Christmas Dolls

Handcrafted by my Mom to my kids as a Christmas gift! How cute is that? She has been making toys my whole life. I think you could consider her a pro by now. Thanks Mom!

Narwhal in felt

I made some more mini notebooks for Christmas. Narwhal, Narwhal, swimming in the ocean, causin' a commotion, 'cause you are so awesome. Ahh yeah!

Plaid handmade journal and mini notebooks

This fabric reminds me of Scotland, and Christmas, and Scotch tape.

More mini notebooks for gifts. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Autumn Inspired Journals

Lots of yellow in these journals! I was inspired, on all the walks I've been taking with my dog, by the leaves changing colors. What a beautiful time of year it is. I especially love breaking out the long sleeves in my wardrobe (if you can call it that). I added the ribbon detail to these again... I promise I will add the tie closure next time! :) BTW Happy Halloween everybody!

Felt bunny

The Hazelnuts felt bunny. I made this one for my youngest daughter Sylvia. And I just realized that I forgot the whiskers. D'oh!

Here she is from the back.

Full image.

Handmade fox - super wonky!

Wow, what a cute/wonky fox this turned out to be! Lots of fun to make and I got to use my machine which I haven't done for a long time. I hope Mia likes it, it's her favorite animal.

Bookbinding with ribbon detail

Another couple of journals with ribbon sewed into the binding. I really like how the color contrast pops. I think I will extend the ribbon to the other side and have them tie the book together for my next project. Pics to come...

Custom photo album

I made this a new size (5.5 X 7in.) to fit 4X6 photos. The paper is almost as thick as card stock to hold the photos better, the customer is planning on adding photo corners. I did a new design on the binding that turned out kinda cool. I also added the headbands. I am excited to add this new size as another option in my Etsy shop. It's about time I branched out!!

Aqua journal

I had a huge break over the summer from bookbinding, but I did manage to get this journal done over the month of August. I really like the hot-air balloon fabric I used for the endpages, and the textured cardstock makes it more tactile. I loved doing the headbands and am looking forward to another school year so I can get more practice and try new binding methods while the kids are gone. :)

July 2012

An embroidered hanging lantern that I made on our trip to Lagoon in Utah.

The curtains I put up with a shell/wooden bead sash across the middle. Thrift store fabric can be cool!

Starry, starry night: the planter.

Handmade journal with textured cardstock

I really like the look and feel of the textured cardstock as the first page of every signature. I think it makes the journal more tactile, I hope to use it more often. Now that school is out and my new job starts soon, I won't have as many projects, but I will update you on new stuff. Happy crafting and take it easy this summer!!

Lotsa pink waxed thread

I really like the color combo on this journal. The black card stock really brings out the pink waxed thread. I'm getting more comfortable with sewing the headbands, it's feeling more natural and I hardly needed my instructions this time. School is out so soon! I hope summer is a blast!

Car time embroidery

I did a free-form embroidery project in the car to and from Seattle. We also spent some time at the Pacific Ocean which I absolutely loved. I am an Oregonian at heart and spent my childhood living in the coastal town of Coos Bay. It was really a healing experience for me to be there. Here's my feet at Seaside, OR.

And the journal that resulted from the embroidery:

Journal with crazy amounts of eyelets

Another Duck cloth journal. I used eight signatures of blank paper inside. I got a little crazy with the eyelets, but I like how it turned out. :)

Happy Easter

I made a toy bunny and a carrot for an Easter toy. I got the bunny pattern from the Martha Stewart website, then made a felted scarf from an old sweater. I really liked making it, except for when I put one of the ears on inside out, d'oh!

Collections

I've been collecting natural artifacts since I was a kid growing up on the Oregon Coast. Here are some of my favorites: (left to right) heart shaped rocks, twigs and leaves from nature walks, and shells from the beach. I also like having tons of indoor plants to keep the place looking green. I've never been able to grow a garden, but my indoor plants have lasted years and years.

Book-binding fun

I just can't get enough of the coptic stitch headbands. And apparently I am addicted to the color grey. This journal was so fun to make. I wish I could skip all the paper folding etc. and get straight down to the binding part. We are enjoying a rainy week here in Boise, and the plus side is lots of indoor time to read and make books. Yeehaw! :P

Plush Plants

Wow! 200 posts! Cool. I made some more plush plants, this time for my girls. Fleece is so soft and cuddly, but it's pretty difficult to hand sew. My fingers got really sore making these. I added some pipe cleaners to the leaves to make them moveable and it's really fun to position them in wacky poses. I also put un-popped popcorn in the bottom for weight. They turned out so cute! :)

Duck Cloth Journal

Contrary to popular belief, Duck Cloth is not waterproof. But, it does make a really cool book cover. I'm planning on dying the elastic that is holding the book closed an orange color to match the binding thread. Long stitch binding is super fun. I used a dark grey felt on the inside for end pages, and sewed in six signatures of heavy blank drawing paper. One of a kind! :D

Hand bound journal

I've always loved the color combo of grey and orange. I think the grey background really makes the orange binding pop. Would be a great journal for a guy, or a non-girly girl. I also added a felt patch with an imitation of an orange slice. If you love oranges, like me, this would make a cool addition to your life. :)

Valentimes

I made a banner of felt hearts and another of paper hearts. We always have a banner of some sort or other hanging in the archway.

Nothing says 'I love you' like Oreo truffles. Add a crumbled whole package of Oreos to an 8oz pk of cream cheese, form into balls and chill for an hour, then dip in melted chocolate and chill again. Get ready for your face to melt off!! Plus, I wanted to show you my mug from Ceramica that I hand painted. It looks better on the other side, but, oh well. :)

Free-form embroidery + brooch

So I was finally able to find a home for this beautiful butterfly brooch I received as a gift a while back. It was from an antique dealer, as the story goes, and I have no idea the value, but the intricacy is awesome. I used green linen for the backdrop and then made a free-form flower from purple embroidery floss and as is the trend, I will leave it all in an embroidery hoop as a wall hanging. So pretty!

The owl obsession lives on

We have been pretty busy around here watching The Legend of the Guardians over and over, "I foretold you so" being our favorite line. So, I made some felt owlets for the girls to play with. There was a free pattern at moonstitches.typepad.com. Cute!

Clay bowl with headbands

Okay, so I may have broken the rules of bookbinding, but I just love the way this clay bowl looks with the coptic headbands!! I got the bowl from an Etsy shop and just had to sew it with waxed thread, since that is my favorite part of all. I think I will have to teach myself how to make bowls now so I can keep doing this. It was super fun to make!

Totoro Plushie

I am a huge studio Ghibli fan, so when I saw a free pattern online to make Totoro, I jumped at the chance. My kids have been watching the movie all week and were super excited too to get a toy Totoro! My favorite movie is still Howl's Moving Castle, but I love My Neighbor Totoro also. I made this with grey fleece and white felt for the belly. I was running low on cotton, but light stuffing makes him super huggable. Yay!