SENT AND RECEIVED

I just finished putting the finishing touches on this cat I crocheted. It was gone in the mail a few minutes later to my partner in a Handmade Halloween Stuffie swap via Swap-bot. It was fun, but I think I am through with crocheting for awhile, except for a few more acorn amigurumis, maybe.
On the LEFT is the Halloween altered, filled matchbox that went off to my partner yesterday. I wish the photo would have turned out better. You can't see the details. I sent some extras too, including this skull eraser that I liked so much, I had to include in the photo. My partner likes faeries (fairies?), so I found a picture of faeries with a crow-drawn pumpkin wagon for the top.
The other matchbox is the one I received in the same swap. Cute, huh? The ghost is a foamie and with the grosgrain ribbon it is very textural. It is filled with a LOT of Halloween figural confetti, buttons, tiny collage elements, etc. Thanks, LauraM540!
In other swap news, I got a zine! and three vintage postcards from Nicole Introvert from a one-on-one swap tag today. The zine appears to be awesome and is long and crammed full of words and pictures. I am off to read it now. THANKS, Nicole!!!

CATCHING UP

It seems like forever since I blogged last. So this will be one of those short 'see the photos' posts.
My sister came to visit last weekend! YAY!!! I commemorated the occasion on a journal page. That's me on the left and her on the right. Don't you recognize us?
Here are Egglantine, Henrietta and Wynona enjoying some R&R. Their enclosure is a whole 'nother story, but I won't get into that.
This is my first amigurumi. I crocheted this 'acorn boy' about a week ago. Amigurumi are all the rage in the internet craft scene, so I did one to see how it would be....strangely alluring.
This cornucopia is for a Tussie Mussie swap. Filled and packaged, it went off to someone in Australia this morning. I enjoyed making it.

DOTEE DOLL

I finished this Dotee Doll (named for the idea creator) this evening. I joined a swap-bot swap to make and trade three Dotee Dolls with other crafters, but... I don't know. I am thinking of dropping out before the sign-up period ends. Sewing is not my thing, and I get very tired of it very quickly. Doing this one doll was about all I can handle, I think. And when I looked up 'Dotee Dolls' on Flicker, I liked all of the ones there better than the one I made. Not a good omen. The beading about blinded me, too. But I guess I'll give it a few more days before I pull the plug on the swap, in case I get a second wind with it or something. Now I wish I hadn't bought all those packs of beads, the different colors of felt for backing and the special beading needles, which turned out not to be any better than the regular needles I was using. Blah.

The row of red tatting across the doll's middle it the sum of Ashley's attempt at tatting years ago. I think she was about 7, maybe. At the time, we were big into quilting, and the kids and I were going to a 'quilting circle', I guess you'd call it, each week. One of the lady's mother-in-law came occassionally when she was visiting and she would tat. Ashley was interested and tried to learn from her, but couldn't get it very well. Neither could I.

CUPCAKE PURSE

I finished this today. I had started it, just because I wanted to try the pattern, but then a cupcake swap came along on Swap-Bot, so I joined, and this is probably what I will send my partner. It's a mid-sized purse - not too small and not too large. I like it.

COUNTING SHEEP: ONE!

Here's what I made today - a sheep for the Stuffie Starter Swap on Swap-Bot. I'd had it cut out for a few days, and had the yo-yos made, but today I sewed it all together and stuffed it. I made up the pattern and cut it out freehand, which in retrospect was probably not the wisest thing to do. It didn't turn out like I had envisioned it, but I think it's okay...

The computer problem is solved. Stewart emailed me (with a different account) today from Baghdad, and suggested one last thing to try, which I did, and thankfully it worked. I am so dependant on this computer it is ridiculous.

SWAPS, FINDS AND DISASTER

First of all, here is what came in the mail yesterday and today - a Halloween altered box from Gatorsmom and a pendant necklace from Classy Chica, both via Swap-Bot swaps. Thanks ladies! I appreciate them both. And in the last picture the two postcards - one from Copenhagen and other from Stockholm were from Felicia who has a blog and generously offered to send postcards during her European vacation to anyone commenting that they would like one. THANKS, Felicia!

Last night I realized that my driver's license had expired on my birthday, so as much as I hated to, I went to the DPS this afternoon and got it renewed...which turned out to be a whole lot easier than I thought it would. In order to bribe myself to get up and go do it, I decided to go to the Goodwill Store while I was in Beeville. Besides, inpired by the new tv show, Tim Gunn's Guide to Style, I had gone through my closet last night about 1a.m., and filled up a leaf and lawn bag with clothes I don't wear any more. So I took them in and bought this stuff instead.
I had been looking for an old-fashioned overnight case to alter for a long time. This one will be perfect. It's even got a big mirror in it....which as you can see, I didn't clean yet. Then I got two older hand-crocheted collars, for someone who likes old, frilly, lacey things, to go with a swap that I am putting together. Then there was this book - Old King William (KY) Homes and Families - a genealogy tome that I'll probably sell on eBay. Last was a single vintage dessert plate in a cute yellow, brown and white plaid pattern. Oh, and in back is a red plaid pillow sham that I got during my previous trip to Goodwill, to re-cover one of the dog beds.
Now for the disaster... This afternoon suddenly, I couldn't get into my Hotmail OR my Swap-Bot account! On Hotmail, I keep getting a message that says I have to have cookies enabled. On Swap-Bot it just plain doesn't recognize me...also a cookie issue, I'm sure. So I have gone through the 'normal' procedures for allowing cookies, and it is still set the way it was all along (to allow cookies)... I have restarted, run a scan, set, unset, set again and everything else I can think of, to no avail. If anyone has any ideas, please post them here in the comments.
So Jan and anyone else who emailed me, I am not getting your messages and I can't email you back. Swap-Bot people, if you are reading this, I have not dropped out, I just can't get into the site any more.

