Winner! Winner!

We have a winner of the "what am I working on blog post". It is Elizabeth!! Yay, Elizabeth. If you will just email me your home address I will get your prize out to you next week. This is what she guessed:

"ummm, little toothpicks for a bunco party? no no wait, need zippers, um what has zippers, think, think, a pull for a pair of zippered house shoes? No? thinking of something with ribbons and zippers...a hat that Charo would wear with fruit and ribbons and it zips up the back? My guess is you are making reusable snack bags????? "

Sorry, these were very creative and clever guesses, but not the correct one. Tomorrow I will show what I was working on. Snack bags do sound fun.
Be back tomorrow,
Holly

Here Chicky, Chicky, Chicky......

Little Peep is on Etsy. Go and check her out (www.cottonpickinfun.etsy.com) . I am going to try and work on a velveteen rabbit soon. First I must get the neighborhood newsletter finished. It is my month to write it. As soon as I finish it I will be working on the rabbit. I am going to put her on an Amish puzzle ball. Stay tuned.

Goodnight,

Holly





Cheep.....Cheep.....

Baby bunnies, sweet baby lambs, baby birds, little baby calves and really just about "anything" baby. I say just about because there are some babies that are not very pretty to look at, ex. baby flies. Enough said, just wanted to clarify that. I really, really love baby chicks.

Once upon a very long time ago, my sweet middle sister gifted me some baby chicks and I fell in love with them. Don't tell her but I was also terrified of them. I didn't know how to raise a baby chick. Even though I had already raised two children from babyhood to (at the time) 6 and 7 yr olds , baby chicks were a whole different story. I just knew that they were not going to last very long. Well they survived the 6, yes 6 hour trip back to our little farmhouse in Mississippi. And they did "cheep" they whole way home. The chicks did survive to teenhood and then some unseen force let them out of their pen. One escaped rooster found his way to a nursing home much to the delight of the residents. We never did claim him, didn't have the heart to, the residents had adopted him. Not sure where the others ended up...... We did get some replacement chicks and for the next several years they provided us with eggs and amusement. Maybe one day I can fill you in on the rest of the stories--warning there are a lot. One example, we found out that "Rooster" didn't like umbrellas or actually the flapping motion of one opening and closing. Great story behind that discovery.

I have been working on a Spring pincushion. I think it turned out pretty cute, because it is a baby chick after all. And as soon as I attach it to the base I am going to list it on Etsy- tomorrow (?).

Above: Start out with this.....

Above: and you can end up with this.

FYI: the roll of pink ribbon is just a prop. Not included in the design.

Above: Little chick is made out of yarn with fun accents. If you maximize the picture, you can see the detail on the grass. Little blades of grass.

Above: Vintage wool and vintage ric rac, ribbon rosettes, feather stitching with french knot buds.

Above: feather stitching with the french knots, which I can do correctly after trying about 30 times, practice makes perfect :)

Above: side view, her eyes are not glued in yet. I am not sure about the size of them....I believe that they need to be bigger. Let me know your thoughts.

Above: Jelly beans, hand sculpted from polymer clay. Really, everything was handmade. Of course I didn't spin the yarn (bummer-would love to try though) or make the wool (double bummer-would love to try that also--note to self--look for good used loom and spinning wheel :).

That's all for today, tomorrow after lunch my time I will be drawing the winner's name, so if you haven't left a comment yet, do so on this post.

Please don't forget to exercise the creative side of your brain

and don't forget to do something fun, like spinning yarn or loom something,

Holly

Yellow Yarn and Pink Wool....

Here's a little project that I am working on for Spring. Better hurry though....our daffodils are popping up. Tulips, too. This picture shows some of the supplies used. I am now working on prototypes or really just trial and errors. Love the creative part of this, if only it will come out as I imagine it.

Wool, yarn-pompoms, dental floss, scissors, paper, embroidery floss and some other stuff that I haven't used yet.

Have a great night and keep those pincushions handy and needles sharp ;)

Holly

A Little Hint....

Here's hint #2. Or actually picture hint #2. I finished the Cutie Fruities and the lone cupcake. I love the fruit and see many more fruits and some veggies in my future :)

D# 2 stayed home today, again. She is feeling a little better and will go to school tomorrow. D#1 went to school today and was glad to be back. Her teachers are so sweet, they gave her such a BIG welcome back. It made her feel very special. They are so wonderful.

Above: Here's all of the ingredients that I am going to use to make the mystery items. Go ahead and blow up the picture and take a look.

Above: you can't see it but the banana has pink cheeks and look at the cupcake, she seems to be screaming at something instead of grinning..hmmmm.. : D

Above: You can see the banana's cheeks better.

That's all folks, been working on the mystery thing all day today, it has been trial and error all the way.

Stay busy and don't forget that a messy house means some crafting has been going on,

so, messy....is a good thing,

goodnight

Holly

A Guessing Contest & Cutie Fruities....

