Christmas Ornaments-Das style

I had this great idea in my head to make white clay ornaments. I went on a hunt for white clay. Bought some, it was grey. it dried grey. I tried white sculpty, it's too soft and unforgiving of little prints and mistakes. So i sought out Das. Remember Das modelling clay? Bet you forgot about the smell!! Not so bad, it just brought me back to my childhood. SO, I bought white, opened it up, it was grey. I closed it up and sulked. Then I decided to take a little piece and let it dry. it dried white! Yippeeeeeee!!

After borrowing my friend's stash of cookie cutters, (thank goodness, I have no idea where mine are) I went to work with the addition of some stamping supplies.

I'm in love. And I've hardly made a dent to what's in my head and the endless possibilities and combinations of my tools.

Like, I'm going to add some rhinestones to the edges of the snow.

And I want to add glitter to some and use a glassy glaze on top of the glitter.

Just wondering though, should I put a glossy varnish on it? So it will catch the tree lights?


Have a good one!
Amanda

it's a cat

This belated birthday present for a 1 year old is from Betz White's Warm Fuzzies. Guess I'm really liking that book lately and the fact that I've been collecting 50-11 sweaters for the last month or so. It's just a little break from the mitten making.

It was easy to make, just a little confusion on the sewing the front to the back, but it won't be a bother next time. Kind of an
a-ha moment shall we say.

Here's another blurry picture. Of the mouth. I tell ya, this time of year, and maybe for the winter, my camera bites! I can't even get a decent picture unless the sun is shining. ugh. smile, breathe, think pretty, focused thoughts.

And the back of it. Yes, green is a strange colour for a cat, but it was workin' for me that day. All the colours and swatches came together. he's fancy.

And here is a request to be added to the post. Rafael is quite proud of his gnome friends and the big dipper in the sky. He wanted you to notice the big dipper. Do you notice?


thanks for stopping by
Amanda

mini cupcakes

Cupcakes anyone? Partially done cupcakes? they contain less calories!

These come from Betz White's book Warm Fuzzies. I made them tree ornament size and put a little needlefelted ball on top. The others will have beads instead.

I took all kinds of artsy fartsy pictures to show you, but my camera didn't cooperate. fuzzy..... grrr. I makes me crazy that camera.
Anyhow, it's that time of year, time to bury the fig tree. Fig trees cannot survive the Canadian Winter (as mild as it is in Toronto) so it is the custom to bury it. The root ball is small, so you dig it up and bury it a few feet in the soil. Then a layer of leaves to help insulate. Oh, the fig tree is in the burlap. And, I don't know what we'll do when it gets to big to bury in our little garden. Figure that out when we get there I suppose.

Have a good one,
Amanda

ribbon hairbands

One of the local fabric stores (it's the only one that is less than a 10 minute drive, everything else is at least 30 minutes, dragola) has the most amazing ribbon section. Just beautiful designs.
I got inspired by a plain headband I bought at the dollar store and pumped it up a notch.

Aren't they just gorgeous?

Oh look, mini tutorial!
Adjust lengths to the size of head, but this works for me and for my 5 year old. Cut ribbon 13 inches. The elastic is 6.5. Again it depends on how much the elastic stretches. I cut the original the same as the dollar store one, but it was too tight as my elastic is a better quality and doesn't stretch so much. Please note: Elastic needs to be thinner than the ribbon.
With the elastic on the right side of ribbon, fold the ends of the ribbon around the elastic as below. Sew a little in from the end.

Turn it right side out. Do the same for the other side. There you go. Done!

And if you really want to get silly, try wearing them all at once!


Ciao,
Amanda

Cinnamon Rolls

This weekend is a blur and it's not even over! I sang for 2 concerts yesterday for Remembrance Day. Nice. Then singing at 2 church services this morning and tonight a sing along for the agency that I Christmas Carol with. it's only 2 days of singing in a row, but after focusing on my family for the last 8 years, I wonder how I ever did it as a singer/music teacher. every. single. day. My whole life was singing. Over all parts of town. now I get wiped after 2 hours! stamina I tell ya, it's gone!

Anyhow, some time this past week, I got to play house mom and made some cinnamon rolls.

The recipe comes from the back of the brown sugar bag and my memory, as I threw it out the bag after the sugar was all gone.
First up is some bread dough. You can use premade pizza dough, or as I did, make it in the bread maker. (recipe at end of post)

Roll it out to a rectangle. Brush some melted butter. They suggest 2 tablespoons.

Mix a teaspoon of cinnamon with 3/4 cup of brown sugar. Spread it on the dough. Please note, I used more cinnamon and did not spread all of the sugar on the dough. This was a mistake! Use all the sugar! It makes it sloppier and gooey-er. Mine, not so much. I added some raisins to one side of it. ( i also used some of the leftover cinnamon brown sugar in my tea. So good.)

Roll the dough from the short side to the opposite end.

Cut them about 1 inch thick.

Place in a greased dish. Let rise for about 1.5 hours until the rolls touch each other. I didn't let it rise long enough. next time I will.

