What’s in the Loo?

In an attempt to post more often I am kicking off a new, reoccurring theme today, “What’s in the Loo.”  Yes you guessed it…what is on my bathroom counter at the time I blog.

Today it is “Martha Stewart Living” November 2009.  One of my favorite articles in this issue is Glitter Painting {p. 152-159}.  This involves lots of glitter but the effect is so super sparkly and I cannot resist anything sparkly!  They also supply a photo-conversion tool to make your photo more like a paint by numbers so it can be glitter painted.  Click the link above or any of the photos to see how to make your own glitter painting.

  

Brownie the Gerbil 2007 – 2009

Our little gerbil Brownie passed away Monday of a sudden, unexplained illness at the age of 2 1/2.  My son and I will miss her always along with her sister Grr who passed away this summer.  Every time I walk into my son’s room I notice her absence.  I really miss the sound of her running on her wheel.  Our dwarf hamster Snicker is our only remaining rodent friend. 

I hope Brownie is up in gerbil heaven running around like a spaz with her sister.

I’m Dreaming of a Sparkly Christmas

Happy Sunday!  I am sure many of us bloggers out there have been quite absent lately.  I think this is the longest gap between posts that I have ever had.  This year I added felt Christmas ornaments to my line-up and the response from Etsy buyers has been wonderful.  So wonderful that I have just not had enough time to post.  Also, I think my plush are getting a little jealous, the ornaments have really taken over.  I have also received an order from a gallery/boutique for 10-20 of my ornaments and some plush too.  I better get BUSY!  I better sew ornaments all next year to be more prepared for Christmas 2010, yes I am thinking of next Christmas already.

I have received quite a few custom requests, the photos below are my latest.  My customer requested designs on Victorian shoe shapes for a Christmas present for her mother.  She just provided samples of the shape and told me to decorate it however I wanted.  I have no plans to add these to my shop this year, maybe next season.  I do have plans to add the reindeer to my regular line-up on the circle shaped ornaments.  I really hope she likes these!

Bookmark Business Cards

So, my needle square envelope has been made and there is a little pile of scrap laying there.  What to do?  Make a bookmark business card!  A bookmark is not something a customer who reads is just going to toss into the recycling.  They will put it in their book and think of you every time they pick it up. 

You can pretty much make the bookmark any size you want, I chose 2” x 6” {the same size of the brown paper stock bookmarks I purchased previously}.  This is also the perfect size to cut from what you would have left after using a 8” x 8” piece of paper.  So, grab your paper, cut it with your handy paper cutter or ruler and craft knife.  Print what you want on the back {obviously you have to use paper that is blank on the back, if it is a double sided print you can just affix a label with your info. on one side} or just send with a written thank you. Then use a “Silent Setter” or hole punch to make a little hole in the top of the strip of paper, put some ribbon through the hole, round the corners with a corner punch {if you wish} and viola! You are done.

Envelope for my Needle Squares

Bookmarks made of “scrap” paper
My business info printed on the bookmark

You will find that you may have some more scraps that are pretty little.  I had just purchased a super cool Fiskars circle punch {1.5”} and went ahead and punched circles out of what was left.  These I printed my shop name and address on.  Another idea which I have started to utilize is taking very short inspirational quotes and printing them on the circles.  A fun little something extra to put in with the bookmark.

Of course you don’t have to use scrap to make your bookmarks or the little circle cards.  Feel free to go nuts and cut a whole sheet of paper into strips or circles.  These are fun extras for those of us that maybe don’t have zillions of sales and can do this type of work ourselves.  Or, hmmm, they could be fun stocking stuffers, teacher gifts, gifts for your child's friends etc… Use some Christmas paper and convert them into gift tags too.  Eeeek, can I make the day maybe 28 hours long?

To print on both the bookmark and the circles I create a Photodraw (use your favorite software) document with the text I want and print it to a piece of paper, then I use double sided removable tape to adhere the bookmark and circles in the correct place on the paper and then run it back through the printer.  Occasionally the paper will slip but this method works great for me.  I purposefully purchased a Canon printer because it draws the paper from the top and straight out the front reducing the chance for items to get jammed as can happen with an HP printer.

Frost ……

Imagine a sunny, crisp winter day.  Bright snow and icy blues, brrrr.  Thank you so much to Etsy’s DishRagRescue for including my Snow Bird Needle Square – Holiday Sparkle in Icy Blue in her Frost treasury.

