Sew Craft N Bead
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How to Train Your Dragon: Night & Light Fury Plushies
My older sister loves How to Train Your Dragon movies. Her favorite character is Toothless (known as a Night Fury Dragon). When I discovered that there was going to be a third How to Train Your Dragon movie with a new character, Light Fury, I knew I had make a plushie for her. Actually, I need to make two plushies. I was planning to make her Toothless for her Birthday present, but with me traveling for work I haven’t had the time. I’m making it up to her by creating Night and Light Fury dragons as a belated birthday present and an early Christmas present. 😉
At first, I thought I could easily find a Toothless pattern in a laying postion that I had imagined in my head. Come to find out, that was not the case. Most are standing or in weird positions that I was not really interested in. The patterns didn’t peak my interest at all. Don’t get me wrong the patterns were cute and awesome but they didn’t fit with my imagination. I wanted something different. The next thing I could think is to look through patterns I already have and see if I can modify them to fit the creation I am imagining.
I found it! One of my favorite Plushie designers, Sew Desu Ne?, made a Kirin sewing pattern about a year ago (April 2017).
I have to say that Sew Desu Ne’s amazing patterns have inspired me to test my boundaries of creativity and also to design my own patterns (as of now just making small items or accents to add to existing patterns). I have also grown as a sewer too because of the patterns she creates and the helpful tips she includes in each pattern. Best part is she offers a variety of free patterns on her website (here) and she sells some awesome designs for a very reasonable low price on her Etsy store (here). You should definitely take a look if you enjoy sewing or creating plushies.
You want to see how the Night and Light Fury Dragons turned out?
If you are interested in having a night and/or light fury for yourself, I am now selling them on my Etsy shop!
Thanks for stopping by!
***UPDATE 6/23/18***
I realized that I made a mistake with the Light Fury Plush. 😦 My first Light Fury had too many spikes/nubs on her. I decided to make another Light Fury plush that represents her better. Here she is below:
Standing Fox Plush
I think I’m on a fox craze. I made this standing gray fox about a year ago (here) and I just recently made this sitting fox (here). I have a little bit of time at home before I travel again for work so I figured I should combine the two foxes by using the colors from my recent fox and use the standing fox pattern, like I used to make the gray fox, to create this fox below:
So adorable!
If you are curious, here are the pictures of the standing gray fox and the sitting fox plushies I made:
Warning: Don’t be surprised if I create another type of fox in the near future. *whispers* I think I might use Soapy Bacon’s In-the-Hoop Fox embroidery pattern to make mini fox plushies. Hehe.
If you are interested, all of these foxes are available on my Etsy Shop:
Thanks for stopping by!
Lifestyle Changes: Healthier Me
There are moments in your life when you realize you have some major changes and modifications to do about your lifestyle. You know, those moments that finally snap you out of your daze and slam a harsh reality at you. The instances where your mind races to figure out what is going on and how did it get to this point?
My reality kicked in when I stepped on a weight scale a few weeks ago while I was on travel in Jacksonville, Florida. I was completely shocked to see what was displayed on the scale screen.  I witnessed a bright 250 lbs blinking at me. What!? You got to be kidding me! How did this happen? I’m a large frame 28-year-old woman who is 5’7 feet tall and weighs 250 lbs, this is not healthy at all. Don’t get me wrong, I think I look great but deep down I know if I don’t work towards a healthy lifestyle I will fall victim to a variety of medical issues as I get older. I don’t want that!
I use to be so active and swim all the time. Of course, that was when I was in high school and while I was in the Navy. Â After I was honorably discharged from 6 years of service in the military 4 years ago, I slowly lessened my activity and ate unhealthy. These bad habits slowly reflected to my weight creeping up from 180lbs to 250lbs. That is 70 lbs over a course of 4 years which means on average I was gaining 17.5lbs a year! Not good!
I need to get myself back into a routine and create some goals. If there is something the military taught me is to never give up, get back up and make a difference. No matter how far you fall down you stand up, stop making excuses and make it happen. I’m the only one standing in my way towards success, no one else.
Let me start out with some goals that I believe are pretty straight forward and not outrageous.
Goals:
- Eat healthy
- More Fruits & Veggies
- More Lean Protein
- Less eating out at fast food and restaurants
- Meal Prep
- Workout
- Minimum of 7,000 to 10,000 steps a day
- Elliptical 2 or 3 times a week starting (eventually 5X a week)
- Start Lifting Weights to build muscle tone
- Continue Golfing with Hubby
- Maybe start Swimming again?
- Drink more Water
- Less Alcohol Consumption
- Ease out of drinking Soda (even diet soda!)
- Lose Weight
- Goal Weight: 165 lbs
Above are very reasonable goals I plan to transition into a healthy lifestyle for me but now I need some guidance to assist me through this journey. Next on my agenda: What kind of tools can I use to help me achieve these goals? After countless hours of research, I found something that might be the perfect fit for me. I found Weight Watchers (WW). I read so many testaments of people who have tried WW who actually lost weight and achieved a healthier lifestyle. This program is proven to work and my doctor even agrees.
I discovered that a couple of my co-workers used WW and they lost weight and they continually use it. This is awesome because they already know the program and are great supporters. They showed me different options I can choose for the program like: App/Online only, App/Online & meetings, and Personal Couching. I decided to sign up for WW app/online only option since I’m not too keen to do meetings every week when my work schedule is too busy and I travel a great deal. If I find myself struggling and the support from my peers is not enough, I might consider upgrading to meetings. Time will tell.
