Life Lately

Life has been a bit stressful in our neck of the woods. If you follow my other blog Adventures with our '76 Layton Trailer you'll quickly see why the stress level here is at sky high levels. We have a looming deadline of June 12 to complete it all by for our trip to the Olympic National Forest! Yikeez! Here's a pic of hubby fiddeling I think with paper.

I spy with my little eye...a 2 yr. old!

At the beginning of May I participated in an online vampire themed Ravelry swap.

Here's my awesome little swap package! I was definitely very spoiled by my swappee. And she included the most delicious homemade Oreo truffles!!

My swap package went to my swap partner in France. I sewed a 16" hex frame knitting bag I found the knitting bag tutorial for it at U-Handblog. It was pretty easy and fun to sew.

Other than this swap package, the trailer has been consuming our time. It is quite a large undertaking. Larger than we originally anticipated. It has put a hault on any puppet making or listing of a new load of vintage goodies in both my Etsy shops. It's been a scary month! Keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

Bicycle Frock Grosgrain Giveaway

Wow! I haven't posted for over a month and here I only post to enter a fun Grosgrain giveaway. I guess I'm a lame blog owner! But if you're on Ravelry, I've been over there quite a bit for the Love Bites Vamp Swap and watching a few indie dyers rav groups for new and awesome yarn, including pirate inspired colors (Jack Sparrow and Black Pearl) and Lord of the Rings inspired yarn color ways. All are pretty pretty! Maybe someday soon I'll come back on a regular basis. Spring is in the air, maybe that will help awaken my seasonally depressed side. See you soon and enjoy another awesome Grosgrain giveaway!

Bicycle Frock Grosgrain Giveaway

Shop Update

Just added this pretty little lady to the shop... Penda...she loves Valentine heart candy, smelling fresh roses and hearing a great love story.

Does your sweetheart need a sweetheart? Coming up for March...several different green sock puppets and a green Chura puppet!!

The Creative Writing Process

When I first had my puppet idea I knew they would need a special story to go along with how happy they just naturally seem to always look. I started with my prototype puppet (which I am just now realizing that I don't have a picture of) and took him to a couple of dinners or get-togethers with a few stories in mind. He was only given one arm, tiny pupils and never went through the proper photoshoot/interview process like all the other Chura's have. I still don't know his name! Poor guy!

Oh here...I found this photo...

There he is, highest on the rack, with Cheka (adopted), Goma and Marmor (both waiting for adoption) and a little sock puppet squeezed in. He started out with no arms, I debated that whole body part for a few weeks...arms? no arms? In the end I decided on arms obviously.

I worked out a wonderful little story that had horrible responses to it. The ultimate decider was my 5-yr-old who said it was too sad of a story. Why then do I say it is wonderful?? Because it's dark but has a happy ending, in sense...so here it goes...

"On the Orkney Islands north of Scotland there lived these little woodland creatures calls trows. Trows, who are a close cousin to the trolls of Scandinavian countries, have large ears and large noses and enjoy living in houses in mounds or hills. These trows were captured by ear snatchers and kept in tiny wood cages. Since then, they have been rescued and are ready and waiting for an adoption into a very loving home. Now, unlike dogs and cats who get dirtier and dirtier when you don't take care of them, trows get brighter and brighter with neglect which is why they at their bightest and prettiest when you first adopt them. With more and more love, each trow with get just a little bit dingier and much more happier to be in such a loving home."

If one is smart enough, like my 5-yr-old happens to be, they will put two-and-two together and see that these puppets don't have large ears like they do their large noses, and one might ask "What happened to his ears?" Well, if you listened to the story, you might recall that they were captured by ear snatchers. "What are ear snatcher?" Well, they are people who take trow ears. "Yeah, I don't like that story." And that was basically how the conversation went. Thus story #1 was declined...or was that #2...either way, the current story is the third attempt at giving my puppets A STORY! Which, if you all have looked at a Chura listing, you would know their story goes something like this...

"Everyone knows that if you are really lucky, you can find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow; but did you know that if you are really, really lucky, you can find a tiny portal at the OTHER end of the rainbow into the magical Land of Wexes? The Land of Wexes is a beautiful world we humans can only get a tiny glimpse of during certain candy commercials. For in this land, small colorful candies fall from cotton candy clouds which are then gathered up by sweet, fun loving little Churas. On rare occasion during a rainbow, Churas will be drawn to the sparkling moisture of our raindrops because they look like the shinier candies that are the tastiest in the land, and will find their way through the magical portal to our world. Some make it back home in time for supper and others get stuck here when the rainbow fades away with the shining rays of our sun."

