crafty mcgee

Hurrah! Or, more crafting on the way

I haven't fallen off the planet yet! I'm working on a couple of Halloween-type projects (I know, it's only a week away), doing lots of knitting (more about that later), gardening (great weather), and to top it all off, works been really busy, so I've been needing more veg time in the evening. Good thing I thrive under pressure! But first of all, look what arrived in the mail today:

This stunning selection of bird ATCs from Kristen's swap. The artists from the top left are Michelle, non blogger Jaci (the rest of the set can be seen here), Mimi, Theresa, Dorie , and one from Kristen herself!  I couldn't be happier with them, they are all so beautiful! Thank you Kristen!

Knitting? Well I spent most of the weekend on a design project that I may be able to show in the future.  It was the first pattern I ever made myself. Yay for learning new things - it came out really well. Also, I am trying to knit a couple of sweaters and a hooded scarf in time from my Thanksgiving trip to New York City, so I can be both fashionable and warm. Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, my brother's show, will have a float in the Macy's parade this year! So we are all going back to see it in person, and I'm hoping to hook up with some friends from school. Then we are going to PA to visit family (like my cousin Diane). I am so looking forward to this trip!

I also gocco'd up my Halloween cards. They didn't shrink for the blog so well, but they are my first registration prints ever! I cut a few them down into ATC-size pieces for Amy's swap. I am especially fond of the squirrel of doom in the second card. So you see why I haven't had time to post!

Family time, and a cowbunny

OK, the cowbunny first, 'cause I'm sure you're wondering:

 

The back-tack package for me, from Michelle at greetingarts. All of the wonderful stuff in this picture. I especially love the embroidered buttons (the R on the right is the tail), and the yo-yo hat. I had just added "white embroidery floss" to my shopping list on the morning this arrived - and got to cross it off again!

It was an excellent mail day - these arrived in the post the same day from my cousin Diane. Now, she has never been especially artsy before, but now she's making dolls, selling her drawings on ebay, and even has a blog! Go Di! I bought the blond girl because it looked like her (yes, we have one blue-eyed blond in our dark curly-haired family), and she sent me the tomato fairy as an extra. I'm amazed! The little dolly in the close-up is my favorite. I'm so happy to have found her again! Not that she was ever really lost - I've always known exactly were she was - but you know how cousins can drift apart...but not anymore! Di actually found me through my sister-in-law Lauren, who is part two of the family corner. Fans of Lauren's "Milky Way and the Galaxy Girls" (some of which can be seen here, here, here, and here will be very happy to know that she's gone into production with the dolls, and has also started a blog called The Solar Sisterhood to document the process! Anyway, Di saw Lauren's blog, knew who she was, and asked Lauren to contact me and my branch of the family. The internet sure can be great!

amazing mail

Here is the amazing April Coloriffic Swaporama package I received from Witchie in Portugal. I think the amazing fabric might actually work in my pony quilt*, especially the 70's pattern on the bottom. She made the super soft scarf (in one of my favorite colors) and the sweet little amirigumi turtle.  The CD is African Christmas music that her family listens to every year! Very exciting stuff. These beauties arrived the day before Easter:

They are from (left to right - top row first): Vesna, Priscilla, Sofia, Cathy and Megan  - all part of Amy's Spring ATC swap. I love 'em all.

*Yes, I am still working on the pony quilt, but I completely changed the design at the last second before I cut the fabric. To push myself along a little faster, I hereby declare that I will finish it by the summer solstice. Gulp.

spring, part 2

Here's the other project I was alluding to in my last post - my "Spring" ATCs for Amy's swap. I used my gocco background, drew the animals, put a fancy little floral stitch around the edge with my sewing machine, and added a few flowers from dimensional origami paper. This will be another great one - as you can see from the examples here and here.

Here's the page from my sketchbook that I scanned the animals from. A lot of folks mentioned in the comments that my "Illustration Friday" picture looked like fabric. Which, like most things do, got me thinking. I could make some "Barnyard Fowl" fabric with the chicks and the ducks, or maybe a "Woodland Spring"  with the deer. What do you guys think?

march mail madness!

I mean that it a great and happy madness sort of way. First up is an amazing swap package from Snowbear! There was so much in it it will take three pictures - first and second:

 

A bunch of gardening goodies - including gloves, which I needed! Also some sweet Sally Mavor cards (I love her stuff), and a couple of tiny elves. THEN, a j otto book that I didn't have, and some little Japanese crafty goodies in  a little pouch, and finally, the extra special stuff, a whole mini collection of Theresa's own work!

Two beautiful ATC's, cards, books, a sticker, a little hatu heart, and a CD that looks amazing - am going to listen to it all the way through this weekend. Thanks again, Snowbear - I am completely bowled over by your generosity!

My green coloriffic swap-o-rama arrived from Maria Rapaz in Portugal! I especially love the little stuffed kitty magnet, and the pen/needle case which had a couple of cool marker-type pens. The incense smells just like cut grass! Great stuff!

