a snow stone giveaway

To celebrate the falling snow, I'd like to have a little giveaway.

This is a larger textural stone, about 3" long, inspired by frost and the coming snows that cover the lumpy and odd bits in nature.  For those of you new to my work, I cover real stones that I've gathered in wool, felt it, and stitch on the surface.  In addition to stitches, this stone also boasts glass seed beads.  The varying textures make this a fun piece to run your hands over.

***THIS GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED***

If you'd like to a chance to win this stone, you just need to leave me a comment on this post, but here's what I need from you...

I need your feedback.

I'd like to know what you would like to see from me this year, from this blog and in my shop.

More natural dyeing, more tutorials, more stones, more ornaments, more foraging...what would you like to see?

Leave a comment, and be sure to give me a way to contact you.  I'll ship worldwide, so everyone is more than welcome to enter.

I'll close the comments and announce the winner on Monday morning, Jan.16th.

Thank you everyone!

Have a great weekend!

the girl's new goldfinch

Early this week I took a little time to finish one of the unfinished pre-holiday projects on my workbench.  I had this pretty but shrunken wool sweater on hand and have been meaning to make it into something wearable for my daughter.

It was nearly the right size for her already so using a shirt that currently fits her as a guide, I just trimmed a bit off of both sides of the body and the arms and sewed it up.  I also cut some length from the sleeves, leaving them long enough to cuff.

Using the cut-off cuff from one arm, I made a pocket for the front.  I also decided that the pre-finished neck looked a little too "finished" so I cut it off and made a more organic neckline.  I also did an exaggerated running stitch around it and the pocket for the same reason.  I wanted this to look handmade and the previous machine stitches weren't cutting it.

The color of the sweater reminded me of the thistles that grow in front of our house, and reminded me of the joy we get from watching the goldfinches hanging from them, eating seeds in the fall.  I decided that would be my theme.

Using scraps of felted wool I stitched on some thistles and a goldfinch.  The girl got a big kick out of having a bird on her belly.

She got an even bigger kick out of momma filling her new pocket with birdseed so she could feed the birds.

Naturally, the chickens love this new pocket too.

Have a good day, everyone.  Extra points if you fill your pocket with birdseed and feed the birds today.

pretty pins and a clarification about the iron dye

I've gotten a good start at organizing my embroidery floss.  It's taking a bit longer than I thought, but I keep telling myself that it will be worth the effort.

At any rate, they look pretty lined up on my table.

A few of you had asked about the greying solution I used on the pins, so I thought I'd clarify just a bit.

I take an old jar and fill it with about 1 1/2 cups of white vinegar and add a pad of steel wool.  I used 000 steel wool, but I suspect you could use any grade, or even other steel objects like nails.  I let my solution sit for 24 hours, remove the steel wool, and use this solution to paint on the wood.  The solution you saw in yesterday's post has been around a while and it is quite rusty.  A new solution will still be clear, not rusty and scary like mine.  Be sure to use a jar that you don't mind getting covered in rust.

I dunked the clothespins in the solution, shaking the jar until they were fully coated, then removed them to dry.  After they dried, I rinsed them well with water and dried them again.  You'll get different effects depending on the type of wood you use, and you can also choose to water down your solution for a more subtle effect.  It's good fun.

Hope that helps.  Happy Tuesday!

clothespins and neurosis

One of my goals for this new year is to organize myself better.  Organization isn't my strong suit, it takes real effort for me, but I recognize that when I am organized it makes a significant impact on all aspects of my life.

One area that grew to monster-like proportions during the busy pre-holiday season was my case of floss.

 

Behold:

Not only is it less-than-delightful to try to find a certain color of thread in this mess but I've also jabbed myself with porcupine quills, more than once, that have nestled themselves in there.  Also my ipod is in there somewhere but I'm reluctant to dig because of the aforementioned quills. (what? doesn't this happen to you?)

I needed to tame this beast but I don't like using the cardboard bobbins for floss.  I liked the idea of clothespins though so I grabbed a handful of well-worn ones from the line and started winding.

It worked out rather nicely but since I had a limited supply of these perfectly greyed pins on hand, I fetched  a couple of packages of new ones from the closet.

I looked at the new pins and thought "they're so... new."  And it bothered me.  They're perfectly functional of course, which is the point, but... and here's where I face the fact that I am, in fact, a freak.

Rather than wind the rest of my floss on those unsightly new pins, I decided to age them.  I keep a jar of iron solution on hand for aging wood and for overdipping when I'm doing natural dyeing, so I grabbed it and got to work.

That's better.  Some of them even look spalted, which is cool.

I'm still kind of shaking my head at myself for going through the (admittedly minimal) trouble of aging the pins.  Why should that matter?  It doesn't affect its function.  I'm not sure why it mattered, but it did...

I'm not the only one, right?

a ready return

Hello everyone!

I hope you've all had a good and healthy start to the new year.  I had a few days of "hermiting" after the busy-ness of the holidays, but now the cave door has been flung open and I'm ready to start this year in earnest.

