March Bunny Package

Here is a March package for my favorite bunny, Rachel.

Felt Peeps bunny and eggs decorated tote.

I bought this mini tote from the $1 section at Target. It is really cute and it was the perfect size to put in a couple of amigurumis. But it was too plain so I decided to decorate it with felt cutouts. Peeps bunnies and eggs were perfect. I might try to crochet this tote. It really is a good size. :)

Inside the tote I wrapped up these two amigurumis.

Cute little blue Steampunk Octopus as a surprise. :)

And the Onigiri girl to help Rachel and her friend sell cute stuff at MobiCon.

Here are a few packages still wrapped from the package that I thought was lost. The poor things have been hiding in my garage for a year or two. I don't think there are any candies in there but there might be something from Halloween. :p Once Rachel opens it, I will link her post so that you can see what was inside.

I think the purple package in the back is a magazine. It feels like one and sounds like one so it must be one. :p I got her the most recent Cross Stitcher as well. It has a cute koala card freebe so, I bought one for myself as well. :) This might get me into the cross stitch mood. :p

A giant stuffed bookworm for her other bookworm friends and some Chinese snacks. 2 more pineapple cakes and the little blue packets are crushed up ramen noodles with powder flavoring. We used to do it with the big packs of ramen noodles that you can buy in the grocery store but they decided to make it on purpose. :)

Inside this cute bunny jar labeled with a big "R" for Rabbit or Rachel is the following cross stitch key chain kits. I promised Rachel, these kits a long long time ago and am just finally getting around to it. :p

I hope she geeks out over everything. hehe
Love ya Bunny!

Day 4 - Organize your beads

My beads are fairly organized because I love organizing them! :) It is so much fun for me. The one thing I don't like is that I have too many different containers and they are not unified. I get things on sale as I need them. When I get my own beading and crafting workspace, I think I will try to make everything more cohesive. 

Sadly, all of my beads and beading supplies are currently hiding under my table. Please excuse the mess. :p

Here is one of my organizational tools. I hope this inspires some of you. :)

My trays filled with my beads! :)

I bought this carrying case to hold 4 of these cases with acrylic lids so I can see what's inside. I filled each case with these acrylic boxes, sized 1"x2" or 2"x2". I love that they are clear so I can see through them. On the bottom of each little box, I put a sticker with the color, size, and price of each bead. You can see the stickers peaking through the boxes in the bottom row.

Swarovski Crystals

Double layered

I usually have my 3mm of the same color under the 4mm crystals.

I love these acrylic boxes because I can pick up the beads without having to spill them out onto a bead pad. That is of course when I am bead weaving without a needle. It was my first teacher that gave me the idea. :)

In this case, I put in my tubes of seed beads, bugle beads, and cubes. But I hope in the future to get one of these tube storage system to hold all of these pretty tubes. I love looking at them! :)

It was especially hard to keep things nice when I had to take my stuff to the beading classes that I used to teach. You want things portable but you can't bring everything. That was the biggest headache for me because I never knew what I would need or not need. :p  

Happy Organizing all your pretties! :)

Lovely Fortune

My friend, Rachel, sent me this link to a cute crochet fortune cookie. I am taking a break from the red dragon to see if I could fashion one myself.

I used Lion Brand  Vanna's Choice in beige with a size 4.25mm crochet hook. (The yarn label states to use a 6mm hook) I embroidered "LOVELY" onto a bit of ribbon and sewn it in as the "message" and the hanger. Mine turned out larger because 1. I used thicker yarn and 2. I added more rings to my circle than they did.

