Pretty Birds All in a Row

This winter, I have been visited by several Pine Siskins. Last week's flock was about 25 birds. I count birds for Project Feederwatch, and this has made me so much more aware of who's at my feeder. The siskins are some of my favorites. They have an understated appearance until they spread their wings, and then they show their glorious yellow underfeathers. They are also scrappy little things and have frequent dust-ups with their friends and the other birds over who can have the best seed. The best part about the siskins is that they are not afraid of me at all. My siskins and chickadees always sit right there and look me in the eye curiously while I fill their feeders, and sometimes even will land on them (or my hands) before I have put them up again. If the feeders are empty, you can bet someone will tell me next time I go out the door! And they (siskins and chickadees) can tell me from the other two people who live here. They fly away when the others go out, but never for me.


Aren't they just the cutest things?

Etsy Shop Update and Newest Sewing

Well, it's been a great weekend! I finally had time to update my Etsy Shop. I also had time to make Alice Cherry Blossom an outfit. She's DARLING! I love her and I thank Biscuitbear so much for giving her up. I had wanted her for a long time, but had a terrible time finding one. I think she'll be happy here! She has Mushroom Nursery Re-Ment to play with and I'm planning to either get her a Re-Ment roombox to live in or else make up the dollhouse scale roombox that I have had sitting around here forever into a nice room for her.

These Helen Kish dolls photograph so beautifully. Tompkin's pajamas are on etsy. His fabulous dog is by Barlee Rumburg of Fog City Designs. He's a portrait of my dear Toby, who incidentally (the real Toby, that is!) smells lovely like lavender now because giving him a bath also happened this weekend! I realized on Friday night that this was the first weekend I had had to just rest and do what I wanted to do since before Christmas. Ahhh...so pleasant!

Bunnies and Dollies

A brave and hungry bunny was out most of the day under the feeder right under our kitchen window, eating the hulls from the sunflower seeds that the birds dropped. He's pretty cute. I wonder if he's the same guy who was a baby last spring?

I think this Dianna Effner little girl (Mei Ling) is just adorable and I had to make her a new outfit. She's about 10" tall, all vinyl, and made by Boneka. I renamed mine Olivia. Her dress is a pattern by Claudia Ionker, and her pinafore is an original design by me, with an embroidery from Floresita's site.

Happy 2009

It's the New Year again. It's hard to believe a whole year has gone by. I just reread last year's New Year post. I wonder how I did with my resolutions? Here they are:

1. Be sure to remember my seven habits, especially BE PROACTIVE!

I think I did OK with this one.

2. Spend more time traveling this year and visiting family, especially.

I visited family at least quarterly, and also went to Georgia for CE in September.

3. Always make time for crafting something, anything, at least once a week.

4. Play my dulcimer at least twice a week.

Hmm...could have done better with both of these; only so much time in a week. I am, however, much better overall at playing my dulcimer. Last year I could play NONE of the Christmas songs in my song book and this year I can play all of them, even though I'm slow at some of them.

5. Draw, watercolor or pastel something at least quarterly.

I didn't manage to make a fall artwork, but I did do something in all of the other quarters.

6. Cut down on the number of grocery bags we use this year. Try this instead.

I did manage to cut down on the grocery bags and have the handmade bag made out of Plarn MOSTLY done, but not 100%. I have been saving and collecting bags all year to make it out of. It's time-consuming.

7. Buy handmade or make most gifts this year.

I did pretty well with most gifts for my nieces' birthdays this year, but ran out of time on the Christmas ones. Again, only so much time in a week.

So, on to this year's resolutions. I may add to this over the next few days.

1. Work on time management. I never feel like I have enough time to do any of the things that I want to do, and my life is suffering for it. I seem to spend most of my life chronically stressed. My free time always feels like it's consumed with chores and errands and I rarely get to do the things I REALLY want to do, which are generally craft projects. In my ideal world, I'd love to add lots of things to my etsy shop and become a successful craft entrepreneur.