I like the structure of Weight Watchers. You receive a certain amount of points (Smart Points) each day which is dependent on your weight and eventually the number changes as you start losing weight. They display a healthy point zone to stay in but every so often if you need a few extra points you can use up some of your weekly points. The goal is to try and stay within your healthy point zone, which is between -10 of your daily smart point value through +5 of your daily Smart Points (i.e. mine is currently 30 pts so my healthy zone is between 20 pts to 35 pts daily). Best part is you aren’t constricted on the foods you can eat. You can still enjoy foods you love but you have to pay close attention to your portion size. They also have a list with over 200+ zero point foods which includes fruits, veggies and more. Awesome!
In this screenshot I took on my phone, you can see on the left shows my weekly Smart Points I have remaining, the center shows my Daily remaining points and the right displays the Smart Points I have used. You can see on the bottom I can select Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Snacks and input what I eat.
Below is an example of me inserting my food for breakfast:
It is very simple to use. If you notice the barcode scanner icon on the upper right hand corner of the picture, this feature is amazing. I use it while I am shopping so I can scan items and see how many points it is per serving. It comes in handing when you are not sure about some foods. You can also use the search function and type in the food you are eating or drinking if you are unable to find a barcode for an item. Either way, it is easy to use the WW app for tracking.
You can also track your activities/workouts you do each day (Fit Points) using the WW app. I love this feature since I’m striving to be more active and the app allows me to set my weekly activity level goals to accomplish. Another option on the app, that I choose to opt out of, is you can swap earned Fit Points for more Smart Points. More ways that makes the Weight Watchers program more flexible and customizable.
In this screenshot you can see me tracking my daily activities and my Fit Points I earned so far this week. Neat right? If you have a fitness smartwatch that is compatible with the WW app you can sync your device and it will track for you. Unfortunately, my Samsung Gear Sport fitness smartwatch is not compatible with the app so I have to manually track my activities. No big deal. Maybe one day the app will be able to sync to my device. The only compatible devices that can sync are: Fitbit, Jawbone, Withings, Misfit, Garmin, Mapmyrun, and Daily Burn.
I struggled a little bit when I first started Weight Watchers. For one, I was on travel and living in a hotel for three weeks. Anyone who travels for work can probably relate that it can be difficult to not eat out at restaurants. There always seems to be so many restaurants and fast food places around hotels. Luckily, my hotel did have a stove top with all the necessary pots, pans and utensils, full size refrigerator, and two grills outside. This made it a little bit easier so I can lower my temptation of fast food and restaurants.
Fighting temptation is very difficult but manageable if you do it right. Any food that I know I have craving for a lot, I would research an alternative that was healthier or some other food that would equate to satisfy the craving that was way less points. For example, I love ice cream. I found that 1/2 cup of Breyer’s Vanilla Ice Cream is 7 points while the Breyer’s Delight Vanilla Bean Low Fat Ice Cream is only 3 points per 2/3 cups. This means I can still enjoy some ice cream every so often but I don’t have to use up a lot of points if I choose the low fat version. Yes, I can also use some of my weekly points to splurge a little but I am afraid if I splurge too much that I might fall back into my bad eating habits.
I was ecstatic that my hotel had a grill. I watched my husband cook on a grill for years but I never actually cooked on one. I may have called my husband a couple of times to make sure I set the temperature correctly and cooked them long enough. Hehe. I think I did great though. Below are some of the meals I made on the grill that are weight watchers friendly:
I grilled Boneless Skinless Chicken Tenderlions (0 pt), Squash (0 pt) and Zucchini (0 pt) which equaled 0 Smart Points! SCORE! I even had some left overs that I ended up packing for my lunches at work. Easy to reheat chicken but be warned, reheating zucchini and squash in microwave made them a little bit soggy but I stilled enjoyed eating them.
Next item I made on the grill:
I was so proud of myself when I grilled this 20 ounce steak. I was afraid that I was going to over cook it but I didn’t. I love my steak rare! The rib eye steak is 5 pts per 3 ounces so in the end I cut my steak into 4 sections (5 ounces each = 8 pts). It was difficult to have 4 separate meals of steak so the day I grilled it I ate two portions (16 pts total) but I had enough points since my breakfast and lunch were very low in points. The other two portions I did eat on separate days, one for breakfast omelet and the other for a dinner.
This next meal I didn’t use a grill at all. I made it on the hotel stove top. Guess what I made? Yummy and delicious tacos!
I figured out, while using the scan option on the WW app, that I can still enjoy yummy tacos if I select lower point ingredients out there to make them. Instead of getting ground beef, which can be between 3 to 6 points per 3 oz (dependent on if it is lean beef or not), I choose to get 99% fat-free ground turkey (0 pts per serving). Also, instead of flour tortillas (3 to 7 points per tortilla) I found these Ole Xtreme wellness tortillas that are only 1 point per tortilla.
These tacos I made in my hotel room ended up being only 4 points per taco! If I would have made the tacos like I did in the past they would each be 10 to 15 points each. Crazy, right? Best part is, these tacos tasted even better then how I use to make them. I thought that was weird but fantastic at the same time. I was so excited with this discovery that I made a Shrimp Taco version that was also only 4 points per taco:
Yummy! Another good thing is if you need the tacos to be less points you can minus the cheese (2pts per 1/8 cup) and the Taco sauce (1 pt per 2 tbsp) and make it only 1 point per taco! Hehe.
