handmade hezzahvife

2017 DIY Bookmark

2017-01-19T22:26:00.000-05:00

Well, as you can see, I'm really bad at this whole blogging thing. Only posting once every couple years! I do have a new bookmark for you though. There is a boy and a girl version that come in the same file. Pick the one you want, cut it out, and embellish as you please. I decided to add a little watercolor to mine. The printer ink bled a bit so be warned. You might want to test your watercolors first. You can find the downloadable file here 2017 Reading List Bookmark

Do you bullet journal? My sister added the bookmark to her journal to mark the books she'd like to read this year.

Enjoy!

2015 DIY Bookmark

2015-01-29T15:26:00.000-05:00

***update: find the 2017 version here***

Sorry for my long absence. This little guy has kept me busy.

There has not been much time for crafting lately in the hezzahvife house, but I did manage to sketch up this year's bookmark. With a baby in the house I don't expect to get a lot of reading done. Maybe only a book a month unless you count ones with pictures :)
Here's where you can download the 2015 bookmark. And like always, print it off, cut it out, glue it to some pretty paper and fill the spines with the titles you read.

Have you read anything good lately? I'm currently reading Call the Midwife the memoir of Jennifer Worth. I loved watching the television version on pbs and am enjoying the book. For those of you with little ones here are some of our favorite picture books:

Handmade Christmas part 2

2013-01-31T16:16:00.000-05:00

I wanted to paint something unique for my parents that represented our growing family. I fiddled around with a couple family tree ideas but nothing seemed to look right. After reading Psalm 127 one night I came up with this picture. There is an arrow for each of my siblings, our spouses and children. As soon as my parents saw it my dad joked that I will need to hang canvases underneath for all the little arrows to come...patience, Dad, patience.

For my niece and nephews I sewed a puppet theater. It hangs in the doorway from an expandable curtain rod. At first the window sagged badly, so I sewed a little pocket to hold a dowel rod. Now it sits nice and straight. The sock puppets were made following the tutorial from One of a Kind.

2013 DIY Bookmark

2013-01-03T17:45:00.000-05:00

***update: find the 2017 version here***

Did you fill up your 2012 bookmark? I've slacked off a little with my reading the past couple months so didn't quite reach my goal. But I did fill up one side and reprinted another one for the back. This year I've made two sides to the bookmark for all you avid readers. You can download the 2013 reading list bookmark here. Just print, cut along the pale grey lines and glue to some pretty scrapbook paper.

Handmade Christmas

2012-12-31T13:13:00.000-05:00

Every Christmas I tell myself I'm going to make all my gifts but never find the time. Well this year, I'm proud to say I actually did! Handmade gifts are much more personal and thoughtful, and I get a lot more enjoyment spending hours in my craftroom than spending hours at the mall.

For my in-laws I made silhouettes of their two shih-tzus. These were my favorite gifts I made. I took photos of the dogs, outlined and printed off their heads in photoshop, then traced and cut out the silhouettes from some printed scrapbook papers.

My sis-in-law loves "The Big Bang Theory". After seeing this cross stitch on pinterest I knew I had to make it for her. You can buy the pattern from the wee little stitches shop on etsy.

I have a little niece who's crazy about Disney princesses. So she got a Rapunzel braid. It took one full skein of Red Heart Super Saver yarn in pale yellow, some pink ribbon and fake flowers. I followed the tutorial found at the blog seven thirty three.

The Tobinator

2012-12-15T16:20:00.000-05:00

Another nephew had a birthday yesterday. He likes to wear a superman cape that my grandmother made for his daddy when he was little. I thought it would be fun for my nephew to have his own cape so he and daddy could play superheroes together.

I followed a tutorial from see kate sew for the cuffs

and got instructions for the cape from come on, ilene!

Viking Power

2012-11-15T17:26:00.000-05:00

My little nephew turned one yesterday. I wanted to celebrate our Norwegian heritage by making him a viking doll. I love how it turned out - now the husband wants one :)

A few preliminary sketches and the large sketch I made the pattern from:

trying to decide on blonde or red beard

curly red beard and halfway done

And what viking doesn't have a battle axe?

Little E with his new viking! Love how it's almost as big as my nephew.

Movie Posters

2012-11-13T16:32:00.000-05:00

A couple of posters I made of one of my favorite movies - Lost In Translation

convertible cowl

2012-11-06T17:13:00.001-05:00

I've been eyeing some beautiful cowls on ravelry this year. I knit up a couple, but they just didn't look right on me. They were way too chunky, and I don't always like that much bulk under jackets. So I thought why not make a scarf with buttons that I can convert into a cowl. I used a horizontal herringbone pattern for the scarf and I love how it turned out. You can find the pattern and a video here.

I used Loops & Threads Cozy Wool (super bulky yarn if you want to substitute) yarn color - Thunder and US 17 (12.75mm) needles. I started out with US 13 needles like the yarn recommends but this stitch seems to knit tight so I upped my needle size. Here's some instructions for making your own:
cast on 14 sts
follow horizontal herringbone stitch until desired scarf length (mine was about 5' 9")
add two buttonholes to a right side row
work a couple more rows in pattern
bind off in wrong side row
sew buttons to other end of scarf
weave in ends
To make a buttonhole you can either yarn over where you want the hole then on the next row drop the yarn over stitch, or you can bind off a stitch where you want the buttonhole then cast it on again in the next row.

pumpkin carving

2012-10-31T18:14:00.000-04:00

while walking

2012-10-04T14:35:00.000-04:00

love song

2012-10-03T15:31:00.000-04:00

lyrics from "love song" - Paul Meany

s'mores with a twist

2012-09-27T17:44:00.000-04:00

Want a tasty treat?

