Blast 39 :: The Flower Fairy (sort of ?!)

Well, here she is! The.. .flower fairy (?)...

Little Miss Irene blew out our electricity for a long stretch so this bit of craftiness was done by lamp light (headlamp light!). She is just as simple as can be too! Some wool yarn wraps her body,  some wool yarn for hair, a little yarn bow across her middle and that stunning headress ;) She looks a bit like a snake charmer to me (hmm, maybe that will be next on the craft list! ;)...or maybe just an old cottage dweller. I can't quite decide.

Before this little charmer came along we had some fun with Irene...(and feeling so lucky to be able to enjoy her and not fear her too much...)

and of course...our Giveaway!

The Magic Mixing Bowl (as we lovingly refer to it here ;) has popped out the name of...(with the help of some little fingers of course!)...

SANDRA!
That's one really cute repurposing :) Thanks for the chance to win a crown - it's really pretty as well :)
By the Way, Irene reached us two hours ago and I hope it will go away without any major damages... 

How fun! Thanks for playing along Sandra! Shoot me a little message at writeus4@yahoo.com with your address and I will send those crowns along....enjoy!

thanks to everyone for playing along! hope you'll join the fun next Saturday as well! xoxo

Blast 33 :: Late night with the gnomes...(part 3)

Goodness, it seems this may turn into a gnome version of the pursathon yes?
Yesterday was a long one in oh so many ways ;)
I ended up crashing with the littlest ones and woke at 3 am (so maybe this guy is a little bit of a cheat?) with the littlest of all who decided the middle of the night was a perfectly good time to fill not only one...but 2 of her sweet little diapers. Soooo, while we were.... hanging out, I finished up this little guy.  Overall, I guess I have the baby's bowels to thank for not missing a crafting day (well, sort of ;).
Some days you just have to laugh....or craft!
xoxo

Blast 32:: Late night with the gnomes (part 2) and a winner!

Another late night hanging out with the gnomes. This time, rather than of the wood variety, these guys are wool felt stuffed with some carded sheep's wool. The original idea is from The Nature Corner...or maybe it was Feltcraft...one of those 2. These days I just free hand cut them out. Its fun to see their own personalities shaped through the individual sizes and little nuances.

So I cut, and stitched, and stuffed while my 17 year old (really, every new year flies by faster and faster...) advised me on music like this and tried to teach me a little about tone and other musical fun stuff. I think I may never understand where he gets that musical touch of his...so glad he he did though!

These guys are off to a little family tomorrow....and that heart banner/.birthday chair decoration/valentines day bit of felt love is heading off to....

Mama Ruck!!

"I love the reminder that a request for toast is just toast. I so often have to remember that I am the one needing the variety. Thank you for your sweet giveaway."

Thank YOU Mama Ruck for playing along! So glad this will be enjoyed by a family :) Message me at writeus4@yahoo.com with your address and this will be along its happy way :) Thanks to everyone else too for joining in on the fun! Can't wait to see what pops up this week for the drawing on Saturday..Good Luck!

Blast 12:: Finishing touches

One awesome aspect of this blast challenge is making the time to finish projects that have been lying around here for ages. These crowns? They had been in various stages of half done for quite some time. Last night, I put the finishing touches on them and they are are ready to go! (Spoiler/Hint...this weeks giveaway lies in this pile there...)

These crowns are super simple to make. I just fold a smallish piece of fabric over so both wrong sides or right sides are touching, fold the fabric in half and cut out a quick shape of a crown. You can get pretty funky with it too adding lots of dips and curves if you like. I think I might make a tute for this one soon...after our day here of getting ready for a birthday party tomorrow ...lots of crafting love for that one.

Here's another little guy I recycled from some super soft longies I had made for our wee one. They never quite fit right but, that leaf applique sure was sweet! He's one of the 6 inch wooden peg folk; so nice for little hands to play around with and easy to stand up. Another gift for the soon to be three...

While I do love dressing these guys in wool felt, I have been itching to try some wood burning on the pegs too. I have a small tool on hand so I see some trial and error in my near future.

And, btw, so, so very nice to have the camera back in hand...

Blast 6:: As of LATE

As in "what the heck am I thinking, its 2 am!". As in, "Oh sorry, yes these are maybe a smidge late but finally done"....(thanks for your patience Leslie!...although I am still not super crazy about these wings).... Well, the last of the strep cure is due in an hour so let me grab a couple of toothpicks for my eyelids and write while the house is so very quiet.

This little guy was meant to go out in June as a prize ...yes...June. And yes, I do fully realize that it is now almost August. Almost, I do have a few more days....Seeee, it was just those wings...see them there? They were and still are driving me crazy. I 've had complete creator's block with those stinky little things. Wrapping the felt? Naw, that would cover their stripey bellies and that just wouldn't do. I even thought of making a wee costume of sorts with felt...a little pullover deal with just the tiniest neck hole for the head and slip some wings on ..no go either. Oh well, maybe I will give it another whirl, another day, another time ....(another life?) ...no....hear me little felt bee wings....I will not be defeated! I will persevere in the face of felt. I will...I will...Oh, I am so very, very tired....sweet sleep - take me now.

note::
the wood bees and hive were painted using Stockmar watercolor, dried, then rubbed in beeswax (how fitting!). All with the aid of my little helper as you can see (this was a few months ago...)

oh, hi again!  ummmm, ~ taking full advantage of the sun's rays, I will be posting in the a.m. from now on...which makes these posts rather than the day of..the day after ;) which bumps my done date to...July 22nd 2012 (gosh, that sounds so far away doesn't it?)

and pppsss? i also managed to make these little doohickeys here from dowels, knobs, some glue and ribbon tucked between the dowel and knob....she loves them!

Blast 2 :: Late Night With The Gnomes

Day 2 and I already had missed a post? Hmm, not exactly off to a bright start but I did work on something. A bunch of somethings in fact. A little backstory....
Yesterday was our last day of our almost 2 week visit with 'the cousins' so we were busy busy staying cool and having fun.

Around 9:30, when we got home, everyone was sound asleep so all I had left to do was transport everyone into beds and then get stitching.

Until the universe had other plans.

Now, I managed to get all of the bigger kids off to bed...it was the smaller ones that had party plans with mama. Up til midnight kind of party plans which made posting a little tricky (I have decided to largely post at night... well, other than this exception - being Saturday, I have backup - as my brood are early risers and going from the get go...)

I ended up sitting on the floor next to the bed those littles and I share and popping caps onto some gnomes I had been working on - some for years, and chatting away...I think it went something like this...."It's really late guys...time for sleep...okay sleepyheads...time to go to (yaawwnnn) sleep". She said as she stayed up gluing. I tell you, kids can spot the inconsistencies in a flash..

I mentioned years because for some it was truly that long...see, I make these little guys and their hats and then somehow...the hats never make it onto their heads so I thought this was my this was my chance. I gathered up all the little hatless folk and started gluing. It was perfect really, I needed a quick blast and these guys needed some headgear.

Maybe its my Gemini nature but I always have about 20 projects going on at once and about 2 actually see completion so I am really looking forward to seeing some projects finished. Oh, and today will be a twofer since I will be working on , hmmmm, something today as well - post coming tonight on that one (and a drawing winner if you leave a comment... ;)

And by the way - this is what I found a little after waking today. Little fingers finding new little friends.

Can you spot the gnomes in the flowers?