Some 2016 Goals

I tend to write up a huge list of goals/resolutions for a every year. Which I then separate into Personal, Health, and Fat Cat Crafts. And then they never get done. 

But nonetheless, I'm doing it again this year. So here are 10 from each category. I have many more, but thought listing more would be over-kill. Maybe writing them down and putting them out in the virtual world will help me keep them???

Personal

 1. Go swing dancing - I've wanted to for years so now is the time to do it!

 2. Take a road trip - I haven't gone anywhere for years, I think I deserve a vacation.

 3. Visit the West Side Market - A local farmer's market that everyone raves about.

 4. Get nose piercing - Something I've wanted for years much to the dismay of my mom...

 5. Finish my Riddler dress - At least the construction of the dress is already done!

 6. Attend a comic convention - Should be easy right?

 7. Wear my Riddler dress to that convention - Another easy one, right? 
 8. Make a Halloween costume - Possibly from Hocus Pocus.
 9. Make a Padme DIY costume tutorial - Which I get asked a lot how I made that costume.
 10. Make a Bellatrix DIY costume tutorial - Mostly for the lace-up sleeves.

Health
 1. Go to the eye doctor - It's been wayyy too long since my last visit.
 2. Establish daily healthy eating habits - Should have already been done.
 3. Establish daily routine exercises - Yeah, another one that should have already been done.
 4. Start running - Not really looking forward to this one but my cardio is really bad.
 5. Be able to run a full 3 miles without passing out - If I can master this I'll be thrilled
 6. Be able to hold a handstand for a full 30 seconds - Used to be simple when I was a kid.
 7. Get 6 pack abs - Because this is my dream list so why not!
 8. Make it to the top of a rock wall (indoor) - Must strengthen up wrists, Lupus sucks.
 9. Make it to the top of a real rock - Still strengthening wrists but in a nicer scenery.
 10. Do Scorpion pose - Don't do yoga but I'll aim for one of the hardest positions. Why not!

Fat Cat Crafts
 1. Completely organize sewing room - Should have been done YEARS ago!!

 2. Post up various new non-pincushion items - I need to branch out from pincushions.

 3. Retake all poor product pictures - And sadly, there's a lot of poor pictures.

 4. Add in color more choices for basic cat ribbons and skirts - More choices are good right!

 5. Organize product computer picture file folders - My picture folders are out of control!

 6. Sell at a large juried craft fair - Never done it, so figured it would be a good experience.

 7. Stock-pile pieces for Christmas - Just a smart idea.

 8. Be featured in a magazine - I was featured in one last year so I may as well hope for another!

 9. Get my pincushions sold a shop - Branching out is good.

 10. Sell to all 50 states - I can dream right!

And there we go: some of my to-do list for 2016! Stay turned throughout the year for blog posts to see how well, or poorly, I do!

 

Air Force Fat Cat Pincushion

I feel like I'm on a role this month because I've managed to get another new pincushion completed: US Air Force! I think she's quite cute if I do say so myself. 

She's made from various colors of felt and is stuffed with polyester fiberfill. Due to the small pieces, a lot of these pincushions are sewn by hand. 

She stands approximately 5.25 inches (13.25 cms) tall and measures approximately 11 inches (28 cms) around the belly. And she, like all my other creations, is handmade by me and from my own patterns.

To see the Etsy shop listing for full details, CLICK HERE!

Or to visit my Etsy shop to view all my pincushion styles, CLICK HERE!

Italian Cat Pincushions

A new year means new Fat Cat designs. And I am so happy about this newest one I finished! ITALIAN CATS!!!

I knew I wanted to have him holding a plate of food, which my first thought was spaghetti and meatballs. But I'd had a few people ask if I would be doing pizza. So I opted for both options and then you can choose which one you want!

These tan kitties are wearing dark green pants, white shirt, red neck tie and of course a black mustache. They are made out of felt except for the occasional pom poms which are used for his feet and for the meatballs. But everything else is felt, including that pizza. Now don't hold it against me, but I find that pizza to actually look delicious...

Which version do you like better?

The cats stand approximately 5.25 inches (13.25 cms) tall and measure approximately 11 inches (28 cms) around the bellies. These cats, like all my other creations, are handmade by me.

To see the Etsy shop listing for the spaghetti and meatballs version, CLICK HERE!

And to see the Etsy shop listing for the pizza pie version, CLICK HERE!

Or to visit my Etsy shop to view all my pincushion styles, CLICK HERE!

2015 Highlights - Costumes - Padme, Bellatrix and the Riddler

Second half of the 2015 recap - costumes!

 I really wanted to make a new Halloween costume last year but, like usual, it didn't get finished. I at least got the base completed. But it still needs all the details put in - the question marks specifically. So resolution: finish up my Riddler dress and wear it to a comic convention this year.

The original design:

 Constructing the bodice with my trusty Riddler pincushion for inspiration

First try on of the dress

 Sewn up purple petticoat for underneath

Dress and waistband sewn up - missing straps. The waistband is separate from the dress and laces up in the back

 Dress now with straps

Would you believe I found lime green flats that match perfectly???

I thought I was going to hate the wig, but it turned out really nice. And since I hate having things on my face, I decided to to the mask as a headband instead. I think I'm more of a Riddler groupie than a girl version of him. 

Messing around on Halloween watching "The Worst Witch"

Sad on Halloween because hardly any kids showed up...

There was another Star Wars Reads Day at the library so the Padme costume got taken out once more.

Got my mom to attend this year!

Awww, and she made a new friend!

 And I made some new friends, too

Yay Star Wars!

I'm tired...

And sticking with the Padme costume news, I found out many many months after the fact that my Star Wars Padme costume was shared on a Facebook Star Wars Fan page and got close to 2,000 likes!! Not bad for a self taught sewer who needed to sew up a Star Wars costume in a few days for a library event!

And there was a Harry Potter Birthday Bash, so Bellatrix got to make her appareance as well.

Bellatrix caught awares...

2015 Highlights - Pincushions and Personal Acheivements

Another year already??? And once again I didn't post up anything in the second half of the year. New year's resolution: keep up with this blog this year - must blog at least 2 times a week. That's doable, right??

I'm going to post up some highlights from the later half of 2015 though I'm going to divide my recap into two post. First (and this one) will deal with pincushions and random personal achievements. And the second one will focus on costumes and library events, which goes falls into the costume category. 

So here we go - new pincushions! 

I did a skeleton cat who is now one of my personal favorites,

an elf pair,

a fancy customized beagle-ish dog that I was really sad ship out...I wanted to keep him,

a customized zombie cat in our library branch manager's likeness who retired,

 some smaller sized cats for a hanging mobile

 and a team of tennis players

And Viking Cat Olav the Orange managed to become famous by getting featured in "Ohio Magazine". Way to go Olav!

On the personal side, an achievement I completed was the Cleveland Browns 5K. I missed the Bernie Shuffle the previous year so I was NOT going to miss this one! I only walked it, no running, but for an out of shape girl with a lot of pain and swelling from Lupus, I'll take that as success! Plus the medal we received was AWESOME!! Though, this motivated me to want to actually complete a race like this with running. Resolution: start jogging and build up to completing a race.

Happy New Year - 2016

Happy New Year! Hope everyone's year is filled with much joy, happiness, success and good health!