Chicken Swap Sneak Peep

Chicken Swap Detail
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

Here's a detail from a chicken swap I'm doing with Plump Pudding. Obviously I'm not very good at keeping secrets, but all is not revealed and I still have a few more surprises to add to the package. I started this project before I read her post about being a fickle-minded pincushion user. Hopefully this one holds her interest for awhile.

Side note: I'm watermarking my photos now because I'm a bit of a paranoid person and I've read a couple stories that got me thinking. And, although I'm not protecting any personal business interests, I do loath thievery. And, if I found one day that someone was using my photos in some non-ethical way, I might seize up and not be able to blog anymore. And, that would be a sad, sad day.

P.S. I forgot to mention that Bella Dia's pincushions and Wee Wonderfuls' Shrinky Dink pins were my inspirations on this one. I didn't have any Shrinky Dink sheets in the house, so I used Fimo. To make it an actual chicken swap I had to make the chick to tie it all together.

Vintage Button Rings

Vintage Button Rings
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

These were inspired by an old Craftster post, but my sister said I was not allowed to use the cheap adjustable ring bands. So, I used vintage elastic and colored it with Sharpie thinking it looked cool. It didn't work out. The elastic stretched out whenever it got wet (like everytime I washed my hands). And, then, the color would run and stain my finger. I used the vintage elastic because it had a beautiful satin-like sheen. I ended up selling them at a craft fair for a dollar each with a disclaimer. They looked like candy in a bowl.

Embroidered Flowers with Vintage Buttons

pink_orange_flower_detail2
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

I'm longing for spring. Not that California weather is anything to complain about, but, still, I miss the flowers and the leaves and the longer days. I've been wanting to post photos of these stockings I made, but just missed the window of opportunity this Christmas because I started this blog in January. Since I can't wait till next December, I'm posting photos of the details, which are more springtime than Christmastime, anyway.

red_gold_flowers2
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

I was inspired by an artist, Linda Solovic, that I found in a Mary Engelbreit magazine (yes, a guilty pleasure of mine). I'm beginning to wonder if I can have any original ideas. I seem to stagnate until I see something someone else has done, then go off and do my interpretation of it. Now, though, as I look back at her work, I can see there is more difference than I thought. I made these a year ago, so it has been awhile since I'd seen Linda's work. The question is: Will I ever pull ahead and create my own ideas/look/style, leaving behind any fears of copycatism?

More detail photos at Flickr.

Illustration Friday - Song

4 Calling Birds
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

Part of the 12 Days of Christmas series I did last year. I thought I'd ease into Illustration Friday by using something existing, luckily I had something that matched the topic. I'm still not sure about if you are supposed to wait till Friday to post -- seems that over 400 people have already posted since Saturday.

This is a small painting, about 2 x 3.5 inches, inspired by Susie Ghahremani's mini paintings. Susie's blog, see/hear, has an interesting topic going on right now about the ethics of getting someone's art as a tattoo without their permission.

Don't Go Into the Light: A Valentine Confession

Valentine from 2003
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

I, too, am a holiday cynic...sort of. I liked Craftapalooza's truth hurts view of Valentine's Day. We share the same candy heart message of "Get Real." And, I'm dying to give someone the "You say potato, I say you look like one" card (and this coming from a pregnant woman). As you can see by the photo in my very first post, I love cynical holiday as a craft theme.

Having said that, I'm posting this photo to show my other side -- not the secret dark side, oh, that's around all the time, but the forbidden lighter side. It can happen to anyone. One day you have a kid and -- WHAMO! -- somehow you're not so cynical. Someone who was once known as Grumpelstiltzkin ends up spending hours taking photos and manipulating them to turn their child into a cupid. You might even find yourself getting weepy as you make a simple Valentine at preschool.

I'm not saying one way or the other is better, but, rather, to be authentic in your feelings and rituals that make up your holidays, be they dark or light.

Simple Knit Dolls

Simple Knit Dolls
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

Worked on straight needles, these dolls are very easy to make for a beginner. These were some of my first ever knitted projects, right after simple ribbed scarf and straight needle hats. They're really fun to hold--soft, squishy, and somehow different than a fabric doll. I got the pattern for the middle doll out of a toy making book from the early 1980s, which I'll post when I can find the book (must tackle six-foot craft pile to find it). But, really, you can do it without a pattern, which is what I did for the other two dolls. The left doll is supposed to be my husband (Dickies, white t-shirt, Adidas, and a beard--tee hee) and the one on the right is a bee lady (gold and black striped sweater, grey skirt, and removable stinger hat). I crocheted a circle for her base, and small circle shoe soles for my husband's Adidas.

Basically, for the middle doll, you work a rectangle from the feet up to the collar of the sweater, switching colors as you choose for shoes, pants, and sweater. The shoes were knit, pants were pearl, and sweater knit with a k1 p1 rib. Bind off and then pick up stitches to work the face. If I remember correctly, the head has the same amount of stitches as the body, but is shaped at the neck later. I switched yarns to give him hair, which you can't see because it is under his removable hat. As you get toward the top of the head start to decrease at the end and beginning of each row. The rest is just finish work: sew up the back seam, stuff, and hand stitch to shape the neck, arms and legs (this was the hardest part for me, to get the needle through the fill, perhaps wrong needle). The eyes, nose, and mouth are simple embroidery with yarn.

Recycled Sweater Kid Pants

Update: October 1, 2008
Welcome, Crafty Crow readers! I have written up a tutorial on how to make Recycled Sweater Sleeve Kid Pants. Please check it out. Enjoy!

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Sweater Pants
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

I overheard a woman in the local yarn shop talking about making kid pants out of old sweater sleeves. I had seen this done with sweatshirts, but the sweater idea seemed like more fun, cuter. I cut up a pair of my son's pants to get the crotch pattern then applied it to the sweater sleeve pieces using as much sleeve length as possible.

Sweater Pants Detail
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

On the orange pair I stiched the two pieces together on the sewing machine with just a straight stich, then stitched down the seam on both sides. The stiches blend right into the knit and are hardly visible. I threaded a ribbon through the waist to make a closure. And, to cutify it a bit more I hand-stitched torquoise lace seam binding to the inside waist seam. The other pants have a standard elastic waist decorated with a red zigzag stitch, big red button, and some hand-stitching down the fly.

I haven't tried these on any kids yet, so I'm not sure of the practicality, but they are sure fun, cheap and easy to make.

Needlebook from Needlebook

from_needlebook
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

My first and second swaps, shown together here, are both from Claire at Needlebook. The spotted mushroom needlebook was a complete surprise, as I was expecting a fabric swap only. Claire knew from reading my blog that I love those mushrooms and put that together on her own accord. Thanks so much Claire! Now for me to get your fabric swap goodies into the mail.