Happy Holidays!

Good tidings to all. We're off to visit the land of snow and ice, so best wishes for a happy and safe New Year as well. See you then!

miss loody's bakery

A bag of sweet baked goods all made out of felt and a bit of bamboo stuffing. The goodies -- jam tarts, chocolate covered pretzels, and neopolitan butter biscuits-- are from a Japanese craft book called "My Favorite Felt Sweets" , as are the donuts from this post. I used pinking shears to trim up a white felt bakery bag and enjoyed a few evenings of fireside hand stitching for the embellishments.





Two is such a fun age -- just one long tea party, really. I'll be "eating" a lot of these in the coming year. Good thing they're fat free.

travel sketchbook

Another "winging it by the seat of my pants" design by me -- the travel sketchbook. Miss Loodyloo enjoys a bit a crayon time when she's out and about, but I've gotten tired of fishing out old receipts and broken crayon bits from my pockets. It was time she had a more put together piece of kit.
I wanted a padded case to protect the crayons and of a size that would allow for a rather large drawing area. She's two years old and a small pad of paper can be frustrating for those with just the beginnings of fine motor control. I chose a spiral bound notepad that would lie flat and based my measurements on that.
The crayon slots open inward not only to keep them from working their way out of the case, but also so that we can hang them over the edge if space is at a premium -- I'm thinking airplane seat trays here.
I chose a fun floral canvas to hide the inevitable crayon marks, but here's nothing inherently childish about this set. Done up in linen, it would make a nice gift for an adult who likes to sketch as well. I think Papaloo has already hinted as much.
Ironically, this is not a christmas present -- we're flying out to visit Papaloo's family the day after and I'm keeping it under wraps until the Loo is strapped in her car seat on the plane. It's a small consolation for having to leave all her presents under the tree. I hope she likes it.

beanbag game :: part 2, lily landing pad

Well, it's been a long time coming, but the froggie beanbag game is finally complete -- and perhaps a bit hard to see in this blizzard light, but it'll have to do. Part 2, the lily landing pad, is both a target and a storage sack. The idea being that, at the end of the game, all you need to do is pull the cord and clean up is done. Nifty, non?
I've had such a mental sewing block on this part of the game. I knew I wanted to make a target/bag combo, but I couldn't seem to get my head around the "lily" part of the design. Mostly, my initial ideas were too complicated or too hung up on making the flower look realistic.
In the end, I settled on having the colors carry the lily theme, petal pink and spring green, and kept the shapes minimal with a flowery finish along the edge. Eventually, I think I'll add a button to the center for better scoring accuracy.

I like it.

getting ready for Solstice

Part of the difficulty in establishing our own family holiday traditions has been making them feel meaningful to us as adults. We don't practice a religious belief or have a vibrant ethnic identity and, while we are a bit eurocentric with the nature inspired decorations, we're not exactly comfortable with ditching some form of small "c" christmas for a full on pagan Solstice and calling it a season.
But. We do want to celebrate the solstice in some tangible form, and nature, and teach our daughter about generosity, kindness and thoughtfulness -- what we feel to be the spirit of the holiday season. We want to remind her that everyone can use a little help from time to time and that reaching out to others is a good and noble thing.
This year, we've been working on animal friendly decorations for an unloved yew tree in our yard. On Saturday, we plan on hanging grapefruit slices and cranberry ice ornaments on it's branches and leaving out a dish of fresh water for the animals to drink. Bear Noel, one of Miss Loody's favorite holiday stories, is about a polar bear that brings gifts -- salt, sugar, nuts and berries -- to the creatures of the north woods -- and we are using his example to help our animal neighbors this winter.
Inside, we will burn a yule log in the fireplace with wishes for the new year and light a few candles to chase away the darkness. I think there has been some talk of punch too.

Do you have any solstice traditions? I'd love to hear about them.

just a little nip

As we get closer to Christmas and my crafting list gets smaller, I've been able to enjoy an evening or two of hand sewing. Ironically, this is not something I normally enjoy doing-- you are not going to find me hand quilting elaborate piecework, for example -- but I do like working with felt.
I especially love wool felt. The sturdy, warm feel of it, the fray free edges, the easy whip stitching. I also love free patterns and I couldn't help but make these for Clawd and his friends.
A school of felt fishes -- some fresher than others-- for the next door neighbor's elegant Miss Maybelline.
Three blind mice, a traditional favorite since Clawd was a young kitten, for his very own stocking
And a flower of my own design for the neighbor and her brood down the street who most likely would not enjoy stumbling upon something brown and furry, even if it is just pretend.

