Unicorns and appendectomies

August 3, 2018June 25, 2019 by BeLinda Creech, posted in Craft Corner with Cee Cee & BeLinda

It’s Cee Cee’s Mom again…I didn’t plan to be doing this for August but Cee Cee had a completely unplanned trip to the hospital at the end of July when her appendix ruptured and had to be removed immediately…

But just the week before that happened we were talking about the blog and Cee Cee was headed to a cookout so she decided on a unicorn theme for this month. She made Unicorn Trail Mix for the cookout, and wanted to share the recipe with you guys!

First off, you need all the yummy marshmallows from Lucky Charms cereal, and make sure you get the box with the unicorns in it.

Other ingredients:

A bag of sixlets in pastel colors
A bag of pretzel rods
A bag of plain popcorn
A box of nerds in colors to match your sixlets
Baking chocolate in pink and blue
A cookie sheet
Parchment paper

She put a layer of pretzels on the cookie sheet (use the parchment paper for easy cleanup) and followed package directions to heat a half cup of the baking chocolate and dipped the ends of the pretzels in for a pop of color. She did a cookie sheet of pink and blue and then discovered mixing the pink and blue made lavender.

Once the chocolate hardened she just mixed everything together. She was making a huge batch so it filled a large mixing bowl and a large cake pan.

Her friends loved it! And it was so pretty.

After she spent several days in the hospital, she had lots of thank yous to send to friends and family who helped us so she got out the easy marble and decided those colors continued with her unicorn theme!

She had so much fun dipping the edges of plain cardstock into the easy marble and creating beautiful one of a kind cards. It was nice to see her feeling like making something, and it was just enough fun that it didn’t wear her out.

She was going to make a unicorn but she ran out of energy…instead we have a couple of unicorn worthy yarns that you should know about.

Skacel Vegas yarn is so pretty and with the pastels and the sparkle it is definitely a unicorn worthy yarn. I used to be afraid of metallic yarn because it frayed so much and was scratchy and generally awful. I love this yarn. It’s soft and knits up nicely. That little bit of i-cord in the picture is the yarn held double, and that was easy to manage. This yarn is perfect for that little bit of bling you might need for toy knitting.

And of course, Zauberball. This is such a fun yarn to knit with and these colors are just beautiful. Perfect for unicorns….or socks, fingerless mittens or a hat.

Tools and Materials Appearing in This Post

Marabu Easy Marble
Schoppel-Wolle Zauberball
HiKoo® CoBaSi Plus

ABOUT

Cee Cee Creech is growing up in a home full of creativity. Mom BeLinda loves making things, and Cee Cee loves it too. In 2011, Cee Cee changed their lives when she wanted to knit elephants to comfort the residents of Joplin, MO after a tornado destroyed their town.
This mom/daughter team has raised thousands of dollars, and made/distributed toys for charities all over the world. Today, Cee Cee is a high school student, curious maker, and the teen craft ambassador for Makers’ Mercantile. Follow their adventures on the Craft Corner.

Put yourself in my shoes

May 25, 2018June 25, 2019 by BeLinda Creech, posted in Craft Corner with Cee Cee & BeLinda

Because my shoes are super awesome this month!

But before I get to that let’s talk about the addi Express knitting machine…

I’m going on a mission trip at the end of this month and I wanted to take a bunch of hats to give to the homeless people where we are going. I know June is too warm for hats but winter will be here before you know it and people will need hats to stay warm. So far I’m averaging about a hat a day which would be impossible for me to knit by hand. All these hats are doubled and reversible! Mom is happy too because this is an awesome stash-busting project. They are nice and warm and hopefully people will feel they are loved because someone made something for them. My goal is 40 hats. Next month I’ll let you know how many I got.

And now for my shoes….Mom used to love getting Keds and painting them when she was my age. We just went to Walmart and got some really cheap white slip on shoes and some painter’s tape. The only other thing I needed was Easy Marble paint.

