I got a new book last night called The Crafter’s Devotional: 365 Days of Tips, Tricks, and Techniques for Unlocking Your Creative Spirit. I’m so pumped about using it.

The only thing that makes me a little sad is that they leave out fine art. It would have been beneficial for me to have painting projects included.

The book is set up with a division of 52 weeks, and each day has a different theme:

Monday- Journaling

Tuesday- Recycle, Reuse, or Revive

Wednesday- Collection, Stash, and Materials

Thursday- Personal History

Friday- Noncraft Inspiration

Saturday + Sunday- Collaborate, Gather, and Experiment (these days are combined for projects that require more time and energy to complete)

Since I bought the book on Wednesday and couldn’t wait for Monday to roll around, I’m going to do multiple entries for a few days to catch up. I love this sort of thing, and anything that inspires me and gives me something to work toward is worth checking into!

PS: If any of you artists are interested in getting the book and working through it at the same time, let me know in the next few days. I’d be willing to wait to let you catch up! It might be fun to share and discuss what we get out of it! (I got it for $25 at Barnes and Noble, but I found that Amazon has it for $16)

I finally got around to listing some of my sock monsters in my Etsy shop: www.lemonwoodclock.etsy.com

So far I have 3 listed, stay tuned for more!!

I’ve been in a desperate dash to the craft fair finish-line this week! I’m pretty sure I’ve never been quite so goal-oriented in my life :) Alex helped me create an action plan, and thanks to a management and production book he’s been listening to, I’m now acquainted with such terms as “throughput” and “bottle-necking” lol. I’m currently trying to maximize throughput by avoiding bottle-necking. Which is fancy-schmancy speak for trying to finish more products by identifying and tweaking your most time consuming steps. I don’t fully understand it, that’s why I said “acquainted” with the terms and not “best friends” with them :)

Everyday I have a specific production goal. Yesterday’s goal was to complete 3 dolls (I decided instead to complete 7 doll *bodies* and have them ready for faces, which I can do anywhere).Today’s is to finish all the sock monsters I already have started, and to hopefully begin a few more. 

I haven’t had time to take real pictures, but here’s a sneak peek at my dolls, via my phone’s camera:

  They’re babies, not big girls, hence the barely-there hair. Some of them will have dresses, some of them will have diapers. But I plan to make them all a tiny blanket to match their clothes.

This baby had pigtails, which left her hair all freaky :) I definitely plan to replace them asap!

I received my application for the craft fair today! So I have all the info:

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Thompsons Station United Methodist Church 8th Annual Arts and Crafts Festival

Saturday September 19th 2009 9am-5pm

Arts & Crafts, Food, Bake Sale, Homemade Ice Cream, Children’s Games, Petting Zoo, Live Music all day…

1517 Thompson Station Rd. West next to the Williamson County Rescue Squad Building.

For more info call 595-1855 or 794-8113 (I think those are both 615#’s)

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I have so much work to do… hopefully I’ll be accepted, but if not I’ll have a lot of stuff ready for Etsy, so no worries!

[When I typed all this out, I didn’t realize there was info on a website. For anyone who’d also like to apply, while there’s still time, here’s the link to the downloadable form!]

It’s been a crazy week! I can’t believe it’s only been 7 days since I last blogged.

In the meantime, I found some GREAT socks at target. They’re over-the-knee socks, so I’m able to make the sock monsters longer without worrying about running out of material. And, as it turns out, I’m actually able to get 2 monsters per sock! And because each pair is made of a different material and texture, I’ve been learning a lot about what types of socks work best for different purposes. For example, the more stretchy the sock, the better Dexter is able to hold onto the toy. However, those socks seem more delicate and tend to show their stuffing if overstretched.

I’ve completed 3 monsters so far, and I have 5 more in process. I set myself a goal of having 3 up on Etsy  by Tuesday. I won’t be selling the first 3, as my baby has already given them much love. In fact, #3, or Bucky, just got spit up on today, so I’ll have the opportunity to see how they handle machine washing. I also won’t sell any from used socks… it’s one thing for my own baby to chew on our clean laundry, it’s another thing entirely to trick someone else’s baby into doing it :)

Sock monster #2 is Munchie. (Somehow #1 is called Bonkey, for Bunny-Donkey, although I’ve determined that he is, in fact, a donkey.) He was made from a super-cute pair of socks that I HATED to wear.

#3 is Bucky, well… for obvious reasons. He is made from the new batch of socks. My husband, Alex, played a huge role in the brainstorming process for Bucky’s features. So we’re keeping him :) (It will actually be hard to get rid of any of them, each one is so cute and funny!)

I stayed up til almost 2am trying to complete some tummy time pillows for Dexter and my twin nephews. I’m making 2 per boy, because I found that Dex spits up a lot during tummy time. Instead of making him suck on the same puke-covered pillow, I decided it would be a good idea to make a couple so I could throw them into the wash when needed.

