Alas, our Christmas tree is not up yet. This inspired my to create a whole forest of miniature fabric trees. Not quite the same thing, but very fun, nonetheless. Some of these are for gifts and others will be for sale on in my Artfire shop. 
November is birthday month at my house. My daughters were born exactly 3 years apart minus three days. It is always fun to make them something for their birthdays. My oldest has been using a very sad looking small tote bag as a purse. So I thought she might like a new purse. I got the inspiration from this tutorial. The denim is heavy enough that it doesn't need interfacing.
If you're wondering why it is magic. . . I've used a metal tape measure for the top closure. Very simple actually. You make a casing, leaving an opening to put the tape measure in. Stitch the casing vertically where the side seam is. This keeps each piece of the tape measure on its side of the bag. Cut 2 pieces of the tape measure about 1" less than one side of the casing. You can use regular scissors for this. Though I don't recommend using your good sewing shears. Round the ends and cover with a piece of masking tape. Thread each piece into the casing. Sew opening closed and stitch the other side of the casing vertically on the side seam. If you use a dollar store tape measure, double it.
This is a close up of the hardware. I've used split rings to attach the straps and D rings to make the strap adjustable. If you're wondering why split rings. I have a lot of them. They seem to have magically appeared in my studio, as most of my supplies do.
If doghouses were this cute, it might not be such a bad place to be. Of course, this particular doghouse is a bit on the wee side. Scotty, who is made from a wool blend felt, is only one and a half inches long and fits perfectly inside.
My daughter loves hedgehogs. While she was on a trip to So Cal a friend bought her a hedgehog cupcake from a bakery. So, of course, when she came home she had to make hedgehog cupcakes.
It looks better in real life. This is a quilt I made in less than 3 weeks for a wedding present. It measures about 60"x60" and is quilted with a double wedding ring pattern. While it's not a complicated pattern, the color is very pleasing to the eye. My family was rather sad that I gave it away. So was I. We really liked it.I always have mixed feelings about giving this sort of a present. I'm never sure the recipients fully appreciate what it takes to put together a gift like this. My immediate family on the other hand, actually see first hand what it takes and absolutely love to get one of my quilts as a gift. In fact, they often ask who's it for in hopes I'll say it's for them.
This is a quilt I started several years ago. Finally finished it. It really doesn't look anything like the quilts I've made recently. All my friends pointed this out. Let's just consider it one of my "vintage" quilts. The pictures really don't do it justice. It is very floral. It looks like a field of mixed wild flowers. The picture below shows some of the detail. Even it doesn't really capture the essence of the quilt.
I realize it's been a while since my last post. Rest assured it's not because I haven't been sewing and crafting. Rather the opposite. I've been so busy...I can't keep up. I will start posting more now that I've taken pictures of all the current projects.
This is another matchbox with it's inhabitant, Scottie. Decorating matchboxes is rather addictive. So is making the tiny stuffies to go inside. I made it for a swap-bot swap.
Well it has been a while since I last posted an entry. It was a very busy month; spring breaks, spring cleaning the studio, projects and more projects. Spring cleaning the studio was wonderful. There is only one pile left on the floor. The surfaces, of course, are still cluttered with unfinished projects. In spite of the many projects unfinished, there were a lot of finished ones; a quilt, two sundresses, seven mini bird puppets and a few other misc. projects. The pictures are of the bird puppets. They are similar to the large one in my earlier post but much smaller. They were very fun to make. Just about the time we decided to make these my friend gave me some vintage craft supplies that had belonged to her mother-in-law. The beads were in that treasure trove as well as some vintage glitter. I'm looking forward to using that glitter. I realize these puppets look like toys for a children but not a chance. Adults think they are way to much fun. Anyway, I'm thinking about doing a tutorial on how to make them.
Decorating matchboxes is almost as dangerous as playing with matches. It sparks the creativity. They are both made from small matchboxes. The first one was for a matchbox bed and creature inside. I couldn't resist making the matchbox look like a bed. Of course if the mermaid wants she can also sleep inside.
January seems to be bird themed. The inspiration for this bird came from a very cute piece of Japanese fabric I bought recently. This silly looking bird is about 4" tall and his feet are made from paper clips. My daughter got me a wigjig for Christmas. I think she was hoping I'd make jewelry with it. It worked great for bird feet.
It was a dark and stormy night. No, it really was. That is except for the flashes of lightening. This explains the bad picture. My daughter and I made bird puppets this last weekend. I had to hurry up and do a photo shoot before he was whisked off to his new home, the physics dept. at the local university. He's quite popular with the staff. Rocket scientists seem to like cute fuzzy things. At three feet tall, Schroeder, makes quite an impression. Not only that, his head bobs just enough to make him look very nonchalant when he's walking. In this picture he is standing on the bed (bad bird) and looking back towards his tail. Of course, with that cute face what's not to love.
