While She Naps

bird cards and red polar bear

I finished the set of bird cards. I made five in total and each one is a little bit different. The drawings of chicks started as these sketeches and the taller bird came from an old drawing in my sketchbook. I used permanent black marker and water colors on white muslin and then cut them out and sewed them to little pieced squares. After a bit of embroidery I used this wonderful stuff - double sided interfacing - to iron them to rag paper. They stick really well and because they aren't stitched to the card you can still write easily on the other side.

I also finished this little red wool polar bear as a final Valentine's Day craft. He's got a pink felt heart on his side and a sleepy expression.

My postcard

Yesterday my package of postcards for the Postcard Swap finally arrived from Snapfish and I'm pretty happy with them. They are all addressed now and ready to go, along with the packages of fabric for the little solids for print swap. Because I'm going to be mailing several items overseas today I have a feeling we'll be at the Post Office for a little while this afternoon. Thank god for AOL - they put those free CDs on the racks there to entertain my toddler while we wait in line. I believe Roxanne is under the impression that everyone goes to the Post Office every day, not just her crazy mommy.

I'm working on a series of cards right now. Last night I was experimenting with drawing with pens and painting with watercolors on white muslin. I cut out some of the pictures and I'm sewing them up on rag paper. Sometimes making cards can pull me out of a creative slump.

A new blue dog

I just finished cutting and ironing all the fabric for the solids for prints swap. Whew! That was a big job. I was thinking about the history of each of the pieces - some of them I've been lugging around since high school, some are from my mother-in-law's fabric stash, some I found thrifting recently but just have too much of. I hope everyone is pleased with their packages! Charlie says our room now looks like a fabric store threw up in there.

Roxy was sick with a cold on Saturday and SUCH a challenge to care for. Crying all day long and only mommy would do. Oh my. I did get a few hours of work done in the morning while Charlie took her out and I made this new blue doggy. He is made from a felted wool scarf I found thrifting with my mom last weekend, some lovely brown wool from Mimi and some wool blanketing from Fiona. I think he's rather cheerful.

I've been waiting for the mailman everyday this week because the postcards I ordered for the Postcard Swap haven't come in yet from Snapfish despite the fact that I ordered them on Jan. 19! I am a very prompt person and I always have all my assignments done on time. I hate it when I'm forced to be past deadline on something. Postcards from other people have started to flow in and I haven't even mailed mine yet! So, alas, if you are on my list I'm sorry but my postcard may be a bit delayed.

Solids for Prints

Okay, let's get some swap action going.

I've thought about doing this one for a while and I think, now that the craft area is finally getting a facelift, the time has come. I would like to do a little solids for prints swap with anyone interested. Over the past few years I've seem to have accumulated way too much fabric with prints on it and way too few solids. I've come to realize recently that I really need more solid fabrics for the kind of softies I'm interested in making now.

So, if you'd be interested in receiving a package of fabric from me, some vintage and some new, all prints, shoot me an email (abbyglassenberg at comcast dot net). I will be putting together five packages in total and they'll be ready to mail by the middle of next week.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I'm looking forward to some rest and relaxation tomorrow morning when Charlie takes Roxy to Tot Time. Ahhhh.

The flock

I finally finished the flock. Five lambs. Two of them are already sold, but if you had contacted me about one, they are up on the shop now. I think these will be the last lambs for a little while.

I've been doing some sketching for a new softie. Perhaps a chicken

or a cat of some kind

I'm actuallly liking this sketch a bit better

I'm not sure what will come of these. I got some books with photos of animals from the library for some inspiration.

On a totally separate note, I took my mom thrifting this weekend and we found some nice stuff including a great book on making Japanese-style garnishes (I love garnishes - I always eat them and I'd like to learn to make them. You know, radish flowers, etc.) and a set of two lovely vintage pillow cases

And finally, here are the two ATC's I made for Jessica who just started a blog and wanted to do a little ATC swap.

Snowy Day

I finished up these valentines for a special order today. I made them on my new (to me) work desk! Yesterday afternoon we moved a bunch of furniture around to transform the current guest room into the new baby's nursery. This included dismantling and moving two beds and two desks. Roxanne helped out by banging a blue wrench against various objects and shouting about the tape measure. A big benefit of all this furniture rearrangement is that my tiny little white desk got moved into the office and the big IKEA cherry desk took its place in my studio/work space in our bedroom. I'm so used to sitting on the floor, slumped uncomfortably over my work. It is really wonderful to have a big surface to spread out on. The only challenge now is to keep it clean.

It snowed a lot here today. At least 7-8 inches. Roxy and I built a snowman this morning - he is a classic snowman with a red wool scarf and a carrot nose. The snow was so easy to pack. He turned out bigger than she is and it only took ten minutes or so to make him.

The flock of lambs is almost done - just one more to stuff.

Soft Yellow Lamb

I made this little sweetie yesterday. He is actually the first in a series of five (Why am I making five lambs? I really don't know. I just do that kind of thing sometimes). The weather is warm again today - in the 50s - and Roxy and my mom and I are headed out to the playground and to the maternity store. Yep, I'm going maternity shopping again, something I really hate to do, but my favorite gray and black maternity pants are too small now. I'm afraid it's time to get some BIG pants. Charlie felt the baby kicking last night for the first time. He felt her once before, but only very lightly. Last night she was dancing in there. And, we are going to the movies tonight! Have a great weekend everyone.

Year of the Dog

This photo will be part of the postcards I will mail for the Postcard Swap. I designed an original dog for this. I think we're calling it a rat terrier (like our friend Jen's little dog, Wendel). The only requirements for the postcard was that it incorporate a picture of a dog and the words "Happy New Year" somewhere on the front. I drew him a little dog bowl and stamped the words onto it. I've ordered some postcards online and they should be here next week.

My mom is here visiting us until Sunday morning which means unlimited babysitting! We might just make it out to the movies one of these nights. I'm dying to see Brokeback Mountain. We've seen exactly two movies in the last two years so I get all excited at the prospect of sitting in a real theater sharing a big bucket of popcorn with my husband and having a nice, relaxing date. Maybe Friday evening?

Cards

Roxanne and I managed to make it out to the mall yesterday afternoon to return a gift. I bought some beautiful cards with birds on them at Anthropologie by Saturate Design. I really need to buckle down and write some letters to my friends back in the Delta. Many of them don't have ready web access. Here are some other lovely cards from Saturate

Such great bird images

And to whet your whistle for the Postcard Swap (I got my list of addresses yesterday and they are from all around the world. I can't wait!) here are some lovely New Year's postcards from years past

Don't you just love beautiful stationary?

Fuzzy Green Owl

I made Sidney a little girlfriend. She is made of a very soft, fuzzy and nubbly olive material with white and dark fleks in it. She cheered me up on Saturday when, for various reasons, I was having a bad blog moment - feeling like maybe this thing is making me and my family too exposed to the world, maybe I should delete it all. Having a public diary, even just one about crafty stuff and mom stuff like this, is scary sometimes and it tends to hit me all of a sudden. Charlie gave me an excellent comforting talk and several big hugs and I'm still here, but a bit shakey feeling.