Scrap Paper Envelopes

After listing my new Needle Squares in my Etsy shop I thought it would be nice to provide a re-useable envelope to go along with them {at no extra charge}.  I cannot call myself a scrap booker by any means as I rarely make any pages these days, but I do LOVE the paper.  I cannot resist buying paper even if I am not sure what I will use it for.  These envelopes are one great way to use it.  I altered a free template I found on the internet, printed it out and then just lightly traced it on the back of the chosen paper.  I cut it out, scored the dotted fold lines {with the dull side of a pairing knife}, folded and taped down the inside flap.  The outside flap gets a wee piece of sticky Velcro to hold it closed and make it so it can be used over and over.

Cute mushroom paper for the Wee Mushroom Needle Square

As you can imagine, after an envelope is made there is some left over paper.  The above paper is 8” x 8”.  I can only get one envelope from that size leaving quite a scrap piece.  From that scrap I can get a book mark and a couple circle punches.  Check in later to see what I do with those leftovers.

Get the envelope template, click HERE.

To be continued…

LowellandSon Plush FOR Your Kitty!

Today we debut our Set of 3 Plush Catnip Fishies. What happens to the bits of fleece that are not big enough to make a Monster Kitty? We are making toys out of them!

Available today in Dots and Swirls with Christmas patterns coming soon, these fish will fulfill your kitty’s catnip desires.  Both stuffed and sprayed with catnip they will drive them wild.  It was all I could do to keep my kitty out of the photo shoot.

  
Lacey our product tester.

Tank Tops, Armpits and Tattoos

If that isn’t a title that grabs you I don’t know what is.  Today's post is about our little day trip to Port Townsend, WA on August 19th.

Now I just have to give my opinion about a few things.
1.  Waitresses really should not wear tank tops when working in a restaurant unless perhaps they are in the Bahamas.
2.  Waitresses really, really should not wear tank tops if they don’t shave their pits.

I apologize in advance to anyone that lives in Port Townsend, but the place is kind of a den of hippies and natural folk, I have never smelled so much patchouli in my life.  Now to explain my opinions above.  We arrived in Port Townsend and were all starved (me, my husband and my 11 year old son) so we immediately searched out a good place to eat lunch.  We chose a place that looked like the locals hung out in (the bar part anyway) and sat in the dining room.  Our waitress was a pretty, young gal wearing, yes you guessed it, a tank top.   She gave us our menus and took our drink order.  My son then leaned over to me and whispered “She has armpit hair.”  So of course when she came back we all had to try and take a look without looking like we were taking a look, and yes she was all natural.  Seriously, if you don’t want to shave please wear a shirt that covers your pits when you are working, ugh.  I don’t want any guys hairy armpits exposed to me either so nothing personal.

Now you are thinking, hmm she mentioned tattoos in the title.  Yes I did!  A little bit later my son leans over to me again and whispers, “She has an inappropriate tattoo on her arm.”  Geeze, what could a girl tattoo on her arm that would be inappropriate?  Hmmm, yes I think those are boobies I see, on a naked woman, on her upper arm.  Now my son has inadvertently seen boobs before, we have cable.  We do make attempts to not expose him to stuff like that, there will be plenty of time for that when he gets older.  Cripes, I can handle changing channels or closing an art book or whatever to try and not expose him to stuff like that but how do you avoid a naked woman tattoo on someone's arm?  It is right there and unavoidable.  I am sure every boys eyes pop out that eats in that place.  What open minded bosses this gal must have.

So anyhow, we did enjoy our visit despite all the exposure in the restaurant.  I enjoyed the galleries and a wood carving shop.  I wished the automotive antique shop was open when we were there, there was lots of cool stuff we could see through the window.

My favorite thing was desert. We went to Elevated Ice Cream and I chose Triple Citrus Italian Ice.  After my husband and son tasted it they wished that was what they got.  It was so incredibly refreshing and not too sweet, similar to sorbet but less sugar.  We went and sat in the shade by the water and enjoyed our treat while gazing at the wonderful view and smelling the salty sea air.

{ Old ferry dock}

{Neat old entry door what used to be the cannery}

{Another cannery door, facing the water}

{Back of the restaurant where we had lunch, the floors above are a hotel}

{Riding back home on the ferry between Kingston and Edmonds}

{The guys up on the ferry deck}

Tutorial – Chinese Lantern Wreath

For those of you that don’t read my garden blog, I am reposting my wreath tutorial here for you to see.  This is a super easy project and looks really cool.  Now I gotta go dig through the under-the-stairs closet for my Halloween decorations and get busy!  ~ Leslie

This wreath is perfect for Halloween as well as fall in general.  I saw this wreath project in a magazine a few years ago and just loved it, obviously enough to make it for myself.  I think it was from Martha Stewart.  Here is what you do, it is SUPER easy.

