Starring Birch...

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Hello,

Advent day 11!...wow! We are really ticking these December days off at an alarming rate.

Today we had a something a little different in our little advent stocking...

A couple of birch bark stars! I decided I might need a little break from needle felting when I woke up the other morning and realized that I was felting in my sleep~my hand was holding an invisible needle and making little stabby motions on an invisible handful of wool. Hmmm.

Besides, since these advent gifties are also going to serve as our tree ornaments this year, I thought a little diversity might be in order. Hence the stars.

First, let me say that no birches (or anything else) were harmed in the construction of these stars. All the bark was found loose on the ground, on site and I carefully avoided any big pieces that looked like they might be home to any little critters who were engaged in important decomposition work.

A cool thing about working with birch bark is that a relatively small strip will yield quite a bit of material. It is composed of paper thin layers and once the bark is cleaned and dry you can carefully separate the layers, giving you bark that is as thick or thin as you desire.

I washed mine with warm water, blotted the excess water off and then let it air dry until almost dry. Then I wrapped the birch in a cloth and gave it a quick press. My husband took this lovely shot when he chanced upon me ironing bark, much to his amusement if not dismay...

These stars are based on Moravian stars. They are so easy to make and there are tons of good tutorials out there in webland. If you like them, you should check out these fabric stars. They are lovely and come with an easy to follow tutorial. Don't forget to follow Betz's links. They will lead you to more inspiration and how-to fun.

Well, that's about it for now. The light is waning and it's time for me to cozy up here and get my knit on.

Sending cozy thoughts your way.

~xox~

alison

 

Sealed with a kiss...

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A quick pop-in with today's advent friend. Please forgive the fuzzy pictures. We were in a bit of a rush this morning and the lad didn't get to check out today's stocking until after school today. And as you can see, by 3 o'clock we have almost no light left. Anyway, here he is in all his fuzzy glory..

Clearly, I'm still working my way through all the blobby shaped species...

It's so funny to me how these things go. I wasn't so thrilled with this guy, but my husband has claimed this little seal the best so far and his fave (I think it's those cunning little whiskers, that and respect for a fellow fisherman that got him). Anyway, it just proves that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Wishing you a wonderful week. Be good to yourself during these busy days :)


~xox~

alison

 

Barn owls and busy-ness...

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Oh my...big errand day today and this post almost got away from me...almost but not quite. Advent day 9 ~ more adventures in needle felting!

 

A wee little barn owl...

Can you tell I'm having fun with this? I am kind of loving it, and I can tell that if I'm not careful I could easily follow these little felties right down the rabbit hole. It could happen ;-)


Hope your weekend has been full of good things!
 

~xox~

alison

 

 

 

Otto, an advent bun...

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Meet Otto, a new wooly friend for the 8th day of advent...

More adventures in needle felting! Woohoo! I will get this down. Our house may become overrun with slightly anemic woolen animals, but so be it.

This little guy is clearly a wild rabbit, not the chubby bunny that I was originally going for, but actually I'm liking him the way he is more and more. One of the really fun things that I'm discovering about needle felting is that at some point in the process the felted animal begins to be who he is and it's really fun to just go with it instead of trying to force him in any specific direction. I kind of love that.

 

Here are few pics of our morning with Otto bun...



~xox~
alison

 

Tweet...

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Hello,

Just a quick little post today. Guess who flew in to help us welcome the seventh day of advent?...this little bluebird of happiness...

 

This was my first real go at needle felting and I have to say that I haven't quite got it down yet.

Just a warning~needle felting can be really dangerous for any closet perfectionists out there. I had such a hard time letting go of this little bird. I kept thinking I'd just work on one more area and then he'd be done, and then after that I would say the same thing again. This went on for quite some time before I finally had to let him fly {I don't care to mention how much time was involved here~suffice it to say a lot}. He's still not perfect, but I've decided that learning to live with that might actually be good for me. There are definitely more needle felted friends in my future {good thing my family likes sandwiches}, although I'm thinking that sticking to the blobbier shaped animals might be a good plan for now {they don't like sandwiches that much}.

Here's hoping that you are having a happy Friday and that your weekend is off to a fantastic start! I'm going to be spending mine doing a little wooly gardening.

How about you?

~xox~

alison

 

All baa and no humbug...

