What's a Ninni??

Over at Craftster.org, my friend Susan and I just hosted a swap of Monster Ninnis.  They are simple little stuffies, and the pattern is free at http://www.revoluzzza.com/ .  Here are the three I made for my partners:

Photographer Ninni (my partner loves photography)

Avatar Ninni (he looks like the avatar my partner uses on Craftster)

Kangaroo Ninni (just because I thought a baby Ninni would be cute!)

You can see the whole Ninni gallery here:  http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=381142.0 .  You will be amazed at the wide variety of colors, styles, and themes the creative swappers came up with.  Some are so elaborate, it's unbelievable!

Pin Cushion with something EXTRA!

This is a pin cushion I design I came up with quite a while ago; I've made and sold tons of them, they are fun and easy--you can see that it's just a four-patch square, surrounded by a narrow muslin boarder, with the main fabric around the outside:

I usually write a scripture quote on the muslin (I print it from the computer, then trace it using a light box); recently I found a couple of good sewing-related quotes to use in the future.  The tassels are from the upholstery department of the fabric store, they come sewn onto a flat braided cord-type thing.  I just cut them apart and place them in the seam when sewing.  Here's the back:

I love the button fabric!  And there is a real button sewn in the middle, anchoring the bead on the front.
This time there is something NEW that goes with the pin cushion--BEHOLD!

CLAY BIRDS AND A MUSHROOM!  I love these so much!  I first made them for a recent swap (on Craftster.org ), in fact, I made this pin cushion at the same time I made one for my swap partner.  She had these little birds on her wist, so I gave it a try and they came out great! I just formed the Sculpey clay around extra-long straight pins (with regular flat heads), baked for 15 minutes, and after they were cool, I coated them with Varithane varnish.  The pins really add something special to the pin cushion, so I've put this one in my Etsy store (http://www.leslieshappyheart.etsy.com/ ) .  First come, first served!

Sweet Little Tote

Look at this sweet little tote I made!  Good news--you can make one too, because the pattern is FREE from http://www.wendigratz.blogspot.com/.  The name of the website is Shiny Happy World, and I love it because it is, well, shiny and happy!  Wendi Gratz is on a mission to teach people to sew, and many of her patterns are free, and all of them are cute.

The pattern for this tote is well-written and easy to follow.  It is easy to sew, too, because there are no pesky pockets or zippers to contend with!  The pattern also tells you at which point to add your own decoration, so I found this kitty embroidery pattern at Urban Threads ( http://www.urbanthreads.com/).  I downloaded it, printed it, traced it onto the fabric using a light box (but you can hold it up to a window) and embroidered it using the stem stitch and two strands of embroidery floss.  The whole project took less than 2.5 hours from start to finish, including finding and adding the embroidery. 

This tote is small, only 7.5" tall and 8.5" wide--just big enough for your lunch, or your latest small sewing project, or your child's coloring book and crayons.  Wouldn't it make a nice gift, filled with goodies?

Speaking of filling it with goodies, my friend Susan and I are planning to organize a swap on Craftster in the near future called "Craft this Tote and Fill It!"  I can't wait to see all the different fabrics and embellishments everyone comes up with for their totes.  If you want to join in the fun, just sign up at Craftster at http://www.craftster.org

Orange Alert!!

I'm sending an "angel" package to a craftster member today; she was flaked on in the Sewists/Yarnies vs. Papercrafters swap, so I volunteered to send her a package.  Perhaps you can guess what her favorite color is?

She asked for bags and pouches, and it is my pleasure to deliver!  She also has a soft spot for candy corn, thus the candy corn pouch.  Usually I put a heart on the front of my bags, but she doesn't strike me as a "heart" kind of person, so I made a button using my button machine, featuring the phrase that accompanies her avatar on Craftster:

If she doesn't love this package, I'll eat my shoe!!

Making a Stuffie

Recently I tried making a stuffie (stuffed animal or whatever) for a Craftster swap.  In the past I've made very simple ones that I was happy with, but I felt that I needed to try harder this time, since I would be sending my creation to someone!  When I looked at my partner's profile, I saw that she had participated in a previous stuffie swap, and for that partner she had made a fabulous jointed dinosaur!!  I didn't want to disappoint her, so I really put some time into creating the cutest little monkey possible (she LOVES monkeys), and this is what I came up with:

I loved her so much, I made one for myself, too!  She is made of fleece, with wool felt for the face, flower, and heart.  I beaded the heart, added a button to the center of the flower, and put wire in the tail to make it poseable. 

As I was working on the pattern, I kept making adjustments, because I realized that the secret of cuteness is this:  big head, small body!  I probably could have gone smaller with the body, but it was hard enough to sew as it was, because the size from rump to flower is only 5".

Here they are, two little monkeys, before one flew away to live in Mexico!  My partner received her recently, and she loves her! (I was sure she would!)

Bird Matchbox

I'm happy to be able to show you the second matchbox I made for the recent matchbox swap on Craftster (http://www.craftster.org/).  My partner has received it, so here are the pictures:

The front and inside:  I drew the bird with a micron marker and colored pencils.  The rest of the decoration was scrapbook paper.

The back and inside:

One of the two crafted items inside the matchbox was this birdnest book thong:

The other crafted item was this "Be Happy" pin-back button that I made on my button machine.  I drew the bird with a Sharpie and colored it with Copic markers:

And the two matchboxes together, as they looked when the recipients opened them, stuffed full of fun:

I love the book thong as a little gift!  For this one I made the birdnest charm out of polymer clay (in the Halloween box it was a purple monster); just add a few more beads to a cord and you have a nice handcrafted gift.  I found it on Fave Crafts:
 http://www.favecrafts.com/Gifts/Beaded-Book-Thong

Try it!  And check out lots of other free crafts there.

Country Treasures

There is a store just outside of Williamsburg where I sell all my handmade items; it's called Country Treasures, and is located in the Williamsburg Outlet Mall.  Here are some pictures of the store and my little booth.

The front of the store:

 My Happy Heart Designs booth:

My "pin tree", and little stuffed creatures:

There are a few other crafters with booths at Country Treasures, but I think I am the only one selling things that don't fit the description "country"!  I guess I add variety to the store!  The zippered purses are what I'm best known for, but all the little things sell very well there too.  Some of the other items I make that aren't pictured are:  eyeglass cases, zippered pouches, key chain pouches, scripture verse pillows, scripture verse sachets, tissue holders, and pincushions.

If you like what you see but can't make it to Williamsburg, you can find me on Etsy.  

http://www.leslieshappyheart.etsy.com/