As the final leg in my project-finishing marathon, I present to you…my new hat and scarf set!

(Am I the only one who feels like a dork while trying to take photos of one’s self in a semi-public location? I stepped into the alley next to our apartment to take these, and I think that some people were watching. And wondering.)

I didn’t follow a pattern for either item, unless you count “knit until you come to the end, and then stop” as a pattern of sorts. Nope, as soon as anything resembling gauges and counting and needle size comes into the picture, I become all thumbs. (Okay, I still count, but it’s in a very laid back 80-sounds-like-enough sort of way. )

I started the scarf a couple of months ago as my on-the-bus project, which means that I only worked on it for about 15 minutes a day. It’s actually not a bad way to knit, if you’re patient…it’s just really slow.

In retrospect, I should have made it thicker or something because it tends to fold over on itself and get really skinny. Or may I should just say it’s a skinny scarf and that I wanted it to be that way.

So, after finishing the scarf, I had enough yarn left to make a hat. I’d been envying other people’s hats with earflaps for a while, so I decided to make my own. I thought and thought about the best way to attach the earflaps without a seam, and in the end I decided to take a new-to-me approach and start at the top rather than at the bottom. I had to work out the pattern on top a few times since anything that disrupted my counting meant that I forgot what my pattern was and I had to start over (mm, I guess this is where written instructions would have helped).

You can’t tell from the photos, but the cords on the earflaps have cute bouncy pompoms at the end. And then I stuck some on the scarf, too, for good measure.

(Note the cute new shoes, courtesy of Ross.)

This will probably be my last post of the week since I need to work on the Ren Fair poster tomorrow…it turns out that I made my painting a little too small, which means that I have to re-scan it at a higher resolution and size it up. This is not particularly good news, since illustrations almost always look better when they are made smaller and very rarely look better when they are made larger. But you gotta do what you gotta do.

Thank you all for your kind comments this week, and I guess we’ll find out on Monday who the Amy Butler contest winners are!

(Oh, yesterday’s favorite search term: “fat chihuahua.” ???)

I have been a very good and patient girl as I have waited (and waited and waited) for a special Etsy order to arrive. It wasn’t the seller’s fault–she said very clearly that she wouldn’t be shipping anything until January 15. But when you’ve placed the order on January 2, it still seems like ages.

And what, you might ask, have I been waiting for?

I bought my very own Gocco!!

So tune in next week for Paulabirdy’s new adventures in screenprinting!

And because it feels like a shame to have a post with no pics…

Bye-bye lino cuts, hello gocco!

These were the Christmas ornaments I sent out for the 2007 Holiday Ornament Swap. I got some lovely ones in return, so I hope the recipients didn’t find mine too plain - believe it or not, they took ages to paint and glue and varnish!

This will be my last post here for a little while: I’ve decided to take a Christmas break. Today is my last day in the office until January 2, which will be my longest work-free time since I don’t know when. And I’ve decided that it’s going to be blog-free, too. (Sorry, Uncle Ted…no Christmas photos until January.)

The only thing that will keep on movin’ on is my Etsy shop. There won’t be any shipping until January 3, but you can still make a purchase. I’ll be adding a bunch of handprinted cards and starting a special after-Christmas sale on December 26, so stop by then to see if something you want is on sale!

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Do you remember those wonderful days in grade school and college when break came between semesters and you really, honestly had no homework to do? I think that I was woefully unappreciative of the freedom of those times. Not having anything you have to do is a quality that pretty much disappears when you “grow up.” Instead, you have to a) forget, b) ignore, or c) stress about everything that you know you’re not doing. A time of rest becomes something that you have to create, not something that just happens.

I’ve been thinking about this because, as I sit at my desk for the last time until January 2, I can tell that I am not going to have enough time to finish a bunch of projects today and that I’m going to be really amazingly swamped when I get back. And that thought is quite stress-inducing. Potentially so stress-inducing that I won’t really enjoy my break because I’m worrying about what will be waiting for me when I come back.

