Monsters and Things

I mentioned before that I was working on making monsters for my niece and nephew from their drawings.  Well, I’m still working on the monster for my nephew, but the one for my niece is finished so I thought I’d post it.  I’m learning ALOT about how to put things together by doing this.  It’s a great exercise AND the kids love the one monster I’ve made so far!

It’s funny because I wasn’t sure if my niece liked her monster, but the day after I gave it to her she came back to me with more monsters to make!! I swear they have a list of things for me to make for them.  Not just monsters. It’s great and helps me to continue to be creative on a daily basis.

I’m only posting the original drawing and a full body picture of the monster.  If you’re interested in seeing more detail please check out my Flickr! photostream.

Original drawing

Monster in real life

I’m also posting the last ATC that I was unable to post before because it had not been received.  Unfortunately it STILL has not been received and I had to make a new card.  I’ve completed the new card and hope to mail it tomorrow.  I can’t post the new card yet but I hope you’ll appreciate the one that was lost.

New ATC cards

All during the time I was packing to move and since moving I worked on five ATCs for swaps on Craftster.  Three for the Alphabet Swap (we’re doing STU this time around) and two for a Love/Hate Valentine Swap.  Unfortunately the move made my cards late, which made it so I’ve been sitting on pictures for a while now.  This is my third Alphabet ATC swap and my first subject-based ATC swap and I was very happy with how everything turned out.  I received some great cards and was able to turn out some pretty good cards as well.  Of course, I’m always excited to do swaps!

The cards for the Love/Hate ATC swap were my favorites overall.  Coming up with the subject of my cards was kind of stumping me.  I had a couple of pages with different potential cards…until I went to Walgreens and decided to pop into the card section.  That’s when I saw the phrase, “You will always be in my heart” at the top of a card..and that’s all I could see.  Immediately I had this image pop into my head and in the end I went with it.  I love it!  The other card came naturally from the first, and if you put them together, they almost make a whole picture.  I think I might want to try this method again.

On to the cards….

A close up of the robot in his heart.

The card “You will always be a part of me”

Now I can only post two of the three Alphabet Swap cards as one still has yet to be received.  So I give you…

S is for Snob

U is for Unibrow

All of the cards are embroidered and color tinted.

If you haven’t ever checked out the Craftster swaps, you really should check out these two swaps I was in.  Some beautiful work there.

Love/Hate ATC Swap

Alphabet STU Swap

Once the cards were done I felt a bit adrift with no pending embroidery projects, so I decided to start on something new.  I’ve been wanting to learn how to create softies myself and decided to create an exercise for myself.  I asked my niece and nephew to draw monsters for me so that I could make them.  At first my nephew did not want to participate but once he understood that I was going to MAKE what they drew, he was all in!

It’s been interesting to work interactively with the kids to make their creations come to life.  I’ve made it easy by using just felt to create the monsters; but I’m finding that this exercise helps me considerably to build my skills in practical sewing.

So far I’ve completed one monster and am beginning work on the second, more complicated monster my nephew came up with.  Once I’m done with that one I’ll post pictures.  Wish me luck!

Thirteen.

It’s hard to believe that my beautiful daughter, who has brought me such joy, is joining the ranks of teenagers today.  As a matter of a fact, at this time 13 years ago I was undergoing a C-section and was only minutes away from seeing my daughter for the first time.  I remember being terrified when the doctor swept me into surgery.  I had had a friend who had told me her C-section horror story and since then I had been adamant that I would not have to be cut open.  Unfortunately my daughter had other plans.

To celebrate her thirteenth year of life I’d like to share with you thirteen things I love about her.

1. Her sense of humor. We laugh a lot in our household.  Sometimes because of me, but more often because of her.
2. Her sense of loyalty. She is fiercely loyal to her friends and family.
3. Her sensitivity. She feels things deeply and while sometimes this makes life a little harder for her, in the end I think it makes her life so much richer.
4. Her love of reading. I never thought the day would come that she would prefer a book over almost anything else.  Her complete disregard for reading and books in general in her younger years had me frustrated and symied.  As a person who loves books and has always been such an avid reader, a daughter who did not share my love for books was disappointing.  Now I just hope she doesn’t buy so many books I can’t get in the door.
5. Her creativity. She lucked out and got my mom’s genes when it comes to creativity.  Music and art come naturally to her.  Sadly, I missed out on this gene.  Darn DNA.
6. Her love of animals. I swore for a long time that she would be a veterinarian.
7. Her laughter. She’s a big laugher.  I mean loud.  Sometimes she startles me, but most of the time I love it.  Sometimes I have a “mom” moment when she laughs.
8. Her independence. Okay.  This is going to sound conceited, but it’s true.  When she was very young my daughter was so beautiful that people would just stop in their tracks to gawk.  They would also be very friendly, touch her head and face.  This made her very shy at a very young age.  She was what I call a “skirt-puller.”  It says a lot about her then, that she is no longer a skirt-puller but an independent young lady who is able to speak up for herself and others.  I not only love that about her, but I’m very proud of her.
9. Her sassiness. I tell you, that girl’s got attitude.  Sometimes in a good way, sometimes not so good. She could qualify as a Sassy McSasserson.
10. Her graciousness. Adults love this child.  I mean, I get compliments all the time about how great she is and there was once upon a time when her social life was way more active than mine.
11. Her love of knowledge. I can’t count the times I’ve walked into the room and she has some Animal Planet or Discovery Channel show on instead of what normal children watch.  I blame it on her grandfather.
12. Her eyes. They are my eyes, only better.  A brighter blue with eyelashes to die for.  One might think I was jealous.
13. Those moments when she’s still a child. Those moments when I get a spontaneous hug, or she wants me to tuck her in bed. Those moments where my heart stops in my chest and just feels.

Happy Birthday Crystal.  I love you more with each passing day.