Friday, December 31, 2010

New for 2011 Critter Onions and a Needle felted mouse with Swiss Cheese




I just listed my Critter Onions in my Etsy shop, perfect little homes for your little critters such as mice, gerbils and hamsters. I can make them bigger or smaller so if you would like one to fit your animal let me know and I'll try to fulfill your request. We have 2 little robo hamsters and they love theirs. We stuffed it with fluffy nesting material and they love to cuddle up in it. They started chewing on it but that's ok since I used all eco and animal friendly materials such as 100% cotton (non-dyed) thread, jute and/or hemp rope. Find them in my shop at http://www.etsy.com/listing/65028396/robo-hamster-or-mouse-house-called?ref=v1_other_2

Then meet Rufus, a little needle felted mouse who has his own piece of needle felted Swiss Cheese. He comes in his own little box which has real rose pedals on it so it smells like pretty roses not cheese! If you're interested in purchasing the little guy or you just want to see more pictures of him go to my shop at http://www.etsy.com/listing/65028959/needle-felted-mouse-on-needle-felted

HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE NEW YEARS EVERYBODY!

Thursday, December 30, 2010

nonteamchallenge 12 treasury on Etsy

I was bummed I missed out on entering last week's challenge for the nonteamchallenge treasury on Etsy but this week I made sure I entered it and voila here it is. Let me know what you think. The item we had to build the treasury around was the beautiful knitted cowl in a beautiful watercolor yarn from Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/impossiblyalice


Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Starting to work on Valentines Day stuff!

I figured I might as well make a treasury related to the V-Day! Here it is. Lots of beautiful and delicious items listed so go and check it out.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

More Treasuries ...

I've been lucky to have some of my items featured in treasuries made up by other Etsy Artists. I am always very thankful for them taking the time to make a treasury and featuring one of my items. It's always a thrill to see how another artist looks at your work and how they incorporate your arts and crafts in a treasury.

For those of you trying to figure out how to get a copy/picture of those treasuries listed in your blog here is the link to how I did it this time. http://www.craftcultwidget.blogspot.com/ I've done it another way before but that didn't give me the capability to click on the treasury and being whizzed off to that specific treasury on Etsy so you can take a closer look at the specific items listed. This is a test so bare with me. If it doesn't work properly please let me know. Thank you!

My striped felted baby shoes are in this one by seller mirthmarket http://www.etsy.com/shop/mirthmarket?ga_search_query=mirthmarket&ga_search_type=seller_usernames on Etsy.



My little baby seal is listed in this one by seller grahtoestudio http://www.etsy.com/shop/grahtoestudio on Etsy. He's still looking for a home! The seal that is. :0)



This one is curated by my friend Missie who has a wonderful jewelry shop on Etsy which you can find here http://www.etsy.com/shop/MissieRabdau?ga_search_query=missierabdau&ga_search_type=seller_usernames My snowflake felted scarf was featured in this lovely treasury.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Two hearts later ... on the needle felting machine!





So I got to play with my new needle felting machine today a Singer ER10 and I love it! I made a couple of hearts and ended up making a Valentine's day cuff or you can use it as a cup cozy as well. I used a piece of white silk fabric and layered it with sheep's fleece, yarn, bits and pieces of scrap felt from other projects and went to town. It is so easy to use, the trick is to put the pedal to the metal to prevent needles from breaking. When you go flat out it's very easy to move the material around in different directions to do the felting. I noticed the best way is to move around in circles. I finished the back of the cuff with a piece of fulled cashmere/wool fabric from an old cardigan, the loop to close it is elastic thread which I crocheted and the button is metal. I put a couple brads onto the hearts, which I embroidered with some cotton thread and voila ... here is my cuff. It's for sale in my http://www.etsy.com/listing/64782836/needle-felted-mixed-media-valentine-cuff PurplePlatypus shop on Etsy where you can find more pictures of it as well.

Friday, December 24, 2010

Happy Holidays!


Just wanted to thank all my loyal customers and blog visitors for coming back to visit me this year. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas. Be safe, be happy and most importantly ... believe!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Knitting pattern books for sale!






I decided it's time to de-stash my library of arts and crafts books. I just listed 5 of them for sale in my http://www.etsy.com/shop/PurplePlatypus?ref=seller_info Etsy shop. Four of them are knitting books and one is a fabric/home decoration book. I got plenty more of them but I need to find time to take pictures of them. I love all my books but I figured it would be better if they would find another crafty person to enjoy them. They are all in perfect condition so you're getting a good deal for the prices I'm asking. If you would be interested in more then one let me know and I might be able to give you a deal. Keep on the look out for more of them to come. Got some jewelry books I need to get rid of ... just don't have the time to do it all. I have a huge collection of felting books but I'm not going to get rid of any of those for right now.

