Microsoft Surface and Skating

So for Valentine’s Day this year my sweet Matt (and my wonderful parents) joined forces and got me an awesome tablet (though Matt gets angry when I call it that because he says it’s actually a tiny laptop). It was WAY too much for Valentine’s so it’s also going to be for my upcoming 29th birthday. I’m still trying to figure out everything awesome this little guy can do but so far I’ve fallen deeply in love with a program called FreshPaint. 

It’s basically just the program paint x 1,000,000. And since I have a little pen with my tablet it’s like I’m just drawing/painting on a piece of paper. I can’t wait until I’m in meetings at my new job and appear to be diligently taking notes but I’m actually drawing a skating rink. 

Oh and on that note, I’ve joined a hockey team (though, I still scream slightly when the puck comes near me) and can almost skate backwards. I've never had hockey skates before, only figure skates, but I love them. Happy Family Day all my Ontario readers! Matt and I are off to the rink.

Wedding Rant (1 of 9,000)

Anyone who has ever had fun planning a wedding (specifically their own wedding) is a psychopath. It. Is. Horrible. It’s like as soon as I make one decision, all these other possibilities are closed off. Yes, handmade pine cone bouquets would be lovely, BUT WHAT ABOUT FELT FLOWERS?! WHAT ABOUT THEM?! With less than a year to go, real decisions need to be made and I’m begrudgingly making them. The Save the Date magnets are at the printers (also, fun fact, when you stick a note about the Save the Dates with a short form on your desk, people think you have a venereal disease!). Here’s the mock-up:

Pretty cute huh? I blurred out the date at the bottom because I don’t want to look at it AND NEITHER SHOULD YOU! Oh well, I have accomplished one wonderful thing in the past week. I booked a “day of” wedding coordinator. Her name is Amy and she runs Unmistakably You and I am in love with her. Anyone who is even remotely thinking of having a wedding should call her for the sake of their mental health. Sigh…back to my lists.

Rag Ball Ornaments

My parent’s Christmas tree has an overwhelming number of weird (and often extremely ugly) ornaments which I know intimately. From hideous childhood projects, to airplane ornaments that were my Dad’s when he was little, every ornament has a story and memories attached. I want to try and capture at least a little bit of that in our tree so I’m trying each year to make an ornament (or 6).  

This year I made rag ball ornaments. I cheated a little bit in that the centers of the ornaments are styrofoam rather than pure fabric but this way it went soooo quickly. I grabbed some pretty fabric while I was out and about on Sunday and then got started.

First I cut the fabric on the bias into long strips. In case you’re curious, as I was, ‘on the bias’ just means diagonally. Fabric is more elastic in the bias direction, compared to the on-grain direction, so it wrapped more nicely around the balls. When I ran out of a strip, I just used a dot of fabric glue to attach the next strip.

Once the whole ball was wrapped, I tied a piece of ribbon in a circle and then using sewing pins, attached the loop to the styrofoam. Piece of cake!

I'm really happy with how they turned out. They look old fashioned and sweet. It was a lovely Sunday. Matt was baking gigantic ginger cookies so the whole house smelled like Christmas and we watched Home Alone while I made the ornaments. I hope all of you are starting to get a little bit into the holiday spirit as well!

#1) Sewing Robot-Style

Hey, hey, hey, guess what I did this weekend? Crossed #1 off my list! My (future) mother-in-law was up for the weekend and she taught me how to use the sewing machine I got for my birthday. 

At first, when she was threading everything and trying to explain what a bobbin was, I basically decided I was never ever going to use this contraption. Once I saw how quickly I could sew on it though, and all the neat stitches it could do, I fell a little bit in love.

Today I went out to grab some fabric to make a pillow for my craft room. I decided I couldn’t really cross #1 off until I’d done the whole threading/bobbin thing on my own so very hesitantly I undid everything from yesterday and set it up with some pink thread. I was as surprised as anyone when it worked!  

It’s not perfect, some lines are still a little crooked, but I’m honestly in awe of how well this guy turned out. I’m just overwhelmed with all the awesome things I’m going to be able to make SOOO quickly now! 

I’ll always love sewing by hand but this machine (whom I have named Velma) is possibly one of my new best-friends (who sometimes I wish to smash). Oh, and for anyone curious, Velma is a Kenmore Sensor Sew 70, and she came with this amazing greeting:

Auntie Thief

Very exciting news in the Thimble Thief world – I’m going to be an AUNTIE!! My sister and sister-in-law are expecting a little one in January and the whole family couldn’t be more excited. I’ve known for a couple of months now but I wasn’t allowed to say anything and it was extremely difficult (I’m terrible at keeping secrets, especially really awesome ones).

