Fall inspiration: apple picking!

Yesterday I spent a fantastic afternoon picking apples at Larriland Farm in MD. What a great autumn activity!

Stayman and Braeburn apples were available to pick yourself...and yes, I did get on a ladder. Other types of apples (Golden Delicious, Jonagold, etc.) from local MD orchards were available in bins as well.
 

 

 

I was inspired to create something apple-related so I started work on an applique purse.

I'm keeping the stitching minimal on this one to emphasize the apple's shape and color. So cute!

My next creation? Some delicious apple crisp or pie to use up the bag of fruit I bought! 

Fall is here...and projects in progress

Yay fall! The leaves are just starting to change and it's getting cooler finally (man I hate the heat). Other things to love about fall:

• Boots weather! I can finally wear all the awesome boots I bought this year.
• Halloween. Jenny and I purchased some crazy costumes online so we can at last go as ABBA...although I'm not sure if we'll get any guys to agree to dressing up as Bjorn or Benny...
• Candy corn season! I always forget how much I love candy corn until it hits the stores again in the fall. Along with some coworkers, I ate a whole bag of candy corn this week and it was delicious!

This inspired me to finally start on a project I'd had in mind for at least a year--a candy corn purse.. Here's the purse in progress...I decided to go with a variety of candy sizes.

Picking out the fabric for the lining should also be interesting. I'm thinking either a black/white print or something with both yellow and orange. I want to finish it this week to have it in my shop for Halloween.

I finished my second felt cockatiel softie in time for Bill and Allison's wedding a few weeks ago...

This one presented a little more of a challenge as I was trying to make it look like a pearl cockatiel. I used sticky felt to make the white spots on the back.

I also managed to stitch a bunch of new pins this week (while watching lots of bad tv, of course--current favorites are Say Yes to the Dress, What Not to Wear, and Millionaire Matchmaker).

I should have the new pins available in my etsy shop shortly!

Not-so-simple Simplicity Christening gown

On Monday, Kate and I decided we should attempt to make our own christening gown for her newborn, Isaac. We had searched a bunch of thrift stores and consignment shops with no luck, and most of the gowns were ridiculously frilly (not to mention overpriced).

Neither of us has ever made a christening gown, but we figured it couldn't be too complicated, right? Kate found a Simplicity pattern and we used the sleeveless "slip" part of the pattern to make a simple gown.

I was NOT a fan of the instructions in the pattern. Lots of ambiguity and confusion. I ended up doing my own thing about halfway because there was so much cursing about the directions.

We did find some cute lace and other trim in my ribbon stash so I hand-stitched those on as an accent. Overall, it came out pretty decent. If I had to do this again, I'd use a simpler cotton fabric for the gown though...the stuff we used was stretchy and somewhat annoying.

And here's baby Isaac, tired from all the crafting...

aww...

Meditations on moving

Yes, I have in fact noticed that I haven't posted anything in about a month. I have an excuse! I was moving! Haha...I know the move didn't take a full month (most of it was done in two days) but between the packing, unpacking, cleaning, perfectionist lining of my kitchen cabinets, organizing, and getting rid of stuff, it's been super busy.

My thoughts on moving:

1) It will always take you at least 50% longer than you think, and you have at least 50% more stuff than you think. Yeah, I had no idea I'd be packing 100 boxes. (And now unpacking them...)
2) Friends are awesome! I used movers for my furniture, but my friends helped by providing boxes, packing boxes, moving stuff, unpacking my shoes and clothes, and organizing my movie collection. (Jyoti did this last task and she made categories such as "movies I like" and "things with non-humans." haha). My friends also supplied me with so much bubble wrap and packing paper that I didn't need to buy any, even with my extensive dish collection.
3) Start early. Man, I was still packing boxes when the movers arrived. I should have started waaaayyy earlier.
4) Unpacking is at least more amusing than packing. I keep finding things I packed and thinking, "What IS that?" and "Why did I keep it?" and "What was I thinking when I purchased it?" Case in point--the wooden pirate ship wheel pictured above. Where the heck am I going to put that?
5) Make lists! I had a list of my boxes, which ended up being not that necessary...but I could see how with a larger home or several people it would be important. However, my moving list of all the places I needed to change my address was crucial!
6) Moving in the summer stinks. Almost all of my past moves have been in the summer and even if it's not awful outside, I always end up lying on the floor somewhere thinking "ughhhhhhhh I'm gonna pass out."
7) Remember to drink water and eat! I was way behind on the day of the move and forgot to eat lunch. Luckily there was a Chipwich in the fridge in my old place so I devoured that :)

Overall, I have to say the move went really smoothly though. And I love the new place! Even if it does still resemble Boxland a little bit.

May Craft Blog Giveaway Winner

Yay! The winner of my giveaway for the Pink Leaves Felt Cuff Bracelet is:
MommyWantsToRead

Thank you to everyone for entering! Have a great day :)

May Craft Blog Giveaway: Pink Leaf Cuff Bracelet!

Happy Friday everyone!

I know it's been a while since I did a giveaway so here it is! My May giveaway is for one of my new felt cuffs--this one with lovely pink leaves. I made this piece while at a craft fair last week in an attempt to brighten the dreary gray day.

I hand-stitched this bracelet out of two layers of recycled felt, with a bright pink ribbon sandwiched in between. This cuff will fit most size wrists and is quite sturdy.

It's super easy...just leave a comment on this post below including your email address. So enter below and get yourself a free piece of my hand-stitched felt jewelry!

You can leave your email address in this format if you like: pickychickybird AT gmail DOT com, just to avoid spam.

Last day to enter is Monday, May 16th...I'll announce the winner here on my blog the following day, so stay posted!

A few more pics of the prize:

Good luck to all my giveaway enthusiasts!

New Felt Cuff Bracelets and Hobo Craft Fair Recap

I was playing around with my felt the other day and came up with this new blue/cream/peach color combination--I love how it looks on the felt cuff bracelets!

These would look awesome with jeans, or as the "something blue" in a bridal ensemble. I made the one on the blue ribbon with a long ribbon so that it could also be worn as a headband. I love the way they look together as a set.

  

In other news, the hobo craft fair on Sunday was not too hobo-y...until it started raining at 2pm. The rain wasn't going anywhere, so I packed up shortly after that. The morning was pretty good though--good temperature, nice people, decent traffic.

Some of my new crafty items out on display.

Lots of pins and barrettes!

People seemed to really like the MOO business cards I had available--they're really pretty and a great way to show lots of your different projects. Plus, they're inexpensive and super easy to make. I think I have only one left--time for another order!