Sewing the Elf doll...

The elf doll (11" tall) is coming along nicely! This is my favorite part of dollmaking...when the personality emerges. She still needs hair, her elf ears, and clothing.

Back to work....

another busy day :)

So far today I've finished some anklets and earrings for an order.

The rest of today will be devoted to the elf doll I'm working on :)

Pink Nunny

Finished the pink bunny today. It's for a baby who is yet to be born. It's fashioned after her big brother's beloved yellow bunny. Big brother wants the new baby to have her own bunny that's just like his. It just warms my heart to hear such things. :)

This little velour bunny has a squeaker in her tummy just like "yellow nunny"

I worked on other things today also. The elf doll is in the works. And I had to make a few more yo-yo flowers (I can't stop!). And I have a jewelry order that I'm going to work on in a few minutes :D

the 4th little stitchery

The fourth candlewicking/embroidery stitchery is finished. Yes, the tree needled apples :)

Still haven't decided what to do with them.

Thinking aloud...

Or at least "thinking in print" :) I'm still trying to decide what to do with these little candlewicking stitcheries. I took a picture to show someone so I figured I'd post this here and maybe get an opinion or two. A doll quilt? A tote? A pillow? Something else???

The stitched design on each is about 6"x6"

There's a 4th in the works. It has a tree on it. You know, the happy tree all children know...the one with the hole in the front of the trunk. It may or may not have apples. I haven't decided yet. And, of course, it's surrounded by wildflowers and grass.

what to do...what to do...

a busy Tuesday...

Today I worked on many different things. I cut out more circles for yo-yos. I worked on a pattern for a pink bunny I promised someone. I worked on the sketches/pattern for an elf doll I'm making. And I stitched up a little Miss Mouse sachet.

I saw some cute little mousie sachets on another blog. I absolutely adored the concept and I wanted to put my own spin on it. So I drew up a pattern for Miss Mouse the other day and now, here she is. She smells lovely too...a blend of lavender, lemongrass, and sage (lavender buds and ground corn cob drenched in lemongrass and sage oil).

I also stitched up a couple blankie dolls for my Natural Playthings site. I'll have pictures on them in the morning. I tried tonight but the lighting in here is wrong.

Nude sunbathing

I just finished dyeing the little 5" doll bodies. They're drying in the sun at the moment. I can't wait to play!!

Also drying in the sun are 3 small (about 6"x6") candlewicking stitcheries. (I drew the pictures onto the fabric with one of those pens with the ink that disappears with water...hence the rinsing and drying) I was teaching my daughter, Isabelle, how to do candlewicking and got carried away. I think I might make them into a little doll quilt to go with a primitive doll...maybe an Annie. Or maybe I'll make a patchwork pillow. Hmmm... Anyway, I still have time to think on it as I need a 4th.

The Narnians have landed

The Narnia order is finished!! I definitely stood at the edge of my comfort zone on a few of these. I'm always a bit anxious when I have to create a new pattern and this order required a lot of pattern designing. And the scale of some of the animals (beavers, fox, wolf) is smaller than I usually do, so a bit of challenge there too. All in all, I'm pleased. I hope they're thoroughly enjoyed at their new home!

new things in the works...

Yesterday I reorganized some of my supplies and drew some new patterns for the Narnia set I've been working on. I drew a new wolf pattern as my other pattern looks more "big bad wolf" and is also too big. This wolf needs to be in scale with the bendy doll characters. I also drew a fox pattern and a reindeer pattern.

I have 2 reindeer in the works at the moment. They'll be finished tonight.

The needlebooks are totally done!

The first completed needlebook

The first totally finished needlebook! I admit, I'm pretty jazzed! :D I can't wait to send them off!

Swap project progress

I am really pleased with how the needlebooks are turning out! I get so excited when something ends up being just as cute out of my head as in it! Just need to stitch all the way around them...to connect the outside to the inside. And I need to add the needle-holding pages.

They each have a little pocket on the inside cover for holding a needle threader. And, as you can see, I revised my pattern some. They're a little bigger than the prototype.

One is mine. I haven't decided which one yet though. Whichever I choose I think I'm going to need a coordinating pincushion and scissor case.

I also cut out some animals for my Narnia order. I hope to have them stitched up tomorrow. I have a pink bunny I need to get to asap also....in the next day or two.

What I've finished since yesterday

I finished the Father Christmas bendy doll for an order. He's part of a set of items I'm making that is inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia It was requested that his bag be filled with tiny presents. It took me a bit to figure out how I was going to do that since Father
Christmas is only 4" tall. Finally I settled on buying some little wood cubes and painting them. Seemed to work out fine.


Then I played with my yo-yos a bit. I remembered having seen clown dolls made from yo-yos. I decided to make my own version with the brightly colored yo-yos.

And finally, I've decided what I'm going to do with the bulk of the yo-yos...as well as the rest of my pastel/floral scraps for a very, very long time. I'm embarking on a quilt. I was poking around ebay and saw a quilt made from yo-yos where the yo-yos were arranged so that it looked like a "Grandma's flower garden" patterned quilt. That just happens to be my very favorite quilt pattern! So, that's the plan. I haven't yet decided if I'll piece them together so the flowers are all touching (as shown in the picture) or if I'll separate them with a solid color (maybe that green that's so very '30s). I've got plenty of time to decide on that though!

I also cut out 7 house needlebooks. Six for the swap...one for me. They're all ready to be stitched.

I'm headed to the fabric store tonight. Hopefully I can behave myself. ;)

Yo-yos

I've been having a bit too much fun with yo-yos the past few days. There is something so happy and meditative about gathering up little circles of fabric. Part of the fun is dreaming up different ways to make use of them. I can't tell you how many times I've dumped them out of their basket so I could arrange them in one pattern after another.

They really are Zen-like.

My camera's batteries are charging so hopefully I'll have some sort of finished yo-yo project to photograph when the batteries are ready.

Also, I got a package in the mail yesterday. Twenty-four little 5" tall blank doll bodies. I can't wait to play with them! The first step is dyeing as they are beyond pale.

I also need to get busy finishing up the second half of a large Natural Playthings order.

And I need to take pictures of jewelry and add it to my Handcrafted Home site. It's about time I got that up and running.

what every crafty mama needs

I've just completed my first needlebook. I've wanted to make one for myself for a while.

I'm participating in an "anything goes" swap on the crafty board at Amitymama and it just seems like something every crafty mama needs.

Here's the prototype. I'll probably give this one to my daughter, Isabelle. I am pleased with it but I think a bit bigger would be better so it could accomodate longer needles, a couple large safety pins, and have a pocket for a small pair of scissors.

>

and so it begins...

I'm unsure if blogging is for me but I'll give it a try :) I find I've too many message boards to visit and I have less and less time to spend visiting.

Over the next few years I plan to turn my little business as well as my yet to be opened business into more of a career than a hobby. I'm pretty much clueless how I'm going to do this. But, as I think on it I find myself coming up with ideas that seem potentially useful. And then I forget them.

So the plan is to document these ideas as they come up. Maybe get some feedback from those who've been there.

I also want to have a record of my personal artsy-craftsy projects. I love having photo galleries of the things I've created for Natural Playthings over the past few years. So, I'm hoping keeping a blog will give me the same sort of "big picture" overview as I attempt to grow.