Crafty Hens

I'm loving how Pinterest now recommends boards and pins that they think I may like.  I get all sorts of neat new ideas in my feed without having to go searching for them! How lovely! One project Pinterest so nicely brought to my attention was these amazing hand stitched felt French hens by mmmcrafts (link)! Just look at how darling these ladies are:

(source)

I love the fun non-traditional colours they used and the adorable stitched details! I'd love to make one of these and hang it up in the kitchen or maybe even the front door! I feel like these are totally something my Grandma would have put up at the farm when I was a kid (making me love them even more) and are even a bit reminiscent of my favourite vintage pyrex pattern - butterprint:

Heck you could even make a hen from turqouise and white felt and make it even more butterprint-y! Lovely! Looks like I'm adding this project to my ever growing "to craft" list! What are your thoughts? Do you ever make weird felt things to hang on your walls? 

all the felt succulents please

I'm pretty sure I've always had a soft spot for cacti and succulents.  Back in 1993 I remember going crazy over hen and chicks at my uncle's house and promptly making my mom and grandma plant a whole bunch in their own gardens once we got home.  I've probably toned it down a bit since then, but I still really enjoy their amazingly bizarre greenery and neato different species that make them a cool set of plants. Plus they're apparently really easy to take care of and grow at home (although it isn't completely fool proof...trust me). 

Last year I ended up taking a succulent class at the university horticulture centre where I learned all about these cool little guys and got to make a planter of my very own! I was extra enthused about becoming an amazing succulent gardener and loved taking care of my new family of plants I got to take home from the course:

Oh! Don't they look lovely? As time went on (and summer ended and I had to bring these babies inside), I quickly realized that I sort of stink at taking care of plants and a bunch of them died. Well...most of them died actually.  My friends always tell me what an amazing gardener I am with my jungle of houseplants I keep in my living room but I'm afraid the secret is out. I'm not actually that great at keeping things alive - but I am really good at buying new plants and then repotting my planters to make them look like I didn't kill them all.  Yep. No more lies. I've got a black thumb. 

I seem to be doing the "swap out the dead plants" game every few months and although potting plants is a wonderful hobby I'm enjoying (and getting pretty good at), I am increasingly drawn to the world of felt succulents I've been seeing so much of on the internet. I mean look at this fantastic arrangement made by miasole on etsy (link):

(source)

Now those are some stunning succulents - and you can't even kill them! Oh what a brilliant idea!  I am always a sucker for a good felt project and with the supplies just kicking around I'm definitely adding this one to the "to craft" list.  I'm highly doubting my creations will be as amazing as miasole's, but I like to put a good attempt in before calling it quits. I'll let you know how it goes.  I will also have to take a picture of the one succulent from that planter I showed you that seems to be thriving in my "neglectful to all things living" environment.  Any master succulent growers out there?  How do you keep your plants from dying off?

In other news, tonight I realized that in 2014 I wrote a whopping 6 blog posts. That is a good 360 fewer posts than many of my previous years and I'd really like to meet somewhere in between that 6 and 360 post range. Seems doable right? We shall see. This is a good start right?

Felt Sandwich!

The crafty restocking continues this spring and I've got myself one massively colourful felt sandwich to show off today!

Isn't it just delightful? Nothing like a whole bunch of sewn together pinking sheared felt circles to perk up the day! Confused on why I spent so long making them? Why for happy illustrated pocket mirror cases of course! Just look how thrilled yeti is to be scratch free and cozy in his little hand-stitched case:

Yeah! Thumbs up for crafty productivity! My mirrors always seem to be a hit and since I've spent some time restocking the mirrors it was certainly necessary to perk up the colour choices for the cases as well! Check out those sweet, sweet piles of progress:

Hooray! Once again my best pal Lindsay was to thank for much of this work since she cut those bad boys up for me in no time while we chatted and I rested my weary wrists! Yay! Now if only ever day was filled with wonderful Lindsay...

Friday Find: Wooli Mochi

Well it's official - Fraser and I have bought a condo and are moving back to Kamloops this fall. I'm pretty excited to be back with all my great friends and family, but am dreading moving (ack) and am going to miss the wonderful fibre arts stores here in Victoria. Luckily there are fantastic online shops like Wooli Mochi (link) that cary loads of felting fibres and even adorable wool felting kits like this squirrel one:

(source)

Isn't she just the sweetest little squirrel you've ever seen? I sort of want to make a pair of them (with different accessories) to use as wedding cake toppers this summer but we will have to see if I can perfect my felting skills before I commit to that! What are your thoughts? Have you ever bought felting supplies online? 