Thus...being such a happier story...was approved!

New Puppets in the Works

Well, my first month of puppets for adoption was quite a success in my eyes! A dozen may not seem very impressive, but for a first time shop, I'm gonna say it is. Especially since it was December which is typically my most chaotic month of the year mentally AND I watch a baby 5 days a week for 40+ hours ON TOP OF raising two of my own. All-in-all...a success!
Now that the New Year has been around for 15 days, I started some new puppet color combinations. Above we have blue fur with red head/arms and striped lining as wells as white fur with blue fur head BUT...satin arms! I'm gonna make her (yes a her) a little fancy cuz she's wearing satin gloves to match her fur. I think I'm gonna give her a pearl necklace to go with her Hawaiian print lining fab.
This orange fur with yellow head/arms turned into this fellow below...His name is Jukali short for jua kali or fierce sun.

In the next day or two I should have these socks turned into new sock puppets. They need felt in their mouth, eyes and hair. Then they will each need to go through their own personal photo shoot and interview before being listed in the Etsy shop for sale. And when I say interview, I only ask them what their name is.

I also created a new listing for custom Chura Puppets. My production is not exactly up to speed, you know, with two kids, babysitting a baby and maintaining a house, I'm not exactly sure what my "speed" should be. I'm still learning that part of this new business. Should my goal be six new Chura Puppets a week? Is that pushing it? Or should I aim for just one or two? Today I listed two making my average one a week for the year. (haha...there's only been two weeks in this year so far.) I don't see that as good. We shall see....

Next up...my creative story process and how I came up with "the other end of the rainbow."

What's happenin' 'round here!

Well, now that the summer is long gone and we're no longer focused on fixing up our camp trailer or camping or enjoying the warm outdoors, my focus has shifted to being creative once again. I never quite lost the "puppet itch" from creating all those upcycled fairy sock puppets back in June. This fall I spent quite a bit of time researching puppets, hand puppets, sock puppets and the likes until the opportunity arose when I could actually create one for myself. That little creative session finally came one weekend in November at my moms house and I just whipped out a cute little fellow...who still has no left arm and no name. Poor guy! But all his newly created friends are listed in the Etsy shop. Take a gander...see what I've been up to...see what finally has got me crafting again.

Marmor, Tulia and Nondo, two of which are available in my Etsy shop. And to let you in on a little info...I have red, blue and orange fur on it's way to me, so keep your eyes out for some new friends coming soon!

If I had a baby girl...

A friend introduced me to Pinterest which I came across once at some point this past year but had no idea what it was. Now I know, now I'm getting to know, but really, this blog is to show this that I found on it...SO CUTE!! If I had a baby girl, I would run upstairs and sew this TODAY! Even though I found it on Pinterest, it was a tutorial blogged by Smashed Peas and Carrots here. YOU can make one too!

Oh...to have a baby girl....

New Blog

Hello my fellow blog friends! I'm here to announce a new blog I have started that will probably be my "craft" focus for a bit...at least while the weather is nice. Then I may get back to sewing and crafting again. Check out my latest fun at...
Adventures With Our '76 Layton Trailer
Happy Crafting!

Puppet Profit!!

Puppets, puppets EVERYWHERE!! One day back in June, my son and I had a spur of the moment idea...SOCK PUPPETS!! Toddler was playing with a sock on his hand, 4 yr. old decided he needed one too...VOILA! Craft idea!

We were at grandma's house who happened to have a HUGE bag of sock singles. We dug out about 2 dozen socks, dug out her yarn and felt stash, cut up her caffeine free Diet Coke boxes and searched all over for the hot glue sticks. Then made these fun Fairy Friends!!

SO CUTE!! Both boys got to keep one, then we sold the rest at the Ye Merry Greenwood Faire we went to also with grandma (who had a booth of fairies!) We didn't have to buy ANY supplies!

If you want to make one for your child...check out this tutorial by DownWithClutter.

ENJOY!!

