Warm Fuzzies

Presents in the Mail

Kari sent me one of her yummy cashmere ribbon wristlets in the mail this week (she has some for sale in her Etsy shop, and some cute button bracelets, too).  I love everything about it; the purple flower button is the perfect touch!  And the cashmere.  *Drool*.  Such a treat for my wrist.  And I can tell from her choice of colors that she made it just for me.  Kari, you spoil me.  Truly. 

   

Speaking of awesome mail from Kari, I can't believe I haven't shared the belated Christmas package that she sent me.  Behold:

Kari sent a cute little card and some very nice Merlin the Cat superwash merino sock yarn in my colors.  Light green + lavender (and the occasional bit of aqua)= heaven.  I started working on my first pair of knitted socks using this yarn a couple weeks back, so I'm almost finished with them now.  Kari made a crochet hook holder for me, as well as a pair of her gorgeous tree branch earrings (she wrote a tutorial for these.  Check it out!).  Everything was individually wrapped, too, so I had the pleasure of opening several delightful little packages instead of just one big package.

I immediately transferred all my crochet hooks from their then-current resting places (e.g., the floor, on the nightstand, between the cushions of the couch, etc etc,) to their beautiful new home.  There were some empty pockets left, so I put my dpn's in the holder as well.  It's just what I needed to get a jump-start on organizing my craft supplies.   Unfortunately for me, my crochet hooks and dpn's are, to this day, still the only supplies that I have neatly in place.  Note to self: must organize.  Do some spring cleaning.  All that good stuff.

 

Kari celebrated her birthday in December, and this is the birthday/Christmas gift I sent her.  Macadamia nut chocolates, more chocolate, and fruit leather.  A pair of lacy crochet earrings.  Some yarn.  When I went to the LYS to pick out a special skein of yarn for her (Fiesta handpainted 100% silk yarn), I couldn't resist getting the Lantern Moon sheep tape measure for her, too.  I thought it was the cutest thing...you pull his tail to get the measuring tape to come out, and push on his fluffy little belly to retract it.  Heh.

Using the general instructions referenced in this Craftster post, I crocheted a Ribbed Earflap Hat with Pompoms for Kari in her favorite color.  Unfortunately, the first hat that I sent was too small for her, and as of yesterday, it looks like the second (bigger) hat that I sent is currently MIA.  Darn you, postal gods!  I had planned to make more of these hats (one for myself, at least, hehehe), but never got around to it.  Oh well, there's always next year...

Winston the Wonder-dog

Ashley really liked these amigurumi cats, so when I brought up the potential of doing a swap, she asked if it was possible for me to make a little black dog (6-8" tall) in a similar style for her.  And that's how Winston the Wonder-dog came about.

Here's the little guy, sleeping soundly as the sun rises.  Winston was born with heavy eyelids (an unfortunate inheritance from his mother, I'm sorry to say), so he has always had a little trouble keeping his eyes open.  He doesn't mind so much; he claims that he can see what's going on with his eyes closed - it's his superpower (hence his title/position as wonder-dog).  But don't mistake Winston for your average domesticated canine.  As soon as he's left alone, Winston lets loose his wild side.

 

Oh yes.  Winston has a serious skullie obsession.  As soon as his owners leave the apartment, Winston decks himself out in his "mad dog" gear.*   And then he takes the city by storm.   He'll chase squirrels.  He'll terrorize pigeons.  He'll scare tourists.  There's not much that he won't do.

* Winston's "armband" doubles as a ring, and his "cummerband" is actually a wrist warmer (link to pattern in this post).

But he's a sly little guy.  Winston always makes sure he's back by sunset, so that his owners always come home to a sweet, cuddly, snoozing puppy.  As for what he'd been doing earlier that day...that's Winston's little secret.

More goodies in the mail

I've been a lucky girl lately.  But you know, Santa says I've been nice this year.  And I have one last package to share with you (for now, bwahahaha!). 

From Ashley.  I saw some earrings that she had made, and asked if she'd be interested in swapping with me (I'm getting pretty bold now with the swapping requests, huh?).  We had agreed to swap some of her earrings for an amigurumi, but Ashley put in some additional time and effort to make and send a couple of extras, too.   She's such a sweetheart.  Here's the card she sent me:

What a cutie.  He doesn't look too stinky to me, but he sure does look embarrassed.  Maybe he mistook some beans for peanuts during lunchtime?

This snowman is just great.  He's made from a bell, pom poms, felt, craft foam, and a ribbon.  I think I'm going to attach some string and use him as an ornament, or maybe attach him to a chain so I can wear him around my neck...you know, so I can jingle while I walk.

