The Frog and Owl

However did I come up with the name of The Frog and Owl for my little shop?  As the story goes when my little guy was first born he held his legs all scrunched up like a little frog. Sorry little one, that mama’s insides didn’t give you room to stretch those little legs for the last couple months of your inside journey.  When he came outside, I called him my little frog for the first couple months of his life.  He is still my little frog prince and inspires all my creations that are child related.  For instance, my pacifier clips where inspired by the lack of cute clips currently on the market.

I am a night owl by nature.  I also have a tendency to be introverted and analytical.  I remember taking those personality test where they link your personality traits to animals, back when I worked outside of the home.  Surprise, surprise, I came out as the owl.  So it just seemed to fit that I name my little shop The Frog and Owl after myself and my son. 

You may have noticed these gorgeous tiles in today’s post.  (How could you not, right?)  I found these at Gretchen Kramp’s Ceramic Tiles Etsy shop.   Her tiles are just amazing.  Browsing her store always inspires me and puts a smile on my face. 

While at Michael’s the other day I couldn’t help a quick trip through the yarn isle.  This Panton yarn there that matches our bedroom color scheme exactly.  I had to pick it up.  When I got home I decided it would make a really nice scarf for the dresser.  Here is a snapshot of it’s progress.

The colors are a little wash out in this picture.  The colors are a blue gray, brown, and cream.  The pattern I made up from the standard  fern leaf and seed stitch.  (In the background you can see the baby blanket I crocheted and knitted for my little frog.)

I have started yet another new type of crafting.  I have been in love with needle felting every since I stumbled onto Jenn Docherty and her little needle felted creatures.  She also did a great tutorial on Martha Stewart.  I decided to try my hand at it.  I bought some wool roving and a felting needle from Joann’s.  Since I have been enamored with robins this spring, what better creature to make?  The other day I sat down with my needle and started stabbing away.  It is true, it takes alot of time.  Here is what I have accomplished so far. 

Her little red breast has not been added yet.  I am impressed with her shape.  She has a cute little tail, if I do say so myself.

I am posting out of order a little this week.  As I mentioned last post, my bibs were my second sewing project, my first sewing project was this little bag.  I bought this cute Japanese fabric some time ago on Etsy.  Last week I got inspired to make it into a little bag.  I decided to make a lined bag with the Japanese fabric and some light cotton canvas.  I had a little trouble with the zipper.  I believe this is because I didn’t sew it in first.  Next time, I will install the zipper first.  I also left the inside side seams raw.  I would like to have thought ahead and made the seams finished.   As a finishing touch I made a felt applicay of the little fox.  The fox was a little over two inches.  This made embroidering the details a little challenging.  Overall, I am pleased with the outcome of my foxy little bag. 

I received a 3 pack of vinyl bibs as a baby present back 10 months ago now.  Our little one has been making great use of them everyday.  (Thanks Uncle Chad!) Our little one being the boy that he is has been rather hard on them.  So, I went to The Store (read Target here) in search of some new ones.  I figured that since the first ones were purchased there, Target would have some more.  I was mistaken.   I found some hideous ones at WalMart.  But, my little guy has a sense of style and would not have been caught dead in them.

Naturally, I decided I could make some.  How hard could it be?  The first challenge was finding vinyl material.  While there is an increase in patterned vinyl fabric being produced, none was suitable for a boy.   I finally found some boyish vinyl coated fabric at my local Michael’s store.  I cut out a bib shape using my old ones as a guide.  I then sewed 1/4 inch bias tape  around the edges.  Ok, it didn’t quite go that smoothly.  I had some trouble rounding the upper edges.  I also had some trouble keeping my stitches in line.  Remember, this is only my second sewing project in well over 10 years.  

I finished sewing up a pair of bibs and then attached Velcro to the tabs.  I am excited to try them out tomorrow.  On one bib I sewed the Velcro on and on the other I hot glued it on.  We’ll see how they were.  The hot glued one is a little more aesthetically pleasing.  But I am a form follows function sort of girl, so if it doesn’t hold up it will be sewn on in the future.

I have to share my newest toy.  Last week I bought a new sewing machine.  I had an old old Singer machine from the 60s that I got it at a garage sale for $20 growing up.   It was very very sturdy.  It’s body was all cast metal of some sort and it could sew through several layers of canvas.  However, I had the worst time with it’s tension.  I finally stopped using it and sewed everything by hand.  Needless to say I didn’t do much sewing. 

Well, with my recent domestication trend (buying a house, having a kid, ect.) I decided that I need a sewing machine.  I didn’t want a fancy computerized model.  Realistically, I would never use all those stitch patterns and such.  Yet, I wanted something a little more sturdy and higher quality then the under $100 models found at places like Target or Sears.  I thought about Singer because I was familiar with them.  I did a little research at JoAnn’s online and found that the feedback on Singers was pretty bad. 

Long story short, I went to our local sewing machine store.  They suggest a couple of the entry level Janome machines.  I settled on the Janome Sewist 525S machine.  I am loving it.  It is sturdy, has one step button holing, all the stitch patterns I could want, and the tension is a dream.   I’ll keep you all in touch with my feelings on this machine.  When I was doing my research I found most feedback on machines was made in the first week of purchase, which doesn’t tell one much about their quality.  Also, everyone loves their new purchase.  Time is the true test of a product.  If you still like it months or years later that is the mark of a good product.

I updated my shop the other day.  I have added several new designs to my pacifier clip line.  I even have added a new owl design.  The cute little owls are singing so sweetly.  Head on over to thefrogandowl.etsy.com to check out all the new designs.

I just purchased a new batch of Japanese tape.  I can hardly wait to get them made up. 

Every once in a while the weight of the world gets a bit much.  On days this happens, I turn to my crafts and a few trusted sites to put a smile back on my face.  As you’ve guessed today was a weighty day, so I turned www.thetoymaker.com.  This sweet little frog instantly put a big smile on my face.

Just click on the image to open the larger template on their web site.  Print it – cut it out – assemble it – and get a jump on having a hopping good day.  This little frog can brighten the dreariest day.