kawaii cute pink tarako kewpie softie plush ...made for my daughter

The video & jingle for this japanese pasta sauce made with fish roe is one of my little girl's youtube obsessions!

*warning...it will get stuck in your head*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3uvsl4uJxQ

Like a good mama I have hunted down any Tarako Kewpie mascot items for her to play with. After watching the most current commercial which featured pink kewpies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78lbf4ySzA0

...she asked me if I would find her a pink tarako & the search was fruitless...but with a little inspiration & an evening of embroidery & sewing...this is what I came up with.

I'd say she's pretty happy with it!

*Note: if you live in Japan & want to do a personal swap with me for any Tarako Kewpie items at anytime! Please leave me a comment & we'll work something out!

:o)

I cannot resist cute packaging! Can you?

Although I usually have to be interested in a product ultimately before buying it...if it's packaged as cute as all of this... I cannot resist it!

Sometimes it pains me to let the packaging go once the product or item is used up even! I might make a little remembrance altered book using the actual labels & boxes I fall in love with!

Now wouldn't that be fun?

;o)

New Embroidery Pattern in the Works...

Going to stitch this up for one of my swap partners in the Hoop Up! Embroidery swap! Her theme is 'dreamland'...so I came up with a girl based on the song, "Swing on a Star" ...as sung by Bing Crosby of course! The little girl inspiration came from my own sweet babygirl in her footie pj's...and love of swinging. The thing next to her is a jar of fallen stars. This is going to be fun to stitch!


We were having a little discussion in one of our swap threads about having a Bing Crosby embroidery group when this swap is over...and so I haven't been able to get Bing out of my head.... which sparked the inspiration for this:



I'm going to stitch it up eventually... Love me some Bing!

:o)

HELLO DOLLY!!! ...and a happy birthday to you!

"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."-Dolly Parton

Now I don't get all crazy starstruck over celebrities... but when it comes to Dolly... I think my heart skips a beat a little!

Ever since I was a little girl listening to my mother's records my love for Dolly has grown. It's kind of funny how I feel like she's been a part of my life. Her songs have helped me through some hard times...as a good country song should!

Her song, 'coat of many colors' helped me deal with my hurt feelings as a child when I wasn't always fitting in when all the other girls were dancing, singing, or playing sports... there I was drawing. Nothing helps soothe the pangs of love gone wrong for me like the song 'Jolene'.

...and don't get me started on how much I love the movies Dolly has been in! 9 to 5 is probably my favorite followed by Steel Magnolias...oh, and The Best Little Whorehouse!

I wish she would make more movies!

If I could send this to Dolly I would & if anyone knows how to get a celebrity address to send fan art to...please let me know!!!

I've been stitching like crazy the last couple of days. This is from a pattern/drawing I had done. I embroidered it in black DMC 310 floss with the strands varying in different parts. Most of it was stitched with 3 strands. The fabric is a pink cotton printed with glitter. I LOVE this fabric & it just felt right to do my Dolly Parton embroidery on.

Dolly is full of spunk & sass! What can I say? ...I adore her! Happy Birthday Dolly! You're a gem!

This was fun!

:o)

One Down and 5 to GO! Original embroidery for the Hoop up! Swap.

I've finished 1 of the 6 pieces in the Hoop up! Embroidery swap!

This is for j_q_adams ...and the theme is a fantasy woodland theme. I just knew it was going to be a blast stitching up some animals doing something fun!

I had a rough sketch of bears playing hopscotch in my sketchbook from awhle back & thought it would make a great embroidery pattern....so I drew it up...adding the tree & then stitched it!

The colors were 4 skeins of floss that John had sent me along with his fabric. I started with embroidering the bears first...and then just worked the rest out to make it look balanced.

I love it! It was hard to let it go!

I may list the pattern for this piece on etsy soon...when I can get a chance. I've been pretty busy lately!

(you'll see why in my next post!)

Stay crafty!

:o)

Getting my stitch on for the Hoop Up! Embroidery Swap.

I've recieved my first package from fellow swap team member j q adams! He sent a cream colored Kona cotton to stitch a fantasy woodland theme on. This fabric is fabulous to stitch on... and I'm so happy with how my design of 'bears playing hopscotch' is coming out. The thread colors are some that John sent in the package as well... so I've started with the bears first & will figure out what color the things in the background landscape should be as I stitch along. Stay tuned for more progress on this project as well as my update soon on the Amy Butler frenchy bag in the day of the dead skulls fabric! I need to take photos!

Stay crafty!

Amy Butler Frenchy Bag ...making progress!

Yesterday I made some progress on the day of the dead skully patterned shoulder bag. I'm using Amy Butler's Frenchy Bag pattern. All the pieces have been cut and I've sewn all the interfacing to the matching panels & have begun sewing the bag itself. It's so much fun! Now I'm addicted & even though this one isn't finished yet...I've started another one in tandem to give to a dear friend! Just you wait to see how cool that one is! Think Elvis + polkadots + black & teal! Can you tell how much fun I'm having?

New Year... New Crafty Projects!

Hello all! Hope you had a fabulous holiday season!

It's a new year & I'm getting my crafty pants on & starting some new projects.

Here is the latest work in progress...an Amy Butler 'Frenchie Bag'... to be sewn with the bright colorful 'day of the dead' fabric as the main pattern for the outside of the bag...& the black and white skulls n crossbones to be the accent fabric & lining.

If this turns out as cool as I hope, then I'm going to make a second bag using some treasured Elvis fabric from my stash! I've been dying to sew the frenchie bag for quite some time now & as part of my new year resolutions... will be attacking many of the projects I have had on the "to do" list. Life is too short!

I joined the 'doll a week' group on flickr. It's a group where you submit one photo of any doll once a week for a year. I joined last year's doll a week group...but got sidetracked sometime in March or April & didn't get back to it. I'm hoping to stick with it this year!

This is my first photo entry which I called "The 3 Stooges in a Photobooth"

...and speaking of flickr.... at the end of last year I joined a fabulous embroidery swap! It's called the Hoop Up Stitch and Send Swap... which was developed after great fun was had in the latest Tea Towel Tour on craftster. I think some of us just didn't want the fun to end! In the hoop up swap we pick our theme & are not limited to embroidering only on 1 tea towel. We send out any fabrics of our choice to our team mates & see what creativity blossoms! For my theme, I picked "babygirl loves"...anything & everything a girl of 3 would adore!

This is the first piece I designed & then stitched to kick off the theme...a sweet pony with some hearts since Babygirl loves ponies. I plan on making a quilt for her with the embroidered panels we receive in the swap.

Everyone seems to have fabulous themes chosen & so much inspiration...I don't think there is a single theme I wouldn't want to stitch up! I can't wait to get the first fabric panel to get stitching!

Happy Crafty New Year Everyone!

:o)