the same treatment.

I thought this was normal.

I didn't know I had a problem.

How do you organise your movie collection? By genre? Alphabetical? Alphabetical within genres? No order whatsoever? Guess how mine are organised.......by colour of the DVD cases of course!

I always joke with people and say I have OCD.

"Obsessive Compulsive Order?" you ask.

"No, you silly!" I say. "Obsessive Colour Disorder!"

I can't help it, I really can't. I see colour and I love it. The wall of paint samples at a hardware store is just heaven to me. So much colour, so little space! But here's the thing, when I joke with people about having obsessive colour disorder and they laugh, but they don't have a clue how real it is. Anyone who has visited my house knows this is a serious affliction, and I, Jennifer Trevors, am a sufferer.

Example 1.

My kitchen. This room pretty much sums it up. Also, all of my favourite kitchen appliances have names. The red coffee maker to the left, her name is Lucy. See that sexy KitchenAid mixer in the corner? That's Betty. See that gay pink container? Yeah, that's Stan's, not mine. The tea kettle in the second picture goes by Alice. Although the blender is new and I haven't named her yet. Any suggestions?

Example 2.

My bedroom. My bedroom still isn't as correctly colour co-ordinated as I'd like but I'm getting there. I'm in the middle of staining my dresser an ebony black and I'd really like to buy or make some sort of fabric cover for my chair.

I even buy garbage bags that match the colours of my rooms. Purple garbage bags in my bedroom, pink ones in the bathroom. And they are scented too! I bet half of you wouldn't even know where to buy those. I do. Sometimes I even try to find red dish soap for the kitchen, pink hand soap for the bathroom.

Also, I'm preeeeeetty sure Obsessive Colour Disorder is genetic. You should see my mother's house if you don't believe me. Rooms are actually referred to by their colour. "I get the blue room!" I say. "No, your sister travelled further and she is here longer therefore she gets the blue room and you get the green one" says my mother. This conversation has been had in real life. I wouldn't lie, folks.

Roy G. Biv
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What I spent the last two months of 2011 doing!

2012-01-23T00:01:00.000-04:00

I can finally post about the Christmas presents I made since the last one has been received by my sister. This year I was ambitious with my gifts. I made not one but two crocheted blankets among all of the smaller items I made for friends.

For my sister Rebecca and her boyfriend Robby, I decided to crochet a ripple blanket. They just moved in together and I thought it would be a nice item to make them for their new place. It was my first time trying a ripple pattern blanket and it was pretty easy once you got the rhythm of the pattern down. I found an easy to follow on Attic24 and it can be found here.

And as much as my sister loves the blanket, I think the cats even loved it more! Any time I was working on it, they seemed to find their way on top of it.

For my Mum's present, I made a pretty basic granny square blanket. It worked up pretty quickly and it contains about 17 different colours. I used the same yarn for both - Lionbrand Home Spun. Once you washed the blanket for the first time, it was so incredibly soft. It was hard parting with either blanket as I just wanted to snuggle up in either one.

And the cats weren't the only ones to like the blankets. Here is a picture of my Dad when he was released from the hospital, snuggled up in the blanket as well.

My Dad had a rough couple of months towards the end of the year. Along with a broken leg and ankle, he was hospitalised with bilateral pulmonary embolism followed by a bout of pneumonia. Luckily he's doing much better now and I cross my fingers that nothing else happens to him. Also, early happy birthday tohim as he turns 51 on Tuesday. Happy Birthday Dad!

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Mmm...mmm...awesome!

2012-01-22T20:22:00.004-04:00

We're in the middle of a soup kick at my house. In the last three weeks I've made a tomato chicken soup, beef, quinoa & barley soup and a split pea soup but my favourite has been the Italian sausage and tortellini soup. It's rich, filling and delicious. Try it!

Italian Sausage and Tortellini Soup

3 links sweet italian sausage, casings removed
1 cup diced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
5 cups beef stock
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup diced tomatoes (canned or fresh)
1 cup chopped carrots
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup corn
1 green pepper, diced
8 oz cheese or beef tortellini
chopped parsley

I started by removing the sausage from casings and browned it in sauté pan for about 10 minutes. Drain most of the fat but leave a bit to sauté the onions and garlic in. Next add the beef stock, water, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil, oregano and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, skimming any fat that may surface. Finally, add the rest of the ingredients and let cook for another 10 minutes or until the tortellini is cooked. Now eat.

We actually made double the recipe and have been eating this soup for days. Normally if I make this much soup in one go, I would freeze half of it but I figure the tortellini would soak up all the liquid and would become huge and soggy.
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D'awwww

2011-07-20T00:23:00.003-03:00

My baby is growing up!

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Oh man, I'm such a slacker.

