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.... ;)

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? :)...