Stab It!

I'm getting my embroidery back on

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I'm going to put this as a patch to my plain black (very mini) skirt. It just needs a little extra something-something. I used old faithflu back stitch and satin stitch for it. And I draw the picture, but I used a few tattoo-pics as a very heavy reference. Unfortunately I can't really draw, but maybe that's something one can learn.
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Oh! And my friend gave to me the Best Mug Ever! My friend said she immediately thought of me when she saw it.

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Awwww. Awsome, right? It just makes the morning cup of coffee feel even more of a pick-me-up.

Melted Vinyl

I finally made a vinyl record bowl. I know everyone and their uncle has made these, but for me it was a first.

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I love it! I actually made two, but it got dark so I couldn't take a decent picture of the other one. There is just NO LIGHT in Finland this time of year. I'm giving the other one for daddy for christmas. Shhh, it's a secret

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I have to say that melting vinyls in an oven feels kind of naughty. And not necessarely in a good way. Until one remembers that they're melting some higly scratched record they bought at a flea market for 1€.

Still Alive And Kicking!

No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I've just been buzy. With what? I really don't know.. the days just got away. I haven't really even done any crafting. Sad. But atleast I have a new WIP to show (like I didn't have a million of those allready)

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I need to get that finished and posted tomorrow, so wish me luck.. I'll be knitting like the devil all day today. It's a sort of wrap/shawl type of thing my niece is going to wear at her school's christmas party. The lace pattern is from Novita magazine's spring/2007 issue.

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What I was supposed to be showing off was the christmas cards I made. They included the same fabric that is shown on the knitting WIP picture above. But because I'm feverish I sealed the cards in to envelopes before taking a picture.. yeah, I'm smart like that.

Happy Father's Day

It's Father's day in Finland (and in some other nordic countries). 'Cos I'm a good girl I made my dad a card.

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It says "daddy". What can I say I'm a total daddy's little girl. I don't think I've ever given him a father's day card I haven't made myself.

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My niece Oona was with me for the weekend! And for the firs time too. I took her to a concert, and she loved I Walk The Line. She even bought their cd, and it was the very first cd she ever bought with her own money. And we did a little crafting too. She started to crochet a scarf for herself
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Cute right? I crafted a little too. I made her stuff, cos she's my baby

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First I crocheted her a scarf. I made it with 4mm hook and Satu yarn (100% acrylic). Black and pink are her new favourite colors. Wonder where she got that from...

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And I knitted her a scarf. I usef the same yarn as for the hat, just two stards held together. I used the "Child's Rainbow Scarf" from Last Minute Knitted Gifts as a pattern.

Wonder What..

Can you guess what happened yesterday?

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The cake isn't much to look at but it tasted so goood. It's chocholate, banana and oat whip.

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In crafting news: many, many WIPs nothing finished. That's just the way it goes sometimes...

Hooked on Crochet

So, I got me some new ink. And I looove it. I got it done on monday, so in the pic it's still a bit red and buffy, and the colours will calm down in the near future.

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Don't you just love it?? I DO! And now my knitting tattoo on the other shoulder is no longer lonely. This too was drawn and inked on by Juha at Heaven&Hell Tattoo, Lappeenranta. He had to do a picture search online, 'cos he didn't remember what crochet hooks look like. Awww, how adorable!

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And he's going to do my next tattoo too. That's going to happen next spring, and it's going to be a bit bigger than my other ones (possibly bigger than the other ones put together..)

4 Pairs of Socks in 5 Days

I've been in a bit of a knitting frenzy. It all started from 2 innocent skeins of Novita santorini yarn

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Yeah.. First I knitted the pink-ish socks for myself, but then I felt the need to buy the two other colours that yarn comes in too, and knit my mom socks as well. For some reason her socks never last long (might it be because her feet are like sand paper..you didn't hear it from me!). Novita Santorini yarn is 100% acrylic and I knitted the socks with 3,5mm needles.

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I think I might be a little bit on the fast side when it comes to knitting. I casted on for the blue socks in a buss on the way to my mom's. And on the pic above is the progress in 2½hours of time. Not bad!

