An update and a finished piece!

I have quite decidedly fallen off the Blogtoberfest wagon but at least I'm willing to jump back on.  Even better, I finally finished my cross stitch for the Desert Bus for Hope.  It's been sent in the mail and I've confirmed it has been received by the good peeps in charge of the whole show.  And now for the great reveal.......


TA DA!

I decided to make a cushion, rather than framing the fabric.  I figured that would make mailing easier but would also make this a more functional piece.  I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out and The Boy has requested that I make one for our place.  I'm still a little cross eyed from the late night stitching but I'm sure I'll get back in a cross stitch groove again some time soon.

Fun details of this project - the Score <1> numbers are the date that Desert Bus starts this year (18 November), the Hi-Score is the amount the crew raised last year and those white letters and numbers on the invaders?  Those are stitched with DMC glow in the dark thread.  I wish I had a picture of how cool that looks but alas, you'll have to use your imagination.  

If you're interested in being the lucky owner of this one of kind cushion, be sure to check out Desert Bus on the 18th of November.  I'm not sure if they'll be using this for a give away or as part of one of the auctions but either way, you'll have to be in it to win it.  

It's the Canadian way...

...to say sorry so....Sorry!  I'm being the world's worst craft blogger at the moment as I try to a) wrap my head around training at a new job and b) finish my cross stitch for Desert Bus for Hope.  In the meantime, here's an echidna:

Photo by me!

Still stitching...

That is all.  I'm working like a demon to get this piece finished and then I'll be back with better updates.

On a side note, I finally found a couple more balls of wool that I've been needing to finish the granny square afghan I started, oh, LAST YEAR.  At least it's good weather here for cuddling up on the couch with a hook and some wool.

A small break...

from the cross stitch to tell you that I've signed up for the Handprinted Fabric Swap being hosted by the lovely Leslie of {onegirl}.

I've got a few ideas floating around my head for the design I plan to do.  I'm not sure yet if I'll stick to one design or work on a couple.  Each participant will be sending out a fat quarters to four different people so the quarters could each be unique or cut from the same length of fabric.  Choices, choices!

If anyone is interested in participating (even if you've never printed on fabric - I haven't), then go here for all the details.  Sign up is until the 21st of October.  Leslie has also provided a list of resources she has found that will help you get started and learn a bit about printing on fabric.

Gotta bust out my sketchbook and work on some designs!

Oops!

Missed a day of posting but I was being very productive so that counts, right?  I finished my pattern for my Desert Bus for Hope project and got started on the stitching last night.  I'm going to work a little more on it this afternoon, so to make up for my missing post I'll update again with a photo of my progress this evening.

All for a good cause...

There are a group of lovely people in Victoria, B.C. who do an insane thing every year - they drive a bus (well, the video game version) for hours on end.  While they're 'driving' the bus and generally being hilarious as they stream live video over the interwebs, they also raise money for Child's Play.  Child's Play is a charitable organization that raises money to buy books, toys and games for sick kids in hospitals across North America.  Click the link and check out their website for more info.

The guys and gals in Victoria have been running Desert Bus for Hope since 2007.  That first year they raised $22,805 which is an awesome amount.  Last year?  That number was $209,400.  How amazing is that?  This money is raised in various ways - people can offer to donate a sum of money and submit a 'challenge' to the team, or a member of the team, straight donations are accepted, and silent and live auctions are held.

This year I am whipping up a little something special to donate for one of the auctions.  I don't want to say what it is in detail but here's a little hint:

Because the people involved in Desert Bus for Hope are mostly gamers and self-confessed nerds/geeks, most (if not all) of the items up for grabs in the auctions are gaming/geekery related.  Last year there were some truly amazing pieces up for grabs - everything from clothing, jewelry, art, etc.  I recommend you bookmark the Desert Bus site and check back for the big event starting on November 18th at 6pm PST.  

