Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Custom Orders!

Lately I've had a few custom orders requested, which is so wonderful! Honestly, I love having custom orders...then I know EXACTLY what the customer wants, rather than making something and hoping that someday it will have a home!

I thought I'd share a few of my recent orders:


Custom Order # 1 I had a request for the Dusty Blue Shawl to be made in a chocolate brown. What a beautiful, rich color!


Unfortunately I don't have a full picture of the shawl, so here's the blue one for color comparison.


Custom Order #2 A friend asked for a book tote for grad school, no zipper, no pockets, nice and large for all her books and I totally wish I were back in school again so I could make myself a fun book bag!! The pictures make it look small, but it measure about 13 inches tall, and 15 wide. It also has a reinforced bottom that measures about 4 inches wide.






Custom Order #3 This one you've already seen in an earlier post, but I don't want to leave it out! The monkey Amigurumi! A friend originally ordered him as a gift for someone, but we'll see...she may keep him for herself! :)

Monday, August 25, 2008



Finally my Yellow Baby Elephant is off to a new home! So you will no longer find him on Etsy! Here he is in a little box (not so little compared to his size!) ready to be shipped! (the pink baby elephant found a home long ago, so if anyone would like one, let me know and I can make some more :)

It's a little sad to see him go, but I'm glad he has a new owner!

Monday, August 11, 2008

Monkey Ami


Today I just finished this project for a friend. She had requested a monkey amigurumi. I looked at a few patterns online, but didn't find one I really liked, so I tried to see what I could come up with, and, thankfully, this wonderfully cute little guy was the result! I am pleased :) I hope she likes it.



I gave him a curly little tail (hopefully you can see it in the picture), and I used felt for the face and stomach. I really liked using the felt. And it's considerably easier and faster than crocheting the face (at least for me it is).

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Breakfast of a Crafter


This morning I decided to make something, other than cereal, for breakfast. I remembered that my mother-in-law gave me a granola recipe, so I took it out, made a few small adjustments, and now it's something I have retitled "Vanilla Almond Granola" and I am quite pleased :)

Vanilla Almond Granola
Makes about 3 cups

2 c. quick oats
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 c. sliced almonds
1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. honey
1-2 T vanilla

1) Heat oats in an ungreased pan in preheated 350 F oven for 10 minutes. Mix in dry ingredient. Then mix in remaining ingredients until well coated.
2) Bake for another 20-25 minutes, stirring often to brown evenly.
3) Cool. Stir till crumbly, store in tightly covered container in refrigerator. Serve with milk or yogurt.


Spoon a little of this over some yogurt and strawberries, and mmm, mmm....what a tasty breakfast! (Personalize the recipe with your favorite fruits and nuts, of course :)


After you've had your fill, store the rest of the granola in the fridge. I like to re-use spaghetti sauce jars (just MAKE SURE you've washed them well! You don't want tomato-flavored granola!)

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

The Traveling Tote

I apologize for my absence lately. This summer has just flown by!! I suppose I should do my best to bring you up to date on my crafting lately...

The first project I'll show you is a custom tote I made for friend. I was SO excited to make this bag for her! She's going to be teaching little kids in the Bahamas for a year and needed a teacher bag for all her books and projects, so after picking out fabric and sketching out the design, this is what we came up with!

It's actually a pretty large tote, though at the same time it didn't turn out ridiculously large, so that's good! :) It has plenty of room for books and teacher supplies, very sturdy and durable. She can even use it as a beach bag, lots of room for towels and sunscreen!

This is the backside view, though honestly, I think this could be used as the front side too! Can you tell that it has a huge exterior pocket? I thought that would be a nice addition for any random papers, projects, etc.



The interior fabric she picked is just great! Perfect for the Bahamas!

And a little removable reinforcement for the bottom.


Her tote zips closed, stands about 14" tall and has 6 interior pockets.
It was so fun to see her excitement once it was finished!




And once again, I wanted to keep this one after it was finished! But I'm more excited that she gets to use it in the Bahamas! Maybe she will bring me some business from her Bahamian friends! ;)