Ambootique

Today is another full day of cleaning and cooking/baking in an attempt to get ready for tomorrow. This is the first year that we are cooking a Turkey (my Russ will be taking on this task!). We haven't had Thanksgiving by ourselves since we were stationed at Fort Bragg. Which has been three or four years ago. We didn't do anything special for this holiday last year because we had literally just moved to Colorado, where we are stationed now. Last year, my Husband was sent home early from deployment. Last year he was going back and forth to doctors for his back. After 4 deployments, that back of his just wasn't going to cut it anymore. He is now on Med. Board status and in the final stages of that. We are just patiently waiting for those "you're outa here" orders. So for this years Thanksgiving, I am thankful to be spending another Turkey Day as an Active Duty Army Wife, my Husband and our amazing kiddos, my Family & Friends, the brave Hero's that a...

Hello everyone! I have something exciting to share with you that I hope you will enjoy reading about. You see, though I have a huge space in my heart for crafting, there is another love that holds just as much of my heart. I have always, since a very young age, loved making up stories. Even when I didn't know how to write the words, my Mom and I would make up bed time stories of our own. Since then, if I wasn't thinking up stories and turning them into books of my own, I wrote poetry. And when I wasn't writing at all, I was definitely reading. I have not written in a few years and I really missed it. My Husband, being my biggest fan, challenged me last night. He told me that he wanted me to write a Children's Book, to be completed by Friday. After thinking about for only a few minutes, the wheels were already turning as he spoke, I decided to take him up on his challenge. I got started on it immediately and finished it this afternoon. The book I wrote is meant to...

Hello all! I hope this Bloggy finds you well. I apologize for my lack of posting on here. My goal was to keep up with my posting as I completed each new project but have obviously failed to do so. I joined a few new sites such as Pinterest and the newest one this evening, Tumblr . You can follow me on both if you would like. I have also been dabbling with plushies and think I have found the best way to complete them. I drew up a basic teddy bear pattern and made two out of my Husband's ACU's that he no longer wears. Using embroidery floss, I created the face and added little saying on the tummy's of the bears. I hand stitched around the edges, leaving a small amount of the bear open in order to stuff it with fibber fill and then continued stitching until I got it closed completely. The finished products came out looking pretty cute. I was not completely satisfied with my first attempt at hand stitching my Daughters bear so I tried a different type of stitch for my Sons...

Hello again! My apologies for the lack of bloggies. Due to a move and trying to get everything unpacked, and settling into public school life, well, it has been chaotic to say the least, and I have missed a lot of time with my crafts :( . In the last bloggy, I talked about painting some wall-letters for a friend of mine. After over a month of not being able to get to them, I am excited to announce that I have finally finished them! I delivered them last night! I must say, there was a lot of excitement around these letters. As I have only ever made them for my two little ones, having someone else ask me to make some for them was a joy! I love making people happy. I love to see them smile. It just does something for my soul when I know that people are excited and happy because of something I have done. So, without further adieu, here are the "Monkey's Jungle" wall-letters!... I used Apple Barrel's Grass Green and Mango paints for the solid colors. Apple Barre...

First off let me start by saying the following... Oh bloggy, how I have missed you! Ok, I'm done. Back to my crafts. Every time I complete something, I take a picture of it and post it for all my internet-lovies to marvel at on FB and Twitter . And then, something occurred to me, I haven't posted much about my painted works on here. I'm not talking canvas paintings so much as I am wooden letters and porcelain projects that you buy from the store. I haven't braved putting a brush near canvas yet, though I would love to, I am just not secure enough in it at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I think (my opinion) that I am decent enough at it. I just haven't found my... artistic side abilities as of yet. So anyway, here are just some of the things I have painted. What do you think? My Princess loves Hello Kitty. Looking at a bunch of pics of the Hello Kitty Characters, I drew these characters out by hand and then painted them with acrylic paints. ...

Here is the completed "For Love", Embroidery Project#4, piece. I used "Quick Cuts" 18 in. x 21 in Material and cut a 6 1/2 in. x 6 in. square. Embroidering with contrasting threads (Orange, Light Blue, Red, Light Pink, Yellow, Purple, Pink, Blue, Light Green, Green). I used the Back Stitch on all words except for "Patient", I used the Split Stitch there. Back Stitch was also used for the Stick People.  "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud." Taken from 1 Corinthians 13:4 I used three strands for all the words and the out-line of the Stick People and Heart. Two strands were used in the strike-through in "envy", as well as for the eyes and mouths.   I took my time with this one because it is the first time I have embroidered with words. I wasn't really sure how it was going to look once it was completed. I had originally decided to embroider the words only. At t...