Felt Doily Mobile

I've always been a fan of mobiles.  I love their texture and movement and am especially fond of how they look hanging from bedroom lights so they can move and cast shadows around.  Of course they are typically limited to decorating children's rooms but this lovely felt/doily combo from Sparkle Power (link) makes me think differently:

(source)

lsn't it interesting? I do, of course, love the materials used for this one and the textures and subtle detail are just darling! I'm sure the white on teal picture helps the cause a smidge...but a good picture can really make any craft if you ask me. What do you think? Have you ever made a mobile? 

More Felt Feather Earrings

As you probably know by now (unless you're new that is), I am a huge fan of working with wool felt! I pretty much try to work felt into all sorts of different craft projects and a few years ago started making jewelry out of that most wonderful medium in the form of felt feather earrings (oh look! here's the link to the nov 2010 post)! I was certain that their $12 price point, hand stitched loveliness, and fun feathery jewel tones would be a huge hit at craft shows but like many of the items I whip up, customers didn't love them quite as much as I do and they sold mediocrely. I did, however, land one heck of a sweet consignment deal with one of my most favourite shops in Kelowna and these babies sold like hot cakes there! Woo hoo! Well, it's been two full years since I started making them and while I was putting together a package of goodies to ship to the Kamloops Art Gallery (to put in their expanded holiday shop), I thought I'd refresh the stocks with a few new hand crafted wonders! Check out these felty colour combinations:

I had a great time picking which tones would work best together and tried to stick to colour schemes that have been most popular in my crafty history. It could be fall calling to me, but this rust and oxblood pair is particularly pleasing in my books. Here's a close up:

Aren't they fun? I do fear those might blend in a little too well with my red hair, but sometimes some subtle monochromatic tones are just what the doctor ordered! Even though these pairs on on their way to new homes in the interior (or at least to the shelves of the KAG), I am considering making a few more new pairs to put up in my etsy shop! With all the craft shows, daily blog posts, and general stresses/health issues of life I haven't had a ton of spare time to allot to etsy updates but since I couldn't get into any of the winter sales here (darn their year wait lists) I figure I should be able to get a few new items on there.  These earrings are even quite practical to list since shipping won't cost an arm and a leg for them (much unlike pretty much any of my crafts that are thicker than 2cms)!  What do you think? What colour of felt earrings tickle your fancy? 

Friday Find: Loft Full of Goodies!

Guess what? I love wool felt! Haha! No surprises there! Today's find is one Etsy shop jam packed with simply lovely wool felt goods and is no exception to my felt loving ways. Check out some amazingly awesome felt products from Loft Full of Goodies:

(source)

Eeee! What gorgeous colours, stitching, and felt texture! Just as the shop tag line says, these are certainly happy handmade goodies for all occasions! It totally makes me want to get my needle and thread out, but instead I'll just drool over these while I keep myself extra busy with the craft sale this weekend. Hooray! Which goodie do you like best?

yeti loves tea!

Being sick on the couch all weekend means two things, 1) I didn't schedule any blog posts like I normally do and 2) In my zombie ill brainlessness I whipped up some cute embroidery hoops! I mean look how enthusiastic yeti is about that cup of tea:

Maybe it is actually a cup of chicken noodle soup (which Fraser has been nice enough to keep me in supply of) and he had a cozy weekend just like me! Yay! I'm hoping one more day of rest is all I need to heal up then I'll be back at it tomorrow! In the meantime - I hope you like yeti. I wanted to set a few of these up for my craft booth - any suggestions for pricing on my hours and hours of handmade goodness?

Cute Felt Boxes

Happy Monday! While I am busy soaking up my last few moments of mini break, I thought I'd share a project that I'm dying to try out! After all - it has some of my most favourite elements:

1) Felt!

2) Organization!

3) Quick and simple instructions!

Hooray! More exclamation marks required!!!! Take a peek at the sweet felt boxes from How About Orange:

source

Yup, I'm pretty much in love with these little boxes and clearly need to come up with a use for them so I can rationalize wasting a few hours experimenting! What do you think? What would you use felt boxes for?

