Etsy Shop and Bluffton Village Fest

Good afternoon, friends!

My etsy shop is (FINALLY!) up and running again.  I love making things, but truth be told, I have a really hard time getting my act together to take pictures, write descriptions and post it all in my etsy store.  I'd much rather spend my time creating!  But, after weeks of making, I finally did get said act together, and here are the results (if you're so inclined to check them out).

One of my little owls

I am super excited about a new project I've been working on - creating felted objects out of children's drawings (namely Jesse's drawings, for the time being).  I love taking 2-D art and turning it into a special keepsake.  They're perfect for parents, grandparents, or boosting a kid's artistic self esteem!  (Available here in my etsy shop.)

Jesse's rendition of "Plants vs. Zomies" in felt 

Wool felt butterfly, original drawing also by Jesse

"A Scary Alligator on a Leash" by Jesse Plew, made into a felted figure

I have also been sewing quite a bit, and there are some fun sewn things coming up in my shop (HOPEFULLY by next week.)  Please stop by and take a look.

Also.....We have this adorable street in the historic part of Bluffton called Calhoun Street.  There are a bunch of galleries that sell local artists' work, antique and eclectic shops, restaurants, new and vintage clothing stores.... The street hosts a weekly farmers' market, as well as a number of festivals and special events.  By far, my favorite event is the Bluffton Village Festival.  Thousands of people roam the streets sampling the area's best local foods and wares from a number of talented artists.  I have wanted to set up a table here for years!  Something has always stopped me.... not enough inventory, being on bed rest with Micah, fear of failure (I know that sounds silly, since I've been selling my crafty things since I was little, but I'm really nervous about going out there on my own!).... But this year, I'm just going to do it!  Wish me luck and come out and visit - Saturday, May 12th from 10:00-4:00, Calhoun Street in Bluffton, SC!

Let's hear it for my boys! (More on crafting for Christmas....late!)

Last Wednesday I was on my way to Charleston for what was (HOPEFULLY) Micah's final surgery on his little club foot. The doctor told us that our surgery would be scheduled for mid-morning since we live 2 hour away...but...we had to be there at 6:30.  That's 6:30 AM.  I don't know about you, but for me, 6:30 isn't mid-morning, and getting up at 3:30 am is definitely not mid-morning either!  We both survived though, and Micah is doing so well.  He's such a little trooper.  Here he is in his new, stream-lined cast.  He is determined to walk in it, since he's been forced to crawl for the last 6 weeks.

Now on to the reason for this post....
Most of the reason why I was late on every other Christmas present this year, is that I was busy making some Christmas surprises for my little guys.  I make a lot of crafty goodies for our friends and family, but I usually run out of time when it comes to my boys.  This year, I scoured my craft books for ideas and decided on these.

Fist up was a pattern from Amy Karol's super adorable book, Bend-the-Rules Sewing.  Jesse and Micah love puppets and performing, so I made the cute puppet theater.  There weren't a lot of pictures, but the instructions were clear.  The fabric and adorable fringe were thrifted finds, and I had the tension rod, so really the only things I purchased were the dowels.

Go ahead...you can ooooh and ahhhhhh if you want.

TA DA!

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

My little character!

Even puppets need to stop performing for a snack break.

I also made each boy a little house using this awesome tutorial.  I made Jesse a little woodland house for trolls and gnomes.  I found this cute set of critters on amazon (which isn't for sale any more), and added a couple of felt leaves for those little guys to sleep on and under.  I changed the closure a bit, by adding a small flap and velcro, rather than the buttons and bands.

 And for the Bean, he got a barn complete with little pond for his animals to take "dinks" (a.k.a. drinks).  By the way, I LOVE these Plan Toys farm animals!  They are the perfect size for toddler hands, the wood is sustainable, the dyes are non-toxic, and the sheep can be shorn by removing his cute little wool sweater.

Besides drinking, Micah's animals like jumping in and out of the barn.

I also made the boys stockings.

Merry Christmas!

And, I helped Jesse make a lion puppet for Micah, which he loved!  I made up the pattern as we made it and hot-glued the face and hands.  Jesse was so proud of it!

ROAR!

Merry making....very late (yet again!)

Well thank you, Ryan Gosling!  I appreciate your patience with my lack of getting my act together.  But how about February?  Hopefully, my sisters, nephew and brother-in-law didn't mind getting their Christmas gifts a couple of weeks ago.  

I do this to myself every year.  I have plenty of time to put something great together for everyone on my list.  But then my mind overflows with these amazing ideas that I can never pull off in time, and end up making only part of the gift that would have been great in itself if I had just put it together like that in the first place.  That totally makes sense, right?

