A gift

Last weekend my grandma turned 90 years old. She is my last remaining grandparent, and has little need for much in the material world these days. She is a devoted catholic who went to church 6 days a week, until the Bishop took away the priests at surrounding churches and now has one priest servicing four different churches. I tried to think of something I could do for her, the mother of 13 children and grandmother of countless grandchildren and great grandchildren. A Rosary was the only thing I could think of that she would actually use and enjoy.

I found beads that I thought she would like, I found the two metal parts required for a rosary, and I took my spool of wire and went to work. Yes, you read that right, I made every single tiny little link in this thing by hand. (including the o-rings) It took me somewhere near 10 or 12 hours to complete. 28 figure 8 links, 59 beaded links and 4 o-rings.

When I gave it to her and told her I made it, she nearly cried and just smiled and said "how thoughtful". Then I told her that I didn't have it blessed, because I thought she would like to have that done in her own church. She just gave me a proud grin. It really made my day to see her so happy, and to see the way her face lit up when she got hugs from my kids.

Woodshop Creations Logo and Card

This is the logo and business card I made for my dad's business.

My brand logo

This is a logo that I made for myself. My husband and I have a million ideas for what to put this label on. It is pronounced "feel it", English humor. It's about how things make you feel, a texture, a color, a phrase... I do a lot of things in my life because of how it makes me feel. I pick out my clothes for the day based on how I feel, I pick my meals based on how I feel, I do my art based on how I feel, and I especially pick my music based on how I feel. Whatever you do in life, you need to feel it, it's about experiencing life through our senses... it's about EXPERIENCING life, not just floating through it.

Recipe Book

 This is a recipe that I made up and a friend helped me name it. I made this page (and several other pages) for a cookbook I made for my mom.

This is the cover of the cookbook

*Again, I'm not sure why blogger changes the colors on some of my work, those grapes are a nice purple and the green doesn't look right on here either.

Tim White Roofing & Restoration

Purses I made

The 50's House Wife - made with cotton fabric, ribbon, lace, white string of beads and wood beads recycled from an old bead curtain.

Hippie Chick -  made with recycled jeans, vintage silk, ribbon, yarn, a button and beads.

The Coffee House - made from cotton fabric, a beaded belt and a magnetic clasp.

The Chicken  Basket - made from canvas, cotton fabric, vintage embroidery piece and wood handles.

The Tea Bag - made from muslin, bamboo handles and is hand embroidered.

Learning to knit

The round scrubbys are knit on a loom. The glasses case and wash cloth were my first attempts at needle knitting... I'm pleased.

Charity for Charity

This logo was donated to a charity group that knits/crochets/sews items for places like the NICU at The Women's Hospital in Greensboro, NC and The American Childrens Home, homeless people, individuals we find that are in need, and most recently baby blankets for a mission trip to Belize. Some members just donate money or materials, and the stitchers donate time and skill to make things like baby blankets, hats, scarves, and whatever else we find that someone needs. I joined the group after I made this, it gives me a good excuse to buy yarn and knit.

My Etsy Store

(fel) [it] (pronounced "feel it" couldn't get the little mark to show on here) is the name of my new Etsy store. I sell one of a kind bags/purses there. They are one of a kind because of the stuff I make them from. Remnants, up-cycled/re-purposed things and parts, hand embroidery. Whatever I have on hand or rescue from the clearance bin. They are usually fun themed bags, but are meant to be used. I will be adding things, other than bags, to the store down the road. I have a compelling need to create tangible things, and selling them keeps me from cluttering up my home. I hope you enjoy it. Now go buy something. ;)

Gifts for a friend

These are a set of 4 coasters made from a deconstructed bead curtain, and placed on a cork backing. The set on the right (large wood beads) are actually trivets, on leather cording, that can be used all 3 together or separately. I found a tutorial online and made it better by treating the wood with mineral oil to prevent food stains, and for easier clean up.

Yoga mat bag

This is my yoga mat bag that I made for myself in an hour with no pattern. I just measured my mat and went from there. It is awesome and fits tight to your shoulder for carrying or bike riding to your class.

"Little Chef" hat

My son has insisted that my mom call him "Little Chef" when he cooks with her. For this very reason, and his love of cooking, I made him this "Little Chef" hat. He loves it, but often won't wear it when he cooks, because he's afraid he'll get it dirty. This cracks me up every time.

 I crocheted it, and according to my sister (who actually knows how to crochet) I made up my own stitch or did a half single or half double stitch on the top part. I have to admit I had a very vague idea of what I was doing, so I found it super awesome that it ended up looking like I thought it would.

TARDIS hat from loom

This was my first attempt at loom knitting a hat with more than one color.

I found a knitting pattern online of a hat similar to this. I really liked it, but don't know how to knit with needles, so I converted the pattern to fit a knitting loom, and made some slight changes to make it look more like the TARDIS windows.

a quick blog header

I know it needs work, but I wanted something up right now. I'll post updates to it as they happen.

Kalani's Crafts

A little something I threw together to help my friend promote her crafts.