Bugs in the Mail

I’m back! Hubs, PZ, Q, and I are done with our tour of the midwest and are oh so glad to be back in Portland. We arrived to find not only two very where-have-you-been-and-did-you-bring-us-any-food pups at our house, but also two tired-of-being-in-this-packaging-thank-you-very-much-and-nice-to-meet-you buggies from Australia. Yay! Dimmity and Beatrice are two, count them TWO!, sweet little ladies that Rebecca from Blinking Flights was sweet enough to make and send to us for her part of the bug swap. 

My girls just adore their new bug pals! Thanks so much Rebecca. I hope you are enjoying Zaque the Space Man and sorry it took me so long to write this!! If you guys want to check out more of the super cute bugs from the swap go here.

 

Bugs in Space

I recently participated in Rebecca from Blinking Flights‘ bug swap. She makes these wonderfully creative soft toys and wanted to celebrate creating a PDF pattern for one of them by hosting an international swap. A few of us crafty adventurers signed up to get the pattern early, make one of the little buggles and after being paired up, swap! So fun!!

My partner decided she had too much on her plate and bailed, so I am getting to swap with Rebecca herself. Very cool! Bec lives in Australia, so although I mailed this little guy last week it will probably still take some time for him to make the journey. The Fam and I are leaving early next week for some summerly adventures and much family gathering. I’m hoping when I get back I’ll have a new little friend waiting for me! 

So until I can post pictures of that, here is what I came up with. 

Name: Zaque “Space Man” Bug

Age: 3 or 4 light years

Likes: laser guns and David Bowie

Dislikes: helmet hair and dogs who mistake him for a bone

Tuesday Review – Keyka Lou Patterns

I recently finished two projects using Keyka Lou‘s patterns – the business card wallet and the passport sleeve. Both were very easy to make. I think the only thing I had a problem with on the passport sleeve was sewing in a straight line. Ack!

The wallet was a tad trickier, but the pattern and tutorial were great. My one point of confusion was the optional invisible lining. I chose to use it and didn’t feel like it was explained well enough where and when exactly it should be used. I figured it out though without too much trouble. I’m just the kind of person who likes EVERYTHING spelled out for me in a tutorial. I can’t think of too many tutorials that do that. This one comes pretty darn close! If I were going to do it again I’d probably place my velcro slightly lower, but that was my mistake, not Michelle’s (Keyka Lou’s designer).  

I’m giving both of these as gifts. They are actually in the mail as I write this. A few months ago on Facebook I took the I will make you something challenge. Basically I agreed to post a note saying I’d make something for the first 5 people who responded so long as they were willing to do the same. It is like a pay it forward kind of thing. Anyway, this is what I did to fulfill two of my nifty giftys.