And these are the lovely earrings that I was coveting (the pink earrings are Swarovski crystal, and the green ones are peridot), photographed with a magazine scrap bowl that Ashley made for me.  I've always loved these bowls, and actually tried to make one once upon a time.  I didn't get very far.  I lost it ("it" being my sanity) somewhere between all the folding, cutting, and glueing.  I'm so happy that Ashley made one for me...it's fabulous, and must have taken *so* much time.  Thanks so much, Ashley!

I'm running a little late this morning, so I'll have to post the amigurumi I made for Ashley later.  Ta-ta for now.

Woo! I <3 Mail.

A couple weeks ago, Kari sent me the sweetest package.  I can't believe I waited this long to post it.  Just look at all these goodies!

Not only did she include some great handmade items, but not wanting to leave Kyle out of the goodness of getting mail, Kari tossed in a little something for him, too.  I'm going to show off the entire package, item by item.  First up: a beautiful handmade card (she received it in a swap...isn't that great?).  It came in a lovely vellum envelope, too.

She also sent me some gorgeous glass beads from Blue Moon Beads...can't wait to use them in a project.  The blue-greenish beads with the white flowers make my mouth water.  If I could eat them, I would.  And Kari also sent some of her famous tsumami kanzashi flower snaps, which, by the way, she now sells in her etsy shop.  Lavender and green, lavender and green!  Woot!  These came snapped onto pins, so now I can pin them on bags and blazers.  Kari also included a hair clip with a snap button, so the kanzashi goodness can be worn in my hair, too.  I love how versatile they are.

Recently, Kari also posted a tutorial on how to make bath bombs.  After sampling the bath bombs that she sent me, I'm super-tempted to make some, too.  They smell like heaven.  The bigger greenish one is jasmine-scented, and the smaller yellow flowers are tropical hibiscus (with a bit of glitter, too!).  I think I'm addicted to baths now...doesn't hurt to pamper yourself once in a while, right?  Or in my case, several days in a row.  Hehe.

See those lovely bird marble magnets?  They are the first magnets that Kari has made, and they are just gorgeous.  I adore the drawing and simple coloring.  Kari says that artwork is from a Michigan artist named Gwen Frostic, who created works inspired by nature.  The hand-written cards that everything is sitting on are recipe cards for making a delicious-sounding white chocolate mousse with raspberry sauce.  I can't wait to make this...as soon as I get a food processor or blender for the sauce.  Can you believe that I have *neither* of these?  I have uber-strong forearms from whipping/blending things by hand.  Not something I'd like to brag about =P.

See all of this chocolate?  Kari was nice enough to include enough white chocolate to make her mousse recipe, and some bonus truffles and dark chocolate for Kyle to nibble on.  So thoughtful!  Oh yes, and I have to say something about the tea bags.  They are Might Leaf tropical green tea, and seriously, the *best* tea bags that I have ever used.  The bags are stuffed with whole tea leaves, and really do give you a taste of the tropics. 

Last but not least (Kari totally spoiled me, huh?  Bwahahahah!), Kari made me a fleece tree scarf.  It's very soft and cozy, and very well-made.  I love all of the little details on it, and it's so unique.

Thanks so much for everything, Kari!  You rock! 

Felt Mascot/Little Stuffies Swap

So I'm back in NYC now after a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and birthday celebration (My grandfather turned 93 years old!) with my family in California.  No crafting yet, but boy, do I have some great mail to share with you over the next few days!

First things first.  Meet Acorn.  Isn't he delicious?  I just love his button eyes.  I got him in a felt mascot/little stuffies swap that I signed up for on craftster.  My swap partner, Peihan, makes the cutest little batik puppies. For our swap, she made me my very own green and purple-y batik puppy...but smaller (one of the conditions of the swap was for the stuffies to be between 6 and 8 inches tall).

I immediately took Acorn for a walk in Central Park, where he instantly started hunting for acorns...not an easy task in late fall, we found.  Those squirrels sure are efficient!  At the end, Acorn and I were still able to find a few little dusty acorns to add to his collection of seeds (he came with seeds for Forget-me-Nots and Baby's Breath).

Peihan also sent a cute card with a sweet illustration of a bee, inside of which she wrote a little bio for Acorn:

"This is Acorn, a puppy who loves playing in the woods.  He likes anything green, espeically flowery plants. =)  So he insisted on taking some seeds with him to his new home."

I'll take him to the woods someday, but for the time being, he'll have to make do with a humble little apartment and an occasional the trip to the park.

*************************************

Here's the package I sent Peihan.

