More Things For The Dolls

The girls are getting American Girl dolls for Christmas from their other grandmother and I have been busy making clothes for them. I showed Jimmy the table and chairs in the AG catalog and asked if he could use the dimensions listed to make an appropriate sized table and chairs for the dolls as a Christmas present for the girls.

He did a great job and I know they're going to love it! I have a china tea set that will fit perfectly! I took an old picnic basket and lined it with a red printed fabric. Instead of packing the doll clothes in an old box, I thought this would be perfect! I found another tutu and leotard at Michael's craft store and it came with a set of plastic butterfly wings for the doll. I took it apart and traced it on a transparency sheet, cut it out, punched the two holes, creased it, put in the elastic cord and Voila! another set of butterfly wings to go with the tutu and leotard that I made.

I wrapped up some little boxes as Christmas presents from Santa (with a card from him for each doll). I also wrapped up two other little boxes as birthday presents (with cards) from each doll to the other. My last effort was to make 10 little envelopes with tiny cards inside for the dolls to send to each other or to Maggie and Emma. I think I'm having more fun than they will! Included in the picnic basket are two little notebooks I made for the dolls' journals. I'm hoping that Maggie and Emma with write in them. They are very little - 2 1/2" x 2 1/2".

After Christmas, when the sale is on, I'm going to Joann's to get another pattern for clothes that includes pants. The sale price for the $15.00 pattern will be $1.99. I think, tho, that all their McCalls patterns are regularly 40% off every day, but $1.99 beats $9.00!

The 3rd Gingerbread House

This year's gingerbread house needed to be built first before we could decorate it! Yikes! Luckily, it all went together better than I thought it would. The royal icing is very thick and dried quickly.

Maggie and Emma each took one side to decorate as well as a front or back. Again, Maggie ate more than she put on the house, but we were expecting that!

The candy cane lying down is a sled. There is one on the roof, too. I think it's Santa's.

The Best Dressed Bears

These little bears are only about 3" tall. I knitted up the front, cast on 6 more for each arm, knitted up to the neck opening, cast off 10 stitches and then recast them on the next row, decreased 6 stitches on each side after I thought the arms were wide enough, then knitted down to the bottom on the back.

I think Kit and Ruthie will love their bears.

I think Maggie and Emma will too.

Mag's Sweater

This is the sweater I just finished for Maggie. I plan to make the stocking hats for both of them next week. Maggie's blue color is a stripe in Emma's sweater and Emma's color is a stripe in Maggie's.

The Knitting Factory

I finished Emma's sweater and her American Girl doll's sweater, hat, skirt, shoes and Teddy Bear's sweater. I'll finish her hat sometime this week, I hope. Maggie's AG doll's outfit is finished and I'm working on Maggie's sweater. I just have to knit the sleeves. I love my knitter!

The dolls' clothes were knitted by hand. I tried to do them on the knitter, but they were too small. It was easier to do them by hand, even if it took longer.

Maggie and Emma know about the sweaters and hats I'm making for them, but they don't know about the American Girl dolls or the clothes. I think they'll be pleasantly surprised!

The girls picked out their own yarn colors. Emma's is this pretty lime green and Maggie chose a beautiful blue mint. I thought by adding a little of the other's color to each sweater, it would be a constant reminder of her sister. Maybe that's a good thing, maybe not. I think they'll look really cute standing next to each other.

When I started, I made the dolls' sweaters first. My intention was to use the stripe on the sweater front, back and on each sleeve. That's what I did with the dolls' sweaters. When I started Emma's sweater, I made the stripe on the front and back as intended. I was latching up the ribbing on the first sleeve when I realized I had forgotten the stripe! Yikes! There was no way on God's green earth that I was going to rip out an entire sleeve and start over.

When using a knitting machine, the sleeve is started by picking up stitches at the shoulder and knitting down to the ribbing. The ribbing is formed by dropping every third stitch and latching it back up. When you've done the ribbing and bound off the stitches, you're finished. Just the opposite when hand knitting. Kara suggested that I just put the stripe on one sleeve, but I gently declined her suggestion.

Seamstress To The Dolls

I spent most of this morning and about an hour after dinner finishing up three nightgowns and one beautiful red lacy dress for the girls' American Girl dolls. I made two of the nightgowns with the hearts. The third nightgown is pink flowers and I made that one to give to the little girl who lent me her AG doll so I could make sure these creations actually fit. Can you imagine how horrible it would be to spend all that time making these dresses only to find out they don't fit?!?!? Luckily, they fit great! They are easy to put on the doll and to remove without pulling or gritting one's teeth.