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My mom isn't the only one I knitted socks for. My niece wanted a pair of black and white socks, and I just happened to find two skeins of un-labelled acrylic yarn in a flea market. Talk about a lucky coinsidence. These are knitted with 3mm needles.

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I took my new camera out for a spin last thursday. I was listening some awsome music and snapping photos. By a stroke of luck a a few of them turned out ok.

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I also have a new crafty tattoo! But more on that once it heals a bit and I can get a desent picture.

My New Toy

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I got a new toy! And I loooove her! So obviously here's the obligatory self portrait holding the camera in the bathroom.. I've never had a fancy camera like this before. I've just got to learn how to use it. Everything just looks better black and white, doesn't it?

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I think I got a little carried away at a yarn sale. I bought two skeins of Novita Santorini, and 7 skeins of Red Heart Dallas, 5 of them black. One can never have too much black yarn, right?

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I also got some embroidery done. My niece and my mom moved, and my niece wanted a room sign to put on her door. What's an aunt to do? It says "Oona's room" and on the bubble "knock". And she also wanted skulls with bows on their heads. I how I love that girl. The lettering and the bows are done in satin stitch, the bubble in shain stitch and the skulls in back stitch

Chocolate And Bitter Goodbyes

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Yarn: Idena Twins (a little less than 2skeins)

Needles: 6mm

Pattern: I winged it

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The colour of the hat is a little darker than in the pic. This took a little less than 2 skeins. I looove bulky yarn, but for some reason it’s not really easy to find bulky non-animalfiber yarn..especially in a solid color. I also love cables, but have a very weird relationship with pom-poms. I love them, but at the same time I think they’re ridiculous. If anyone wants a patter I could maybe wright something up.

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Check my niece out! She's knitting!! I'm so proud of her. And I didn't even make her do it! This is not the first time she's knitting either. My mom (yeah my niece lives with my mom) called me one night and said that Oona wanted to knit something again. So my mom had to try to remember how to cast on stitches, 'cos Oona didn't remember how.

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Now the bitter goodbyes.. I had to say goodbye to my mom&niece's cat Nemo. And I love that cat. That is like the best cat there is. He's friendly, likes to be pet and purrrrrrrrrrrrs a lot. Not to mention that he is a beautiful cat, just look at him:

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The reason I had to say good bye to Nemo is that my mom and niece moved, and Nemo who is a out door cat wouldn't have been happy in the new home where he'd have to stay inside. It would've just killed him. But luckily the people who bought my mom's house wanted to keep Nemo as well. So Nemo didn't have to move! He can stay at his own home! Yay! I'm gonna miss him so much though. I started crying when I was saying goodbye...

Bow Again

I made these gorgeous bow mittens last year, but they got lost on new year’s eve. Funny how that sometimes happens.. So I finally made another pair. I’m pretty happy with them. I just think maybe I should’ve made the bow pink this time around too.

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Yarn: Fleur by Anttila (100% acrylic)

Needles: 3,5mm

Pattern: None

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What a small world (country). I ran into milliini in a bathroom of a bar on saturday. I recognised her awsome shirt and of course I had to say something to her. It was a confusing night over all. For some reason I founf myself in a middle of a debate about drowning kittens. Seriously! This person thought it was perfectly ok way to get rid of unwanted kittens. Sad.

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Tulipa mielenkiintoinen blogimaailmatörmäys lauantai-iltana eräässä juottolassa. Törmäsin nimittäin naistenhuoneessa milliiniin. Tunnistin kyseisen leidin sen mahtavasta paidasta. Ja tottakai miun piti avata suuni.. Oli kyllä muutenkin vähän hämmentävä ilta. Jostain syystä ajauduin samassa juottolassa väittelyyn kissanpentujen hukuttamisesta.

Sublime Brooches

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In my last post I said I might make some embroidery pieces using sublime stitching patterns into brooches. So that's what I did. My favourite is the sparrow, probably cos it's the only one I bothered to satin stitch.

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All my bigger knitting projects seem to be hibernating, so I started a new small one.