Professional Photographer ebook Giveaway

Ever since last fall when I obtained a new digital camera, my blog posting has declined. My new camera came with an owner's manual on a cd that I had to download, I felt ripped off! I enjoy reading an owners manual in my hands, taking it with me whereever I go. Now I had to read it on a computer which I am constantly trying to keep computer time to a minimum. So, the learning process has been greatly slowed due to my lack of interest in downloading a digital owner's manual. Well, today, low and behold, Grosgrain is hosting yet another fabulous giveaway for an ebook put together by a photographer. PERFECT!!

The Key to Taking Pictures Like a Professional Photographer ebook Giveaway

This may not be my camera's manual, but I am pretty sure it would be a great resource to learn a lot from. It would still be on the computer, but it would most likely be in a written language understandable by me. Thank you Grosgrain for hosting such wonderful giveaways!

New Skirt Love

About a year ago I posted about some ModCloth skirts that I wanted to attempt to create for myself. (Still have yet to create those, but I did just find that fabric again today actually!) Well, this year I stumbled across another site in a skirt search for myself to possibly make and wear to Farm Chicks. I found both on Zappos.com, never been to that site before...

This first one would have worked for Farm Chicks, had I tried to make it, maybe with a denim waist band instead. This second one is a Lily Pulitzer skirt and just looked like a fun one to make for a fun summer day... ...AND it reminded me of a recent Grosgrain tutorial, so I thought, HEY! I could do that! I did find one on Modcloth today too, though, and I already have the fabric for it. I just need that satin looking bias trim, if that's what it is.

Thought I'd share some of that with you. Enjoy!

I'm kinda here...

I've finally found some motivation and may be back to crafting again. This past fall/winter proved to be a pretty challenging one for the first time in my life. I'm not one who is prone to seasonal depression, I honestly do not know much about it. I just know that the sun is such a huge motivating factor to my day. This winter was pretty dreary and overcast. Plus add the fact that I experienced a huge loss in February, the passing of my father. It just added to my lack of want to do anything.

With the coming of spring, our days have been sunnier and bright. This past week, almost every day was in the 70's! SO NICE! I have started crafting again and have a few things to share...

Back in February I participated in Yarni Gras ornament swap, a gnome home. I had a marvelous idea that proved to be time consuming and required patience with the final installation. This little gnome is sleeping in a "captured" home with a couple toadstoals and at the end of a rainbow. I pray that it makes it in one piece!

The rest of the package included a Welcome Gnome plaque, a dove bar, two magnets of layered vintage buttons (I first had this idea last June from a vendor at Farm Chicks, it onlly took me 11 months to finally create them!) and one of my owls from Moonstitches online tutowlrial. I hope Kerry enjoys it all and doesn't see this post before they arrive!

I also sewed a few blocks for the Block Lotto this month...they proved to be quite a challenge since I did not have an opportunity to trim them to size, they had to be perfectly sewn to achieve size. It was a good lesson for me and they were fun to create!

I also sewed a dress for a parade. Our MOPS group participated in the Jr. Lilac Day Parade and we dressed up in the 1950's era. It was a Simplicity Project Runway pattern....if I get to it....I will post it soon.

Have a great weekend!

Update?

I don't think this will be an update, I'm here to confess that I have had no motivation these past couple months for adding new projects or pictures to this blog. Or to even just type about what I've been up to. Maybe it's a rut, I'm not sure. I've been crafty and creative but the camera issue a few months back really made me lose the desire to take new pics and share. I'm slowly learning the new camera and I'm getting better at using it, but it's not enough to motivate me.

Quickly though, Christmas was stressful for me; New Years the family was in bed by 10ish, I was by 11:30; January went by in a breeze but we spent the last week of it in HAWAII!! That was a blast!! February has been nothing but illness among all four of us and this past weekend an acquaintance through a group I volunteer with lost her husband to a heart attack at the age of 44. They have four kids and she is due with her 5th this May. My heart goes out to her and all my energy for the next week or more will be to however I can help this family out. I have never experienced a friend losing a spouse. I have experienced friends losing parents, pets, extended family, but that's it. This is new and difficult at the same time.

That is basically all I have right now. No pics, no crafts, nothing in the creative department. I hope you and your family are happy, healthy and safe!

Vacation

I have finally decided to officially declare that I am taking a holiday break for the month of December. With a new camera learning curve and new laptop (debating if I should store pics on it yet) and Christmas around the corner, this blog has fallen to the bottom of my priorities list.

HAVE A HAPPY HOLIDAY AND SEE YOU IN THE NEW YEAR!