I loved the pink and yellow combination I used for Easter eggs because it reminds me of strawberry lemonade… And that sounds perfect for summer.

Then I used the blue painter’s tape to tape off my shoes. My painting bowl is not very deep so first I am dyeing the toes of the shoes. I put tape on the rubber and on the side elastic. I used the knife to press down the tape and cover all the parts that I didn’t want dyed.

As usual, Mocha was on stand by to make sure I did a good job and that she wasn’t missing out on anything important.

Its that easy! Taping them off is the most time consuming part. And here’s a little extra tip:if you can take the insoles out, do that. It just helps them dry better if the insoles aren’t soaking wet too.

Then we wait for the toes to dry so I can move on to the back. It may be safe to go ahead and dye the backs but I wanted to be careful so I waited until they were dry…and then I decided I only wanted to do the toes. Lol.

This month marks a very special anniversary for me. The Joplin tornado happened on May 22, 2011 and I started Elephants Remember Joplin on May 23, 2011 when I was 8 years old.

It is amazing to think about all the things I’ve got to do and all the wonderful people I have met because I made the decision to help. I have received so much more than I could have ever given!

Now is usually when I tell you what I’m doing next month and I don’t know! I have a few fun ideas and I want to figure out how to knit the cat a blanket on the addi express…plus I keep seeing fun ideas on Pinterest. Sometimes I just want to make everything. Do you ever feel that way?

But before I go…

I talked Mom into going to Walmart for more shoes!

First I marbled them in pink, yellow and turquoise and then I went back and dipped them a second time in the lavender and blue. I can’t wait to wear them!

Hope your Summer is off to a fabulous start! See you next month!

Feeling a bit sheepish…

April 27, 2018June 25, 2019 by BeLinda Creech, posted in Craft Corner with Cee Cee & BeLinda

Mom got a new work table for her birthday and I decided to make her coasters on our zoom loom. A zoom loom is a kind of pin loom. Pin looms have been around since the 1930’s. They are easy to use and don’t use very much yarn. My coaster turned out pretty good. But then I had another idea…

I think I can do a square start to finish in under an hour and the directions that come with a zoom loom are very well written. (Poorly written directions really annoy me.) I chose schoppel wool for my project. The slow color changes made really colorful sheep and the wool was really nice to weave with. I also used CoBaSi for a non wool sheep and I really liked weaving with it too.

Working a simple little square is just a very satisfying project. Mom and I have been enjoying listening to Audible while we work. We are almost finished with To Kill a Mockingbird performed by Sissy Spacek.

Once you have a square done, you can stop there, or you can make your square into something else. I have seen lots of kits to make animals, but I wanted to be able to make something with one square, so a sheep was the purrrrrfect choice. (My cat Mocha thinks so too!)

The legs would be easy enough to make using pipe cleaners, but we had mini clothespins and I think they are cute also. I save an extra couple of feet of yarn for sewing up, but I also use the leftover tails to draw up the ends of the square. First I secure the clothespins inside the square and place the stuffing. If you try to stuff it after, it shifts the clothespins around and the legs don’t stay put. If you decide to sew up the square completely and then clip the legs on after, your sheep looks like his mama was a giraffe and his legs are way too long.

Basically I just place the legs and stitch around it until it feels like it won’t move around too much. Here are a couple of pictures with the pipe cleaner legs. Place the stuffing carefully around the legs so they don’t get moved around. If you just stuff it in, the legs get out of place.

On each end I use a running stitch and draw it up. Whichever end is smooth gets to be the rear of the sheep. If it’s a little more uneven when I draw it up, that can be the head. We will be sewing a felt head on, so any uneven bits will get covered up.

I used safety eyes on some of my sheep, but wiggle eyes work too. The ones with wiggle eyes remind me of characters from the animated series Shaun the Sheep. The head is really easy. I just cut that freehand out of felt. And I don’t use a pattern so each one is similar, but unique.

I also used craft pins so I could hang a sheep on my bag. I just used the holes already present in the weaving to attach it to the back. How fun is that?

