Recent crafties...

It's been a wonderful summer for crafting - with the boys being a little more independent, I can actually sit and play during the day.  While they are immersed in a "Search and Rescue Mission" (thanks, Papa!) with Legos and dollhouse firefighters, I can be cutting out a pattern or knitting away. I'm still able to be involved in their play, without getting in the way.

There have been a couple of crafting project that have filled more hours than the others.  Each was my favorite kind of crafting to do - crafting for gifts.  Now that they have been gifted to their respective recipients, I thought I'd share a little of what I've been up to:

Project 1.
This one was truly a group effort. Back in May, I asked some of the people nearest and dearest to my dad to send favorite stories/memories, and pictures to me.  I then got to put all of these memories together in a scrapbook.  I used a digital template set by Cathy Zielske and a digital paper pack, and we ended up with a 45 page album full of love for my dad on his 60th birthday.  I felt so lucky to get to put it together - to get to really spend  time with all of these wonderful thoughts and stories of my dad.  Each one triggered my own memories, and realize what an amazing  family and community my Dad created for us. Here's a shot of the cover:

And just a sample of the inside pages:

 

 Project 2:

Ok, this undertaking was a little silly/crazy.  A few months ago I saw an adorable "gift basket" on pinterest that I desperately wanted to recreate for my oldest's birthday party. Which then meant I needed to knit a monster for every child coming to the party.  And his party was the week after my Dad's - and thus the finish date for the scrapbook. So, I knew that I would officially have 9 days to knit 12-13 monsters. They'd have to be small and simple, and I'd need to knit my fingers off!  When I saw these, I knew they were the ones! Using only scrap yarn, I got them done (the night before!), and they were happily adopted out the next day. We did end up having a family unable to make it, so a few of the little guys came home with us, and they are well loved (and thrown around) our home!

While crafting with a timeline in mind isn't always my favorite, both of these projects were great fun.  I loved seeing the funny little personalities each monster took on as the ends were sewn and feet were attached. But I'm not sure much will top the reaction that my Dad's scrapbook got from him. That was the best.

I have completed a few other little projects along the way - hopefully I'll get around to sharing those before too long! But if not, it's because I'm renewing my friendship with my sewing machine...