Storytelling

In a recent post, I mentioned that I would love to be a great storyteller.  Well, while I was catching up on some of my favorite blogs post-Christmas blog break...I stumbled upon this post by Mollie over at The Wild Olive.  And I think I have a way to put in to motion achieving a "goal" I hadn't realized was a goal!

In the new year, I plan on using this blog to tell stories.  I have a lot to learn in this realm, so please be patient and please please please leave some feed back in the comments section!  Constructive criticism will always be welcome...of course, rave reviews of stories will too! ;)  Functional, recycled, art is still the 'business' side of things and "making" will always be what I do, so don't be surprised when those adventures become tales regaled here.

I also plan on talking to Mollie about a little ad on her wonderful blog.  To help out a great designer/embroiderer/blogger/etc! and to keep me honest in this new goal.  So look for that over at The Wild Olive ...soon!

Blessings-

Daphne

Merry Christmas

May you be Blessed with Peace and Joy this Glorious day and all the days to come.

Merry Christmas from D, J, Wy and Cody

Prayer Request

Nile Thomas Arrington

A couple we are close to in our church family lost their little boy to SIDS this past week.  He would have been 9 months old the morning they found him.  It has been a terribly hard week.  If you find time, please say a prayer for this family.  They are living through any parents worst fears and physically there isn't much we can do for them, but through prayer we are all strengthened.

We miss you Nile.  We know you are in the arms of Jesus giggling and safe.

Thank you all.

"if wishes were fishes, we'd all cast nets"

Some things I've been pondering of late and a few wishes I suppose:

-       I would LOVE to be a great storyteller.  One of those people that draws you in and makes you forget where you are or that you're not the hero in the story.  Garrison Keillor of a Prairie Home Companion is my favorite.  When he settles in to his monologue about Lake Wobegon (what an awesome name, by the way), the theater is silent and listening to him, I feel like I'm there.  His voice has become such a comfort to me over the years.  For as long as I can remember we have tuned in on Saturday nights to listen and the first day I had free time and was able to turn on my radio when I joined the military, I was able to catch the News From Lake Wobegon and it was the best little love note God could have sent my way.  If you go to the Prairie Home Companion website you can find a weekly post titled: The View From Mrs. Sundberg's Window.  I'm quite certain Sundberg is not her real name (changed to protect the innocent, of course), but I would sure love to meet her some day.  She has a knack for storytelling and baking that is something to aspire to.
-       Have you ever heard the expression, "jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none"?  I feel like that is what I am and I think I should be okay with that, but it bothers me.  I sort of envy people who are 'quilters' or 'knitters' or 'scrapbookers'.  A single word description I am not.  Unless you mash them all together.  Hmm, perhaps: sewerpapercrafterrecyclerembroiderercreatorcrocheter?  Seems like there are still things missing, even in a word 52 characters long.  Oh well.
-       This blog is a real struggle for me.  And it's not for a lack of blog love!  I love looking at all the beautiful, witty, creative, etc. blogs out there.  I get very frustrated with the process of maintaining my own blog.  Not sure if it is blogger or my computer or the way I'm doing things, but uploading pictures takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r and my patience with computers wears thin easily.  One would think this would be perfect for me though, seeing as writing things out is a much better medium for me than speaking (it is rare that I say something rashly or without meaning it so when I do speak it takes awhile for the words to get put in the correct order in my head and come out that way).  But, it is not easy for me to open up to people who aren't close to me, like this post would suggest I am. ;)  Bottom line - my idea of what this blog was going to be (totally impersonal craft reportish type thing) is going to have to change or it is not going to be worth the time and energy.  So reader beware - changes are afoot!

Well, seeing as I've already written a novel, I suppose it's about time for me to sign-off for the day.

Have a lovely evening!

Craft Sanity Magazine!

Hello and my apologies for the extended absence.

The wonderful Jennifer of the wonderful blog and podcast Craft Sanity has produced her very first Magazine!!!  For the complete story check out this blog post: http://craftsanity.com/2010/11/craftsanity-magazine-pre-order-preview/ , for the highlights keep reading!