Gonna do something fun with these little cuties. They are so sweet. I can't believe how well they turned out. Hopefully they will be strong enough for what I want to use them for. I will just leave you with a little teaser and give some hints: there are zippers, thread, fabric and ribbon involved. Leave a comment before Saturday telling me what you think it might be and I will put your name in a hat and draw the winner. There is no limit on how many times you can enter or guess. More entries = greater chance of winning :))  The winner will receive one of what I am making =D

Here's to you- I can't wait to read your guess(es),

Always havin' fun in the craft studio );D

Holly

Dolls, Dolls, Dolls

Today I have two sick ones home, this is why I am able to post so early today. DH and Son have gone to church and I stayed home with the daughters. D#1 has some sort of bronchial thing going on :(   Keeps coughing and feels tired. Montezuma was not kind to D#2 >:(   Being preschool age, you can just imagine the humorous stuff that she said when Montezuma decided to take his revenge on her. She is feeling perky and tired at the same time. Not sure how she manages that, but that's the only way to describe it. Keeping those fluids in her.

I wanted to show you the dolls that I am questionable about selling. I am not sure if they would sell or not. You know, you always second guess yourself and think: "Why would someone want to buy this, they are so easy and fun to make (but kinda time consuming)?".  I have also included the two dolls that were the main inspirations for these dolls.

Above: They all look related, don't they. Maybe sisters?

Above: Some of them have their pillows. Pillow fight anyone?

Above: The little red head has freckles. I love adding the little sprigs of "hair". The dresses are removable. The tie in the back around the neck. Some of the shoes come off. I like the shoes that are permanently attached.-this is more time effective.

Above: close up of face. Should I add a white dot in the middle? They do have eyelashes. Their sleeves are permanently attached to the arms.

Above: Love the colors on the little blond. The yellow dress gal doesn't have sleeves.

Above: Love her bangs. The buttons on her dress are actually felt.

Above: Here's the permanently attached shoes/boots. Poor little thing, I forgot her bloomers. All of the dolls come with removable bloomers.

Above: Playskool's Dapper Dan. His painted on face and hair was something I really liked. I also liked his yarn sprigs, which I also incorporated. He was a learning doll. Taught children how to button, snap, tie, and zip. I found him in a sweet little vintage/antique shop about a year ago.

Above: This doll is D#2's rag doll. Her dress comes off and she has a painted on face and embroidered mouth. The mouth was a mistake. Of course it has come loose and I need to fix it. The shoes are sewn into the legs, kind of like a Raggedy Ann doll.

Above: This is the quilt that I made for D#2. I couldn't find a toddler bed size blanket for her. There is really nothing on the market for this size transition bed. At least nothing really cute. I found a quilt that I loved in a Pottery Barn catalog, price tag over $300 for twin. This is almost an exact copy. I did change some things. I even quilted it myself. This is the largest thing that I have quilted. All large quilts that I make are sent to the professional quilter, reasons being: 1) I lack experience on free motion quilting 2) don't really have the space for doing a large quilt 3) patience patience patience, I really am lacking that!!

The Girls. Flower stems are made out of ribbon. I have washed this quilt no less than 30 times and it has held up beautifully. Since I didn't pre-wash the fabric, it puckered like an antique quilt-which I love this look. On the wall taking a picture of it, the shadows of the "hills and valleys" are more pronounced.

Above: The yarn hair held up real well in the wash and dryer. Their yarn mouths are starting to unravel.

Above: I love the way their feet point together. Looks so cute and innocent.

I really enjoyed making these dolls. I have been working on them for sometime now, since D#2 was about 2 and I made the first doll for her. It was "Pop pop" doll and she absolutely adored that doll. It was modeled after my dad, that's a lllooonnngg post for another day :)

Take time for yourself today and make something fun,

Holly

Prims n' Pins

I finally started up the new blog: Prims n' Pins, http://www.primsnpins.blogspot.com/ . I promise that I am not going to neglect this blog, it's just that I have too much to say for just one blog. This blog will not change and it should still get plenty of posts.

So hop on over for a very lengthy post.

thanks and don't neglect the crafty part of your brain, use it, don't lose it,

Holly

The Best Dressed Mouse in the House

Here's what I have been working on today. I am trying to come up with a cute mouse. This one is cute but not very realistic. He has his cheese, now he just needs a cracker. I really had fun working on him. I hope to perfect his pattern and try him out on some mohair. He sits upon a little tufted pillow, which sits upon a bigger tufted pillow. The tufts are not hard to make. If you have ever made a round pincushion and added thread to the sides to make the famous tomato pincushion, then you have made a kind of tufted pincushion. Usually on the tomatoes you just add enough thread to make 4 sides, well for the kind below just add 8 threads. Are you confused yet? Sure ya are.....just look at the pictures.

Above: He looks a little worried....where's my cheese?

Above: Aaaaahhhh.....there it is..

Above: Even though he still looks worried, he's not, just a shadow from his ear.

Above: tried some different lighting techniques--failed. Picture is blurry. I was holding the camera and trying not to breathe, obviously it didn't work. Too lazy to get tripod.

