Zuzu's Petals

I admire the skills of ZuZu's Petals at making toys from felt. She is quite talented! I hope to be as good as her in shaping creatures out of felt materials one day.

Suki Suki Designer Plushies

These stuffies from Suki Suki look good and soft (and silly). You should also check out her Donut Devil. (What is she trying to say!?! How can donuts be evil?)

Cuz Pancakes Have Bad Days Too

I like how angry all the foods look in this store.

Best Valentine's Day Card Ever... for Zombie Lovers

I love this card from Tina Sea Monster. It's just so thoughtful (*snicker*).

The Giant Bunnies are Coming to Town

If I had a giant bunny like this, I'd hug him now. He just looks like the fluffiest, most huggable bunny ever. I once had a little black and white bunny. He's like an ant next to this giant bunny. Check out those feet! Adorable!

I'd buy the hat cuz the kid is cute

Now, tell me if the main selling point to this cute little hat isn't the super duper cutie little girl modelling it!?

Sea Inspired Crochet Jewellery

As someone who crochets, I have a certain admiration for someone who can make tiny crochet beads into jewellery. As someone who has a penchant for the odd, I like how this artist has turned these crochet beads into really bizarre sea-inspired pieces. I feel like I need to examine these images closely as they have some secret to life held within them. They do have an organic feel to them, don't they?

Piper Ewan Girly Girl Fashions

These are some beautiful brooches and hair pins from Piper Ewan. If I ever move away from felt brooches to other materials, I'll attempt to make something like these! They're gorgeous!

Art and Ghosts

There is an eerie quality to the images from the appropriately named Art and Ghosts

I Love Quilts!

A dear friend of mine once asked me what my favourite colours were and I guess I had said purple and black at the time (I now like white...). Well lo-and-behold a wonderful quilt arrived in the mail in vivid shades of reddish purple and black. I was a bit shocked to see the end result since I didn't particularly like that shade of purple, but I instantly fell in love with the quilt because I knew how much effort and time she had put into making it for me. I even grew to like the reddish purple. I now use that quilt on my bed all year round and wouldn't dream of parting with it.


I came across this red turtle quilt on Etsy from Designs at a Whisper today and thought of my friend. I think homemade gifts are the best!

Seaside Tree for a Cause

This is a lovely necklace called "Seaside Tree for a Cause" because 25% of it's purchase price will be donated to a charity of your choice. It is being sold by Finestra Designs of Etsy. It looks great among those rocks, huh?

Trudge, trudge, trudge

It snowed all night so I woke to a white, white world. The roads by my house remained unshovelled, and no bus would attempt to go where I lived. So I decided to climb the hill - a tall, winding road where the road was shovelled at the expense of the sidewalk. Trudge, trudge, trudge... it wasn't so bad at first. Many people had walked the beginning part of the hill. Trudge, trudge, trudge... there started to be fewer footsteps to follow. By the time I was half-way up the hill, all the other pedestrian footsteps had dispersed and short-legged me had only what appeared to be a very tall-legged person's footsteps to follow. I would safely land in a deep footstep only to discover that the next dent in the snow was much too far away! Then, when cars sped by, large blobs of wet, brown slush would shower over me. Egad!

A kindly lady slowed down and asked if I wanted a ride, but I politely declined. To be truthful, it was rather fun to be marching in knee-high snow despite how difficult and messy it was. Sometimes, when the cars were clear of the road, a calm would settle over the area because the snow muffled all the noise. All the trees looked so pretty, and small, skinny, leaf-less trees looked like giant, delicate snowflakes.

The Scrapbook Lounge

I haven't done much scrapbooking lately, but there is a nifty little tutorial on how to make a waterfall fold flip-book on The Scrapbook Lounge. It's something I would definitely like to try making in my own scrapbooks. The tutorial is really just a huge sales pitch on their products, but I can see how you could use the idea and make do with your own homemade tools. Check it out here.

Oh, and I was really delighted to find that there is a post about this blog on SugarPharm today. Thanks, Carla! You really made my day!

Winter Wonderland

I looked outside today and found snow - mounds and mounds of snow! With delight I rushed outside with V. to play. We peltered each other with snowballs, got pushed into a pile of snow, dug a buried car out, and cleared the road by building a snowman. We made his eyes from rolled up leaves and I put little red berries in his cheeks for freckles. Some nearby bushes also sacrificed some branches to the snowman.

Here he is!

Felt Brooches!

Yippee! My projects for the weekend are ready to share! These are felt brooches (still minus the brooch part).

They are about 1 to 2 inches big and lightly stuffed with polyfil.

Pretty cute, huh?

Colourful blobs of paint

Trees in every colour made from different sized dots. It is really quite pretty when it's put together right. Those strange, bendy blobs are poppies. The idea seems rather simple, but I do like the results.

These paintings are from the Jelly Beans store.

Today I am working on some tiny felt brooches. Well, the cutie felt bit minus the brooch pin part. I must remember to pick up some brooch pins soon. Have a happy weekend everyone!