One thing's for certain - being a seamstress to the dolls is a career move I don't wish to make. I've had some fun making these dresses, knowing how happy the granddaughters will be, but I must be getting old because I did something I don't think I've ever done in about 40 years of sewing - I ran the sewing machine needle into my finger. I actually had to use the wheel to reverse the needle to get it out. Now that smarts a bit! Maybe I need glasses.

I used to keep the mess to a minimum but today I realized I had threads all over my clothes, all over the floor and some were even out in the hallway. I dropped pins and, luckily, they landed point first into the carpet. I'm glad I have the ones with the colored balls on top. I could see them poking out of the rug before I stepped on them. I kept leaving the scissors on the ironing board and had to get up each time to get them because the board was about two inches too far away from my chair. Do you think I'd move the board closer? Or remember to put the scissors on the sewing machine table? Or get two pairs? Huh?

When I get the sweaters knitted (one's almost finished) I'll take a picture of the girls' sweaters with the dolls' sweaters and with the teddy bears' sweaters! Too cute for words!!

I'm A Little Teapot

This is the teapot x-stitch I made for Betty. She collects teapots in every country she visits. Unfortunately, I haven't visited any countries (except Canada) and haven't purchased any teapots.

I saw this chart on a Michael's website and tried my best to download it, but for some reason I couldn't get it. I appealed to the other forum users on Michael's and a lady named Judy downloaded it and mailed it to me!

Too bad there's a flash spot on the glass covering the teapot. The pinks used in the chart are what make this pot so pretty. I also glued some "diamonds" to the fabric to emphasize the centers of some of the designs.

I gave it to her the other afternoon. She called me and asked to take me to a belated birthday lunch. I had it all ready to give to her for Christmas and thought this might be a good time to give it to her. We always try to get together around Christmas, but you never know if the weather will be good, or not. So....

She was thrilled! She told me she has a little white teapot that she takes to her room at night so she can have some hot tea before bed. Now she has a place for the little teapot and also a little plate for cookies!!

The Old Christmas Tree Skirt

I made this dress for Maggie's and Emma's dolls by cutting up the old gold lame Christmas tree skirt and adding an overskirt of gold/brownish netting with a ribbon edging.

I thought the green satiny fabric for the other dress was hard to work with! Well, let me tell you, sewing with gold lame isn't a walk in the park, either! Not only slipping and sliding, it unravels like crazy!

Oh, well.

When I get the sweaters finished, I'll post them here, too. IF I ever get them finished.

The Bride's Maid Dress

This dress has a history. It started out as a bride's maid's dress that Kara was forced to wear. Well, anyway, the dress was hanging in a closet taking up valuable space.

I was looking for fabric to make another Princess dress for the granddaughters when I remembered that we still had it. After cutting it up I promised the girls that I'd get to it soon.

After several years, I'm ready to make it but they are now 6 and 7 and the pattern won't fit them anymore. Yikes! I promised!

Ah ha!! Isn't it amazing how wonderful ideas just come in a flash? I took the cut up pieces and made this dress for one of the American Girl dolls. That slick fabric is a pain to sew! It kept slipping and sliding, but I managed to get it done. I think the lace overskirt looks great!

Maggie and Emma are going to love it!

Seamstress To The Dolls

These are the matching dresses and jackets I just finished making for Maggie's and Emma's American Girl dolls. They don't know about the dolls, yet. Pam is giving them as Christmas gifts.

These are a lot easier to make than Barbie doll dresses! The girls don't play with Barbies much and have never asked me to make clothes although I have crocheted a few things for the dolls.

I'm also making two other dresses and knitting sweaters for the AG dolls that will match the girls' sweaters that I plan on making. I also bought two tiny teddy bears for the dolls and I want to make matching sweaters for the bears.

No Time For A Job

I'm in the process of making the girls' sweaters. Maggie's is Blue Mint and Emma's is Limelight. I didn't choose the colors, they did. The plan is to make Maggie's with a stripe or two of Limelight and Emma's will have a stripe or two of Blue Mint.

They will be getting American Girl dolls for Christmas from their grandmother, Pam. She asked me to make a few dresses for the dolls and gave me a pattern and some Christmas-y fabrics. I thought it would be cute to make matching sweaters for the dolls. A few weeks ago, I saw some little teddy bears at Michael's that were about 3" tall. How cute would that be if I make tiny sweaters for the teddy bears and each doll had one?!?

