State Flowers Embroidery Project - Maine

Over at Turkey Feathers blog, Vicki is sharing embroidery patterns, one by one, of the state flowers for each of the fifty states.  I read her blog frequently (she sold me the patterns for the embroidered baby quilt I made for my nephew, Noah).  I decided to stitch along, although I'm already way behind!  I have the first one done.  This is Maine, and the state flower of Maine is the White Pine Cone.

Think Spring

This is Riki, by Helen Kish, an 8" Chrysalis baby, dressed in a drop-waisted cotton dress with a wool felt jacket.  I listed the outfit on etsy on Thursday and it sold within 24 hours!  I was surprised that it went so fast.  I'll have to make some more things for the shop.  It seems like the shop is always empty!

Pipos Baha in the same outfit:

Before and After, a testament to a child's love

My niece loves this bunny I made for her last year.  She's loved him to pieces, literally.  He's her favorite toy and she takes him everywhere.  Her other aunt sewed him up and her daddy put a patch on the back where his fabric wore out.  I'm so glad my crafting is appreciated!

This is what I made her for her birthday this year.  I hope she loves him as much as Bunny!

I love....

I love living by a wetland.  Walking the dog this morning was a relaxing experience, as I watched the mallard ducks stick their heads straight down in the water on the pond so that all you see are funny little rears sticking up into the air and waggling duck feet.  I love the cacophony of honks that geese make when they're flying north, the way light comes through white pine needles and cones against a gray sky, and the bright trills of red-wing blackbirds, having returned recently from places south.  Even though it's gray outside, it's still an early-spring treasure of a day.

I have been working intermittently on April Cottage.  The floor is done in the kitchen.  I first started with 1" square tiles cut from the flat parts of egg cartons.  I glued them down with tacky glue.

Here they are all in place.

 Then I sealed the whole thing with three coats of matte Mod Podge.  Do not attempt to grout a floor without sealing it first!  I nearly forgot to seal it and it didn't go well.  Then I sealed it and it worked great!

Next, I used spackling compound, which  I tinted light gray, to grout the floor.  I applied it with my fingers and wiped off the excess with a damp paper towel and buffed it with a dry one.  The room is now ready for the baseboards and wainscot.

Some dress sewing

I find I take a lot of inspiration just from fabric.  And if I don't have any inspiring fabric, I don't feel like creating anything!  I found this fabric at Joann Fabrics and it's just what I was wanting for this weekend's project.  April (Rosen Lied Beige) needed a new, pretty outfit for a meetup in Ithaca in a few weeks.  This fabric was just the right thing for her.  I used patterns from the Londie Phillips book I mentioned before.  It's a great book with patterns for multiple-sized dolls.  I'll have to take a photo of my Effners wearing the dress after April is through with it.

Cottage Kitchen

The April Cottage kitchen is coming slowly along.  I have the stairs in, as seen above.  The floor tiles are ready to be glued down, and then it's time for the wainscoting and trims to be glued on.  It's rather painstaking work!

Kiley and Miki

Helen Kish's newest Riley's World dolls, Kiley (smiling) and Miki (looking sleepy on the right) are having a party celebrating Kiley's birthday!  Zsu Zse is attending.  I made Kiley's dress from a pattern in Londie Phillip's new book.  The fabric is a great vintage piece that was a freebie with an etsy order from Niesz Vintage Fabric and Design.  (Thanks for the great fabric!)  I lined it with white cotton, as the original fabric is quite sheer.  It gathers beautifully for this scale work.

Barnyard Balls

For my nephew, Noah, from a pattern I purchased on etsy.

Finally, some crafting!

At last! I've had time to make something! I've been working on making belated holiday gifts for my nieces and nephew. I still have my nephew's present left to make, but all the others are done. Above is Mitch, the Monkey, made from a Funky Friends Pattern. He's for my two-year old niece who likes monkeys right now. He's very huggable!

Another huggable item is this cutie, made for my niece, Jewel. She's five and has red hair, too. This doll was made from Wee Wonderfuls' pattern for Chloe, Kit and Louise and will be named Julia Mary. It took me yesterday afternoon and evening to make the doll and then today to make her clothing. The hair was a little tricky but came out fine.

For my niece Lauren, I have made a pincushion and I will be giving her a sewing book and some other sewing accessories so she can learn to sew. I hope she enjoys it as much as I do. The pincushion pattern is from Pretty Little Pincushions. I love that book--it has GREAT patterns!

And for Jenna, I've made a carrying case for her crochet hooks. She's learning to crochet! I've also gotten her a crochet book, too. The pattern for this hook caddy was from Sew Darn Cute.
I used buttons to embellish the front.

And for Alexis, I've gotten her a book to read and made her this little friend to read it with. The pattern is from Ami Ami Dogs, a Japanese crochet book.
I just have a chicken toy left to make for my little nephew, Noah. I have already gotten him a storybook about a mother hen!

A Year in Review and Outlook for Next Year

Toby Being Cute

It's been a big year. Time for a little reflection. My main resolution from last year involved trying to manage my time better so I am less stressed. I have to say, I've still got some work to do on that, but I've made a great start. I decided to buy the practice I'm working in so I can set my own hours and manage the place the way that I will find to be the least stressful for everyone. So, I've been temporarily MORE stressed but I see light at the end of the tunnel. And I've also found that the amount of stress that I feel is greatly dependent upon my outlook on things. If I feel in control of the situation, it doesn't stress me as much.

Another big accomplishment this year was adding the chickens to my household. Every time I reflect upon what my perfect life would involve, it involves more ethical sources of food and increased self-sufficiency. The chickens were a GREAT deal of work to start up this year, but I enjoy having them both for the previous mentioned reasons, but also because they're just plain funny and fun to be around. The ducks were not a planned addition, but they are pretty comical, too, and I'm glad we have them all. Somehow, I ended up with 11 chickens when I intended to have three or five, but hey, the more the merrier!

