The Perfect Pillow

In the recent very long search to find the perfect back support pillow for Baby 2.0's new green glider, of course, we found nothing we liked. I'm sure you've noticed this happens a lot. I did, however, find the perfect fabric at Hancock Fabrics. So I went for it! This is probably one of the easiest projects you will ever take on if you ever need a nice decorative (or fully functional) pillow for a certain space.

It goes along with our color scheme perfectly (grey, blue, lime green and pink), and we were able to get just the right size pillow form. So I did get the pillow form, I got a yard of this gorgeous fabric (in case I wanted to make other things with it), some 7/8" wide black satin ribbon and a couple buttons for the envelope closure at the back of the pillow. Easy peasy.

I cut the fabric to fit the form so the finished size was exactly the size of the pillow, in this case 12" x 16". The hardest part was definitely working that satin ribbon around the edges. I wanted something to break up the front and the back of the pillow, but I have never done piping or anything like that. I took the cheater's way out, and I folded the satin ribbon in half and sewed it right to the pillow cover. It was a bit tricky, but I LOVE the way it turned out.

Adding the buttonholes, and consequently the buttons, was the finishing touch on this lovely addition to the nursery. I chose some giant buttons so they were more of the design of the pillow as opposed to just being functional. They look good, too. :)

And voila! You have a beautiful personalized back support (or decorative, if that's your thing) pillow that you have created yourself. Not to mention it took all of a couple hours to finish this project. I love quick projects! Happy Crafting!

I Can Yudu, Can You?

I have FINALLY got myself a Yudu. I've been watching these things for a LOOOOONG time, and seeing as there's no way I'm ever buying myself a craft something for $400, I didn't have one. Until yesterday... Being an exclusive member of Michael's email list, I get these awesome coupons from time to time. Yesterday, for ONE DAY ONLY, the Yudus were $99.99! That's hundreds of dollars in savings! I ran right out and got one. I stood right by the Yudus while the lady looked to see if they had any left. She was finally able to scrounge one up, and it was still in the shipping box! I'm still getting shivers thinking how close I was to having to run all around town looking for one of these things. Oooohhh...

Anyway, I got it, brought it home and immediately opened it and started trying to make something. I then proceeded to immediately mess it up. First of all, I'm not entirely taking the blame on this one because the instructions are crap. I should know, instructions are my living. They truly suck. So I effed up the only emulsion sheet I had. Scott had to run out and get one on the way home from work. He's such an awesome husband. :) Then I found out I needed some things that, for some stupid reason, were not included in the box. Okay, check this out. You put emulsion on the screen to make the image. You need emulsion remover to clean the screen of the emulsion ick. THE DAMN YUDU DOESN'T COME WITH EMULSION REMOVER! And I didn't know I needed it until I got the damn thing home and read the instructions. So then I had to run out and get that. :) The good thing is that I was able to find and print a 40% coupon. So there, Michaels. Take that.

So we're now at the point where I have watched several videos online to try to figure out what the heck I'm doing since the directions sucked. I have some new emulsions sheets and emulsion remover now so I can clean the screen I effed up the first time. After all that mess, it was pretty easy to do. I got my screen burned and inked.

The Yudu originally only comes with an adult t-shirt platen so I had to improvise to make this shirt for Joey. It worked just fine, though sticking the back of the shirt to the platen (like you're supposed to) and sticking a piece of cardboard (with double stick tape on the inside of the front and back so the cardboard doesn't move around in the shirt) in the baby tee. I just had to make sure the image on the screen was in the spot I wanted on the shirt.

Then you just make a couple runs over the t-shirt with the ink and you have a screen-printed tee! This one came out super awesome for my first try. The bottom's a little smudgy, but I wasn't sure how much pressure to put on the squeegee when I was pulling the ink through. I didn't push hard enough the first time, and then I lifted the mesh screen to see the shirt. Don't do that. :) So, after that, I made a couple more passes with the ink pushing much harder this time, and it went over it like buttah. I got this design from Michaels. They sell their own art transparencies, but you can also make your own designs. I might have to try making my own next time.

