Monday, March 7, 2011

Chocolate, Strawberry or Vanilla?

So, which one of these do you prefer? Had fun making this treasury. Not all of these items are edible but I think they all do look delicious.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Needle Felted Embroidered Saint Patricks Day Brooch


I'm a sign shop artist during the day so while I'm painting, cutting boards or drawing my mind goes 100 miles per hour thinking of all the things I want to make when I get home. Only problem with that is I never have enough hours in a day to get to all those projects racing through my head. I thought of jotting those ideas down but if I did that I'd only get more frustrated not being able to get to them all. So, I usually try to think of one, appropriate for the time of the year if it's near a holiday. I've been wanting to make something for St. Patty's day, first I thought of a pincushion but then I thought a brooch would be better, it's smaller and wouldn't take me as long to make. I cut the pieces last night, did the needle felting part before going to bed, put the beads, thread and needles in a sandwich baggie and dropped it in my bag I take to work. So today during my lunch (30 min.) I was able to sew all the beads on it and when I got home I put some stuffing in it and embroidered the edges and voila ... enough daylight left to take some pictures to get it into my shop. While looking through my button box I found a couple other really cool buttons I could use to make another pretty brooch, except I'm going to run out of time ... it's already March 5th, St. Patty's day is only 12 days away ... I guess I better start working on those Easter projects, or maybe I just need to skip a couple of holidays and start thinking about fall projects ... that way I'm ahead of the game and don't need to stress myself out!

Friday, March 4, 2011

Nonteamchallenge 21 treasury on Etsy

And here is my entry for this week's nonteamchallenge 21 treasury. The inspiration item is a beautiful leather folio/case for an Ipad, sketchbook, etc. steampunk handmade gadget sleeve made from khaki leather and an antique skeleton key. Makes for a really unique gift idea. Check out the shop for more cool items: http://www.etsy.com/shop/RuneLeather?ref=seller_info

I had made my treasury and totally hit the wrong key ... which meant ... I lost the darn thing! Like a dummy I forgot to save it and it was gone ... an entire 30 min of putting it together lost. So, I started over and just for the heck of it I totally changed my choices on this one ... not sure why ... I just did. I must say I do like this 2nd one much better then the first one ... so again ... I guess it was meant to be. Enjoy!

Nuno needle felted blue water scarf


Finally finished this scarf I started months ago! I actually started making this by needle felting it by hand while at the Farmers Market BUT THEN .... Santa gave me a needle felting machine and ta daaaaaaa, this makes my life in the felting world just a wee bit easier I must say. It still takes a long time doing it by machine versus by hand but the good thing is that it certainly saves me from getting tennis elbow again from doing all the needling by hand which is a lot of repetitive movement. Now if they could only come up with a way to make needle felting 3D sculptures a bit easier on the wrists and/or elbows I'd be a really happy camper. That's also one of the main reasons I constantly switch back and forth between making needle felted sculptures, knitting, crocheting, sewing, drawing, painting etc. It's all done with my hands but for each one you make different movements which saves me from getting tennis elbow and carpal tunnel.

I just listed this scarf in my PurplePlatypus shop http://www.etsy.com/listing/69321670/nuno-needle-felted-blue-water-scarf if you're interested in purchasing it.

Featured on KIDindependent - A really cool site for mums, babies and kids!

Check this out http://kidindependent.com/category/oddball-alphabet/ . I was so excited to find my baby shoes featured on here. If you want to know what they are all about this is what they have to say on who they are: "We’re basically a bunch of arty types with a love of all things handmade, vintage, sustainable, limited edition and independent. We crave products that are born from the hands of an artist, the heart of a loving mother, the mind of a talented designer, or the soul of an interesting character…

The creativity behind this blog comes from inspirational conversations among friends. We run this blog in between long nights, crazy mornings, tears + tantrums, smiles + giggles and the occasional glass of wine + kilo of chocolate. One of us is a writer + designer, the rest of us just love to shop.

Most of the contributions to {KID} independent are from work-at-home-mums (WAHMS), Aunties, Nans and the occasional Dad! Supporting these small businesses is of the utmost importance to us, and we’re proud to be associated with their amazing talent!"


Thursday, March 3, 2011

Oatmeal with a touch of green

I love oatmeal but it has to be made with milk, not water and just a bit of raw sugar ... hmmm I think I will have to make some for breakfast tomorrow morning. It was the thought of oatmeal that made me come up with the idea to make this treasury, "Oatmeal with a touch of green". The green part didn't have anything to do with the eating part ... that kinda popped into my head thinking of St. Patrick's day. So here it is:

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Little felted bird in some lovely treasuries

My little felted bird has made it into two lovely treasuries this week!

This first one is called "Spring Wings" made by http://www.etsy.com/shop/FavorFancyAndFun who sells fun favor and gift boxes in her Etsy store so make sure you have a look at what she sells.



The second one is called "Spring Flowers" another fun, fresh and springy treasury.



Today I was able to finish one of the needle felted scarves I've been working on. It's drying right now so I haven't been able to take pictures of it yet. The material was a very pretty variegated silky blue with a dark blue chain stitch design running through it. I used a variegated sheep fleece in lovely purple, blue and lime colors. I can't wait to show you pictures of it ... but I guess I will have to wait till Friday since I have to go back to work tomorrow and I won't have daylight to take photos of it until I'm home on Friday!