For instance, I wanted to give my sisters little trees with ornaments that they could change with the seasons.  I found these adorable metal jewelry trees at Marshalls.  Then, my initial plan included 8 sets of 10 ornaments for each season (felted and/or sewn).  And for those of you who are still reading this and counting, that's 8 sets x 10 ornaments x 2 sisters = 160 ornaments.  Yeah.  I'm crazy.  So, what I ended up doing is 4 sets x 5 ornaments x 2 sisters = 4 ornaments (a much more manageable project).  And here are the ornaments I made for Robin.... 

Yo-yos for Spring and Summer, Acorns for Fall, Snowflakes for Winter, and....

Hearts for Valentine's Day!

I just love how the candy matches the yo-yos!  (Such a cute idea, Robin!!!)

I hope this sparked some ideas for you, and that you have more sense than I do to start a lot earlier in the year if you want to have something for your loved ones to open at Christmas.  I have much more to post, but that will have to wait until tomorrow!  :o)

Shop update...TODAY!!!! (and a giveaway!)

I've been working really hard on getting my etsy shop up and running again...and today's the day!  Come on over and check it out!  Thanks for taking a look!

And to celebrate, I'm giving away a set of 6 hanging acorns, and 3 fall leaves!

 Just leave a comment and your email address here by the end of the day, and I'll randomly draw a name tonight.  The winner will be announced here tomorrow (September 6th).  Good luck!!!

Felting, sewing, and a shop update (in the very near future!)

I've been a busy little bee around here lately - sewing and felting deep into the night (and sometimes morning) hours, and when the Bean is napping.  Here are some of the things I've made in the last couple of weeks...

A cute little bib tucked inside....

a little diaper cake for a special little girl,

a fabric beach ball using this tutorial for a much-overdue birthday gift, 

bibs for the shop (modeled by the cutest one-year-old in the planet), 

some wool felted owls, leaves, pumpkins, and mushrooms, for my etsy shop, 

(((the pumpkins)))

and a couple of handfulls of  felted acorns for display, and some for hanging.

Which brings me to a little announcement....SHOP UPDATE THIS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5TH!  WOOOOOO HOOOOOO!

Finally finished!

I started making the cutest quilt for Micah a couple of weeks before he was born, using this tutorial.  I was so excited to make something for my little man using the awesome 30's reproduction fabric my Mom got me from here, but I could only work on it for a couple minutes at a time because of the whole bed rest thing.  And then, baby came, and we had doctors appointments, and I went back to work, and I Jesse needed a lot of time with Mommy...and no crafting of any sort happened around here for a loooooong time!

1-month-old, casted Micah on his unfinished quilt top

So it sat around in my "to finish" bin for over a year.  And then, after a trip home to NJ, and some help from my very crafty Mom, and sister, I finally finished Micah's baby quilt.  WOO HOO!

Pinning the quilt top to the batting and back

And here it is!

Jess likes it too

such a sweet boy!

Baby Project #5 - Baby shower gift

I love giving kits as gifts, don't you?  Whether it's a popcorn and movie kit (popcorn, movie rental cards, movie theater candy, and popcorn toppings in a big bowl), or a cookie making kit (ingredients for cookies, spatula, cookie sheet, and oven mitts), I think it's so fun to give a gift that has all of the pieces needed to make memories, have fun, or get a job done.  Well, changing diapers is no exception.  Although decidedly not as fun and exciting as baking cookies, it is a necessary evil of all new parents, and I just love the idea of having everything you need in one place.  That's how I came up with the diaper wrap.  I have posted on this blog before about it being my go-to shower gift, but I have changed the pattern a bit due my sister's critique of the changing pad being too small (thank you, Megan).  And now, it's better than ever!

I used some coordinating fabrics from my favorite reproduction 30's pattern stash (the most awesome Christmas present EVER from my Mom!) and some quilting binding I had had on hand.  Besides the changing pad, I also like to give the new Mommy-to-be a couple of newborn diapers, and a package of travel wipes.  I'm in the process of putting together a tutorial for this little present now, but it will take me a little more time to put the finishing touches on it.

Baby Project #4 - Vivian

Vivian is the beautiful baby girl of a friend, Natalie, who lives down the street.  Up until she was 36 weeks pregnant, Natalie was told that her baby was going to be a boy.  So, like all good parents, Natalie and her husband Aaron, painted the baby's room blue, and had a host of little boy things to welcome their son into the world.  Needless to say, Natalie and Aaron were shocked when the ultrasound tech told them their baby was going to be a girl, and they scrambled to get their home ready for a daughter!  They changed the nursery to pink and brown, and brought their baby girl home to a grande girly welcome!

My choice for Vivian's embroidery was easy!  It needed brown and pink, and when I found this embroidery pattern, I knew I had to stitch it up for her.

I trimmed the embroidery with some  of my reproduction 1930's fabric I received for Christmas from my Mom and Dad (by the way, it is THE BEST Christmas present ever!!!), and placed it in a frame, so that Vivian can always remember that she's surrounded with love!