I’m sharing one with my pen pal! They would be great to top a crafty gift instead of a bow, or tuck in a skein of yarn for a little surprise for your favorite knitter.

Next month I’m going to be using the easy marble to create some fun shoes for summer, and I am looking at creative ideas for a blanket for Mocha.

I am also talking to my Dad about going on a little trip somewhere fun and I’ll be sharing that too!

Tools and Materials Appearing in This Post

Schact Zoom Loom

Schoppel-Wolle Gradient

HiKoo® CoBaSi Plus

ABOUT

An Egg-citing Idea for March

March 16, 2018June 25, 2019 by BeLinda Creech, posted in Craft Corner with Cee Cee & BeLinda

It’s March and I’m egg-cited to share a Spring craft project with you. I really love to dye eggs for Easter. This year I’ve been having so much fun with it and I had plans to make pictures outside and this happened…

In Kentucky, they say never plant flowers until after Derby for a reason. It was beautiful but only lasted a day.

So now let’s talk about dyeing eggs.

I used water and Easy Marble. Mom blew the insides of the eggs out for me so we could keep the finished decorated eggshells for a long time. She tapped a small hole in each end with a large heavy needle, and then stuck a needle inside and scrambled the egg. Then she blew the egg out into a bowl and made omelets with it.

Then a few drops of Easy Marble are added to the water. See how it just floats on top? You can swirl the colors around a little to get the colors mixed but don’t swirl too much because the paint will start to clump and stick to the needle.

I carefully slipped my egg on a bamboo skewer to control dipping it better.

Then I gave it a good swirl through the paint. Be careful not to let the paint clump up. If you get any on your fingers, it comes off easily with nail polish remover.

I put them on cups to dry. There is probably a better way to do it, but we had cups and bamboo skewers in the cabinet so that was easy.

I really don’t think you could make two alike if you tried!

Cleanup is easy too! You can change colors in the water by using a paper towel to lift the color right off the top. When I was ready to clean up I used a paper towel to lift the color off, and then wiped the inside of the bowl with rubbing alcohol. I didn’t have any drips on the table either. When the eggs are dry, drain the water out of them. You can even go back and dip them a second time if you like. It was the most fun I have ever had dyeing eggs! My plan now is to take the eggs downtown the week of Easter and hide them for people to find.

In other news this month, I checked off an item on my bucket list and saw one of my favorite musicians in concert, Dan Zanes. He’s a Grammy award winning folk and family musician, and friends with my Mom. I got to meet him after the show. If you have kids, look him up. They’d love him.

I didn’t think of it in time but I really wanted to make him an elephant. So when I got home I borrowed Mom’s olive wood needles and knit one up.

I really love these needles. The joins are so smooth and they feel so good in my hands. I’ve used lots of different needles over my 11 years knitting. These are outstanding!

I’m still using the knitting machine too! My new goal is to learn how to knit flat on it, so I’m trying to learn more about that.

Next month I want to focus on some Mother’s day ideas. I think a cute jewelery item would be fun, and I’ve had a couple of ideas for using the easy marble again. And hopefully next month it will really be Spring and no more snow!

ABOUT

This mom/daughter team has raised thousands of dollars, and made/distributed toys for charities all over the world. Today, Cee Cee is a high school student, curious maker, and the teen craft ambassador for Makers’ Mercantile. Follow their adventures on the Craft Corner.

A Little Change of Plans

February 16, 2018June 25, 2019 by BeLinda Creech, posted in Craft Corner with Cee Cee & BeLinda

Last month I had big plans…I was going to stitch a bear. I had a great family story to go with it.

I had Mom help me cut out the fabric. It’s velvet and it’s so pretty. It reminds me of Victorian crazy quilts.

I stitched carefully. I haven’t done a lot of hand sewing like this so I tried to get the stitches even…

And then Mom and I realized I really don’t have enough sewing skills for it to be my project and not Mom’s project. It was frustrating. I wanted to share my Great-Grandmother’s quilt and the bear my Grandmother made from it.

