A Valentine's Day gift

It was an amazing day.  I opened the door to the postal guy who was delivering a package....along with special encouragement and generosity from a fellow blogger, needle felter, artist extraordinaire and friend.

Remember me saying I wanted to make my own Snowdrop?  Just like Gretel makes..?  Well, of course, it would be pretty well impossible to make a twin of anything she makes because she has a special knack and plenty of talent and ... hahaha.... a much healthier, working arm/hand..etc.... .... ...but I so wanted to try one.  Beginning slowly due to this silly arm business.... I did make a start ... but, then had some questions....especially about the type of wool...

This is mine that I was using and I have used it for several little bears of course..but, the finished surface will never be very smooth when the wool is kind of rough textured like this, and  ...well, ...almost kinky by comparison ....  but mostly I put on some extra 'fur' after making the little shapes for my bears anyway...so it doesn't really matter with them, does it?











However, her Snowdrop looked so smooth to me...I was sure I needed something different for wools...so I asked.... and she explained how different her wool is compared to my rough stuff.  And, then...she sent me some lovely soft Snowdrop wool ... (I could hardly stop caressing it) and a close up picture .. so I have a better chance at playing copycat.  How lucky am I to have a friend like that?
Look at the difference in the texture of the two wools.

And, this says it all.... one of her amazing whimsical art cards. A special fantasy boat.. swan figurehead and all ...  an intrepid passenger aboard... . Guess what it is called?

 The Hopeful Quest...

It's me sitting there I'm sure .....  .... the intrepid traveller ..  ..on my quest to make my own little Snowdrop.... thanks so much Gretel.....

                                                                 

WOYWW(T)

Missed it.  The day that is.  Wednesday came and Wednesday went.... just like that! Snap... sooooo ....I added the T in brackets for Thursday...cute hey?  hahaha...oh, alright ...it's no big deal...but I kinda like it and thought I was being pretty humorous.

I haven't done much at all with anything crafty since last week.  All I managed to do is stitch into place a gusset on the head of my guy.

Here is the head with the 'gusset' in place.  That is the part on the top of the head that gives the head some width and some shape.  Different shaped gussets totally change the shape of the finished head.  However, they all look strange to me before they are stuffed.
Doesn't it look like a crocodile shape to you?  It does to me.  Always ...even when I make totally different shapes of gussets.

 Many of the other WOYWW participants will have much more to keep you intrigued.... check them out.... perhaps join in the fun...

Happy Valentine's Day

Not much exciting to show that looks like it belongs to the day though....so I give you, instead.... flowers from my garden last summer.  I love peonies .. they look like fluffy pink clouds.

I gave away my heart cookie cutters a couple of years ago to another blogger... silly me.... and haven't come across a new set yet.

 I didn't always use them just for cookies either....they were handy for all sorts of things.  See how cute they look as part of my table decorating on another Valentine's Day?

So, no cookies..but, I did bake a cute little loaf of bread yesterday... and we had a slice of it hot ...slathered with lovely butter.  And...I declared it was our "day before Valentine's Day treat" ... does that count?

Actually the recipe, which is Carson's, from over at The 7 MSN Ranch, makes two cute little "couple" sized loaves (or one bigger loaf), but I took the other to a neighbour.  Bread is so lovely hot and fresh.  And, the husband of the couple wants to learn to make bread...so this is the very simplest of loaves to make ...and,....it tastes great!  I'm encouraging him.

It finally looks like winter here this morning....we had a few inches of snow yesterday........

Soggibottom Giveaway....

acckkkk!! almost didn't give you a chance to win this little guy!  I went to Soggibottom blog to enter..and part of it was ...of course.... letting friends in on the giveaway.... which I totally forgot to do.
How rude of me.

I was busy hopping about from blog to blog and got lost and then found my way again...and ...well... you know how it goes.  And...it can go on for hours...as some of you also know.... I waste a bit of time on here some days.... okay.... a lot of time.  Too much time.  If I crafted as much as I do 'computering'..... well...I might have a body stitched up already for my little white fluffy guy. Oh..... bad me.


Anyway.... look at this sweet little donkey we could win.  Any of us.... yes...I'm serious.....you still have time..... so,  hurry over to  Soggibottom and check out some real donkeys too... all fluffy with their winter coats... so cute.... ..

