random.on purpose.

Serendipity Goes Jingle

(This is my second post today (I know!) - scroll down for the first one.  It's a tutorial for pom pom bunnies.  There's a baby sock bunny tutorial on yesterday's post, too - I'm on a roll, I s'pose...)

I haven't made any more "catch-up" cards for the Jingle Belles challenges I've missed, but I did manage to make one for this week's challenge to incorporate "The Holly and the Ivy":

Curious where the "serendipity" comes in?  Well, Greg and I moved back to Syracuse four years ago, and have had several boxes and bins stored in a warehouse that his boss owned for most of that time.  The building was recently sold, and everything had to be moved.  Last weekend, Greg brought our last few bins home and I went through a couple of them.  Know what I found?  Several different patterns of Christmas-printed tissue paper, and the one I was the most stoked about was a beautiful, vibrant holly print - perfect! 

Obviously, that description doesn't match the card above.  Two of the other tissue patterns were used for this one.  The one I originally thought I was going to do is still a work in progress - I'll post it when it's done.  The card above uses a twist on the "faux silk" technique, and I'm going to share that twist with you, because it's SO much easier and cleaner than the original technique!

First, find the tissue paper you want to use.  It may look like this:

Heat up your iron to a "warm" setting, such as acrylic or rayon, and press it smooth(er).  Make sure you do NOT use steam, and it's best to iron on the back of the paper, instead of the right side.  You still want it to have some wrinkly-looking lines to help sell the "silk" look, but relatively smooth:

Cut a piece of freezer paper and place it, shiny side down, on top of the tissue.  Press with your iron again. 

Basically you are fusing the tissue to the freezer paper.  In the original method, you would use glue stick to adhere them together.  No glue - no mess!  Trim your fused paper and use it however you'd like!

One other tricky bit:  I didn't have any green cardstock that matched the holly in my panel, so I cut a piece that was close to the right shade to size, then altered it with a Bic marker.  I tested a couple of the markers in the center, then just used the best one around the edges, about 1/2" in only, since the center won't show when the card is put together:

The other cardstock is  from a stationery store in Utah.  The ribbon is from my stash.  I used gold metallic thread in my sewing machine to sew the faux silk panels to their cardstock mats.  My machine apparently is not fond of metallic threads, as it skipped a stitch or two here and there, and broke a couple of times, but I'm choosing to think of these mishaps as "charming", and lending to the overall vintage, handmade look of the card (play along - I don't have the time or patience to re-make this...thanks...)

I'll post the other card if/when it gets finished, but I have to go back to work now.  That's what happens when you play hooky to get crafty instead...  Have a great night, and thanks for stopping by!

Peter Cottontail

Advance Apologies:  The pictures are a bit murky, the bunny's a bit mangy - my apologies on both counts - explanations to follow...

So - another day, another bunny, as promised!  Here's the reason for the apologies:  I purchased pom poms when they were on sale several months ago, but never opened the packages until last night.  To say that they are poor quality would be an understatement.  BUT - since I promised another bunny today and I'm attempting to follow through on promises I make, I went ahead and put together the bunny and the tutorial.  You may want to buy significantly better pom poms or make your own (there are lots of pom pom makers and tutorials out there).  Buy better quality felt, too - another disappointment...

Also, since I did this at night and later than planned, I didn't have natural light to take pics with or patience for doing a smash-up job on it, so I'm ever so sorry there, too.  My thought was to give you the step-by-step and an idea of the finished product and let you use both to create your own, better version!  Here's the poor mangy little guy:

And here's what you need to make him:

• 2" white pom pom (1)
• 1 7/8" white pom pom (1)
• 3/4" white pom poms (5)
• 7 mm pink pom pom (1)
• 8 mm google eyes (2)
• scraps of pink and white felt
• glue gun or tacky glue
• scissors

I'm not including templates or anything because, frankly, I don't have the time or patience (nice attitude, eh?), and it's basic shapes that I feel confident that you can freehand!  Here's what you do:

Glue two of the 3/4" pom poms on the front of the 1 7/8" pom pom, and add the pink pom pom where they meet at the top:

You just made the muzzle and nose - good for you!  Glue the whole thing onto the top of the 2" pom pom to make the head-and-body assembly;

Cut out two roughly kidney-shaped pieces of white felt and various sizes of pink felt circles to make some feet:

And some bunny ear-shaped pieces of white and pink for his ears:

Glue the feet onto the front of the bunny and the ears to the top of his head (I separated the fibers in the pom pom so I could sort of "smoosh" the ear down in to hold it better).  Add the google eyes:

Glue two of the 3/4" pom poms - one on each side near the muzzle - to make his arms, and add the last one to his backside for a tail:

Congrats!  You've just finished your bunny!  Here he is again:

Thanks for joining me again today, and happy crafting!  With any luck at all I'll get over my brain-fade, stuck mojo on the cardmaking front and have my Jingle Belle card for this week up on the blog later today - we'll see how that goes!   Oh - and be sure to link up in the comments or something if you make any of these, or the ones from yesterday - I'd so love to see them!  Ta!

Hippity, Hoppity...

