Swaptacular Craftasm or Swap Fever

So the Swap.  You know, the one I mentioned.  The Meomi inspiration swap.  I got me some swap fever.   I decided today was the day I started.  Stop dragging my feet.  Stop worrying that my item won't turn out.  It's not a competition, Jen just get started.

So I pulled out all of my paper.  Which btw is way more than I remember having and clearly my hording needs to be professionally diagnosed.  Found just what I needed in my stash.  I am going with a paper and fabric collage.  Throwing in a little high-tech use of my heat transfer machine and hopefully everything will come together.  You can see The Octonauts in the background.  They are my inspiration.  Cute little characters that I wish really existed.  I would love to have a fish tank full of Octonauts.  Way cuter than a sea-monkey.

This is all you get of it today.  There will be more.

I'm feeling the crunch and I'm not talkin' Ab exercises!

I'm trying to come up with ideas that utilize supplies I have been hoarding for a while and gifts that will be fun for some of the folks on my Christmas list. I have quite a bit of craft felt. I also have a supply of puppet forms I purchased from Oriental Trading. I had dreams of making puppets that I could use to tell goodnight stories to my children. I'm a dreamer. (That supply is going to another project, another post.)

So I used the puppet form and the felt to create more puppets (there is a method to this madness) and got a mad, crazy idea.

I have a heat-transfer machine. Oh yea baby, I do. I own one. You know, the kind they used in the kiosks at the mall in the 80's. You probably had a Wham! t-shirt made at one of them.

Or one of these, you still have it don't you, in your pajama drawer? (if you don't check where those take you, take a minute and then just go for it.) Here it is. In my garage. It's there because it blows the fuse box if it's inside and the fumes from the transfers are toxic. I'm sure of it. (Sorry for the garage picture, it's like flashing your dirty laundry!)

I have been wanting to use the transfers for something other than t-shirts, that just gets old. Fun, but I want to be more" outside of the box." Well these little robots seem like great characters for a story or two. I know a kid who has a super funny Dad, who, with these puppets will tell some MAD FUNNY tales.

I hope it inspires my little pal to be creative and his Dad too. I can't wait for them to video tape their tales and share them with me. It will be delightful!