HALLOWEEN ALTERED BOX

I finished this project last night. It's for a swap on Swap-bot - the Halloween Altered Box Swap. My partner likes German Shepherds, Dobermans, Zetti style, sparkley, vintage, and things with her name on them. This was so much fun to make. I am loving Swap-Bot!
The first photo is the box lid and the inside bottom.
The second photo is the inside top and the box bottom.
next up will be the beginner's stuffed animal swap. I cut out my totally made up free-hand pattern earlier this morning. Photos to follow in a day or two.
I still have the second pinata on my mind. My first plan of construction didn't work, so I am moving on to Plan B...but I have to get the right size box before I can begin. More on that to follow, also.

HENRIETTA, EGLANTINE AND WYNONA

Meet Bob the chicken man. I drove to the old Bluntzer community late this afternoon, and there he was with his chickens....and rabbits...and ducks...and doves...and who knows what all else. The only full grown chickens he had were Bantams, so I got pullets instead...which are half-grown hens. He had Rhode Island Reds, Black Lace Wyandottes, Auraconas and Silver something or others and maybe more that I don't remember. I got his only two Arauconas and a Black Lace Wyandotte for $3.50 each. I had sort of decided to get more than three, but he didn't take checks and I only had $10.50 on me. Poor planning on my part. After that, I went to a nearby feed store, which naturally does take checks, and got some chicken feed.
Then I brought them home and stashed them in the rabbit cage...uh, I mean the 'chicken house'. Unfortunately, the dogs were even twice as excited about all this than I thought they'd be. Wish me luck!

MATCHBOX ART

In addition to the pinata, I sent off this today for a Matchbox Swap. It's the first time I've decorated a matchbox, and actually had only heard of such a thing about a month ago. It was a lot of fun to do. The idea is to alter a matchbox to the swap theme or else to your partner's preferences, then fill it with things (tiny, naturally) that your partner will like. My partner for this one loves pink, black, geishas, kawaii and gothic lolita among other things. Who would have thought I could art it up to match ALL of those themes! I'm not into any of those things and I LOVE the look of this matchbox, so I hope she will too. I am really tempted to make one just like it for myself.

VIVA PINATA!

I finished my first pinata today. It's for a swap-bot swap. Here are the steps:
First, I made the frame. Luckily, Chuck bought Zach some boots right before school started and the funny wedge-shaped inserts to the 'pipe' (as in stovepipe), when squeezed together and taped made great head and neck shapes. For the body, I rolled a piece of posterboard, then made cuts all around each end and folded them inward. All of it taped together very well.
This looks like a huge mess, but it IS coming together. It's been strengthened and melded together by a number of layers of paper mache'. As it was big enough, and was going to be sort of difficult to box and mail as it was, I made flexible legs that could be bent and folded without damage. I used heavy black duct tape and taped over the body, down and back on itself, to form non-sticky legs. In this photo I have already started covering the nose and the ends of the legs with tissue paper. You can see how I cut the paper strips and then cut them into fringe.
I needed a way for the candy to get in and out without the person getting this actually having to smash the pinata. Most people in the swap wanted to save their pinatas to hang as decorations. So I made a little 'vent' that could be opened and closed discretely. It is in an unfortunate location, but by the nature of the base, it had to be on one end or the other, and I was afraid it would weaken the chest end that had to bear the weight of the neck and head. I hope the recipient doesn't mind. When it was finished, and all the fringed added, it was almost imperceptible.
More progress. Can you guess what it is, yet? Actually, it looks more like the animal I intended it to be at this stage rather than how it turned out to look in the end.
Finished! Garrett came over to bring us some bbq that he cooked, so I had him hold it up for a photo, even though he objected because he had been cooking and his shirt was dirty. Sheesh!
...and from a different angle, hanging on a cabinet nob. This was SO much fun to make. I have one more to make for a one-on-one pinata swap. But it's a swap for a smaller, simpler pinata. I'm going to try to start on that one tomorrow, while I have all the supplies out already.
QUESTION OF THE DAYIf you had to guess, what kind of animal would you say this pinata is? And please be honest. You won't hurt my feelings. And if you know what kind I was trying to make, don't tell. ;)