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I wanted to do some cables, plus I needed mittens. There the simple math behind these. But after putting them on I realized they look more like they should be my mom's, so I'll give them to her. She has a birthday next month, and I'm thinking of making her a few pairs of socks too, 'cos she' always asking me to knit socks for her.

Diamond Brooch

Diamonds are a girl's best friend, right?

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Now I can wear one on me all the time. That's right, I made a little embroidery piece into a brooch. And I have to say I like it. I like keeping things kinda simple. Hmm.. maybe I sould make some out of sublime stitching patterns too.

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Thanks to everyone who commented on my unfinished Henry Rollins embroidery. You (and me) were right, he does look better with a black shirt. See?

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And no, there is no stain in the fabric..you're just seeing things. You really should think about getting your eyes checked. I forgot to mention in the last post that I used an illustration by the talented Mitch Clem as inspiration for this.

What Would Henry Rollins Do?

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What Would Henry Rollins Do? Now that's a great phrace to live your life by. Or atleast try to. Henry Rollins is pretty much a god to a lot of people. Not to mention the funniest guy! When I first watched those on youtube I laughed so hard I thought I just might die.

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I'm thinking I should satin stitch the shirt black. I would have, but I ran out of floss. What do you think? I'll most likely make this into a totebag, so I can carry him around at all times.

Praise Seitan!

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Mmmm.. seitan. I loooove seitan. Especially since I've learned to make pretty good seitan. But I've still to learn to make the worlds best seitan, that's going to be a pretty big asset in the dating game...right? Hehe.

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This is my first cross stitch for a while. Cross stitching = still fun. And what inspired me to do cross stitching again? It was Rachel’s Hail Satan. Oh how I love that lady. She's so talented, and has great ideas. Not to mention that the girl knows how to fire up a conversation.

My Mom Is Not Much Of A Photographer

What makes me say that? I asked her to take a picture of the Gwen Slouch I knitted a few days ago with me wearing it, and this is what I get:

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Maybe I should have been clearer and say that I wanted as much of the hat to be visible as possibile. But my mom says she just used her "artistic freedom". Oh mom <3

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Gwen Slouch(ravelry) by Lauren Nell Roy

Yarn: Rache Mache, 100% acrylic

Needles: 4,5mm

Mods: I casted on 9 less stitches than in the original

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Now I'm knitting Razor Cami in yellow Novita Butterfly. I casted on fort it on the 18th and I'm more half way through it now. The lace pattern is a bit boring to knit, it does look nice though. I've had that yarn forever and I have no idea why I bought 5 skeins of it in the first place. I don't even like yellow!! I'm going to dye the cami when it's done. Wonder if if would have been better to dye the yarn before knitting? Oh well..

No Worries, I Got 9 Lives

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It's about time to get something finished again. I did a little embroidery piece based on Mitch O’Connell's illustration. When I bought his book of tattoo designs I felt they'd be perfect as embroidery pieces. I sent him an email where I asked if it would be ok to use the images as embroidery patterns for personal use, and he told me to go crazy! So I did. And I plan on doing more too.

Crafted Gifties

I made this a while ago for a friend of mine. He wanted a crocheted cell cozy with a diamond embroidered on it. Sounds simpe right?

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Wrong! I tried, tried and tried to embroider that f***ing diamond on it, but it just didn't work. So finally after a lot of trial and error I sewed on crocheted chains in shape of a diamond. Kinda worked. In the picture my phone is in the cozy, and mine is a bit bigger than his, so the cozy is a little too stretched.

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The same guy had a birthday. Well actually his birthday is on monday, but we celebrated last night. I made him a simple black tote bag with the heart&dagger embroidery on it. The heart&dagger embroidery is from sublime stitching stitch-it kit. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the whole tote bag, I totally forgot to take it.

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The birthday-boy loved the gift, and the party was fun. Today I've been recovering from it by watching dumb TV-shows and eating greasy foods. Mmmm..sundays.

Saturday Night Knitting

It has been ridiculously hot in Finland for the last few days. And no, I am not complaining. It's about time for some hot weather, it's been pretty much raining since the beginning of June. I spent most of today outside, cos my apartment is too damn hot. I even started a new knitting project.