A little something I put together :) I was really hoping to use this pic as a background for this blog. It may look a little busy to you but it is my perfect balance of all the crafts that I enjoy doing. Minus my sewing machine of course.  I would love to say that there is a purpose for all of the crafts that I make. Like, each piece having some deep meaningful reason behind why I made it, for example. But honestly, I'm not sure that there is ever a specific reason other than I just love making things.  All of the things I have ever painted, sewn, embroidered or tied together (no-sew blankets) were done for others never myself. Some of them have remained in my home and I am able to enjoy them because they were made for my Kiddo's or Hubby. Other pieces were made for Friends or Family Members. So maybe that's my deep meaningful reason behind everything I make; LOVE :) Love for creating. Love for making something beautiful with my own hands. Love for the one...

Here it is. Finally! This bib is the beginning of many embroidery pieces for me. Even though I did not use the normal essentials for embroidery, I am quite impressed with how this turned out. Taking me about three months to complete, I have a prodotto finito or finished product! Front of the ACU bib. Black thread  (not embroidery floss.. beginner's mistake),  corisponding ribbon to match fabric. Fabric applied to the back of the bib with Stitch Witchery to keep the thread from unraveling.  I used Polymark's Medium Gold Iridescent Fabric Paint  along the edgesand "2011" and Green Iridescent Fabric Paint  for the name. It is thrilling to look at something that I have created and finished with my own two hands. My time and love were threaded into every letter. And better still was the look on the face of the Mommy I made it for :) Happy crafting and on to the next! Amber~Crafty At Heart

After completing the "My Daddy, My Hero" bib (if you missed my blog on that, you can view it at the title linked here >" Prodotto Finito "), I was looking for another embroidery project. I needed something fun that would give me room to practice various stitches but still look cute. I got the picture itself from one of my daughters Hello Kitty coloring books. I have loved Hello Kitty since I was a little girl and am so proud that I get to share her with my little girl! Once I found the picture, I taped my piece of white linen to the paper and traced it out in pencil *commence embroidery! Embroidery all hand stitched on white linen. This was a picture that I traced from my little girls coloring book. I'm pretty sure that it will wash out but I tented the cars and the duck with colored map pencils. This project was a lot of fun and took about a week and two days to complete :)  I chose the color scheme partly of my own accord as well as my daug...

Hey any and everyone that reads my blogy stuffs :D I haven't blogged here in a few days and was really trying to think of something interesting to talk about... after burning out a few of the wheels in my head... LOL I finally got a fantabulous idea! Aside from really loving crafts, I also really enjoy a great piece of art. A friend of mine, who I think is extremely witty, creative and talented, has recently started up a web-site, Literally Erika . As well as a Facebook Page also called Literally Erika . Her artistic abilities and imagination are mind blowing. The beautiful bright colors jump out at you and bring such great emotions out that truthfully, I never really knew were there. The love she has for creating, naturally spills out onto the canvas and you can feel that. I absolutely love the warm fuzzy feeling that is left behind after taking a look at a new picture she has posted. If you want to see her talent personally, you can check it out at Main Street Station , loc...

I got a request to include some of my favorite sites that I use for Ideas, product suggestions... So here are some links to those sites. I don't use many and am still continuously finding new ones. I will try to share them often. This is one of the brands of paint that I use for my painted crafts. Apple Barrel Craft Brand by Plaid Enterprises : "Fresh-bright-crisp, just like its name, Apple Barrel® Colors are crafters' choice for projects large and small. Made from the purest ingredients, Apple Barrel Colors provide premium performance on wood, Styrofoam, paper mache, tin, terra cotta, plaster and any porous surface." Michaels has a "Projects" tab that gives you ideas as well as full directions and a list of the things you will need in order to make it. Who doesn't love JOANN's ? I know I do. I do get a little sad when I cannot find this store where ever we are living at the time. I believe we have one here in Colorado but I have not been able ...

Hello All! As this is my first blog, maybe I should give a little more insight to who I am as a "crafter". I am by no means an expert in anything I do. I am running with the idea that all creative individuals start out the same way, inexperienced and everything is an experiment!?  I have no formal training or experience. When it comes to sewing, I am terrible at it by hand and as far as the sewing machine goes, everything I can do which isn't much, I taught myself. It's all trial and error and a little bit of luck. (Note to self: pay attention to where you place you fingers as the machine will munch on them if you aren't careful! OUCH!!) LOL My Mother in-law has taught me a few things that I had no idea about. No-Sew blankets was one of the first things she taught me how to make. I really enjoyed that lesson. It gave us a chance to really bond. She is very patient and happy to show me anything I am interested in. Just this last week I was visiting with her and...