Pumpkin Delight

This week I’ve been having some fun shopping for fabric and drawing up patterns for some ideas for future projects. I have all these ideas rolling around in my head and I’m trying to stay off the computer and actually DO some crafting :) 
It’s fall and I am so ready for the colors and textures and crisp  cool air of fall, but it’s been in the 90’s this week. Yes, I know we live in a desert, but it’s a MOUNTAIN desert… lol! I’m surrounded by the most beautiful mountains in the world and the leaves on the mountain trees are changing already, but with our 90 degree weather it’s not quite happening here just yet.  Since we’re not getting fall just yet I decided to create a little fall for my home.
Here are a few pumpkins I made using another Fiskars pattern.  They are very similar to some that I have made previously and are super duper easy.   I’m seriously thinking about doing a Ustream video and inviting you all to play along with me on a project like this.  What do you think?

MMMM falll colors and textures, rich and delicious.  I pulled some fabric that I had set aside in my stash for some table runners … so glad I did because I am in love with pumpkins right now!

A tower of texture! Tee hee!
Here’s a little close up of the button stem (my twist on the project).  The original did not have a stem.. they just glued the leaf and curly ribbon into place.  There is no glue on this project.. it is completely hand sewn (after the original pumpkins are machine stitched to form the rounds...)  My aching fingers are proof.

I’m off to pick up my space and make an owl or two! 
~Inky Smiles!

Strength of a Woman

For all my beautiful and wonderful sisters!  Thanks to Beverly for posting this on her FB profile yesterday!  Quoting Bev .. “Love this song Shaggy, but where's my big and beautiful white women represented? LOL!”

It’s a catchy and uplifting little tune.  I hope you enjoy it!

~Inky Smiles!

What Hoot!

So I’ve had this hankering for the past several weeks to SEW something.. something other than paper…. Poor Bernie (my Bernina Activa 240) has been staring at me from where she’s been sitting on the floor in my studio and I swear if she had puppy eyes, she’d have been using them… LOL!  ANyway.. yesterday I was perusing the internet and came across a fun little project on the Fiskars website.  Oooh La La!  I found me a project.. and then another… and then another…. but those anothers will have to wait.  Project #1 was about to be created.

I shared this little sneak peek yesterday on Facebook. (So much easier and faster than blogging!)

Miss Stacey Flores texted me cuz I texted her the sneak peek and she already knew what it was… “Cuz I’m smart like that” she said.. and “Cuz I’m addicted to ____ and ____ right now”. LOL!  Crazy woman!

 
The hardest thing about this little project was the time consuming stitching of the eyes…  round and round and round and round…. :)

 

I just love the eyes… I think that’s what drew me to the original Fiskars project. 

They just pop out at ya… literally, lol!

Introducing… well I haven’t decided on a name for her just yet… but I’m thinking Olivia or Ellie, maybe even Sally… what do you think?  She’s a wise ol’ girl… I think I will keep her around the studio!

She’s made with some scrap fabric I had in my scrap basket and the felt is real wool felt from my “penny rug” supply box.  I used bits of scrap ribbon to create her ruffly front.  All of the fabric is lined with lightweight pellon for stability (and ease of sewing) and the wings have an additional layer of polyester felt to give them some structure.  The pellon and felt were not in the original instructions.

Bottoms up!  I stitched my initials on her bum… remember Cabbage Patch dolls? 

Thanks for popping in today!  I’m off now to help Brent make another batch of Roasted Red Pepper Spread so we can bottle it up tomorrow. (It’s dang good schtuff, maynard!)

~Inky Smiles!

Erin

Yellowstone: Grand Prismatic Pool Area & Candy Winner

I just woke up from a Sunday afternoon nap and remembered I needed to post about the Where In The World photo guessing contest and a blog candy winner…

Here’s the photo again:

There were several guesses and you are all right.. it was taken in Yellowstone National Park and that is the Firehole River.  This photo is looking back towards the Upper Geyser Basin (which is where you would find the Old Faithful area).  If you turn to the right you will see this fine view with some lovely thermal feature activity:

And if you keep on turning, looking back towards the Grand Prismatic Pool area….

Oh wait, oops… your lovely hosts of this little tour decided to try to take a self portrait with the camera remote… lol! Mush, mush, mush….

And we’re turning, we’re turning…..

And voila! We have the Grand Prismastic Pool area… the big steamy area on the top left is the Grand Prismatic Pool… which looks like this photo that I snatched from somewhere online because I’m too lazy to hike up to the top of that big mountain in the back to get a clear view of it… the photos I have of Grand Prismatic are just steamy shots of the algae and side shots of the pool.  It’s difficult to snap a good photo in the chilly evening with all that steam.