I have finished the cross-stitch birth announcement for our soon-to-be-born grandbaby. I just have to wait to see who it will be - Alexander or Kaylee. Then I can finish with the baby's birthdate, weight and name. I probably won't get it finished - matting and framing - until some time in January. It will go great with the nursery. Justin has painted a moon, stars and a sun on the walls. This cross-stitch is of a mother sitting on a crescent moon, holding a baby. The verse reads "A mother's arms are made of tenderness, and sweet sleep blesses the child who lies therein." It's a verse by Victor Hugo.

The pink teapot cross-stitch is also finished. I need to sand and paint the tray, get a mat and a piece of glass and put it all together. I think it'll look nice.

I probably won't get back to making the Barbie gown until after Christmas. The scrapbook pages of the two of us are also packed up, waiting for another day. I don't have to make any cards anytime soon, either. I have plenty from the failed attempts to sell them at craft fairs.

The Last Craft Fair, Ever!

I went to the craft fair with lots of cards and boxed card sets. I only sold $62 worth. By the time I subtracted the $15 table fee, I came home with $47.

I will never do this again. It was the most boring day I've had in a long time. The crowds were there, the room was nice, the weather outside was glorious. It should have been a slam dunk. People came over to my table, admired my cards and walked away, saying "Such beautiful cards!" I received lots of compliments but not many sales.

Sitting there from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. was actually painful. My back started hurting so I got up a few times and stood for awhile. My foot started going numb so I sat back down. This was evidently not my cup of tea.

I now have a large box of finished cards for all occasions so I won't have to make any for a long time! I'll start working on the scrapbook pages I have planned. I'll start crocheting on the new doll outfit for next year's fair (it's gonna be beautiful!!). There are a couple of cross-stitch projects to finish. I've got a couple of sweaters to knit for the girls and then there's Justin's baby, due in December. I've got a full plate!!

Craft fairs are not for me.

Crochet Heaven

I ordered the pattern for the new Barbie-doll creation! It's called Plantation Party Frock. I think it is going to be more elaborate than the last one. I can't wait to get started!

Clean Up Or Create?

My craft room is very messy with bits of ribbon, slivers of cardstock and the left overs from punches. I also have to clean up the hundreds of dead ladybugs and flies. Indian summers are always so nice after a cold snap, but I hate the flies, wasps and ladybugs that seek out my windows, especially the south and west ones.

I'm finishing up some last minute cards for the craft fair on Saturday. This new batch has the glittery snowflake ornament tied to it with pretty sheer ribbon. I made this card several years ago as our Christmas card.

I have a few more ideas rattling around in my head...

Big Sister, Little Sister

This scrapbook page was fun to put together. The girls always loved to have a tea party and they loved to blow bubbles, too. The day these pictures were taken, they decided to do both - a bubble tea party. It was a pretty summer afternoon and they were wearing their matching sun dresses that I made for them. I love the pretty lavender paper and the purple brads. Emma's favorite color is purple, so it worked out just great!

Water Babies

This is one of the scrapbook pages I made for the book I entered into the fair that won 1st place. When Kara and I would take the girls to the pool, we had to take the stroller, diaper bags, sippy cups, sunscreen, hats, pacifiers, sunglasses, bathing suits with those lumpy swim rings, snacks, an umbrella, pool pants (no diapers allowed in the pool), towels and more towels, dry clothes and water toys. By the time we got there, she and I would be exhausted. The girls were ready to hop into the pool but we weren't finished unloading everything.

We did truly have a lot of fun with them in the water. We'd take them over to the big pool during adult swim. They liked to watch the "big kids" jumping off the board and making huge splashes. I wanted this page to reflect all the fun we had and also all the trouble involved in having all that fun.

Last Ever Craft Fair

My first craft fair is finally over. We were in the tiny, old dilapidated church at Rockland. I thought we were going to be in the regular church, maybe in the basement. I'd have preferred that. This old one has no bathroom or running water.

There was only one light turned on and it did nothing to chase away the gloom in the room. The day was overcast, drizzling rain or raining hard, and no one wanted to cross the road from the regular church where the bathrooms, food, music and lights were to come over to the "craft/yard sale" section where we were.

To say I was disappointed is an understatement. There were 14 tables in our old drafty building. Seven for yard sale junk (why is yard sale junk always smelly?) and seven for crafters. There was another lady there with cards, for crying out loud! There were two women with crocheted stuff, one woman with all kinds of fall accessories for the house, a young lady with some kind of sign up sheet for some kind of personal care products - I think you were supposed to sign up to have a party at your house. The ladies with the handmade jewelry closed up shop at noon and went home. A couple had made some very pretty fall arrangements - wreaths, small "brooms" with flowers and ribbons - and he had brought all sorts of carnival prizes such as eyeglasses with LED lights and blinked on and off, princess wands, fiber-optic wands and a whole box of little styrofoam airplanes.