2011-07-10T17:31:00.009-03:00

Ugh. Seriously, it seems every year I do this. And by this, I mean I completely neglect my site and I get a little slackerish on the crafting. Lots of things have happened since I last updated in March. I moved out of the city and moved into a house in the town of Bedford, Nova Scotia and I got a new job and am now working as a travel counsellor. No more apartment living! No more crappy job where I get no respect or am appreciate for my hard work! Hooray!

The kittens have gotten huge. They are no longer kittens in my eyes but rather small cats. The younger of the two, James, went to a new home last week. The other kitten, Magnets, is staying with me and her mother Vega. As much as I would have liked to have kept both kittens, money is tight and if they had gotten sick at the same time, I wouldn't be able to afford to take care of them. James ended up going to the home of a friend of mine where I know she (yes, she, we got the sex mixed up when she was born but the name James stuck) will be taken very good care of. Plus, when you knit and/or crochet and you have three cats, people start calling you a crazy cat lady. I'd rather avoid that if possible :)

Maggie sitting pretty in my bedroom window. She's totally not a kitten any more!

Baby James relaxing on my bed. I love the little white stripe on her nose :)

Now for some crafts! So I've done a few things. Made a couple of hats, a few pairs of slippers, half a dozen dishcloths, a couple of handbags and a few other small items. My new bedroom happens to have a glass door so I needed to make something to cover it. Today I made a curtain to cover it.

Before

After

I love this fabric! The purple has a pretty sheen to it and it matches my room perfectly!

Alright, time to sign off. I hope to start posting more often! If not, have a great summer :D

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Bonus Cats!

2011-03-21T00:41:00.006-03:00

So I recently posted about how I took an abandoned cat named Vega. Well Vega came with bonus cats! She was pregnant when we took her in and she gave birth to two tiny kittens on Tuesday and Wednesday. She had the first cat at 8:30 pm on Tuesday night. She then waited a full 24 hours and gave birth to the second cat on 8:30 on Wednesday night. We think the first is a girl and the second is a boy. We named baby cat #1 Magents, and baby cat #2 is named James.

James Bond & Magnets Bond

Adorable, right?

I gotta say, watching my cat Vega give birth was a tad bit scary. I was by myself for the first one and I wasn't expecting it to happen so quickly. Her howls sounded like screams and she looked so scared. I wanted to hug her and let her know that everything was going to be okay. Besides being scary, it was kinda awesome to witness. Watching Vega know exactly what she needed to do to take care of her infant, was pretty rad. It was a watching natural instinct in it's purest form. It's going to be an interesting two months raising the cuties!

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Cupcakes, birds, hats, kitties, snow and even more snow!

2011-02-12T22:13:00.012-04:00

Ahhhh....time for some updates!

Nova Scotia has not seen this much snow in years. It seems like we've been dumped on by snow at least once a week. By the time we recover from one Nor'ester, it seems like another one is just around the corner!

The upside to all of the snow? Sledding! Although I went once about two years ago, it ended in a disaster. My first run down the hill resulted in me crashing, using my face as a brake and suffering a concussion. This time was a success though - no injuries and fun was had by everyone. And we went at night, which is fantastic for two reasons -

1. No small children. I always fear I'm going to run one of them over. Plus, they always show me up by never falling off their sled and they can go further than I can. They are tiny, little jerks I tell you!
2. Halifax is really pretty at night

Next update - my family has gotten larger! Don't get too excited though - I just got a new cat. My friend Angel found a tiny, malnourished cat outside of her apartment building a few weeks ago and I took her in as my own. Her name is Vega Bond! Although she's pretty cute and likes to snuggle a whole lot, she's finding it hard to adjust to The Captain and Weeze but she's getting there. And she likes to shred toilet paper...all the time. Hopefully she'll grow out of this.

Now for a few craft updates! I've made a few things recently but am behind on what I was to complete. I've started a lot of projects, but as per usual, am having a hard time completing them. I need to buckle down and get to to work.

First up, I made a pretty simple striped hat with a flower. The pattern for the flower can be found in one of the Stitch 'N Bitch books, The Happy Hooker.

I also whipped up a cute little amigurumi bird sometime last week. I found the pattern for a set of Love Birds on the Lion Brand website and made one but never got around to making the second. Click here to find the pattern but you will need to be logged into their site.

Tomorrow I am heading to a potluck at a friend's place and I decided to make cupcakes. It's been awhile since I made them, mostly because when I do bake them, I can't eat just one - I eat like five. And oddly enough, when you're trying to lose weight, eating 5 cupcakes doesn't help! I made up a batch of cookies and cream cupcakes with and vanilla bourbon buttercream frosting. They turned out pretty friggin' awesome. Can anyone say "Nom nom nom"? Oh wait, I can! Nom NOM NOOOOM!

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Geeky goodness!

