Friday, July 3, 2009 
Happy July 4th!
I hope everybody has a great July 4th tomorrow! My husband gets the day off today, so we are going on a photography spree at the Marina. But before we head out, I wanted to share with you this fun craft tutorial: Safety Pin Flag, pdf.
A great way to show some patriotic flair this July 4th!
Enjoy!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 
Ever since I made my bottlecap pincushion, I have had a hankering to do some embroidery. All the bottlecap pincushions I saw had been embroidered, but I had no clue where to start!
Then I found this great book by Aimee Ray: Doodle Stitching: Fresh & Fun Embroidery for Beginners.
I was hooked! So I wanted to share with you my first tries at embroidery. I did these three free hand, before I found the beauty of patterns. One thing I did learn is it is very hard to draw on felt!
I have added an embroidery section to my "Fabulous Links" page, so don't forget to check that out.
My top two favorite embroidery sites that I cant get enough of are Carina's Craftblog and Feeling Stitchy. These two sights are a must see for any embroidery fan! They are also chalked full of lovely pictures and inspiration.
In a week and half, I am off to the ocean. Needing a craft to take with me, I found a lovely embroidery pattern, Tree of Life, by Carina's Craftblog that I purchased in her Artfire Shop, Polka and Bloom. I cant wait to get started!
I can just see myself by the ocean, embroidery hoop in hand.... sigh ... But until then...
Back to Crafting! :)
Monday, June 29, 2009 
Last month, I had the privilege of going to the Martinez Peddlers Fair loaded with amazing flea market finds! I found these 2 vintage drawers that belonged to a sewing machine cabinet.
Not fond of the color, I decided these would be the perfect candidate for my can of spray paint. Not sure what I was going to use them for, I snapped them up!
Also notice in the second photo my wonderful aqua hemingray railroad insulators I found for a buck! I am going to make these beauties into a hanging candle holder.
Finally deciding how I was going to fix them up, I grabbed my can of spray paint, sand paper, and screw driver.
First, I removed all the hardware. I just love the drawer handles by the way!
Second, I sanded down both drawers then sprayed a few coats of spray paint.
Third, I took sandpaper and distressed all the edges of the drawer I could find. As you can tell in the picture above, I was in distressing heaven!
When finished distressing, I wiped the drawer clean and added the hardware. Still, not knowing what I was going to do with these beauties, I set them aside. A few days later, I found the perfect use for one of the drawers! In desperate need of having a holder for my ironing board supplies, I had an idea. I found that one drawer was the perfect size to set on the end of my board loaded full of my supplies. It has worked out great!
Any ideas on how to use the second drawer? :)
distress, drawers, insulator, paint, railroad, refurbish, sewing machine, vintage | in Craft Room, Projects, organization Friday, June 26, 2009 
I was able to make the most Adorable needle case! Shaped like a mushroom, you cant get any cuter then this! It has a cute little pocket to boot! I also just adore the lovely fabric this little guy is laying on!
Found this fun pattern in a Quilts and More magazine - blogged here!
This is my second felt project I have done. My first being the bottle cap pincushion. I am a huge fan of aqua and red as you can probably tell. ;) So when I saw this mushroom, I HAD to try it!
Check out more pictures below...
Also, a new amigurumi pattern will be buzzing your way soon... hint hint :)
Look at how adorable the scissors are in this little pouch!
aqua, felt, mushroom, needle case, pocket, polka dots, red | in Felt, Pattern Finds, Projects, sewing Monday, June 22, 2009 
Check out this amazing day of giveaways at the Creative Mama! She will be doing 10 giveaways in honor of her 100th blog post! Love to knit? Go check out what I donated to the giveaway: here! :) Check out the rules here. You have till friday to make a comment on all the giveaway goodies! The giveaways have begun! So go and Win! ;)
Also new in my Shop!….
I am introducing 2 new product lines in my Artfire Shop! My first new shop item is a great way to Dress up you Knitting! Beaded Stitch Markers! I am really excited about these!
I was recently in a knitting store that was selling stitch markers for 65$ PER marker! Yikes! In order to have some like the ones I saw.....I had to turn to handmade! Way more cost effective!
So! I decided to also put some in the store. You could also win a set Here!
Second, I have added in my store this lovely pincushion! Made with Susan Branch fabric and a lovely vintage jello mold, this pincushion will dress up any craft room!
This pincushion by far is my favorite out of all the ones I have made. So I decided to list this one first, more to follow!
artfire, give away, giveaway, glass beads, jello mold, knitting, pincushion, stitch markers, susan branch, vintage | in My Shop, knitting, misc., quilts, sewing Wednesday, June 3, 2009 
Their here! My handmade Pincushion Pins from Pinks & Needles by Gigi Minor! My husband came home from work with the box in his hand. Giddy with excitement, I quickly and politely snatched them out of his hand. ;) Opened the box to find a beautiful presentation. I was just thrilled with what I saw! Packaged very carefully were my pins along with a lovely tea bag. I just adore my new pins!
etsy, gigi minor, pincushion, pinks and needles, pins, shop | in Craft Room, Etsy Finds!, misc. Wednesday, May 27, 2009 
I found this great picture tutorial on flickr, from verybigjen, on how to make Bottle Cap Pincushions! These are so fun because all you need is one bottle cap (I used a 2 liter soda cap), some felt, a needle and scissors, embroidery thread, and some fiberfill stuffing. Oh ya! And don't forget the fun part! Pins or Needles to stick in your pincushion! :)
I have made 3 already, one for fun, one to hold my sewing needles, and one to use at quilting group. They are so small and portable. This was my first felt craft and it was a lot of fun!
Also, if you want some great inspiration, go check out her pincushion galleries: here!
So go try it out! :) It will be fun!
bottle caps, felt, pin cushion, tutorial | in Felt, Projects, Tutorial Finds, organization, quilts, sewing Thursday, May 21, 2009 
I am IN-Love with these Bobbins! Inspired by Heather Bailey! I had a great time out at my Local craft store picking out all the supplies! I bought .99 cent paint, a dowel rod, satin varnish, wood glue, a paint brush, and wooden finials! I even had to go to Ace to get a cheap saw to cut my dowel rod up! I spend a whole evening on this fun project and cant wait to make more!
This was very easy! I cut my dowel rod up into 4 inch segments. Stuck the wooden finials onto the dowel rod with a little glue, painted them, distressed them, varnished them, and then wound them up! :)
I even found yummy Heather Bailey Fabric for my picture background! What could be more fun than that! I really had a BLAST! Hope you enjoy the pictures! :)
bobbins, craft, embroidery thread, fun, heather bailey, organization, paint | in Craft Room, Projects, organization, sewing 