The rest was just junk.

My creations were well received. The few people who crossed over the road oohed and aahed over my cards. They even liked the prices. But they did not buy. Oh, I sold $50 worth. Six individual cards, one pack of Christmas cards, two boxed sets of note cards. They especially liked the "pull-out" cards, but they didn't buy them. I've got more cards than I know what to do with. I won't have to make any cards for several months.

I don't think I can stand to do this again. Sitting there hour upon hour with nothing to do. Nothing to eat. Nothing to drink. Remember, I thought I would be over at the regular church where all the food, drink and BATHROOMS were. My table was in the middle of the room, too. Most of the tables were over by the walls, so the dealers sat behind their tables with all the merchandise turned to the aisles. My stuff had to be turned both ways so people could see it from both aisles. I really had nowhere to sit. If I sat at the head of the table, I was in the aisle. If I sat on either side, I was in the aisle.

Around 2 pm, I started noticing some little bugs flying around. At first I thought maybe they were coming in the door (the only door in the building) that was left open for the (ha, ha) customers. When I asked where the bugs were coming from, the guy behind me said "From the floor! The termites are coming up from the crawlspace and are swarming". That's when I decided I had had enough. I started packing up my stuff and I left at 2 o'clock. When I was packing up, I noticed that all the rest of the vendors were packing up, too. No one wanted termites in their pretty things. It was getting bad in there.

Now I don't ever have to wonder what it would be like to sell stuff at a craft fair.

First Ever Craft Fair

It's 6:30 a.m. and I'm getting ready to go to my first craft fair as a seller, not a buyer. I've spent the last two weeks getting ready for it. At first I was excited and started embossing, cutting, snipping, gluing, printing, embellishing and glittering until I was totally exhausted.

Every evening I would hobble downstairs to start dinner. I don't sit properly when I'm really concentrating on making cards or scrapbooking and it takes a toll on my back. I need to sit back in the chair instead of perching on the edge. Right now, at the computer, I'm on the edge of the seat and I can feel it pulling on my lower back. Egad!!

I get a kick out of seeing a card come out the way I imagined it. Sometimes it doesn't and the card lands in the trash. Sometimes I can make the same card several different times and then, for some reason, I can't get it to look like the first ones. Into the trash. On my first attempt to make a popup birthday cake card, it came out great! The second, third and fourth times - into the trash. What?!?! Why?

I've had people ask me if I sell my cards and I've always said "No". I never wanted to "have to" make cards. I wanted this to be a hobby and not a job. I was surprised this last two weeks that I have enjoyed being up here in the "craps" room making cards. Ideas were flowing like water. Occasionally, I make a card that I think is really great. I'll decide to make several more of the same design only to find I don't have any more of that great embellishment, or I don't have but a scrap left of that wonderful paper. I can't find exactly that shade of green for the card to match the paper that I don't have any more of! Yeah, it's like that sometimes.

Now I'm going to try to sell them. If this doesn't work, I'm not going to try again. I'm putting myself out there and if people don't want to buy my cards, I'm almost afraid I'll take it personally.

Not that I should, but...

Comfy Baby Socks

I found this pattern for crocheting baby socks using fine baby yarn. It only took me about an hour to crochet one sock. After I did the first pair, the second pair went quickly while I was watching TV. I bet if I use a larger hook and sport weight yarn I can make bigger socks for a bigger baby, hmmmm. Think I'll try that!

Morgan's Indian Princess

I crocheted this Indian Princess outfit for a doll for Morgan. It has a lot of beads sewn on after all the crocheting is done. It isn't really to be played with, too many beads could be chewed off.

I even crocheted moccasins! As with the other doll outfits I've made, this is really a "shelf" doll. I hope she likes it (when she's older).

The Gnome

I found a pattern for this cute gnome and thought I'd make it for Justin and Nicole since they seem to be traveling all the time.

Maggie and Emma thought it was Santa Claus.

Free And Easy

I just stumbled onto a great website for free patterns. Crochet, knitting, tatting...just about anything you can imagine. And all for free, just download them and print them out! Cool! I printed out about a dozen this morning. Go go freepatterns.com and check it out.

Metallic Abstract

This card was time-consuming, but well worth the effort. I got the pattern from "Card & Thread" by Polly Pinder.

After tracing the shape onto tracing paper, I scribbled over the reverse side with a white pencil. I laid this white pencil side down onto black cardstock and retraced the image plus the little notch markings. That was very tedious, luckily I had "Dr. Phil" on the tv to keep me company.