The Boy is also working on a really cool item for the auction but I'm not telling about that either until closer to the day :)  We're both hoping our submissions will raise at least a few dollars for such a worthy cause. At any rate, we'll be enjoying watching the event!

Of course, I'll post again about my item when it's finished and if it turns out well, I think I might do up the pattern properly for anyone that's interested.  In the meantime, I better get stitching!

Bits and pieces.

In amongst my fabric stash I have some lovely, soft, organic cotton flannel.  I wish I had enough of it to wrap myself in, cocoon like, and then I would just lie on the couch and watch movies throughout the fall and winter.  However, I do not have enough of it to do that but I do have plenty with which to make wee slippers/booties for babies.  Having never made any such thing before, I decided to test how difficult it is and to do that, I used this pattern by Joanna at www.stardustshoes.blogspot.com.

Turns out, small booties are very easy to make (especially when you have a great pattern to follow).  I've only made one so far but will be making up a second to match soon.  I love, love, love this linen/cotton blend robot print that I found on a trip to Seattle.  I'm not sure who it's made by but it is from Japan, if that helps.

If you're looking to make little shoes like this, I'd recommend using the pattern mentioned if you've never done it before.  It is for personal use only but I see Joanna's blog that she does offer licensing for the pattern if you're wanting to make some to sell.

In other news, I went to the September Portobello West market with my cousin (Hi, Kim!) for a lovely time of wandering and chatting.  While there I came across a stall selling these:

How cute is this?

Can you guess what's inside?

The packaging alone drew me in but the contents sealed the deal.  I've been wanting to try my hand at some needle felting and this pack seemed like a good way to start.

Bought from Honey Canada

Six colours of roving and two needles to get me started.  I have no idea what I'm going to make yet but for now I'm just happy to look at it every now and then.  If anyone knows of any blogs or sites that have good tutorials in needle felting for beginners, please let me know in the comments!

P.S. There is another Portobello West market coming up on October 30th, if you live in or will be in the Vancouver area.

Today's post is brought to you by...

...the letter 'L'.

But I'm getting a little ahead of myself.   I had made small quilts/play mats for my two nieces in Australia back in July, each with their initial (A and E).  Sadly, I was in such a rush to get the quilts done and to pack that I completely forgot to take any photos.  I really have to ask my sibs to send me some.  

Anyway, I recently made another small quilt for my nephew (son of The Boy's little brother and his wife).  This time I got wise and took some photos as I went along.  That was partly to document the process and partly to work on my photography skills.  The mad photography skillz that I've seen on other crafting/quilting blogs blow mine completely out of the water but I know we all have to start somewhere. 

But back to the quilt.  What started as this:

Soon became this:

Which, in its entirety looks like this:

The front

And also like this:

The back

As you can see, I ran out of the pale blue Kona and had to add a strip of white Kona to make the backing.  I like the two tones and the strip of colour, myself.  The photo's don't really do the colours justice (which is why I need to practice!) and I really should become better friends with my iron.

The Boy picked up a few books for little L at the comic book store to send out with the quilt.  Hopefully the little guy (and his parents!) will like it and I really hope L gets good use out of it.  I like to think that the quilts I make for little people are being dragged around and loved, curled up under and worn as capes.  The more they're scrunched, the softer they get, and who doesn't love a nice, soft quilt?

This could be madness...

...but I'm going to try posting daily on both of my blogs during the month of October as part of Blogtoberfest.

This could get...interesting but I'm going to do my best.  Naturally, the posts here will be dedicated to all things crafty - what I'm working on, what I've finished, what I wish I was working on, what I wish I had finished.  I have a few things in progress and in the pipeline so I'm thinking I have enough to keep me posting throughout the month.

If I counted this post as post number one for the month, I think that might be cheating.  So - my official first post for Blogtoberfest will be coming later in the day.  Wish me luck and check back often!

P.S.  If you're feeling motivated, or if you have a lot to say/show, why not join in the fun?  Go visit TinnieGirl for the details and the awesome button :)