It’s been a bit of a disturbing day. The very kind, Farruska, brought it to my attention today that someone has stolen some of my tutorial pictures and uploaded them on a flickr account as their own. There are other photos on this account that belong to another blogger as well (I have notified her). Who knows what else has been stolen. This just infuriates me that someone would steal my tutorial pictures that I worked so hard on.

At first, I thought that this person just doesn’t understand copyright infringement, but the photos that were stolen from the other blogger had been very obviously cropped to remove copyright marks. I wrote an email to this violator and to Yahoo Copyright. What also irks me is that this violator person put my photos in a whole bunch of pools/groups.

So, I have no other choice than to protect all of my work with a watermark, which I had been avoiding, only because it would add extra time & work. I have used these photos as testers. Now I know,that these watermarks could be easily cropped off, but I am just unsure of how big and how much I should be distracting from the craft itself. I am most definitely going to plaster my watermark on my tutorial pics, smack dab in the middle. What do you think is best as far as watermarks?

***deeeeep breath*** Anyway, what I really wanted to share today, was the lunchbox tote that I made for Oh Fransson’s Lunchbox Swap. It’s a simple little bag with a drawstring top, a bit of patchwork and a little bird appliqué pocket. I really tried to make it based on the recipient’s color likes and blogged preferences, which was still hard, especially since I don’t know this person. I hope she likes it.

I added a few thing inside, like a food container, water bottle and handmade notecards.

I received my lunchbox a couple of weeks ago and have been planning to post about it, but I can’t seem to remember to take a photo of it until after dark. So, you can see it in the following links instead. It is the most beautiful lunchbox with gorgeous hand embroidery and lots of inside pockets & goodies. Susan, was so incredibly thoughtful and generous. She even sent some recipes, including 30-minute Red Lentil Soup, which I made the other day for dinner. It was fantastic!! Coconut milk made it incredibly rich and creamy. We devoured every little bit. Thank you Susan. I love it all!!

I made these potholders for the fair this last weekend.  Stayed up really late making them, and wouldn’t you know, not a single one sold.  Ah well, into my etsy shop they will go on Wednesday. They were fun to make and would make a great Mother’s Day gifts.  That’s coming up, you know.

My favorites are the cherries, teapot and ladybugs.  They are insulated with Insulbrite, and have a pocket on the back side for easier handling of hot items.

And because I can’t stop sneezing and scratching my eyes,thanks to these beautiful grapefruit blossoms,  I made more tissue holders.  I really love these.  I made a bunch for the show and sold several.  I put my six most favorite ones in my shop, just in case you have the sneezies too.

They have my signature twill tape on them that say, “Salud! Gesundheit! Bless You!”, just in case you are alone when you sneeze.

I realized late this morning that we are having a baby shower at work tomorrow for a co-worker. So, guess what I spent the day doing……

Soft booties, a bib and two freezer-paper-stenciled onesies all tucked nicely into a matching bag for the mommy. I made THIS bag for the same person over a year ago and she has been hinting, ever so slyly, that she would like a pink one, so there it is. Pink and lots of it.

I think this is the 5th (?) time I’ve made this little baby set. It has become my signature baby gift. I will be making a boy one (finally, someone has had a boy!!) very soon.

You can find tutorial links on how to make this set and lots of other baby goodness in the following posts.

* Bibs Galore & using single-fold bias tape

* Baby Gift Set with bag

* More bib sets and randomness

* Big Baby Package for my friends

Also, check out some great onesie inspiration HERE!

Have a fabulous weekend!!!!!

I got a great night’s sleep and feel much better today, even if it was the dreaded food shopping day, which ended up being not so bad once I threw a little craft shopping in too.  What makes food shopping even better is the company of my I-guy.  He is very patient and sweet and I can talk to him the whole time about what to buy and who is bugging us (ie; the unpleasant cashier at sunflower market).  So he makes it much, much better.

I saw yummy strawberries at the market today and knew exactly what to do with them once I came home, and suddenly strawberry pie (recipe HERE) was at the top of the list of things to do today. I also made pita chips (from left-over pita bread) and creamy vegan dip with fresh organic dill.  YUM!  So, even though I did zero crafting, We all ate some very yummy food, which is just as good in my book.

I also bought these patterns ($0.99 at JoAnns) and that feels good too.  Yep, having patterns pile up in a stack of high expectations is a great feeling.  Okay, I’m being very sarcastic, but someday I will conquer and have new capri pants, a jacket and lots of custom shirts. Ha!

I don’t know what got into me yesterday, but all I could do was make this little box. I was obsessed. I did have a few minor interuptions, like taking Super-E to School, picking him up, making meals, showering, a work meeting, ya know, that daily life stuff.  I’d finish up these minor little set backs, and run back to this little box.  Thank goodness my mom was here to entertain the kids.