And coming back to where we are standing we find a pic of my sweet hottie hubs… I was trying to make it look like the steam was coming from his hot hand… tee hee! I don’t think he was all that thrilled, but he appeased me nonetheless.. LOVE HIM :)

And now since you’ve read through this post and gotten this far, I should probably tell you who the winner is…. (drum roll, please)…..  Random Integer Generator online determined that our winner is commenter #1

KELLY JO!!

                                  

Shoot me an email with your mailing addy and I will pop these delicious goodies in the mail to you.  Pictured here are some pearls from Kaisercraft, some velvet flowers, chipboard crazy arrows, chipboard buttons,  3 sheets of rubons and some ribbon slides from Maya Road, and some fuzzy grey Thickers from American Crafts.

No husbands or thermal features were harmed during this photo shoot.  Buffalo chips, on the other hand, are another story.

~Inky Smiles!

Where In The World?

I have been on a much needed vacation with my sweet husband in one of the most beautiful places on God's great earth.  We just returned home this evening and I couldn't resist starting to edit pics.

Can you guess where we went?

Bonus points if you can tell me where EXACTLY this is in this great place we vacationed. :)

Leave me a comment and your guess and I will draw a name on Sunday for a fun little bit of crafty goodness from my stash. :)

~Inky Smiles!

On Commenting...

Hey friends!

Just popping in to let you know that I have changed the way I do comments here at Inky Smiles.  For the longest time I had the word verification... but if you're like me, that's really annoying and you don't usually comment when you have to go through the extra steps of word verification. 

So I took that feature off Inky Smiles' comment form.  For a while it was ok, but then I was getting the ickiest comments from Annonymous.. nothing against me personally but mostly jsut that nasty stuff I really don't need, like Viagara, and handmade whatsits from India and other interesting "come check out MY website" type nasties.

I am not putting word verification back on the blog, but have enabled the comment moderation feature.  Hopefully this will work out better.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE reading comments from you all, even if it's just to pop on and say "hi".  Your comments make my day.

So .. if it takes a day or two to see your comment pop up, don't worry, it's just me not being on the computer right away to "authorize" them.

~Inky Smiles!

Butterflies, Love Bugs & Jewelry

Hi Friends!

It’s been a busy few/several weeks here at the Inky Smiles house.  We’ve been CANNING (tomatoes, peaches, cucumbers). ‘Nuff Said. LOL!

However, I did find some time to spend in my studio and play around with some crafty things.

My friend, Jeanne, had a birthday last week and I had this little gem ready and waiting to be sent to her for the longest time.  I cut out butterflies from misc papers from my stash and placed them on a piece of vintage linen that I stitched a border around.  It’s framed in a simple black frame from Michael’s.   {The butterflies are all lined up, this is an odd angle for viewing.}  It was super fun and easy to make.  I have loads of ideas for future frames now, too!

Here’s a few snapshots from Jewelry Fest @ Valeries… I worked (hired creative consultant) for my friend Valerie who runs a REALLY COOL business (http://www.isurfaceart.com).  She just did a jewelry fund raiser for the junior high kids who are going to Europe this next summer and we crafted a TON of jewelry.  We had loads of fun putting pieces together and pricing everything.  However, I think I’m good to never see a piece of waxed leather again. LOL! 

This photo below is a NEAT and TIDY pic.  You should have seen it when we were going gung ho. Yes, it looked like a scrappers desk in the middle of a project. hehe!

Waxed leather cords waiting for donut stones and shells becoming earrings.

Glass Pendants, costume jewelry, and buckets of shell  & stone pendant jewelry:

 

Getting ready to play with Picasso Marble.  Picasso Marble is gorgeous!  Did you know it is only available from Utah Mines?  How cool is that!? I made some fun pieces with this lovely stone.
  
Picasso Marble pieces stacking up and a couple of finished pieces.

               

This is my bracelet and earring set (I also have a stone donut necklace to go with it).  I’m going to restring the bracelet on wire with a fancy toggle clasp instead of stretchy string.  I just love this stone!

And Love Bugs…

Brent’s been such a trooper and totally supportive of all of our recent projects around the house and the big canning festival we’ve been having.  He has a crazy week this week with all the corporate management coming in from Denver to work with his local division. (Brent’s the head accountant and business manager for the UT and ID divisions.)  I whipped up this little card the other day and put it on the keyboard of his business laptop so he’d have a nice little surprise when he went back to work Tues am.  I love this man. He rocks my world.

~Inky Smiles!