Maybe It Will Be A Year of Smalls?

Apparently small projects are my groove this year.  In addition to the little pot topper from my last post and the first tooth fairy pillow from my New Year's update, I've finished another tooth fairy pillow (for potential craft fair inventory), a Blue Ribbon Designs ornament I started last year and abandoned, and then this little piece that was in the back of my desk drawer.

The little ship-in-a-bottle design was a kit from Hobby Lobby, purchased before I realized that I had issues with the company's position on....lots of things.  (I no longer shop at Hobby Lobby.)  And the kit wasn't great, either - it came with a teeny square of cheap aida which I quickly replaced with a scrap of unknown count/color linen from my stash.  The flosses were not DMC, or any other quality brand I've worked with, and I ran out of 2 colors (one was white, which was easy enough to replace, and the other was the dark brown used for backstitching).  So basically, I finished it because I am stubborn, and couldn't just throw it away.

The little box is one of those cheap basswood/plywood items from the "unfinished wood" section in any chain craft store.  I think I grabbed this one at A.C. Moore last year before they went out of business.  It is designed with a slot for 3"x5" photo, so I laced my finished stitching and attached it to the photo backing board.  Then I made a padded liner for the bottom inside of the box, and made a matching fabric-covered piece of matboard (actually comic book board - my husband gave me a whole bulk package of them that he didn't need!) to cover the back of the lid.  Then I made some twisted twine cord, attached a compass rose charm, and voila, fini!

Now I don't know what to DO with it....probably more craft show inventory...

Mermaid treasure box

 The very first music/jewelry box I deconstructed and added needlework to was this one - where I used a small Ink Circles design.  I really loved that box, because the glass lid was held in not by cheap little metal clips (like most of the ones I've found since), but by a wood "frame" of sorts.  So when I found another on eBay, selling for .99 since the music box was broken, I snapped it up!  Even with $8 in shipping costs, it wasn't a bad deal.  And then I stitched up this little mermaid design from The Primitive Hare, and voila!

Everything came from my stash - linen left over from one of my half-dolls, DMC floss, an assortment of beads, and cotton fabrics from my finishing supplies.

A friend of mine rents space at a local craft marketplace, and she has hinted that she thinks she could sell some of these for me.  I may not make a huge profit, but I also don't need 7 (8?  I've lost count...) jewelry boxes sitting around my house.

Jewelry box #...7, I think?

I just keep finding these...

This was a pretty battered old jewelry box - again from Goodwill.  It cost me about $3.  I sanded it, applied 2 new coats of varnish and some polyurethane, and replaced a really hideous piece of tapestry with this little Sheepish Designs sampler.  It wasn't quite the right dimensions, so I added some crocheted (purchased, not made by me) lace trim on either side.

I also cleaned and re-finished the inside.  The right side was divided into 9 little squares, with cheap velvet-covered board.  I pulled all that out and made a new liner and padded bottom.  I left the ring holder, but cleaned it thoroughly, and I used a piece of matboard to hide the laced back of the top.  The twisted cord is 2 colors of floss from my unlabeled stash - stuff that my dad finds and auctions and such.  And I used the rose to hide where I impatiently cut the join spot.  LOL

I think this one turned out pretty nicely!  And I really DO need to find a way to sell or get rid of some of these....there's no way I need 7 jewelry boxes (my mom did buy 2 - one as a gift for a friend and another to donate to a charity auction - so I guess I only actually have 5.  Still.).

A little bit of finishing

A quick trip to the consignment store yielded this little gem of a box...

...so I promptly purchased it (for 20% off!), deconstructed it, and added a little Ink Circles piece I finished a few years ago.  I'm digging through my fabric stash to see if I have something that coordinates to line the box, but I really love the look of the top.

All My Little Boxes

I've shared this on Facebook, but figured it warranted a blog post as well...here are all but one of the jewelry boxes I've customized.

A close-up of the sheep box - a design from Homespun Elegance.

(I gave this one to my mom, so it isn't in the group picture.)

The one that is missing is the one my mother bought from me to give to her friend as a birthday gift.  Her friend loved it, so I'm pleased (and $40 richer...!).  They are just so much fun to play with!  I have a few more boxes, just looking for designs that are the right size/shape.  Hunting for the boxes has become a hobby in itself - I can't drive past a thrift store or yard sale without stopping to look around for one....

Yet another jewelry box

After making a bunch of box tops, I found this little armoire and decided to try a box DOOR...

...and I think it came out pretty well!  I thought about replacing the smaller square as well, but I liked the effect of the roses side-by-side. The design is from Sam Hawkins' "501 Cross Stitch Patterns" book.

The inside:

The stitched piece, with the backing, is a bit thicker than the glass that I removed, but the brackets still hold it in securely.

Finishing!

It is official....I love smalls.  They don't require loads of planning or commitment, there's the quick  gratification of finishing, and coming up with fun and different finishing ideas suits me!
Last week I finished up my little Ink Circles travel project ( couldn't just leave it, with so little left to do, could I?!?!?), and made another jewelry box top with it.

