catch up post #5! (last one!) machine embroidered baby ornaments! (aka, amy's crazy!)

i don't know WHAT possessed me to make these!

i was looking around for baby's 1st christmas ornaments, and all i could find were really cheesy ones that were available at all the big chain stores. i really didn't want to buy ornaments that were also going to be purchased by grandparents and other family members, and as someone with a december birthday, i know that happens!

i realized i could machine embroider ornaments, and once i started thinking about that, i though how cool would it be to have an ornament for EVERY year until the kid's an adult? it would be like those back to school frames that people hang in their houses, with every single school year's photo, but less cheesy! they could be hung on the tree, or they'd look really cool hung on a garland all together!

i started trying to figure out what kind of ornament to do. i wanted a round image, with a hole in the centre for each year's picture. i kind of obsessed about wreaths for a while, and digitized a really pretty wreath design.

however, and this is a lesson that i totally need to learn, i didn't think to check how many stitches it was, and it took FOREVER to embroider! i set my countdown for 30 minutes, and it took well over that. not such a big deal if i was only making one ornament, but i knew that i didn't have time to make 2 sets of 20 or so ornaments that each took 40 minutes just for the embroidering!

i did end up using the one i stitched out though, since my mom had a friend who also had a baby this year. it turned out really pretty.

the centre is cut out and then thin vinyl was sewn in, to protect the photo, and there's a slit in the back to slide the photo in. making this one, i realized that not only was the embroidery super time intensive, it took forever to stitch it together, what with going around each holly leaf carefully!

so i looked at the ornaments i'd already made, and realized that the short one was round as well. i removed the decorative aspects from it, and created a frame in the centre. i played around in photoshop, adding some fanciness around the circle.


i used the font options in PE Design Lite to add writing around the circle.

and this is what i ended up with!




two of my friends had babies this year, angie and jean. i sent them sneaky messages telling them that i'd been asked to forward some questions from a friend who wished to stay anonymous, asking about the colours they use for christmas decrating. they may or may not have seen through me!

it ended up that the colours they replied with were the same ones i would have chosen for them anyway, but it was still good to check.

here are the sets!
i made a baby's first christmas ornament for each of them, and then a yearly ornament for every year until camden and warren are 19 years old. and then i made them two parents ornaments as well. sets of 22! (see, i'm crazy!)

for angie, durin and warren's set i used a mossy green with a burgundy thread.




for jean, justin and camden's set, i used a burgundy felt, with a gold thread.




they turned out so well, and i was so happy with them. they liked them too, angie even cried! however, i'm seriously reconsidering my original plan to make them for all mod babies!

after i'd made those, i realized it would be super easy to change the wording and make a gothmas 2008 ornament for dev and torrin, to go with the baby's 1st gothmas ornament i made them last year.


i made dev a set of 3 of the polka dotted ornaments in the same white and black as well.

see what i mean when i said i'd been doing a TON of machine embroidery lately?

catch up post #2! atcs, a dress and a cropped hoodie, a christmas garland and a baby's 1st "gothmas" ornament

a few more atcs...

these were "angel" cards for the Y and Z atc swap on craftster that i made the first set for. (angel cards are needed when someone flakes on a swap)

a pale yellow doily coaster from daiso, recycled japanese paper from daiso, a yellow brad and some yellow star grommets, yellow DYMO tape (!!), and a piece of yellow tape measure ribbon.
i like it a lot. and i hate yellow!


i wrote up a page of Zs in word, then photocopied it in reverse. i cut out a ATC sized piece out of each, and printed out a zebra print design from google. i made a sort of stencil from the design, carefully drawing it onto the back of the black background Zs, then cut them out and glued them onto the white background, to reproduce the zebra print. then i decided it needed some colour, so i added the red square with a z, and the brads just for fun. the zebra in the upper corner is actually from one of my scans of vintage wallpaper.

some clothes i've made (these were christmas presents)

just a simple dress with a very deep v (you have to wear a shirt under it) made of a heavier weight fuscia jersey. it'll look lovely on her, the pink is perfect for her colouring.


and a plaid cropped hoodie made of vintage (new/old stock) plaid poly jersey




the material is sooo cool, it's 70s poly knit that was new/old stock at the fabric store, only $3 a yard (i still have multiple yards left, i love it!). just a simple cropped hoodie with puffed 3/4 length sleeves and buttons up the front.

i made myself one as well, but with different buttons. i love how the plaid works in these hoodies, it just looks so sharp!

my massage therapist kicks ass. he's understanding when i don't have the energy to drive all the way to his office, or when i've had a crappy night and sleep through my appointment (oops!) and he understands that i'm living on a pretty limited income at the moment and is cool with me paying him when i can. i met him years ago when i did community theatre with his wife, and my whole family's been referring to him as "dr dave" ever since. i see him twice a week, so really, i see him more than any of my friends!

he always decorates his office hardcore at christmas, so i decided to make him something to put up (i made him a halloween wreath in october and he loved it).

i fell in love with this fabric (and not just with the price - 50% off, huraay- but also with the fun designs!) and bought way more than i actually needed for it!

but i'll find a use for it, i'm sure!






i cut the fabric into 7" strips with my rotary cutter, then cut the strips into pendant shapes based on the pattern i drew up. i typed up "christmas" in word using 160 point font or something like that and printed it out. i traced the letters backwards onto wonderunder (oh wonder under how i adore thee...), then ironed them onto felt and cut them out. peeled off the paper backing, ironed them onto the fabric pendants, and stitched around all the edges.

i basted the rickrack around the two longer edges of half the pendant pieces, then laid them right sides together with the other half of the pieces. stitched just a teensy bit inside my basting, turned them inside out, pressed them, and then sewed them onto bias tape!

all in all, it took between 2 and 3 hours, and it turned out super cute!


and on the entirely other side of the spectrum, here's the baby's first gothmas ornament i made for torrin!

i decided that torrin really needed a "baby's 1st gothmas" ornament to go with the standard "baby's 1st christmas" ornament my mom gave them.


i went to micheals and found plain glass ornaments. instead of balls i got flattened balls (is there a word for that shape?) and i was super happy to realize that the ornaments i bought were WAY stronger than ones i've bought in the past that seemed to be thinner than a sheet of paper!

while i was there, i also picked up a fancy black paint pen, which they promised me would work on the glass.

i went to the scrapbooking store, and found a sheet of acetate with a cool black design on it and cut the insert out of the acetate, centering the design at the top. i used the fancy black pen to write on the acetate, and while i was waiting for it to dry, i decorated the top of the glass ornament with little bats on polka dots.

once everything was dry, i very carefully rolled up the acetate and slipped it into the ornament, then added black glitter (black glitter makes every project better!). unfortunately, the glitter had a few coloured ones mixed in, which were VERY obvious once they were in the ball, and i managed to get them out, but the writing on the acetate scraped off a teensy bit. i'm kinda disapointed, but oh well. it's still fabulous!

i filled the top with gluegun glue before putting the piece onto the ball, so that should stop the glitter from escaping. i topped it off with this FABULOUS black velvet rickrack i found at the scrapbooking store (MUST buy more!), and the ornament was finished!

very simple, but i love how it turned out.


(i also got him this AMAZING book, and they only had one copy, and i'm sooo sad! i want one too!)