What about eating out in a restaurant? Can I still find foods that are Weight Watcher’s friendly? I enjoy making and creating foods that are healthy but sometimes I get so worn out from work I have no energy or drive to cook. Well, I am here to tell you that there are still restaurants that serve delicious foods that are still healthy and WW friendly.
There is a feature on the WW app that you can look up restaurants and fast food places that are the most common and use the app to look up foods on their menus or even search for the foods you want to eat.
Only draw back is not every restaurant is listed so sometimes you might have to ask the restaurant if they have a nutritional information on their food so you can manually insert it into the WW app Point Calculator (another awesome feature).
Here are just a couple of example places I visited to test out the WW app Restaurant feature:
Ruby Tuesday
Chick-fil-a
It was very exciting to find healthier choices and low point foods at a restaurant and a fast food place. It is eye opening to see that foods I would normally get would be so high in points, no wonder I was gaining weight. It is nice to see it and very motivating to select better foods. Don’t worry, there are other food places you can find that offer great food selections and are low in points. Keep in mind, you can always eat some higher point items but watch your portions. You can always split the meal in half to reduce the points and eat the other half another day.
My take after three weeks of using Weight Watchers:
- I have more energy.
This must be scary for my family and friends since I am usually hyper and talkative every day already. Sorry peeps! Looks like I will be super energetic at home and around the office. 😉
- I have less aches and pains.
My right knee use to constantly hurt and give out on me every so often when I climb stairs but after my first week of eating right I find that my knee does not hurt much anymore. While I think of it, my knee hasn’t ached this week. Amazing!
- Easy to track on App and follow program.
I love the features that the Weight Watcher app offers for tracking. Simple and easy to use.
- Discovered better food options.
It is very eye opening to see some of the foods I use to eat a lot of are super high in points. I can choose to eat them if I want too but I would have to eat a small portion to not go over my daily points. What is nice about WW is there are tons of recipes that they post online or on the app that you can choose from the give you an option or inspire you to select foods that are healthier. You can still enjoy the foods you love but are lower in point value. It is very motivating and fun for me to come up with my own unique recipes that end up being low in points. I even have my husband experimenting too. Hehe. Hubby is super supportive.
- Lost Weight!
I lost 12.2 lbs in 3 weeks! Eeekkk! I am thrilled that I am losing weight and that the program is working so far. I can even see a slight difference in my appearance. My stomach doesn’t look so bloated which means my size 18 pants aren’t constricting me anymore. Awesome, right?
My goal is to continue this program for a minimum of 6 months to verify it is truly the right plan for me. I have to admit though; this plan is starting out pretty well for me so far. Plus I feel like a new an improved person already. Woohoo!
I am super hesitant about posting pictures of me when I first started Weight Watchers but I figured that it would be super motivating to look back at these pictures and see my transformation unravel. Here it goes:
I can’t wait to compare this picture to what I will look like in 6 months. I have a feeling I will be very satisfied and happy to see the outcome.
Thanks for stopping by!
Sitting Fox Plushie
I’ve been on travel so much this year that I usually have a short amount of time I am home. I am so busy that I thought I published this post the other month but I guess I forgot to hit the actual publish button. Lol. Well, this is going to be a very brief blog post but I had to share my cute fox creation. When I finally got the chance to make this fox, it was definitely gratifying when I completed it. I used Sew Desu Ne’s Werewolf pattern to create this adorable fox but I modified the pattern a lot. I created the ears, tail and changed the face slightly to match a fox look. I think I did a pretty good job, don’t you think?
Isn’t it cute?
If you are interested, this fox is available on my Etsy Shop:
Jacksonville Adventures
Once again, I am heading back to Jacksonville, Florida for work. This time it is for 4 weeks. My husband is still down there so the best part is I get to see him. I had a nice break from him for 2 weeks 😉 but as they say: long distance makes the heart grow fonder. True statement. I am excited to see him!
I started out my flying routine by stopping by Starbucks at the airport terminal. I order my usual which is a Grande Green Tea Frappuccino with vanilla bean flavor and a cinnamon raison bagel with cream cheese. Unfortunately, the Starbucks ran out of cinnamon raison bagels so I had to resort to a plan bagel instead. No big deal.
Yummy. Starbucks Green Tea Frappuccino is amazing especially if you add vanilla bean powder flavoring. It adds a nice sweet taste. It does not include coffee but still taste good, so if you don’t like coffee this is a drink for you.
As I was waiting for my fight at the terminal, I sat next to some nice guys. They were so sweet and full of energy. They had some very interesting stories to tell. I felt like I was watching a comedy stand up or something because these guys were hilarious. Everyone around was chuckling. They even brought their adorable cat Marlen with them. This cat was meowing like crazy, which added more to the entertainment. Adorable. Effective way to start an early morning, watching a live comedy show. 😊
Every time I fly, I prefer the window seat. You want to know why? I can look out the window and see the beautiful landscapes in the sky. Another reason why I like the window seat is if I get tired I have something to lean my head against and pass out. Hehe. My husband hates the window seat and chooses the aisle seat so he can stretch out his legs and get up easier to use the bathroom. I think he also likes it since he has an easier time escaping when we exit a plane. *Whispers* he doesn’t like flying so whatever makes him happy and calm, I am all for it.