2011-01-23T00:04:00.007-04:00

I've seen pens covered in polymer clay in the past but never thought to try them myself until recently. I built a few space invaders polymer clay canes last week so I thought that this would be a perfect project to showcase all of the different sprites. Take a look!

I think that they turned out adorable! I loved the results so much that I decided to try a few more with some canes that I had made in the past, including one of my favourite 8-bit designs that I've done - the pink and purple Mario Bros. mushroom.

One thing I did discover is that it matters which kind of pens you use for the project. The first one I made, I used pens made with an opaque frosty outside that didn't melt or deform while in the oven. I actually attempted a few other ones that consisted of a hard white plastic which unfortunately melted and warped in the oven, making them completely unusable. I should have tested them before baking 4 pens all at the same time but I was so excited to give it a try. Lesson learned....hopefully :)
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Mmmm...baked goods.

2011-01-22T23:33:00.006-04:00

There is only one thing better than baking banana bread. Eating it. Recently I cleaned out my freezer only to discover that I had a plethora of frozen bananas that I should probably try and get some use out of it. I couldn't decide if I should make banana bread, banana chip cookies or banana nut muffins so I asked my friends via facebook what they thought I should make. Banana bread was the overwhelming winner and I was more than happy to oblige!

Here's my recipe...

Banana Nut Bread

1 cup sugar
1 cup mashed banana
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
walnuts (optional)

Cream together sugar and banana. When blended add butter. Add eggs, one at a time. Sift together dry ingredients and mix together with banana mixture only until all flour is mixed in. Try not to over mix it. Pour into greased pan and place into 350º pre-heated oven. If you use a mini loaf pan such I did, cook for about 25 minutes. If you use a regular loaf pan, 45-60 minutes will be needed.

I added walnuts on top, although occasionally I will mix in chocolate chips instead.

Enjoy!
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Cat vs. Mouse

2011-01-02T01:21:00.000-04:00

I decided to make the cats a toy with the catnip that I had purchased last week. I found a super cute pattern for a mouse amigurumi and figured it would suit the purpose very well! I did make a few changes to the pattern though. I did both row 9 & 11 twice. Also, rather than doing two parts to the ears, which I know the pointy eared bastards would tear apart, I just needle felted some brightly coloured roving into the centres of the ears.

Cute, right? Well the cuteness didn't last for long - that is, once the boys got a hold of him!

Look at those mother-effing claws! They didn't name him Captain Claws for nothing!

Weeze seems harmless most of the time, but few realise that a killer hides inside of him!
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Out with 2010, in with 2011!

2011-01-01T00:29:00.005-04:00

I keep vowing to update more often, then I'm pretty good at it for a few days or a few weeks and then I go back to forgetting to update on a consistent basis! I make no promises that this won't happen in the future, it's just how I roll.

So 2010 is over. And with a new year, you get a new start! I really do plan on looking for a new job as I currently am in hate with the one I have. The only upside to my current job is that I'm usually home by 3:30pm at the latest which gives me lots of time to myself at home which means plenty of time to craft. I also sold the most commissioned pieces this year as well! Hopefully this trend continues into the new year.

I knit my fist hat back in December as a Christmas present for my sister's boyfriend. It was the most simplest of knit hat pattern that are knit on straight needles. Cast on 84 stitches, do a 2 x 2 rib knit until the fabric is 6 inches long and then start to decrease until crown. Easy? Yes. It felt pretty good as up until then, the only thing I had knit was a couple of scarves. So I posted a picture of the knit hat and a friend asked if I could do one similar to it but with a brim. I thought, sure, why not! So I figured it out on my own.

Rib knit hat with brim

Cast on 84 sts
Row 1: (K2, P2) across
Repeat this row until the piece measures 8.5 inches from the beginning
Next Row: (K2, P2, K2 tog, P2, K2, P2 tog) across the row
Next Row: K the K sts and P the P sts
Next Row: K the K sts and P the P sts
Next Row: (K1, P2, K2 tog, P1, K2, P2 tog) across the row
Next Row: K the K sts and P the P sts
Next Row: K the K sts and P the P sts
Next Row: K1, P2 tog (K1, P1, K2 tog, P1, K1, P2 tog) to the last stitch. P1
Next Row: K the K sts and P the P sts
Next Row: K the K sts and P the P sts
Next Row: (K1, K2 tog) across
Next Row: (K2 tog) across
Next Row: (K2 tog) across

To finish the hat, cut the yarn, leaving a long tail to use as thread to sew up the seam along the back. Put the yarn on a needle and thread through the remaining loops on the knitting needle and pull shut. With the hat inside out, sew the seam up the back.

