Here is how the little owl needlebooks turned out. I used tiny beads for the eyes. (You can click on the photo to zoom, and don’t mind the purple mark on the right… that’s just some disappearing ink that hasn’t disappeared yet. Sometimes that stuff fades in seconds and sometimes it hangs around for awhile.)

So yesterday I decided to put aside my to-do list and instead,
worked on some random things that I just felt like doing.

In the morning I made good use of some small fabric scraps I’ve been saving.
I cut them into 1 1/4″ squares. In the future these will be part of more little quilts.

And in the afternoon I tackled my first Japanese sewing pattern. This is a little bag that I fell in love with almost a year ago. So cute! I’ve been meaning to give the “pattern” a try ever since. I say “pattern” because not only are the instructions all in Japanese, but this pattern didn’t even have much in the way of measurements. Some Japanese patterns give the measurements in centimeters, which is very helpful. But this one didn’t. So I was basically winging it on this one.

All-in-all I’m pretty happy with how my first attempt came out.
It’s not perfect, but now that I’ve done it, I know what to change on the next one.

When Josh saw it he started describing how he’d go about photographing it for the shop….. so I guess I’ll be making some of these in the future (??) He thinks I should make a little carrot coin purse to go with it…. I’ll have to add that to the long list of things on that to-do list of mine.

: )


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Now that I’m back to being “Frugal Jenn”,
I’ll show you a few things that I splurged on over the last couple weeks:

Isn’t this a lovely wrapping job?
What could be inside, little bird?

A button bouquet! From Lilfishstudios.
(She has a poppy bouquet in her shop right now – red and black, gorgeous!)

I bought this lovely necklace from deciduoussoul.
It is really pretty in person – the ribbon is such a nice touch.

And I bought “Lusty Lip Lush” from DressGreen and I love it!
I also got her grapefruit exfoliating scrub and it is wonderful.
It’s fun to use, smells great and really does leave my skin so soft.
I went back and got her moisturizer, too!

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Today I’m working on business card wallets and monster bath mitts….

….or was that monster card wallets and business bath mitts?

; )

….I call him “Terry” ; )

A little while ago I did a Martha’s Good Things Swap and my partner requested one of Martha’s simple bath mitts, made from a washcloth. I had so much fun making that bath mitt that I thought, surely there has to be a way to “cute this up” and make a fun item for little kids (and big kids, too!)

Originally I wanted to make dinosaurs, but after doing some sketching I quickly realized that dinosaurs don’t translate well into squarish, flat objects. Mainly because dinosaurs don’t have many facial features to play around with… at least not when it comes to a flat square of terrycloth.

So – dinosaurs “evolved” (haha) into cute monsters.
And Terry, here, is the first of the bunch. He is just a prototype for me to try some things out on, sewing-wise. I also tried using him as Martha suggests: putting a bar of soap inside to create a lather, and then I tossed him into the dryer – and as you can see, he took it all in great stride and is ready for another go!

The craftsmanship of the final versions will be better, of course. But I am very pleased with how this first little guy came together – especially the eyes, which are cracking me up right now. So now I will invest in some monster colored towels (which my husband informs me must be brown, green or purple) and get to work!

I also picked up a couple of these white washcloths with pale green trim…
…any guess what they may become?

Maybe if you think real hard, the answer may come to ewe ; )

In other news – my project tote “Sew Sew Monkey” sold today – yay!
It will be on it’s way to Michigan tomorrow morning.
I made three Sew Sew Monkey totes, so look for another in my shop soon.

Have a great day!