I love this type of sight when flying. I get to see some interesting clouds. Very relaxing.
While up in the air, have to enjoy my diet coke and cookies at 20,000 feet. 😉
I love biscoff cookies so much and I always look forward to receiving these when I fly. I know I can’t be the only one… right?
Enough about flying. Time to get to the good stuff. Places to visit and food to eat in Jacksonville, Florida.
First thing on the agenda:
Bono’s Pit BBQ
Best BBQ I have tasted so far in any restaurant! I love the rustic theme in this place. What makes this restaurant #1 on my scale is once you order, it was super quick to come out to enjoy. From entering the resturant to ordering the food then receiving food it was about 10 minutes! 10 minutes! I couldn’t believe it! I thought fast food was fast but this was super quick. Then I have to consider that most BBQ places have to start early to cook ribs and pork since they are most likely smoking them in some way. It takes hours to cook properly, I know since my husband use to smoke pork shoulders and ribs. Yummy!
Sorry, I forgot to mention what I ordered. I need to stop rambling sometimes. Haha. After looking at the various options on the menu, I decided to order the Bo-Hawg Sandwich with the side of Mac and Cheese.
Doesn’t it look so delicious!? Let me tell you, this was some darn good pulled pork sandwich with sausage and cheese on top. Mmmmm. My mouth is watering just talking about it. Can’t wait to go back to Jacksonville again to try some more options on the menu.
Singleton’s Seafood Shack
When you first drive into this place you might judge it from first impression. It truly looks like a shack from the outside but I promise you the food is amazing. The place has an interesting theme inside (mostly random items placed throughout)Â and has great seating especially if you have a big group. They have a couple of big picnic like tables that can hold about 14 – 16 people.
One of my co-worker’s ordered the smoke fish dip to share with everyone. Omg, this dip tasted so good (sorry I didn’t get a chance to take a picture because everyone wanted to dig in right away). This fish dip is a great appetizer to start out with.
After looking at the menu for a while I decided to get a grilled shrimp taco and an order of hush puppies.
It tasted sooooo good! Yummy! Oh, I have to divulge I love hush puppies and these hush puppies are by far the best I ever had! I liked that it had a slight sweet taste to them.
I have to admit that the group and myself liked Singleton’s so much that two days later we went back there again for lunch. LOL. This time I choose to go with one of the lunch specials, grilled shrimp basket with fries and a hush puppy.
Once again it was amazing!
Oh, and they have this hilarious hot sauce. From the title of it, I was a little scared to try it. lol.
Volcano Sushi
I was craving sushi so much that hubby finally decided to take me out to a place near the hotel we were staying at. This place was very contemporary and modern. I loved the red booths and seats they had which added a nice vibe to the restaurant.
After looking through the menu I decided to get a Philadelphia Roll (one of my favorite rolls anywhere I go since I love cream cheese) and the other roll I got was called the Rock N Roll No. 2.
The Philadelphia roll definitely had very fresh ingredients which is great and tasted good.
The second roll I ordered, Rock N Roll No. 2 was something different. It was a roll with salmon, crab and cream cheese in the middle but instead of seaweed wrapped around with rice they had thinly cut cucumber wrapped around.
I was super impressed on how this roll tasted. Might have to try a few of their other options that offer a cucumber like wrap.
Hubby ended up ordering a Philadelphia Roll (copying me) and the Rainbow Roll.
Overall, this sushi restaurant is a nice place to stop by and enjoy sushi. Oh, and you must try the cucumber wrap sushi rolls since it is unique and delicious.
Golfing
At Windy Harbor Golf Club
If you remember from my last post about Jacksonville, Florida I mentioned that my husband decided to take up golfing. Well guess who also decided to take up golfing? Yes, me! I would have never guessed in a million of years that I will take up golfing. When I was growing up I was always a swimmer and into a few sports but not golfing. I will admit that I always thought golfing was super boring until I actually tried it. I guess you should never judge anything until you tried it yourself.
I bought some cheap women’s starter clubs, golf shoes and golf balls. I spent about $280 total which isn’t a bad price starting out.
Here are a couple of pictures of me golfing. I was having so much fun that I forgot to take more pictures and take some videos. I promise I will try to remember the next time I go golfing.
I had a blast. My best hole was hole 11 when I got a PAR on a PAR 5. Nice, right? I will admit that I did get worn out by the time we hit the 14th and 15th hole. I toughed it through but it was hard not to show that I was tired. I just need more practice, take lessons and work on doing some strengthening exercises.
At Windsor Parke Golf Club
I decided after my first time golfing that I really need to take some lessons so I can improve. Luckily for me, hubby and I ran into Nikki Martin, a Golf Pro at Windsor Golf Club, while shopping at local golf store. I only took one lesson, but Nikki taught me a lot and improved my golf swing. I am a fast learner so he was able to teach me many golf basics in a course of an hour. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take another lesson this time around since weather seemed to get in the way. I will be back in Jacksonville, Florida again for work so I can plan to take more lessons with him to improve.
Here are videos of hubby and I learning from Nikki Martin on how to hit a golf ball in a bunker:
Hmmm… just had a thought. I think my next sewing project I should make my own golf club covers! Stay tuned, I might decide to write a sewing tutorial. Hehe.