Jennifer put out a call a month or so ago for sponsors for this project of hers and I was so excited to jump on board!  So, inside this gem you'll find a little ad for Sunrise Folk (!), but more importantly you'll find: "44 pages featuring 15 projects ranging from knitting and crochet to sewing, weaving, paper craft and embroidery; interviews,  handmade stories and Q&A interviews. You'll also find recipes, gift tags, and an adorable paper doll with a penchant for quilting, reviews and a gift guide, too.

So, you're totally excited right?!  Well, there's more!

Work by the following artists and crafters is inside: Cathy Carron, Lindy Graff, Anna Hrachovec, Sarah London, Alessandra Hayden, Rebecca Green, Alyssa Thomas, Cydney Colvig, Linda Tieu, Steven Rainey and a generous knitter named Jake. You'll also find Diane Morgan's delicious recipe for homemade graham crackers and a peek inside the sketchbook of knitter Debbie Bliss!  Jennifer included a few of her own projects, including a mod hexagon apron tutorial for you to enjoy, too.

Want to know how you can get your very own copy!?!
You can purchase a copy of the print publication here.
The electronic edition ($3.99) will be released the same day the hard copy version will be shipped out: Tuesday, December 7.
I can't wait for mine to get here so I can curl up with it by the Christmas tree, tasty cup of hot tea in hand!


(Up-date since I wrote this - mine has gotten here and it is WONDERFUL!  Order a copy, you'll love it!)

Blessings!

Welcome to the Jungle!

One of my best friends is having a baby in December and the theme for his nursery is "Jungle" so we rented a beach house for the weekend and threw a safari/jungle themed shower!

We had a great time.  Girls weekend + decorating + the beach + lots of food, of course it was going to be fun!!!

We found a safari calendar that we cut pages out of to decorate the walls (and even replace some of the framed pictures on the walls), searched Michael's and Dollar Tree for every jungle/safari/animal print thing we could find - and went to town.

What have you been up to lately???

It's up!

The Etsy shop is up and running!!!

You can get to it by clicking here: www.sunrisefolk.etsy.com

New items are being added everyday...so keep checking in!

WE DID IT!!!!!

Sold my first items at a craft fair this weekend.  Slow day for sales, but we had a GREAT time!

My friend came along to help with the set up.  She made chocolate chip cookies for the booth (and coffee for us!!! Thanks Jennifer!).  The cookies were great tasting AND they brought a lot of people in.  Definitely going to make cookies for every fair!

My aprons.  Love how they all look together on the clothesline.

I worked on hair clips throughout the day (hence the piles-o-junk around my chair).  It was really fun to be able to sew most of the day, and it got people to ask what we were doing.  Jen was making stuff and so was Brian when he came by - arts and crafts time all around!

I didn't even think to get the camera out when Brian "relieved" Jennifer or when J and Wy stopped by (Brian and Jen helped out because we didn't know what the weather was going to be like and if Wy would be able to stick around that long...he's only 4 1/2 mons. you know!) ;)  Next time...

Brooches from felt and recycled shirts

Hankies from sheets and a hankie holder from a shirt

Halloween, felt covered hair clips

I walked away from my "stall" after packing everything up at the end of the day and had an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.  Not all of the items went like hot cakes, but we DID IT!  Finally, finally did what I've been thinking about, talking about, wishing about doing for so long - and it felt AWESOME!  

and then I found it...

I  have got a bug to get going on all the projects swimming around in my head….my hands are just itching to get started…and I’m sitting at work, in a cubicle, looking at a computer screen with a word document that requires lots of brain power and I just can’t focus!

And then I found it.... I was doodling in my notebook and I came across a note I had written after listening to Jennifer on Craftsanity.  She was talking about how she wants to get an airstream trailer to park by a lake on a farm and use as her studio.  Heaven!  So I went to the internets and found this beauty:

source

I could TOTALLY handle that!

Off topic – but the cubicle.  DRAB, BORING, MUTE (in a bad way), BLAH, BLAND your choice of favorite adjectives.  SO – mine has multicolored Christmas lights year round (probably why I'm so drawn to this picture!), a shelf full of pretty things I’ve collected through the years, pages torn from magazines tacked to the walls, a picture section with people and places I love and a fruit cocktail can as a pencil holder.  It does make it a little better to be in here, but I don’t know how much longer I can last…

I’ve got a year and 3 months before I can ditch the cubicle.  Don’t get me wrong, I like my ‘job’, I just don’t necessarily like what I do and I certainly don’t like being in a cubicle and well, I just feel this isn’t where I am supposed to be forever.