       

This is Bubba (short for Bubhaleighnitzer).  I modeled him after Peihan's craftster avatar (pictured on the right), and gave him a little black messenger bag just for kicks.  I used chenille yarn, so he's nice and cuddly.  I had a lot of fun making him, and even more fun writing his bio.

In addition to the mint Hershey bar, I made some lime earrings for a little something extra.  Here's a close-up of Bubba showing them off (in bad lighting, poo!).

I followed this tutorial, and just added a couple of beads to finish.  The limes turned out a little bigger than what I would ideally want; if I were to make another pair of lime earrings, I'd probably use a smaller hook, like a 6 or an 8.  But I'm still quite satisfied with the finished earrings, so it's all good.

Lacy Blue Crochet Earrings

Ever since I received the beautiful pearl earrings from Kari, I've been, well, obsessed with earrings.  Handmade earrings, because I'm a brat.  Last month, I had fallen in love with a pair (the bottom ones) that Stefanie had posted on craftster, and promptly hunted her down and coerced her into swapping with me  =).  She wanted me to recreate these lovelies (on top) created by the talented Erin, the creative force behind purldrop and sodafine boutique. 

Stefanie wanted blue earrings, and in my tiny, disorganized stash of cotton embroidery floss, I could only muster three different shades of blue.  This chart was used (convenient, no?) to approximate the color of the floss so that Stefanie could make an informed color choice.   

After I finished figuring out a pattern that I felt adequately approximated the earrings that Stefanie wanted, making the earrings didn't take too long at all.  I lightly sprayed the completed earrings with some starch, and ironed them to give the earrings a more professional finish. 

Here are the earrings that I received from Stefanie.  They're even more wonderful in person...the clear glass beads have just the right sparkle.  I would have gotten my hands on them even sooner if I had given Stefanie my real address instead of one that didn't exist (I wrote out the wrong zip code, doh!).

I also recently received a package of Berger cookies from Lera.  She had treated herself to one for her birthday, and when I mentioned to her that I had a sudden craving for them, she sent me a box...just weeks after giving birth to her sixth child!  She was way too good to me. 

Sorry, no picture...Kyle ripped into the box as soon as they got here...and they were gone in the blink of an eye.  Berger cookies + glass of milk = heaven.  It was a favorite procrastination snack for my roommates and me during college.  "Okay, okay, I'll work on the paper....after a Berger cookie," I'd say, and then pour myself a tall glass of milk, take a cookie and slowly nibble away at it for an hour.  Or more.  Ah, the memories.  Thanks so much, Lera!  There will be payback =p.

************************************

Shortly after putting the crochet earrings in the mail, I felt an overwhelming urge to make a pair to keep for myself (I'm a born-again earring glutton, remember?).  So I did just that, using a different shade of blue embroidery floss.

* Erin has given me the okay to post a pattern for my version of her earrings!  So without further ado, here's a quick tutorial, in case anyone feels like making a pair.

Lacy Crochet Earrings

You'll need :

• about 2/3 of a skein of 6-strand cotton embroidery floss
• a size 6 crochet hook
• 2 silver earring hooks
• small sewing needle
• starch spray
  

R1: ch 8, slip the starting end of the chain through the bottom loop of an earring hook, and sl st into the first ch to join into a circle.  (sc, ch 3) in loop to count as first tr, 15 tr in loop, turn. (16 sts)

R2: ch 4, skip 2 tr, sc in next tr, ch 4, skip 2 tr, sc in next tr, ch 5, skip 3 tr, sc in next tr, ch 4, skip 2 tr, sc in next tr, ch 4, sk 2 tr, sl st into last tr, turn.

R3: 5 hdc in first 4 ch space, 5 hdc in next 4 ch space, (3 hdc, 2 dc, 3 hdc) in 5 ch space, 5 hdc in each of last two 4 ch spaces (28 sts).  Fasten off.

Use a small sewing needle to weave in ends.  Repeat R1-R3 to complete second earring.

To finish: Spray completed earrings lightly with starch.  Iron to set.

Crafty Goodness in the Mail Part 2: Things I've Sent

As promised, here's the little package that I sent to the wonderful Kari.

A little stripey sock dog, and apple cozy for Kari's mom (she has a "P" name and is just as awesome and crafty as her daughter).  I haven't really sent out many packages or letters through snail mail before, so I didn't have any nice stationary sets and cards on hand.  I know, bad, bad, Shirley.  So, I made do with what I had available, broke out my colored pencils, and drew a little card.  The dog's supposed to be a Shiba Inu, like Kari's dog Ginger, Crafty Ginger's little star.