Since Matt and I will be the only Aunt and Uncle this little one will have, we’re planning to spoil it (no word on boy or girl yet) rotten! The planned out baby quilt below may or may not be related to this wonderful news.

Linoleum Stamp Workshop

I spent last night learning how to make linoleum stamps at Kwartzlab. It. Was. Awesome. I did something similar in public school but the deep finger gouges from extremely sharp cutting tools were all I really remembered (seriously, who thinks it’s a good idea for 11 year olds to have X-Acto-knives?). I’m proud to say that I didn’t cut myself a single time last night so it turns out this is a craft better left till your 20s.

We got to bring our own designs to the workshop so I brought a nerdy domo and then two pieces that I thought might work well for our wedding invitations.

I was worried some of the lines in my designs might be too narrow for cutting but it turned out just fine.

I think I can confidently say I’m now hooked on stamp making and plan to go out and buy all the necessary tools tonight. Plus, there was a fellow in chainmail there, so it was a pretty neat Thursday.

Eloise the (plump) Elephant

May I present Eloise the Elephant. I made her based on a pattern by DIY Fluffies and I’m pretty delighted with the results. The pattern itself was a little bit finicky with parts not matching up 100% but I also used felt instead of the recommended fleece so who knows how it may have been with a different fabric?

I do really love how round and plump she is. Plus, her ear hearts are almost too adorable to bear. It’s always fun trying a new pattern because until you flip it right-side out and stuff it full of fluff, you really have no idea how it’s going to look!

Even though I usually make plush creatures as gifts or to sell, I think I’m going to keep Eloise all for myself. She looks pretty sweet sitting on my sewing desk (plus she and Maurice have become best-friends and I would feel bad separating them since Eloise seems to be helping with his moroseness). Happy Thursday my friends!

Maurice the Morose Bunny

It’s a chilly rainy day here. The kind of day adventures happen and your home seems extra cozy with some lamps lit. Even though that’s my favourite kind of day, it seems it is impossible to sew happy bunnies in such weather. 

I’m as surprised as anyone. I followed my regular pattern, I used my regular materials, and still I produced the most morose bunny I have ever seen. Seriously, look at this little fellow. 

I think I need to name him something dreadfully sad, like Maurice. I hope all of you had a happier dreary day than poor Maurice!

Felt Hearts on a Stick

We are in the midst of a blizzard here in Southwestern Ontario which gave me the perfect opportunity to catch-up on my crafting. I’m thinking about using some felt hearts for wedding decorations so I thought I’d give this little project a test run; plus it’s just in time for Valentine’s Day! 

I cut out two felt hearts for each skewer and then did a simple blanket stitch to hand sew them together. I made sure to leave a little opening at the bottom for the wooden skewer to tuck into. 

Wooden skewers (like the kind you use for Shish Kabobs) worked perfectly as the base to put the hearts on. Then I tucked them down into some foam in the bottom of a mason jar that I surrounded with fluff. 

I really like how this little project turned out and I think something similar would make an adorable addition to my wedding. Back to our winter wonderland!

Holiday Plush Honey Badger

I’m hoping my friend Josh doesn’t read this post before I see him because it’s sort of about his gift (well, completely about his gift actually). I made him a plush honey badger.

He’d asked for a Trogdor but I’m still trying to figure out how to make the Trogdor able to stand-up so instead he gets this little fellow. I didn’t have a pattern or anything but I'm pretty pleased with how my badass badger turned out. 

I gave him a king cobra so everyone knows not to mess with him. I’m sure 99.9% of you are familiar with the honey badger video but for the 0.1% who aren’t here it is in all its glory:

I hope Josh like’s this guy! But I mean even if he doesn’t, honey badger don't care, honey badger don't give a sh*t! (Update: He loved it and Honey Badger was secretly thrilled!)

Where the Wild Things Are

Just a quick share today. I made a treasury over on Etsy inspired by Maurice Sendak's 1963 children's classic Where the Wild Things Are. I have to go get my flu shot this morning at work so maybe these beasts will help make me brave. A courageous Wednesday to you all!

Happy Halloween

A very Happy Halloween from the Thimble Thief household! I always feel mixed when Halloween falls on a weekday. On the one hand, I get to wear my costume to work (yay!). On the other hand, I can’t stay up late or go to fun Halloween parties because there’s work the next day (boo!). Ah the difficult life of the Thimble Thief.