Perhaps I'm supposed to be here forever instead?

source

Yes, you say?  I agree.

we're in!

Ah!

We've got a booth at the Freret Market come October 2!  Which is great!  And will be even better when I feel a bit more prepared...

Not going to get all stressed out though.  If I don't have a booth chocked 'full-O-stuff', that's okay.  It's quality not quantity anyway, right?  Plus, this market will be a trial to see if the craft show/art market/etc. scene is for me.

So, if you're in the New Orleans area on October 2, come say hi and try on an apron or two!!

Detail work from a vintage piece I got at the September market

felt is fun! (and other tid-bits)

Not sure what spurred it, but I'm suddenly very interested in felt.  I made some felt flowers (which I forgot to photograph!) and this little strawberry.

This little guy was created while I watched Top Hat (how can you go wrong with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers???).  I've been using the acrylic craft felt which I have not been happy with at all.  No stores in my area sell anything else, so I looked to 'the internets', as my husband calls it, where I stumbled upon Wool Felt Central (check it out here!).  It turns out the brick and mortar store behind the website is in Cozad, Nebraska!

"So what?" you ask?  Well, it turns out I'm from Nebraska and while Cozad is not all that close to where I grew up (South Sioux City), just the fact that it is in Nebraska got me really excited!

Well, when I found out they are in Nebraska AND they have great prices AND fun patterns for things I've never tried before but want to look in to (all these fun patterns), I had to give it a go.  A little package arrived a few days ago and I can't wait to get started - but I'm not sure when I'm going to fit all this fun in!  This is going to be a present for my mom so I'm not sure if I can share a picture yet...

I also thought I'd share a picture of why my craft space looks like these days.  It is close to being declared a disaster area.  But you know what, I'm getting stuff done!  And who wants to see a pretty, clean, organized studio anyways?  Doesn't that just happen in our dreams?

Out of that mess came this 'dress-up apron'.  

You'll notice that I match my furniture.  The pillow and napkin (that's the top layer of the apron) are from World Market in a retro strawberry pattern that I LOVE!!!  The napkins were on sale the last time I was there so I got a whole bunch knowing that 'someday' a perfect project for them would come to me. 

The layer underneath is a pillowcase (ruffles and all) that my mom found at a tag sale.  I added a flower made from an old t-shirt, a leaf from a green ribbon and some worded ribbon from the scrapbook stash.  My first apron just for me!

In other news...I was sewing along in my happy little way the other day, making an apron out of a sheet and a pillowcase for a friend, when my sewing machine jammed up.  After taking it apart, cleaning it, putting back together, re-threading, etc. it is still not working correctly.  Now, I found a shop that repairs machines, but I'm afraid it will cost as much to repair it as I paid for it.  SO - I asked my friend Trish, who makes the most BEAUTIFUL quilts, what kind of machine she used and how much I should paid for a decent machine that won't do things like this to me on a regular basis.  She has a Janome that she really likes.
What about you?  Any advice?

Inspiration

First of all, the market was fun - full of good food and music and lots of fun booths!  Still haven't signed up, but I'm gearing up to have a booth at the October 2 event.  What's holding me back is the actual set up (I don't have a tent or table yet...) and I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to make enough "stuff" in time.

BUT, I need to just do, even if I only have a few things ready.  At least I will have one market under my belt.  It can only get better, right?

So this is where I will be come October 2:

Now, on to what's been on my mind...

I found a podcast about a week ago that I have been listening to non-stop since.  CraftSanity (accompanying blog found here) with Jennifer has been such a treat!  I'm pretty sure I'm the last person to find this gem...where have I been???  But I am sure glad found her!  Jennifer interviews all sorts of crafty ladies and has the most wonderful conversations that we are fortunate enough to be able to listen in on.  CraftSanity and the little bits of wisdom I've gleaned from the interviews as well as from Jennifer, have really given me so much inspiration and a little kick in the pants to get myself going.  It's so fun to hear about all the aprons and running in Jennifer's life too - both things I enjoy!