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Okay, I'm feeling a little, well sheepish about this guy. He was so quick and easy that he hardly counts {why is it that when something is really effortless that I feel like I just phoned it in and it doesn't really count?}. But after astring of late night crafting, I was feeling the need for easy and effortless. And guess what~this just in~the lad didn't even mind that this guy was such an easy peasy project, not a bit.
He really liked this little fluff of a lamb. So much so that he wanted to add to the flock today after school. These little roving and pipe cleaner sheep have been standard fare a fiber guild shows for as long as I can remember and they are super easy to make.
There is a good tutorial for them here. We made ours as per the tutorial but then I did a little needle felting at the end to secure the roving.

It was so much fun to sit and make these with him. One of my all time favorite things has and will always be to make things with my kids, be it cookies, or origami, or pipe cleaner sheep. I love the act of communal creating. Laughter and conversation flow and connections are made and it feels so good. Before all was said and done this afternoon, the sheep had a new pipe cleaner paddock and several of them were endowed with super powers. Like I said...the best time...I love it. Hope you're having fun getting your holiday craft on.

 

~xox~

alison

 

Hedging...

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On the Fifth day...my true love brought to me...fiiiive golden riiings. Not!

I'd like you to meet Tigg, the hedgie...the Advent hedgie...
The free pattern for this roly-poly cutie can be found here. A great resource is Drunken Aunt Wendy. This pattern was clearly written and it gave me an opportunity to learn another new stitch {I mean if you are going to stay up into the wee hours making holiday frippery you might as well be learning something on the way, right? In this case it was loop stitch.
 So loop stitch...hmmm...any thoughts? I felt kind of like I was making a teeny tiny shag carpet or bath towel. While not difficult, this stitch is a bit fiddly. And a word to the wise from the not so ~ resist the urge to control the size of your loops. I wanted mine to look textured without being too huge...I mean I'm making hedgehog prickles not a lion's mane after all. The bottom line~~if your loops are too small they will pull out and unravel and will make you most cranky and you will probably say some things you shouldn't. Then, at that very moment, it will become clear to you that it is afterall a good thing {and showed tremendous foresight~not lack of planning} that you're working on this silly hedgie at 3 in the morning so that your sweet children won't be scarred by seeing their mother despairing over crocheted hedgehog prickles in the middle of the night. That could happen. Or so I've heard. However, if that happens {and it won't because you're going to make your loops big enough...how big?...the circumference of your index finger and no smaller} you will forget your fatigue and frustration {not to mention the crick that's preventing you from turning your head} the second you look at that cute hedgie nose and that roly poly bum.
Because after all is said and done, he's a hedgehog, and hedgehogs are adorable...especially Advent hedgies.

~xox~

alison



Twinkle...

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Thar be stars on thar's...nay...no Starbelly Sneetches~nary a one can be found round here {though I do love that story~give it up for Dr. Seuss!}...and yay to stars!  Advent Day 4 is brought to you by this wooly star...
Oh dear...these pics.  Not so good.  Please forgive and understand that all of this is happening with my phone veeeerrry early in the morning.  Before the school bus.  That would be before 6:30 AM. I'll have to get some better photos with my real camera at some point because these shots are just not doing the cuteness of these stars justice.  In the meantime, I hope you get the idea.

The pattern is another gem from Lucy and the beloved Attic 24 {have you checked it out yet?...it's a bright and happy place, yes?!}.  My gracious that girl is such a talented and generous soul {yes this pattern is free}.

I really loved making this little ornament ~ rather addictive actually.  It starts out as a bauble like this one on my left leg...
And then the points are added.  Lacking in bitty bells or spare buttons, I just put french knots on the points of my star, but you could definitely go all out with this one if you wanted.  I'm thinking constellations of these beauties might be just what our tree needs to keep it from becoming too precious.  All those cute crochet critters I'm planning could leave our tree looking rather cutesy and saccharine sweet if I'm not careful.  I think these stars and some baubles will give our tree...a certain respectability...gravitas...no...hmmm...well I don't know what but something good.

And on another note, look what arrived in the mail yesterday...
!!!!...Ten lovely books from Potter Craft!!!
I won a mini library of craft books!  {insert happy dance here} Sooo exciting!  I literally never win anything and I can't believe my fortune.  I'm thanking my lucky...you guessed it...stars. Oh groan~sorry~had too.  Anyway, I cannot wait to pore over these texts.  I can tell already that they are packed full of crafty inspiration.  Maybe some of it might eventually appear here or in someone's Christmas stocking.  It could happen...but not if I don't get to the making.  So here I go...

Happy, happy Tuesday to you!

~xox~
alison