Back in the Stitching Post!

So it's admittedly been a few rough months at the Magpie Nest. But, just as winter needs to be knocked off your boots, sometimes, sadness does as well. 

So I logged back into www.craftster.org and decided to sign up in a fairly low commitment swap. There's a fabulous artist called Junker Jane who makes these amazing at dolls. I was really interested in giving it a try, so I joined the swap for Junker Jane inspired dolls. 

It was certainly a challenge, because folk spend a lot of time working towards"perfection" in their art and this was definitely thinking outside the box! But without much more ado, I give you my Junker Jane inspired dolls!

 My swap partner loved birds, so I made her a primitive goose as an extra!

My first attempt at a JJ doll. 

Doll #2 - From a loose sketch I did 

And the whole gang!

I actually had a really great time just letting loose and being creative!!

I encourage everyone to try something new and shake off the winter dust!

Much love!

~Magpie

We have a blogger down!

So, you may have noticed I have been a very absent Magpie. Sadly, my beloved lappy (or laptop to non-magpies) has finally passed into the great beyond.

Despite that setback, life has continued to roll along. I have been able to work on some fun, short projects in the meantime. A cute Mcall's apron in super fun fabrics, some more watercolor experiments and my first wedding anniversary trip with Mr. Magpie!

I will be back in business soon so I can write longer but I hope everyone is having a beautiful summer full of joy and adventures!

How I became a fairy... (pic heavy)

It started so simply. See, I had to pass out candy to the children in the neighborhood, but I had no costume!

And I really heart Twig the Fairy and wanted to try and see what an evening in her wings might be like!

So I found a few things lying around the craft room.

And I tied the dried eucalyptus into a circlet.


Then took off leaves from a glittery fall garland and started sewing them to the eucalyptus.


And tied gold, red and brown ribbons to them.

Voila!


Then I grabbed a pretty autumn ribbon for a belt, butterfly wings and a cornucopia...and "Belindalyn" was born!


Apparently, not all fairies are smiley and fluttery. Some are a little scary. But he was nice enough and I asked him to help me with the "tricks" portion of the evening.

What a silly couple we make!!



My favorite quotes from the night:

After scary fairy jumped out at them...

"Lady, you could have told me he was real."

"I'm a big kid...but that was pretty scary."

One brave boy was debating going back past him or not to get back to the sidewalk. I was worried he was scared, so I said to him, "It's okay, you can cut through the yard..." But he took a deep breath, faced scary fairy, clutched his candy bag to his chest and bolted past him. So brave!

One tiny witch was leery of getting too close to the scary one, but I gave her candy anyways. Her eyes didn't leave him until her mom said "Look honey, a fairy!" Her face lit up and she rushed to me, shouting proudly "I'm a witch!" When I told her it looked like she had lots of candy, she held up her plastic pumpkin and said "Yeah, want some?" How sweet!!

It was a lovely night and I'm glad we're still happy to celebrate and share this great holiday with happy kids!

Spoonflower

So I was introduced to the site Spoonflower.com. It allows you to upload your own designs and have them printed on fabric.

Anyone with a few bucks and an image can create their own fabric!!!

I decided to give it a try and uploaded two designs, one I downloaded of three cranes and a fleur de lis pattern I quickly sketched up in MS Paint. Really, the interface couldn't be easier and they also have an editor program that you can use to add designs or edit the pictures as well.

They promise an 11 day turn around to ship. My swatches were ordered 9/2 and arrived last night (9/15) So from order, to printing to delivery all told took 13 days!



I am pleased with the turnout, as well as the turn around time. I have yet to wash the fabric, but it looks like it will hold up alright to gentle cycle.

For people who either quilt or just can't find the perfect fabric for their product, you can be a fabric designer!!!! I highly recommend giving it a try!

Also, if you like my fleur de lis fabric, it can also be bought there at my designer page! And they allow you to sell original designs that you've purchased swatches of and you get a percentage of the order profits! So if you are better than me, you might be able to sell something and make a little money too!

T-shirt recon.

For folk not familiar, "recon" or reconstruction is taking something and turning it into something else.

Today, I turned a men's long sleeve shirt into a little (okay, really little) black dress.

I will be taking a less scandalous picture once I get home, but here is the before and after.

Boredom + Sleeves = AWESOME!

So I was bored last night. Also, I might have mention to some of you, I had a costume several months ago that required an Argyle Sweater-vest. I went to the Thrift Store and there was a perfect argyle sweater, so I had to cut off the sleeves.


So.....one and a half hours of free time, two argyle sweater sleeves and boredom created this guy...

He's got silver painted safety eyes and is stuffed with fiberfil.

I'm not particularly good with embroidery, but I made him a little silver embroidered nose.

I could have maybe gone slower and planned ahead a bit more, but from start to finish he took like an hour and a half tops and I think he turned out pretty fun!

Hope you like him!

Small basic napkins.

So, I had wanted a pretty immediate gratification project for myself this weekend.

Sadly the musical and other things took up that time. I had seen my friend N with lovely cotton fabric napkins and I really wanted to give a few a try.

I got one set done (detailed decorative stitch pictures to come later). One side is my fave purple flowers fabric and the other side is gorgeous batik I got as fat quarters.

Sadly, the fat quarters aren't full enough to make large napkins, so I made two small ones.

I washed the fabric before ironing, cutting and topstitching. The cotton is really soft, but the batik is kinda stiff. I hope that doesn't hamper the utility of said cloths.

Life has been nutso!!

So in the last few weeks, life has become rather challenging and finding time to post has just not happened.

I have still been crafting though (and having a birthday *grin*) and so I thought I'd post some of the stuff I've been making. It has mostly been sewing the grove quilt as well as crocheting stuff. So here goes.


Yay, finished quilt!








Mary Jane Slippers!!








Looks like those are the only pictures I can find. I am planning on doing some simple sewing today, so here's to wishing.

I forgot halloween costumes!

How could I have forgotten Halloween Costumes?!

Most of my costumes were made from Upcycled thrift store items.

The witch was brought together quickly from previous costume pieces.

But the Kodex costume from "Wanna Date My Avatar" was actually painstakingly created from thrift store finds and sewn together over the course of 3-4 days.

All in all, one quickly thrown together Beggar's Night costume and one agonizingly detailed Halloween Party costume completed!!! It was fun!






















(Bonus, because I love this picture)

New blog for craft and life.

So I've decided to start a blog here specifically for my crafts. I have several other venues for my personal life, so I hope to dedicate this mostly to my crafting.

Most recently, I've made the 2 foot cockroach plushie for a friend. It was totally a riot to make. I've been getting mixed reviews of it.

Some folks think it's gross, some think he's adorable. I loved hugging him!!

Coming soon, my Fairy Grandmother, a year in the making!!!