Stitch Lab Classes and General Craftiness

Lately, my favorite crafty treat is taking sewing classes at Stitch Lab. It is a super-cool fabric store and crafty school. The instructors are all cool ladies - very patient and knowledgeable. And I'm learning to make time to do crafty stuff just for fun and for ME. Another perk - getting to work through my ridiculous collection of fabric.

Here are some of the goodies that I have made this fall:

My "Monster" from a Plushy Doll class with Haley...


Baby Gift Sets with Haley...


Pouches and Mini-Wallets with Anne-Marie...


This is from my favorite class so far because it was on a subject I've been wanting to learn more about: Applique with Becky...






All this felt craftiness is getting to be an addictive habit! I was inspired to make a felt hair clip after I lost my favorite one a few weeks ago.



And here is a little peek at a tutorial I'm working on inspired by the Plushy Doll class. Hopefully I'll be all done and have the tutorial ready this weekend:

New Stuff in the Shop and a New Shop for Stuff

I want to offer my most sincere thanks to my readers - those of you who post comments (I love comments!) and those of you who stop by for quick visits. Your virtual presence means more to me than I can say with words!

I have exciting news! I have opened a new shop as a little division of Crab Apple Designs. The new shop is called Blue Cake and Buttercup, and is the new home for my vintage-y paper goods. That includes cards, journals, stickers, and whatever else I can dream up. More on Blue Cake and Buttercup later...

My established etsy shop, Crab Apple Designs, now is dedicated to sewn items. Right now, zipper pouches are being added to the shop every day. I'm delighted to have the chance to turn some of my design ideas into actual real-life goodies!

Here are some examples of what is happening behind-the-scenes:


Elsie*Cake's online class inspired me to experiment with embroidery, so the new batch of cupcake pouches have some embroidery elements.


The "lazy daisy" stitch and the "french knot" are easy and fun. Doodle Stitching by Aimee Ray has great instructions for embroidery stitches for beginners.



I love the look of a wide satin stitch when applying applique. My machine was being testy, and creating very puny stitches (see stitches in front of the presserfoot). I was not pleased. I decided to try oiling my machine (it's squeaky, too) and you can see the "after" results behind the presserfoot. Amazing difference! Still squeaking though. I've oiled every moving part, so I'm stumped about that.


The final results with improved oiled machine.


Mushroom appliques are a new addition to the shop. The exciting part about these is that they will have a lovely-adorable-super-cute wooden mushroom charm made by Babz of the famous Craftsty!

Her mushrooms are so perfect. Check out her shop! I love em' so much, that now with the purchase of one my mushroom pouches, you'll get one of her miniature mushrooms.



In other news, I have a snazzy new bag for myself now because a custom order came out too small...but it is the perfect size for me!

I'll keep you updated on the evolution of Blue Cake and Buttercup. Along with a new storefront, a new blog may be adopted - devoted to all things paper-goodness.

Meanwhile, future Crab Apple shop updates will include kitchen goodies - aprons, pot holders, bags, stuffies, and more.

xoxo melissa

Dessert Themed Zipper Pouches and a FREEBIE!

There are 2 new zipper pouches in the shop! One is a cake with a slice "removed" and the other is the classic cupcake.

The first person to buy a dessert zipper pouch will get an awesome freebie... this super-cute measuring tape I got in Portland:
Just mention that you read about the freebie offer on my blog when you check out. xxxooo

Today

This little drawing pretty much sums up my day. I'm so sad to be without my sewing machine, but it is getting a much-needed tune up and by the time it's ready, I'll have a VINYL ROLLER FOOT to whip out those vinyl pouches, yahoo! There's a stack of them ready to be stitched up and listed in the shop.

O.M.G. it is a nightmare figuring out how to get things professionally printed. It is totally blowing my mind.

I've been trying so very hard to get the resin pouring thing right. Everyone says it's so easy, but...maybe it's the climate here...they seem to either stay sticky or if not, something else goes wrong. I'm pretty happy with these babies, though. Once I figure out a safe way to polish them, they will be transformed to pendants and listed in the shop, too. NOTE the glow-in-the-dark glitter!! YES.

Before I took my machine to the doctor, I did some experimenting with creating appliques from sketches I did years ago. I am still learning how to get the stitching just right. I am so excited to make these a reality - zip pouches with giant yummy appliques. Did I mention I miss my machine?



Finally, yes, I am radioactive thanks to Iodine pill #1 to treat my thyroid cancer. For the next 10 days, I have to isolate myself...hmmm...not so hard for an obsessive full-time crafter! But let me tell you something: never take any hugs or doggie kisses or kitties in your face for granted! WAAHH! Okay, I'm fine now. Off to lay for an hour in a loud me-sized tube (edit: it wasn't loud) to have my body digitally sliced into a million bits. xxxooo

P.S. I want to make my own coloring book.