vintage fabric love

I have been having such a blast with these vintage fabrics my mom gave me.  Each one has a story.  There is this blue polka dot that came from a dress that was made for my sisters to wear, but they both refused because it was SO OLD :)
A scrap of mom's out-dancing shirt and vest set, a square of hot pants, a charm from that pink prom dress my sister's shared...

I'm having to work at it, but I am managing to make coffee sleeves out of the scraps for gifting.  I just added 2 more beauties to my shop:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/uniqueeuphoria

Take some time today and pick out a little "just because" gift for you or a friend.

Swapbot section on uniqueeuphoria

As you know , I love, love, love me some swapbot.  I have been working on a section of my shop, just for swapbot users looking for fun little extras to send to their partners.  Not everyone is crafty and not everyone has time to be crafty.  I am really hoping I can offer a little something to the swapbot site.
Today I focused on making some treat envelopes.  Made from vintage fabric and felt, I sew these all by hand in the shape of a little mug.  You can then stuff this with little goodies like a letter and some tea, honey sticks, coffee, sweeteners, chocolates, hot chocolate packs, pencils, pens, chap stick, whatever you want to fill it with for your partner.  Lets say you are to send a friend a beverage and a nice long letter.  This would have plenty of room for your letter and beverage and possibly a stir stick/peppermint/bookmaker/etc.  See?  Just one more little something to make your letter than much more special.  So, here is the new additions to the swapbot section.  Along with the treat mugs, I also made coffee sleeves with vintage fabric and managed to list a couple of zipper pulls/purse charms.  any of these would be a welcome extra for your partner.

new earrings!

If you read my regular blog at all, you would know it has been HOT here in  Northern Wisconsin.  So hot, I have been hiding in my little craft room, greedily fondling all my supplies and completely ignoring the outside world.  it seems earrings keep me in one spot long enough to foster cankle growth, and since I managed to acquire a bunch of new bits lately, I've slammed out a good pile of earrings to hang out in my shop.  

Remember, free shipping to everywhere!

Grrrr...so cranky...

Why do pearls and seashells go so well together?  every time I do these necklaces, I just love them.  Loooove....anyway, my newest on the block right now on tophatter.  My luck in selling stuff has been pretty lame today though, so it will probably be in my store before you know it.

New item and a couple of new friends

It has been debilitating hot.  I know, I know.  Wisconsin polar bear girl has no idea what summer hot is.  Well folks, my cankles know what hot is.  This is it :)

I jumped on the steampunk bandwagon this week and managed to score a pretty kick-ass octopus pendant.  I just listed the final product today in the store: https://www.etsy.com/listing/103558111/octopus-shell-and-pearl-necklace-and

I'm happy enough with it for my first try.  I kind of got the look I wanted, but luckily, it was a 2 for 1 sale on big damn octopus pendants.  Muahahaha

I also want to mention some new friends of mine that I have recently met in Swapbot.  First, is Jenifer, who has an etsy shop located here:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/soloflair.  Her style is very alternative with a little darkness and a light peppering of steampunkary.   She features handmade gauges and accessories, which I love.  There really is so little in the way of gauge and extreme ear wear.  Shes even been very sweet in answering some of my questions about the rules and supplies allowed to make jewelry like hers.  I am all about a crafter willing to share information :)  One of my favorites from Soloflair:

Oh man....you killed my sister! Heh...so great...I can see these as Christmas presents.  Perfect for my  silly family...

Okay, the next shop I want to show you is that of  Suzanne from House of Plush http://www.etsy.com/shop/houseofplush

Here its all about cute and kawaii.  Don't let the cuteness fool you.  It looks all hugs in smiles in plush-land, until I ran into this: 

Which made me laugh out loud.  One of my favorite items in her shop right now.  I really love vulgarity expressed in cross stitch...It just makes me giggle.   

She also features stuffies and plushies  for the little ones, personalized onsies, brilliant softie toy sets, cutie broaches and pins, and of course, her kick ass and unique embroidery.  Personally, my mom would love tea towels with brains on them.  They would totally go with her scull pincushion I got her for her birthday last year...Second only to the hedgehog with a retractable tape measure that you pull out of his butt.  Brilliant. 

Make sure to check these ladies out.  They are both very sweet and very talented.  Christmas will be here before you know it!!!  We need to support handmade.  Nowhere else can you find such an awesome variety  of original and quirky items.  If you don't usually shop handmade, I highly suggest it.  Check these girls out, check me out and discover some awesome. 

In touch with my nerdy side

I have been working on a couple of special orders lately.  One happens to be for a Brony who really, really needs a My Little Pony.  I'm not the most familiar with these guys anymore.  I remember them from when I was little, but since then they have kind of gotten lost in the pile of mind-numbing cartoons my daughters love.  It turns out, there is an entire adult male following, who call themselves "Bronies."  I am seriously amused and so, had to take on the task of crocheting a 12-inch tall Rainbow Dash.  As you probably know, I just can't follow a pattern, so usually when I take on amirigumi, it's kind of fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants and is subject to artistic interpretation.  I can't even tell you how excited I was when I finally got the 4th leg done. Whew.  Then I checked the picture and started swearing like a toothless pirate when I saw the be-hatch needed wings.  GAH!  We have a love-hate relationship right now.  Anyway, she is getting there and for the most part, turning out pretty accurate:

The wings are posing some problems.  This one needs another layer and maybe some tailoring to get it a little less...hand-y.  It is definitely the biggest crochet project I have ever taken on and has taken me the longest.  Take THAT attention deficit disorder!  

Then, another customer approached me to crochet him a Bomb-om for his desk.  It originally was supposed to be a coffee mug cozy, but at the last minute, he changed his order to a straight up amigurumi.  Either way, he is awesome. 

Yeah, you better run Mario.