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It's (going to be) Katharine Hepburn Cardigan from Lace Style. I'm knitting it with Sofie by anttila yarn, which is 100% cotton. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is going to be a bit big for me. Maybe not. I'm constantly thinking I'm either bigger or smaller than I actually am. Is there anything nicer than knitting in the park in the shade? I had to stop at about eight 'cos the bugs were annoying me. I think I'll spend the rest of the night inside watchin some movie and knitting. Hmm.. should I watch Die Hard 4.0 (again), or Dreamgirls (again). Maybe both.

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I crocheted a little rattle 'cos my friend is having a baby. It's a cyclops rattle! It has a bell inside so it actually rattles. It's crochet with lyric yarn and 3mm hook.

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A little embroidery done too. One of my denim skirts was looking a little bland, so I embroidered a sparrow on it. It's a sublime stitching sparrow obviously.

For My Tattooer

And I'm done! I was so inspired by Rachel that i had to get it finished.

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Sweet mother of ... I hate to work with metallic floss!! It just gets tangled and stuff. But it just looks so pretty. And what can I say the genious that is my tattooer is totally worth it. He is the master mind behind my wings and my awsome knitting tattoo. He is so good that one can't even get an appointment with him before October, damn! Wonder if a little bribe like this will help? Haha, I just really hope he likes it.

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The pattern is from the Sublime Stitching Craft Pad, the letters I freehanded. Unfortunately the pictures don't really do the metallic thread justice. But I have to say, I'm pleased with it.

Freaky Coincidence

Great minds think alike, righ? Sometimes so much alike that it's freaky. The lovely and talented Rachel showed in her blog Confessions of a crafter an embroidery piece she made for her tattoo artist. The freaky thing about that is: I'm currently making a project from the same pattern, with very similar font letters for my tattoo artist! I kid you not. This was so weird that I had to take an in progress pic of my embroidery (which I don't normally do) and show it to you:

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It has been a WIP for a while 'cos I chose to embroider the dagger in metallic floss, and I hate working with that. But now that I've seen Rachel's awsome project I got new motivation to finish mine.

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Great minds really do think alike.

Here We Go Again

When I get into doing something, I tend to do it over and over again. I have made many socks, hand warmers, zippered pouches, stuff with cherries on them.. etc. Now the "thing" seems to be cell phone cozys. Now I made one for my dad. Oh yeah, and my friend's boyfriend asked me to make his cell a cozy as well, so the my next post will probably be about that.

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hook: 3mm

yarn: anemone (by marks&kattens)

pattern: just made it up as I went along

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What can I say, my dad likes things simple. The flap has a velcro closure. My dad said he'd prefer velcro to a snap 'cos my brother said a snap might damage the phone's display. *Sigh* Men. I don't think that even I'd be able to break a phone's display by closing a snap.

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Oh, and I've got bangs (fringe/whatever) now too. It's weird how much difference a little less hair can make. Atleast in my own eyes.

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Why is it a little uneven you ask? That would be because I cut it myself. I aint paying a hairdresser to do it for me when I have loads of scissors myself. I can think of a million better things to spend my money on. Like yarn, beer, concerts, fabric, beer, buttons, beer...if you catch my drift.

Return of the Cherries

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3mm hook
Lyric yarn
My own patter
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Remember the Cherry headband, other Cherry headband, Cherry hat and the cherry tutorial ? Well, the cherries are back in the picture. Oh wow, you can really tell I haven’t done them in over a year. It did come out a little wonky. But I’ll get back in the game.
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And why are the cherries back in the game? ‘Cos I needed a new cell phone cozy. Why? Cos I have a new phone. Why? Cos I kinda broke my phone. Why? Cos I’m clumsy and concrete and phones don’t mix. Is it just me or am I hearing Cass saying “amen!” righ now?

Retirement of the Care Bear Pincushion

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So I used to use a small care bear as a pincushion. Think about it: I used to stick pins and needles on him(?). And I even strangled him with an elastic band. Kinda cruel righ? And I call myself an animal rights activist. For SHAME! So It was about time to do something about it.

