artsie-fartsie Katie

Mom's City

(All paintings and images are copyright protected property of Katie,
pending trademark: katiescapes)

Throughout the years, some of my most treasured gifts have been the sweet handmade items from my friends. I am definitely not a sentimental person, so you have to know that my friends are very talented in their skilled areas- talented enough to make me want to keep their crafts-hahaha. I have a couple friends that had babies last February, and I really wanted to do something unique and special for them. Here is what I did:

I have about 5 yards of this cool Micheal Miller Night owl fabric. It is my absolute favorite fabric of all time! When I purchased the fabric, I had planned to some something awesome with it...and then I never did. But when I found out that one of my dear friends was due to have a baby girl, it gave me the desire to make her a special handmade present... and use my favorite fabric! I set out to make some cute burp cloths and a stuffed owl, of my own design. It started with cloth diapers and many fun printed fabrics.

I accidentally bought the wrong kind of cloth diapers. Instead of the thick middle ones, I bought the single ply diapers and didn't realise it until I was tossing them into the washer to prewash them. So my original plan didn't work.

Instead, I folded the diapers in half, sewed the fabric to the diaper inside out, trimmed off the extra, turned them right side out, and stitched around the edges.

They all turned out so cute! I was very impressed with myself. Know this- I am not a sewer! I don't sew, so this was a tremendous feat for me to accomplish!

Next came the stuffed owl. It was a perfect solution to use some of my beloved owl fabric. I looked online at several pictures of different homemade stuffed owls, but none of them were quite like what I wanted to do. So, I made myself a pattern for the different parts, using Michael's Coke 24 pack box. and started my next sewing experiment.

I wanted my owl to be a baby toy, not just a stuffed animal. So I added different textures and interactive parts.

My first owl's backside!

And the front! I had planned for the wings to be long enough to close over the owl's belly, but once I stuffed everything, they wouldn't reach anymore- oh well. The beak flips up, one wing crinkles and the other wing squeaks. The legs are elastic and stretch, and the baby can pull the ribbons on the wings and button eyes.

Each owl was Jack tested and Katie approved! (don't worry, he didn't chew on them because they are presents). But Jack liked them so much, he did not want to let go. I think I'll make him one too.

The pink owl was the first and has a toy foot and an owl foot. The fabric feet were so dang hard to make, that I ended up just doing toys for the other owls' feet. (the last Green owl still needs his button eyes- I ran out of large buttons).

So here they are- My handmade baby gifts for my wonderful friends! The complete projects were very time consuming, so they mean even more to me! The pink owl and burp cloth set go to my friend Chantelle in Utah, who is having a girl, the green owl and her set went to Alison who also had a girl, and the last, unfinished set will go to a mom from Calvin's school, who is also due this month and having a boy. I hope they are adored and used. I was really nervous to give these, but Alison loved hers, so I am not as nervous anymore.

For those of you who are receiving one of these, just know that I am not even an amateur sewer, so if the burg rags fall apart after the first wash- I apologize! I used industrial thread for the owls, to ensure their longevity. So hopefully they will last as long as baby plays with them! I had a lot of fun making these, but it won't become habit. I learned that handmade gifts cost much more than just buying a baby gift at the store-hahaha. And it was such hard work to perfectly sew! Again, I hope they are loved, like I have loved handmade gifts I have received!

Well, it's about freakin time!

It has been over a year since I posted on here, or done any crafts for that matter! But, I wanted to share all of my diaper cake making secrets with you all out there......

I've been wanting to make one of these for ages, so when I had the opportunity to throw my best friend a baby shower recently, I knew it was my chance! Mine was nothing exciting or fancy, but I thought it was super cute with it's animal toy theme. I was at a lost as to how to make a diaper cake, so I looked here for help. My cake ended up using about 100 diapers, not the 60 they said. I stuffed mine with a box of nursing pads, a large bottle of baby body wash, and a soft plastic wrapped thing of baby wipes. It took about an hour, mostly because you have to rubber band each diaper and then tie them into rows.

You crafty people with pregnant friends should try one of these! It was fun to make and fun to give!

PS- I've really been in a painting mood lately, so watch for another painting post soon!

My Corners of the world (may 2009 and Nov 2009)

(Posted Novmber 2009)

In August I started my Fall city painting, to go with the original "My Little Corner Of the World" painting. I didn't make it very far with the painting because were got so busy as Fall came, and then I covered it with Halloween fabric for October.But I was determined to finish, once Halloween was over. So I started working on it for a few hours most nights.Up close detailsLast night I finally finished it!Here's the pair, up on my living room wall! I love them together!!! I'm not sure If I will paint a winter and spring, mostly because I have run out of wall space-hahah! But I love my Summer and Fall cities!! They are perfectly paired, but I do love the red trees and pumpkin patch on the new one. Each of these paintings took me about 25-30 hours to paint! What do you think of my pair?

(posted May 2009)

I bought a very large canvas a while back, with the idea of painting a whimsical cityscape upon it. I have figured out that I love my paintings much better if they come from what I see in my head/imagination, and not from trying a certain technique, mimicing some one's idea, or such. For now on all my artwork will be exactly what I have pictured in my mind...and nothing more. In deciding this, I have also found out that I have a very whimsical/juvenile sense of style, and it suits me perfectly!

So, after making some quick sketches, I pulled out my huge (48x36) canvas and got to work: All I wanted were funky, bright buildings, kind of like artwork you would see from New Orleans, but in my own style. I also knew I didn't want the ordinary, boring layout, so I painted my city to curve around the corner of the canvas, like a 1/4th of a circle. That way I could hang it horizontal or vertically!

This canvas is so big it covers my entire dining wall. I have to hang my paintings up while they dry or I'm not working on them because of the kids. Here it is about 1/3 done. It took a couple weeks because I only worked a couple hours each night.Today I finally finished! I absolutely LOVE it! Just the way I imagined it, except the sky...I might still change that a little. But the city is perfect. It is exactly where I would choose to live if I could-hahaha! This is your glimpse into "Katie Land." I named it appropriately,

"My Little Corner Of The World."Here are a couple close-ups of the detail:The boys and I have fun naming each building and picking out our favorites.I found that I prefer to hang it vertically because most of my other painting are horizontal. I like the way it fills the wall this way. And I love how busy it is, with all the colors and patterns- perfect. So, here it is- my little corner of the world...at least in my mind-hahaha!

Paintings of October 2007

My funky fish:

I have many old canvases with layers and layers of old paintings on them. Sometimes it's hard to decide what to paint over an already very "textured" canvas. This time I decided to paint pretty, bright bands of tropical colors. It's very simple, but I love it!
This painting was for my mother-in-law's birthday. I painted this exact picture about 3 years earlier for my sister and loved it so much, I thought I'd do it again (just a little different).
Here's baby Calvin in front of the original painting I made for my sister, Janell. I think this new one looks as close as possible to the old one!