I can't wait till Santa comes! I know what he's bringing me this year and I want to get going on some new projects using my new toy but I guess like all kids ... I will have to wait till Christmas morning to open my present ... darn!

Lambswool, Angora Rabbit wool Felted Baby Shoes


I had purchased a sweater knitted with lambswool and Angora rabbit wool which I fulled in the washing machine. I used that fabric for the main body of the baby shoes and then needle felted the polka dots with a red merino sheep's fleece. The center is embroidered with French knots in a purple cotton thread. The red flowers are needle felted with the Merino sheep's fleece in red and purple colors and in the middle I embroidered some more French knots. These are oh so soft and cuddly perfect for a babies little feet. Will be in my Etsy shop later today.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Treasuries!


I've started making treasuries on Etsy a while back and been wanting to share a screenshot of them here on my blog. Problem was I couldn't figure out an easy way to do it. Well I just did! I downloaded a program called Jing (www.techsmith.com) and voila here is my first screenshot of my latest treasury on Etsy. If you would like to find out more about what the treasuries on the nonteamchallenge is all about go to this link http://treasurychallengenonteam.blogspot.com/ it will take you to their blog and it explains everything. I'm having a blast making treasuries on Etsy, for me it's yet another artistic outlet. Making them for this challenge is fun but I also make lots of them that are not part of the challenge. It's kinda like making a painting, putting all the beautiful items together on one page, items from 16 different Etsy shops and making them all look good on one page isn't that easy ... after a while it does become more easy I say since you will figure out what works and doesn't work. Some people focus on the actual items they want to display ... I only use that in some cases, I mostly work with color displays in my head but what works for me doesn't mean it will work for you. Anyway, now that I downloaded Jing it's a piece of cake capturing a screen shot and displaying it here on my blog so I can share it with all of you if you are not into Etsy you can still enjoy my treasuries.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Knitted striped toddler pixie hat - Redskins colors


Well I'm definitely not a football fan so it wasn't until my daughter asked why I was knitting a Redskins baby hat? Something looked familiar to me when I picked out those colors of yarn when I was in New York a couple weeks ago and needed to start another project as I forgot to bring one from home! It finally came to me the other day that it was the same colors I had used for the Redskins sign I had made at work a while back. Anyway, even if you're not a fan ... I think the colors go very well together ... it's a burgundy with a gold/deep mustard. So here it is. I just listed it in my BitsOfFiber shop on Etsy so if you're interested go visit my shop. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Hedwig is here! Needle felted white owl.


Use him as a Christmas ornament for the holidays! He will look darling in your tree. He's a very well behaved little bird and would love to come and live with you. He's for sale in my Etsy shop so go and have a closer look at the rest of his pictures in my shop. Hedwig is waiting for ya.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/64121672/hedwig-needle-felted-white-owl

Friday, December 10, 2010

More hats!



These last two are hats my mom who lives in Belgium crocheted using up some of her stash of different yarns. My mom has a wonderful fashion style, I remember that with just about everything she purchased she would take things apart and fixed them up the way she wanted it. She always purchases great quality clothes but always made it her own by either putting in another pleat or a different button. She's in her 70's and still gets compliments on the kind of clothes she wears. Her dad (my grandfather) was a tailor, I remember going to visit them and watch him sewing amazing coats and suits in his sewing room on the 4th floor of their house. I remember the room having a certain smell, the smell of fabrics I would say ... if I close my eyes I can still see him and smell that room! My grandmother was also a great seamstress so my mom ended up doing a lot of sewing for us growing up as well. When I was about 15 yrs old I remember the white shirts with a band color being the latest style which I loved so my grandfather made one for me from a man's shirt. I ended up sewing embroidered ribbons along the front panels and it ended up as one of my favorite shirts ever, worn with my well worn jeans back then (in my hippie days!) which had crocheted patches on my knees and buttocks to cover up the holes! Up until today I still love that look. Anyway, I just listed both of these hats in my etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/BitsOfFiber?view_type=gallery so go and have a look if you're interested in purchasing one of my mom's one of a kind hats!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Pumpkin Hat SALE!!!!


Only 2 pumpkin hats left in my BitsOfFiber shop. On sale now for $15 which is a really good deal ... original price was $25 so hurry up and get one while it last. http://www.etsy.com/shop/BitsOfFiber