Above: still not good. Colors too washed out.

Above: much better turned brightness down.

Above: Here's the bottom of the pincushion. Put a little button on the bottom to cover up stitches. Better get off now, it's getting late.

Have a great tomorrow and stay crafty,

Holly

A Mouse in the House....WHAT???

Here's a tidbit that very few may know about me especially after looking at this blog. I love primative stuff: old vintagey things, rusty jingle bells, torn fabric, well loved items, antique patinaed stuff, kind of darker muted colors, chippy painted things, old galvanized buckets, coffee stained things, old/new cross stitched samplers, vintage silverware, wool, civil war fabrics, etc. This blog is the cutesy, very lively colored side of my craftyness. I also absolutely love: bright colors (pinks, greens, blues, yellows, reds, etc), cute faces on inanimate objects (like my sewing pins), fun crochet amigurumis, sweet little pincushions (with faces of course), clothespin dolls, etc. I just love all that stuff! :))  I am thinking about starting another blog with my primitive stuff that I make and like. I think since this one is very lively the other one will be more muted and focus on the old stuff that I have grown to love. My home is decorated in more of the primitive style. I have old treadle sewing machines, antique pie safes, antique furniture, and even an antique hoosier (which I loooovvveee!). You can see some of this in the Christmas posts that I did back in December. I have incorporated the lively, colorful style too. Well, enough about that. I will keep you updated so you can follow me on both blogs.

Here's a little mouse that I recently made. I love mice, or actually the handmade kind. I did have a pet white mouse when I was little. He would ride on my shoulder while I rode my bicycle around the yard and down the street. But it is so funny now, I actually scream and jump on something when I see a one now. Go figure. Once when our hampster (now deceased) got out, I didn't know it and saw him run across the living room floor, I screamed and jumped on the couch. I thought it was a mouse in the house.
Anyway here is the little thing. He is still in the works, i don't much care for the cartoonish look of him. Maybe it is the wool felt that I am using. I love mohair fabric, but don't want to use it until I have perfected the pattern. I haven't put his eyes on yet. I am going to put him on some type of pincushion. He is what I call a pincushion topper. Wouldn't he look cute with little cheese sewing pins?

Above: I always start out with a sketch. This time it was on a scrap of paper and I had to cut it out and put it in my notebook-it would get lost if I didn't. I started out googling pictures of mice and sketched some out, this was my favrorite sketch, so I used him for the pattern.

Above: This is the sketch of him ontop of a pincushion. He is sitting on a little tuffet of some sort. Maybe a squarish tuffet? We will just have to wait and see.

Above: Here he is with a little scarf. Put that on because he looked so plain. I accidently made the holes for his ears in the wrong place, so they don't look like the sketch. The ear placement can change the whole feeling of the little guy. In the sketch, he looked so meek, in the above photo he looks quit alert.

Above: Closer view. His little hands should have been either a lighter brown or a pinkish color. The white is too bright. I might coffee stain them. He does need his little eyes, what you see is knotted thread.

Above: In the photos of live mice, they all had lighter bellies. I painted his on. I think it would look better if I needle felted the belly on, but I have never done this. Needle felting is very cool, but I just don't have the time to learn something new. I do have the needles (special barbed kind) but no wool roving.

This little mouse would fit better on the prim blog that I want to start. So I have made up my mind, I am going to start another blog: Prims 'n Pins--just as soon as I can figure out how to start a blog--again.

Have a great day and make something crafty,

Holly

Very Busy Day, Indeed....

Had a very busy day today. Finished three new clothespin dolls for Etsy: Miss Sweet Shop, Miss Librarian, Miss Thimble. They were all so much fun to make. This weekend will be a little busy. D#1 is going to a semi-formal dance tomorrow night. I have been given the job of finding a mask for this dance. It is a masquerade ball. She wants peacock feathers--Hobby Lobby here I come. She did find a dress, but no shoes, stockings, purse, coat, etc >:p I am not sure what I am going to do with her. Oh well......guess we can always improvise. Still haven't finished my sister's gift yet. It is not really hard, just repetative. Must finish and send to her. Sorry Elizabeth.

Anyway here's some pictures of the dolls. You can also hop on over to my Etsy and check them out.

Above: Miss Librarian with her glasses and woolen skirt.

Above: She has two books at her feet and one in her hand.

Above: Her traditional bun and polymer clay buttons.

Above: side view

Above: Library date stamper made out of polymer clay.

Above: Love that background paper

Above: this paper is cute too.

Above: Miss Thimble

Above: Here is her rotary cutter and tomato pincushion at her feet.

Above: She is mending a blanket that has a hole in it. That is a real needle in her left hand and a real metal thimble on her head.

Above: Miss Sweet Shop.

Above: She has made 4 strawberry glazed donuts-her favorite.

Above: hand made donuts and tray.

Above: More cute paper, almost all of the paper that I use in my pictures is from Cosmo Cricket. They have a great website and blog.

Thanks for stopping by today and visiting,

keep those hands busy and stay crafty,

Holly