I'll admit I'm slightly concerned about the cost of maintaining my Yudu because emulsion sheets are 2 for $20, and you have to burn a new screen for each image you want. Unless you're doing bulk screenprinting or are an enthusiastic crafter (like myself), I probably wouldn't recommend it. You're essentially paying $10 plus the cost of whatever you're screenprinting. It's up to you whether it's worth it or not, but I just like the idea of making my own designs on t-shirts and such. I LOVE tote bags, and this will be perfect for that. Also, I just had another thought. I can screenprint my own notecard caddies! Holy moley, I love the sound of that idea.

I think Joey liked his new shirt. It made him run around like a crazy person. :) He looks so stylish in his mock designer tee!

Etsy Rocks My World: Serpenthes

I got my etsy order yesterday! It's only 1 of 2, but I was really looking forward to this one. You may think it strange that I ordered notecards since I make them, but I do have a couple reasons for that. One, it's no fun making a card and then immediately using it. Second, I love it when I share a hobby with someone. Plus, there are just some people out there with wicked awesome designs. And that brings me to Serpenthes! She has the most amazing illustrations that I just had to buy some cards. I bought 2 sets, and they have the coolest octopus images on them. I still can't believe someone can draw like.

Even the note she sent me has a great illustration of the day of the dead! Even her business cards are a work of art. I was just blown away by what I got. Ooh, she also sent me a free gift! I got the postcard in the middle of the steampunk girl on her bicycle, which was GREAT because I was looking at buying that one, too, but it was only available in print form. I will remind you that one of the great things about etsy is custom orders! Probably about 50% of my orders have been customized for what I want. The octopus with the heart was a regular listing, but I asked for a custom order of the girl walking her pet octopus (that's me, by the way ;)). Serpenthes had a collection called Animal Variety Show that included people and their quirky pets, like this one. While I did like the other ones, I could NOT get enough of that little girl walking her octopus. I had to have it. Lots of it. A whole set dedicated just to them!

Needless to say, I will DEFINITELY be getting more cards from Serpenthes, and some of you will, no doubt, be seeing them firsthand! I've already sent one out. These are definitely some notecards you canNOT get anywhere else! And that's what I love about etsy. Etsy makes you the cool kid in school. :) No one will ever be wearing the same dress to the prom because we got ours from etsy.

If you are interested in some of Serpenthes' artwork, as I know you are after that GLOWING review, check out her etsy shop at Serpenthes' Etsy Shop. She's got some wonderful artwork and notecards, and she has some great invitations. I wish I had known about those octopus wedding invitations and save the dates when I got married. They rock. :)

Also, check out the Animal Variety Show collection! I'm seriously thinking about getting that one now that I have Wanda and Sid. That's what I named them. :)

It's Thanksgiving, ya'll!

I hope everyone had a fantabulous Thanksgiving... I know I did! Joey got to see his first hockey games ever (his uncle was playing), we ate super good food, and we got to spend time with family. Isn't that what it's all about? I'm sure that's what everyone did, except maybe minus the hockey. That's an Austin family thing. :) And I love it! I made Justin (my kid brother) some extra special celebratory cupcakes since he made the high school hockey team this year. They're little mini cupcakes you can just pop in your mouth, and I made a little chocolate team logo and his number to stick in the frosting.

I felt like a true pastry chef when I made the little chocolate toppers. :) I printed off his high school logo and put it under some wax paper so I could trace it with the chocolate. I heated red and blue chocolate and then piped it onto the wax paper. It was delicious! They peeled off the wax paper really nicely, and I didn't break any of them. I was pretty proud of myself for that. Again, the chocolate technique came from my 'What's New, Cupcake?' book. Congrats, Justin!


So I did end up doing some crafting for Thanksgiving, and since my crafts are fairly limited in the hotel room we call our home, I'm learning some new things. I did some cupcaking again! How can you go wrong with cupcakes? I made some Thanksgiving cupcakes made to look like stuffed turkeys. This one also came from 'What's New, Cupcake?'. The turkeys and turkey legs are made of rolled caramels, the turkey legs of potato sticks and the stuffing and lettuce are corn flakes. I will say the corn flakes got really soggy in the frosting. I ended up pulling them off and not eating them. Yuck. I did like the turkey legs, though because they were solid caramel! They were a huge hit, and everyone ate them all. I think Grandpa ate the most, despite the fact that my dad said Grandpa wouldn't eat them because they looked weird. :)

Scott bought me some new tools of the trade that I am realizing I don't know how I lived without. If anyone is going to get into any kind of baking hobby where icing is involved, please get pastry bags and tips. They work wonderfully as far as control and technique go, and they just make it more fun. It's not fun when it's difficult, right?