This was another thrift store find,and it cost me $1.99.  It was originally a music box, and the player mechanism took up most of the right side of the box.  I dissected/destroyed that, and sent the little player into my daughter's school for their "makerspace" where they take apart, rebuild, and play with all sorts of items.  Then I made a new liner.  I took out the glass insert top, laced my stitching to an appropriately sized piece of mat board, and back it with some matching fabric before reattaching the wood frame that held everything together.
I really like these jewelry box finishes!  This is the third one I've done - the other 2 were octagonal boxes.  I have one or 2 more of the boxes in my stash of finishing ideas/materials, just waiting for the right patterns.  I think they look so professional when they are done!

Octagons Everywhere

Because a girl can never have too many octagonal jewelry boxes....right?

This is my July small, Homespun Elegance's "Lady Quaker Silhouette," fitted into the top of a jewelry box rescued from the thrift shop.  Just like my earlier finish using the same kind of box, this one had a painted glass insert that I removed.  Here is the lining for the inside -

(Hard to tell from the picture, but the fabric is a deep blue with lighter blue fern frond print.)

May Smalls SAL

Another completely finished object this month!  This little design is called "Mahogany Flowers," and it is by Samplers and Such.  Another pattern I picked up in the exchange pile at Celebration of Needlework, and just HAD to stitch ASAP...  I used a nameless skein of Vikki Clayton's silk, and then made a serendipitous find at the thrift store - this old octagonal jewelry box!  It had a fake "stained glass" lid inset, held in with screws and brackets.  Easy enough to disassemble, and then use the glass as a pattern for my stitching.  I didn't get it centered quite right, but I like it all the same.

I glued some fabric to another insert to cover the laced back, and added some braid just because.

Boxes with Birds and Beads

I finished and shipped this to a friend earlier this week.  The pattern is from an old issue of Cross Stitch and Needlework magazine - sometime in the '90s, I think.  If anyone is interested, let me know, and I'll find the exact date!  I added pink beads to the borders and used yellow beads for the flower centers, then mounted it as a box top on a 3"x5" craft wood box from Michael's.  The inside is lined with blue felt, and the little bird bead (from DH's grandmother's old jewelry, as always) is stitched into a ribbon rose "nest."  The friend to whom I gave this was one of my old Ren Faire besties, and she has since moved across the country with a man who raises and shows exotic birds.  It isn't your typical love story, but it suits her, and I can see from the pictures how happy they are together.  I am thrilled at how perfectly this design represents them, and how much she loved it.

And now I'm working on "Cowboy Dreams," stitching it over-one (every time I do that, don't I always say I'm not going to do it again?).  I'll post a pic soon.

Mail, the Smalls SAL, and Other Things

(Lots of pics here!)

First, I got a sweet and unexpected note from Rachel, my exchange recipient for the Autumn Exchange.  She sent me this package of winter signs - I'm already imagining potential projects that they might embellish!

And after a snafu with the Postal Service, I got my Autumn Exchange from my partner as well.  She made me this adorable fob stitched from a Prairie Schooler design, and included a pair of stork scissors and some DMC flosses.  Thank you Sharon!

With my week off between Christmas and New Year's, I decided to do some more finishing.  This is the "April Sewing Lady Tin Topper" by The Needle's Content, finished with an Altoid tin.  I didn't like the look of the red tin edge with the burgundy and green floss, so I took a hint from my previous box finish and wrapped the edges with jute twine.

I took the picture with the pattern picture so you can see the changes I made - adding hair to the lady, made her eyes blue, and used purple in her skirt in place of the dark green.  Oh, and I alternated the bobbins on the top and bottom.
Here is the inside, complete with a pair of "Tiny Gems" scissors and Sharon's lovely fob.  The pattern said to glue flannel to the inside of the top lid as well, but when I did that the tin didn't close properly, so I removed it.  And I made some twisted cord (to keep the scissor tips from "ramming" into the metal box!).

Finally, my December finishes for the Smalls SAL and my last finishes of 2015!

This little house is from the same issue of the UK Cross Stitcher magazine as the one I posted last month - I just decided to try one on navy fabric.  It just did not photograph well....

 

And here is my daughter's annual Christmas ornament.  This was a Sunflower Seed design from....2013? 2014?....the JCS Ornament issue, anyway.  The design said "Home," but I changed it to my daughter's name.  I also used different beads, and left off the white and green layers of the border (alluded to earlier in my rant about red flosses bleeding into white).

Another Box Top

Finished and gifted!  I'm so thrilled with how this turned out...and how it was received by my friend.

This is a freebie from Hands On Design.  I stitched it with my own color choices on 28-ct. Willow Green Jazlyn - the finished box top was about 3" x 5", maybe a little smaller.  Because the stitching was so close to the same size as the box top, I couldn't mount it to mat board first - I wrapped and glued it directly on to the box (with a bit of batting underneath).  Then I went around the sides with some jute rope, and finished it with twisted cording made with the same variegated blue that I used for the water. 
I like the inside almost as much as the outside, too.  Inside the lid I Modge-Podged a piece of "sky" scrapbooking paper, and around the sides of the bottom I used some paper that looked like sand.  Then I made a padded insert for the bottom with some blue fabric that looked like water, and added some more of the twisted cording just because.  Oh, and all the papers and the wood surfaces were covered with a coat of clear shellac, too.
My friend loved it.  I'm so glad...he is a very special guy, and I'm thrilled I could use my talents to make something that spoke to him.