wonderland5

What a hoot!

 

I am pleased and flattered to announce that this guy was featured in the most recent etsy finds.  He is pretty shy usually so this much attention may make him want to hide his head under his wing.  Too bad it's sewn down buddy!!

I have new owls coming to the shop this week.  Think red! red! red!

looking for a few good homes...

 

Here's the latest owl gang, hanging out at the Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Fest last weekend.  Many of these fine friends have flown off to new homes but a few a still fluttering around the nest.  Want to adopt your own?  Ongoing shop update this week at the wonderland5 etsy shop.

have I mentioned...

that my work is featured in several new craft books?  Both books are published by the fabulous Lark Books, whose catalog I used to dream over in the eighties.  As a teen, I often spent my birthday money ordering craft books from them, little dreaming that some day I would be one of their designers!  I have done several other projects with them, with more on the way for 2009, but these two books are so fun and yummy, they are my favorites.

First up is A is for Apron by Nathalie Mornu:

I have two aprons in this book, both of which have been fabulously styled and well-photographed, which is truly gratifying.  You may make a terrific project but unless the production people are good at what they do--well, you can guess how that might go.  Anyway, this is a great great book.  So many cool aprons!  I have plans for several of these patterns.  I am really glad to have been a part of this project and anyone who likes aprons should really check this book out.

If you like aprons, maybe you like to cook?  That isn't true for me but it could be for many people!  And even those of us who don't particularly *like* to cook may still find ourselves in the kitchen next to a hot stove.  Nothing cheers me up more than a cool, handmade kitchen accessory that reminds me that my real life of sewing awaits me after I finish up. 

Pretty Little Potholders is the latest entry in the "Pretty Little..." series that also included pincushions and patchwork. 

I have three potholders featured and again, excellent photography and good styling.  I think my work is shown to it's best advantage.  Many other fun projects by bloggers and designers that many will recognize.  This book has a fun retro feel and some easy and fun projects that would make great gifts ( it's August 1 people!  Time to start planning your Christmas and holiday making!)

Actually, you know what would make a fun gift?  An apron that you made with some matching fabric and the potholder book!  That would be good for someone just learning how to sew.

Here's a peek inside the books, with my projects featured. It may be shameless self-promotion but what else can I do? If you have the books, check me out (Betsy Couzins) and feel free to tell me what you think (unless you think they are awful and ugly in which case I say "didn't your elders teach you what to say when you don't have anything nice to say???")

it's all in the pocket

My new apron fascination is fancy pockets.  I guess I have made so many aprons at this point that it's a bit old hat so I have been branching out.  This pocket is a little patchwork house inspired by a Japanese craft book (I don't have the ISBN # handy but comment if you want it and I will edit to add.)  It was terribly difficult for me to make, having never used triangles in patchwork before but now I think I have it figured out.  Who would guess that those tiny triangular "sky" pieces would trip me up so much?  Sometimes I look at a picture of something (like a patchwork house, for example) and I think "I could make that.  How hard could it be?"  and then I try to make it and find myself swearing like a longshoreman and cursing my own arrogance.  Luckily, it usually works out alright in the end.

We have just returned from a mini-break at the beach.  I will post more as soon as I catch up on laundry!

back to business (sort of)

I just looked back through my blog entries for the past few months and had to say to myself "is this a craft blog or what??"  Of course it isn't *just* a craft blog but my main purpose in blogging is to document what I make.  Like so many others, it is the process that I love and so it seems that as soon as I have finished something I completely forget about it (especially now that I have terrible mommy brain.)  I like to use this blog to remind myself of what I have accomplished.

So, that being said, here are a few things I have finished recently:

First of all, Jack has lately been obsessed with this Richard Scarry book that he got for Christmas.  Mike and I both loved Richard Scarry's work as kids and so it is so fun to revisit these books with Jack.  In this particular volume, there is a little bug ("Goldbug") that hides on every page and Jack has made it his personal mission to find him.  This necessitates the repetition of the following conversation about 100 times per day: "Where's Goldbug? He hidin'.  There he is! There's Goldbug!"  Please keep in mind that my only role in this conversation is to sit mutely and then express utter amazement as Goldbug is found on each and every page.  And I am amazed, sort of.  Mostly that this child, who cannot remember what he had for lunch when questioned about it ten minutes later, somehow remembers the placement of a miniscule bug in forty different pictures.  But I digress...to celebrate Goldbug and Jack, I made him a t-shirt:

Now we don't even need to have the book open to find Goldbug!

I also have been making some more felt owls and am getting ready for a shop update:

I really love making these guys.  They are all handstitched and so each one has it's own personality and expression.  They make me laugh.

More projects soon, I promise.

check 'em out!

The latest Tie One On gallery has been posted.  The theme this time was polka-dots and there are some really cool aprons on view.

This is my entry, made for my sister for Christmas.  I usually like to model my aprons but my ginormous belly at the time prevented me from doing so.  Ah well, it looks alright on the wall.

In other news, the colds continue.  Will the mucus never end???  Anna's eyes are all goopy and she is miserable and unable to sleep.  You know what that means:  I am miserable and unable to sleep!  But I am keeping my chin up:  it can't go on forever.

meet the gang

See, I have been making stuff over here, really.  I made a felt owl for Jack and it was so much fun I ended up making nine more.  I just can't resist their little serious, yet somehow goofy, eyes.

I sold a few new friends at a festival  the other day and am in process of listing more in my shop.

I think I might make a companion pussycat--no pea-green boats but the two would look mighty cute together.  I have been having some pregnancy issues--nothing really serious, no worries, baby girl is just fine, perhaps even thriving--but it means I have been spending *a lot* of time sitting around with my feet up.  Hand work is just what the doctor ordered to keep my anxieties about accomplishing very little at bay.  So, more owls, coming up!    

Hoot if you love pillowcases!

I know, I know, I'm a bit late on the owl-loving bandwagon but truly I really do like them, I'm not trying to be trendy or anything.  In fact, Mike and I sat on our deck late last night and listened to two different kinds of owls hooting up a storm, very cool.

Anyway, I promised a bit back that I would show some of the stuff I have been making lately, so here goes:

This is a thrifted pillowcase -- I ironed on some owl transfers--(you know the kind that come in the yellow package, what are they called??  Pregnancy brain has attacked with a vengeance, sorry 'bout that.)  This particular tableau is a combination of a few different transfers from the pack.

Here's the daddy and momma owl after embroidering--they look sleepy, don't they?

This little guy doesn't look sleepy *at all*:

"Hey guys, wake up!!  It's time to par-tay!!"

Sigh.  Those eyes sure are bright for the middle of the night.

new aprons

Mom was over today, hanging out with Jack and I.  She graciously agreed to model my two newest aprons.  Isn't she just the best little skinny minnie?

I like the way this one turned out--I feel like I finally mastered the bias trim insanity here.

I like this one too--the top is a pin stripe seersucker that has a great hand.  The toile layer is all gathered and ruffly.  This is maybe the *girliest* of the aprons that I have made.

I'll be putting these up in my Etsy shop in the next few days.

I really need a dress form

This is the kimono robe from the Amy Butler In Stitches book--it is so much cuter in person.  I should know better--nothing looks good on a hanger!!  I am *this* close to breaking down and buying a dressform.  I would love to get a vintage one somewhere but the practical side of me says that the "my size" or "my twin" new dressforms that they sell at the big fabric stores would work better for me.  Form or function?  That is the question.  Any thoughts?