Zillions of fabulous eggs

Things that have not gone as well this year: I haven't practiced the dulcimer as much as I would have liked, and I haven't done much artwork or crafting. I haven't had time to visit family ALL YEAR. This practice transition has been very time consuming and stressful.

I have, however, started on my dollhouse that sat for almost a full year as an unopened kit! It's going to be great and large and just what I always wanted.

So for this next year, I have a few goals:

1. Have a successful starting year for my new veterinary practice
2. Make time to craft lots of things and keep my etsy shop stocked.
3. Visit my family!
4. Paint my darn craft room! I intended to do this last year, but it never happened.
5. Work on my new dollhouse
6. Eat more vegan meals. I'm uncomfortable with the lives that dairy cows have in this country, and as a vegetarian, a lot of the fat and calories in my diet come from eating milk products. I think that eating more fruits, veggies and grains will help me be healthier overall. I've gotten Vegan Lunch Box for Christmas so that will help with this goal.
7. Continue to play my dulcimer. Perhaps get a new music book because I am bored with the few I have.

So Happy New Year and I'm hoping we're off to a good start!

Hope Chests and Hexagons

Isn't that beautiful? My little sister has a new blog, Reclaiming the Hope Chest. She will be displaying lots of handmade items that she will use to fill her hope chest!

In other news, I apologize for the blog silence but it will probably continue until at least the first of the new year. I have been very busy buying a veterinary practice and the transfer date is Dec. 31/Jan 1.

Chickie Fabric Fun

When I saw this fabric at the fabric store, I knew I had to have it and I knew it would make a great pair of overalls. It's actually more dark red than orange. My camera had a hard time picking up the color properly. I'm also quite proud of the mock turtleneck I made. I hate using knit fabrics but FINALLY I seem to have gotten the hang of it, and so I present a non-bunched, decent-looking shirt! Simple, sure, but it does the trick.


I love this photo. Tompkin looks like a little kid from yesteryear, playing with his train. I used the sepia and soften filters on Paint.net to change my original photograph. Paint.net is a great program and it's FREE.

All Grown Up

My little chickies are all grown up now. The big floofy bum in the foreground belongs to Prudence, who laid her first egg in the middle of the garden on the weekend. So far she's the only Orpington laying, but she's laid one every other day since she started, and nicely in the nest box since that first one. I think it surprised her!

Super Cute!

I forgot how much I loved my Ringo until I got her out and made a new dress for her. She's just too cute.

Etsy update

I made a second copy of the dress I made for my Effner girl, but I embellished it more and put it on etsy. Hopefully someone will enjoy it for their Beige or similar-sized doll. I particularly enjoyed the embroidery on the petticoat (closeup below). I used an embroidery pattern from one of the Japanese craft books that I got in Seattle in July. I'll also be putting a cute little green dress for Ringo on etsy later on, too.

Coop Interior

The coop is insulated for the winter and I made the girls a new perch. As funny as it was to see all of them trying to crowd onto the top rung of their ladder-style perch, it didn't look comfortable at all. And two were roosting nightly on top of their food bin, and one on top of the nest box. Now they have a long roost that extends the length of the coop, and I made a ramp to it from the sunning shelf by the window.

April Cottage has walls!

April Cottage has walls and a partial roof so far. I have just placed an order for beadboard for the kitchen and wainscot for the living room. You can see my Edwardian House Style book sitting there in the someday-living room. I realized the other day that I have wanted a BIG dollhouse like this for such a long time! It's going to be great to finally have one. This one comes with pre-drilled holes for the lighting, too, so I have absolutely no excuse not to light it. And it's front-opening, so the cats can't get in, and hopefully that will also keep the dust to a minimum. I realized that another advantage of front-opening houses is that the wiring is pretty easy to do--you can put it all on the back! Fiddlesticks--I just realized I should have ordered the "slate" shingles while I was ordering the other supplies. Oh well--I think Earth and Tree will have more than one order from me in the near future.

For the kitchen floor, I am making flagstones, using the egg carton method. There's a great tutorial here: Victoria Miniland - 'Egg Carton' Stone Wall or Floor

I also plan to use similar "stone" to cover the outside of the house. Now, the only problem is that I have been re-using all of my egg cartons to hold eggs from my chickens! Anyone have any spares?!

Shiny Fall Day

Today is cold, a little windy, and very shiny and bright and sunny. The sky is perfect.

The leaves are changing and are fast blowing down to carpet the lawn.

The chickadees and all their friends have returned to my feeders. This one is waiting, eying me warily, for his turn to snatch a sunflower seed. They'll eat out of my hands sometimes.

Rosy and all her pals are foraging in the now-dormant garden. There is no better weeding/fertilizer combination than a hungry hen!

The little Orpington chicks have grown into big pullets, bigger than the Reds and getting ready to lay, probably in a few weeks.

It's nice to have a few minutes in a busy day to reflect on the changing of the seasons.

April Cottage Beginnings

I have this fabulous vision for my April Cottage by Dolls House Emporium. It's going to be a turn-of-the century (1900) cottage in Britain inhabited by a country veterinarian and his family: a wife, baby boy and little girl. The cottage was built in 1600 and was recently redone when said country veterinarian married his wife and started his family. Doesn't look like much yet, does it? It's lying on its side in the above photo. It will eventually have "stone" on the outside and a cute front door. I'm planning to electrify it, a plan made easier by the fact that the kit comes with all the holes pre-drilled and a plan available in the back of the instruction book. There's lots more to do yet, but I will try to periodically photograph the progress.

Tea Party and Dogs!

April is having tea with her toys.

And posing with Toby the felted dog.