Mom knew I was struggling so she told me a couple of good stories and we decided that with the legacy of making things there is also a legacy of being frustrated when things don’t go as planned. Mom says she can remember Grandmother hurling her sewing across the room a time or two. And Great-Granny evidently tried to wallpaper the ceiling one time and when the paper kept falling down she beat it senseless with a broom. I’ve even seen Mom rip out knitting when she was angry…she probably could have saved it but got mad at her work and started over.

The other thing Mom did was send a text to Franklin…and he said “it happens all the time”and that made me feel so much better. I’ve goofed up stuff before, but not when we had a deadline, and people expecting my work. And I’m going to finish the bear… But I’m going to learn more and take my time and get it right.

I still wanted to keep my quilt theme, so Mom helped me brainstorm a new plan. Kyle sent me a bag of fabric scraps from Makers’ and challenged me to do something with them. So I got out the bag and first thing I did was pick out all the scraps with cats. Cats are my favorite.

And then I got a big letter C.

I did the inside and outside edges in polka dot scraps because I didn’t have enough cat scraps. I think it makes the cats show up better too.

And I laid out the whole top so I could see where to place the cats. I wish I had a bunch more of the fabric with the little cats all over it. I love that one.

The other challenge I had was figuring out what to do with the two bigger cute cats.

I used tacky glue and a foam brush. The brush helped the glue go on really smooth and made it easy to wrap fabric around the sides and edges. I think I’m going to hang it in my room but it looks pretty cool in my Great-Grandfather’s chair. And isn’t it sweet where the two little cats have their tails making a heart?

My Great-Grandmother loved quilting so I think she’d be happy I found a way to use scraps to make something. She raised 6 kids and lived through the Depression so she had to mend and use what she had.I’m glad her creativity has been passed down to me.

Here’s a picture of my quilt bear. My Great-Grandmother made this quilt a long time ago. Mom thinks its close to 100 years old. In the 1980’s Grandmother made bears for Mom and her cousin.

I have made ten more hats on the addi® Express for our local shelter. I love being that I can make really nice hats quickly. If I had to knit them by hand it would go slower and I might not have time to do very many. Next month I am sharing an Easter craft… We’re going to marble Easter eggs! Did you know Makers’ Mercantile® has paint? I can’t wait to try it.

And today I’m going to leave you with a quote from Benjamin Levisay. “The only thing better than being creative is being kind to each other. The good news is we can do both.” I hope that we all find opportunities to do both until I share again next month.

-Cee Cee

Select fabrics featured in this project:

Seven Islands Inc. CoCoLand Cats 100

Seven Islands Inc Kiyohara Canvas 85 Cotton 15 Linen Grey with Cats

RJR Fabrics Crazy for Dots & Stripes – Black Dots on White 45″ Wide

ABOUT

Do you wanna build a snowman…or maybe knit some hats?

January 17, 2018June 25, 2019 by BeLinda Creech, posted in Craft Corner with Cee Cee & BeLinda

I almost always do a charity project of some sort for my birthday and this year I chose Linda’s Hats for Hope Initiative. When I was younger I collected lots of hand knit toys for charity and every year Linda would knit my age in donated toys. She’s sweet and generous and has helped me with so many projects so many times so this year I’m helping her by knitting my age in hats! It’s only January 15th when I’m writing this (I have to turn it in early for approval and stuff) and I’m already at 15 hats and a couple of scarves… So I think I’m going to send her a few extra if I keep knitting until January 27th.

Kenzie yarn makes a nice soft drapey hat and the colors are lovely too. But my favorite thing is Makers’ gives you yarn when you get a knitting machine. It’s soft and squishy and two balls makes a great hat.

Are you a process person or a product person? Mom is process person but I am a product person. Having a knitting machine is awesome because I can make so many hats in a short amount of time. I just have to be careful not to go too fast and drop stitches.

