Triceratops Arm!

Where's what I did yesterday:



I got a new triceratops skull tattoo on my "Darcy" arm! I am head over heels in love with it, and can't stop looking at it. My pupils are shaped like hearts.

My good friend David Bruehl did the work. He is absolutely amazing. If you're even considering a tattoo, you should try to book an appointment with him. He is based here in OK, but often travels for conventions and keeps his schedule pretty up to date.

I already booked another appointment with him for next month, and it just might be one of the top 10 cutest tattoos ever.

David & I talked about working on some things together this year, and I'm pretty excited about it. You'll be the first to know when things are in place.

xoxo
Amy

Free Pattern!

My friend Dana over at Craftyminx is sharing the cutest little vintage Valentine embroidery pattern!

This a-deer-able sample was lovingly stitched by Dana.

I just might need to stitch this up for the girls, or go through my collection of vintage Valentines to make my own.

xoxo
Amy

Sugar Skull Onesie

Thank you all for leaving such sweet words about Harper's arrival. Each one makes my heart swell with even more pride, which I didn't think was possible.

I told you I would share my last embroidery project before having Harper, and here it is!

I decided to stitch the Sugar Skull design from the wonderful new book, Embroidered Effects by Jenny Hart. If you don't have this book yet, get it ASAP! It is amazing and full of inspiration. I'm not kidding when I say I want to stitch everything in the book. And as it turns out, I did stitch 3 projects for the book! I just had to keep it a secret until the book was released. Be on the look out for the Fan Dancer Shower Curtain, the Bird Jeans, and the Tattoo Work Shirt, all stitched by yours truly!

So on to the Sugar Skull! (Which was stitched by my talented friend Floresita, for the book.) I absolutely LOVE this design. I fell in love with it in the preview photos, and I fell in love all over again when I saw the beautiful pictures in the book.

I had some black onesies, and I decided to dress one up by making a felt applique using the Sugar Skull design. Here's how it looks:




Unfortunately, this is a size 3 to 6 months, so Harper won't be able to wear it this year. I'm thinking about listing it in my Etsy shop, since I don't know of any other babies to gift it to at the moment. If any of my readers are interested, just email me and let me know!

Oh! If you haven't seen it already, take a look at my friend Kristi's stitched version of this Sugar Skull. It's BEE-YOO-TIFUL! Her macro embroidery shots are drool worthy.

xoxo
Amy

Brand New Love

Well, I did it! I finally had my baby girl. She was born on 09/23/09 at 10:11pm.

I'd like you to meet Harper Grace:

She is a tiny little bundle of love, weighing in at 5 lbs, 2 oz and 18.5 inches long. But she is strong, healthy and perfect, and we're so glad she's finally here. We are all still amazed at her beautiful dark hair! It will be fun to see if it gets lighter as she grows.

Needless to say, blogging and stitching might be put on the back burner for a while, until I get the hang of juggling 2 kids. Luckily I managed to finish one last embroidery project before having Harper, and I hope to share that with you tomorrow. Stay tuned!

xoxo,
Amy

Dolly All Done

Over the weekend, Darcy and I were invited to a birthday party for my good friend Susan's little girl, Ava. It was Ava's 3rd birthday, so I wanted to give her something extra special. The first plan was to go to Target and pick out a toy that I thought might appeal to her, but decided to make her something instead.

After brainstorming, I settled on making The Black Apple doll, pattern found here. I have been wanting to do this pattern since I saw Emily's appearance on the Martha Stewart show last year. I'm still pretty new to making dolls and softies, and this is a great pattern for beginners like me.

Knowing me, I just had to incorporate some sort of fancy pants stitching on the doll, and what better place to showcase stitches than the hair! I love stitching hair.

*Dearest Readers: Please don't unsubscribe to my blog after seeing the not so pretty pictures of my project. My camera is officially dead to me, so I had to use my phone to take pictures of this awesome project. Don't judge me.*

So on with the hair! This added a little bit of extra work time to the doll, but I really like how it turned out.

Time to sew and stuff!

When I looked at the pictures above online, I kept getting ideas of more details that I wanted to add. (The details are the best part, you know.) I did add a little skirt to my doll's body, giving it little pleats and topped it with the black lace. I've had those sparkly buttons in my collection for a few years, and I think this was the perfect project for them. See honey? It does make sense for me to horde a bunch of craft stuff for years at a time!!

After adding more details, like a black peter pan collar, fancy mary janes, and pigtails, and finally embroidering her face, she was finished!





I was so nervous about doing her little face, because I loved everything else so much. I guess that's why I put it off as the very last thing. I decided the safest and best option was to use the Cute Little Heads pattern. (So glad I did.) I just picked one of the faces in the pattern pack, and cut out each facial feature separately and placed them accordingly on the doll's face. I wondered if I needed to enlarge the features a bit, but honestly, I think it worked with the size they are.

The birthday girl and her Mama loved the doll, so I was very happy.

Darcy loved the doll too, and kept asking if she could snuggle her. I felt bad limiting her snuggle time with "Dolly", (that's what Darcy kept calling her) so I promised I would make one for her too. Her birthday is in October, so that gives me a little bit of time. But since Darcy is more of an animal lover, I'm thinking I will make her the Molly Monkey doll! Isn't she adorable?

I also have plans for a Little Red Riding Hood doll brewing in my head. Oh the cuteness!

xoxo
Amy

Chi Chi Love

My good friend Laura told me that last weekend was her Grandma's birthday. Grandma loves chihuahuas, so I had the perfect project for her.

I know I've used the Chi Chi Fever patterns several times before, but I always enjoy recreating the design. Plus, I haven't made a pillow in a long time, so there.



Honestly, I love the way this turned out. I didn't expect to fall in love with it as much as I did. After embroidering the basic design of the dog and the hearts, I cut it out in the shape of an oval, and attached it to the fabric. (The fabric is an Alexander Henry print called "Calyx".)

I didn't have any fusible webbing, and going to the store wasn't an option at the time, so I just pinned it in place. Yes, I was worried about the fray factor, but luckily didn't have an issue. I put the fabric in the hoop, and anchored the image in place with a green split stitch all along the border. One just wasn't enough, so I added another round of green split stitch, giving it a nice cameo effect.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I also added a piece of quilt batting in between the embroidery and the fabric, to give it a slightly quilted look, and also to hide my travel stitches a bit.

It was looking nice after adding the double rounds of split stitch, but it still needed more. So I started freehanding the stitches in white, and added the sequins for the final, but perfect touch. Isn't she purdy?

Hugs & Stitches,
Amy

The Stag

I stitched this beautiful design a couple of weeks ago, and wanted to share it with you today.






I've had these patterns for a while now, and I'm not really sure why it took me so long to embroider this particular design. I'm glad I did though, because it's one of my favorites.

Want to make your own stag? Invite the Forest Friends to your place and cozy it up.

TGIF,
Amy