It all started with THIS video by etsy lab, which progressed to trying to figure out how to make it out of fabric and with a smaller lid.   After fiddling around with several pieces of paper, I finally got the pattern for this pretty little box.

What is it for you ask?  I have no idea.  A gift, earrings,  buttons maybe.  I’m really not sure why I made it, I just knew I had to and I had to do it NOW.  Now that it is done, I’m feeling much more calm and satisfied. Funny how crafting whims do that.

I’m running out of time now, but if anyone is interested, I can give instructions for this. You could totally figure it out on your own if you watched the video, but I added a few things and made some minor adjustments to the lid.  Anyway, just let me know in the comments.

Do you have small kids? Do you have this CD/DVD? You HAVE to get it!! It totally ROCKS!!! Really it does, unlike no other kid’s music I’ve heard. Being an old They Might Be Giants fan may help a wee bit, but I really don’t think so. It’s the kind of music that you don’t mind too much that your kids are listening to over, and over, and over again. You might even find yourself singing it at work or at the store. The kids love it too! It comes with both a cd and dvd which is great for when one gets destroyed, the other will (hopefully) still exist and be in playing condition. A special thanks to Aunt Jenny and Uncle Chris for this gift. It’s a definite hit!!

This was made a few weeks back for my super-I’s birthday gift. I’m in the process of making a blue one for his brother who has to have one too, of course. It’s sorta inspired by one I saw on Mahar Dry Goods. Super-I loves his monster towel. It keeps him nice and warm after getting out of the tub.

Don’t forget to sign up for my notecard swap . You have until Sunday, March 16th!  THIS swap looks fun too.  Check it out!

You know about this? Handmade Parade’s Vintage Pillowcase Challenge? I saw it a while back and had forgot all about it, until I was reminded by this amazing entry(!!!) and I became totally distracted with this challenge. I knew right away that I was making a sun hat (you have to have a good one if you are going to live in Southern AZ!) only, I didn’t have a pattern. I searched the web, and couldn’t find anything I liked. So, I spent the entire day, messing around with circles, bandwidths, circumferences, diameters and pi!!! Boy did I ever flex that mathematical brain muscle!! Ouch!!

After I got, what I thought was the perfect pattern, I cut out my pieces only to find out that they weren’t sewing up perfectly like my mock pieces had!!! I have no clue how that happened, but I re-worked it a bit (actually a lot) and am pleased. It’ll be good for our morning hikes and for keeping the glaring sun at bay. I also dipped my pillowcase in tea to tone it down a bit. It was a bright white before.

I’m totally going to wear it too! It’s loads better than the ill-fitting one that I’ve been wearing for the last several years.

I used a standard size, thrifted, vintage pillowcase for the outside and lining, a double layer of interfacing for the brim, tea for a tea soak, and a wee bit of thrifted lace.

Remember all those neckties a bought a while back? I made this out of one. Well, I’m still working on other things to do with these ties and came up with these flower brooches. I took a few apart and used the fabric to make them. They are even prettier in person and are in my shop now, in case you are interested.

I’m still working on other things to make with all my neckties and I’ll be showing you that this week (hopefully). I’m thinking I can make 3-4 things with just one tie, you’ll see. That is how handy an old tie can be. Who’da thunk!

These are the cards I made for my 3 winners. They are carved linoleum stamps on a pretty speckled recycled paper cardstock. I had tried different colors of ink, but the black seemed to work best.

I also have had 3 half-finished pincushions lying around my craft room for a while, and finally decided to finish them up today. I made little heart straight pins for them and I think they add the perfect touch. They are polymer clay shaped around the ends of straight pins then baked. A nice simple and fun little project to do while juggling the sad woes of my three sick guys.

The three pincushions are in my shop, since I won’t be doing that little craft show this weekend with my new group, Sonoran Artisans. This is all I’ve been able to make all week and it would look pretty sad having three little cushions on a table for a craft show.  Aw, well. There will be more shows I am sure.  I will definitely go visit the group to see what they’ve got.  Better to meet them first anyway,rather then jump in head first, I think.

I love February, it’s the romantic in me I guess. I love the hearts, the red and pinkish hues and all pretty things that are made around this time.

This is a Valentine Fairy–she brings the promise of love and happiness. She is a close relative to cupid and keeps a watchful eye for sparks of love. (I watched Amelie last night,can you tell? Oooo, la la!)

She is made by stamping onto fabric and then embellishing with lots of pretties. She will have a string near her crown to hang her any where you’d like.

Do you want her? You can have her by simply leaving a comment on this post. I will draw one name on February 5th at 6pm (you can comment up until then). You will get this, a couple of handmade valentines and some other goodies. There will be more winner(s) of smaller valentines, depending on how many comments I get. So you can delurk now and say hi!

More of these are in the process of being made for my little Feb. 10th show in town and for my Etsy shop.

Thank you for all you do to keep me inspired and creating!