A LITTLE APRON OBSESSED

So after reading EllynAnne's Apron Book I'm a little obsessed with aprons. It used to be bags but I think I've moved on to aprons. Both are an accessory and both are a great outlet for my love of fun fabrics with really cool prints. Anyway... the book pictures a great apron made out of terry cloth material. Great for bathing a baby and allowing you to stay dry. I thought this was brilliant. I've seen a version of this on Martha Stewarts website. So I decided to make one as a gift for someone. I just used a towel I found at Target. It's a basic bib apron. I just used a full size bath towel and a wash cloth for a pocket. There was not a lot of cutting involved. I only cut off about 7inches off the bottom and the area around the arms and that was it. No hemming required because I used seam binding tape. I added the ribbon and buttons as a decorative detail. I also used 2 rectangular rings (close up shown) instead of tying the apron around your neck. I prefer not having to tie an apron around my neck. This has some weight to it and it's a lot easier to adjust at your shoulder than behind your head. Not only is this good for bathing a baby, but if you're like me I get soaked trying to bathe my dogs and this would work great.

TIE ONE ON!

Last week EllynAnne Geisels Apron Chronicles touring show opened up here at Hallmark. This traveling show conincides with the fun apron workshop I worked on a couple of weeks ago. The show, just like her books, displays aprons from all over and the stories behind them. We all wore our aprons, which are on display else where in the company, and had a lot of fun meeting and talking with EllynAnne. For an added treat the group of us involved with the workshop had lunch with her the next day, where she presented to us signed copies of her book Apron Chronicles: A Patchwork of American Recollections. It's always amazing to me to meet successful people explain their creative process and the stress of not having enough hours in the day to get everything done. It seems that consumes me as well. I guess us creative multi taskers all feel that way. It's just nice knowing I'm not the only crazy one.

LET THERE BE LIGHT!

I finally found a lamp for the corner of my studio. I was hoping to find a cool funky thrift lamp but had no luck. I went to Hobby Lobby to get some thread and found this. It's fun, it's pink and it was only $5.00!! Thanks Hobby Lobby! Apparently it's been on the shelf since 2005. I like to think it's been sitting there waiting for me. I didn't even know it was 5 bucks till I got to the register, I thought it was 20. It was originally 40. I would have never spent 40 for it. I love a bargain like that.

PRETAS

So I finished this guy this past weekend. This was the small commission I said I had to work on. Some may recognize him from my website. The tongue is new, I decided something was missing. He is part of a series that I started and may go back to, that have to do with devils of folklore and in mythology. This guy is Pretas. In Hindu mythology, the Pretas are the spirits of dead people that inhabit the realm of tortured spirits. These are the spirits that had committed wrongful deeds in a former life and have been committed to the circle of perepetual hunger. Some are said to animate dead bodies and inhabit graveyards. In total, there are 36 classes of Pretas, some only appearing as animated skeleton.

FOR THE BIRDS

I know the bird motif is everywhere right now and it's probably overdone but I just can't help but love them. Anytime I'm out shopping and I see something with a little bird on it I stop and contimplate do I really need this. Most of the time I don't buy but it makes me happy seeing them. I have bought quite a bit of bird themed items for my garden. You just can't pass up a pudgy little bird yard ornament. You should check out Ann Woods website. I love her little plush birds and want them all. How cute are the bride and groom birdies!
Two quicky projects I did this week were both bird themed and I didn't even realize it till I saw them sitting side by side on my counter. I was tired of my boring square pin cushion so I decided to make this bird. My first idea was a turtle but changed my mind. Maybe I'll do that some other time.
I also have been looking everywhere for a little bird charm for a necklace but have found nothing. So I made one. I was inspired by Adorn Magazines recent issue. There is a tutorial on making a necklace out of shrinky dinks. Duh, why didn't I think of that. The pieces they made for their necklace are much larger but still cute. I wanted something rather small. I'm pretty happy with the outcome. One good tip the magazine gave was to blow up whatever image you want as your shrinky dink to 180%. So if you want something that is 1"x1" as you final size blow that up 180% FYI you can send shrinky dink paper through your bubble jet printer. That's what I did. It works pretty well, it just takes a while for the ink to dry.
Maybe I'll try a little bird out of sculpy next.