North Beach Fish Camp
After 5 hours of golfing, hubby really wanted to take me to a nice resturant to unwind and eat some fantastic food.
Today was my lucky day, the resturant recieved fresh Royal Red Shrimp and were serving them in an appetizer. I never had royal reds before so I figured I will try them.
BEST TASTING SHRIMP I EVER HAD! Omg, I felt like I died and went to heaven when eating these delicious royal reds. They were that good! I found out from my husband that it’s really hard to find resturants that serve or haven’t ran out of royal red shrimp. I wonder why? 🤔 Now I know why I have never heard of them before.
(Apparently its a golf coast thing for this type of shrimp, probably why I never heard of it until now).
Hubby ordered baked scallops for his appetizer.
Hubby let me try one and they were super delicious, definitely an alternative appetizer you can get if they don’t have royal red shrimp in stock. Yum!
For my main course I wanted to try crab cakes. Last time I had crab cakes was when my mom made them when I was a kid. I figured trying crab cakes will be a good choice since I like trying new things on travel.
Super delicious! Sorry Mom but these crab cakes were out of this world good. Nice balance of flavors and the crab meat was divine.
Hubby got the grilled salmon.
Hubby said the salmon was on point and tasted great. He said it wasn’t dried out at all which means they cooked it correctly. He said the seasoning was a perfect mix.
Next up, desert! I got the chocolate turiso. Delicious and rich in taste. I was super impressed and the peanuts add the perfext crunch and taste with the chocolate.
By far the North Beach Fish Camp is one of the best seafood restaurants I have been in. Beautiful decor plus the food was amazing. If you ever visit Jacksonville, Florida you have to go here. I do recommend making a reservation just to be sure since they can get busy quick.
SmashBurger
This place is kind of like any fast food burger joint but offer skme interesting options. You kind of can mix and match what you want on your burger or chicken sandwich. It stands out a little bit.
I got the Grilled Bacon Avocado Club with fries.
Tasted pretty good, but the one thing that I didn’t like was that they didn’t tell me they ran out of Avocado and they put guacamole on it. I love guacamole, don’t get me wrong, but it still would have been nice if they would have told me instead of just putting it on my sandwich. What if I didn’t like guacamole? It was still a great tasting chicken sandwich though.
German Schnitzel Haus
A few of my co-workers wanted to go to a German returanut for lunch. I decided to tag along since I never been to a German resturant before and I wanted to try something new.
While waiting for our food, one of the people I went with had some secret skills. She took sweetener packages and built a pyramid out of them.
She has some skills. Lol.
I order the Schnitzel Sandwichwith beer cheese and a Caesar Salad side.
The served my Caesar salad first and it was not the typical Caesar salad I ever tasted. Instead of croutons they put Spatzle which was surprisingly was really good.
This sandwich had pork fried Schnitzel with beer cheese and served on a pretzel bun. I thought is was good except that since the pork was thin and the pretzel bun was huge it wasn’t really proportional. Meaning, every time I took a bite it tasted more like bun and cheese. I had to remove the bottom bun, then it tasted really good. Oh, this was my first time trying beer cheese and it was amazing! I can’t believe I never heard of it until now.
Well that is all I have for now. Until my next trip down in Jacksonville, Florida.
Thanks for stopping by!
Cerberus: The Mythical Three Headed Creature
I received a special request to sew one of Sew Desu Ne’s patterns, Cerberus. Luckily for the requester I bought the Cerberus pattern back in September last year when it first came out on Sew Desu Ne’s Etsy shop. I’ve been waiting for the right time to make one just like all the other patterns I have collected overtime. Due to the special request I bumped it up to the top of the list of plushies to make. Hehe. BTW, I have over 30 plushies on my list that I want to make. So many! AAAHHH!!
I was unsure what color scheme I wanted to go with for this mythical three headed creature but I was thinking a dark gray would look cute. I asked the requester what color she would be interested in and guess what she said? Dark gray! I guess great minds think alike. Hehe.
I dusted off the virtual cob webs off the Cerberus sewing pattern and went straight to work. I spent the first day cutting my pattern pieces out and then the second day I sewed and stuffed the plush. Here is how the Cerberus turned out:
Cute and cuddly!
I showed the requester this adorable three headed dog and she was overjoyed. I even mentioned to her that I might make a different color Cerberus, like a brown one so I can offer more options. She suggested to me I should make an Albino Cerberus, in which she would also be interested in that one too. What a great idea! Back to work I went.
Here is the Albino Cerberus:
Here is the Brown Cerberus:
Oh my goodness, my creativity is in hyper drive now. I have so many ideas flowing through my head right now, like should I make a three headed black lab version? Or maybe a golden retriever version? Wait, how about a three headed husky version? So many ideas! What should I do? Have any suggestions? You can comment below if you like.
I will keep you posted on any new developments but be warned, it might be a little while since I am about to embark on a 4 week trip to warm and sunny Jacksonville, Florida for work. I am unable to sew during this time. 😣 Sad I know. Don’t worry I will be back to sew in no time, that’s for sure!
Thanks for stopping by!
Check out my Etsy Shop here:
Sea Turtle Plush Pillow
I definitely kept myself busy these past two weeks back home. If you read any of my latest blog posts you know I have a very interesting work travel and home rotation. This means less time to do fun crafting or sewing projects when I am home in my craft room. Don’t worry I make due with what time I have. I squeeze as many projects I can without overwhelming myself. So far so good.