WOYWW

Almost missed it!  It's after 11 at night.....

But... if I want to play...I must try to be regular...so here I am.  Better late than not at all I guess.

A friend came on Saturday to get some pointers on making a bear of her own.  I found some old pattern pieces I had cut over a year ago... and managed to put a head together while she did some stitching.  It's not a bear...... but, actually from the look of it ....well, hey...it could be anything at this point, right?

We yakked and laughed and had some fun.  Oh, and some biscotti too...

more pieces .... just hanging out ....waiting for some stitching......

If you look closely..you will see that I traced my pieces with a ballpoint pen.  Don't do that. Especially on white fabric.  It might show through the fabric at a later date.  And, if it gets wet... there could even be some dye leaching into the fabric from the ink.  I do some dumb things sometimes...and now...I am stitching in from the edge further than I usually do...so that I can just trim off the lines.  More work.  But, that's me for ya some days.  Duh......

I won't do it again.... .. honest.... ...


If you would like to play along with us on WOYWW ...why not head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and see what it's all about? ..

Day after Groundhog day..

I didn't see any groundhogs yesterday, and actually...didn't even hear about or read about what the famous ones had to say regarding how much longer our "winter" will be.  Who cares?  La la la la la ...... We have been so lucky with our phenomenal weather...I don't dare even think about it becoming winter at this point.... we have been totally lulled into some kind of trance .... with sunny days..plus temperatures...and great driving conditions. In Canada..in the winter!  Unbelievable!

Besides...I was busy admiring Gretel's goosie... on groundhog day... and trying to get a decent photo for my show and tell.  Each month of my beautiful calendar from her has a different little Middle of Nowhere creation.
This guy... yikes! sorry Snowdrop....this girl!! sorry Gretel... the diamante collar should have definitely given that away! ..it's me old eyes! .....  makes me want to get out my barbed needles...and start stabbing!  I want to create one too....or ...well,  ...I doubt I can do one quite this lovely....but, you know...something even remotely resembling Snowdrop would be great...

If I get going on her soon ...she will be done by about ...oh,.... say.... summertime?

WOYWW

Found this tiny needle felted mousie (and the panda head too; he wonders.. can he have a nose please? ) during the whirlwind week of desk tidying.  Sort of 'forgot' where I put her too in the wildness of it all.  Oh, man....somehow I must get more organized.  And then...must give away some of the stuff I just never get around to using.  We know we won't be able to ever do the many and varied crafty things we want to try...but, we keep on trying ...don't we? ..

But, this week, I am definitely looking in all the bags and boxes and containers to  make sure exactly what I do have. ...and there she was. Half finished. .... well, more than half actually...but, I do wonder what I was using for that dainty pink of her toesies.... hmmm.... maybe I'll come across some of whatever it was if I continue to tidy. I know it was not wool...I have never had any pink wool. I'm sure of that. Nobody will want a mousie with only one or 2 toes...must find it....

She doesn't look much different from my little felted bears... although, if turned sideways...she does have a bit of a longer and point-ier snout.... and those are just test eyes and a test nose.... on pins. To check for size and placement.  She is just all pinned together and her little flower pinned on too...

And, they are not even on my workdesk.  They are hanging out on the dining room table...so I don't forget about them.  They want action.  And, they want it now.  Good for them.  So tiny and yet so insistent...ahhahha.... kind of remind me of me.
Karen stopped by and asked if they were felted.... and I thought I should just pop back to say...yes..they are.  See that little bit of purplish fluff at the front of the foam block they are sitting on?... that is how she began.  Needle felting is bits of wool that have been stabbed ...many hundreds and thousands of times with a barbed needle...til you get them into the shapes you want.  Then I join the limbs and head to the body with upholstery thread.  The eyes are black onyx beads and the noses will be embroidered with Perle cotton.  The pink bits...I'm not sure...hahha...but, I think they were tufts of rayon pulled from some pieces of fluffy rayon fabric... and then needled in.  I have discovered that all sorts of things felt up alright..

Aha.  She found him a nose.  Too tiny.  Makes him look more like a racoon....but, it'll keep them happy for now.

I have no idea how it can possibly be Wednesday again...already.  This is craziness.  Another week shot.  Warp speed.  Sigh...

Check out all the other ladies and their workdesks at Janet's on a Wednesday...