So I’m going to choose not to think about that. I’m going to walk out the door at 5:15 today, and then I’m going to stop thinking about work. I’m not even going to think about blogs or blog articles.

Instead, I’m going to think about my husband and my family, about Christmas, about giving, about art, about the ocean. About Jesus. About how thankful I am that I have all of these things (I might think about work here for a millisecond so that I can learn to be grateful, but that’s it).

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,
for tomorrow will worry about itself.

I have learned the secret of being content
in any and every situation,
whether well fed or hungry,
whether living in plenty or in want.
I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.

I hope your Christmas is full of rest, and I look forward to sharing with you again in the new year.

(Speaking of which, what will The Office do about a Christmas episode this year? I hope they still have one…I’m a sucker for Christmas episodes. Who could ever forget the “year of the iPod”?)

One of the little joys of working in an office is figuring out what to get everybody for Christmas each year. In my situation there are 12 “office staff” (rather loosely defined, since a bunch of them work in a greenhouse), and I’m not very good at guessing what they like. Last year I gave out biscotti - which I love - that met with rather lukewarm praise. This year I decided to make vintage fabric/button pins for all the women after receiving a couple of compliments on the one I was wearing. I made a lot of pins + barettes last Christmas, but they involved hand-sewing and were rather ridiculously time-intensive for something so small and unassuming.

This year I went with the glue gun, baby.

The new + improved model is made with vintage fabric scraps backed with interfacing, wool felt, and vintage buttons that conveniently had the backs knocked off of them. I don’t think they look all that bad without the hand-stitching, and I’m pretty sure that no one in my office will notice. There’s also a handmade ornament tucked inside each envelope (pics coming tomorrow), so all-in-all it was a very handmade affair.

Oh, and for the guys? A mini bottle of Johnny Walker Red in lieu of a pin.

Come to think of it, maybe I should have done that for everybody.

I forgot that I told a couple of people that I’d show them how to make one of these.

You can find a nice set of instructions here, which I found through a helpful comment left on this lovely post on design*sponge…next year I’ll have to make some simple modern ornaments as well.

I made 6 of these stars, so I’ll give you a little advice if you’re going to try them yourself: choose the right paper. Medium-size stars (about 8 in. across, like this one) are best made from lightweight scrapbooking or wrapping paper. Big stars need something stronger - like cardstock -  or they collapse. Really small ones are hard to make because you can’t fit your stapler inside them, so I’d start larger unless you want to do a lot of taping.

Another little trick is to find some wrapping paper you like instead of buying a bunch of loose sheets. I love all the Martha Stewart papers at Michael’s, but after doing a little math I found it was more cost-effective to buy a roll of wrapping paper (which is still not particularly cheap) than to get 6 individual sheets. And now I have enough left over to wrap some presents!

We’re back! (And ready for round 2.)

Much to my relief, the finished trees turned out to be pretty cute. If you missed it, part one of the tutorial is here. The final steps are…

Step 4: Glue flat edges together so that they overlap.

This is definitely the trickiest part, as it can be difficult to match the edges up before the glue hardens. I found that it works best to start with the bottom, as it’s most important to line that part up. It also helps to glue in 3-4 inch sections if you’re working on a larger tree.

Edges don’t match? Not a problem! Just cut the extra off, being careful to leave the bottom as round as possible so the tree stands up straight.

Step 5: Stuff (if necessary).

Tall trees might need a little stuffing to keep the sides from buckling, but the short ones seem to do fine without it.

Step 6: Enjoy!

I spent a very happy half hour setting up little tableaus in our dining room and our entryway.

There are so many possibilities…see what you can come up with!

I had planned to write a nice post of a more thought-provoking nature, but when I went to download the photos off my camera during lunchbreak I was missing the autumn-leaves-and-branches set and had lots of felt piles instead. So you’re getting a little decorating tutorial, and the big thoughts will have to wait.

