The Wiz

In the few minutes I had before leaving for our little friend's birthday party (we were already 45 minutes late!) I couldn't get a photo that showed off how cool this wizard's wand project is. It was *super* fun to make. And, I hear it was a success with the birthday girl witch, too. Best quote at the party was an excited squeal, "That's just like Hermione Granger's wand!"

Gatsby Picnic

At my mother-in-law's request our family attended the Gatsby Picnic a couple weeks back. It was motivating, if nothing else. Where does a 185 lb, 5 ft. 9.5 in. girl get herself some authentic 1920s or 30s vintage outfits in a hurry? She doesn't. She has to make them.

I started by buying some patterns from Decades of Style because they have redrafted some great vintage patterns to fit larger sizes (Angelina are you listening?). I made this skirt and this jacket (still a WIP). My sister found a vintage-looking Target sweater at a garage sale. I just happen to have some vintage size 11 shoes that worked. My goal was to look appropriate, but not too fancy.

After looking at the Vintage Pattern Lending Library I was dying to make one of these wonderful felt hats. Of course, I picked the one with the flowers. I used all materials from the stash — a benefit of being a hoarder. The picnic day turned out to be very warm, so I traded in the wool for a straw cloche that my MIL had. The wool hat made its debut at preschool last week when my hair was in a state that might scare small children. Turns out the hat scared them more than the hair. Go figure.

More photos from the picnic here.

Hanging With My Gnomies

I stole that pun from Angharad. This is the easiest craft of all time. I used what I had (old, musty acrylic felt yardage), measured my son's head, and cut out a rough triangle — a quick stitch on the machine and we had a gnome hat, as requested, in green. Who knew that the whole family would want them?

100 Posts 39 Years

39
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

NOTE: I call it "mama brain," my husband called it "pulling a lame-o." Did you notice that I never really told you what I was giving away? My grand idea is make another pincushion with chick and flower pins. Sound good? I hope this works for you all. Because of my mess up I'm going to extend the sign up until midnight tonight, Flickr comments included.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! I had a great day.

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Well, it's about time for a give-away, no? Recently I found this embroidered trim that I thought had disappeared under suspicious circumstances. It turned up at the bottom of my floss basket. Whoops! So glad I didn't make any accusations.

Do you remember what I used it on? Yep, that chicken pincushion for the swap with Samantha. It remains one of my most viewed photos at Flickr, as well as one of the most common ways to find me through Google. Sometimes I wonder if "chicken pincushion" has some subversive meaning. Anyone?

So, leave a comment today, before midnight Pacific Standard Time, and tomorrow I will draw a name for one lucky winner. And, thank you everyone for being part of this thing that I love.

Oh, yeah, it's my birthday today. This is what I hope happens: a shower for my grubby self; finishing sewing the Hawaiian tunic to wear (Sounds like a muumuu, huh? One of the benefits of being 39.); shopping for fabric with the Bitter one; letting my four-year-old surprise me; riding the Giant Dipper; eating sushi; having banana cake with whipped cream, getting lots of hugs and kisses from the littles; no time outs.

P.S. Please make sure to leave a way for me to find you. You know Blogger isn't so good about this. I think you need to type the "www" before your blog address for it to work. If you're not sure, leave an email address. Melissa and Kristy, I'm not sure who you are.

Christmas Stocking Wall

Christmas Stocking Wall
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

Thirty-eight years of Christmas stockings. Can you spot the decades. Almost all are handmade by family or friends. I think there are four store-bought ones. Can you tell which one my four-year-old had to have?

Craft Whore or Madonna?

CRAFTWhore
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

Once upon a time this crazy smart and talented friend of mine thought we should have our own alterna-craft fair — so we did. Her handle (how 70s is that?) was Craft Whore — mine, she determined, was Craft Slut. That didn't seem right for me (I'm much too prudish), so it was quickly changed to Craft Meanie, which is more in line with my Spice name, Grumpy Spice. Anyway, since I can't post any of my holiday crafts I decided to pull this out of the archives. It's Craft Whore's felt portrait that I made for our online craft bios.

I started by taking a photo for reference. When I took the photo she just happened to be holding her baby, who just happened to hold up her hand like baby J. Divine craft inspiration? I think so. At the time I was also having some difficulty coming to terms with the name Craft Whore (remember, I'm a prude). How was I going to present Craft Whore to the world, and in felt no less? But, then, I realized that she could be both, Craft Whore and Craft Madonna — and, that it's quite common to have a complex about this.

I got to use some of my long repressed soft sculpture skills from way back (I won 1st place at the county fair when I was about 12). I used a couple layers of felt for the cheeks (she's cheeky) and trimmed the edges with an Exacto knife for roundness. The halos are vintage German goldleaf glued to felt.

I don't know how to end this post except to ask: Which one are you?

Christmas in August

gold
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.
orange
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen
grey
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

I've been saving these stockings to share at a time when everyone is not overwhelmed by the holidays. Hopefully they will inspire a whole mess of embroidery projects. I've had close up details posted at Flickr for some time now. I made seven of these for my family Christmas 2004. Looking back now, I remember that they were the beginning of my new craft era, and part of the catalyst for our wacky idea to put on a craft show.

P.S. Have you all been to Getting Stitched on the Farm? I think I'm in love: the painted wall; the socks for Vogue Knitting; the animals. Sigh...

Finished Projects--Two Years Later!

needlebook
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

There's something about having this blog that makes me finish projects. In the past, abandoned projects would go unfinished forever haunting me and causing me much guilt. But, now, the new blogging me gets these things done for the satisfaction of posting them, which is somehow more motivating than actually giving the gift. Hmmm? For my sister's bridal shower I had two gifts, a sewing kit and a cookbook, neither was completed until this month. When was she married, you might ask -- nearly two years ago! Thanks for waiting sis.

sewingkit2
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

This cottage needlebook, made from a pattern (I can't remember the book) is the final addition to the sewing kit. All of the wonderful needlebooks posted lately (see here, here, and here) gave me the inspiration to get mine done. All I had to do was sew in the pieces of fabric to put the needles in. It took about five minutes to finish. Why did I wait two years! Note: the fabric for the needlebook is a wonderful woven wool/rayon felt, the same as I used for my embroidered stockings. It's a little more rough around the edges than regular wool felt, but it is so soft and drapes beautifully.

inside2
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

Originally the sewing box was an ugly brown stain. A quick remedy of matte red spray paint with black details made me much happier. I took the whole box apart before painting it to get a cleaner look. Then, I filled the kit with vintage supplies! Hunting for the notions was the funnest part.

Bridal Shower Cookbook
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

The cookbook was a collective gift that I organized and art directed, and then let lie fallow. It's called "Whatcha Got Cookin'" and everyone brought a favorite recipe and decorated (you could say "scrapbooked," but that word leaves a bad taste in my mouth) a page to add to the book. I can't say it's fine bindery, but I did learn a bit about grommets and glueing fabric to cardboard. The book has been sitting unbound until just recently. The party invitations were also tied into the cooking theme. I drew a caricature of my sis holding a spoon and a spatula and then hand decorating the cards with felt, tulle, and rickrack.

Whew! Two projects done, many more to go. Coming up next in the world of unfinished projects: circus-themed bean bag toss game, vinyl and polyester quilt handbags, vintage fabric appliqued heart quilt.

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.

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.