A-Maze-ing Valentine’s Day

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Finally I have my first project ready to share.

Anyway, I started thinking about Valentine’s day a little too late this year.  So I wanted to possibly give some cute little cards to a few people, but again this is a little late so making something super elaborate wouldn’t work.  But I also didn’t want to just buy a box cards in a store.

Then I thought of mazes.

Many of you already know that I draw mazes and post them on my maze blog.  Last Christmas I made a cute maze to liven up gift cards, so why not make a little something for Valentine’s Day too?  Which means…

Maze Valentines!

I made a cute set of mazes to give out to special people.  And just like with the gift card maze, I made them available to all. 

You can find the download link here on my maze blog.  Feel free to print them and give them away or use them to decorate you gifts.  Get creative, and please share your creations with me.

Here’s the updated list:

• coats
• hearts
• organize
• blouse
• outfit

One down, four more to go.  Look forward to the next project.

Give it a try:

• Recollections® Cardstock Paper Value Pack

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And We’re Back…With Some Fun Stuff

The blogging hiatus (with some exceptions) has officially ended.  I have returned and brought a few gifts with me.

First up, I mentioned before that I wanted to take time to work on a few personal projects among other things (see Special Announcement or What to Expect).  One of those projects was these…

…Paper Dolls!

I got the idea while looking through some of my old dress designs.  Two things I noticed.  First is that I actually enjoy drawing clothes just as much as making them.  Second is that over time I’ve slowly improved at drawing clothing.  I’d show examples of that except my earlier designs are just too embarrassing to be seen.

Anyway, I got the idea to try drawing dolls since then I could draw clothes for them to wear.  I made three sets to start.  Feel free to print them out and enjoy.  I opted not to color them or finish their faces, I figured it would make them more fun to play with that way.

The first set is baby girl, I guess she’s more of a toddler though.  For clothes she has a sundress with hat and sandals, a nicer dress with shoes and hair bow, and a play outfit with hat and shoes.  The play outfit is inspired by the anime Cardcaptor Sakura.  One of Sakura’s more casual/normal outfits to be exact. 

The second is a cat just for the heck of it.  For clothes she has a sweet dress with a flower hair corsage, an unusual set with puffy shorts and a hat, and a knit sweater with matching hat and skirt.  For some reason I felt the need to make at least one sweater-y looking outfit for each doll, even the one with fur.

And then there’s this short haired girl.  For clothes she has a pleated skirt and turtle neck outfit, a sort of wrap dress, and a v-neck top with jeans and sandals.  The turtle neck outfit was actually inspired by Thelma from Scooby Doo. 

If you would like larger images of these dolls, you can download them here.

Now for something else fun.  If you follow my maze blog, you would know that it has been a looooong time since I posted a new maze (like a year).  This is mainly due to the lack of a working scanner.  Well seeing as I was able to upload these hand drawn paper dolls it comes as no surprise that I now have a fully operational scanner at my disposal.  

So when you finish having your fun with these dolls, you can hop on over to my maze blog and a enjoy solving some fresh mazes.

There’s still more fun to come.  There are so many things that happened while I was gone that I want to share so the next few posts will catching up posts.  Look forward to them.

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Pretty in Pink

I said I would finish the list Saturday.  It may be a little later than I wanted, but it is definitely finished on this day.

Remember this Bratz doll.  I got her at a rummage sale ages ago.  She was a bit dusty, hair badly tangled, and had no clothes at all as to be expected.  You almost never see old fashion dolls with clothes.  I took care of all that though.

Here’s the new and improved look.  Sorry about the photo quality, having camera issues again.  I cleaned her up and combed out her hair.  I put it in a pony tail and divided it up into smaller buns, it’s the only way I know how to make a pretty updo.  The curls by her ears were done by wrapping them around fabric strips then pouring boiling water on them.  The dress is made from cotton scraps from a dress I made along with scraps of lace.  I used the same lace for the necklace and cut little bits for earrings with straight pins to stick them in the ears.  That’s a trick I learned from my mom, she used to do that with her Barbie dolls when she was little.  Overall, the doll looks pretty good.  My niece says she looks like Cinderella.  In pink?  Maybe.

