Two Dogs

Day #212
Hearts #220-221

Here's something different:  I've actually made a heart that's not a wool felt scissors fob!  Well, I DID make a scissors fob, but I also made a headband for a doll featuring a wool felt heart.  The headband is part of an outfit I made for my new Blythe doll, and you can see it in action on my other blog, Leslie's Art and Sew.

Angel

Day #207
Heart #216

Last week, when I posted the "air mail" heart (which featured an envelope with wings), Lime Riot commented that she would like to see one of my wool felt scissors fobs with actual wings on the sides.  Great idea!  I added an embroidered halo and made it an angel heart.

Cute Clothesline and a FAIL

Day #199
Hearts #207-208

 A week or two ago, when I was asking for suggestions for these wool felt scissors fobs, my friend Diane (aka fiddlegirl8) mentioned an idea that I had already been toying with--a clothesline!  Since we both thought of it, I had to try it.  Who knew a clothesline could be so cute?

A tiny t-shirt, blue jeans, and boxers!

Diane also mentioned something else, which is pictured below.  I was almost finished making it when I thought "this doesn't look right".  My daughter was sitting nearby, so I showed it to her and asked, "What do you think this is?"

She answered:  "The letter U?"
No.

"A necklace?"
No.

"Christmas lights?"
NO.  *Sigh*

I told her tt's supposed to be a BUNTING.  She says she's never heard of a bunting.  *Sigh*

Okay, well, I know how it SHOULD look, so I'm going to try again tonight.  Come back tomorrow to view my new, improved bunting!!

Mountains

Day #192
Heart #201

There's still time to enter the giveaway for a scissors fob on my other blog, Leslie's Art and Sew.  I will be choosing the three winners tomorrow (Wednesday, July 11th), so hurry and leave a comment if you haven't already.

In one of the comments on that post, a reader named Connie suggested I should make a fob with a mountain scene.  I loved that idea, so here it is:

Chickens and Number 200

Day #191
Hearts #199-200

I've reached another milestone in this heart-a-day challenge--my 200th heart!  Wow, that's a lot of hearts!  And it just happens to be my favorite heart so far--I guess "practice makes perfect" applies to this situation!

My Craftster friend waggonswest requested that I make her a chicken scissors fob for a personal swap.  Since I LOVE chickens, I was glad to comply!  Last night I made these two; which one will she choose?

The one below is based on a felt badge I just finished for a swap.  (I haven't sent it yet, so I don't want to show it here in case it spoils the surprise for my partner!)

The one below is my favorite.  It too is a miniature version of a felt badge I made for a swap; you can see the original at the bottom of this post.  These scissors fobs are just under 1 1/2" across, and the felt badges are about 3" across, so it's a huge difference in scale.

Here's the felt badge:

Both the fobs and the badge are entirely hand-sewn using wool felt, embroidery floss, sewing thread, and a bead for the eye; the fobs are stuffed with polyfil.  One reader asked how long do I cut the twine?  It's 9"; I knot the ends together, hide the knot inside the fob, and sew through the twine so it won't EVER pull out!

O, Canada!

Day #190
Heart #198

Here's the Canadian flag in wool-felt, heart-shaped, scissors-fob form.  Yes, the maple leaf was an EXTREME challenge, but I think it came out okay.  A little wonky, but okay.

Now, on to my next challenge:  a chicken!  Waggonswest and I are doing a very small personal swap, and she would like a chicken fob.  I'm hoping to come up with a couple of different ones for her to choose from, and I will post them here when they are finished.  In the meantime, I have a LOT of other ideas for fobs that I'm eager to get started on (which is great, because I still have a long way to go to get to the end of this challenge!!!)

Snowman in July

Day #189
Heart #197

Yesterday Homerof2, a new friend from Craftster, left a comment, saying she had just read this WHOLE BLOG from January 1st until the present!  Then she offered two suggestions for scissors fobs:  a snowman, and the Canadian flag.  I had actually already sketched a snowman heart in my notebook, so in honor of Homerof2's epic blog-reading session, I got busy and whipped this up:

It felt delightful to work on a snowy heart in the middle of this hot hot summer!  Now I am turning my thoughts to the Canadian flag...that maple leaf will be a challenge...

Tomato Pincushion

Day #188
Heart #196

I received a question from Kay; she wonders if I have the rest of the year planned out in hearts?  The answer is NO!  I just go from day to day and make whatever I feel like making!  Today's heart is a perfect example; until yesterday, I'd never thought of doing a tomato pincushion on a heart, but I suddenly envisioned exactly how to do it, so I sat right down and made it:

Since these little wool felt hearts are technically scissors fobs, anything "sewing" themed seems so perfect. 

I've gotten a lot of input this week, since posting these fobs on Craftster; so many people have offered me ideas!  All of them are great, but some "fit" these fobs better than others.  It has been invigorating to get so much attention and hear so many ideas, so although I don't have the rest of the year planned out, I do have a LOT of ideas that I have sketched in my notebook to refer to when it's time to work on my daily heart.  Thanks, everyone!

Bright Happy Flower

Day #181
Heart #191

I wanted to make the brightest flower scissors fob possible...did I succeed?

Handmade from wool felt, embroidery thread, sewing thread, baker's twine, polyfil, and a button.