   

Yesterday's mild weather beckoned me outside so I grabbed my camera, a brand new sketchbook, and Charlie and took a short walk around the yard.

It seemed that wherever I looked I saw something interesting; a strip of birch bark stuck on a twig, gem-like berries on a snowy stump, a grove of sporophytes, wrinkled mushrooms...

even a rainbow of fuzz, stuck on my clothesline.

I feel ready.  I don't know how else to explain it.  I feel ready to see things, do things, change things.  I'm not sure if that's a symptom of a new calendar year or something deeper, but I'm embracing it.

How about you?  Do you feel change stirring?  What do you think this year holds for you?  Do you have your baskets ready?

may your baskets be full

As this year winds down and we look forward to the start of a new one, I want to wish you all something beyond a good year.  I was thinking that I wish for all of us to have safety and security, adventure and curiosity, good food, good friends, belly laughs, shoulders to cry on, appreciation for nature, a sense of responsibility, freedom to relax... and I thought, "that's a pretty full basket".

So that's it.  That's what I wish for all of us in the new year.

Whether you are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Holiday, or solstice, or if you choose to celebrate this time of year in your own way, (or not at all for that matter), I offer you my warmest wishes for a meaningful and heartfelt celebration.

From my woods to you, may your baskets be full.

See you in the new year, friends.

xo

Lisa

sleepy babies and nature blocks

I'm still plugging away at the last few projects on my list.  A small set of nature blocks is nearly completed, just a few more to paint and coat with beeswax.

And a sleepy baby doll is awaiting a few finishing touches before she gets her wool and lavender stuffing.

Tomorrow I'll be baking baking baking and I also promised my little boys that they could do some painting so I'll probably be doing some cleaning cleaning cleaning too.

It's been a big help to me that my daughter is still at the age that she doesn't pay much attention when momma's sewing something, as I've been able to work on her gifts right in front of her.  Next year will be a bit trickier.

Maybe next year I won't let the holidays sneak up on me like this.  Yeah, who am I kidding?  I always think I have a good start on my projects by mid-year and then right before Christmas I'm scrambling to finish things or to start new projects that suddenly seem like great ideas.  Silly.

I hope you're all doing well and getting some well-deserved peace.

wordless Wednesday

getting closer - bed linens completed

My goal for yesterday was to make the linens for my daughter's doll bed and I'm pleased to report that I made my goal and then some!

I started pulling out fabrics to create the blanket and was preparing for a semi-complicated process.  I had chosen some pieces, none that I was too gaga over but would do, when I pulled out a matching set of these sort of strange embroidered pillowcases I got a year or two ago at a garage sale.  DING!  A light went off in my head!  I checked the size and yup, nearly perfect for the little bed with very little tweaking needed.  I love that!

All I had to do was lay a piece of batting inside the pillowcase, fold over the decorative top, and stitch it down.  Voila!  Doll blanket!

Using half of the second pillowcase and a piece of leftover carpet pad, I made a mattress to fit the bed.  That still left me enough material to make a little pillow, and I still have one whole panel of the embroidery to play with.  (and what is up with the orange poodle and roses anyway?)

I saved so much time with this project I was able to finish a little friend to tuck in under the blanket.

My daughter loves owls so it seemed like a good choice.  He's made of all recycled materials - wool from coats and sweaters, a scrap of upholstery fabric, and some corduroy pants.  I stuffed him with wool and lavender so he smells nice too.

The paint on the bed is still drying so I'll post a pic of it with the linens tomorrow.

Today I'll be working on this...

My helper is enjoying this task because she gets to build castles while mom carves.

After this I have just one more project to finish and then presents to wrap and cookies to bake.  After that?  I'm taking a break.  (and it is much needed)

'til tomorrow!

a bed on the bench

An unusually warm December day.  A few hours to myself in the barn.  A few lengths of lumber, my saw, sander, and drill.  Some instructions and a naughty dog who likes to steal from my scrap bin.  He was sassy and ran off with one of my pieces of 1 x 3.  I made do.

Eventually a doll bed stood on my workbench, heavy and sturdy, and ready to be puttied and painted and outfitted with linens.

This will be my goal for today.  I'll need the little girl to nap so I can work and I need a chance to clear my head anyway, so I think a nice long walk in the woods is in order.

It's unlikely I'll finish everything on my holiday to-do list, but I'm going to have to be okay with that. 

Have a good and peaceful start to the week, everybody. 

fit for a woodland princess

The holiday dress has been completed and I'm really happy with how it turned out.  You might remember that the dress started as this little gem I picked up at the thrift store:

Some tweaking later and this is what we have:

a dress that's perfect for my woodland princess.

I took off the lace, plastic pearls, and roses and added some wood buttons I made, a bit of embroidery, and the top...

...painted.

I stitched around the painted area and it looks like leather.  I doubt anyone would know it was painted unless I told them.  This was a situation of "use what you have".  I didn't trust my sewing skills to sew on a little bodice so I went with paint thinned with fabric medium.  Hey, it works.

I love it, and so does the girl.

Have a happy Saturday, everyone.