I forgot to take a before photo of this shirt.  It was found in the freebie bin of a small thrift store near us.  It was too long and a little boring except for the color.  I cut the bottom off a couple of inches and hemmed it, and cut the collar too.  It seemed too pointy and I have always wanted to try making cute curvy collars.  I then added some elastic to the sleeves and some lace on the collar and down the front.  I’m not sure if there’s much of an improvement to the shirt, but at least I was able to get some good practice out of it.  Not bad for a freebie.

I have a bunch of scraps of fleece that I’ve been trying to get used up and while thinking of uses I thought, “hearts? why not?”  So here’s a bunch of them.

Then I thought, “why not do something so I can share them?”  So I added pin backs and made these simple heart pins.  Perfect for Valentine’s Day.

Here’s the updated list:

• Pretty up gloves
• Ribbon headband
• Doll makeover
• Pearl headband
• Hair bows
• Pouches
• Alter shirt
• Yellow dress
• Hearts

Nine down and out, and before the end of the month too.  Now I just have to finish packing.

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2011

A new year means new beginnings.  It also means you need a new calendar.  So I complied a list of free printable calendars that I love so much.  I can’t decide between though.  Anyway, enjoy them.

• Hello Kitty – Cute Sanrio calendars for free, but they only have one month at a time.  You’d have to go back at the end of each month.
• Kawaii Mini Calendar – Name says it all.
• Owl Lover Calendar – Custom made printable calendar with tons of cute owl illustrations.  They also have a premade one to download if you’re in a hurry.
• Bookmarks with Calendar – Every book lover needs a bookmark with a calendar printed on it.
• Reindeer Boy? – Seems a little odd, but they sure are cute.
• Pocket Calendar – A super cute cat calendar that goes everywhere.

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Detangled

The other day I found the cutest thing for organizing embroidery thread.  Perfect for those who are actually good at embroidery, basically everyone but me.  How About Orange now has these adorable cards you can download and print to store your thread.  Keeps thing neat and tangle-free while you enjoy your new cuter craft space.  I wonder if they would work for other things, like ribbon and lace scraps, mine all always a mess when I try to find them.  I think they would also make cute stickers or labels for gifts, something like that.  It’s a gift that keeps on giving. 

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Reading if for Everybody

I recently finished a great book, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. It is amazing how older works of fiction can appeal to audiences today.  I got an eBook of it from Project Gutenberg.  It’s a site full of free electronic copies of public domain works.  All the classics are there, not to mention a few books you’ve never heard of.  I found war-era cook books there.

Anyway, Northanger Abbey is about a young heroine who doesn’t embody to usual qualities of an heroine and her coming out into society.  She makes and loses friends, falls in love, gets her heart broken and saves face, and of course at the end she marries her true loves despite a few “problems”.  I found it sweet at many points and amusing.  Hopefully you will think so too.

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Some Help From a Little Fairy

Ever had trouble finding the perfect image for your latest project or whatever, I found the perfect blog for you.  *The Graphics Fairy* is this really cool blog that shows a different piece of free vintage clipart every single day.  That’s where I got this cute typewriter, in case it wasn’t completely obvious.  There are also tutorials using the clip art and showcases of projects other readers have made, just the inspiration you to need to get your fingers moving.  Also a great way to promote yourself, projects featured are linked to the creators’ blogs.

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Ancient Discoveries

I went to the natural history museum yesterday since it was free that day.  I go often actually so I know it pretty well.  I was looking at a map to find a specific gallery, apparently they moved Elvis the alligator to a better spot and he loves it.  I’ve never seen him look so alive.  Anyway I noticed something on the map I hadn’t before, the rooftop terrace.  I checked it out.

It isn’t the most impressive terrace I’ve ever seen, but the view is fantastic.  It’s nice sometimes, when you go to a familiar spot and discover something new and fantastic. 

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