• Buy a twig wreath – any size
• Spray paint it black, front and back {do this outside}
• Buy a couple stems of Chinese Lantern flower from the craft store when you get the wreath (Michaels and Joann both carry this item).  Snip the lanterns off and hot glue them, here and there, to the wreath.
• Hang from a 3M removable hook on your door or wherever you want.
• I store my wreath in a large plastic bag hanging on the wall in my garage.  This prevents breakage.

This project can be changed up for ANY holiday.  I have been planning on making one for Christmas.  I would spray the wreath silver and place glitzy bits like floral picks or Christmas ornaments and decorations.  You can never have too much sparkle during the holidays.

 The finished product

Chinese Lantern flower
Photo by Ali on Flickr {click photo to see photo stream}

Holiday’s Here I Come!

Christmas is my absolute FAVORITE holiday of the year.  I have tons of decorations and place at least 4 trees 4ft or taller and many more that are little 2 footers all around my home.  I collect glittered and flocked reindeer and just about anything Christmas kitsch.  I also love birds when it comes to Christmas decor so this Snow Bird needle square has been my favorite so far.  Though don’t limit the use of this little item to just Christmas time, it can add sparkle to your sewing basket all year long.

My favorite detail is the clear seed bead '”ice” on the branch

   IN THE WORKS:  a Christmas ornament featuring this cute little bird.

A Special Kitty

On occasion I am asked to make a Monster Kitty to resemble a customer’s own kitty.  Whether your kitty is still with you causing havoc and mayhem or has passed away, a custom Monster Kitty is the perfect way to always remember that special member of your family.  Below is Giovanni, my latest custom kitty, notice the single white whisker on each side and the yellow/green eyes (hand painted special for this kitty).  There are always little things that can be done to make a Monster Kitty yours alone.  Please feel free to convo me anytime with a photo and I can let you know if your kitty can be a Monster Kitty.

Giovanni Gabrieli ~ 1991-2009

Giovanni the Monster Kitty

1000th Sale - Yummy Pancake Giveaway!

Congratulations to Denise of Yummy Pancake on her 1000th sale (now 1007), that is quite the achievement and a ton of crocheting.  To enter her giveaway, go to her blog and comment as to what your favorite Yummy Pancake creation is.  I chose….

Plush bottle of Jagermeister, drunken Mr. Toastee not included

Zombie Mr. Toastee – What a hoot!

This super cute tote and whatever is inside will be your prize

I have got to show my son Mr. Toastee.  A couple years ago he did some comic strips and one of his characters was Toasty who was of course a piece of toast and a good friend of Cookie the main character who was of course a cookie.  We may need to get a Mr. Toastee for our plush collection and perhaps I can get my hands on a Mr. Pastree as well.  Click on photos to go to that item in her shop.

Have a super duper plushie day!!!!!

Scottie Dog Needle Square

Here is a little something for you dog lovers out there, or a cute little gift for a dog lover that you know.  I just love creating felt things with the Scottie dog theme and everyone loves pink, right?

Click photo to go to this item in my shop

Brand New – Needle Squares

Brand new today are my felt needle squares.  Quite a divergence from my usual plush cuties but felt is another of my passions along with fleece.  I typically use felt to create new Christmas ornament designs each year for my family but decided to branch out a bit.

If you can believe it, I have been keeping my needles organized by pinning them to a folded paper napkin for over a year now. Just a couple weeks ago I decided that I needed something a little more stylish and attractive to pin my needles to...and the needle square was born. This item will be offered in numerous sizes and designs– 4” x 4”, 3” x 3”, 3” x 4” and 3” x 5”.

Pumpkin Needle Square - $8.00

The Perfect Booster Seat

Or at least I think it is.  I was talking to a friend the other day and the subject of booster seats came up.   I noticed that she had one of those hard plastic ones that you have to strap to a chair and yet it still slides around and is not very convenient to travel with.  When my son was little I used this Cooshee Booster from One Step Ahead.  You can literally put this booster on any chair or even a bench and it stays put and is very comfortable on your kids tushie.  You don’t have to worry about it damaging someone's furniture either.

So, if you have kids yourself or you have kids visiting all the time, give this booster a try.  I know you and the kids will love it.  It even comes in some new colors, that black one is awesome and will blend right into anyone's decor.