A cute little critter onion and birds nest jewelry

I try to focus on smaller things to make for now due to lack of time. I spent my 30 min lunches at work either crocheting or knitting. While I'm eating I usually catch up on reading my favorite arts and craft magazines, blogs or on-line info. So, this little colorful critter onion I made during 2 of my lunches and it will be up for sale in my PurplePlatypus shop later this w/end. This little hut is made with 100% cotton rope but since it's dyed in pink and blue and didn't say what it was dyed with I assume it might not be safe for a robo hamster to digest so this one is for sale in my shop as a play toy for children, assuming they are NOT going to chew and eat the rope it's made of. I will be making more critter onions for the real little pets but those will all be in natural rope, not dyed.

Then I also made some of these cute wire birds nests and made them into a pair of earrings and a necklace. The purple little bows are tied but also glued on so they stay put. I'm planning on making some more but without gluing the bows that way you can remove them and change them with a different color ribbon. The set is up for sale in my PurplePlatypus shop.

Got lots of treasuries to share but that's for later today. Have to get some laundry done first, then I get more time to play.

Meet me on the dark side?

So off I went finding more lovely creations by other Etsy artists to create yet another treasury and this is what I came up with.

Lots of greens and blues

Wow, looks like my aqua baby booties are having a great week! They ended up getting featured in 3 treasuries.

In this first treasury called "Blue and gold banquet" my felt mixed media baby room decor frame got featured by http://www.etsy.com/shop/MHaynes2009 who sells beads, ribbons, charms and other craft supplies. You will also find scrapbooks and cards in her lovely Etsy shop so make sure you go visit her store if you're looking for supplies.



This one called "Minted" by http://www.etsy.com/shop/LoveandCherish has my aqua baby booties listed, those colors of green all put together are gorgeous. In her shop you will find beautiful hair accessories and jewelry.



Next one is called "One of these things is not like the others" by http://www.etsy.com/shop/ReNuBoutique# featuring my booties again. Cute title and idea for this treasury, again beautiful colors of green. She makes and sells beautiful jewelry and accessories made from repurposed / recycled sweaters, scraps of leather and other fabrics, metal, glass, old jewelry, old and new beads and buttons. The ReNu Boutique is an expression of love of reclaimed materials and it explores the borders of old and new. A must visit.




Next treasury is named "Spring Greens" by http://www.etsy.com/shop/eleuthera also featuring my baby booties. Again beautiful green with popping lime colors in that treasury, really pretty I must say. In her shop you will find the coolest paintings of shoes and landscapes! I'm in love with all the shoe paintings, what a cool idea! So make sure you visit that shop.




I'm working on some wire birds nest charms ... more about that later.

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.

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!

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.