Blair sent along one of her pretty flower pins! She's got a good tutorial for them on her site - check it out! One more thing:

A sweet embroidered card from Sue Cranston. She says she's a new blogger, but I couldn't find anything with her site address. So Sue, if you're reading this, send your link along!

Whew, you see why I'm feeling a little giddy!

 

feelings...

Frustration. You know you have a problem when just three days without the internet leaves you climbing the walls. After going around the world with Earthlink (one evening, I spoke to nice people in the Philippines, India, and northern Africa all in one phone call) - they traced it to my faulty modem. So now I'm using (gulp) dial-up until my new high speed modem arrives. If that weren't enough, my Olympic knitting is not going well. I've started the dang thing over three times now! (Artwork by the wonderfully goofy Glen Baxter, with minor embellishment by me.)

Aggravation. I misplaced some documents that had both my checking account and social security numbers on them. I had to close my checking account and reopen a new one. I had almost every bill I pay linked to that account, and no internet to change my info. (Artwork by the legendary Maurice Sendak.)

 

Pain. I pulled a hamstring a couple of weeks ago, and thought it had healed. I found out I was very, very wrong when running for a bus the other night. Now I think I've got a full-on tear, and am hobbling about on one and a half legs. I hope whatever Olympic knitting judges who may be watching realize that knitting lace with your leg propped up with an ice pack adds greatly to the degree of difficulty! (Artwork - slightly modified - by animator and brother extraordinaire Craig McCracken.)

Yeesh - what a week! Still, there was one bright spot:

Delight. Arriving very appropriately on Valentine's Day was this wonderful package from Amy's ATC swap. They are all truly beautiful!! Thanks so much Amy for putting this together! (Artwork by -from left - Mimi Kirchner - yay!, Elizabeth Meredith, Vesna Radivojevic, Katherine Bolinger, and Lain Ehmann).

I've got lots of stuff I'm working on, so I'll be back next week (hopefully) up to speed!

I've got mail!

My apologies if this post seems slightly rambling, I'm just a tad distracted these days! I had originally intended to write about my new books & magazines from amazon.co.jp, but I've got so many other wonderful things in the last few days I just have to mention them.
I placed my amazon japan order through the very nice Kumi at atielier JADE. Not only does she have a forwarding service for Japanese goods, she has her own small shop. I ordered this wonderful fabric and ribbon from her. Then I did a swap with Kelly at buzzville for one of the deer she got from Japan. Not only was she kind enough to let me defer my swappage until after the holidays, she sent some extra goodies! Cookies, origami paper, some wonderful fabric and rick rack! I was just thinking I needed some of that. My secret pal sent me some chocolate with great packaging. And then there are the Christmas ornaments! One of Blair's lovely little sweaters, and a yeti from Maitreya. Soon, one of Lyn's incredible little trees will be joining the gang. One year, I hope to have this tree overfilled with wonderful craftiness! (Sorry, this picture doesn't pop up, too blurry) But what's that at the top of the tree, you ask? It's a gorgeous antimacassar hand from the one and only Lady Linoleum. My gourd goblin Chad  went off to sunny So Cal to further his film career in exchange for this wonderful piece, which will definitely be displayed year round. So thank you, thank you, thank you Kumi, Kelly, Blair, Lyn, Maitreya, secret pal and Regina! I hope you all have the best Christmas ever!

october sampler, and other good mail

My very first Sampler arrived yesterday, filled with goodness.
 

1) two great cards, a bee from heart tattoo, and a Halloween spider from sugar lily (I haven't checked out the whole site yet, but the Halloween kitty octopus on the front page is great); 2) a fall leaf pin from vic & dot (website coming soon), a cool pumpkin pin from eye candy zine, pretty flower earrings from tilting swiftly, star bobby pins from lauren urban, and a magnet (which I though was a pin until I opened it) from Whammy Industries; 3) a bead-and-ribbon bookmark from designed by RJ, and another sweet bookmark from sini puu; 4) magnets from one little monkey  (blue) and paper relics (orange magnet, great site), and some flower stickers from milkypop; 5) felt goodness: a mister roboto pin cushion from sveet couture (not a typo, it's sveet), a little bag from art Angel, a really cute Halloween hanger from sewing stars (who also has a nice blog), and a patch from monster fashion (another web site in progress); finally, a great stitch marker from the knitting diva (who specializes in handmade glass knitting needles-eep!) and a whole vial of beads from blue and lou. Wow!! What a haul! The Sampler is such a great idea. I'm glad I signed up for 3 months. In other recently received mail:
   
Some ceramic charms from Earthenwood Studios that I plan to use for stitch markers, and a beautiful little print by artist Gregory Euclide from Tiny Showcase, a wonderful site which sells a different limited edition (50 prints) from a different artist every week for only $20, $5 of which goes to an organization of the artist's choice. Most of the prints sell out very quickly. I was lucky enough to get one of this week's prints from Katy Horan! Whoo hoo!!