Bake on 350 for 20-25 minutes. I think. I can't remember. Sorry.

There ya go. A nice afternoon treat with a cuppa.

Here's the pizza dough recipe that I use in the bread maker. I also use it as a bread recipe:
Put it in the bread maker in this order:

1+cup of water. (Sometimes the flour needs more moisture, so I add up to 1/2 C extra sometimes. Depends on the season and where you live)
1 Teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of sugar
1.5 tablespoons of olive oil
3 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of bread machine yeast.

Use the dough setting for 1.5 lb bread.

If you want to make a nice pizza dough recipe, use the one above, then add a tablespoon of cornmeal and a teaspoon of dried herbs, ( I use a Newfoundland savory or oregano)

There ya go. This is not a quick treat, but one that can be tended to when you're in the house all day.

At the moment, the kids are playing with boxes brought home from the grocery store. They made cars from them and are now traveling around the world with the maps I printed out of places I've been too. They are at the drive in watching old Pink Panther movies on Net flix. Ah, Sunday afternoon.
DH is in the basement making a brew of beer. He's doing it from scratch, Mad scientist that he is. I'm ok with all this experimenting. It gives me equal footing to get lost in my sewing room from time to time!

I think I'm off for a nap before my next appointment. No crafting for this weary body today.

Thanks for stopping by,
Amanda

My Heart is Full sachet

Howdy,
back in the summer, I signed up for a heart swap and this is what my swap partner received, along with a few other goodies.

It is very fragrant with lavender. Maybe a little too fragrant? Just let me say, you can't really iron linen after the lavender has been put in. Thus, it's a little wrinkly. It's a little hard to tell, but the trim on the top and bottom has hearts on it. aahhh.


that's it for now, off to make more mittens.

Amanda

Yo Yo Trees

This past weekend, My church had it's annual Craft and Bake Sale Bazaar. Now you must understand, the ladies of the craft guild meet once a week for most of the year, making and baking stuff for this grand, most anticipated event. it's where I got the Snow White Doll in the previous post.
And of course, what's a Christmas sale without Christmas tree ornaments? This one made me chuckle. I love it!

A tree made from various colours and sizes of yo yos. Brilliant. They made the yo yos, cut a wine cork in half, put a pipe cleaner into it and threaded the yo yos on to it. Then they glued a wooden star to the top. Easy peasy. And effective.

Cheers,
Amanda

Snow White Doll

I Just HAVE to tell you about this great doll I got today at the Church Bazaar. you'll believe that I saw it across the table and practically leapt over everyone beside me to get a better look. You'll not believe that the price tag said $3! only $3.
Here is Snow White with her 7 Dwarves.

Isn't she great!!!
And here are her 7 friends

Aren't they great? but wait, there's more...

See that on the back? You can put them on your fingers!

Isn't it just awesome? There's more than your 3 bucks worth right there ladies.. But wait, there's more....
When you turn her upside down, you get the stepmother!

Get outta Town! How Cool is THAT? But wait... there's more! Yes, more!!
On the other side of the stepmother is...
Wait for it...

The huntsman who was sent out by the Stepmother to kill Snow White!


I tell ya, this doll is amazing! And it's hand made! I kid you not.. At first I thought it was factory made, but the more I examined it, the more hand stitching I could see. All the dwarves are hand stitched together. They eyes, the machine zig zag around the faces and clothes. I tell you, This doll is of the highest quality sewing and it must have taken ages! I'm just so glad that we now own her and that she is truly appreciated!
When you wanna have a party, just add 7 little dwarves.

Can you tell she likes it?


ciao,
Amanda

Weekend Happenings

G'Day!
it's another beauty here. Any warm days after the middle of October are a gift. It's supposed to get to 15 degrees celcius today. Awesome!
We had a a warmish weekend also. good thing, I was selling my wares at an outdoor venue!
Special hi to all who are visiting here from the Fair! Welcome.
Here is my table. i forgot to bring a few things to add various heights to the table. It's rather flat, but tons to look at.

I made a batch of mittens that went like hotcakes. it was just enough chill in the morning before the sun came around the building to want cosy mittens. This is my almost empty basket. I should have taken a picture before to keep the ideas for future mittens. I have since scored with some great sweaters and will be sewing up a mitten storm this week. Another craft fair this weekend.

Here are some clothes and doll slings on a line, with the happy teapot bunting.

Here are some money cuffs to be featured later. I adapted a lunch money cuff from A lemon Squeezy Home

And lastly, Halloween!
Neve decided on 2 costumes to play with. The first is super woman. She has red and gold hairspray in her hair. You could hardly see it, but she was excited just the same. This was for the school-indoors.

For outside, she was a wizard. A few layers went under this costume. And Rafael wanted to be Mario. Homemade is good enough for him. The mustache was attached with 2 sided carpet tape. Let's just say that we learned to make it a little less sticky before applying to the face. ouch. Last year, he was Alvin the chipmunk. Next year, he wants to be an Angry Bird. Lord help me!

And when the Mario is in the washroom, the wizard goes into disguise!


must make some mittens....
thanks for stopping by,
Amanda