Memorial Weekend Crafting Bummers

You know when you have an idea and it looks shiny and wonderful in your mind's eye? And then you actually make it and it looks nothing like the shiny and wonderful image?

It's been that kind of weekend. I was thinking about pin cushions and I had this ditty stuck in my head:

Down in the river where it's deep and blue
Swam three little fishies and a mama fishie too
"Swim," said that mama fishie, "Swim if you can"
So they swam, swam, swam all over the dam

So I made three little fishies:

I speared them with pins and was a bit bummed by the results. I didn't bother with the mama fishie. Here's another shot in an attempt to make them look cuter somehow (a white backdrop always enhances objects, doesn't it?):

Another failed attempt was a gift idea I had. I love Moleskine notebooks and love to give them as gifts. And then the image floated into my mind: a book cover!! Hand-sewn!

I gathered some understated, manly linen fabric...

I used Leslie's fabric printing tutorial again and drew these vintage movie cameras (my friend is a director/producer)...

I made little flaps and sewed the whole thing together:

And though it fit perfectly...

Hmmmm. Not so interesting and a little too crooked, right? It's definitely missing something. I must continue working on this. I will post updates.