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Much better! And cruelty-free. Well, it's animal print.. hehe. I used this tutorial for it, just like before. And the star button is one of the 288 I got from my mom's friend. Actually there were 4 of those star buttons. And on the other side I put an elastic band so I can wear it around my wrist when I'm sewing. Me likey!

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Finland has been so sunny and warm these past few days. Lovely. It's just a little hard to take un-shadowy pics in this sunlight. But I can very well live with it.

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late edit, didn't want to make a while new post for just one little thing:

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I made a square one too. Did it pretty much the same way as in the tutorial, but I used a coaster as a pattern. I'm not sure what to do with it. Maybe I'll take it with me the next time I'm going to mom's. The pincushion there is a little stuffed animal as well.

Shetland Triangle

Oh my! Some actual knitting in my knitting blog. Weird. Spooky really.

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Pattern: Shetland Triangle by Evelyn Clark (from the book Wrap Style)

Yarn: Novita Bambu (68%bamboo, 32% cotton) less than 3 skeins

Needles: 4,5mm

Mood: quite happy with it

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Yep, in the picture it's on a dumbster. Not to worry, it was never in it. I started knitting this on the 16th and finished on the 22nd. I liked this yarn for this project, but I'm thinking maybe I should have used a bit bigger needles. Maybe 5mm. It came out a little smaller than I would have hoped. The top measures about 140cm. Maybe I should have stretched it a little more when blocking. Anyhow, I still like it.

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Impossibile to take good pictures just by myself. I think it's the perfect size when worn as in the picture. But it is a little too small for my taste when worn on my shoulders as I am doing in a wedding tomorrow. Again this is something I can very well live with.

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Almost forgot to mention: I'm not sure how much I like these kinds of scarf patterns where the number of stitches keeps adding and adding. I start to feel like it's never going to end. Maybe that's just me. But that's why I liked ene. First you cast on an insane amount of stitches, but through out they just dissapear.

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(kiitokset markalle neuleohjeanarkiasta)

I'm Not Bad - I'm Just Embroidered That Way

I thought I blogged this allready. Apparently I didn't. Mmmm...spring. Mmmm...hotties. My brain is all mush.

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Come on, who doesn't love Jessica Rabbit? I remember watching her when I was younger and thinking she just oooozes femininity and sex appeal. A little while ago I watched the Who Framed Roger Rabbit movie for the first time in years. Still liked it. And then I had the idea to embroider Jessica.

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I used an image I found on the internet as a pattern for this one. I really like how she came out. Except for the chain stitch edging. But I'll learn to live with it.

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I also did this tofu-licious embroidery for a vegan themed swap I'm in. It's nice right? It found it's place on an apron. But I don't have a good picture of the finished item.

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This notebook cover I made is also for the same swap. I like this one too. I may have have to do something similar for myself too.

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I've been even doing some knitting. More on that when it's finished. Oh, and I have until saturday morning to sew my very first dress. Wish me luck!

Simply Sublime

I've been on a little embroidery binge for a few days. I finally finished the Reform School Girl from Sublime Stitching's Mitch O'Connell set. Mmmmm Mitch O'Connell.. Would not mind if Sublime Stitching would come up with another set from him.

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I think she looks good. I didn't do as well as I would have hoped on the face, but the flame turned out so well I had to take a close up on it.

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The flames consist of 3 colors. Kinda nice, right? Took quite a while too. That's actually why I didn't finnish this for a long time. After I did the flames I put this aside for a few weeks.

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This next one is from the Sublime Stitching Craft Pad. At first I got to say that I thought it was very weird that I found myself wanting to embroider a freaking fairy. But then I told myself that the fairy was kinda pin-up-ish, so it was ok.

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This time I like how the facial features came out! And there's even orange there! Anyone who knows me knows that I HATE orange. But as an effort to try and tolerate it I started to use it in small amounts. First as one of 3 colors in the flames in reform school girl, and now in small amounts just by itself. I can live with it. I can. Maybe.

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Oh, oh I did a little knitting too. I knitted this cute little pink cabled purse for "fill a purse swap".

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It's knitted with Novita's Samos yarn. And I made up the pattern as I went along. Oh, and the best part: my swap partner really liked it.