Maya Papaya Hair clips

Okay, I don't have kids. But if I did have kids, I'd make them wear these super adorable hair clips from Maya Papaya. In fact, if I didn't buy these hair clips, I would definitely try to make them (kind of like how I insisted on trying to make my own pincushions). You should have a look at the photos showing kids actually wearing these clips - sooooo cute!!!

I like these paintings

I really like this artist's work. Some of the pieces are really abstract, while others look like photos that have gone through a Photoshop filter. There are also some photorealistic paintings, but it is these less realistic ones that interest me.

Hey! A Video of my Workplace!

I came across a video of the EA Motion Capture studio where I work. It's so strange to see it from someone else's eyes.

The video is about Kenny Bell, a motion capture actor for Fantasy Football.

About My Little Pincushions

At last! I have some photos to share of my latest project - little bottle cap pincushions! I am very happy with how they turned out. I got to learn many new embroidery stitches too!

The pincushions range from about 1.5 inches tall to 3.5 inches tall.

They are made of felt and filled with poly-fill. There is also a little bottle cap inside on the bottom so that you won't poke needles through the bottom into your hand. The bottle cap also makes a flat, slightly heavier base for the pincushion to stand on. Details are sewn on or embroidered with regular thread (but 4 strands by doubling 2 over).

My Little Pincushions

Nice Buckets!

So yesterday on the Black Apple, Emily commented that she's glad she doesn't go to work in a bucket factory each day. One gal commented back that she was sure that Emily would make very nice buckets if she did indeed work in a bucket factory. Lo and behold, I've come across some artistic buckets today.

They're not Emily's, but is kind of neat to see that someone can make buckets into decorative artwork. The bunny one is from Spring Chick and the black and white one is from Beyond the Pail.

Apple Jackets

This is the strangest idea I've ever come across - apple jackets. They're supposed to protect your apple from being bruised, but I suppose they can be stylish fashion wear for your apples as well. Jacqueline Knits also makes pear jackets.

Needle Felting Skills!

This artist has mad skills in needle felting!

Warm Fuzzies Book

I was wandering Etsy and came across Betz White's store and her blog. Her designs for various pincushions and other felted crafts are whimsical and likable, and she's just published her own craft book called Warm Fuzzies.

I've always been fascinated by the idea of having a book published and it just thrills me to know that she has succeeded at it.

Poor Tofu!

This tofu from Button Archade makes me laugh.

Tiny Birds Nest Pin

I love bird's nests. I always look in the trees hoping to discover one with eggs or little baby birds.

Here is a cute little pin with tiny blue birds eggs in the crook of a branch. How delightful! You'll find these in Lil Fish Studios.

Snarfles and Burbles - oh my!

I just love these Snarfles and Burbles by Squidge. They are shaped rather oddly and are clearly imaginary.

Motion Tracking with the Wiimote

This is an amazing bit of Wii software from Johnny Chung Lee. I was especially impressed with how 3d images look when the wiimote is attached to one's head. I think this would be a great addition to a boxing game. He also basically builds a motion capture camera using the wimote, some infrared LED sheets with a hole cut out in the middle, and reflective tape on his fingertips.

Check it out here.

Blanket Stitch Rocks

I learned how to make a blanket stitch yesterday! I'm so delighted. So now I'm in the process of making a little bottlecap pincushion for myself. I've been wanting to make one for a while now and this is the perfect excuse to try out both the blanket stitch and the bottlecap pincushion tutorial. Stay posted for pictures when I'm allllll done. Oh, and I have to take some pictures of my new crochet creations. They're a little grubby... you'll see!

Do They Look Like Fish To You?

Okay, so they ARE sitting in a pool of water in this picture and they do have slightly webbed feet, but do these Capybara look like fish to you? I didn't think so. However, in the 16th century, the Catholic church classified these animals as fish. I suppose when you're only allowed to eat fish during Lent, you'll be in a hurry to classify every semi-aquatic animal a fish! A cow or pig might not be arguable, but a large pork-tasting unclassified animal? Well, he's definitely a large fish then!

Capybara are the largest living rodents in the world. Related to guinea pigs, they can grow up to 4.3 ft long and 1.6 ft tall, weighing up to 150lbs (65kg). They are found in semi-aquatic environments in South America. They are gentle, social animals and will usually allow humans to pet and handfeed them. Hunted for their meat and skin, they are not an endangered species, but are suffering some decline in population due to the destruction of their wetland habitats. Capybara are often found in zoos and parks and may live up to 12 years in captivity.

It Must Be Jewellery Day

More great finds in the jewellery department. This time, they're affordable and oh-so-colourful! Check out the great designs from Kelbelle Designs.

Botanical Jewellery

What do you get when you cross a love for botany with jewellery making? You get botanically-themed jewellery, and what lovely designs indeed!

These earrings are from Contagious.

A Zombie Bear!

You all know how I love zombie-themed soft toys. Well Mariska Design has made a zombie bear with a bone arm, stitches, and removable intestines. Ack! How ingenious! She makes many other lovely, quirky toys too.

Bring on the Finger Puppets!

Some folks are so creative. This artist makes finger puppets - lots and lots of finger puppets! And not just normal finger puppets, this artist makes weird ones like french toast and frankenstein hearts. Pretty awesome, huh?