So I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and ate tons of food. Nothing brings people together like food does. On to the next holiday!

PS - Since I've received my yarn to continue my cardigan, I've completed both front panels and a sleeve. I just might make my goal of finishing before Christmas! One more sleeve to go... Happy Crafting!

Cupcakes are crafts, too!

I'm trying my hand at a new hobby. Rayna, do you really need yet another hobby, I hear you say. One can never have too many hobbies. I find joy in many things so why should I limit myself? So there. Yes, another hobby. But this one's delicious... I'm making novelty cupcakes! Well, I've made one batch, at least. But I do plan on making more! Scott bought me a really neat book for a housewarming present (warm my house with cupcakes!), and it's got so many cool recipes in it. I'm definitely planning on making more. I've already planned things like Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays ( I can't decide if I want knitting or goldfish cupcakes for my birthday. Maybe knitting goldfish? Awesome!).

For those of you who know me, I hate cooking. Maybe not hate it, but I'm terrible at it. I mess up macaroni and cheese, and I usually eat ramen when it's just me. I cannot cook. I will not cook. Although, I have been making Joey's food. That's beside the point, though. I can puree anything. That's not hard. So, anyway, cupcakes. Mmm, cupcakes. This book has everything in it. There are several recipes for cupcakes, which is good because I like everything in one place. There are also a bunch of frosting recipes. I went kind of cheap on that front. I bought frosting. :) Hey, you have to start somewhere. :) It's just as delicious, I can assure you. I'll get to making my own.

I made the Bake Sale Pies. Delicious! Anything with M&Ms is a hit with me. This was also marked as an "ez" recipe so it was a good place to start. There are so many cupcakes I want to make in this book. There are cupcakes that look like eggs, monsters, jungle animals, whales and bees, just to mention a few. Of course, there are also things you wouldn't want to eat. For some reason, there is a recipe for cupcakes with roaches on top of them and cupcakes that look like nasty rats. Ew. Definitely do NOT want to eat. This book has all the techniques and recipes you need to know to make their cupcakes. I love it! As you can see, Scott and Joey loved them, too. These cupcakes make a great snack! ;)

And for my next trick, I will... CRAFT!

So I have this shop at www.raynae.etsy.com, and it sort of showcases my paper crafts. I say sort of only because I have a tendency to write ideas in several different notebooks. Then I misplace those notebooks, and I'll find some random drawing months later. Or I'll print off a sample, and I'll misplace that sample. In any case, I end up misplacing something, and only rarely does something end up on my site. :) So I have tons of stuff hanging around my room. I'm trying to clean up my room, and I want to get some of my favorite stuff on my shop this weekend.

Did you see my Unicorn Barf Bag? Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. I have random drawings like that stuffed everywhere around my room, in my purse and in my pockets. My favorite one that I haven't listed yet is a picture of a sandwich holding a person's hand. It's samwich love. :) Okay, it's hard to explain, but I LOVE it! And I LOVE my samwiches!!!

Anyway, I also want to use this blog to track some of my crafts that don't get showcased on etsy. I like to knit, crochet, and hmm... Well, I like to make lots of stuff. This weekend, I'm going to try my hand at book binding. I'm attempting to use the coptic stitch to make a bee-au-tiful book. I'm taking pictures, but if my book ends up sucking, I may not post them. I will have to think about that. Wish me luck!

Oh, and I had a really fun thought today. Whilst watching Demetri Martin's stand-up (he's super funny), there was a guy in the show who was wearing a fox tail. I have a pair of cat ears that I like to wear all the time, and this made me think how fun it would be to wear a fox tail all day. Part of me thinks that people would think I was trying to be "foxy," but, for one thing, Foxy by Jimi Hendrix is a super awesome song, and I'm not trying to be "foxy," I just want to wear a fox tail. So, there.