A Snowy Monday

So yesterday I woke up to about 8 inches of snow on the ground, which caused quite a bit of shifting around of travel and work schedules and such. So, to make a long story short I stayed home yesterday instead of going to my studio to make things simpler. I did get lots of great creative stuff done at home though, and thoroughly enjoyed my snowy day off.

First of all, I made nice leisurely breakfast, which I think is truly the best part of a day off. I made scrambled eggs with onion and spinach, and then mixed it together with some rice for a sort of breakfast, faux fried rice thing. It was very tasty.


My big project of the day was to make my first ever wet felted bowl. One of the new classes I am teaching is a felting class, and while I have done lots of needle felting I have only done small wet felting projects and wanted to try a few things out to use in my class. I have looked at several books about wet felting, and also watched this tutorial for making felted slippers online yesterday before I started. The tutorial is a little long, but it was great to actually see the process in action. I used basically the same technique as in the tutorial, but made this round template instead of the slipper shape.


Here is my felt covered template after rubbing it between the bubble wrap.


And this is the hole I cut to make the opening of the bowl and allow the template to be removed.


I then took it over to the sink and felted it to the fulling stage. I didn't have a wash board or anything, so I just rubbed in my hands with some textured rubber gloves. It did come out a little lumpy as you can see, I think my layers of wool were not as even as they could have been, but not bad for a first try. Let me know if you have any other tips on making my next one smoother.


I then stuffed it with plastic bags to hold its shape while it drys.


I think I will decorate it with needle felting too, to show how the two techniques can be used together. I am really enjoying that teaching this class gives me a reason to try some new things that I wouldn't always have time for otherwise.

I also got a chance yesterday to give my orchid a nice soak (which is how I learned they like to be watered). My husband got it for me for Valentines Day, and it is beautiful. I love plants, but I can be a forgetful waterer, so I pretty proud it is still alive and doing so well.

Where Have I Been?

Hello!

Where have I been you may be asking. (Although, I am pretty sure there is nobody who reads this often enough yet to really ask that.) I am still here, I assure you!

I have been really really busy lately (so busy I started writing this post about 2 weeks ago and just now got around to finishing it), and it seems I have had a hard time juggling all my new projects. So the bad news here is that I don't have anything new for my Etsy shop, or any new crafty stuff in general. The good news though, is that my classes and all that stuff I have been doing are going well, and I have been very creativly productive in those veins. The other good news is that one of my classes is now on break, so I have every Monday until March 30th off!!! That is right, a whole day off every week, just for me. I am so excited!

I want to take the opportunity to make Monday my day to work on things for my shop, for my own new puppet show I am planning, or any of the many things I have been meaning to make for myself that have pushed to the back burner. My hope is that if I make it a habit now, I will be able to continue at least having half a day for this stuff after my class starts up again.

So, my plan is to sleep in a little on Monday (cause everybody needs a day for that) and then get to my studio and spend the day there. I also am going to take picutres, no matter how much or little I get accomplished, and post here Monday evening. Does that sound like good plan? What helps keep you motivated and in the habit of crafting & blogging? Any suggestions would be appriciated. See you Monday!

Free Shipping Sale!

This is just a quick post to announce that I am offering free shipping on everything in my shop from 1/11 - 1/25. Check it out!

New Year & New Furniture

It is 2009, and I am back from my little break! I hope that everyone had good holidays, mine were great and it was nice to have a little break from normal life. As promised, here is a picture of the girl's apron I made for a custom order.

I think it turned out nicely, and the customer seemed pleased with it. I don't have anything new to list in my shop yet though, because I ended up giving away the new bags I made as Christmas gifts. I will just have to get started on some more new stuff!

A big project I am taking on for the new year is redecorating my living room. I got married right after college, and when we moved into our apartment we didn't have much furniture at all. We found some nice used stuff for other rooms, but the living room ended up being a collection of not so great used stuff we got for free from relatives and really really cheap stuff from Target that is now falling apart after a few years of use. The bookshelves were the worst, and over the weekend we put up new ones from Ikea to replace them. The new bookshelves are awesome, and the next thing on the list is to replace the tv stand. The one we have now is ok looking, but not really designed to hold the weight of a tv, and I want to replace it with something that isn't going to eventully break under the weight. Here is a picture of the new bookshelves with the old tv stand.

And here are some things I am considering to replace it.

This one might be too big- I need to measure.

I would cut the flat screen pannel off this one.


Any opinions? I can't decide yet. I am also open to other options, but I want to get the new one in the next week or so. After that is done the other things on the list are to refinish the coffee table, get curtains, fix or get new couches, and get a couple more pieces of art to hang in there. I am really excited to see it improve through out the year!

Falling Behind

That is what it feels like I am doing this week. I have two special order Christmas presents that aren't finished yet (luckily they are for local people), I haven't gotten my new stuff up in my shop, and I have tons of personal Christmas related stuff that needs to get done, not to mention all my other regular work.

The good news is that this is the last week for my after school classes before Christmas, so after Thursday night I won't have to worry about any teaching related stuff until January 6! I have also decided not to worry about putting new things in my shop until after Christmas. It is really almost too late for to get things shipped to people in time anyway, and as much as I want to keep my shop active, I don't think I will lose out much taking some time away now. Blogging is the other thing I am going to take some time away from until I am caught up on everything. I am not sure exactly when I will post again here, definitely by New Year's, but hopefully sooner. When I am back I will have lots of pictures of finished Christmas gifts and new Etsy stuff to share!

Hope everyone has happy holidays, see you soon!

Another Busy Week

This week is another pretty busy one for me, although I ended up taking Monday and Tuesday off from teaching because I had a really sore throat. I am feeling much better now, and am almost caught up from what I missed those days.

The new thing going on this week is that I am going to exhibit & sell some puppets in Holyoke, MA on Saturday to benefit Doctors Without Boarders. It sounds like a great event for a great cause, and you can find out more about it here http://www.yippeeskippy.com/gonzo/?page_id=469.

This weekend's craft fair in Otis was kind of a mixed bag . Not many people came, so we didn't sell too much, but my husband met a lot of really great artists and crafters there, and had a good time all around. One of the people he met was Janna of Capture Our Moments, and she took these pictures of some of the puppets for us!










The other new thing is that I finally have business cards! They were designed by the awesome Ironcladdesigns who also designed my banner. I think he did a great job I am very glad to have something so nice to hand out to people.

I also have the two new ribbon bags just about ready to list in my shop! I hope to get that done on Saturday, as well as start on a couple special orders that I need to get done before Christmas. I will post again on Saturday with pictures of the bags and maybe the special orders in progress!

Yay Sales!

This week I am celebrating my first real sales in my etsy shop! I had a great trade with another seller, Lucy's Postcard Quilts, last week, and this week I have sold two of my aprons. It is really nice to not be waiting for my first sale anymore, and feels like the shop is real now. Huzzah!

Last night's craft fair went pretty well too. I wasn't sure about it since it was an evening weeknight event, but the turn out was good and a handful of puppets went home with happy kids. I am really excited about the fair in Otis on Saturday, though. Everything for sale from the snacks to crafts is going to be handmade, and there is supposed to even be some live music! I am a little bummed that I can't be there myself. I will be at a baby shower (which will also be a lot of fun), but my husband will be there running our booth. If you are in the area you should drop by and check it out!

Have a Happy Weekend!