Another podcast that was the first one I listened to, and am always waiting excitedly for the next one to air, is The Quilted Cupcake (found here) with Jean.  Although I wouldn't call myself a quilter, it doesn't matter because Jean has so much information about EVERYTHING - book reviews, product reviews, tips, updates, tid-bits about all the crafty trips she takes.  She is so fun to listen to and she's been a great source of information and inspiration for me (and she loves aprons too!).

step 1

Tomorrow we check out the Freret Street Market to see if I want to get a booth there next month!

Stay tuned....

And then it dawned on me

I must apologize for the long absence of posts. I'm going to throw some words at you and let you come to your own conclusions for said absence: back to work, 3 1/2 month old, 4 flights in 2 weeks (with 2 1/2 month old at the time), husband out of town for a week, etc. Sure there has been a lot going on, but it really comes down to the fact that I felt Led to take a step back for awhile.

And then I didn't.

I was able to meet some old friends for lunch one day a few weeks ago, and we didn't even talk much about crafty goings on, but it hit me that local art walks and fairs are where I should be right now. That's what I wanted to do a few years ago when I started fusing plastic bags. When I couldn't take anymore melting plastic fumes, my art walk booth dreams went the way of my plastic scraps. That is really where my passion was, and apparently still is. So, I'm gonna go for it.


Plus, an Anthropologie opened here!! It is such a wonderful place to visit. My husband was even willing to go and he was very impressed. I will be working just down the street from the loveliness starting this week, so I'm sure there will be many Anthro up-dates!

Local fairs and art walks, here I come!!

delinquency and embroidery

So way back when, I mentioned I had a project that was due July 1, that needed some love...

It was Will Rogers that needed some love.  Through the Sublime Stitching blog, I found out about this project.  I'm not from Oklahoma, but it sounded like fun AND when I signed up for it this winter it seemed like such a long ways away... then all of a sudden we had a newborn and I had barely started!

Fortunately Sara, from the project, sent me a link to this fabulous poster to use as a guide.

Well, it bears somewhat of a resemblance.  Hindsight being what it is, I would probably use less than 6 strands of floss and start earlier so I could fill things in!

But, it got done and sent in by July 1st!  Hooray!

I love the quotes I found when doing some research on Will.  The one on the mat is my favorite: "I never met a man I didn't like".  What an axiom to live by!

Graduation gift set

Here is the graduation gift I finally finished (it was only a few weeks late!).  I didn't know what the lovely young lady who received it "needed" for college, so I put this little number together as a "fun" gift instead.

She has a great sense of fashion, so hopefully these accessories will come in handy.  I had so much fun putting this together.

The set includes a flower brooch that doubles as a hair clip (when pinned to the felt covered clip) or a flashy little belt (when attached to the included ribbon).

The flower was constructed in the same way the Mother's Day flowers were, but with more tulle between the second to last 'petal' and the backing petal.  It also features a pearl from a vintage necklace in the center.

When my parents were here to help with the baby my Mom and I visited Michael's (a few times) and I saw these great containers.  Our graduate is an excellent baker, so the packaging doubles as a re-usable baking tin!

Now, how fun is that?

I've got so many ideas in my head (and unfortunately those don't make it very long unless they're written down...so they're in my notebook too!) for this blog.  Implementation will begin soon, so stay tuned!

Some catching up to do

Not much has been going on craft-wise since the Little One got here, but I can tell you about some things I did while waiting for him!

These were Mother's Day cards for all the mothers in our lives.  The flowers were removable brooches!  With 6 to be made, I'm afraid the outside of the cards all looked the same, but each one had a personalized flower and message inside!

We've been looking for something to hang in our living room to cover a huge empty wall (there would be a TV there, on top of the TV stand...but we don't have a TV so it's just a nice big empty wall).  I think I started this the day before we went in to have the baby.  Needless to say, it's still sitting in the messy Croffish. (Note:  Croffish is the name we've coined for our craft room/office.  While I would gladly just call it the Craft Room, my wonderful husband reminds me that it is his space too!  So we combined the two words and came up with Croffish, which works here in Southern Louisiana.)

