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.

stitch markers, et cetera

You know, there is nothing that make some happier than something fun to get me through a chore.  Whether it's a fun fur handmade floor duster in funky colors, a pretty flower-shaped dish scrubby, or a dishtowel covered with sunflowers, if its fun, it makes getting the job done more fun too.  I need as much fun and pretty as I can get with 4 kids, 2 dogs, 1 cat and 2 birds.  Trust me here, if it can be embellished, I have embellishments.

Anyone know where I can get a cool elephant peculator?  You see one, let me know.
Anyway, in an effort to spread the joy, I made up some pretty knitty stitch makers and put them in my shop.  I also managed to find some jumbo lobster claws so I can hook up my crochet peeps as well.  I went the small/standard/tiny lobster-claw route with my crochet markers, but after using them myself, I thought they were way too hard to use, not really ergonomic, and just kind of a pain in the poop shooter.   I went on a quest for bigger claws and managed to score some with a reasonable enough price tag to pull off some great marker-bling action.  Stay tuned crafty fans--I am working on it.

Until then, check out the knitter markers I have going on!

lastly, because I've been away from my blog so long, I want to thank you all for your patience and for still being here.  As a reward for staying awesome, I'll allow you a private viewing of my accidental porno bread that managed to evolve in my Pyrex bread tube the other day.  Behold!  Yep.  It's perfectly okay to laugh.  Go for it.  

I was slumping some bottles tonight and thought I would work on something in the shop since it seems like when I leave that kiln and work in the house, I tend to forget and overcook my bottles. Since I had some wire twisted, I went ahead and made this little number. It is a ornament holder to hold those really special ornaments you don't want the cats/kids/dogs to knock down and break or if you just don't have the room for a tree but want to show off the ornaments you have.

The ornaments I have pictured are pretty special to me. They are antiques that belonged to my sister. A Christmas when she had left home and had no food, tree or decorations. She opened up the door to her aprtment one day to find groceries and these ornaments. That was more than 20 years ago. My sister passed away and I still have her ornaments. I came up with this idea to keep them safe from 4 kids 2 dogs and a cat and still be able to enjoy them. I'll be posting this model in my shop as soon as I have it cleaned and painted.

Happy Holidays!!!

It's that time of year again. Cold, cold, coldness. The leaves are gone and it's time to get out your roomiest pants because now-for the next 4 months-we eat!

Okay, okay, I know there are the disciplined few out there reading this that can turn up their noses at Halloween garbage, Christmas treats and Valentine chocolates. Oh and lets not forget the New year's drinks. Who knew that something so wonderfully good for you like orange juice can be so violated by a shot of vodka? I wonder if you benefit at all from the juice vitamins, or if your liver waves the white flag regardless of your choices? Well, at any rate...read on...

So, it being as cool as it is outside, I am able to really fire up the kiln and mean it in my secluded upstairs studio. It being my only heat source at the time, I enjoy my kiln time these days. Anyway, after a visit to my local dump and a short conversation with whom I have always called "The Dump Dude," I learned that wine is a mighty popular drink here in the woods and after a little glass bin manipulation, I was able to score quite a collection of awesome wine bottles!!!

Some scrubbing here, and scraping there-a little Goo Gone to help finish those pesky labels off, and some sauna time in the kiln-HA! Serving trays! I have daydreams about loading these little beauties up with Christmas cookies and leaving them on the neighbor's door steps, or getting some of those holiday shaped cheese blocks from the creamery, or CHOCOLATES...not that I like chocolate...you know, biscotti and coco is good, or coffee and creamers...sausage and crackers...

The options are ENDLESS!!! Yep, I'm excited. So, here are a couple of pictures so you have an idea of what is going on here:


This one I etched a little snowman enjoying his holiday cheer-you know, tis the season and all...




While I really like the etched stuff, mostly because it's top shelf dishwasher safe, you really can't see the prettiness when you have your snazzy cheese log on there. On the other hand, you have the beaded ones that are really nice, though you have to hand wash :(. I should make some stands for these...

What you see here and more is posted on my website. Feel free to browse :)
http://uniqueeuphoria.etsy.com/