Sewing monster

For serious—all day Tuesday I was a sewing monster. I bought a bunch of Magnolia Lane by Laura Gunn fabric, and I just couldn't resist making something with it ASAP. Look at the gorgeous tote bag and made:

Using the teal Painter's Canvas and Magnolia Branch

And look at this one!!

Painter's Canvas in teal again, along with Textured Plaid in Turquoise 

Hmmm.... notice something uncanny? (Besides how messy my craft room is because that is totally normal for me?) The similar colors, the pretty much identical straps, perhaps?

...

OH SNAP, I tricked you!! It's a reversible tote bag!!! I have one bag but when I go out on different nights I can pretend I have two!!!! (Not that I really go out a lot but still!!) Since I couldn't find a reversible tote bag pattern that pleased me, I decided to make up my own using this pattern from Weekend Designer and this pattern from Skip to My Lou. I think it worked out pretty well, as long as you don't count that I forgot a pin and sewed it in between the two layers, never to be retrieved. You will be missed, pin, especially since I think you were one of the purple ones.

Since I know myself well enough to realize that attempting to use this tote bag in any shape or form to move around my everyday belongings would result in a dark, evil, pit of chaos at the bottom of the purse, I also decided to use the pattern from Fresh Crush to make your own purse organizer using scraps and a cereal box. I don't eat cereal, so I'm using a box that once held cocktail wieners. I eat a lot of those, which is also probably why I can't fit in most of my jeans. I should eat cereal instead, even though it is gross and always ends up soggy. I haven't finished it yet, but as soon as I do, I will post a pic. :)

A parade of foods

Well, since I have been so lax about posting for the past couple of months, I've had a lot of photos log up into a giant, quivering mass hiding somewhere on my boyfriend's computer, since he is the one with the magical camera and all. Of course, now that I have started writing in my blog again, I have developed all of these incredible plans of crafting and sewing and embroidering, which involve me purchasing somewhere around 20 yards of fabric that I don't really need unless I do end up completing these grand plans. Phew.  It's so exhausting, I wasn't able to make any progress this week, other than planning. I'm not even going to bother making promises—they will happen or they won't.

Anyway, back to the subject, which is one of my favorite subjects, might I add: food. Delicious, succulent, savory, sweet, rich, scrumptious, delectable, toothsome, wholesome FOOD. Food is one thing I can say with certainty that I would surely die without. Anyway, since I've made quite a lot of delightful and enticing treats, I figured I'd put in a cut, then begin my little food parade.

Chocolat

Do you remember that film, Chocolat, with Juliette Binoche as a charming chocalatier and Johnny Depp as a rapscallion manouche? I could probably watch that movie at least a million more times, and listen to the soundtrack at least three more times after that. I love seeing the creamy, luscious Johnny melted chocolate and the perfectly tempered chocolate sculptures, and that roasted chicken with the chocolate mole in that dinner scene. Now I'm getting hungry.

Anyway, I always think of that movie whenever I make chocolates. I haven't quite the same amount of skill—making chocolate from scratch using rocks or whatever is definitely out of my skill set. However, tempering and molding chocolates, and making truffles and chocolate-coated fruit? I can totally do that.

Oh yeah. Totally. 

I don't know what it is about Valentine's Day. I'm not really all that big on celebrating it. But I love it because it means it's that time of year when I make chocolates. :D So, in there we have regular chocolate truffles, bonbons with white dots on top that have mocha truffle inside them, striped/zig-zaggy bonbons that have butterscotch truffle in them, yin yang bonbons that have nutella in them (because my bf loves it and it was easy), pink marzipan hearts, chocolate-covered strawberries, and chocolate-covered cherries. 

The cherries were fun—I was thinking about making cherry cordials, but that involves a lot of effort and waiting a week and stuff like that, and seeing as I was making the chocolates the day of when I was planning on giving them to bf, I ended up just coating them in vanilla sugar and then chocolate. The result is absolutely scrumptious. Maybe if my bf reads this he will send me one of his fantastic closeups of the cherries, since my camera did a shoddy job, and his camera is made of magic and rainbows and generally takes good photos. Bf was definitely a fan of the cherries. Yesterday I suggested that I might make a double-layer box of just chocolate-covered cherries for him for his birthday, and he looked like he was going to cry with happiness. So I guess they're pretty good. 

ETA: Picture from bf! Huzzah.

Beautiferous.

Anyway, since I made bf chocolates, I also had to make him a card. I'm not the best at papercraft or love-dovey declarations of love-dovey-ness, but I figured I'd give it a shot using a piece of cardstock, a heart-shaped paper doily, and my paper cutter:

See. It's a heart! Folded in half! With things cut out of it! Magic!

I thought I did a pretty nifty job. I like simplicity, so I figure this worked out pretty well. No peeking for you at the love-dovey declarations of love-dovey-ness, though! :P I'm guessing my cat approved of either bf or my efforts, because she wouldn't go away when I tried taking pictures. (In the picture above, she is behind the card because of the way I angled myself.)

Or maybe she just likes being the center of attention 24/7. 

Speaking of cats, my other cat just clawed the crap out of my poor, legging-covered knee because it was absolutely imperative that she be on my lap RIGHT NEOW possibly because I was paying attention to the other cat via a computer screen. My poor legs.

Welp, I will probably post next week. Looks like Thursdays may or may not become a Thing. I make no promises. I've been doing a lot more work on my Tonner goddesses; a little at a time. Maybe I will post my progress next week. I've also been working on some silly embroidery that I might also post; I just need to finish the Q! But it's hard. :( Until next time!

TomTom ThingThing the second

Well, hey there, blog. Didn't see you there! Ok, I've been pretty awful about posting. Let's just pretend I went through the whole apologizing spiel. I was laid off last November, and you would think that with all this extra time, I would be crafting my buns off. While I have been making a lot of things, I haven't really been finishing much. Plus, it feels like I have even less time now than I did before. I also feel like I now spend half my life cleaning, but that means that my apartment (and especially the craft room!!) is no longer a pit of chaos due to depression and general laziness. I still haven't finished organizing my craft workspace, but it's a big improvement.

Anyway, I wanted to share the first thing I did when I found out I was laid off:

Blue!!

The prototype TomTomThingThing most likely would have remained the only TomTom thing thing except for the fact that it was annoying to close and was made of really thin craft felt. Eventually I felt compelled to buy some luxuriously soft and thick felt from FitzFelt in 3mm turquoise.

Then I got laid off, and to distract myself immediately got to work! It was actually a great deal of fun to make, and I'm glad I practiced first with the crappy felt so that I figured out an approximate pattern without wasting expensive felt. I still have a bit left, and I'm not sure what I am going to do with it. Probably nothing. :P

I'm especially fond of the embroidery:

Flowers? Leaves? Not sure what they're supposed to be besides pretty.

Usually I draw patterns and then embroider them... this was all spur-of-the-moment freehand. Actually, I didn't really finish this until today... I'd been tucking the outer flap inside the case, and hoping it stays. Today I added the band and the sweet little antique button:

From the giant pile of buttons from my grandma. <3

Anyway, since it's almost Valentine's day, my annual chocolates should be coming up. (Did I ever post last year's??) So I will probably be posting that. Also, I will be hopefully posting all of those other things I have been working on.