My primal Christmas decorating urges surfaced full-force the day before Thanksgiving. I’ve been humming holiday ditties for the past few weeks and smiling at all the early-bird ornaments in stores, but I didn’t have the time to do anything to our own home. However, in my two precious free hours last Wednesday morning I managed to: 1) run out and buy some goodies, 2) cut festive red oilcloth for our table and credenza, 3) hang an advent ornament holder (photos coming soon), and 4) scheme a lot about all of the other things I want to do. High up on the list were a bunch of felt trees.

First, I want to say that these aren’t really my idea. Stephanie Barnes created a soft tree pattern last winter that was much loved and used by all manner of crafty bloggers (there’s even a flickr set with a lot of great display ideas). I think her pattern is awfully cute, but it has the disadvantage of creating a lot of bulky items that need to be stored every year until Christmas. My first thought was to make Stephanie’s trees and just leave the bottom seam unfinished on one side so I could remove the stuffing. And then I realized that felt, being the great stuff it is, is stiff enough to stand up without needing to be sewn underneath.

And then I realized that, while I enjoy sewing as much as the next girl, it’s possible to make the trees with just the help of my trusty glue gun. And since I have friends without sewing machines, I thought I’d post a little tutorial for y’all that involves the bare minimum of accessories:

• some felt
• a marker
• scissors
• a round object
• a glue gun
• (optional: some stuffing)

(And then I decided to start posting before I’ve finished the first tree, so I really hope this works!)

New-Sew Felt Trees Tutorial, Part 1

Step 1: Cut felt circles.

I poked around my kitchen and came up with a plate, a pan lid, and an Ikea tray to start with. Note that the height of your tree will be half the diameter of your plate, so it takes really large circle to make a tall tree (my biggest tree won’t be any more than about 16 inches tall).

Trace all or part of your round object onto your felt using a marker, and cut the circle out. (If you’re using a Sharpie, be careful not to mark your plate or tray.)

Step 2: Decide how wide you want your trees to be.

I tried doing this a couple of ways: by rolling the felt until I got the shape I wanted and cutting that section out, and by arbitrarily cutting my felt circle into sections. I found that cutting the circle into quarters gives a moderately skinny tree, while cutting it into thirds or larger gives a fat one.

Step 3: Press felt (if you haven’t yet).

It would probably be a good idea to do this first, but I didn’t…so just make sure to iron your pieces before you start gluing.

Final steps and results coming soon! (tomorrow?)

——- 

As I was photographing this last night, I had the rather depressing realization that the time change has left me plodding home in the dark every night from now until March. Wait, that occurred to me earlier…it was the thought that I will do all of my evening work by artificial light that really got to me. Denizens of Alaska, how do you do it? Our apartment is pretty dark anyhow, but even a hint of daylight coming through the curtains really cheers me up.

So much for taking photos with natural light. :(

I just realized that it’s been almost a week since my last post…whoops. Didn’t mean to neglect the poor little blog like that. I got busy toward the end of last week with work (i.e. “that which pays the bills”) and miscellaneous for the Saturday craft fair in Uniontown. I guess I’d might as well get the bad news over with: the craft fair just wasn’t that great. The photo below shows Abby and Liz sitting at our really cute table.

It was rather dark inside the barn, so I’m afraid that all of my pics turned out pretty blurry (including this one). So it might be hard to convince you that our table was indeed very adorable, a fact that was obviously overlooked by all the people who didn’t buy anything from us. Okay, I sold some cards and the other girls sold some purses and bibs, but…come on! We had much better stuff than tacky-fused-glass-jewelery-lady sitting next to us, and she was doing pretty well.

(Yes, I am being judgmental. No, her stuff was not objectively tacky. No, I don’t look down on her as a person.)

Husband told me that I need to remember this feeling the next time I’m tempted to sign up for a local craft fair. Lots of printing + a couple of evenings of prep +  a day of sitting around watching people reject your stuff = kind of depressing.  (Note: time spent with Abby and Liz is excluded from this equation.) Etsy, you are officially waaayyy better than any craft fair at this point.