First off you need to watch the video Karin Skacel has for how to use a knitting machine. I watched the video and in an hour I had my first hat. Mom still helped with finishing, but a hat in an hour and it was so much fun to watch the knitting machine go around and around. Karin had some really important tips that helped me set the machine up successfully so that it wasn’t frustrating, like how to start and how to watch the counter.

Most of my hats are two colors and reversible. Sometimes if I have smaller amounts of yarn I add more stripes, but it is important for these hats to hold up well, so I try not to cut the yarn for no reason.

I do a total of 108 rounds on a hat. So its pretty easy…just 54 rounds of each color. I can divide by 3 to get even sections of 3 stripes.

I gather each end up tightly and carefully finish each end.

Then I turn one end inside the other. Make sure you leave a tail of yarn to join the inside so it will turn inside out without coming apart. The video I suggested has the cute topknot finish.

I hear weather reports about how cold it is up north and I hope these hats keep people warm this winter and that they know people care.

Next month I’m making an “unbearably” cute kit….it reminds me of a craft project my Grandmother did. I’ve been excited about making it ever since I got it and I can’t wait to show you guys. My Grandmother and Great -Grandmother were both really good at sewing, so I’m looking forward to more of that.

Mom is getting ready to start a knit a long over in the Makers‘ group on Ravelry…I love the scarf pattern. It’s called Holey scarf and it’s a free pattern. She’d love it if she had some friends to knit with.

And then! We’ve been snowed in for two days… probably tomorrow too because it just keeps snowing…Mom said “hey! I bet we could make a snowman.” She made the nose and I did the rest….we made a knitting machine snowman! I don’t have a pattern for him yet, but we’re working on it so you can make one too!

And p.s. if you want to join in the fun and get your own knitting machine, this is the one I have. I just love it!

I will see you in February! Post in the comments and tell me about projects you like to do when you are snowed in.

It’s beginning to look a lot like way too much knitting…

November 24, 2017November 24, 2017 by Makers' Mercantile, posted in Craft Corner with Cee Cee & BeLinda

Happy November!! We have been very busy this month and we suspect a lot of you are busy too, preparing for the holidays and making things for people that you love.

First I have a confession to make. I am a lunatic and have pretty much no concept of how much knitting I can accomplish in a month. This little Advent stocking project has been an adventure. First I procrastinated and was no where near done…so I rewrote this entire piece confessing my not finishing but having the patterns ready to share. And then I discovered I had the deadline wrong and I had a whole extra week to knit. Which would have been very helpful had I knit on the actual project that week. And then! I got one more week and I don’t even know why and finally I got 24 tiny stockings knit. I would say based on how many I have knit and how much time I have wasted not actually knitting, you could get this project done before the first day of December. I would love to hear about it if you do.

This is the face of someone who’s relieved to be almost finished with 4 feet of lucet cord for the Advent calendar. (And then she did all four feet over because she liked icord better. Lol!)

Let’s talk for a moment about shiny yarn. As a general rule I pretty much HATE metallic yarns. They are rough and difficult and I will avoid them at all costs. And then I got a box of Vegas. This yarn is lovely! Its got lots of sparkle and shine, it feels nice and even if I had to rip back a bit the yarn cooperated nicely. Some red and green and I was happily knitting an assortment of sparkly little stockings. The cones go a long way…and Cee Cee’s project this month uses Vegas too so you might just need one in every color.

I knit four sizes of stockings using two patterns and every bit of my willpower to actually fininsh. I made one that is 16 stitches around and one that is 24, and then I did a few of the stockings holding the yarn double which created a little more variation in size. If you hold the yarn double, just know I added an extra row or two on the foot before doing the toe so the foot would look long enough. Turning a tiny heel is just as amazing as turning a full grown sized one, and that little bit of wonder will help you carry on when you are somewhere between 15 and 20 and its turning into a LOT of little stockings.

