It's Thursday, The Happenings for Today May 17th 20012

Heaven's it seems this month is just flying away! Today I have been adding some products to my Etsy store Maplea's Rag Dolls and Animals. I created these all some time back, the first is a cute set of small primitive kitties. I used some scraps of Berber and quilting cotton fabric. I did not use any patterns, I just took some scissors and began cutting these guys out of the fabric to my amazement they turned out not too bad. I have filled them both with fiber fill and used black beads for noses and eyes. I stained both with my super sauce of instant coffee and vanilla.

A while back I had some interesting and color cotton blend fabric that is nice and heavy for making this cat from a vintage pattern. I went away from the instructions of the pattern a little, by not using fake fur or muslin. I added buttons for eyes and the buttons are mismatched a little thing I like to do now and then.

The bear turned out so cute, he was created last fall from an neat vintage pattern that I have changed, actually I used a bit of 2 vintage patterns to make this little guy.

This is a want to be clown rag cloth doll that I created and it started from a vintage pattern but I added my very own ideas, I painted the face white with acrylic paints and designed my own facial features, along with designing my own outfit for the doll.

Lastly there is a great celebration going on at Etsy and it's from the Old Farm House Gathering on Etsy, lots and lots of talented people sharing their wonderful crafting abilities so come check it out!! Here is the link http://www.etsy.com/search/handmade?q=stcofg&order=most_relevant&view_type=gallery&ship_to=ZZ

What I have been working on this week and my Mother's Day present

Late afternoon to all!
Anyway this is when I started writing this post, I have been crafting just a little these past few weeks before the grand baby arrived. I did some painting on small chalkboards. I used oil based paints for the painting and some oil pastels for the wood around the chalkboards. One chalkboard wall hanging is for fall time and the other one is for summer time. I drew the crows and scene free hand using no ideas or patterns, basically just going with the flow of things.
Both will be cute wall hanging for the two seasons, I have also sealed the chalkboards with a good sealer and the wood has been done in oil pastels. What I did was to color wildly onto the wood using the pastel and then rub the pastel into the wood using some Q-tips the method worked quite well.
In the second photo is my mother's day present from my wonderful husband! I am hoping it will attract some humming birds. There are several colors of fuchsia in the pot and I will be trying to get some starts off of it.
This week I am hoping to get some dolls sewn seems my sewing machine is in neglect so hope to start sewing again. I have an 18 inch doll all cut out all I need to do is sit down and sew!

I am a Grandma!! Josephine is Finally here!

I became Grandma April 30th 2012 Josephine is so wonderful we are so blessed and thankful she is here!  My daughter had to have a emergency C Section as the baby's heart rate kept dropping very low.  I am so proud of daddy and my son who both went with my daughter into the operating room to help her!  Josephine is my little china doll and boy am I going to spoil her!!

Today Working on 3 Different Projects That are Simple and Fun

Today I have been working on 3 different items for my store different in that 2 are painted plates and the other is a wooden sign for Halloween decor. I am painting on each of these my very own designs or ideas all done free hand with no patterns.

At the top is the small wooden sign for Halloween decor I have used some wonderful graphics from the Graphics Fairy at http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/ What I did was to paint a scene around the the graphics I have printed up. Next I will stain and sand the whole thing for a old aged look, I am not sure yet if I will use a walnut stain or a lighter stain, I may use my oil based stain and just rub it onto the wood. I am painting with acrylics that have an oil base and just love them.

The second photo is a small clear plate with snowmen on them and a cute quote about snowmen. I again just began painting free hand to just a small thought in my head and I am using acrylics and will seal the plate, the plates I create are for decor not for eating on or from.

The last photo is an 11 inch plate and the verses are taken from conference's from the LDS chruch. I loved the talk that was given I thought it would be neat to share with all women.

Each project is fairly simple to do and they did take an entire afternoon, although I am not quite finished with them. Soon I will have them in the Etsy store to purchase and I will share that.

I wanted to mention that I did a pet adoption about one week ago I have just fallen in love with our new addition Popeye, who has only one eye but is so very special. Popeye is a little male Jap/Chin and is 5 years old, he did have 2 other brothers who I hope will get adopted soon. If I could I would have adopted them also but I have Oreo, Daisy and Marvin and now Popeye!

What I have been Working on a Wall hanging " Love for the Crows"

I am finishing up this wall hanging! But first I should tell you all how I began this project; first I took some muslin and sprayed it with chalkboard paint.  I let it dry over night before drawing the picture I wanted on it, which is my very own design.   I free hand drew the picture and began using oil pastels, which I just love!  I have had fun blending colors and I love how the pastels make it look like chalk.  When I have finished I will back this with quilting batting and some wild colored flannel I have laying around.  I am using a famous Chinese proverb " Love for a person must extend to the crows on his/her roof".   Even though these crows are actually sitting on an old fence.  I am using an acrylic sealer when the drawing is finished, it was lots of fun to make this because we had a few nice days and I painted the fabric out doors.  After a bit the wind came up and my muslin went blowing down the street I am sure I looked pretty silly to the neighbors chasing a painted piece of fabric down the road. I am putting together a video to post to YouTube of course and show how it all came out, I plan on doing another one of these a little later on.

Crocheting again with No Patterns a small Purse and Wrap

First off I hope everyone had a very nice Easter! This year I did no cooking but had brunch out at a wonderful cafe called the Wet Dog.  Now onto what I have been working on, I have been crocheting again using no patterns or instructions and I have created a few things that I wanted to share.  First I created this cute little purse and wrap for a young lady.  I used an J 6.00 hook and did a double and single stitch for both the purse and the wrap.  When I finished them I added some fringe which is knotted and tied in by hand. 

The Second photo is another purse but it is larger and made with a sheet and a J 6.00 hook.  I tore strips of sheet and knotted them together to form a ball like a ball of yarn and began crocheting.  I used just a double stitch for this hand bag.  After I finished crocheting I added some buttons that are hand sewn on and strips of a lace curtain and the rest of the sheet which gave it a neat look I think.   Both items are in my Etsy store now.  Both projects took about 3 days for me complete using no patterns or directions, so both are one of kind in that I doubt I could redo the same look but that's the way I love to crochet, never knowing how it might come out and that each as a look of it's own.

 

Grubby old Miss Tattered and Bee, a primitive aged rag cloth doll

I created this 15 inch rag cloth doll from a vintage 1982 pattern that was just laying around doing nothing. In the original pattern you are to use felt, buttons. I did the pattern a little different, instead I used muslin and stained it heavily with what I call my sludge, coffee, vanilla and cinnamon. I make it up extra thick and set the solution in the refrigerator over night then I brush it on the made up doll several times depending on how stained and dark I want the doll to be. I had lots of fun making this one I made the face darkest and the body parts lighter she also has a little friend that was fun to create. The facial features are painted on with acrylic paints and the hair is a thick dark red wool yarn that I have hand sewn into the head of the doll using quilting thread. The dress and apron are cotton fabrics. You can find her here http://www.etsy.com/listing/93445940/15-inch-rag-cloth-doll-grubby-old-miss