New Ornaments

Gift Monster is excited to be an ornament this year. It likes Christmas a whole lot, loves wrapping presents, but always feels shy at the last moment of giving. Might you have any egg nog? Available in my etsy store.

It was fun to have a friend here, as I turned him from a sketch into a stuffed ornament using my Gocco machine. It's a very easy process (once you know what you are doing.....) and so fulfilling. I hand-painted the gift boxes after the ornament was sewn and stuffed.

This is the wee gnome family. They love taking long walks in the woods, swinging on christmas trees and giggling. They are made from felt and wool. You can order your gnome family with two mamas, two papas, or one mama and papa.

I'm working all this week to stock up for a Holiday Market weekend. I'm there sharing a booth #62, with Practical Rabbit, this next Friday, Sat and Sunday, come visit!

Hot Woolie Woolie

Oregon finally had it's summer heat wave last week. 100 degree days. That's a big bit of hot for us here, because most Oregonians don't have air conditioning. The heat is miserable but doesn't last long. I've got to add that having a cold at the same time as a heat wave is not something I recommend for anyone.

I did finish my tea serving project design for Lark books. I recycling a plain white sweater into this India inspired colorful set of elephant tea cozy and coasters- all hand sewn. Tomorrow I'll give you my secrets for dying wool with powered drink mix (kool aid).

Teapot Sweaters-Happy Earth Day!

I'm celebrating Earth Day with an upcycled product line. I invented Teapot Sweaters. Made from all upcycled goods. I thrift wool sweaters and felt them until they become thick enough to stand up on their own. I then add decoration of bits and pieces from my grandmother's jewelry stash, and other fabric or felted wool. The teapot sweaters are large to fit any tea pot, or over a bowl of muffins or biscuits. I love dual purpose art items, and upcycling! Sweet. This one sold yesterday, but I have three more to that will be for sale in my Etsy store.

I know I've said this before, but I really enjoy working with the wool. It's soft, warm, sweet smelling, and fun to stitch into. Oh and the teapot sweaters come with two matching wool coasters.

If you are new here, please sign up for my 200th Etsy sale give-away on the previous post.



Earth day with big corporation???? Chevy is partnering with The Nature Conservancy to plant real trees as part of the campaign. Grab this growing tree widget to help spread awareness.When you click the "grab this" button, just click on the myspace icon for the embed code. It will still work.

What is this? A pin cozy??!
Actually it's my studio's coaster. I had just gotten into working with felt, and experimenting with how much stitching to put on it. This is the very first coaster I made. What's funny, is how much I love it. I often come into my studio with a cup of tea and can't set it on the cardboard cutting table and don't want to leave a wet mark anywhere else. It's lovely to have a regular destination for the cup. Wool felt is naturally water proof so I don't need to worry about moisture. Wool felt is wonderful to work with, is all from recycled sweaters (ye haw!), and it turns out to be a GREAT place to temporarily stick my pins as I'm working along. I've heard that the natural lanolin in the wool is good for pins and needles, helping them glide through fabric easier. I like to think that's true.

And the bottom line is this: I love my coffee, love my afternoon tea (two o'clock- time to put the jug on!), having nice accessories, sharing with friends, and the ritual of it all.

Pirata-Girl-Rocks!

This piratica coffee serving set is laiden with hand stitching. One lucky pirate will drag it off to her ship! Destined to be OOAK like my other coffee pot cozies, and comes with two coasters (see my etsy shop for more details). Working with recycled sweaters is fun-warm and wonderfully dense to stitch into.

Oh and folks are asking about the bones. I have a basket of old old old pelican bones from my art grandma's house, and they occasionally make it into one of the photo sessions.