Cat Shelves

Yes. Cat Shelves.
Sometimes I get restless and any little idea that blows past me becomes an I HAVE TO DO THIS RIGHT NOW!!! kind of project. It must be more than a little irritating to my sweet husband who I'm sure had plans of his own this weekend. But now I feel better, it's out of my system. I think everyone needs a good old fashioned diy project every once in a while. Hit up the hardware store and crack open the stain, let's get this done.

Basically what we have here are shelves specifically for cats. For them to perch on, sleep on, and use to climb up to the ultimate sleep spot... the top of the china cabinet. Four wood shelves with simple corner braces, keeping it cheap. I picked up a sweet orange/pink/brown houndstooth remnant at the local fabric shop and whipped up cushions for the shelves. In the process attaching velcro to the bottom of the cushion and top of the shelf to keep them from sliding off onto the floor every other breath. Then of course I got stingy with the rest of that sweet fabric and made the tippity top cushion out of leftover pink fleece. It's soooo high up there, no one would see it... right? Wrong. I may end up making a new one if that pink starts to bug me.

Of course I had to go find a cat to put on the shelf for the photo, they haven't exactly explored their new space yet. I have hope, who could resist such a fun napping space?!

What I've Been Up To, Part Deux...

The break has obviously not run it's course. I am still tinkering and sampling, feeling flighty.
My days are still so randomly hectic and scattered concerning the children and their schedules. School, doctors, dentists, sports, band, blah blah blah. And now I have an upcoming bump in the road that will be a bother for who knows how long. I am finally going to have surgery on my foot and the recovery is anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 weeks. No driving, but more troubling is the no sewing machine until it is fully recovered. This has me anxious! I am in super prep mode, trying to get done all the machine sewing I want and save the hand sewing for those weeks I am out.

SO! Lovely readers, if you don't mind giving me your opinion on these two elephants:
Elephant A
Made from sweaters, jointed limbs, scrap yarn tail, and button eyes.

Elephant B
Made from a pair corduroy pants, cotton circus print, jointed limbs, yarn tail, and button eyes

And the two together... 

Elephant A is much larger than her friend and doesn't stand on her own very well. Elephant B's head to body seam is very puckery but I'm sure I could improve on that. 

Opinions?
I love them both, they are special little snowflakes in their own way, but I am in need of only one elephant.

Then there is this:

Him I could eat with a spoon! This little fella has been a big hit at the Mix household. Several requests and at least one showed up in time for Valentine's Day.

{More photos of all three on the Flickr}

November's Bag - Miss Maven Ruffled Handbag

   

I like this bag, I really do. It has oodles of character and will definitely impress when you say "I made it!". The size is huge but that is what I've come to expect with these Amy Butler bags. It's huge but pretty narrow (3.5"), like I could see it being super handy for those needing to tote around a bunch of canvases. 

I opted for the large size as it's only 3" bigger than the small and I had the yardage to spare.

       

 The black/cream print I picked up forever ago. It's cool but the print is soooo big. I could not find anything (with the required 1 yard) in my stash that would coordinate for the ruffle/handle. So I hit up OK Quiltworks and Jemellia helped me whisper out the fun purple print. The creams match perfectly, that ended up being the biggest problem... finding a match for that shade of cream. Oh, the problems in my life!! I used a solid cream for the lining because anything darker and you'd need a lantern to see the bottom.

 I snapped this photo when I realized my bag would not be perfect. I don't know if reading the directions through more than once would have helped or not. I have to actually DO the step for it to really register what is going on. Anyways, my clipping of curves went a little too deep. If I had not been in such a rush (and if it didn't mean another trip to the store) I probably would have cut/sewn a new set of handles. And I just might end up doing just that sometime when I am feeling adventurous.

And here we are! I like it, I'm not overjoyed though.
I think I would like ANY bag using that purple print, it is really fantastic. I can't tell you why I'm not 100% in love, just something. Probably the messy handles.

On the ruffle, I didn't even attempt AB's instruction. My ancient (ahem, vintage) machine likes a certain setting for stitch length and I know how to gather a ruffle by hand. It just seemed easier. 

 

After this bag and the embarrassing handles I am hesitant to make the last bag. Confidence is a little shaky. Maybe I will just slow down and take my time with it... I'm thinking turquoise for the main solid and something super fun for the petals. 

I am currently sewing up some fun sweater animals, an elephant and turtle to be specific :) 

Have a lovely Wednesday!