    

Just as I was about to embroider eyes on the sock dog, I was struck with an idea...I could leave the dog unfinished, and leave Kari with the option of embroidering features of her choice.  And I'm so glad I didn't finish him; I would have chosen something boring...plain old black circles, most likely.  Kari's going to embroider sleepy eyes on him - I would have never thought of that, but it'd be *so* adorable.

And, hehe, I'm really ashamed to admit this, but the package that I sent to Kari wasn't put-together nicely like the one she sent me.  Everything I sent her was, get this, shoved into a plastic grocery bag, and stuffed into a Priority Mail envelope.  *cough*  Lucky for me, Kari's an angel and didn't scold me for it.  But I'm not always this awful at presentation, honest!  (Then again, there were all those years in college where my friends and I would put birthday gifts under a blanket, consider that "gift-wrapped", and let the poor recipient lift the blanket to "unwrap" her presents...)

 

This is the little something that I sent to Anna, along with some munchies, as a thank you for the quilted pencil case she had sent to me.  The two little birds are made with polymer clay, and are meant to be table-toppers.  And the card...well, Anna has two adorable birds in London, and a cat named Booty in the U.S.  I don't know how I got it in my head that they all lived together, but there you go.  Heh, I'm sure all her animals would get along if they every were in a room together, but it's fun to let your imagination run away at times, right?

I actually drew Kari's card and Anna's card on the same day.  The way I saw it in my head was that if you put the two cards side by side, they'd read as a single picture.

   

Heh, it kind of works, right?  =)

Crafty Goodness in the Mail Part 1: Packages I've Received

I woke up this morning to a most lovely surprise.  Kari, the superstar over at Crafty Ginger, gave me the heads up last night that a package she had sent out should be arriving any day now.  After a whole night of anticipation, I jumped out of bed this morning - disheveled, unshowered, but oh-so-excited - and rushed to the lobby floor to greet "the mail guy" in my PJ's.  My heart skipped a beat when I saw that a package was waiting for me in the mailroom.  I quickly signed my name, grabbed my package, raced back up to my apartment, and attacked the box with some scissors.

I greedily emptied the box of all its contents.  Just look at all these lovelies!  There's a gorgeous pair of hand-made earrings (made by Kari and her mom), a Crafty Ginger tsumami kanzashi wristlet, yummy ribbons for my stash, and a hand-made card (from a Craftster swap).  Kari also thoughtfully included two giant bags of Flamin' Hot Cheetos (my secret vice...I literally drooled when I saw them...isn't that awful?).

Here's a close-up of the earrings, and the note that accompanied them.  I LOVE these earrings!  They're so me, it's scary.  The iridescence of the pearly beads, the extra hint of purple from the smaller bead, and the skill with which they were crafted fascinates me.  I put them on immediately, and they instantly added class to my pajamas.

    

Here's the piece d'ressistance: The tsumami kanzashi flower wristlet that Kari will eventually sell in her etsy shop.  Look, it's made (with care, hehe) just for me!  Woot!  Her packaging's simply marvelous, and I love the color scheme.  One of my *favorite* color combinations is lavender and green.  Kari, how did you know?

   

I love everything about this wristlet - the ribbon band, the buttons, the carefully-made flowers.  As you can see in the picture, each kanzashi flower has a button at it's base, so you can change them to suit your mood.  Nifty, huh?  And there's more!  Kari also included a pincushion with a button on its back, so I can just pop that on and sew my heart away at my fancy.  (What a great idea, might I add).

That's my right wrist making it's modeling debut.  Isn't the wristlet lovely?  Bwahahah, and it's mine, all mine!  *cackle*  Kari, I am so sure these will sell like hotcakes when you do get around to listing them in your shop.  Thank you so much!!  I'm still not over how wonderful I felt opening your package.  Everything inside is so special.  You are awesome.

While I'm on the subject of crafts and mail, Anna sent me a lovely little package a little ways back.  It came with the cutest mailing label, ever!  It's a beagle from her Some Dogs (c) illustration.  I was a little peeved that the people in the mail room heartlessly wrote my apartment number over the label, ruining it's perfection.  *sigh*  I suppose I'm over that now...well, as over it as I'm ever going to be, at any rate.

   

And here are the goodies inside:  A wonderful pink patchwork pencil case, two gel pens, and some fruity gummy candy.

I've been using the case to store my crochet hooks; it's the perfect size for them.  Haha, not at all uncharacteristic of me, I immediately ate the candy...so delicious!  Thanks a bunch, Anna! 

Stay tuned tomorrow for "Crafty Goodness in the Mail Part 2: Things I've Sent."