Making a Doll

I felt the need to make a doll yesterday night and began to sew and design. I looked at Emily Martin's doll tutorial on the Martha site, I looked at the Babette dolls, and I searched the Internet to find some more ideas. As I looked at the sites, I pulled ideas from here and there. I didn't have any nice-looking fabrics, so I opted for my trusty felt pile. Then, snip-snip-snip! and sew-sew-sew!









I had an easy time making the hair because it was a lot like making my felt brooches. The rest of it was harder because i had to decide what shape the body would be and how the arms and legs would bend or not bend. I originally planned to sew the arms and legs and then turn them inside out so there would be no edges, but I found that it was extremely difficult to turn felt inside out and that edges don't look so bad when you're using felt. So it just left them as is and stuffed them with polyfil before sewing them to the body.

I put some rice in her bottom to give her some weight, but it doesn't help her sit up. She's all sewn up now, but she needs a face. I might also add some embroidery to her grey smock because it's quite plain. Although I rather like her plain too. We will see!

Relaxing Weekend

It was a more "normal" Spring day today with some crisp breezes and light sunshine. I went for a morning stroll with my mum and purchased some flowers along the way. A boy was fundraising for a school project by the elementary school and it seemed only fitting to help his cause and to bring home some cheerful beginnings to our garden.









We got a few Ranunculus and some tomato plants. The boy found a tomato plant with a bent stem and told me that, while it looked dead, it was not. He straightened the tomato stalk whereupon it promptly drooped to the other side. By the time he was through with trying to prove to me that it was still alive, we were both sure it was quite dead. I said, "Maybe you shouldn't touch it anymore." And he said, "Yeah..." He hid the very dead tomato plant among its lively cousins and we pretended this had never happened.









It was fun to walk home with our tray full of plants, and I had much joy sweeping the balcony clean to make a nice home for the flowers. I was delighted to discover that some of last year's plants are growing back. I also took a pic of the tiny oranges growing on our indoor orange plant.











This is what happens when I mess around with the Photoshop colour balance. I get strange orange and purple daffodils. These were at Rocky Point (not quite like this tho...)

Red Man In Snow

Ah yes, just another beautiful Spring day! Look what Mother Nature brought us today :)

Carrots by Lamplight

I thought the carrot looked quite pretty last night so I took some pictures of it. It's wonderful how a simple carrot can be so visually inspiring .

What makes owls so adorable?

I say, what is it that makes me love owls so much!? Check out this awesome black and white letter owl from strawberries and cream.








Oh, and I love Fred the cute hedgehog.

Jose, the Elf Owlet

I think I love everything Fing makes. Check out Jose, the Elf Owlet. He's awesome!

Vintage Cherry Blossoms

I spotted these lovely blossoms in Atelier Kanawa's shop. Aren't they breath-taking?

I love these very traditional Japanese hair ornaments.

Carrot in a Vase

I went to the Port Moody Station Museum today and a man in a rabbit suit handed me a carrot - a real carrot. I was quite amused. I took it home and put it into a vase. :P

This carrot in a vase became the backdrop for some new pics of my brooches. I have now made each one a lovely drawn card background. Here they are for your viewing pleasure.

Happy Easter Weekend

I had some time this weekend to work on some new brooches. I made two Easter-themed brooches, Blue Bunny brooch and Easter Bunny brooch, and two others, Sweet Rose brooch and Caribbean Star brooch.

My favourite one of the bunch is Sweet Rose brooch. You can't really tell from the pictures, but the leaves are made from a dark, creamy brown felt with rose pink stitching. I thought it was fine time for my mother to have one of my brooches so I gave Sweet Rose brooch to her. She says she'll wear it for Easter Sunday tomorrow. *beams*



















And, as promised, here are some pictures of my bird brooches from my "bird phase". There's Goodnight Bluebird brooch, Toy Bird brooch, and - a treat for V - the Crabby Dinner brooch. He's a big fan of crab dinners and we decided that he could secretly indicate he wanted a crab dinner by wearing the brooch. If I spot the brooch, he gets the dinner.

Happy Easter Treats

I put together a little plate of Easter goodness today. Five green tea sticky rice balls with red bean filling on red paper cups arranged on a bed of bright plastic raffia. I added some little chicks, some foil eggs, and a little sign for extra Easter cheer.

My family was quite delighted by it and I expect that the yummy treats will soon be all but a memory :)

Happy Easter!

Taking Felted Beads to the Next Level

If you're in the habit of making felted beads (or any project, really), you should embark on "the bird phase" - make birds out of everything.

These felted birds are from little bit funky.

I went on "the bird phase" before. Come to think of it, I don't think I ever posted pics of my bird brooches. I'll have to remember to do that. (Be forewarned, they weren't that good...)

Littlest Bean brooches

I really love the felt brooches by littlest bean!

They are so unique. They make me want to make some brooches just like that (and I should seeing as how I bought a whole whack-load of felt a while back when I was on my brooch making spree...)

Crazy Mechanical Dog

via videosift.com

You've got to check out this crazy mechanical dog. It's quite creepy, but very cool too. My friend says he wants to sit on it. I think you'd get whiplash...

Clock Charm Bracelet

There's something charming about this little bracelet from Artistic Aya... Something about having little clocks in various shapes dangling off of your wrist.

It reminds me a bit of a surrealist painting.

Anna and the Spoon

There are some interesting characters in the Rainbow Box store. I like this bird pillow and this odd doll called Anna who is featured beside a spoon... for some odd reason...