Anemone Felt Pins

As I'm sure you all know, I am a huge fan of felt! It is the perfect craft medium because it is easy to work with, doesn't fray, and is available in an assortment of amazing colours! There are a plethora of awesome projects you can make out of it, and if you've ever tried crafting with wool felt squares you'll fall even deeper in love! You may recall a previous post I did where I spilled the beans on all my supply sourcing secrets (link) and where I raved about the fun felt you can get from Benzie Bazaar's shop on etsy.  As it turns out, Benzie also has an etsy shop of pre-made goodies where you can find their most swoon worthy anemone felt brooches. Just look at those jewel tones:

 
When I came across these gems on Benzie's blog I couldn't help but post about them! I love the french knots, texture, size, boldness, and (of course) colour of these brooches! Ah! I'm sure the coordinating outfit in the image above really helps me see how awesome they are but they are just so darling! Red not your thing? Not to worry - they've got lots of other colour combinations to choose from. As for me, I'll be dreaming about these flowers til the cows come home! What do you think?

foxy!

Remember that fox pin I made last May when I went on my cruise? Well I decided I'd make a new fox head version of him and send it away to my craft swap partner with the wooden pendant I made! I am super pleased with how it turned out and think he is cuter than ever! Take a peek:


Isn't he sweet? I knew Carmila had a soft spot for foxes so I figured her own hand sewn brooch would be perfect for our swap! Here's a peek of him from the back:


I may need to make another one of these for myself because I think he would be just perfect on a cardigan for spring! Maybe I'll even make a few more and list them in the shop! As for the craft swap, I was happy to hear Carmila loved her new goodies and even did a post showing off the pin:


I even got my parcel in the mail too! I am over the moon about all the lovely goodies she made for me and just need to take some pictures to share them with you! Have you ever done a craft swap? Would anyone be interested in doing another if I held one?

Make your own felt flowers

I've made all sorts of felt flower decorations in the past and really love this flower tutorial from Infarrantly Creative! Just take a peek at those blooming felt wonders:


Wouldn't they make awesome brooches, hair pins, and fascinators? I sure think so! Plus I always love a good felt project and just bought some fresh wool felt in a whole bunch of fun colours to try this out with! Hooray! I really like the texture you get with these flowers and love how 3D they are. To top it all off, they look super easy to whip up (making them all more attractive to me)! What fun! What do you think?

Spring Art Card!

A few weeks ago I shared a link to Amanda's fourth art card swap and I thought I'd share my finished piece! I figured since I did a different technique in each of the last four ATCs I've made (check them out here) that I'd stitch this one. I went with the pinking sheer flowers pattern I've used on coffee sleeves and tea cozies in the past and made a tiny little wool felt card version. Take a peek:


Hooray! How springy! I am particularly pleased with how the little stitched dirt looks and really like the light green background. Here's a closer look:


Oh I just love quick little projects! Luckily spring is in full swing here in Victoria and the city is bursting with cherry blossoms, spring flowers, and greenery! It has even been nice and sunny these last few days making extra lovely. So what do you think of my ATC? You can check out the other entries on Amanda's blog (link) and I really hope my partner likes mine! I wonder which one I'll receive...

take a bow.

As I grow older, I find my person style keeps morphing. Although I have always been fond of certain looks (usually geeky ones involving lots of layers), I am constantly drawn to a wardrobe full of handmade accessories and no better way to build on that than making my own set of felt bows! I attempted making a few of these a while back (sans tutorial and pattern) and although I did come up with a few bow like creations, they were far from perfection. Not to worry crafters! The ladies from Oh So Lovely (courtesy of my girl thursday) are here to fill in the blanks! Just check out these gems:


Okay, so it is very doubtful I'd go with the pale pink and brown combo, but perhaps some nice jewel tones would go nicely with my current closet. Maybe I could even turn one into a black hairband and sport it at work (oOoOo what a risk taker I am)! Although I doubt I'd go very big as far as the hair accessories go, I do think these would make lovely brooches and look extra fabulous clipped on a scarf. What do you think? Have you ever dabbled in bow making?

Christmas!

