How cute is this?

Baby Herbst chillin' with "S.J. Sharkie".... One step closer to an NHL contract!.. ;)

BTW - Jenn, I am working on that "to-do" list...

I'm still crafting...

I might not have updated my shop in awhile, but I've still been plenty busy. I said that I would show you the finished sock monkeys and here they are! (well two of them at least...). This was a custom order for a friend. (and the gardening apron worked out great, Jennifer. Thanks again for your help!)

Besides finishing up that custom order I have been doing a lot of sketching and experimenting. I wanted to wait to show you this but I LOVE it so much that I just have to share!
Well, what do you think?! Inspired by my little 'rag basket' experiment a few weeks ago, I made this sweet rag bag (I didn't weave this one, it's a re-purposed (new) rag rug). I am keeping it for myself because I just love it so much. It seems to go with EVERYTHING...And the flower is a removable brooch!... :)

I would love to make a few for the shop... But then again, I said that about the wristlets too. Oy. So many ideas, so little time!...

LOOK what I got!!!!

A surprise shipment from my mom and grandma in NC!

WOW!! In addition to the buttons, the box is filled with zippers and a few old patterns and odds and ends. I'm going to have fun going through this tonight! .... :)

BTW - does anyone have any tips for cleaning the buttons? Just soap and warm water?...

A NEW addiction?...

Well, I thought I had a problem with FABRIC and then they just had to go and open a Paper Source in San Jose.... Geeeeeeeez.... ;)

Inspired...

Last week on Craft in America artist Mary Jackson shared a bit of the history of sweetgrass basketry. I am in awe of her work. I actually own a 'Charleston Sweetgrass' basket (very much like the one pictured above) that was given to us as a wedding gift from a dear friend in NC (my home state). So anyway--I'm kind of rambling here-- the point is I have a sudden interest in basket making. :)

I mean, think about it, people have been making baskets FOREVER (practically). Seriously. Some of the oldest baskets are thought to be between 10,000 and 12,000 years old. !!! Wow.

So I decided to take a stab at basket making.

Here is a shot of my first attempt!:

Nooo, it's not a gorgeous sweetgrass basket (hey, I'm not that good)... it's a coiled rag basket. The point is, it's still a basket, and that counts :). (You can find instructions for making a coiled rag basket here)

The great thing about this project is that you really don't need any special supplies (I used an old pair of jeans and a bit of soft cotton ticking for the fabric and thick cotton piping for the core)... and once you understand how the basket goes together, you can shape it however you want.

I was thinking about making this one much taller, but when it got to a certain point it just felt right. A great place to stash ribbons and trim!

Maybe you've all made rag baskets before, but this was a first for me. It really was a fun, sit-on-the-couch-and-veg-out kind of project. Anyway, it was nice to take a little break from the sewing machine :).

Monkeying around...

I'm just cranking out a few sock monkeys (4) here! Scot (the husband) took the camera to work today so I'll have to wait and take a pic when they're all finished (this is one that I made awhile back). I'll have to admit, the sight of 4 sock monkey torsos, sans appendages, is kind of disturbing anyway ;) Hope you're having a productive day!.....

bEarVOLUTION

I've been working on a bear design for awhile now...

The little Valentine bear (upper photo, far left) was one of my first, made from wool felt and 100% hand-stitched. I made a half-dozen or so of them for the museum store back in March. Totally cute, but boy were they time consuming!


I altered the pattern and tried moving to the sewing machine. My first attempt was "Samantha" (above). She was pretty cute, and ended up in a happy home, but was far more pig-like than bear (not that there's anything wrong with that ;))...

I tweaked the pattern a bit more and came up with the little blue-eyed bear (do you see the family resemblance?). The pattern is SUPER-basic, which is what I like about it. It totally reminds me of the rag dolls my great-grandmother made for me when I was little--just this blocky body and little stick-like arms and legs.

THEN.........

I'm not sure what came over me this weekend but I got my mind set on adding more tweaks to the bear pattern. I started with the last iteration (the blocky bear) and went from there....

and 'Fisk' was born!

I had just enough choco-brown lightweight canvas (leftover from a gardening apron I made for a friend) for his face, arms and feet.

I gave him a snazzy shirt and a pair of denim dungarees. I used woolfelt for the extras (muzzle, and shirt collar) and finished the ensemble with a pair of little pearly buttons. I have a few more tweaks to the pattern, but I love how Fisk turned out!

Hmmm... Now he needs a sister, don't ya think? :)...