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Archive for October, 2010

It was TJ’s birthday on Wednesday, and he was away all week on business. I thought that I should at least make him a nice cake since he didn’t get to spend his birthday at home. (He did however get to spend it with missbedora and her friends – thanks again for taking him out my dear!).

Hopefully some of you have one of these in the house and can recognize that it is a rolling Snap-on tool box. I couple of years ago I made him a cake that looked like our car, but I thought this one turned out much better. Complete with tools on the top…

…coffee bean wheels…

…logos…

…and a roll of blue shop towels on the side.

I was worried this wasn’t going to work out well, but I used Wilton fondant and colouring and it was quite easy to work with. I had made the homemade fondant with marshmallows before, but I found it got stiff very quickly when you were working with it. This seemed to stay mailable for quite a while.

Here is a picture of the actual toolbox, in case you have no idea what I am talking about.

He was really impressed, and the lemon loaf that was underneath all that fondant turned out quite tasty too. I would definitely work with fondant again, it was so much easier than icing!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

It’s Whitney’s birthday this weekend, and since she has been such a great boss AND friend over the last year, I wanted to make her something that would be both pretty and practical.

With a full time job, plus the shop, plus a 2 year old (and another on the way) Whit always has lots going on. And I have noticed a number of times how much paperwork she carries with her.

Quite a while back I had seen a hanging file holder that looked more like a purse. It was practical, but definitely not pretty. I figured I could make something that was a little more Whitney’s style. (As always, click to make larger)

It looks like a regular handbag from the side, but inside it holds lots of hanging files.

Inside one of the files I made a coupon that is good for one major paperwork overhaul and filing into her new bag. I like to do that kind of stuff – I find it very satisfying. Cleansing even.

I played around a bit with some new stamps that I was given as a gift (thanks Ellen!) and I created a card that was a little different from any I have done before.

There is something about those square little embellishments that I really like. I don’t know why I haven’t been using them more often.

I think Whitney really liked her gift, and I can definitely see myself making more of these in the future. I am just glad the first one turned out ok!

October’s feature at the shop is bulky yarns, so I thought that I would knit up a quick cowl that used just one ball of Serendipitous Ewe Fate Bulky.

The pattern is actually called Quickie Cowl – true to it’s name I knit this up in about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. It’s been in the shop for a while, but I couldn’t seem to remember to bring it home to take silly shots of myself in the backyard.

Seriously. I hate taking pictures of my FO’s. There is just no good way to do it yourself. I need to buck up and just buy the remote that goes with my camera. Running around with the self timer and holding the camera out in front of me is not working!

The pattern is a really simple lace pattern, and since it is done on 10 1/2′s the yarnovers are nice and pronounced.

Definitely something that is easy to wear next to the skin! This yarn really is sooo soft. I think I might pick up a couple of balls and do the Burberry Inspired Cowl next.

I was looking back through my pictures in Aperture and realized I had a bunch of cards that I had not shown you yet.

This one I made for my neighbour to welcome her new little girl to the family:

which I swear was straight, it is just the stripes playing tricks on the camera. This was the inside, which was embossed.

I love that stamp. I also made them yet another umbilical cord hat. Repetitive on the blog? Yes. Huge success with everyone I give them to? Yuppers.

The next card I made for my Mom and Dad for their anniversary a few weeks ago (36 years!)

The little photo corners are from a Martha Stewart punch that I found at Marshalls of all places. For half price. Woot!

The last one is for a friend who’s husband is currently battling cancer.

I ran the purple paper through my Cuttlebug with one of the embossing folders. I like the elegant look it gives.

And with that I think I am mostly up to date! I made a couple of scarves I have to show you soon, and I am working on a few different things in the background (mostly gifts, Christmas is coming!). What are you all working on?

Recently I made a new quilt for the shop using one “Awesome” jelly roll (a Sandy Gervais line) and 2.5 yards of brown background fabric.

The pattern is Avignon Picnic from the Moda Bake Shop. It was a really simple quilt to put together, it just had a lot of cutting.

The backing is a simple fallen leaves kind of brown. Going all out with the autumn theme, I quilted it using a leaf patten over at Laura‘s.

I am pleased with how it came out. It looks neat hanging on the wall of the shop. I wish I could have managed better pictures, but it was under fluorescent lights!