Now cut a piece of plastic in the shape of a brim. I actually had a hat in the house that had a brim about the same size of what I wanted so I just traced it. With the hat inside out, fold the bottom brim up about 2.5 inches and place plastic brim inside of fold. Using a thread and needle, sew up the edge of the hat. To sew the brim in place, I used my sewing machine to do a tight stitch along the edge of it. Tada! Completed hat.
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Merlin the dragon Vs. a Chinese dragon

2010-11-18T14:04:00.008-04:00

He's made it all the way to China!

Who would win in a fight?
Who would win in a fight?

Merlin the dragon
Chinese dragon

view results

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Seamus the Seahorse

2010-11-17T23:15:00.003-04:00

I love me some cute amigurumis and it's been awhile since I made one! So in honour of this, I made Seamus.

You can make him yourself with the pattern found here.
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Hats, hats and more hats.

2010-11-17T22:39:00.004-04:00

I love making hats, I really do. They are quick and easy and there are a million different ways that you can personalise each one.

Recently my friend Kate, whom I knew back in Calgary, was in town with her kids on their move from Vancouver to London, England. The last time I had seen her, her son Sebastian was only a few weeks old and his little sister Rigby was years from being born. While they were visiting, Sebastian and I discovered that we share a love of dinosaurs and the colour pink. Any 5 year old boy that loves both is cool in my books. Rigby spent most of the time visiting, trying to find the cats, who seemed to have hidden from sight as soon as they realised tiny humans were in the house.

I decided to make both of them hats based on our short, but enjoyable visit!

First up, Seb's pink and black dino hat...

This is only the second time I've attempted to line a hat with fleece and I gotta say, this time it turned out waaaaay better than the first. The first time, the lining was just too small and didn't shape the head properly. So this one is pretty much a success in my books!

Rigby's kitty hat....

Try and find the thread that I used to sew the purple fleece into the ears, I dare you!

One problem that I've encountered making hats for children. I have no idea how big their heads actually are. When I'm making a hat for a friend, I can just try it on for myself and if it fits, I assume it'll fit theirs. Oddly enough, children's heads aren't as big as mine though, so I'm always a little unsure of the fit!

I've also completed two other hats (including my first knit hat ever!) but unfortunately I have not gotten around to taking a photo of either yet. I'll try and post a picture of at least one them in the coming days. Until then, I bid you farewell.
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Hey guys, can I help? Or help make a mess?

2010-10-15T20:32:00.003-03:00

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Nom

2010-10-05T19:00:00.003-03:00

Pecan rolls. *drools*

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And.......GO.

2010-09-29T22:51:00.010-03:00

Alright...so I'm sorta getting back into the swing of things. I've completed a few projects that were started months ago and I've been doing a lot of baking. A lot. My baking skills continue to grow and I'm trying new techniques and recipes that I would never have bothered with before. Recently I've made a couple batches of chocolate chip cookies, a few varieties of cupcakes and even tried my hand at homemade tortillas! Both the cookies and the cupcakes turned out awesome and the tortillas were pretty good, that is the 3 of the 6 that I rolled thin enough! At least next time I know how thin to make them.

These were a French vanilla cupcake with white chocolate buttercream frosting. Yes, I did say white chocolate buttercream frosting. And yes, it was delicious if I do say so myself. And I do.

But wait....

What is that I see? Oh yes, a surprise inside too! Field berry curd! These turned out to be a winner and I saw many being inhaled when I brought them to work.

Also...delicious cookies...

I'm really in love with this recipe that I've tweeked. I've made about 3 or 4 batches of them so far and every single one has been a complete success. This time I made them with ghirardelli chocolate chips, white chocolate chunks and pecans. If these don't give you diabetes, I don't know what will.

I've been busy with the craft side of things too! I've finished two handbags that I had started six months ago. Both of them were completely crocheted but needed liners and decorations of some sort.

I love shell stitch, I really do. It works up quickly and gives a nice texture to the fabric that it creates.

Ooooh, I even tried fancy stitching!

I also got around to finishing a bag that I had finished crocheting back in May but put aside and was forgotten about. It's another Starling Bag that I've done a million times. For this particular bag, I had to hand dye it black because for some strange reason, I have never been able to find black cotton yarn in this city. Ever. I'm positive that it doesn't exist. Don't try and prove me otherwise! And I loooove the fabric for this one. I actually bought it over a year ago but was waiting to use it until I found the previously mentioned non-existent black cotton yarn.

The embroidery on the front is kind crap but I'm still learning. I wish now that I could redo it. Oh well.

A pocket!

The inspiration for the embroidery on the front.

There is also some needle felting on the front too!

And now I must go watch last night's episode of Glee and get to bed. I wish to run in the morning!

Captain Claws says Goodnight!

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It's a jungle out there....

2010-08-29T20:37:00.003-03:00

My HLM asked for a handbag with zebra print lining. The only zebra print I could find was faux fur. Tacky? Yes. Does she love it? Yes. Success in my books.

And as a surprise, I made her some découpage zebra print picture frames. Score!

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