twinkly trees

I keep a row of blue jars on my mantel, each with bits of nature in them. Feathers, rose hips, dandelion puffs, a nest...and now...

a sparkly forest.

I gave myself permission to play today, and this is what I did. I've been enamored of those jars with the little bottle brush trees in them. I tried making bottle brush trees...not my thing.

Instead I went with wool and made a simple treescape, needling a string of mini LED lights in the largest tree and tucking the battery pack up inside the lid.

Just enough twinkle.

Happy weekend all.

slack Friday

I've given myself permission today to do any ol' thing I want, as long as it isn't work-related, involve cleaning, or generally considered productive. Or involve elbowing my fellow humans out of the way at some retail store.

I might make some decorations for the house, or work on that stuffed animal for my daughter, or maybe just sit and watch the Blue Jays and Chickadees visit the feeder. Perhaps there will be a nap. I will most definitely eat that ramekin of creme brulee that's sitting in the refrigerator. 

We will see.

Happy Slack Friday, everyone.

owl be having a class and it will be a hoot

(sorry for that title, that was terrible)

I spent some time yesterday working on some wee owls for the next class I'm teaching.

I've found a great group of women in my community that are excited about learning to needle-felt, and we add a few new ones to each class. We needle and chat and have snacks and it's great fun.

The next class will these little guys.

hoo!

A tree full of wee hoots.

This owl will not have any of your shenanigans. He will not have them.

This owl might not either.

Each is simple in shape, perfect for a beginner, but fun enough for someone who is more experienced.

The class will be Dec. 9 from 5:30 to 8:00

at the Franklin Arts Center in Brainerd, MN

More details to come.

a good day to meet some sheep

A very cold Monday off of work turned out to be a great day to meet some sheep.

I'm always on the lookout for local wool so it was to my delight that a local fiber person, who just happened to be a sheep owner, walked into my place of work this fall and struck up a conversation. My friend Mary and I traveled down to see her and her darling sheep and came home with big bags of wool and even bigger smiles.

This little sweetie pie really liked me my camera strap.

nibble nibble nibble

All the sweet faces! Even though that guy was head-butting some other guys, he was still very cute. So is his photo-bombing friend.

Snacks! Sheep like snacks!

What a great day. Hope yours was as well.

mailing mañana

A batch of "First Timer's" stones are packaged up and will be in the mail shortly.  See, I was going to go to town yesterday on my day off and pick up some more shipping supplies but then this happened...

and I decided that maybe I would stay inside by the wood stove instead.  Today though, I will be on the road and to those who ordered stones, rest assured they'll head off with Marv the mailman, mañana.

(I forgot to bring the pumpkin in from the outside table before it snowed, can you tell?)

Have a warm and wonderful Tuesday.

well that was fast

Just the other day I checked in on the mushrooms in a tree and mentioned that I would check on them again after the first snowfall.  Turns out I didn't have to wait long.  So here we go, mushrooms in snow.  

I'll check on them again at a later date.

In the meantime I'm stitching a few stones.  It seems that my soul is rebelling against the grey (and now white) landscape and I'm reaching for the sun in the form of wool stones.

I'm going to do one more "First Timers" grab bag since I still had some folks who wanted a stone but didn't get one last time.  I will do that this coming Sunday at noon, my time.  (Central time)  So folks on the east coast that will be 1pm your time, folks on the west coast that will be 9am your time.  I wish there were a "just right" time for everyone to get a chance at a stone but there doesn't seem to be.  With the demands of my day job and my family life, I just have to squeeze them in at my own "just right" time.  I hope you understand.  Someday I'll be working for myself full-time and then it will be different, but until then...

Happy Thursday, all.

upcoming workshop - needle felted gnomes Nov 18

Local friends, I'd love to see you there!

Nov 18 6-9pm

Franklin Arts Center

Brainerd, MN

$20 fee covers all materials needed to make an adorable gnome, Santa, or wizard.

Students get to keep their felting mats and needles after the class.

Come on out!

too early?

I'll be teaching another needle-felting workshop soon.

I swear I meant to make a gnome but then there was this little Santa standing before me. I don't know how it happened, but I suspect it's kind of what happens to those poor stores around Halloween time... the Christmas stuff starts creeping in before you even realize it.

ll be posting more information soon about class details.  For those that are local, come on out and you can make your own Santa, or gnome, or maybe even a little wizard!  It'll be good fun.

first check on the mushrooms in a tree

This morning I took a little walk to check on those mushrooms I needled into a tree.  It's only been just shy of a month so I wasn't sure what to expect.  As I rounded the curve I was pleased to see they were still there, though a little droopier. 

The biggest change was in the scenery surrounding the tree.  Greens and oranges of autumn have been replaced with grey and the russet of fallen oak leaves.

No denying it, the grey season is upon us.

I'm acknowledging it but I'll have to work on the "embracing it" part.

I'll check on these guys after the first snowfall and we'll see they fare.

Have a great start to the week, all.

good morning, sunshine

November is greeting us beautifully this morning.