My latest score when out thrift store shopping. Lynn and I just happened upon this thrift shop going out of business. Everything was 50% and you could stuff a bag full of clothing for 10 bucks. When it was all said and done we had about a dozen pieces of clothing including this amazing gently used retro dress coat that Lynn literally jumped up and down when she found and all the crafty items shown for $9.50!!! They gave us 50% of the already amazing clothing sale… it was crazy. Lynn and I ran out of the store just in case they made a mistake. It was a good day.

I have been instructed to not ‘dis this coin purse that I attempted to sew at Mary’s house on Sunday. Mary had already knocked one out so I thought I’d try… We were to begin our Project Red Dress dresses on Sunday but due to schedule conflicts it turned out to be a fun shopping and crafting day. So while I can’t say this purse turned out like crap and I hate it, I can say the Amy Butler’s pattern was so complicated it was bound to be messed up. So maybe it was my skills and not the pattern… maybe it was the pattern and not my awesome skillz™, who knows but the end result was not pretty. It also didn’t help that we had jinxed zippers that wanted to be pulled apart. Both Teresa and I pulled the zipper head off the zipper when attempting this horrible coin purse of doom. Okay… I’ll stop. The fabric used was a combo of vintage corduroy and a calico print, both won on Ebay. (Mary is an Ebay bidding machine!) Oh well now I have a pouch for my Christmas camera so yeah.

(I’m excited for this weekend’s Project Red Dress construction and sleep over!)

So what do you make for the girl who has everything? Okay she may not have “everything” but what she does have she gets the full use out of. When it came to making holiday gifts I chose to observe my friends and see what they truly seemed to need. Of course this was from my perspective but with Jenny it was loud and clear. She had this little organic cotton lunch sack that was one more lunch from falling apart so I made her a new bag. I made the pattern from scratch so it was 100% experimental. I went to Joann’s Fabrics and found the most fun and wacky fabric I could find. I settled on a black fabric with western peppers playing random western roles. My fav was the saloon girl pepper complete with boobs! I lined the bag with a contrast polka dot pattern fabric. The only design flaw was the closure could have been further up but Jenny is tolerating it and using it!! Got to love her! So when the bag was all said and done it was empty, too empty to give so I crochet an amigurumi bologna sandwich with cheese… so cute.

I absolutely love shopping at thrift stores! I think it’s in my genes. In my latest treasure hunt I found so many great crafting deals. The biggest scores include 3 mini needlepoints - one saying “I love rainbows”, a grab bag of misc. knitting supplies and Simplicity sewing book that is full of great sewing knowledge and how-tos!

I’m going to use the silver sparkle yarn to knit a camera cozy.

photo taken with my awesome new camera!

I found this fun spray dye (like spray paint for clothing) which I had fun experimenting with on a children’s shirt sample I had lying around. I took a cotton doily and used it to create an interesting pattern. I wish I knew some kid that could fit into this shirt since now I don’t know what to do with it…

I finished the head base, wig and ears. The placement was tricky, I had to constantly check where I was sewing next to keep all the details even. The most difficult area on the head was keeping the part in the wig. The wig is just that a wig piece that you sew on to the head base. I took the pattern and added sideburns for the Colin look. The curls on the top are chenille yarn that I looped through each crochet “valley” and tacked down with a small stitch.  The finished look turned out great for my first humanoid.

Now on to the body and figuring out the clothing. The next tricky area will be constructing the clothing… vest and tails.

Here is the progress of my amigurumi “humanoid”. I’m already a pro crocheter (toot toot) so I really had a hard time taking it slow with my new book. I completed the strawberry (okay not really, i figured out the “working in a ring” portion) so I felt confident to move forward. What creature did I decide to make you ask? Well since I was going in completely blind to the whole process I figured why not go for the gusto and chose a character I would really like and would actually finish… so I’m making a Colin Firth aka Mr. Darcy amigurumi humanoid doll!! (don’t roll your eyes!)

Here is his progress so far. I have 2 arms, 2 ears and half a head sounds like a Beck song. The arms went very quickly and I added the lace on my own. The ears compared with his head look large, if they turn out to be huge then I’ll be remaking them. I went out of order when making the components. The pattern calls for me to make the wig portion before the body BUT I find that for Colin I need to have his head complete so I know that his hair actually fits. I bought a nice chenille yarn for his hair but don’t want to mess it up. Of all the piece I think his wig will be the most challenging… I say that now. Now the hard work begins…

like a hole in the head.

BUT I just bought this book and I’m so inspired.

How can you not be when you can create such cute little guys like this snail.

With Halloween over, on comes the rest of the holidays. Now it’s all about preparing for Thanksgiving but most of all Christmas. I’m going to be making most of my holiday gifts this year… I’d list them out but I’m all about the secret of Christmas morning. BUT until I can begin the holiday gifts I’ve got to complete my other projects. My crochet lap blanket and knit felted bobble scarf are all that stand in my way before I begin my Christmas crafting list. My first holiday projects will be knitted stockings for my boys and knitted ball ornaments. You know I’ll be using Vanna yarn… I love Vanna’s yarn.

check out knitsimplemag.com

I am lucky enough to work for a company that LOVES and celebrates Halloween. Everyone is encouraged to dress up, kiddies can come and trick or treat at 3 and there is a tons of prizes. We dress up by department. There are prizes for best department theme, best treat, best individually decorated cube and best costume. Lynn and I started to work on my costume for this year’s theme but unfortunately I can’t show / say much, just a sneak peak, because with so much at stake I can’t chance anybody finding out outside my department… I’m being dramatic but I take this very serious… we must win this year!!