Owl Done!

Well, I finished my little owl first thing this morning before my kids were up. Here he is, sitting in Molly's window, he's totally cute right? I can't wait to make one with Sammy when she gets here in 4 more sleeps! I would recommend this project for teaching someone to stitch. It's quick (took me about 3 hours), easy & cheap (so if it's not for them, no harm done!). Here's the breakdown:

4 x Embroidery Floss

3 Sheets of Felt

A small bag of Polyfil

Approximate Total Cost $7.42

(And you have a small bag of polyfil left over)

I machine stitched the breast plate and edges on but you could hand stitch them if you felt inclined! So the only tools you really need are a needle & scissors.

Sunday Mornings & Evenings

I love having people over for meals, it's a great excuse to set a pretty table. I spend a lot of time in my kitchen but it isn't a chef's kitchen my any measure. My kitchen is a mish-mash of things I've collected over the years, things that don't match & things that are, well, useful (no matter how ugly). I recently replaced my drinking glasses with these recycled glass ones from Starbucks. Brian was complaining that there were too many small glasses, so naturally he loves the new ones. I know they aren't something that need to be 'replaced', but our needs change & I can justify adding new glasses as long as I get rid of the old ones....

 Extra crispy bacon. Who doesn't love bacon? Even the vegans I know say they miss bacon.

 Springy cloth napkins in napkin rings. Pretty.

A big plate full of waffles (there were two).

Breakfast was great & we were so full we skipped lunch!

 Tonight I started a stitching project from a book I bought a while ago. I love this book. It's so easy (I mean, really very easy), has great pictures, instructions & do-able projects. Tonight I decided to make a little felt stuffed owl for Molly. I'll walk you through the steps I took tonight (until I started going cross-eyed and decided to blog for a while).

I cut an owl out of felt. There are no patterns, but simple shapes like this are easy to freehand. It took me about 3 tries to get an owl I liked.

The owl on the left is the one I am making. So cute right??

 Machine sewed on the breast piece (also from a freehand pattern....turned out pretty good!).

Now I am busy stitching away to embellish the owl. I am about half way there but the lighting in my house is pitiful (as you can tell from my pictures) so I thought I should break.

Brian's cousin is coming to stay with us for three weeks. She arrives Friday & I thought I should have some little projects around for us to work on...just in case this rain doesn't let up! I hate teaching someone something I haven't done before, so this is my dry run. I think it's going to turn out great!

Hope everyone had a Happy Fathers Day. We sure did!

Layout #165

Materials: Patterned Paper & Stickers: Cosmo Cricut; Eyelets: We R Memory Keepers; Cardstock and Emboidery Floss: Bazzill Basics.

Layout #161

Molly by Haley Ross

I feel so lucky when I have a great photo that is centered so that it will make a perfect layout when blown up to a 12x18" photo. This was one of those times.
I haven't journaled the page yet, but I will.
I am proud of myself because I tend to cut corners & skip anything that requires too much 'detailing' in my layouts these days. This time I took the time, did the stitching & embellishing, and I am proud of the way it turned out.
I am grateful for Michelle who not only took these beautiful photos but also came by to scrapbook today & was there to provide "encouragement" while I did this layout. She is such a calming soul & I find I take my time when scrapbooking with her. Thanks Michelle!

Materials: Patterned Paper & Die-cuts: My Minds Eye; Rub-On: Basic Grey; Pearls: Kasier Craft; Floss: Basic Grey; Pen: EK Success Zig Writer; Cricut Cartridge: Opposites Attract.

Layout 092 (I'm on a roll...)

Kiss by Haley Ross

I am in LOVE with this new line from my Minds Eye. It's called Love Me Do, and I do, I love it. And I had the perfect pictures, in the perfect colors... but I had a problem... I loved every paper & wanted to use them all, so, with inspiration from Kacey, I did. And I love it. I think my mom will too.

I used some old Alphabet Soup letters (the blue ones) on this layout. They were about 5 years old. And they cost $18 at the time. So I was glad to put those to use.

Materials: Patterned Paper & Die-cuts: My Minds Eye; Acrylic Letters: KI memories; Other: Embroidery Floss

Layout 067

Grumpy Pants by Haley Ross

Miles was sick with the flu for 11 days. 11 days! Aycaramaba! He has also been crawling a lot better lately (he's a real pro) and so I wanted to capture that. Well, he wasn't having it. At all. And he let me know it. I like this layout. I was able to use some really old stuff. The paper, the rub-ons, the floss & template, but also the white metal letters which are at least 3 years old. SO happy to see them used. I was also so happy with the harlequin pattern that I created on the left side of the layout. I was trying so hard to work that embroidery floss into my layout. I did, and I totally love it.

Materials: Patterned Paper: WeR Memory Keepers: Cardstock & Border Strip: Bazzill Basics; Rub-On: WeR Memory Keepers; Floss & Stitching Templates: Bazzill Basics; White Metal Letters: making memories; Cricut Cartridges: George & Plantin Schoolbook; Other: Sewing.

Layout 037.

My Baby Love - By Haley Ross

Does anyone else feel nervous when they are scrapbooking pictures that they love? For some reason 7 months ago, Miles came, and I became a nervous scrapbooker. What's that about? But I refuse to do his baby-baby pictures, just in case the layouts suck.

In case any of you were wondering (I know Kim was) my 2008 Scrapbook Goal will continue into 2009. I am happy with my simple style. I think the only place I need to improve is diving into my stash and using up my old "stuff" (so I can justify buying new "stuff".) I'm by no means a frugal scrapbooker & I dont want to be. But I would like my husband to be able to feel good about the room full of stuff in our house (my scrapbook room!). You know, see some actual results.

Old Stock? Photo Corners, Grommet, Alphabet Stickers, Flower & Floss.

Materials: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Patterned Paper: Bo Bunny; Photo Corners: 3L; Shimmer Alphabet Stickers: making memories; Stitching: Karen Foster Scrappers Floss; Black Flower: Doodlebug Designs; Flower Grommet: making memories; Opposites Attract Cricut Font; Other: Thread.

Layout 011

My Husband by Haley Ross

When Basic Grey came in, my biggest challenge was finguring out what I would use first. Being a girlie girl ( I love anything pink and frilly) I was taken in by the Perhaps papers (you have to see these, they are beautiful). But when I came across this picture of Brian that I had blown up, I immediately thought of the Scarlet Letter papers. I love this paper becuase it is feminine and masculine. It's so "collage-y" & matches with lots of stuff. Lots of scrapbookers think that you cannot use flowers on a boys/mens page. I disagree. There are two parts to every page. The subject (in this case, my Husband) and the scrapbooker (me!). So this page is as much about me (and how I see Brian) as it is about him. And I am a girl. A girlie girl. And so, this page with flowers and flourishes all around my man, is totally fine by me.
PS. Please don't mention the shrunken shirt to me, I am still in mourning.

Materials: Paper: Basic Grey; RubOns: Basic Grey; Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Cricut Font: George (available in the workshop); Computer Font: Josso's by Chatterbox; Ribbon: May Arts; Die Cuts: Circles by Sizzix (available in the workshop)