Summer is here?!

So, it's been a while. I've been bad about keeping this updated. Not going to apologize or make silly promises. :)

Things have been crazy around here, like always. Mom's still in school, but the girls are out for the summer. John and I's first anniversary is come and gone. He's now been at his job for over a year. We've moved to the upstairs of the house, so HOLYCRAPSPACE!!!! We've got the whole floor to ourselves which is AMAZING. We're supposed to be getting paint for the bedroom in a few weeks, so once that's done I'll be willing to show it off.

Crafting wise, things are going well. I've now sold three purses on etsy, one to a friend, and have two more commissions. I'm also making one for an online friend, but can't say much more in case she sees this. :)

On to the pictures!

Purse made for my grandma's coworker. And Jass refusing to move out of the way.

 

 She asked for a huge button and two tassels. The coworker, that is.

Some paper cutting I did. I love how Sherlock turned out.

 

A sheep pillow I made for our new bedroom. The blue background fabric is left over from the wedding. I included all of the colors we're planning on using in the new room.

Three other bags I made. The brown and blue ones are origami bags. Very easy to make and are used as gift bags. The tiny one was used for a charm for my mother-in-law's trollbead bracelet for her birthday. The green fairy bag is a flea market bag. I added straps to it and a velcro closure. Love it so much. Planning on making some and putting them in the shop.

 

A flea market bag I made for youngest sis. Made one for middle sis, but she snatched it up before I could take pictures. 

We have a new member in the family. Say hello to Phelix! Someone dropped the little guy off at my in-law's and I couldn't just leave him there. Seriously, he's the coolest cat ever. Very, very chatty and just loves to cuddle. And sleep in weird positions, as you can see. :)


Remember that little, tiny puppy we brought home back in November?

 

This is her now. Rotten thing, but we all love her.

 Ivy and her daddy. :3

Well, that's all for now! I have quite a bit more, but don't want to clog this post with fifty million pictures. 

Have a great week! :D

And we're back!

Talk about a hellish winter! And no, I'm not talking about the lack of snow. We lost quite a few friends and relatives over the season. But spring is now here ripe with new possibilities!

I am happy to announce that I have finally put merchandise in my etsy shop. I have two purses listed at the moment, but hope to put quite a bit more up in the next few days. I have one person who is ordering a purse from me from reddit, which makes me so friggin happy. I never really thought my stuff was good enough to sell, so it was a bit surprising. It's given me a boost and I'm going to try and keep the momentum going! I have so many plans for Ribbon Whimsy and I can't wait to see of they pan out.

In other news, the spring craft show at the Dover Armory snuck up on me! My mother-in-law called me a week before and asked me how much I had done. The silence was profound, to say the least. I managed to throw some flower pins and hair clips together and made a decent $32. We're planning on being there for the fall craft show on November 10th & 11th. Mark your calender, kids!

Can't leave you without some pictures!

This one is up for grabs in the shop!

So is this one!

 Can't have this one. It's mine. :)

 And one for the middle sister!

Visit the shop! I take custom orders! http://www.etsy.com/shop/RibbonWhimsy

I miss it! I miss my beautiful snow! I'm one of those crazy people that LOVES the snow. I could live in the arctic year round and be as happy as can be. This bizarre weather has me and the whole family all sneezey and snuffly. I'm just now getting over a cold that lasted two weeks.

On to crafts! I'm currently in five different craft exchanges at the moment. Four are rematches for a fall craft exchange and one is a winter craft exchange. I've been working hard on making something special for each one. I'm also working on some stuff for friends. And a few things that started out for friends but I love too much to let them go. Such are the trials of a crafter. :)

 

Wrapped yarn wreath.

 

Felt roses and brass wire.

 

Doesn't the yarn look like birch wood?

 

The brass wire pieces are left over ornament hangers.

 

Standing pincushion.

 

Vintage button.

 

Needle books.

 

Extremely geeky and awesome needle books.

 

Knitting needle holder.

 

Sewing the pockets on that pink fabric was crazy!

 

I should have more done in the next week or so. Until then, enjoy your Valentine's Day!

The Generosity of Redditors

In just 20 hours, my fellow redditors have raised $73,000 for an orphanage in Kenya, far surpassing the mere $2,000 originally needed to build a wall to protect them. I'm so shocked and humbled by the fact that we were able to do so much good for so many people. With this money, not only will they be able to build a wall, but they can outright buy their land, and get much needed supplies. Truly, humanity isn't as doomed as some of us think.

Here are a few links:

Blog Post summarizing what happened

Original Reddit Post

A Thank You from Omari

Latest Reddit post with pictures of happy kids!

Where you can donate

I've never been prouder of an online community! Reddit regularly donates to a whole spectrum of organizations and events throughout the world. I love you, guys! Keep up the awesome work!

The Season of Suck

I am so sorry it has been so long since I've posted! Things got crazy in December. My grandma and I had some ambitious Christmas gifts to get done and they took the whole month to do. We were working up until Christmas day! But all the recipients loved what they got. Sadly, we also had two dear friends each lose their fathers and John's uncle passed away unexpectedly. I'm just getting over being ill, so as the title says, this was the season of suck!

One of my prize winners has received her gifts and she loves them. I am planning on sending out the second place winner's prizes sometime this week. I admit that I fell behind schedule and I am sorry.

In happier news, the hubby came through and got me some magnificent Christmas presents, including a bunch of stuff for me to alter. But by far my favorite gift was a Canon 350d DSLR camera! I've already gone out a couple of times to play, and I love it. Photography has always been a passion and being able to actually move forward with my photography makes me ridiculously happy. My middle sister, who will be a senior in high school next year, has asked that I do her senior portraits. I'm hoping to learn enough by this summer to do this for her!

On New Year's Eve, John and I got married, again! Akron had a mass wedding/vow renewal and we decided to give it a go. A free trollbead bracelet also helped to sweeten the deal. We had a lot of fun and got to hang out with some of my favorite friends.

On to the crafts!

We made three beds for my little sister/cousins' 18 inch dolls. Grandpa built the beds and grams and I made the canopies, pillows, bedspreads, mattresses and mattress covers. I didn't get any pictures of the third.

 

Cousin One

 

Little Sister

 

Three carrying cases for the dolls. Each has a place for the doll, a rod to hang clothing on, and a small box with a lid to put accessories in. Not pictured are all the clothes we made for each doll!

 

One of the prizes Cthululovesme won! A tutorial will be coming soon!

 

 The birdhouse I made for Cthululoves me.

And just to show off my present, here are some photos taken with my new baby.

And my favorite so far!