2. Keep trying to craft something at least once a week. See resolution 1.

3. Finish some of my unfinished projects. Again, see resolution 1.

4. Clean and organize my cabinets in the kitchen.

5. Paint the craft room! I'm so tired of looking at the icky painted kid hand prints on the wall from the last family that lived here!

6. Spend more quality time with Aaron.

We'll see what this next year brings. I intend also to keep working on my dulcimer playing and my artwork.

I've Been Sewing Doll Clothes...

Making pretty things for dolls is my favorite activity in all the world. Piper's dress isn't new, but Poppy's (the baby) is. My new camera is definitely good at taking closeup photos.


This dress was made for Ellery back in the fall, right before my camera quit. It's hand-embroidered and the bonnet and booties are hand-crocheted. The props are by Re-Ment.

Brr!

This was the scene in upstate NY this morning. It's so pretty!

Small Toys

My camera was back. It worked for two days then died the same miserable death it had before. I gave up with the hassle of trying to keep a 5-year-old camera alive and just bought a new one. The new one is a Canon Powershot A1000IS and it's great--better than my old one, but don't tell my old one! I can finally blog some of the things I've been working on for a while.

This cupcake is part of a gift for my niece Alexis for Christmas. I made her smell like strawberry and she has glass seed beads for "sprinkles." The pattern is from Amigurumi World by Ana Paula Rimoli.

The hedgehog is a gift for my vision-impaired nephew, Noah. In order to add interest, I put a bell inside so he jingles when he's shaken. He's from a pattern from Tiny Yarn Animals.

Also for Noah, a bright-colored Scottie Dog toy with crinkly stuff inside. He's embroidered on corduroy with fleece on the back for extra texture. The pattern was from Sublime Stitching.

Hooray, Camera's Back!

And here's The Brother to demonstrate how adorable gray cats sitting at the top of cat towers can be. He's not so sure about the camera in his face, but right after this picture, he came down and sat in my lap while I uploaded the photo to the computer. He has his ear at quite a jaunty angle in the photo!

Phooey, no camera!

Well, my trusty Canon is in the shop AGAIN being repaired and was supposed to be back two weeks ago but still is not. I have a lot of things to photograph but no camera to photograph with! I have recently made some super-cute hedgehog themed things for my baby nephew, Noah, who is vision-impaired and needs some toys with texture. I made him a hedgehog toy that has bells inside for sound and is made of eyelash yarn for texture. I've also made a few new things for my 14" Kish girls, and hope to share photos soon.

It's SNOWING here. We have about two inches on the ground. And it's cold, too. Winter has arrived early this year.

On the new project front (just what I needed, a new project!) I have finally purchased a new dollhouse kit for myself. I have not been happy with my old dollhouse for years, because I assembled it when I was 18 and it's not put together well. I have gotten the April Cottage from Dolls House Emporium in England and can't wait to get to work on it. It's a massive undertaking, though, and I'm still in the materials-gathering stage. The photos of the house are here:

April Cottage

Autumn in Upstate

Autumn in Upstate NY is a gorgeous blaze of color, especially this year. These photos are from about a month ago, at the peak of the leaf color. Above is the ramshackle tree house in the corner of my lawn.
My front door with the mums (which have now been frosted and don't look anywhere near as nice!).

And sunset's last rays accent the warm colors of the hillside behind my house.

Don't Forget to Vote!

It's election day! I voted! I hope you do, too!

Don't mess with crafters!

Hey, someone just pulled up beside my house and pulled out my yard sign for Obama and Biden! I was here when they did it, at about 1:40 PM today! I heard a car idling outside, so I went to the window to look and someone was pulling away in an SUV (Bronco II or Cherokee-sized, dark colored, possibly burgundy or black) and my sign was GONE! I went up to the road to see if I could catch the license plate, but I couldn't, so I hopped in the car and drove madly down the road to see if I could figure it out, and the only person I saw even roughly matching that description was a lady pulled over past the next intersection down in a Bronco which was black and had some Sunoco stickers on the back. Not sure if that was the culprit or not.