You can probably guess from my blog post title what my next project is… hmmm…. yes, a sea turtle plush pillow. I was asked by a friend and colleague if I can make her a sea turtle plush big enough to be like a pillow. She told me that she could never find a sea turtle plush big enough or colorful enough to her liking plus it needed to very soft and comfy. She also mentioned to me that since I am the artist she wants me to design it anyway I want as long as it had many colors. Easy, right? Maybe…
I love having the opportunity to design a plush however I want but the problem is I am afraid of disappointing her if it isn’t to her liking. This is a huge fear I have but I know deep down I will do anything in my power to not disappoint her.  I believe I have good taste and a good sense of color selection and matching. I can do this!
I thought of designing my own sea turtle pattern but before I did that I wanted to make sure I don’t already have a pattern in my stash that I might have bought already. The past few years I’ve collected so many different patterns from some of my favorite plushie designers that I may already have a sea turtle pattern. After searching through my electronic files on my computer I found a sea turtle pattern by Funky Friends Factory. Perfect! Pauline, the owner of Funky Friends Factory, creates amazing patterns!
In order to use this sea turtle pattern I had to resize it to the size I desired for the project. Good thing is that Pauline has a blog post on how to enlarge or shrink her patterns with multiple options, you can see here. This post is great if you’ve never enlarged or shrunk a pattern before since it includes many helpful tips. I’ve referred to it before a long time ago but I may reference it again if I ever need to use a different method when resizing a pattern. I use the printer option to enlarge the sea turtle plush to 170%, which ended up being the perfect size for a pillow plush.
Now that I have the pattern, I need to figure out my colors. I got a little stuck when trying to figure out what color palate I wanted to go with. I also had to keep in mind that my friend wants the plush pillow to be very soft so my type of fabric gets narrowed down to minky or some faux fur fabrics since they are soft to the touch. Fleece fabrics can be soft too but not as much as minky or faux fur fabrics. I realized very quickly that there is not a huge selection of colors at my local sewing and craft store for minky or faux fur fabrics. Great… What am I going to do?
There are some online stores that have different patterns and colors for minky fabrics but they can be a little costly or take a while before they deliver it. This makes it difficult since I am only home for a short amount of time before I have to go on travel for work. You know what, there is one place I have not looked yet. I have like 8 storage containers underneath my sewing table full of remnant fabrics I have collected over the past few years from my local sewing and craft stores, in which one local store has been closed for over a year now :-(. Who knows, I might find something that will actually work plus I can start using up some of my fabric stash for once.
After looking through all 8 containers, I actually found a colorful minky fabric! Woohoo! Even better, I have a coordinating solid minky fabric color that matches perfectly with the pattern minky I found. Yay, amazing!
Perfect color combinations, don’t you think? I know my friend will love these colors. I plan to use the pattern minky fabric for the shell and nose tip of the sea turtle and the light sea foam green solid minky color for the flippers, tail and head. Oh I can’t wait to see how this turns out.
I don’t think I ever mentioned this before in any of my past posts but I kind of do this thing where I separate cutting fabric and sewing fabric into different days. I discovered a long time ago I would get frustrated or worn out after cutting a lot of pattern pieces that when I would sew the pieces right after I would get even more frustrated. This resulted in many bad sewing mistakes and me having to re-cut pattern pieces. I admit that I wanted to give up a few times and this is not a good feeling to have. I had to come up with a solution so one day I separated my days out. Over time I realized that if I cut the fabric pieces on the first day then sew them together the second day I usually get better results in my sewing. I felt more accomplished and stress free. . I don’t know how to explain it, but it works for me.
Oh, if you are wondering I usually do my embroidery stitch out the same day I cut fabric pieces out too. Sometimes I do end up separating embroidery and cutting fabric into different days depending on how I feel. For this project though I decided not to embroider the eyes since I had these beautiful big blue safety eyes that would work out perfectly for this sea turtle. I bought the safety eyes years ago thinking I was going to use them in a past project but found out that they were too big for it. You can imagine I was super excited to finally use them in a project. You can see for yourself in these photos of the finished sea turtle on how well the safety eyes worked out:
Cute! Look at those baby blue eyes, precious.
You know what? When I look at this sea turtle I think of the sea turtles, Crush and Squirt, from Finding Nemo. Hehe. I don’t know why but it was the first thing that came to mind. If you haven’t seen Finding Nemo
Well this turned out to be one cute and adorable sea turtle. Oh BTW, my friend loves it! Hooray! Fear of her hating it is over. Now to my next project…
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Drawing to a Custom Plush
During my time back home for two weeks, I recieved a special request. A grandmother wanted to give her granddaughter something unique and meaningful for her birthday. She sent me a picture of a drawing that her granddaughter created. The drawing was of a “Peacock Butterly” according to the 6 year old.
Love the mix of colors the child has chosen for this drawing. Good thing is I have these colors in my stash of fabrics. 😉
I accepted the challenge to create a representation of the drawing and make it into a plush form. This was my time to make my own plush pattern instead of using someone else’s. I told the grandmother that I would make a mock up plush first using muslin fabric and send her pictures of it for approval. If she likes it, I will start making the plush using the soft minky fabric.