I make probably between 50 and 100 of these during the holiday season, because they are a great little gift. I keep a few on hand in case I need a hostess gift or a little something for someone. Last year all my students got a tiny stocking for Christmas. This year I sold a bunch that someone will be tucking Christmas bonus checks in. They make great package ties instead of a bow, They are a fun way to make a small gift extra special. The smallest size holds a lip balm very well, so that’s a fun way to make an inexpensive thing a special thoughtful gift. And even before I finished this project and when I was still very tired of knitting stockings, a friend needed 8 for her staff…and I agreed to do them without even flinching. They really are that delightful.

Cee Cee has been busy and actually does things with sticks beside knitting….here she is playing steel drums with composer Tyler Swick at her fall concert. (she knit him an elephant).

And then we went to see something that had been on our bucket list for awhile, the Chihuly Exhibit at Maker’s Mark in Loretto, Kentucky. And it was beautiful…

Her project this month is awesome because it involves buttons, a very small amount of yarn and a very short amount of time. The folks at Loome have figured out how to make one tool do a variety of braids, pom poms and tassels.They have a few different models to choose from, and also a tool to help you trim a pom pom that doubles as a kumihimo braiding tool. Makers’ sent her the loome tool she had been wishing for, and she got a chance to experiment with using it as a lucet and learning a very old craft. She’s a totally history nerd so she loves learning how to do really old things…and making a square braid on a lucet is a really old thing. Lucets have been made out of bone, deer antlers, and all sorts of things. This one would be fun to add a doodle to, or personalize, but she hasn’t decided what she wants to do yet.

Cee Cee says “This would be a great gift for kids to find in their Christmas stockings!” (I expect that was a hint to have every variety Loome makes in HER Christmas stocking) And I think ages 10 and up would have a lot of fun with it. The folks at Loome have a fabulous Instagram feed and lots of videos on YouTube. A lucet braid is a very simple braid to learn and hey, if you’ve got some travel time this holiday season, this would be a great thing to do instead of playing video games or watching movies the whole time.

We attach the button to the square end where we start, and then make a loop just big enough for the button when we sew through the end and securely finish it off. Don’t stop with one length…make a bracelet that wraps around 2 or three or more times. We use a lot of scraps but are very fond of CoBaSi for lucet braids…the stitch definition makes for a beautiful bracelet.

Cee Cee discovered that not all yarn makes great lucet cord and had an afternoon of frustration with beautiful ombre wool that she was crazy about. She tried and tried but the tugging on the lucet made it too tight and it would occasionally break when she was tugging it. And then she remembered the icord.

This bracelet was done in icord and then finger crochet and finished off with a gorgeous button.

This one is a triple wrap icord and a bright pop of color for a button.

And since we’ve been seeing pom poms dangling from bags and keychains, she decided to try that too!

And one final gorgeous button with just a little sparkle and some icord. (Vegas yarn is so elegant used in a bracelet!)

A three stitch icord or lucet braid is so easy and works up quickly so it’s easy to have a last minute gift… less than ten yards of yarn for any of our projects here, and nothing took longer than an hour and a half.

She has two more really pretty bracelets in progress, but you’ll just have to wait to see them (since her Mom had her braiding 4 feet of cord for an Advent calendar.)

Cee Cee really enjoys giving gifts…this whole journey began with her desire to give something to comfort others. So I asked her to tell me why making gifts to give is so important to her. “When you make something to give, it shows that you took time to create something one of a kind for that person to enjoy. I love the joy of creating something that a person loves to receive and is just especially for them.”