I traced around tummy time pillow someone gave us, trying to estimate what size the pieces should be before sewing and stuffing. Mine still came out skinnier than the original, but I think this might be better, since my first one arched Dexter’s back a little too much as a newborn. I used an upholstery fabric I had in my stash, and some wide ribbon to make loops for attachable toys.  Then, last minute, I discovered that sewing the stuffing hole closed created a very rough seam, so I stitched a bit of the ribbon over it. I need to practice my hand stitching… It’s not very attractive.

When I tested it with Dex it seemed to work better than my first one! I can’t wait to see how they work for the Ty and Micah, who are 2 weeks old!

In my hunt for crocheted toy patterns I stumbled across sock monsters. I decided to give it a try, and well… it was extremely fun :) There’s no pattern required, so the possibilities are endless, and you really can’t mess it up! So expect to see a whole slew of sock and glove toys in the future.

My sock monster looks more like a donkey-rabbit than a monster. This one is so cute, but I’ll probably still try to make the next one look more like a fun monster. The ones I’d seen online all had ears (they’re supposed to be horns) but I think I’ll try my next one without them.

I also chose not to use any buttons, only embroidery, so it would be baby-safe. And it paid off, Dexter loved him! In fact, I forgot to take any pictures before he got ahold of him, so the picture above features Dexter slobber :)

And I believe Mr. Sock Monster is going to be quite resilient. Dexter gave him a good going-over.

The sites that inspired me:

http://sockmonsters.woolywarrior.co.uk/page.php?2

http://6ichthusfish.typepad.com/6ichthusfish/crochet/

Dexter and I just returned from a nearly week-long stay with my family. My sister gave birth to her beautiful twin boys, Ty and Micah, so we stayed to meet them and to help out (Dexter did more meeting than helping). It was a crazy time!

Yet in the middle of all this, I managed to pick up a new hobby! I’m addicted to dabbling (not to be confused with gambling, although, every time I start a new project I gamble that my husband won’t kill me). While we were waiting to see the babies at the hospital, I suggested to my mom that we kill time at Hobby Lobby. That was mistake number one. Mistake number two was stepping into the yarn aisle. All that color! All that texture! My imagination took over, and I was no longer seeing skeins of yarn… I was seeing fluffy stay-home socks, favorite ice blue cardigans with red buttons, striped scarves that go on for miles… and then… toys. All sorts of creatures that Dexter, Ty, and Micah might adopt and love for the rest of their lives.

So, dear reader, you now see I had no choice in the matter. I simply had to give in. 30 minutes later, I’d selected all the tools I’d need to learn to make crocheted toys.

And Dexter loved yarn shopping. He was so precious. He grinned so wide when I tickled his nose with the yarns, then he’d hug the bundles as if each one were a long lost friend. His favorite were eyelash yarns, but the threads came out easily and I was sure that wouldn’t be infant-safe. Later, when we were going to supper, I was getting a sleeping Dexter out of his car seat and found he was grasping a clump of pea green yarn fluff in one chubby fist.

I wanted to make little monsters or aliens, but Hobby Lobby only had instruction books about animals. So I am in the midst of creating a dragon, cobbled together from bits and pieces of zoo creatures. It’s a little sloppy, but I’m proud of it since it’s the first 3-D object I’ve crocheted. And now that Dex and I are back home to a life I used to think of as busy, I’ll be able to finish the dragon in a snap!

I love doing projects! I especially love doing small projects for kids. I have great ideas for things I will sew for my little girl… if I ever have one :)

So when I found out our baby was a boy, I hit a creative wall. I’m not about to attempt a button up shirt, and all the little romper patterns I’d seen seemed a little prissy to me (no offense to the romper-loving mommies out there, I’m just more of a skull tee and ratty jeans kind of gal).

I roamed the internet until I found a few great (and super easy) ideas for little boys. One of my favorites is a tutorial on how to make little pants from an old t-shirt. It’s a great way to scratch that creative itch while also recycling. Let’s face, it’s easier to part with your favorite shirt from 20lbs ago if a tiny person you love is going to be wiggling around it in :)

This pattern is so easy, you can practically do it in your sleep. It’s perfect for beginners, or for moms who love to craft, but haven’t quite gotten brave enough to tackle a time-consuming project. I do recommend that you pay enough attention to make sure the patterned side of your pieces face each other. I did not and had to spend more time ripping seams than it actually took me to sew the pants. Start to finish, you can complete a pair of pants in about 30 minutes, if you don’t mess up like i did :) 

The first link gave me the inspiration to use tees. The second is where Rookiemoms got the idea. Handyprojects offers a slightly more complicated variation, showing how to add cute details to the pants, but I recommend referring to that site if you don’t know how to make an elastic waistband.

http://www.rookiemoms.com/make-some-easy-kids-pants/

http://handyprojects.blogspot.com/2005/04/how-to-make-easy-kids-pants.html

I  did my first for practice from a western t-shirt that didn’t fit me. The second pair I made out of a stained polo my husband donated to the cause. I plan to use the leftover fabric to make matching hats or accents on onesies. In the meantime I’m on the hunt for other shirts to cut up (and trying to resist the urge to “accidentally” stain things in my husband’s closet) Happy sewing!