What I {Will Catch You Up} On Today

It's been a while.

I'm sorry.

Here goes...

So as I have been whining about for several weeks rachel did. was at its first craft show!

A while back I mentioned some thrift store shopping I had done and some of the great things I found.

You may remember these?

Well I had to make them a little more rachel did.

So here's what I did...

Pulled out the thingies

Shook up the paint

And started painting

And then it was time for the show.  

There was a contest for best display.

I didn't win.

But if you ask me

I was robbed!

But I may be a little biased...

I even made little tags.  Don't they look profesh???

This picture literally stopped people in their tracks.  I actually think Mia was the most successful person at the craft show.  Her head probably grew two sizes with all the compliments she got.

Michelle came up with the idea for the pom pom flowers

They're my favesies.

And really easy to make!

We found these things called Thickers for the lettering

Perfect!

So overall I'd say the show was a success.  I learned a few things, met some cool people, and got some really positive feedback.   I won't do another until the fall cause baby hats will most likely sell better then.  And frankly, I'm a little tired of making stuff! 

I think I have crochet elbow.

I will have a bunch of new stuff in the shop very soon so be on the lookout!

Post Script- I forgot to mention the obscene amounts of rain we had on Saturday.  So that kinda stunk.  

Oh and James of course brought his video camera...

Oh and in cuteness news Mia figured out how to clap! Enjoy.

Yeah yeah yeah... I forgot to turn the camera...it was a moment! No time for thinking!  And I have no idea how this outfit happened.  It just did.
 onesie by Aunt Manda
headband by blueeyedfreckle
"belt" by Me

What I {Thought You Might Want To See} Today

I promise I talk about other things besides Mia.

It's just that we spend a lot of time together.

Probably too much...

Mia has been starring in a series of videos.  

"A day in the life of" kind of thing.

I suppose you get to see what my day is like as well!

In the most recent one you get to see me work on the poles I found for the craft show display.

Speaking of craft show display... The craft show is THIS WEEKEND!

I'm a little overwhelmed by how much stuff I had to make.  

I feel like a robot.

  

And as Mia's book tells me, "R is for robot who walks, talks, and beeps"

Well beep, beep, beep.

Hopefully it all goes well. 

Hopefully you will be there!

So anyways back to the videos...

 

Post Script: I should mention of course that James Futch is the creator of these videos.  He is now offering "A day in the life of" videos as a service.  So if you have a baby or know a baby he could make a video for you too!

What I {Should Mention} Today

Well my sister Amanda made it safely back to Germany.

She even made it through customs with 100 lbs worth of baby gear.

She and Philipp went to the doctor...

It's a GIRL!!!

Frankly I'm relieved.

I don't know how to make a lot of stuff for boys.

And I have a lot more pink materials to work with.

So yay girls!

She already started requesting stuff for me to make for little Baby Laum.

The first thing on her list was a pair of crocheted booties.

I should mention that I have attempted to make booties before.

I needle felted these.  I've never tried to make them again.  I should.

It all started with a pair of shoes Mia was given. They were cute but were missing a lil somethin somethin

So I added a lotta somethin somethin...

Ahhh that's better.

So I was lookin at them and thought to myself, "I bet I could figure out how to make those."

I do that a lot now.  Now that I've embraced my crafty side I have a desire to deconstruct everything I see and figure out how I can make it myself.  I also have a strong urge to embellish everything I own now.  I'm working on my self control.

Anyways, I attempted to make some myself.  The results were...interesting...

Someone told me they look like dinner rolls.

Not exactly the look I was going for.

So then I tried to make one for the other foot...

Yeah it looks ok right?

WRONG

Yeeeaaahh...

I can't even make dinner rolls that are the same size!

So those are a work in progress. 

It has recently come to my attention that I should mention

THIS IS NOT MY BABY

It's not that I don't love this baby.

Cause I do.

And I suppose if I were forced to claim a baby as my own I would most likely choose this baby.

But the fact remains that this is my niece.

Cute, but not my baby.

What I {Brought To Life} Today

There was a vision.

It was unexpected and brilliant.

It was a vision of a new kind of hat.  

A hat for any baby.  

Regardless of gender. (But preferably for boys cause I don't make enough stuff for boys)

A vision that brings us back to our roots.

Our pre-historic roots.

It was...

THE DINOSAUR!!!

So Michelle's friend, Amy, was like, "Rachel should make a mohawk hat!"

Then Michelle was like, "Ooh or a dinosaur hat!"

So she came to me and was like, "You should make a dinosaur hat."

And I was like, "Good idea!"

And she was like, "Get on it!"

And I was like, "Ok."

That's pretty much verbatim...

Today I brought that vision to life.

Several of you have asked me about needle felting and it's really hard to explain so I tried to take some pictures of the process today.

So I start off with some yarn

Can you spy the Chu???

And a crochet hook

Several stitches later...

Then I grab some wool roving

Color match!

Next I grab my felting needle

The fact that it's pink was just a bonus

If you look really close you can kinda see the barbed-ness of the needle.  That's what makes it "felt" the fibers together

I grab a wad of roving and plop it on my foam pad

Then you basically just stab it with the needle

several jabs later

There's this

Too thin! Need more roving!

Action shot

Layer it on top of what I have and start the jabbing again.

One handed crafting is hard

In addition to jabbing, you have to flip.  If you don't flip you will have a lovely piece of felt appliqued to a styrofoam block. Jab, jab, jab.  Flip, flip flip.

Now the shape is coming together.  But its a little too wild.  At this point I take it in my hands and rub them together. The friction smooths everything out.  I couldn't photograph that part.  Trust me I tried.

repeat, repeat, repeat

The babeh was napping at this point and I needed a model for placement. So I grabbed the next best thing.

Perfect!

Place the felting 

I should get real pins

 

excellent!

Remove from the model and jab, jab, jab

It's working

Ta daaa! Too bad the babeh was napping...

Just kidding! I wouldn't dare deny you the vision of Mia in this hat!

I think she likes it.

Oh man

 

Yup.  I'm gonna have to make more of these.

I've got to start making more boy friendly things. Any ideas???

Post Script: Mia got the model I used for Valentine's Day from her Mimi.  Here it is in action...

I'm not sure what they talk about but it seems pretty intimate.