The other thing we’ve been thinking about is presents… it’s the season for choosing things to get for the people we cherish. (And both of us absolutely love making a wish list because getting stuff is fun too!) The best part is, you can make a wish list too and somebody is going to win a wonderful prize! So here’s a list of things that both of us love from Makers’ Mercantile:

This has been on Cee Cee’s wish list awhile…it’s a coloring book by Franklin Habit. Cee Cee got to meet Franklin a few years ago and she adores his artwork.
We’re both working on improving our knitting skills so we want to try out Alterknit. It looks like a great book!
Buttons…this idea was all Cee Cee. Choose a good hand full of glorious buttons and sprinkle them in a stocking. (You can point your crafter to this post, or Franklin’s post about cufflinks if they need an idea or two)
We are both bag obsessed, and Cee Cee loved the Crafters gonna craft craft craft bag ( the tune sounds familiar) and the Love Sack bag in the blanket stripe pattern
CoBaSi…. Just get all of it in every color. Trust us. It’s a great yarn. (The sock yarn is awesome! I’m knitting Cee Cee a gift out of it for the blog next month. Shhhh! It’s a secret )
And because we are constantly taking them away from each other…more Flipsticks. We really like having two different tips on a needle, and Cee Cee loves that they are different colors because that helps her keep track of which needle she is on.
: Mumbles something about olive wood interchangeable needles, hot pink scissors and a delightful sewing box:
And maybe more yarn. Because….yarn.
Sheep pull toy. We can’t have a real one and this one would be a beautiful addition in our crafting space.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving friends. We will see you next month with some fun last minute Christmas ideas.

P.S. Cee Cee says I have to share the little nutty moment I had 3 seconds after knitting the final stocking. I was done. You know how it is. You love a project, it’s wonderful but it is done. After counting twice, much to the amusement of my dear daughter I was coming up with 23 instead of 24 stockings. I jumped up and started fussing and Cee Cee started laughing at me…I was sitting on number 24! So as you hustle through your last minute holiday crafting, don’t forget to check the chair cushions for missing parts.

-BeLinda

ABOUT

CeeCee1 Cee Cee Creech is growing up in a home full of creativity. Mom BeLinda loves making things, and Cee Cee loves it too. In 2011, Cee Cee changed their lives when she wanted to knit elephants to comfort the residents of Joplin, MO after a tornado destroyed their town.

Craft Corner – Felted Acorns

October 13, 2017October 6, 2017 by Makers' Mercantile, posted in Craft Corner with Cee Cee & BeLinda

I’ve tried to start this post with about a dozen different cheery “It’s fall y’all!!!” greetings, but as I write, it’s the first week in October, and there’s just a lot of bad news. Cee Cee and I have been talking about recent events, and it’s no surprise she likes hearing the survivor stories because they give her hope. As one way of dealing with this, she made a couple of bluebirds to give to friends. Our conversations have nudged me from worry, to feeling hopeless, to being hopeful. Cee Cee and I have found that connecting with friends to spread hope and joy around is contagious. And of course our favorite way to connect to joy, is to create! So let me tell you what we’ve been up to.

We’re not what you’d call fancy people. In fact 97% of my phone’s photo album is full of images trying to avoid shots of our very outdated dining room wallpaper! Well, This month brings a project that helps our decor dilemma. Thanks to wool felted acorns, a couple of pumpkins and some gold paint we have a lovely Fall table centerpiece! Every time I walk past it, it makes me smile. We tried a few different techniques, including needle felting, wet felting, and artFelt® to make Cee Cee’s acorns. ArtFelt was definitely the most fun! We added a few drops of essential oil and now they smell good too. We created our “wooly” pumpkin by gluing roving to every other section of its orange little body. We were surprised how the colors matched perfectly. Cee Cee wants a whole field of wooly pumpkins!

CeeCeeacorns

October is also known for not only Halloween, but also for something called Black Cat Awareness Month. Cee Cee loves cats so of course she wants to celebrate it. She says there are stories about black cats being treated badly because of being associated with witchcraft. When I asked her where she learned this, she answered “in a cat magazine!”