The other reason that I haven’t been posting as much is that my sleep schedule has been pretty wacko ever since the time change. Is anyone else having trouble with this? I don’t think my body likes being told that it should now fall asleep and wake up at different times: I spent about four nights lying in bed for hours, waking up at 3, and then waking up again at 5:30 am. I finally crashed over the weekend and slept in till 7:30, but yesterday I woke up at 4:30 and today I’ve got a splitting headache. Suggestions, anybody??

[The dolls are finally finished, so I come back tomorrow for photos of lots of cheerful, handsewn cuteness. If you ordered one from me, I'll be emailing you your PayPal invoice in the next day or two.]

Well, I didn’t manage to finish the dollies last weekend. But at least they have bodies now! (The pile of small arms and legs and heads on the table was starting to look a bit gruesome.)

I’ve also finished sewing their reversible dresses, but I still need to turn them inside out - not so easy with the really small parts - and handsew the sides. Mm, handsewing. I don’t dislike handsewing at all, but it takes so stinking long. In fact, it’s probably what led to my never-again resolution when it comes to doll-making (or at least never-to-sell). These little ladies have taken a pretty astonishing amount of time so far, so I am very happy that the end is in sight.

I’m also trying to squeeze in the Illustration Friday topic for the week (”hats”) because an idea immediately came to mind, so there will be some art in addition to sewing. And my holiday cards should be here any day now and will need to be packaged and photographed. And then there are signs and bags and other miscellaneous to be made for the craft fair on Saturday.

Aack! This is starting to sound like a lot. :( I guess there’s plenty to do this week.

Hey, remember that little craft room clean-up I started a while back? I’ve decided that it’s done enough to share, although still not really a thing of beauty. If you’ll take a second to look at the old photos (wince), you’ll appreciate how much stuff I got rid of. Lots and lots of stuff. I took a pretty ruthless look around the room and sorted out (1) things to keep, (2) things to give away, and (3) things to finish immediately so they’re not just sitting around. I tend to accumulate a lot of future projects, so it was a little tough to distinguish between (2) and (3). A lot of future pillowcases went to the Goodwill, but I also painted a frame and a few other odd pieces that I’d had kicking around for a long time.

I’ll start with the view to the right since it’s still not that pretty and I want to get it out of the way.

Lots of shipping supplies = lots of boxes, obviously. Sigh. But at least everything is easy to find.

The view to the left is what makes me much, much happier. Isn’t that cozy-looking?

The desk was my great-grandmother’s, and I love sitting down at it and wondering what she use to do there. Sew? Paint? Write letters?

This little bookshelf holds some of my extensive collection of photo albums and sewing books. [Does anyone else have trouble figuring out what to do with all the photos you've collected over the years? Which are really heavy and take up lots of space??] I found the wine-bottle crate out by our trash bin and decided it was perfect for organizing my prints and cello sleeves.

This little shelf was an old craft fair prop that I almost had to give away because I couldn’t find a home for it. But then I realized that it had loops and could be hung on the wall. It’s very classic-vintage looking, and I was sad when I thought I might have to give it away.

My fabric collection is now greatly reduced. It was hard to part with such a large part of my stash, but the happy thing is that all the pieces I own now are my favorites. Gone are the only-okay, might-be-useful-someday, and just-the-wrong-colors pieces. Hello, everything I really like.

In the end, de-cluttering was totally worth it and I’ll probably want to go through the whole process again in another year or so. I still wish I had the time to paint, but my little Ikea lamps are doing their best to make the place look less dingy and more inviting. I’m also happy about the fact that I was able to package a new order this morning in about 5 minutes and have it ready to go for my lunchtime post office visit. Success!!

Woh, sorry about the photo problems. WordPress hiccupped mid-post, but I think we’re up and running now. Sorry if you stopped by while things were looking really weird.