I cut the little notches out with tiny scissors and then I was ready for the threads. Using silver and then gold metallic threads on the upper one, I wrapped the thread around the shape in a numerical order and taped the loose ends to the back. The bottom one used silver and copper metallic threads. I think they turned out great!

I cut metallic card stock to make a 4"x 8" side opening card. Well, actually, I just made the card face. I plan on making a card with black or grey cardstock and gluing it to the front. I don't think metallic cardstock folds well. It always cracks if it's not folded 'on grain'. I wanted the stripes on the silver card face to be horizontal but that was 'off grain'.

Same Card, Different Envelope

Some time ago, I received a little "flat" card (one that wasn't folded) and it had a little rounded edge on top so it could be pulled from the envelope. I liked it so much, I decided to make some of my own. I carefully opened the envelope and made a pattern from it. My card is a folded one, but I'm probably going to make some "flat" ones, too. The sentiment would be written on the back, either by printer or by hand.

I used some of that delicious paper from Hot Hues. I glued that down on the front of the card. All around the edges of the paper, I used my ruler and a gold paint pen. I used a ruler because I wanted the line to be straight. Sometimes I don't want to use a ruler and then it looks more "casual". At the top, I handwrote 'happy anniversary'. I punched a circle from gold vellum and folded it into a cone shape and tied it with a brown 1/8" ribbon, then glued it to the front of the card. The flowers were punched from brown and pink glitter matstack from Joanne's. I glued each flower down covering part of the back of the gold wrapper.

I lined the envelope with some of the leftover paper. This card could be (and probably will be) made as a birthday or 'get well' card.

Busy, Busy, Busy

As soon as I found out about the new grandbaby, I started making things. I think I got out of control. This afghan, sweater, coverall, two hats and a pair of booties won 1st place at the county fair. This is only a part of what I actually made for the newest angel in our family.

I have an idea for a smocked "bubble-suit", but I'm having a hard time finding the pattern for the bubble-suit. I have the smocking design I want to use and since Brenda gave me a pleater, I'm all set to go and anxious to start! I want to make two - one for a boy and one for a girl. Both of them will be white suits, but with different smocking. A girl could actually wear both, but no so much for a boy. I have a pattern for little yellow ducks, so maybe I'll use that one and then it won't matter. The one for a girl will have roses and girly stuff on it. I'll have more time to work on it once school starts and the pool closes.

December will be here before you know it!!

Other "Craps"

Not everything I make is with paper and glue. I also like to crochet, knit, smock, cross-stitch, put together scrapbooks and do a little "one-stroke" painting.

This is a crocheted scarecrow with crocheted pumpkins and crocheted crows sitting on his hat and arm. It won first place in this year's fair in the holiday decoration division.

At one time I made a doll-house from a kit for Kara and then checked out a book from the library on making minature doll-house furniture. I made all the furniture from balsa wood. I had a ball.

One of the ladies from church had set up her kiln in one of the vacant Sunday School rooms and let people come in and make pottery. She had a couple of molds for doll-house items. I made a complete bathroom set - tub, sink and toilet. I also made some dishes and some of them had food on them. If I remember correctly there was also a turkey on a platter and some loaves of bread. They were really cute! One was a birthday cake and I wrote her name on the cake. Unfortunately, the doll house was knocked off a shelf and broke into several pieces. Unfixable. She still has the furniture and the pottery, I think.

Green Frog Card

This card was fun to make. I used the green stems and leaves paper from Hot Hues! and just a regular green cardstock that seemed to match. I punched a 2" brown scallop (Marvy) and then cut a 13/16th " square from the green. I mounted the googlily-eyed frog on the center of the squares. The inside says "Have a hoppy birthday". The frog is from Sandylion Essentials. I bought two packages so I have 10 of them. They are so cute!

Glitter Flower Card

This card was made using Hot Hues! paper, gold vellum for the flower wrapper and brown 1/4" ribbon. The flowers were punched using an EKSuccess punch - once with pink and once with brown from the Spring Glitter Matstack from Joanne's. I also punched out the brown centers for the flowers from the brown glitter paper. The flowers are layered with a 1/4" foam sticky pad and then the whole flower is glued to the card. I tried to use double-stick tape, but it wouldn't hold the flowers on. I set a heavy large punch on top of them until they dried. I need a big heavy paperweight.

Green!

I made these cards several months ago. I think I was in my green period. I need to think in other colors.

Cards, Cards, Cards...

I hope to use this blog to display the cards I've created. If you want to copy them, be my guest! The only problem is getting them uploaded without using all the space available. This blog is named "Arts and Craps" because that's what my g-daughters called my arts and crafts room. They were little then. Now they're 6 and 7.