Mod Podge Shoes

Hi Everyone!

It's been a long time since I've posted in my Fuzzington blog.  That's because I've been busy being a new mom, and blogging about that.  I have taken a bit of a hiatus from pipe cleaner animals and sometimes I'm even too busy to craft!

To satisfy my crafting hunger a little, I've been surfing Pinterest a lot, especially while I'm nursing.  My little Audrey nurses about 8 times a day, and that's 8 times a day that I get to pin stuff on my boards.

However, yesterday, I found a rare window of time to do a DIY project that I've had on my list for a few weeks now.  Mod Podging an old pair of shoes! I first saw this idea on Pinterest at Lovemeagan.com.  I absolutely loved the houndstooth pattern! From her blog:

I also saw another version of how to do this with some old flats on Make it and Love It.  She did a reall cute job with hers as well:

So I decided to do a cross of the two and take an old pair of flats that I had and convert them to a houndstooth pattern too.  I wish I had taken before and after pictures, but I totally forgot.  What I started with were completely white shoes (so try to imagine).  I found the same houndstooth cloth at Joanns as the one in Meagan's tutorial.  Here is what I ended up with:

I love them! They're good as new! And I can't wait to wear them!! :)

My San Diego County Fair Entry - Old School Video Game Cross Stitch

Every year I try to enter something in the Competitive Exhibits at the San Diego County Fair.  In the past, I've entered the Photography competition and the general arts and crafts competition (with my little Fuzziingtons).  Generally my entries are very amateurish compared to the hardcore entrants (every year there are people that DOMINATE different categories) and I never expect to win, but it gives me an excuse to do something crafty, PLUS I get a free ticket to the fair out of it!

This year, I decided to try something new and enter the Needlepoint/Cross Stitch competition.  It gave me a new craft to try and learn.  I'm pretty new to cross-stitching, and in retrospect I had NO IDEA how long it would actually take me to complete my submission.  I have never worked so hard on something that ended up looking so simple.  I've estimated that I have spent at least 60 hours and made more than 10,000 stitches in this project. But in the end, I was pretty happy with how things turned out, all things considered.

I present to you, my Cross Stitch sampler entry for the San Diego County Fair 2011 Needlepoint and Sewing competitive exhibit!

This cross-stitch sampler is a tribute to the old school Atari video games that I played as a kid.  The three that are featured here are Pac-Man, Centipede, and Space Invaders.  I played these games endlessly on my Atari 5200 game system, and had so much fun with them.  Video games have since become such an elaborate and sophisticated experience-- sometimes I just yearn for the simplicity of an 8-bit video game with a joystick and one button! These games may seem old school, they never go out of style.

When I turned my entry in, the older ladies volunteering at the Fair gave my project an odd look.  That's right ladies, this isn't a traditional sampler with pretty flowers, animals, houses, and alphabets.  It's not traditional by any means.  If the judges' reactions to my piece is anything remotely close to the reactions of the ladies that took in my entry, then chances are I have zero chance of winning anything.  BUT, I know that some child of the 80's will stumble upon this during the fair, as they hang out in the Home and Hobby exhibit to enjoy the air conditioning in the exhibit hall. And when they see this they'll give it an approving nod in agreement, and that's all I'm really looking to get out of this. :)

Another Treasury! - "Not Weird.... Gifted"

My mother always told me that I'm "not weird, but gifted," and this fact has been confirmed by this Etsy treasury that maybeads created, which includes Henry the dinosaur.

Maybeads is a gifted glass artist, and she makes the sweetest handmade glass beads that you ever did see! Click here to check out her shop! I recently bought these adorable turtles from her:

So the next time you see my pipe cleaner animals, just remember that they're not weird, but gifted!! :)

Benson - The Morkie

Here is the first feature of NightLady's custom order: Benson the Morkie.

I have never heard of a "Morkie" until now. For those of you who are unfamiliar as well, a Morkie is a mix between a Yorkie and an Maltese, and look at the super cute result!!

Benson's nickname is "Hightower" because he's a little taller than his parents, so I made him taller as well! Look at those long legs! :)

Custom Order - A Bundle of Love!!

I just shipped one of my biggest orders ever from Nightlady on Etsy! Check out her shop here. She sells the loveliest flower pins and brooches, like this one:

So pretty, right?

Well, Nightlady really surprised me a month ago for an order for 12 Fuzzies!!! WOW! Five items were already in my shop, but the rest of them were custom orders!! Three dogs belonging to her, three dogs belonging to her parents, and one raccoon. The ones in the shop she was going to use as prizes for her students.

I certainly had my work cut out for me, but after a couple weeks of bending a twisting, I eventually finished! Here is the entire gang:

I'll be posting more detailed pictures in the upcoming days, so stay tuned!