You crochet a circle. Sorry, there's really no pattern. I'm sure you can look up crochet coaster patterns. Then I folded it up to find the center and put a couple of stitches to hold the center. After that, I took stitches to close up the outside. You don't have to completely sew up the outer edge. You can just put a couple of stitches on the top to keep it closed. But I wanted to stuff it a little with some fiberfill so I sewn all around the edge. There are a lot of tutorials on how to fold a fortune cookie. You can look up felt fortune cookies. If I ever make another one, I will put up step by step pics for you guys to follow. :)

Hope you guys are having a Happy Craft Month! :)

Day 2 - Use Up Some Bead Leftovers

This is Day 2 of Fusion Bead's 30 Day Bead Challenge and I have not finished my project from Day 1. :( I did get to decorate a tote and make a cute Lucky Clover pin but am not inspired to do anything with beads. :( I still pushed on.

Today, you are suppose to use up some bead leftovers. I rarely have any because I have stopped buying just for specific projects. But I do have 3 beads that have no homes at the moment. They were not picked to be in my friend, Melissa's birthday necklace. (I will post about this at a latter time when I can actually get a hold of the necklace and take some nice pictures. :p)

Here are the poor little guys:

Cute Hat Bead

Sheep Bead

Sheep's little face

Green Apple

I tried the hat on a lot of different 3D beaded shapes like my fish and hearts but it just didn't fit. So I decided to make the sheep bead into a fob for a cell phone or key chains.

I have a red dragon amgurumi to finish before I can finish up my Day 1 challenge. :p
Hope you all are having fun crafting! :)

First Koala Amigurumi

Here is the promised day light pictures of my first amigurumi koala. I say my first because I want to try to make other patterns and to see if I can make him more kawaii. :)

I got the free pattern from Woman's Day. I used Caron Simply Soft yarn in Grey Heather with 9mm safety eyes. He looks blue in the pics but he's actually grey. I did not use the crochet nose in the pattern, instead I used felt. I also embroidered a smile onto his cute face.

I added the heart before stuffing the body but now I think I should have waited till after the arms and legs were on. My little guy looks skinnier than the pattern or other peep's versions but that might be due to the yarn or my tension. I added a little hanger on the top of his head so he can be clipped to a book bag. :)

Hopefully, he will have some company soon. :) 

Lucky 4 Leaf Clover Brooch

I realized that I didn't have anything green to wear so I don't get pinched on St. Patty's Day. I have never gotten pinched but still, it's better to be safe than sorry. Since I had all this felt around me, I decided to make a cute Lucky 4 Leaf Clover feltie pin. :)

I really like how his cute little face turned out. :) Now, no matter what I'm wearing, I will be in the holiday spirit and will never get pinched! :) I wonder if there's a green beer pattern. :p hehe

Here's a template for your enjoyment. :)

Have a Lucky Crafty Month!

Ami Fever vs Long time Romance

Happy National Craft Month! 

What will I do this month? I was going to do Fusion Bead's 30 Day Bead Challenge but I currently have Ami-fever. I might try to do both. :p You see, my original love is 3D beading crystal animal and bead weaving crystal bracelets but I am currently in love with making cute amigurumi and felties. So, in order to get back to my original love while working through this ami-fever, I am going to try to do a little of both this month. Wish me luck!

Fusion Beads is having a 30 Day Bead Challenge for the month of March. Through the link, you will find a list of what to do each day and a printable calendar.

DAY 1: Make Earrings

I couldn't finish it because I was finishing my Koala amigurumi. :p I will finish it tomorrow and post the finished pictures. I just hope this doesn't put me behind already. :p

I will take better pics of him tomorrow in natural light and post it. :) By the way, Adorably Kawaii did this great post on "What is amigurumi?". If you guys don't really know what it is, then read her post. :)

To help you guys get into the spirit of National Craft Month click here for free e-books and videos on beading, jewelry making, crochet, knitting, and quilting. All they need is your email address. If you want to learn something new or get some new ideas, just click and download. :)

Healthy Dinner

I made this healthy dinner tonight. :)

Baked lemon and pepper trout using this recipe. It is paired with a romaine lettuce salad with walnuts and raspberry vinaigrette. For all those who know me, I don't do raw salads. For myself, I had a small amount of brown rice under the trout with a topping of saute mushrooms. :)

Hopefully this will be enough fuel so I can complete my current project and some earrings. :p