New blocks

A few new blocks for Block Lotto . Requirements were a purple and white 8" center sampler block on point with at least three fabrics of our choice in each corner to make it 12.5" square total. I LOVE how the snails trail one turned out.

I spy Friday...

I spy with my little eye...a one year old talking to his friends. My moms dolls are the same height as him...he got curious about them and kept hanging out with them.

How does your garden grow?

It's mid November and up here in northeastern Washington the average temperature is not very warm...like 30's and 40's averaging. We had our first frost mid September?? I don't remember, but it killed all the tomato plants. Soon after that I brought in our strawberry and pepper plants to the mudroom. I just hope I wasn't too late for those little peppers, they all look dead but I've read that they'll drop their leaves for winter and grow back in the spring. We shall see.
But LOOK at our garden!! I took this pic last week!! We still have sugarsnap peas growing and ripening, the carrots all look great (I'm not sure if they're growing though) and the kohlrabi, while a little bitten up, are still growing too!! REALLY?!??! Into winter??
The ground is still wet and the temperature fluctuates between the high 30's and low 40's. If I read up on my veggies and gardening, I bet I would learn why these plants are still growing in such chilly weather. Although...the kohlrabi are not really growing into a ball, they're just growing. Weird.
Oh, and this is looking straight down onto the pumpkin patch, which is the corner between the back steps and the house, only next year I think we'll be growing that yellow squashes seeds. Dreary looking corner, eh? :)

Funny things in life

Neither my husband nor I ever had ducks growing up. He's a big time city kid and I grew up in a small farming town, so I had more exposure, but not much. We had chicks once, but they grow so fast they were soon sent to my aunts house in the country. Ever since we got our ducks towards the end of August, we've had daily chuckles and smiles put upon our face by these two feathered friends. EVERY single time we walk out the back door, we hear quacking and the quick patter-patter-patter of duck feet over to see us...

SLAM! Patter-patter-patter-patter...
QUAAACK, Quack, quack-quack-quack?? (Translation: OH! You gonna feed us??)
Cuz a snack would be nice, there's fewer bugs out now...
No really, cold weather = fewer bugs...
Seriously,we'd like to have a snack NOW!
So disappointing! Let's go...
EVERY time we walk out back, this is what we get.

I spy Friday...

I spy with my little eye...a preschooler wishing to help his daddy. Timberrrrrr!!!! And no, that wasn't the whole tree, that was just a limb. The stump we left in is about two feet across...it was a big one!

Where have I been??

Well...let me tell you...for the month of October I SUPER over-committed myself. As a mother of two...it's pretty stressful. It all started with Halloween costumes. I wanted to make both boys and my college roommate asked me to make hers. THEN it was the countdown to our churches fall bazaar where I signed myself up to donate craft items, desserts in a jar gifts and baked goods. On top of all that was my monthly Year Of Enchantment ornament swap, which was sent out a week late, mostly because of poor time management for the entire month on my part. Well, ALL of these things had to be completely roughly in the same THREE DAY WINDOW!! That's where it got stressful...time was running out. The boys got sick on top of all that.

Other than that brief explanation, here's what I have to show for the month of October:

My swap package for the Year of Enchantment. October's ornament theme was owls. I used Moonstitches tutowlrial. They were so fun to make and SO CUTE!! Below is a pic of the package I received.
In fact, they were so cute and so fun that I decided to make a whole nest of them for the church bazaar. Once again, my camera wanted to fail. Picture taking has been so discouraging ever since it's "accident" I talked about here.
Well, other than all the owls, I made two batches of pumpkin spice cupcakes, two pans of cookie type bars and a dozen jarred "desserts in a jar." They are quart jars layered with dried ingredients then a recipe tag attached on how to make them. I chose the M&M bar and the Dreamsicle bar which was a HUGE HIT!! It's made with Tang...that's what makes it so dreamy I guess. Oh, and our Halloween costumes...
Toddler wanted to be a knight because it had a sword. Look at all his armor!! Thank you dollar store!! Together we decided that baby could be a dragon, and toddler (the knight) could save the princess (that would be me, in a stinky, vintage velvet dress from my moms costume closet) from the dragon. Like the ferocious dragon in the pic?? He was pretty ferocious until we started walking in the stroller. But if I didn't make my dress and ferocious dragon was toddlers costume last year, why was I so stressed about sewing the knight costume?? Oh yeah...because I also had to sew college roommates costume, which was this...to a T. :/ Fur IS NOT fun to work with.