Time for a little fact checking. We sat down at the computer and started searching for facts to support this statement, and learned that according to many sources, this is more of an urban legend than reality. (Cee Cee was relieved!) We did learn however, that black cats (in October and all year long) are less likely to be adopted, and spend more time in shelters. She made a sweet little black cat to remind people to be a little extra kind to our feline friends, and to consider adopting a black or tuxedo kitty next time you’re ready to grow your fur-family.

feltcat

She sketched out a simple cat and stitched him up in an afternoon. You can make your very own by getting the pattern on the Makers’ Mercantile website HERE. She’s including the pattern even though she thinks you should be brave and trust your own artistic abilities to sketch out your own cat pieces.

Find yourself a little joy this month and make something. Even better, make something and give it to someone else who needs a little joy. We’re busting out the knitting needles and turning lots of heels for a November project to help you get ready for the holidays.

Now for an exciting giveaway: This felt cat will get to come live with one of you! Cee Cee is giving him away….all you have to do is leave a comment in the blog (tell us what you love to make in the Fall) and we will choose a winner! Winner will be selected and announced in November’s Craft Corner post.

Have a wonderful month!!!

-BeLinda and Cee Cee

P.S. Don’t forget to leave us a comment!! Cee Cee can’t wait to find out who wins her little black cat!

Tools and Materials Appearing in This Issue

artFelt® Acorns

artFelt® paper
artFelt® tackboard
artFelt® needles
Makers’ Mercantile® Felter’s Wool (assorted colors)

Cee Cee’s Felt Cat

Black Felt
Scissors
Embroidery Floss

ABOUT

Cee Cee Creech is growing up in a home full of creativity. Mom BeLinda loves making things, and Cee Cee loves it too. In 2011 Cee Cee changed their lives when she wanted to knit elephants to comfort the residents of Joplin, MO after a tornado destroyed their town.

This mom/daughter team has raised thousands of dollars, and made/distributed toys for charities all of the world. Today, Cee Cee is a high school student, curious maker, and the teen craft ambassador for Makers’ Mercantile. Follow their adventures on the Craft Corner.

Introducing Craft Corner

September 22, 2017September 22, 2017 by Makers' Mercantile, posted in Craft Corner with Cee Cee & BeLinda

Craft Corner

It’s a rainy afternoon in September in Kentucky. I’m busy finishing a hat for a birthday, Cee Cee is tucked in on the couch stitching a cat and we are watching Tales of the Green Valley. We had the felt out earlier practicing stitching and working out an idea for a cat, but more about that later. We are enjoying a quiet afternoon together…. making stuff is our favorite.

Some of you have followed Cee Cee since she started Elephants Remember Joplin (how has that been over six years already?!) And some of you are just friends we haven’t met yet. We are so excited to be part of the Makers’ Mercantile family. We’ve been planning projects, working on blogging, creating a crafty bucket list…it’s going to be so much fun! Cee Cee is so inspired by being the Teen Craft Ambassador for Makers’ Mercantile (and how awesome is it when adults empower young people and listen to their ideas and help them grow?) We spend lots of time together…and lots of time making things, and now we have the opportunity to share the fun with you!

ceeceestitching

We want to inspire you to make our projects… we’ve all had cheap kits and ideas that looked great but couldn’t be done. We want to share quality projects that are fun to do. We want to learn new skills and share with others.

So welcome to Craft Corner… even the name comes from mother/daughter crafting. My Mom had a shop on the Main Street of our little town when I was a teenager, and it was called Craft Corner. I spent lots of time there with my Mom, and lots of time creating!

We hope that you will join us as we find projects for teens and tweens and great projects to do with your Mom, Dad, daughter, son, or friend. The only thing more fun than making stuff is making stuff together!

-Belinda (and Cee Cee!)

About

CeeCee1 Cee Cee Creech is growing up in a home full of creativity. Mom BeLinda loves making things, and Cee Cee loves it too. In 2011 Cee Cee changed their lives when she wanted to knit elephants to comfort the residents of Joplin, MO after a tornado destroyed their town.

This mom/daughter team has raised thousands of dollars, and made/distributed toys for charities all of the world. Today, Cee Cee is a high school student, curious maker, and the teen craft ambassador for Makers’ Mercantile. Follow their adventures on the Craft Corner.