Current state of my work table.  When I've had a few moments here and there I've tried to do some hand sewing (more to come on that soon!) which I LOVE!  I realized about day 5 of life with a newborn that some craft time was needed or things were going to go south soon.  My amazing husband made sure I had and hour of un-disturbed craft time and it was wonderful!

But I digress, back to hand sewing.  Maybe it's the fact that hand sewing makes you slow down and enjoy the process or that it's so portable or the imperfections that are bound to come and the skill that is gained, whatever it is, I enjoy hand sewing immensely.  My machine gets used quite a bit and it has its merits too, but I feel like I have so much more control and rhythm when I sew by hand.

Flowers are SO easy and fun to do!  

And in the midst of this (while it could be construed as a yawn, it is in fact crying)...

I was able to take a few shots for a sneak peak at what will hopefully be in my Etsy shop soon.  (Perhaps when the Grandparents are here???) :)

Now, a graduation gift to get working on before Saturday (!) and a project due by July 1st that needs some love!  But first...it's eating time for the babe...

Blessings!

Baby Love

We welcomed our handsome little man into this world on Thursday, May 13.

Needless to say, it's going to take a few more days before we get a schedule down and I can get back to this space.

What is that I hear???  Cloth diaper to baby Wyatt, stat?  On my way...

New material!

Saturday was my last day at work before our Little One arrives and it's been pretty busy!  As a "congratulations on being done with work for a little while" I stopped by the thrift store on my way home and found some really fun sheets!

Lilly pads in yellows and golds

A sweet white sheet with small clusters of white flowers

The first thing I saw on this one was a little cottage (the ones above the border).  I LOVE cottages.  And then I saw the border and the cows did it, I just couldn't walk away from cottages AND cows! 

I picked this one up and carried it around for a little bit, then I put it back on the rack.  I decided I would probably regret it if I didn't take it home though.  Snow White is one of my favorites and I can definitely see some cute bags/pillows/??? coming out of this one.

Any ideas?

flower frenzy

I had a problem.

The purse I was using was double strapped and one of the straps would not stop falling off my shoulder.  It was driving me NUTS!  

So, I decided to go to my purse bin (yes, I have a bin of purses/bags...I love them!) and see what I had.  There were only two purses that had a single strap.  One is a small one and this was the other one...

before

I love all the pockets and the adjustable strap, but it's a pretty drab bag.  So, I went to the web for a fabric flower tutorial.  I got some great info from this one.

after

I think it's finished, but I might still add to it.  So far, there are flowers, buttons and new zipper pulls.  (and some bangles that were shower gifts my mom made for the baby shower!)  

Making the flowers was so much fun!  They didn't stop on the purse - a brooch was made, too.  I think they might become a favorite embellishment...

Hope you're having a blessed weekend!

Welcome!

Thanks for making the transition with me from Fellow Creatures.

Make yourself at home...stay awhile!

Busy Weekend

The Indie Biz class ended this weekend. :(  I have to admit I'm a bit sad about the whole thing!  I learned SO much from the class and had such a great time.  Elsie, Jill and Leigh-Ann are wonderful teachers - I highly recommend taking anything they offer!!

This weekend was full of distractions though, as my husband completed his first half-Ironman.  Whew!  I am so proud of him!  It was his first, and he finished just about where he wanted to!  He's pretty amazing.

That being said, unfortunately no craftiness happened here this weekend.  I was going to take some embroidery along, but there wasn't really time to work on it.   

The apron looks a little funny because it doesn't sit right on my uber pregnant belly!  In a few weeks I'm hoping it will fit just right. ;)  

These photos are from several weeks ago when I made a handy-dandy crafting apron out of a pillowcase I picked up at the thrift store.  One side is a rainbow of stripes, the other is a rainbow of dots.  Love it!!

I tried to write a tutorial on how I made it, but I don't have enough pictures and even though I'm not the one that did a Triathalon today, my brain sure seems to think so!  I'll make another one soon and share with you then.

One picture I do have, is of a sewing 'oops'.  

(Why is it that these always decide to be front and center on a project?)

  It's that purple bit in the middle.

The fix?  A lovely lavender bow, of course!

I hope your weekend was splendid and your Monday will be the same!