I picked up some organic cat nip in the bulk spice bins at the local co-op for only 40 cents a bag and mixed that in with the bamboo stuffing. It's apparently potent stuff as I have to store the finished creations in the fridge to keep them out of Clawd's clutches. He has this tendency to soak his toys in his water dish, a sort of cat nip tea that makes him a happy drooling mess. Oh well, it is the holidays...

decking the hall

The front door wreath with a silver wood grain ribbon.

Shepherd and wooly sheep from Germany -- a gift from Papaloo's brother many years ago.

The front door.

Repurposed owls.

Happy Christmas mantle.

Velvet Plan B

This is what Miss Loodyloo should be wearing for Christmas -- a pretty plaid silk skirt, size 3T -- but unless I can find red suspenders, we'll have to wait until next year. Plan B, then, just behind it. A black velvet skirt from a sale bin remnant, just a tube with a hem and an elastic waist. Oh will we ever not need an elastic waistband?? This is the best photo I could get -- shooting velvet, especially black velvet, is hard, even in good light.
It does go with the black velvet kitty on the knit shirt I found for her. There's a bit of ruffle and black velvet ribbon on the sleeve cuff but otherwise it's really just a tee shirt. I want her to be comfortable as we celebrate on Christmas Eve and it'll be a late night for her. I also picked up this red knit cardigan with pleated neck and cuffs and shiny buttons. Here's the whole outfit.
Oh well, at least two purchased items out of three fit this year. Not surprising -- I sew because I have such a hard time finding clothes (bottoms especially!) that the bean pole girl can wear.
Now, shoes on the other hand...
Are these not just the cutest bunny boots?? Thankfully, Miss Loody has big feet!

Vintage Find :: Swiss Family Christmas

I was going through my mother's storage room looking for her Christmas decorations when I came across a box of things from her oldest sister.
My aunt was a WWII war bride but often returned to Europe to travel after the war. These items are obviously from a trip to Switzerland, probably sometime in the sixties or seventies.

Kitschy cuckoo clocks are suddenly back in style, but this one is decidedly over the top. The elaborate background is priceless and there are plastic doodads galore. The rocks on the roof however are real pebbles.
The entire clock is rather small -- only slightly larger than my hand -- about 7 inches long and 5 or 6 inches wide. Vibrant paint too, but unfortunately it's in rough shape, which is a shame.
I remember hearing something fall when I lifted it out of the box, so I hope to find the missing balcony piece in there. The winding key, on the other hand, was most likely lost long ago. And yes, it needs a thorough cleaning.


I also found this wooden plaque. It's the size of a dinner plate and appears to have faired much better than the clock. The paint is intact and it's much more... subdued... in general. I kinda like it.

I have no idea what I'm going to do with either of these souvenirs from my family's past, but I do feel a rousing chorus of "Edelweiss" coming on...

Pointy Kitty

Meet Miss Pointy Kitty. She's a freebie pattern from Wee Wonderfuls. I made her for Miss Loodyloo's stocking but I'm not sure she'll fit. Perhaps poking her big head out the top will work.

I used half of a Heather Bailey Freshcut fat quarter and some pea green wool felt, along with hot pink button eyes and fishing line for whiskers. I think the felt underbelly is key to helping her stand on her own, as well as stuffing the body tightly as I could. I kept the head loosely stuffed which keeps her balanced too. The pattern went together smoothly, but the turning out was about as fussy as expected -- all those itsy bitsy appendages, you know.
The Loo loves cats, a little too much maybe, and I'm hoping Miss PK will channel some of that fierce love away from poor Clawd, the living and (so far) breathing real cat she loves to love. Clawd has already sniffed out the competition and doesn't seem worried about having to share the nightly scoop of gloop.

stocking snifflers

Every year I try to make a small object as my "everyone" gift -- small tokens of appreciation or last minute add ons that show some crafting effort on my part yet only cost an afternoon's worth of time and some scraps. I made bird ornaments last year and check book covers the year before that, but this year I'm making pocket tissue covers.

I won't bore you with a tutorial here as there are so many good ones already out there. I used the one from Skip to my Lou which is nicely lined and very simple. I'll also be using her template for the gift box that Miss Loodyloo will decorate herself. Both patterns are free -- such generosity on the craft blogs-- it gives me such a warm and fuzzy feeling.
Both quilters cotton and home dec weight fabrics work though I think I prefer the cotton ones. They were certainly easier to sew and press. The best thing about this project is using up all the cute scraps I have that are too small for anything else. Boy, I'm going to miss that Wizard of Oz Japanese fabric, but at least I got one more item out of it. That one is for the Loo's stocking (which means it's really for me!!).