Here is the mock up I made:
I did not have a pink and blue marker so I used black to show outlines. There are small adjustments that I need to make on the head (like making it a little bit bigger) but other than that it turned out pretty good. The grandmother approved the mock up but asked if I could make the wings not floppy. She wanted them to stick up like the drawing. I agreed and continued on.
To make this plush extra special so I tried my hardest to create the squiggly lines that the six year old drew on the body and repesent them using a satin stitch on my embroidery machine. I had to upload the picture to my embroidery program and trace the squiggly lines to create the satin stitches.
My next task was to figure out how to make the wings stand up. I used white fleece for the wings which the material stands up a little but they can still flop down easily. I looked through my fabric stash and found an ultra firm craft interface that I had left over from a craft project I did last year. This is perfect! I cut two pieces and slipped them into the wings. TADA! The wings stood up.
Here is how the final custom plush turned out:
Isn’t it adorable? I am so proud that this turned out great! Better than I imagine. The grandmother was thrilled and can’t wait to give this to her granddaughter for her birthday in May. I believe this 6 year old will freak out when she sees that her drawing “came to life” in plush form. I know I would if I was a kid again.
I had fun creating this little guy, I have a feeling I might create more custom plushies and design my own plush patterns. Hehe. Exciting!
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Sunny Jacksonville
First part of this year I will be flying back and forth to Jacksonville, Florida for work. I am rotating with my friend and co-worker so that we both can have time back home instead of one of us down there for 6 months straight. Rotation is: 2 weeks home and 4 weeks on travel which we overlap for turnover time the first and last week of our rotations (if that makes sense). It’s not the best rotation but at least I will be home a couple of weeks at a time.
It is difficult to be away from home, especially since I have my wonderful craft room to be creative in. If only I could transport my whole craft room with me on travel so I can craft on the go. Reality check, that will never happen. I have way too much stuff to Lu\’shaul and my hotel room would be crowded. I will stick with bringing small craft projects on the go like the Butterfly Bracelet I am currently working on while I am on travel.
I try my best to look on the brighter side of things so I have this unspoken rule that when I go on travel I need to try the local food and find places to visit. Well, this trip is no exception. I have to find the best food around and find some activities to do in Jacksonville, Florida. Do you want to know what is going to be great about this trip? My husband is also on travel for work in Jacksonville, Florida too! How about that. This has never happened before, EVER! When we both travel for work we end up in different locations, but the stars have aligned and we are both in the same location! FANTASTIC!
Now with hubby and I in the same location for work, it feels like we are on a mini vacation together. Best part is, we didn’t have to pay for this “mini vacation”. Hehe. Nice, right? We took advantage of this rare occurrence and explored Jacksonville.
Taco Lu’s
First stop, Taco Lu’s. I loved the vibe radiating out from this place. I was mesmerized by the intricate wall decorations and display of vibrant colors! I was very impressed and the Mexican theme was spot on. I knew after I stepped into the place, I was going to enjoy the food.
Before I ordered my husband suggested to me that I should try the tacos. We told me that they have a variety of tacos and offer daily specialty tacos not mentioned on the menu. Interesting… I decided to try the Bangin’ Shrimp Taco and one of the specialty tacos that had Salmon in it (sorry I do not remember the name of it) but I can imagine it will taste good.
As I sat waiting for my tacos to be made, the server placed chips and salsa on the table. The salsa had a nice flavor to it, hint of sweet but with a nice little kick. Note, if you don’t like salsa that is a little bit over mild, you might not like it. I wish I would have asked, but I am curious now if they make their own salsa or buy it somewhere. Maybe next time I go I will ask.
I have to tell you the tacos I ordered were amazing and mouthwatering!
Doesn’t it look delicious? I wish I had a Taco Lu’s where I live so I can go there all the time! I am so jealous! I can’t wait for my return to Jacksonville so I can have more of these tacos!
Top Gulf
Before I traveled to Jacksonville for work, my husband spent the past three months exploring. While on travel, my husband got inspired to pick up golfing. It all started when a co-worker took him to Top Gulf in Jacksonville. After that day, he likes to go there every so often to play.
Once I arrived, he desperately wanted to take me to Top Gulf. I was skeptical at first since I know in the past when I was a teenager I sucked at hitting a golf ball at a driving range but when I played here I actually had fun. After a few hits, I progressively got better. I even beat my husband twice! Hehe. Okay, he did beat me the first round we played but I still won the last two rounds. Lol. I might be slightly competitive, just a little. *pinches fingers*
I was also shocked that Top Gulf has really great food. My husband ordered humus as an appetizer. We devoured it so quickly that I forgot to take a picture. 😦 Just trust me, it is good! I ended up ordering the pulled pork sliders and a side of tator tots to eat.
If you look closely at the picture above you can see the empty plate in the background which once held the Humus hubby and I devoured. Hehe. The pulled pork sliders tasted amazing BTW. I loved the hint of coleslaw they placed in the sliders it was a nice touch of flavor. I usually don’t like coleslaw but I always have to remind myself that I need to try new things. I think the combination of pork and coleslaw was flavorful. Oh, and the tator tots were nice and crispy just the way I like them.
Here is my husband hitting a golf ball at Top Gulf.
Fun times.
