The Fairies of Summer... er... Fall

Sorry it's taken so long too post, reality has a way of pulling you away from the fun things in life. I haven't been in the swaps since July. But I did in fact receive my Fairy swap. And here it is :)

Cheri of course loves purple. This has a bit of Gnome going on here. I almost think her sitting on a little mushroom would make this picture perfect.

And I love this little key, you just know she's got a secret garden somewhere : )

Now these are beyond adorable. And the tiny little knitted dress! Such detail!

And a patriotic fairy, I never would have dreamed up this combination. But I think it works quite well.

Magenta?

Well the Rit box said Petal Pink. But this petite's hair was sort of yellow to start with, and this is the result...

 

I dunno, I kind of like it. Gonna have to do something about those dark marks on her arms... like not putting the dress she came in back on her, ever.

Fairies in the Garden...

Well I've been wanting to do something fairy themed with my petites for some time, so when the latest swap I'm taking part in was Mystical Garden Creature themed I decided I had to jump on that. Here's one of my ideas for the swap...

These were such fun to make. The dresses are simply 15 stitches on size 1 needles. You start with a couple rows of garter stitch (2 to 4, your choice) then continue in stockinette until you reach a length you like that comes just up to the bust, bind off on both sides leaving 5 live stitches in the center. Continue in garter stitch for 2 to 3 more rows then bind off. Seam up the back and attach straps to tie around the neck. That's it! :)

Now the wings are a different matter. Once you've finished the dresses you can attach wings of your choice. I used E6000 to attach these wings and it works really well. For those who don't know, E6000 is an industrial strength adhesive and it can glue just about anything to anything. It's excellent stuff and I use it in many of my crafting projects. The wings I used are those silk flower butterflies that have recently been showing up in silk flower bushes and garlands. I'd been seeing a lot of them at Micheals lately and since I needed some flowers for another project I saved the butterfly wings for just this purpose. The swap finally gave me the excuse I was looking for to put them to use. If anyone wants to use wings like this, it might be a good idea to fray check the outer edge of the wings (I did) because just like silk flowers they will fray a bit with repeated handling.

This was such fun... now what other Mythical Garden critters could I make... gnomes? sprites? pixies? hmmmm... I'll have to think on it. :)

Point and Click

Just picked up this lovely little toy for Wren...

It's an adorable little camera key chain (I removed the split ring and chain of course... I plan to put a little black wrist strap on there so Wren can tote it about).  

It's the cutest little thing and we are selling them now at Micheals. Naturally I had to get Wren one, she's been jonesing for a camera for quite some time. 

And it even has a flash and sound....

 

A Hard Look at... Eraser Food

I've heard a lot of talk about eraser foods and weather or not they're an appropriate accessory for Blythe. Obviously some people like them, some don't care one way or the other, and some downright hate the little buggers.

Personally I fall into the middle category, they seem cute enough, and I can easily see them working in a photo shoot. As far as lasting ability... well I've never kept any around for that long, I usually snap a few photos and then hand them over to my niece to play with. But lets face it, they are erasures. Anyone who's had to dive into the supply drawer (and you know which drawer I'm talking about.. the one filled with all the little bits and bobs we never seem able to throw out because, God help us, those things might be useful) quickly discovers what becomes of erasures after they sit around for several years. They dry into some nasty crumbly version of their former selves which have lost the ability to even do what they were intended for... erase.

But what of erasure food? Is it a good miniature for Blythe? If by miniature you mean a dainty little keepsake that you hand down to your grandchildren then heck no... not even close. But if you mean something small, cute, and dare I say fanciful (and yes you have to admit it some of them are), as well as inexpensive and easy to find, then these little guys work just fine. They can make adorable little props in photos, and (as far as photo shoots go) what they lack in lasting power they make up for in ease. Besides how many pics can you take of those miniature drinks you bought on Etsy before you get bored and put them back on the shelf to gather dust. : )

A Passion for Purple

My favorite color swap came in. And as you might have guessed. The color was PURPLE!

My swap partner, Anne of AnneArchy, sent me the most wonderful stuff. There were some wonderful crafting materials which I can't wait to break into. As well as two hats, a sweater top and skirt set, and a lovely green and purple sweater. They are all so perfect. She definitely has skills!

This is Betts in the little sweater set... so sophisticated!

And Cheri in the purple and green number

Moonyeen and Wren quickly snatched up the hats for themselves...

...and even little Ivy (yep that's her name now) "borrowed" the gnome's hat and claimed the My Little Pony :)

All in all this was an awesome swap to participate in, I had fun creating and picking out the items to send and I received the most wonderful things! Who would have thought that just color alone would make such a fulfilling theme : )

In the Pink

March's theme for the Blythe swap was favorite color. I knew I had to join in with this one as it seemed like it would be terribly fun, and it was. My swap recipient chose the color baby pink, and here's what I sent...

This is Betts and Moonyeen in an Edwardian tea dress and a kimono respectively.

And the view from the back. I just had to show off the Obi.

And an assortment of very pink things. The pull string bag has many little secret pockets inside and was sewn by my mother-in-law Joan. It was Hello Kitty and baby pink so I thought it would work out nicely for storing shoes and accessories for photo shoots. The pressed penny is from Hawaii, she said she collected pressed pennies so I thought she might like one from the Aloha state. The shoes are MiMi Woo. And the rest is candy, assorted hair chips (note the bunny ears... I couldn't resist!), and some hounds tooth fabric in baby pink for her to play with. I have to say this was a pretty fun swap. With just color as the theme the territory was pretty open. I had a wonderful time of it!