Just layer peanut butter, chocolate and frozen cool whip in between graham crackers.

mmmmmm...so yummy!

Awreatha Franklin

2012-09-24T14:29:00.000-04:00

I made a couple book wreaths recently. The Husband requested one made out of comic books. I didn't like it at first, but it's growing on me.

This one is for Husband's coworker made from a book of Shakespeare plays.

My plans vs. God's purpose

2012-09-14T14:55:00.000-04:00

The husband and I have been going through a tough time the past couple weeks...a really horrible, no good, awful time. And the night before the most horrible, no good, awful thing had to happen I came across Proverbs 19:21 in my daily reading. I was reminded that this is happening for a reason. I can be sad and even a little angry, but GOD'S PLAN IS BIGGER and good will come of this.

I made a little printable to hang on my fridge to pick me up when I start dwelling on the negative. Want your own reminder? You can download my printable here.

Crayon Art

2012-07-05T15:04:00.000-04:00

There have been tons of melted crayon art going around the internet the past few months. You've seen the ones where you glue the crayons to the top of a canvas then melt them so they drip down. Well, last week this pin came across my pinterest feed. So cool! Jenna Brown makes crayons look like a watercolor painting. I thought this would be a neat project to do with my niece over the weekend.

First we peeled off the labels

I didn't want any burnt little fingers so we duck taped the crayons to wooden skewers and heated them up with a blow dryer.

It looked so fun both my sisters and I joined in.

N was a little shy showing off her finished project.

Her mom asked if I would maybe paint her monogram on it. I thought it would be nice with a verse instead. I had some chipboard letters that I painted white. Was missing a few letters so had to cut them out myself. Let me tell you, cutting a two inch o out of chipboard is not an easy task. The ones I cut look a little rougher, but hopefully, no one will notice.

I think it turned out pretty good. If you are doing this with children I would recommend using colors that blend well. Ours looks a little muddy where the complimentary colors run together.

Dolly ²

2012-06-27T13:19:00.000-04:00

They're Finished!!!! And just in time. Florida niece will be here friday and Georgia niece's b-day is the day after. I love how they turned out. Might have to make one for myself :)

Brunette dolly went much more quickly. I doubled up the yarn and placed it along the hairline all around the head. Added bangs, gave it a little trim and all done!

Dolly and a half

2012-06-18T14:26:00.000-04:00

Finished blonde dolly last week. The face wasn't that difficult once I got started. I stuck pins where I wanted each feature then embroidered them in. The eyes were a little hard to make the same size. They are still uneven but hey, it's handmade what can you expect. I found a great tutorial for the hair on the blog bybido. She explains the process really well with lots of pictures for help. Turned out to be pretty easy but time consuming. The second doll should go a lot faster now that I know what I'm doing.

*pay no attention to the crooked part :)

The hubby was busy this weekend so it gave me the time to sew up dolly #2. I think this one will have brown hair and blue eyes.

Dolly

2012-06-09T18:44:00.000-04:00

I've been following Hillary Lang's blog Wee Wonderfuls for a few years now and was so excited when I came across her book at the library. I must admit I have renewed it the maximum times allowed and now it is overdue. I will probably just end up buying it. The projects in it are too cute.

Two of my little nieces have birthdays coming soon. The one who is turning four requested a handmade doll "with yarn hair". I thought I would sew some wee wonderful dolls for them. I love Hillary's patchwork and folkster dolls. So I took bits and pieces of dolls from her book to create something similar. The body and a little dress are finished but now I'm stuck on the face and hair. Embroidering the face is very intimidating. I almost want to leave it blank. And still not sure what to do with the hair. I want it long and loose so the girls can play with it. Not sure whether to just sew yarn along the hairline and part or all over the head. I remember growing up with dolls with yarn hair that end up looking kinda bald. Any suggestions?

Guess What?

2012-03-20T17:12:00.000-04:00

My submission for Project MCP challenge "guess what".
Can you tell what it is?

like a cabin in the woods

2012-03-18T18:26:00.000-04:00

The husband and I went for a walk in the woods this afternoon. Gorgeous day. This song pretty much sums it up:

Toy Drop

2012-03-17T14:50:00.001-04:00

Have you heard of The Toy Society yet? It's a fun little group where you create a handmade toy and leave it somewhere for a stranger to find. It started in Australia, but now there are crafters all over the world joining in.

A couple years have passed since I made a drop, so I decided to take it up again. I sewed this little monster recently and have been waiting for the right time to drop him off somewhere. When I was out at the lake on Thursday I figured that would be a good spot to leave him. My monster is kinda sad and lonely looking so hopefully he has found a new home with a loving little kid.

Morning on the Lake

2012-03-16T14:56:00.000-04:00

It was so beautiful out yesterday that I decided to spend some time at the lake. I had brunch with some geese, took pics for Project MCP and just enjoyed the peaceful morning.

These are a few pics I took for Project MCP. The theme for the first challenge was "high vantage point".

Blooms

2012-03-15T14:35:00.000-04:00

Spring is in full swing here in the south. 80 degrees in March - yes please!

Necklaces

2012-03-05T21:04:00.000-05:00

I made a few necklaces last week. I got the idea for the first one from a tutorial over at Suddenly Found.

The next is a necklace fail. I wanted to do something asymmetrical. In the pic on the left the necklace looks alright, but once I put it on it just looks goofy. Oh well.

I thought I'd try an asymmetrical one again. I strung twisting spacer beads with just a few crystals to the side. More of a subtle look which I think came out much better.