The best part about Top Gulf is even if you are horrible at it, you can still have a lot of fun. If for some reason you are not up to hitting golf balls they do have a bar you can sit at or you can play at the pool tables or you can explore the other activities they offer at the facility. I love the upbeat tempo they have here. Definitely a place you can visit for family and friends to have a great time! I certainly had a blast.
Bongiorno’s Philly Cheese Steak and Pizza
This place was a little rough looking inside and too dark for my taste but I didn’t not want to judge the food by the way the place looks like. I ended up waiting about 25 minutes before I got served and they weren’t even busy, not good. I am a very patient person and I didn’t want to get up an leave since I was craving pizza and this was the only place close by. I could have tried getting up to talk to an employee, but I was curious to see how long it would actually take.
When the server finally came by the table, I decided to get a create your own Stromboli. What I didn’t know is they charge for each topping you choose which the menu was very deceiving. I really wanted to get a supreme like Stromboli but that would have cost me about $20! I limited myself to three ingredients: pepperoni, sausage and onion. Don’t worry the cheese is included, thank goodness.
After waiting for another 30 minutes I got a nice delicious looking Stromboli.
Here is how it turned out:
The Stromboli smelt and tasted wonderful as you can see since I took a few bites before I took a picture. The cook did a great job. If only the service could improve a bit then this place would be awesome in my book. I may come back here again to try the Philly cheese steaks the next time I visit but no promises.
Taziki’s Mediterranean Café
If you want some amazing Mediterranean food, this is the place to go. I got the lamb gyro with a side of chips and cucumber salad and it was to die for. YUMMY!
When you look at this picture does it make you just want to attack the computer screen to grab it and eat it? I know I would. lol.
I found out that Taziki’s is a food chain but this was the first time I ever heard of it. I wish there was a Taziki’s where I live. I know for a fact that if anyone ever opens one close to me, I will probably go there all the time. Here is another fact, next time I go to Jacksonville I am going to eat here again and try something else on the menu. I’ll keep you posted. 😉
Ruth Chris Steak House
I have to admit I never heard of Ruth Chris Steak House before and I know why, it is a high class fancy restaurant. Oh and very pricey… yeah… If you are wondering how I ended up here, well my husband’s boss and a couple of the high up bosses in the company came to visit the area to congratulate my husband and his team for the hard work they have done in Jacksonville. I felt special since I was invited to join the dinner party and they treated me like I was part of the family.
A nice thing about going to a really nice restaurant, I finally have an excuse to wear a dress! I brought a dress down for Valentine’s Day just in case hubby and I wanted to go out, but we ended up enjoying each other’s company in the hotel room that day. 😉 Good thing I brought a dress down so I had something nice to wear for the dinner party. I have to be honest, I am happy I didn’t have to buy a new dress since I have a few at home that I’ve only worn once or twice.
When we arrived to the restaurant I was amazed. This place looks and feels so romantic and the customer service they provide here is top notch. I had a great time here and it was nice I got to enjoy it with my awesome husband and celebrate the hard work he does.
I am sorry to say that I didn’t take any pictures of my meal here. I wanted to be respectful so I didn’t take any photos. I ordered the most delicious and perfectly cooked petite prime rib and a side of creamy lobster macaroni and cheese. I was in food heaven every time I took a bite. Best tasting prime rib and mac and cheese I ever had so far.
Well, that is all I have to share about my first trip down to Jacksonville. I will keep you posted on my next trip down.
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Butterfly Bracelet Part 1
I found out that I will be traveling a lot this year for work. 😯 Not the most ideal for me since my husband already has to travel a lot. When would we see each other if we are both on travel?? I will be flying back and forth to Jacksonville, Florida this first part of the year and lucky for me that is where my husband is working at the moment. That means I will get to see him when I fly down there four weeks at a time (My rotation = 2 weeks home & 4 weeks on travel through July).
Since I will be on travel I figured this is a great opportunity to do a small project. What kind of project you ask? How about a beading project? I realized that I haven’t touched much of my bead inventory this past year. The last time I did a beadwork project was in 2016! Yikes! I guess I’ve been really focused with sewing plushies last year. Hehe.
Beads are portable as long as I plan my project out. If I don’t come up with a realistic plan I will end up with a suitcase full of just beads. Hehe 😉 I have to resist the temptation of packing all my beads… This may be very difficult for me by the way.
I made this beautiful “Teal Embrace” bead embroidery bib necklace back in 2016 which took me weeks to complete. I don’t want to make something this extravagant while I’m on travel so something half the size would be reasonable. What can I make that is not too big and not too small? Hmmm…. Oh, I know! How about a cuff like bracelet? It’s not too small where I would finish it in a few days but it’s not so big that it would be tedious and bulky. Perfect!
All I need to do now is sketch out a design so I have an idea of how much beads I need to bring and style I want to go for.
Now that I have a sketch made, I need to figure out my color scheme. I think I want to stick with teal, black and silver color tones for this bracelet.
As you can see in the picture above, I brought quite a bit of different types of beads with me. I wanted to be prepared just in case I wanted to change a few things in my design as I bead. Anyone who beads understands. Hehe.
Here is the progress that I made during my first work trip:
If you compare this to my sketch, you will see as I was beading I already changed the design a little bit. I found that the silver swirl looks more appealing this way. I wish I would have made more progress during my first trip but I did get a little distracted by my husband. 😉 It was our first time that both of us are on travel for work in the same location. Maybe my next trip down to Jacksonville I will make more progress. Hehe.
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