I can crochet!

I was always frustrated for my lack of ability in crochet, but I finally overcame my fear! I found a perfect place the teaches step by step, with a very clear view and a good quality video. I went to Craftsy.com, and found a number of great videos that teaches different crafts, with an affordable price.
The video that I chose is Amigarumi Wooland Animals, and for beginners like me is ideal. My first project was a bird, but for inexperience and for skipping the materials page, I bought the wrong size wool, and the bird started to get gigantic. When I got to almost half, I was almost out of material. Since I was extra lazy to go buy more, I decided to end there and make a hat. I still had a little more wool, and thought would be fun to make cat ears.
And in the end was a good mistake, because I still needed a hat for winter.

NeckCat.

Still in the cat subject, I decided to try to make tiny cats with my polymer clay. So after baked and dried,I glued them in these cute necklace charms I found at Joann craft store. The lighter color kitty I hand painted with acrylic paint, and painted the paws and eyes too.
So cat lovers can show their passion everywhere they go.
And now they are available at Etsy.com, and my store is "I made for you with love".

Thank you Mrs. Shumsky!

It is a relief to see a child going to school happy and excited to see his teacher. Especially when it is an early experience, like kindergarten. Nobody wants to drag your child crying and refusing to go to school (like I did to my poor mom), and I was a little apprehensive about first week.
And then when I finally met my son's kindergarten teacher Mrs. Shumsky on parent night, I saw why Anderson says she is so sweet and cute. She is like a little fairy, and has many years of experience with children. Me and my husband feel very fortunate to live in this school district, and Central Boulevard Elementary School is a great school for our kids.
It is really a gift to be able to make one child listen to you, so I can't imagine a class full of them, and for hours a day.
So my first instinct is to make something to show appreciation. I went to AC Moore and found these beautiful and inexpensive pieces of fabric, that would make a good fluffy pillow. They also had a small bag with small and colorful pieces of fabric, that would be nice for a quilt. In my case, a small quilt with a shortcut, because after I cut the pieces, I used Aleene's OK to Wash fabric glue.Using glue feesl like cheating, because I am not really sewing the pieces, but is a great time saver. And in the end, I applied some stitching around the clouds and the bird, to look more look a quilt (altough the glue made a little hard for the needle to go though). To write the letters I used a stitch called chain stitch, and here is the link to learn how to make. I decided to write "Shine, Love and Inspire", using different colors, even though I thought it was a poor choice for the light pink, that we can hardly see in the picture.
The next step was to close the fabrics around. I also do a lazy shortcut which is sewing the front, back sides, and ribbon altogether, and not inside out like the proper way.
After sewing around, I left a small hole to insert the cotton, and closed all the way.

Some small detail like a pink bow, and ready for delivery.
I say, if the teacher is good, appreciate and let her know. Thank you, Mrs. Shumsky!

Hang in there, Lauren.

I work with Lauren once a week and even though sometimes she drives me bananas, she is a great person with a huge heart. She rescues and saves dogs and cats on a daily basis, volunteers her time to perform spay and neuter surgery, and dedicates every second of her life, her house, and even vacations to help animals. So when suddenly her house had a major water leak, so bad that damaged almost half of her house, that she had to relocate herself and the pets, the least I could do was to show some love. The demolition already started, and even having to sleep out of the house, she is still in good spirits.
I saw this sign of a hanging kitty that says "Hang in there." somewhere in the web, so it would be appropriate for her to have that sign. I found this mini canvas at Amazon and with the easel from Amazon, too. I painted with acrylic paint,and the sign I just wrote in a piece of cardstock.
Just with the wish that it makes her smile.

Grand Opening on Etsy Shop!

I am so excited to announce that today I open my shop at Etsy.com ! I couldn't put my blog's name, so you can find me if you type I made for you with love.
Now I will feature on my blog, in addition to the crafts I make for my family, some cute items to sell on my shop.
The first items I made are these little cats, used as glass markers, decoration and gifts.




I hope everyone enjoys my creations and follow my progress. Bye!

Not so fancy but with love school snack.

We all want to know what our kids are doing when away from us, or if they are thinking about us. So a little reminder that "mommy loves you" is never too hard to do.
I made this delicious and healthier cookie mix from Hogson Mill chocolate chip cookie mix. It appealed to me not because is gluten free, but because it uses whole grains, brown rice flour, and because I trust their products.
After ready, I packaged them in a small Ziploc bag, always a hit for lunch bag. Then I cut a square of brown bag and made drawings of us.
But I think to make it personal, you don't need a drawing of yourself, or spend time trying to make a cartoon of your kids. I believe they will appreciate if you make a heart, or just write "I love you".

Kitty Cat Party!

Cats are part of my every day life: I wake up with a cat on my face, go to work and treat cats, feed cats, trip on cats... So it would be fair to make a little cat on my lazy day.
These two cats were made with this type of clay called biscuit. It is very popular in Brazil for modeling, and my dear friend Dilene gave me a bunch of them to try. But I am sure it can be made with polymer clay. After dried, I painted using the colors of my cat.
I made them for cup decorations, but I also thought it would be a good idea to use as a glass marker, so you put a person's name in the tag, and it would serve as a souvernir for a party.
Like my idea?

Not just another school year.

Every step that our kids take, means a victory for them, and a blessing to the parents. I saw so many proud moms and dads at the bus stop in the first day of school, along with myself, with my big camera and my exploding heart.
So I wanted to share a some of the love in my heart, and make my kids their favorite cake, full of love (and the calories that come together). My little one started kindergarten, meaning I have extra time alone in the day, and I can do whatever I want. So playing with my Polymer clay , I decided to sculpt my kids the way they look now.
I started with the head, and worked through the body. Then making little details.
The glasses were made with a piece of wire and glued with glue gun. Because the glue was showing, I had to paint the whole hair with acrylic paint.

And it is fun for the kids too.
The final boys were ready after baking the clay, then to add more color and small details, I used stickers to put on the t-shirt, an tiny books made of paper.

I also used a Sharpie Pen to draw in the backpack, after the clay was baked and cooled.
Then after all this work, I still had time to make a cake, because my friend Diane took the kids to the park. I used this recipe called Hershey's Perfect Chocolate Cake. It wasn't perfectly assembled, but it tasted veeery good. The kids couldn't get enough, and even though if fed them a lot of sugar and fat, in the end of the day, I am just another proud mama, to see these kids growing and enjoying school.