I was one of the few employees at work to dress-up (though Mother Nature also made an appearance) so I decided to dress-up Haunted Pig as Super Haunted Pig so I wouldn't be the odd man out. Tonight Matt and I will be heading over to a friend’s house to hand out candy and read scary stories. C'est l'Halloween!

Pink Pirate Octopus

Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day! I’ve been sticking to my goal of taking one picture a day for 365 days and it’s been really fun! Today for example, I was sitting at my desk trying to decide what I should take a picture of when someone popped up from the desk beside me and Arrrrhhh’d at me. Inspiration found. I whipped up a mini-pirate hat for my handy cubicle octopus and voila: Picture #13!

#8 - Part Two

NOOooOoo! After two short days of adhering to #8 I’ve already missed a day! Here’s what happened: Yesterday at work I was thinking “hey, I need to go take a picture for today” and then I remembered that friends were coming over to our place for dinner and that I should wait to take a picture then.  After a couple of bottles of wine, a delicious boyfriend prepared dinner, and some exciting episodes of SHARK WRANGLERS (which by the way is my new favorite show, I think I’m in love with Brett) I had forgotten all about the picture and didn’t remember until about 4am this morning. Oh well…back to the beginning. Picture #1:

Oh, also, I made this pig and I think it’s haunted. Happy Friday everyone!

Embroidered Felt Bee Necklaces

I’ve been busy as a bee the last few days whipping up some little bee-themed necklaces. I bought the empty pendants from the etsy shop Kailea and then picked up some chains at a local craft store (the ones Kailea sold were a little bit too thick for my taste).

It was a fun challenge to think up things small enough to fit in these tiny little pendants and these bees are only the tip of the iceberg. Ghosts, popsicles, and pretty bows are all hopefully going to grace similar necklaces in the next few weeks! Besides one extremely creepy crooked small plush pig, I’ve been pretty much obsessed with making these necklaces lately. Buzz buzz buzz!

Marble Magnets

Phew, what a crazy few weeks! Moving, un-packing, numerous trips to Ikea, building of things purchased at Ikea, arranging things, hanging curtains…it’s exhausting! July has been a VERY busy month so far. I haven’t had much of a chance to craft lately but I was able to finish one little quick project for a friend.

My favourite lady Becca saw some homemade magnets on my fridge last time she visited and wondered whether I could create a few for her to use at work. These marble magnets are adorable and really easy to make (a good tutorial can be found here). I’m hoping now that things have calmed down a little bit and the un-packing is pretty much done that I can get back to making things! I hope everyone is having a nice relaxing Monday!

Domo Ornaments

I know it’s not Christmas but I got kind of obsessed the last couple of weeks making these little Domo-kun ornaments. They’re just so gRrRRRRrrr (in a good ferocious way)! 

Their bodies are made of a super fuzzy brown polar fleece and their mouths and teeth are felt. Add some shiny black button eyeballs and a bit of ribbon and you’ve got yourself a sweet little ornament! Plus, these guys are so much easier to whip-up than the full-sized Domos. Though I think a Christmas tree full of Domos would be pretty adorable, I might just go hang a couple of these guys in my cubicle at work! Ok, no more Domos for now, on to something else…like more packing!

Celebrating the Birth of my Best Becca

It’s Becca’s birthday today!! Unfortunately she’s in Toronto and I’m in Kitchener but I’ll be seeing her next weekend for a celebration of EPIC proportions (ok, so we’ll probably end up drinking Fruli and champagne whilst watching Superbad with our friend Erica but it’s still epic to us!). I got her a couple of little things as gifts but there is one handmade item that I couldn’t resist sharing a tad bit early. Behold, the “olive you”!

I didn’t come up with this idea on my own. There are a bunch of similar sentiments on pillows, bags, prints, etc. throughout etsy but when I saw it I knew it was perfect. So here’s to you my dearest Becca, I am thrilled that you exist in the world and can’t wait to belt out These Eyes next Saturday with you!

Felt Heart Rose Brooch

I needed a break from all my bunnies so I spent a very pleasant Sunday afternoon sewing up a few of these little guys. I think they’re very sweet and look especially nice on a yellow sweater! 

It’s a very scary windy day out there so I’m going to snuggle under a blanket and have some cream of broccoli soup. I hope all of you have a snuggly evening as well.