Wizard

So the last of the little group of clay things is finished... Admittedly this one is kind of bizarre.

His nose alone could knock someone out ;)

But that's why I love him.

He's weird.

He's a wizard.

And I love him.

What else can I say?

XOXO, Callie

the magical bean

Happiness is A Quilt

How can I even begin to express how happy this quilt makes me?

Maybe I should just show you instead.

Because I went a little bit crazy taking pictures, and this isn't even the tip of the iceberg.
No joke.

But really, what's not to love?

The sock monkeys, the polka dots, the stripes, the sunflowers, the swirls, the stars, the patchworkiness and wonkiness of it all makes it so perfect to me.

It is my second quilt I have made in my entire life, and this one was all by myself (as in no help from my mom)... I love it!

This is my happiness quilt.

Have a happy happy Valentine's day!

XOXO, Callie

the magical bean

My gift to Kristie

This is what I sent to Kristie....

The little panda head is a pouch...
Here is what it looks like on the inside.

I drew this little monster on her card...
I decorated a moleskin notebook with my hand carved mushroom stamp.

I am so happy she liked it! :)

Been busy sewing, getting ready to go back to school, trying to find a job, and have been feeling rather uninspired as of late....

Hopefully things pick up soon.

I've been loving listening to Laura Marling lately.

This one is a current favorite: Rambling Man.

I'm back!!!!!

Why hello there! I'm back! :)

And wearing a headband no less.

My semester somehow came to an end, thank goodness, and I am able to breathe freely again. Whew!

So much work and projects one after another. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it, some classes were great. Especially my drawing II class was a blast. I had probably the best art professor I've ever had. It was very inspiring to be in her class. I made some pretty nifty stuff too. I can't wait to show you!

Well the first thing up is this little cowl/ headband I made.
I improvised the pattern Alpine Scarf from Interweave Crochet Magazine, Winter 2008. All I did to make it a cowl instead of a scarf was to join the ends once casting on, and the proceed working it in the round.

I made this in between working on a school project. I really shouldn't have been working on it but how could I resist! :)
Don't worry both were finished within the weekend.
I had bought the yarn last year as a birthday gift for myself, at Hill Country Weavers in Austin. I couldn't bear the thought of not making something with it before my next one. So I got to working...
The yarn specifics:
Great Adirondack Yarn Co. in sea mist colorway
100 yards
It is really warm to wear, and so far has not been cold enough for me to use.
Oh well!
I just love this yarn! It was so soft and fuzzy, and it was a pleasure to watch the colors change, and the glittery bits merge together as I went along. The colors are what really drew me in. The greens, purples, and oranges all fit so beautifully together!

Can you see the little shimmer of the metallic thread? I love that extra little sparkle it adds.

It has such a pretty stitch pattern too.

Well, I'm happy to be back. I've missed blogging. My etsy shop has been sorely neglected and it makes me very sad. I have some great things planned for it. Including a range of new prints that I have already started on. Hope to share soon.

XOXO, Callie

the magical bean

Mushroom Clock

Hello there!

I have another finished project to share. A little wall clock that I painted with a happy mushroom. I got the wooden form on sale last year at Hobby Lobby, and just now got around to painting it.
All in all I am happy with how it turned up.

And now here it is on the wall in my room, right next to Sam the Mushroom man.

Here's a little close-up of his face.

He's happy to see you!

Can you tell?

I thought I might leave you with a photo of my sweet Sheila, snoozing on my yarn.

What a cutie she is.

:)

Happy Thursday!!

xoxo, Callie

the magical bean

Beaded Cobweb Wrap

I finished this wrap a little bit ago, but only got around to taking pictures of it last week. It is from the pattern Beaded Cobweb Wrap in the book Essential Crochet by Erica Knight, which I happened to find at Borders for only 5 dollars!

You might remember all the way back to January 29, 2010, when I showed you I showed you some of my works in progress. You might recall the blob of crochet with the sparkle? This is it, although now finished of course :).

It was left unfinished for some months just sitting. I couldn't decide whether or not to do beads. Then I decided to but couldn't find the right ones. Then one day I did at the Tinsmith's Wife, and so I finished it up...
It is actually pretty large and took really long to block it.

It is pretty warm and cozy too.

I love the drape in the fabric, and the added weight of the beads.

Also, I love the way the beads look!

All in all a great project, very easy, loved the yarn. The only complaint I might have is that it was too easy, it didn't really draw me in after going through the second ball of yarn I was bored. I really needed something to spice it up, and that's why it got curbed for so long.

In the end it was worth it though!

Happy Friday!

xoxo, Callie

the magical bean

Idea Notebook and A Happy Occurence

When we moved to from Germany this last time, I had quite a bit of free time to fill up with making things.

I did so quite proficiently, my drawings lined the walls. I painted until odd hours in the night. I learned to knit. I created non-stop, all the while enjoying Europe again. One thing I made was a small cardboard book that I filled with drawings.

When we came back to Texas, I made another. This one was slightly larger, and more colorful. This is the second book I made...

I didn't account for the heat here and so when I put on the varnish, little did I know that it would attached itself to anything with fibers, like paper, that it came in contact with. That's why there are the random bits of whitish stuff on the front and back above.

This is the inside cover, I added these little toasts that were apart of a tic-tac-toe game at Jim's, where I added the faces. On the other page were the plans I had to make the deer head that is now hanging in my room, which I blogged about here if you remember.

Aargh!

Behold: a random one armed bear pirate that I doodled in one of my classes and then attached in here.

Foxes, all decked out in proper apparel.

Some more little random doodles that I have been adding more and more to over time.

More doodles on the left page.

I drew a gesture drawing of Werner, on the right page above, while he was sleeping.

Two books, one at the beginning of a journey one at the end.

Maybe I'll show you the first one someday.

On another note, I really want to share something pretty nifty that happened about a week ago. I was at a local thrift store with my mom, and checking out when someone said, "Excuse me miss, but where did you get that bag?"

I was somewhat taken aback, turned around to the next register, where the worker there was pointing to my owl purse, and I simply said, "I made it."

(If you haven't guessed, she was talking about the owl purse I made and blogged about here.)

She said, "Oh! It's so cool!", and immediately went back to checking out her customer.

I was elated to have had such a nice compliment, checked out and went out to the car with my mom, thinking that was all. However when as we where putting things in the car, another worker rushed out and said, "Umm..miss, excuse me but my friend, she umm..wanted me to ask you how much would you charge to make her a purse like that??"

I again was taken aback, this has never happened to me before... I then went inside with her coworker, gave her my card and told her my asking price, which shocked her a bit. I tried to explain how alot of it was hand stitched and all handmade, but I could see I had lost her.

I have to tell you that I was honored that she wanted this purse that bad, and even if I lost her interest, I am honored by her compliment. All in all it was a good experience, one that made me feel proud of my handywork, and helped me build my business skills.

So I left that thrift store feeling elated, mostly because of her compliment and also because of my finds.

It was a happy day!

XOXO, Callie

the magical bean