So I came home, boiling mad and reported it to the County Sheriff's office. I'm waiting for one of them to arrive to take the official report. Now here's where I'm glad I have a well-stocked craft room. I googled up Obama printable yard signs, printed off one and mounted it on foam-core board with some YES glue. I have used a pencil sharpener to sharpen some dowels and glued them into the bottom so I have my own, new Obama sign. Lickety-split--new sign. And I'm tempted to print off fifteen more and make a giant banner of signs across my front yard. Stupid idiots.

THE NERVE OF SOMEONE TO STEAL MY YARD SIGN RIGHT OFF MY FRONT YARD! YOU CREEP! SHAME ON YOU.

There, that's about as excited as I ever get.

Now back to waiting for the sheriff, and I'll post my homemade sign when he leaves.

Here's the link to the printable Obama signs for anyone who might have a need.

Free Printable Obama Yard Signs

Ringo Perfect in Purple

This baby kitten looks purrfect in just about anything. Her bonnet was a little tricky to get right around the ears, but I think it worked out OK.

Handmade Reversible Bag

I made this back in the summer to go with my skirt for my sister's wedding. I just remembered I never showed it off. I made it from two coordinating colors of turquoise fabric and it's completely reversible. I didn't use a pattern; just gathered a large rectangle and sewed it to a small one and repeated that again for the back and both pieces of the lining. I then sewed both outside pieces together around the sides and bottom, repeated for the lining, and then placed the lining and outside pieces right sides together and sewed around the top, catching the handles in the seam and leaving a 3" gap for turning. The handle is just two long strips of the fabric sewn together and turned, and I quilted along it to add strength. After the bag was all sewn together I turned the whole thing and then hand-sewed the opening closed. I put on a pretty button and it was done!

Gone to Atlanta

I'm in Atlanta at the AAFP Conference, learning about feline urinary tract disorders.  Be back on Wednesday!

Photo Courtesy of Will Pate (thanks)

The Littlest (and cutest) Acorn

I've been in a fall mood lately, and Ellery seemed to need a fall outfit. I am possibly also planning similar outfits with sunflower, apple and pumpkin motifs. This outfit will be on Etsy in the near future. The dress is all designed and handmade by me, with an original acorn embroidered motif on the bodice, hand-crocheted jacket and acorn hat, and tiny wool felt booties with itsy bitsy acorns on them! It was fun to make and I just love how the photos came out. I took them in the mossy glade behind our potting shed. It was a perfect venue!

Awww, cute dogs!

Awww, see, they like each other! Here is Mia waiting for her mother to come home from Biology Lab this morning.

Afternoon Roses

Lark is modeling a classic style afternoon tea dress in a pattern of vintage roses with a square neckline. I spent last weekend drafting the pattern for the dress and I made it yesterday. The lace is 100% cotton delicate lace that one of my dollhouse friends sent me years ago. I used pearl seed beads to make her a little necklace, too. I didn't show it, but the back closes with snaps that I placed pearl beads over. I just got Lark's cousin, Piper, too. I'm loving these Chrysalis girls! Piper is just too cute with her freckles. I will be making her something new to wear here sometime soon and I'll show her, too.

I ordered Lark some nice pale pink mary janes (please excuse the coral shoes) but they haven't arrived yet. It's surprisingly difficult to find shoes that fit her. I ordered some that were purported to fit her but they are too loose. Anyone have a BJD or other doll that fits a 58 mm shoe? I have two pairs up for grabs for $5 each (one yellow, one cream). Just drop me a line.

Purely lovely...

This girl loves to be photographed! I made the dress Friday from a pattern I designed. I think she'd look good in just about anything.

New Blog Banner and New Etsy Shop

I embroidered myself a new blog banner! If you click on the above image, you'll get the full-size banner to show all the detail, since blogger shrunk my image quite a bit.

I also finally set up my etsy shop. It doesn't have much in it. YET.