Giraffairy Creations Etsy shop is opened!

i am really excited to announce that i have FINALLY opened my Etsy shop! i have been wanting to do this for a long time now and finally got a product in there i feel really good about. my BitWrap :) 

i hope that you will stop by and visit soon!

BitWrap

my latest creation is the BitWrap!  so i love my Fitbit Flex. love it. but to be honest...i don't really like the rubber band that comes with it. for a while now i have thought about making something to put them in that i actually like.....and i have finally come up with something! it totally works for me.

first-i usually take my Fitbit off to shower, not sure why, but i just always did. so i absolutely did not care if my holder was waterproof.

second-i don't care if i can see at a glance what my steps are. (i will happily take this off and slip my Fitbit out to check my steps)

third-i wanted to it be comfortable and fun!

so i came up with this! and i love it. i have made three as practice, but i wear all of them. one is reversible. they snap closed and are a cinch to take off and put on. on the inside there is a little slit that the Fitbit slides into and completely stays put. i made sure that it was nice and snug so there was no chance it could slide out. it is also very comfortable for daily activities and sleeping. 

minions!

my dear friend Karen asked me to make a birthday dress for her sweet daughter. i couldn't pass up the opportunity since she is having a Despicable Me themed party! she sent me some reference pictures and i was off! i got some fun fabric from JoAnn Fabrics and ordered an adorable handmade patch of a minion from the lovely and talented Linda Ellis of MinionCrazy. (she has an Etsy shop full of wonderful patches. i can't wait to use her services again!)
the birthday girl loved her dress and Karen and her husband could not have been happier. i would say that is a success!

let them eat cake!

one of my niece's boyfriend came home from a tour in Afghanistan and we had a welcome home party for him. i was asked to make the cake.....and i am STILL being thanked for this one. i think it turned out pretty amazing. it was a butter cake with a butter-cream frosting covered in fondant. the hat was made with cake and also a piece of styrofoam in order to keep it lightweight. the bill of the hat was made of cardboard but covered in fondant as well. i also cut out all the letters and sculpted the hat ornament out of fondant. 

here are some other cakes and confections i have made in the past

petite fours-2010

 wedding cake-about 1,000 leaves hand cut 
and formed out of fondant-2009

 a couple birthday cakes covered in fondant-2009

tree love

Some of the trees I have painted:

unstretched canvas/acrylic 2003

watercolor 2006

pencil/colored pencil 2009

acryic 2010

acrylic 2010

acrylic 2011

acrylic 2011

acrylic 2011

acrylic 2014

inspired

while looking around on Pinterest i found some beautiful artwork by an artist named Robin Mead and was inspired to create my own painting. 

16x20 acrylic

long overdue quilt

oh the drama with this quilt. it was supposed to be a Christmas present last year. i made up a beautiful quilt and sent it off....to her OLD address. i had no idea she had moved and the package went to her old apartment building. we went through a lot of phone calls and to put it simply: someone, probably the people in the apartment, took the package and won't return it. not much to be done so i made her a new one. my client was VERY gracious about it but of course i felt terrible. 

the quilt that was received (at the correct address!) was very well loved. i bought my fabric from fabric.com. the top is constructed of quilting cotton and the back is made from double sided minky. it is so soft and snuggly. i think it turned out even better than the first one.

wine wallet

so, remember that practice wallet i made a while ago? well after i posted it i had someone want to buy that one and two additional orders!

the first order is for a large lot of wallets AND bags for a single client! hooray! i will start those after i return from my vacation to see my sister in New Jersey.

the second was for this lovely wine printed wallet. made from Timeless Treasures quilting cotton that i found on Ebay! of course i have a knack for finding OOP fabrics ;) that just makes the things i create even MORE one of a kind.  i also used a heavy interfacing to give it some structure and switched to a magnetic snap. 

mothers day paintings

for mothers day i painted paintings for both my mom and Jeff's mom. 

my mom loves gnomes, so i thought making her a painting of our family as gnomes would be really cute. of course i forgot to take pictures so this is one that she took of it after i gave it to her. still adorable :) she loved it

 11x14 acrylic

for Jeff's mom i painted cats! she loves kitties and has a couple of her own so it seemed fitting. i found some cute pictures online and then just put it into a painting for her. she liked it very much.

11x14 acrylic

animal love

for another birthday i painted this fun representation of cats and dogs. we have a lot of animal lovers in the family, but by far Jeff's sister Pam is the biggest. so i thought it was fitting to paint something that represented her furry babies.

18x24 acrylic

coney island

for Jeff's moms birthday in January i painted a picture of Coney Island for her. she grew up in New York and Coney Island was one of her favorite places. 

11x14 acrylic

florals

for a special birthday surprise i painted Ginger, Jeff's oldest sister, a pretty floral painting. she had said on previous occasions how much she liked my paintings and that flowers were one of her favorite things. so i put two and two together and settled on a beautiful picture online (Summer Palette II by Lisa Audit) and did a copy with a few subtle changes.

my copy with minor changes 

18x24 in acrylic

minions!

i have been terrible about posting my projects! i don't have many, but i will try to post them over the next few days. 

i did this cute minion painting per Jeff's request. we love the Despicable Me movies and, of course, the minions. they are adorable and so a minion painting was added to the gallery wall.

11x14 acrylic

a pretty little unicorn

so many birthdays for little ones in the past few months! i was late in finishing up this cutie for my boyfriends, nephews, daughter...but this unicorn, made from a Funky Friend's Factory pattern, turned out extra sweet i think :)

i used up a very old piece of soft flannel baby cotton for the main body and a sparkle felt for the extra pieces. enjoy!

owls, bags and wallets! oh my!

a very dear friend of mine has asked me to make all kinds of wonderful things for her and her family. to start with, she requested one of my "famous" bags and a matching wallet. so i found some great fabric online at fabric.com and got to work...here is the results:

the bag (interior and exterior) is made with quilting cotton 

and is lined with a lightweight batting. 

the interior shows the pocket and key leash detail that i added.

the wallet is made with the same cotton fabrics as the bag, 

but i used a bright blue to accent in the bag and a pink 

(to match the zipper with is pink, not white!) in the wallet.
the interior is interfaced and it closes with a snap.

practice wallet

so i was commissioned to make a wallet for a very dear friend. but i have never made one before! so, i found a great pattern online from Confessions of a Fabricaholic (tutorial can be found here), made a few tweaks to it and made a test model. i think it came out pretty great! 

the entire wallet is made with home dec fabric from my stash 

it has a double snap closure to adjust the "fit"

 the interior has lots of card slots and two large pockets for cash and other items. there is also a lined zipper pocket for change and other small items.