Newest stuff

My newest projects! The first is a crocheted lion , Lenard. I put a rattle in him so he makes such a cute baby toy :) I love him so much I think I might just have to make more of him!

The next is a rectangular pillow made from Crepe Satin and cotton. I hand painted the sparrow and the name then hand beaded them. This particular pillow is a Christmas present for a cousin but I have this one on my etsy shop as a customized item. I am very excited about this one because I LOVE pillows and beadwork!

I made some invitation too. Tea parties are a big deal right now- I've always loved them, the elegant dresses and hats. The amazing food. A warm beverage. Great company. You just can't beat it! I had a tea party fo rmy birthday this year and it was seriously the best!

These are also on my etsy shop.

week thirty-six

For my last hurrah...

I made another Frog hat.. I know you all have seen it before, but I made it for one of my friends that I haven't seen since I graduated High School. It was such an awesome day to go to her baby shower and catch up. I had to leave early though so I could make it for another [family] event so after we returned home, got the kids to bed my sweet hubby told me to go back and hang out... we talked [ate more of the yummy cake] until almost 4 am... ? or was it only 2 or 3? I can't seem to remember. Time flies.

See you all next year, where I'm sure I'll come up with some other crazy idea for a challenge for myself.

week 36:complete

#projects: 1

weeks to go: DONE!!!!

cumulative project count:63

week thirty-five

THE RUSH FOR CHRISTMAS!!!
Sooooo.... all of the projects that were started weeks ago.. and some this week... are FINALLY FINISHED! whew!



So here they are:




A crocheted hat with brim for one of my older sisters. She loves hats and accessories so it was kinda an easy thing more me to make with her in mind. I know I made them from Christmas colors and she wont be able to wear it for too long this year, but next year and so on, she'll already have a hat! :) I originally was making her a hand bag, and it would have totally ROCKED!! but my 2 year old son decided to abscond with the main element [of which] the whole design was hinged on... so the hat was a last ditch effort to have a present [not an IOU ] to give to my sister.




My oldest niece likes scarves but is really a picky kind of girl. I spent hours searching for a fabric that would be perfect.... I found this flowy sheer animal print and knew right away that it was the one! I made a flower clip with beads in the center to either use in her hair or to clip onto the scarf as an accent. love it!



For a cousin [on my hubby's side] who is 12 and I'm not sure I could make anything that he is really that impressed with. But thought that a hat would be a nice warm fuzzy gift :) I made it out our fleece and added a little bit of detail to [an otherwise] boring hat.




My cousin [who I don't see very often] loves skulls and crossbones and motorcycle stuff. I saw this fleece and knew it was for him. I made him a beanie that would be warm :) his mom tried to steal it from him, as did almost everyone else at the party. I think it was a hit!



A fluffy, warm scarf for my aunt who lives in London. I have to admit though, I did not make this scarf. My hubby did!!! what a man! I was so stressed [and trying to "enjoy" the holidays] and he offered to help in any way he possibly could. Normally I asked him to play with the kids.. [a real chore, right? esp since he loves to play with them] Then I asked him to make a few things, this being one of them. I would have asked him to help with more things [making that is..] but I seem to be such a control freak when it comes to handmade gifts that I couldn't [or really didn't want to] find things for him to help with. Yeah, looks like I just gotta let go sometimes!





This small neck cowl is for one of my hubby's cousins. She live in Utah, bbrrrr, so instead of a scarf, I thought a cowl would be very appropriate and lovely. I almost kept it for myself!!


Now for the project [of which I am supremely excited about and just love love love!] I made this for my hubby's cousin's wife.. I wanted to make something classy for her and I don't know her very well [even though I helped hubby's cousin "get the girl" ] and this is what I came up with. I used left over satin [from my Christmas dress, which is going to end up a valentines day dress or mother's day or Easter..... sad, i know but somethings just get pushed of..ya know?!] and I hand painted the bird on in white, hand-sewed the glass seed beads and added my Hey Sharky! label on the bottom back corner. I hope she loves it [half] as much as I do!
{*update- she didn't show up at Christmas too bad. :( so this is her present for next year if she shows up, if not it's going to her mom-in-law !}

Last, but certainly not least.... A dress for my cousin's kid. I thought I took some other pics of this dress right after I made it, but can't seem to find them. So [for now] this is what ya git. He doesn't know the first thing about girly stuff, so I made this cute dress, with a girly skull and crossbones in the bottom corner. He loved it and I'm sure she did too :)







I made a few more gifts, a scrapbooked DVD case set with 1,000s of photos on cd for my sister in law....a BBQ set for the father in law, apron and all ......and a few more things that in the rush of things I thought I took pictures, but apparently did not. Or I just lost them.. or.. or.. or..

What an exhausting week this has been. But also so rewarding! I'm glad to be done with the sweatshop, but sad that Christmas is over and I didn't celebrate it as I really wanted to. This year was better than last, and next will surely be better as well. {esp since I am already starting on projects to put in the gift bin for next year!! Call me crazy but I love making our gifts {its not really about saving money because most of the time I don't.. it's about the from the heart touch that a homemade gift brings}



Happy crafting! And see YOU next year!

week 35: complete
# projects: 11
weeks to go: 1
cumulative project count: 62

week thirty-three

The mad rush to get all the Christmas presents done!!! I seriously thought we had more than half our list left, when in reality we had WAY LESS!!! So yeah for us! I did put my hubby to work making a few of the presents and he did an awesome job. I don't think I will be adding them to my total because - well- let's be honest.. I didn't make them so it doesn't count. the projects in this entry are going to my husband's sister and her family. we hope they love them because we spent a lot of time thinking of what to do and coming up with [what we think] are the perfect gifts. :)

For their daughter: a headband, crocheted with a flower and a head/ear warmer with pom poms. These are such a cute accessory! So many of my friends have them for their daughters, I just couldn't leave our niece out!! [a special thanks to my son who modeled the headband/ear warmer for me.. he had a fun time doing it and was such a great model]

For their son Jr. I made a travel mat for him to play and store his cars. Xander wanted it so badly and I promised that I'd make one for him after Christmas. He helped me pain the "beep" . It was nice to include him in the making of the presents.