...Easter's on its way!  What say we have a FUN post today?  What say we have a TUTORIAL?!

Yeah - I know - it's been waaaaay too long and I've been all moody and philosophical and what-have-you when I haven't been absent, and WHAT is up with THAT?!

Anyway - the night before last I had one of those nights where Odd Brain would NOT shut up, so I got up and did stuff (work-related, unfortunately - nothing fun) until about 1:00, then tossed and turned some more until about 2:30 (last time I actually looked at the clock), and then the alarm went off at 5:00, so yeah - not a lot of sleep...  Among the other things passing through my awareness was a possible Easter project, so after I did what I had to do yesterday morning, I trucked myself on over to the dollar store to get what I needed:

Is that a little pile of cute, or what?  I love little baby socks!  And what, you ask, do they have to do with Easter, and what on earth are you making?  Why, these, my dears:

Little stylized, soft-and-safe bunnies!  Fast, easy and CHEAP!  The trifecta of perfection, craft-wise, right?  Two pairs of socks for $1.00, which makes them 50 cents a pair, which means each bunny costs 25 cents to make.  Probably more like 30 or 40 cents if you want to count the fiberfill and ribbon, but I already had them on hand, so I didn't count them...  Here's what  you do:

Turn the sock inside out and trim the threads holding the hem in place:

Line up the creases on the front and back of the sock, and sew "ear" shapes by coming in from one side and up to the point, then down a bit inside the crease.  Repeat for the other side:

Notice how they're a bit wonky in the above photo?  I'm showing you the mistakes I made so you can avoid them...  This is what happens when you try to start from one side and just continue on to the other, instead of starting fresh on the second side.  I also didn't stitch down quite far enough in the center.  I should have continued the seam down closer to the heel of the sock.  Do it the correct way, please, so your ears will be more even...  Then trim off the corners and down the center, extending the cut just a bit past your stitching in the center:

The reason you need to clip a little farther is that you need a small hole to turn the sock  right-side out and to stuff it:

Turn the sock right-side out.  If you need to, you can use a chopstick or the eraser end of a pencil or something along those lines to get the ears arranged.  Add fiberfill to the sock, pushing it down into the toe first, then filling it up into the heel, until it looks sort of like a little fat baby foot might be in it.  Add some fiberfill to the ears, too, so they have a bit of shape and are a bit elongated (use the chopstick to help with this, if needed).  You may find (as I did) that you need to sew the ear seams a bit more to make them look right.  Begin where you ended your stitching before you turned everything right-side out, and end when you're happy with the length of the ear.  Repeat for the second ear:

You will also need to sew the top of the head shut.  To begin this stitching, weave the needle through several stitches on each side of the cut so you don't cause a run or make the edges fray out (Obviously, this pic was taken during the construction of a different rabbit than the other pics):

Also, I find it helpful to use a double thread and pull the needle between the two threads before I pull the first stitch tight.  This keeps the knot from pulling through the holes in the knit, so it anchors your thread.  After you finish the seam (I just use a whipstitch for all of this), tie off the thread and poke the needle back into the rabbit, pulling it back out  an inch or two from where you ended.  Holding the thread taut, clip it close to the rabbit.  The end of the thread will spring back inside and no one will ever see it:

If you're not fond of the way the seam looks, you could always stick a flower or bow or something over it to cover it, but I consider it a non-issue - nobody will pay attention if you don't point it out...  Now - tie a ribbon around the "neck" of the rabbit (just below the heel of the sock) and you're done!

Profile view:

I like them eyeless and simple like this (also safe - no choking hazards here!), but you could get all crazy and add some seed bead eyes (large-ish ones, not the tiny ones) and some stitches to add a bit more shape:

You could also add embellishments - flowers, buttons, whatever...  Pretty easy, though, huh?  Hope you enjoyed the tutorial and I really hope you make some of these babies (!) and link 'em up so I can see 'em!  Thanks for cruisin' by - more bunnies tomorrow, too (different ones)!  See you then, I hope!

Linking up to:

Say, What?!

Tara Mohr of Wise Living has a very thought-provoking post today that's reinforcing why I write "morning pages" every day to start me off.  I think I'll fine-tune a bit after reading what she had to say...

Hope your week is going well!  Mine is - just a bit busy!  Thanks for stopping by!

Free Advice

...because sometimes it's needed...

IF:

• You don't have all of the information
• You only hear one side of the story
• You were previously uninvolved
• You've never "walked a mile"...

THEN:

• Step out of judgement
• Keep your advice to yourself  (unless asked)
• Be grateful that it's not your situation to deal with

(Yes, this mini-rant was triggered by the goings-on in the "Sue-niverse", as Lauren calls it, but it's still good advice, and I'm reminding me, too...)

One More Reason to SAY

"Sometimes I fall into the illusion that if I show up in the room (if I attend the conference, the dinner party, the meeting – whatever it is ) and be friendly and nice – then I’m participating and as a result I’ll feel a sense of belonging. Not so. Belonging depends on authenticity, vulnerability – because it’s only in being ourselves do we get to feel we truly have been seen, that we truly belong."

                                                                                                        ~ Tara Mohr, Wise Living

            (click on her name to read the entire post)