Pics of the new Driver in the family

Here are some pics of our Grandson doing one of his favorite things - driving!  And he does pretty good for 18mos!  Here is another pic of him in his Halloween costume behind the wheel of a fire truck.  Lots of buttons for him to play with.  He is such a cutie and growing sooooo fast!

I have been very busy with some new dolls in the works.  And Christmas Cards!  And Thanksgiving (still some leftovers to deal with!).  Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Ours was full of laughter, good friends, and family besides the food which was pretty good if I do say so myself! 
Just an FYI, I have removed the free Steampunk Tutorial for Flirty Flora.  It is now part of the pattern - both e and CD.  If you have the pattern and didn't get a chance to download the tutorial, please email me.  Enjoy!

Beautiful View

15 minutes ago from the balcony of my studio.  I also see this from the window where my computer is. 

New Hoffman Challenge Fabrics

Monday I received my packet of Hoffman Challlenge fabrics.  I have ordered them for the past few years from Quilt-Kits online and have received exceptional service.  They put together the exact package I like - 1 yd of the challenge fabric and 1/2 yd of each of the coordinates. Thank so much Don and Cindy.  I received an email they were available on Friday, ordered them and had them on Monday!  How is that for service and they were packaged so nicely too.  I like most of the coordinates but really LOVE the blenders (top right stack of 5)-they have pearl highlights and the colors are so pretty.   Now all I need is an idea.  I like to "live" with the fabric for a bit before I dive in.  I usually don't start to make the doll until May unless I get  inspired.

Playing with some new toys

My local bead store recently received the new Sizzix/Vintaj embossing and etching folders.  I had to buy one of each and play with them a bit.  I decided to add some embossing powder but the color came out dark so I covered some of the pieces with white alcohol mixative and some with white paint.  I then added the colored AI to them and then covered the whole front with clear embossing powder.  While the embossing powder was soft, I set in some flat back crystals.  Now I need to read the tutorials to find out how to REALLY do it!  The charms on the left are done on Vintaj blanks.  I really love the etching die the clockface is from.  The tags on the right are brass I ordered from Fancifulsinc.com.  I thought they were blank tags that were 50% off.  Imagine my surprise when I opened them and discovered they actually said 50% off on them!  Can't see it once it was embossed.  I really like the crisp image from the embossing folder. Easier to fill the crevices with embossing powders but I love the images on the etching folder - it also has a bird cage and bird.  I'm off the the bead store to buy some more blanks so I can play.  These are small - the rectangles are slightly more than 1" in length, the tags are slightly smaller.

Commission Piece completed

My SIL asked me to make a card house for a friend of hers only she didn't want a house, wanted a simple box with pearls and padding.  I hate to admit this - but simple is not in my vocabulary.  I suggested a treasure chest with a tufted top.  I used a premade card box from Michaels, removed the fabric and went to work.  I added batting, covered the bottom with moire taffeta which has a pattern that resembles wood grain.  The top was covered with matching satin and tufted with pearls.  I added some trims and more pearls.  I also recycled the large "knob" by covering it with some trim and surrounding it with flowers.  Hope she likes it.  My SIL did.