Happy Birthday Sofie and Mina!

A brand new day is dawning
And as it gets its start,
I want you know I am thinking
Of you with warmth in my heart.

I hope your birthday is special
No one deserves it more than you!
You are such a kindhearted person,
It shows in everything that you do.

So, have a perfect morning
And an even lovelier day...
May happiness surround you
Always.... not just for today!

Tomorrow is August 19th, 13 yrs ago I was more then ready to become a mom at that time. So, I did I had a baby girl and named her Sofie. I had to come up with a name easy to say in English as well as in Flemish so Sofie seemed to be the choice. My due date was suppose to be the end of August but Sofie decided it was time to enter the world 2 weeks before that. One of my best friends, named Mina, her birthday is tomorrow as well so it's real special day for me. We both couldn't believe it when I went into labor on her birthday. I haven't heard from Mina in a couple of months so I hope all is well. She lives in California while I'm all the way in Virginia. Her family lives in India so she might be back in India visiting them. Mina, wherever you are I hope you are having a wonderful birthday. Sofie and I will be thinking of you. Happy Birthday!

Getting ready for Christmas!

I made these cute soft baby shoes out of a piece of felt I had made a while back. The little rose buds I made using a bit of red felt and the organza ribbon makes them festive you think? They can always change the color of the ribbon if they get tired of the dark red one. I sold them at the market today but if anybody is interested convo me and I'll be happy to make a similar pair.

Fleece Camel Hat

I felted this hat while living in Alice Springs Australia and entered it into the Beanie Festival. It didn't win any prizes but somebody bought it and is hopefully very happy with it. I made it out of sheep's fleece and camel fleece which I got at the Alice Springs Camel Farm. I really loved that hat and wish I had brought back some of that camel fleece. I do miss Alice ...

Back in Town

Goodness, time flies when you're having fun! Off we went to Belgium to visit my family for 2 weeks and here we are back in Virginia. We had a great time with my family and friends and always wish we had more time together. But just like a lot of you, I have a day job that only allows me to be gone a certain amount of time. I must say I love my day job, being able to paint, draw and design signs for Wegmans is the most rewarding and fun job I've ever had. I took a big cutback in pay from working admin jobs for almost 30 yrs but I must say this is a lot more rewarding then any of my prior jobs. My time at work now flies by, I even forget to take lunch, which never ever happened when I worked as an admin assistant. Working a 32 hour week outside of the house doesn't give me much time to create the arts and crafts for the other job I love, my Bits of Fiber business so, I put off dusting the furniture and cleaning the windows, there will always be tomorrow or next week to get that job taken care off ...

I took these photos when visiting Parc Paradisio in Belgium with my best friend Erna, her daughters Noemie and Kiona and my own kid Sofie. If you ever visit Belgium and you're looking for things to do check it out, it's a wonderful place to go.

Small Alpaca Felt Bucket Bag

I purchased a couple bags of Alpaca fleece from one of the vendors at the Archwood Green Barn. The fleece wasn't good enough to spin they told me but I could felt with it ... so I did. I ended up making this cute little bucket bag with the gray fleece. I felted 5 smooth blue pebbles into the felt by covering them up with a piece of chiffon-type fabric to hold them in place. I made the fleece layers extra thick since the staple of the fleece was so short to make sure no thin spots occurred. I usually carry Mary Poppins style bags, not the little guys like this one but I must say I do like the way it turned out. I have plenty of fleece to make a bigger version of it for myself! If you like to purchase it I suggest you go to my Etsy store or e-mail me with questions.

Summer Breeze Felt Beads Necklace

I managed to make a fabric bead! I had seen them on Etsy so I tried a couple of techniques to get them to look right and hold together and voila ... I did it. This one I made using a lime-green organza fabric so it's a bit shiny. I then made a bunch of felted pebbles to go with it. I strung them all on a hemp-like cord with some smaller glass and wooden beads and put a magnetic clasp on it. It's in my etsy shop if you're interested in purchasing it. I'm making another one in blues and purple but I might keep that one for myself.

Cute as a button ... well lady bug that is ...

My latest pair of soft fleece baby shoes made with the softest polar fleece. I needle felted the dots with 100% pure black alpaca fleece. I found the perfect ribbon at Joanne's covered with you got it ... lady bugs. They are for sale in my etsy shop so go and have a peek if you want to get a better look at them since I have more pictures listed on that site.