Missybug's Craft-tastic-ness:

The reason for my neglected blog

When I was in Portland in August I began making a wrap for my friend Rachel. I had no idea what I was getting myself into! This project took me almost two months....but Rachel and baby love it, so all the time and love I put into it was worth it!

I looked at a variety of patterns and then as usual, made up my own. I chained until I thought it was long enough. You might not be able to tell by the photographs, but Rachel is 6 feet tall. :). I then just worked a shell pattern until it was as wide as I wanted. ( I was many times tempted to change plans and make her a scarf instead of a wrap!). I then added a couple of buttons so she could wear it like shown or button towards the top and cover baby while feeding.

Happy crafting!

Cupcakes

My sister is a huge fan of cupcakes...in all forms, shapes, and sizes.  This would be evidenced by all the mini-cupcakes, crafty cupcakes, cupcake cards, and real cupcakes that you might find around her home.

On my birthday she prepared all the ingredients for us to make these adorable mini-cupcakes.

And for her birthday, I made her this:

It's a crocheted pin cushion.  I found a variety of patterns that just didn't do it for me...so I pretty much made this one up as I went along.  If I ever can actually write down the pattern, I will be sure to share.

I hope you have a wonderful cupcakey weekend!

Melissa

A girl and her dog

Life AFTER vacation is so much less fun than life ON vacation.

Sorry for my absence...I have been recovering from my wonderful vacation.   Have you ever experienced a sense of punishment when you return home or to work after a vacation?  Yeah...me too...I have struggled to come up for air.

I do have one little last crafty vacation recap that I couldn't let pass.

One day when his mom was at work, Mackenzie told me that he wanted a scarf to go with his mom's slippers.  Here is how it turned out:

Pretty stinkin' adorable huh???? Both Mac and his new scarf. 

He even proudly wore it on a walk to the grocery store.

 

And then when she thought I couldn't hear...Rachel told Mac that as soon as his auntie left, she'd be stealing it...

Cheeky mom!

 

The cowl was pretty simple.  I 'll probably write up the pattern soon...basically, I chained until I thought it was big enough and measure it around his neck.  I then double crocheted and switched colors each row...and crocheted 11 rows in all.

Oh...and of course I haaaaave to give you a little taste of my new love...yeah that's right...I LOVE ROCK BAND!  yeeeeeaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!

The intro conversation went something like this:

Rachel:  Our friends are coming over on Sunday to play Rock Band.

Melissa:  Oh.  Okay.  (Thinking to self...better buy a new magazine to flip through on this snooze of an evening)

Cut to me on Sunday:

 

Crafting PDX Style

I feel the need to catch you up on sooooo much.

Let's see....where to begin?  Well, of course vacation is a perfect time to 

do crafting...but it's so hard to decide and prepare for what to take.  I decided to make a couple pairs of slippers for my good friends that I would be visiting.

They turned out aDORable.  A couple of my crafty friends will have a special appreciation for the end result, as the first 4 results were...well...special in a different way.

I must be very used to mindless crocheting, because in the beginning, I found this pattern VERY difficult to follow.  I should be clear that the pattern is great (Oma Slippers)!...it was the crafter who struggled.  My first attempt flipped inside out when I took a break and I ended up with a "double headed monster" slipper, meaning it was exactly the same at both ends.  I'm not quit sure what happened on the second attempt, but the toe section on the top ended up on the heel part of the sole...I really should have taken pictures of these, as they were pretty darn funny.

Okay...are you sick of me typing yet?  Without further ado (drum role please)...

the final results:

Rachel's Slippers:

Karen's Slippers:

They turned out pretty stinkin' cute!  Huh!?

And...for those of you who have been to Portland...or are lucky enough to live here... you know how many wonderful crafty places there are.  I have spent much time soaking up as much as I can while I am here.

I spent a couple hours at Abundant Yarn (a yarn store in Rachel's neighborhood) drinking coffee, flipping through knitting books and working on projects.

And much much much too much time in Bolt, the most amazing fabric store:

Isn't the fabric delicious???  Oh...Bolt...how I wish you were closer to me.

And today...was another beautiful, sunny, Portland Day.  We went to the Portland Saturday Market.   One of my most favorit-ist ways to spend a Saturday.  

There are a few artists' booths that I make sure to visit each time I go, and I am VERY excited to have discovered a new one:  Jessica Lee Designs

She is aMAAAAAZing!  She works with beach glass, stained glass, old buttons, and vintage china/pottery.  I fell in love with the pieces that are made from old china.  Each piece is sooo unique and sooo beautiful.  We spent much much much time looking through all of her jewerly and found out that her daughter attends the school where Rachel teaches.  Jessica will be at the Hermosa Art Festival (in California) this May, and I will for sure be seeing her again!  :)

This photo does not do it justice...but Christie ended up choosing this ring that is made out of a vintage button:

I bought this necklace made from china plates:

and these earrings:

Are you overwhelmed yet??? This was quite a lot of information to process.  

I am having so many adventures each day that I want to share... Thanks for listening.

Happy Creating!  Melissa

Happy Day After Valentine's Day

I hope that you had a wonderful Valentine's Day filled with lots of love and yummy treats.

I want to introduce you to my Valentines:

Hannah:

Kobey:

And just in time for Valentine's Day...a new creation.  I saw a super cute hat for dogs and fell in love.  I immediately knew that I needed to design one...because well...every girl and her dog need matching hats...right?

Can't you just tell how much she loves it?  I still need to work on the pattern a bit, so that it's slightly more snug.  It needs to be pretty snug as I haven't yet convinced her that she wants to keep it on.

Kobey can't wait for his brown and blue hat.  :)

Happy Creating!

Did I mention I have no idear what I'm doing....

I'm quickly trying to figure out how this whole bloggy thing works and today we are gonna try to see if we can add images...

I need to catch you up on what you have missed...

I have crafter ADHD...I'm pretty sure it's a real diagnosis.

I get super excited about a project, figure it out (like a puzzle) and move on to the next adventure.  Not sure what is next...for now it is crocheting.  I really really really wanted to make this specific hat (that I had in my head) for Christmas...so I learned to crochet just in time for the holidays (had been only knitting up til then)... developed the pattern, and mass produced them for my loved ones.

Here comes a picture...

waaaaaait for it....

 

Ohhhh....yay!...that was easy.

And more...

 

and more...

 

 

   

   

After the holidays (and the Missybug sweatshop closed)...I finally got my Etsy shop up and running and officially finished my pattern.  I love love love this hat and just keep making them.  :)

To be continued...