My "fob jar" is almost full; but these little hearts are so squishy, it's hard to know when to stop.  I think two more ought to do it, then I will post a picture of it.

Mushrooms

Day #180
Heart #190

One more hand-made, heart-shaped, wool-felt scissors fob for my jar...today, it's cute little mushrooms!

Pin Cushions

Day #179
Hearts #179-189

These pin cushions look just like the lavender sachets I posted yesterday, because I started out with the intention of making them all sachets--but I ran out of lavender!  So I quickly decided to turn the last eleven hearts into pin cushions, and I'm glad I did, because they will make a nice addition to my booth in the local shop. 

I stuffed these hearts with polyester fiberfill, and I added a heart-shaped piece of plastic (cut from the lid of a food container) in the back of each one to keep pins from poking through.

In the picture below, two are finished and the rest are waiting to be stuffed.

Here they are, all finished.

Tomorrow, I'll continue my series of scissors fobs.  The fob jar is almost full!

Lavender Sachets

Day #178
Hearts #163-178

Oh look--my number of hearts has finally caught up to the number of elapsed days in this year!  Hooray!!  But that doesn't mean I can take a break, since every day demands another heart from me. Luckily I have another set of these hearts that I'm making into pincushions, and I will post them tomorrow.  Then I will be able to take an occasional break!


I just finished this batch of 16 lavender sachet hearts; each one is approximately 4" x 3". 

Each one has a word or phrase, with hand-stitching around the edges, and two buttons.

I tied a bow of baker's twine on top of each heart; the strings can be untied and used to hang the heart to display it.

I will put these up for sale at my booth in a local shop.

Layered Hearts

Day #177
Hearts #160-162

Here are three more heart-shaped, wool-felt scissors fobs.  The layers of color make them pretty, especially in a group like this!

Sewing Machine #2

Day #176
Heart #159


Here it is--the pink sewing machine on a white background.  I like this one better! 

As with all the hearts in this scissors fob series, this one is made from wool felt, embroidery floss, sewing thread, baker's twine, and stuffing.

Sewing Machine

Day #175
Heart #158

Pink is one of my favorite colors, but it can be tricky to get it right...which is probably why I haven't seen any all-pink sewing machines.  I thought I would try out a pink sewing machine in felt--and I think it looks cute--as a scissors fob, anyway!  (Now that I see these pictures, I think it might have looked better on a light-colored backgrouond.  You may see "Sewing Machine #2" tomorrow!)

Yesterday, on my other blog (Leslie's Art and Sew) I did a review of the baker's twine I'm using in these fobs, and the store it came from.  Click on the name of the blog, above, if you would like to read it.

Button Flowers

Day #174
Heart #157

Here's one more heart-shaped wool-felt scissors fob for my collection.  The simple button flowers are completed with embroidery.  It was quick and easy to make since I didn't have to cut out any tiny shapes from felt!  (I cut the background hearts using my Sizzix machine with a heart-shaped die.)

Kay has asked (and some of you may have wondered):  what do I plan to do with all these scissors fobs?  The answer is, there is no plan!  They might end up in my jar of hearts, or I might use them on the alphabet heart garland I plan to put together when I have time. Maybe I will give some away, or use them as ornaments on a table-top Christmas tree.

I enjoy looking at these little fobs as a group, because they are so tiny and cute, so I will do a post about them on my other blog (Leslie's Art and Sew) when I have a few more--that way you can see them all together too!

Four-Leaf Clover

Day #173
Heart #156

I've always enjoyed searching for four-leaf clovers (and I'm good at finding them too!)  Hopefully, I won't have to search for my scissors with this wool felt scissors fob attached to them!

For those who are wondering, yes, my pint-size canning jar is quickly filling up with these fobs!  In about a week I expect it to be overflowing and I will show it to you then.

Apple Tree

Day #172
Heart #155

I'm currently working on a big batch of hearts that will get me all caught up on my numbers for this challenge--yay!  They should be done within the week, and in the meantime, I continue to enjoy making one small, heart-shaped, wool-felt scissors-fob every evening.  I made this apple tree last night:

Heart Keychains with Tutorial Link

Day #157
Hearts #130-135


I have six more Heart Keychains to show you today.  It was my intention when starting this challenge that no two hearts would be exactly the same, but I'm making an exception to that rule today, because I am still so behind in my count!

I love these cute doggie faces!

Birds are always popular

And my favorite, bright blue and green.

These keychains can be made entirely by hand, so you could bring your materials with you if you wanted to work on a project while travelling.  (You just need to get things started at home before you go, since there is some ironing.)
If you would like to make some of these yourself, just follow this link to my other blog:  Leslie's Art and Sew.  I've just posted the tutorial there.  I'd love to hear about it if you do make some; if you email me a picture, I will post it here too!

Happy Clouds

Day #156
Hearts #128-129

Two more scissors fobs!

I wanted to try an image-transfer technique I heard about on Craftster:  using a rubber stamp, stamp the image on the WRONG side of the felt, and use that as your guide as you emberoider.  That's how I did the cloud on the left.  It worked okay, but wasn't as precise as I would like, so for the fob on the right, I cut felt into the cloud shape and sewed that to the heart.  I like that much more!