For his sister I made a beanie with a brim. I absolutely love this yarn! She's not very girlie so I left off my usual details of a flower or buttons. Simple and sweet.

For my sis-in-law's hubby: a basic beanie. Again I LOVE this yarn!

week 33: complete

# projects:4

weeks to go: 3

cumulative project count: 51

week thirty-two

OK so i don't know how to count.....

there were 36 weeks when i started this challenge.. and so that would put me ending on 31 December 2010. So instead of going back through all my posts and changing them [very time consuming, and who really has the time?] I'm starting from this one and correcting them.. after-all, i only have a few weeks left.. I CAN SEE THE FINISH LINE!!

This week I made a sock monkey hat for a friend. She wanted to give ti to her granddaughter so I added a bow. I know you are probably thinking you have seen this one before... but is as a different version of it and its what I did this week :)

week 32: complete

# projects: 1

weeks to go: 4

cumulative project count: 47

week thirty

Harry Potter Scarf & Head Band

A friend of mine was attending the midnight showing of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1". {whew!} So she asked me to make her a scarf for the occasion. I took to it right away {of course after an intense shopping trip to Micheal's - in which i had to avoid purchasing everything on sale! It did take me longer than anticipated [bummer because I wanted to get something else done too....] But it turned out very well and I even made her a head band.. every girl needs a head band to accessorize!

week 30: complete
# projects: 1
weeks to go:6
cumulative project count: 45

week twenty-nine

Sock Monkey Hat for Xander & a new born Santa Hat

This week I finished Xander's Sock Monkey Hat to match his Sock Monkey. We were supposed to make a run to Home Depot... but xander INSISTED that I finish his hat. Now normally I don't give into the whims.. or demands of a 2 year old.. but let's be honest, I wanted to show off what I had been working soo hard on this week. And wouldn't ya know it.......... people noticed it!! I even got a few orders for one! It pays to have your kids advertise for you, right?! I was just too pleased with how it came out. Xander even let me photograph him. Most times he's up for pictures of Xander... but lately who knows.. the changing times of a 2 year old....

This time HE reminded ME that I had to take pictures.. apparently I've been making a lot of things and photographing them- I usually ask for his help so the process goes faster [instead of trying to keep him away]. This "photo session" was a blast! Xander is such a silly and inventive kid! love it!!

{I asked him to show me his hat and this is what I got}

{I have no clue what he was doing here, but kept moving his has back and forth like this LOL!}

{This is his "show me your smile!"}

Cameron also phoned me this week while at work an had an order for me. It was a RUSH order and had to be done within a few days.... so I JUMPED on it! I have a few other orders that I was working on so I really felt the pressure to crank this out and get it delivered. [esp since this week was his last at work until after the new year!]

A co-worker wanted a Santa Hat as a gift for a newborn baby. I single crocheted it and {MAN}! that took a long time! half doubles for me next time! Here is the little hat:

week 29: complete

# projects: 2

weeks to go: 3

cumulative project count: 44

week twenty-eight

More crochet hats!!! A friend of mine asked if I wanted to make and display some of my hat sin her cradt booth at a craft fair. So I got to work! I even added them to my etsy shop! http://www.etsy.com/shop/HeySharky?ref=pr_profile

Here's what I came up with this week:

Scarlet:

Blanco

Monkey business:

week 28: complete

# projects: 3

weeks to go: 4

cumulative project count: 41

week twenty-seven

This week I really wanted to have some props to have our newborn wear at his first photoshoot :) Since it was close to Halloween, I made a pumpkin hat. I also made a froggie hat. I also saw this beautiful flower and just HAD to make it! I don't remember where I saw it, but now its mine!! so excited!!

week 27: complete

# projects: 3

weeks to go: 5

cumulative project count: 39

week twenty-two

Leg Warmers!
One of my sisters needed to get her hands on some legwarmers for a dance- 80's workout themed... she was attending this week. Since they are a little hard to find.. and I had nothing to do [hahahhaa] this week, I offered to make some for her. Our baby is due any day so the thrill of 'besting the clock' kept my mind off counting the days and hours till D-day. It just so happens that our son was born 25 sept.... the day I was supposed to post this entry. He and his brother are my greatest creations yet!

[sister is a slacker and hasn't gotten me pics yet... pics to come soon!]

week 22: complete
# projects: 1
weeks to go: 10
cumulative project count: 30

week nineteen

SOCK MONKEY!!!!!!! I absolutely love vintage things and have been wanting to make a sock monkey foreeevvver... so a friend of mine helped me figure out the pattern [which I still modified] and this is what I came up with. It's my first one, and I think it turned out pretty decent. It is a Christmas gift for my son so I need to hide it now. But he saw it this am before I could hide it and he just loves it! That is all that matters, right?
[and yes, I haven't put on the eyes yet.... ]

Week nineteen: complete

# Projects: 1

Weeks to go: 14

Cumulative project count: 27