Happy Christmas everyone! Hopefully jolly ol' St. Nick was good to you last night and while I am busy sharing in the holiday festivities with the family (well...most of the family since my sis couldn't make it...) I finally get to share something with all of you! While Fraser was hanging out with his brothers I sneakily made a present for him and am so thrilled with the results! Take a peek:


What's this? Felt, hand stitching, pinking shears, and a hint of yeti? My favs all combined to make Fraser a special stocking:


I originally wanted to embroider one of Fraser's favourite animals on there, but quickly realized that Fraser really only likes orange animals (which would look terrible on the red felt). With the xmas deadline ticking I decided to whip out the 2.25" button maker and make a "big yeti with little friends" button trio to help finish it off! Throw in some matching light blue letters and we've got ourselves one personalized surprise! Take a look at the stocking next to our little xmas tree to see it's full festive glory:


Oh man, I've been dying to share this with you for a good 10 days now and am pleased I didn't manage to spill the beans. Hopefully Fraser likes it as much as I do! How is your xmas going?

Felt pom poms!

Let's be realistic. If any of you saw this fantastic tutorial over at Delightfully Tacky, you must have known I was destine to write about it. After all - felt? pom poms? wrapping? Ah! It's a triple win! And look how adorable they are:


Oh dear these are cute! Plus they are relatively simple to make (and I do have quite the selection of felt to chose from) making this project even better. Too bad I already mailed all my sister's presents away to her (which, by the way, arrived in record time for this time of year) and most of my other presents are all wrapped and ready. I guess if I manage to find a little creative time I can test this one out, but I figure it doesn't need to be limited to xmas! May 2012 be the year of the felt pom pom wrapped present! Who's with me?

Friday Find: The Blooming Thread

Florals, buttons, felt and brooches combine to make one fantastic accessories section over at etsy's The Blooming Thread! Just take a peek at these beauties:


I love the combination of different textures, patterns, and colours to make such gorgeous pins! Brooches not your cup of tea? Not to worry - the blooming thread has a wide variety of handmade goodies to chose from so I'm sure you'll find something to swoon over.

In other news - today I am heading home for xmas vacation! Goodbye mild loveliness of Victoria and hello well loved friends and family in Kamloops! It also means I will be away from the etsy shop for the rest of December (which, isn't really that tragic since the holiday shipping deadlines are long past). And don't fret my wonderful blog readers, I may be away from the WiFi, but I'll you'll have lots of festive kate posts to keep you company while I'm away! Happy Friday!

double bacon

A few weeks ago I asked all of you for help coming up with ideas for my polar opposite to me secret santa partner at work. I went with the "gag gift" theme everyone suggested for me and searched downtown for a suitable present. I ended up finding the perfect humor book full of unusual and odd facts (something my coworker already does all the time giving him further fodder)! Aha! I thought I'd throw in something handmade to spice up the gift giving a bit more and made some bacon ornaments:


Aren't they cute? I just can't say no to some wide set eye smiles and felt! Plus, the bacon ornament I made last year was such a big hit at work I'm hoping he is this xmas too! Only time will tell though, the party is tomorrow night. Looks like I need to get wrapping! How is your weekend going?

Grab the pinking shears!

Nothing like some good old fashioned homemade bows to bring out the holiday festiveness! Who knew you could make brown paper packages look so good? Just take a peek at the gauze, canvas, and burlap awesomeness from For the Love:


Aren't they just lovely? I totally need to whip out the pinking shears and give them a try! Heck, don't stop at the burlap - could you imagine these in...say...felt!?!?! Ack! Looks like I need to start rethinking my xmas wrapping plans! What do you think? Have you ever successfully made your own bows?

Paper Balls

When I saw this 3D paper ball ornament project over on How About Orange I was reminded of how fun it is to craft with paper:


Isn't that super neat? Just print out of circles, snip in a few fold lines, and voila! Your very own geometric wonderful ornament! My sister learned how to make these in elementary school and I recall her making one out of wrapping paper that my grandparents used to see when the furnace fan was on. We are on boiler radiators here, so no need to whip out the wrapping paper for some nostalgia, but I am particularly drawn to the white versions:


They are sort of reminiscent of pom poms don't you think? I love the shapes and shadows they cast and think these would be just lovely hanging in the empty space between our kitchen/dining area and the opening to the living room! OoO! Even better - could you imagine them in felt!!?! Oh I'm drooling with inspiration! What do you think? Anyone want to make some balls with me?