new little birdy...

new little bird in the shop... made from a lightly felted wool, and a mix of vintage and new fabrics.

i have so many ideas in my head for projects, but just not enough time to make them all:( i'm quite sad about it, but i'll get to it all eventually. i have a craft fair coming up this saturday , which i'm busy making ornaments for. i feel like the shop is looking a little "old"... nothing really different lately. it's been pretty slow too all of a sudden... i hope some of you are enjoying the holiday rush instead. go check out katy's shop if you get a chance... you better hurry though, she is selling out quickly (see if you can catch one of her adorable little bunnies)!

by the way, as it's the last day of the month, and i haven't been very good about putting new items in the shop for you, i'm extending my charity donation to the end of the year. a portion of items purchased will be donated to the march of dimes, through the month of december as well. thanks for your support!

xo
cary

one more...

sneaking in one more quick post... i had to share what my son likes to do on his holiday break! you can see why we have had to reinforce the couch several times. he's only allowed to do this very rarely now... shhh, don't tell! you can see his sister is trying to get in on the act too. hope you are having a bouncy good day too.

happy thanksgiving...

i will be taking a day off, as many of you, and just wanted to wish those celebrating a happy thanksgiving! we are going to try and brave the crowds and watch them blow up the balloons... i'm not brave enough to attempt the actual parade, we'll just watch from home. for those celebrating thanksgiving, i hope you have a wonderful day with family and friends. if you are in ny and want to brave the crowds with us, here's a map of the action (click the map for more info). see you in a few days everyone!

giveaway...

very nice giveaway from peppersprouts on the newnew blog! i have another piece by her, one of her brooklyn rooftops shadow boxes, and i absolutely love it! go enter... if you must.

two new cats...

two new cats in the shop today, as promised. the first is made from a white felted wool jersey, and very pretty vintage yellow floral cotton. the second is a felted black with red, white, and black argyle. now i'm back to working on special orders... currently i'm making a penguin! i'll post some pics of it soon.

shop update...

i plan to have an update in my shop tomorrow. i will have at least two kitties, a black one and a white one. i'm not sure how many updates i'll have before christmas, that aren't special orders, so i'll let you know when they are coming. i'll post some pictures tomorrow.

saturday shopping list no. 11...

pretty...

i have no particular theme, other than picking a few pretty things to share. hope you have a lovely weekend...

1) tablecloth, vintage white linen hand stitched in blue, from highstreetmarket
2) 1959 swedish decanter and glasses, from mendshop
3) city no. 14, by theoakleaves
4) timex clock, from passepurse
5) little yellow riding hood cashmere bonnet, made by bluemoonrose
6) bird love teapot, from ninainvorm
7) michigan summer woods- russula mushroom fine art print, by mollysteinwald
8) beautiful handmade 1950's vintage blue and yellow rose apron, from thevintagepantry
9) special woodlander duke, made by astulabee

check out fancy picnic for more lists!

** check out my treasury based on this list!**

red velvet mushroom...

new snowy white mushroom in my shop. made with felted wool jersey, red cotton velvet, and vintage buttons.

i'm so proud of you...

i had a very nice evening last night seeing the animated film i'm so proud of you, a follow up to everything will be ok, by don hertzfeldt. i am certainly impressed and amazed by the emotion don is able to convey with a face comprised of a circle and two dots for eyes. both films are deeply moving, nuanced, and thought provoking... as well as absurdly funny. there was a screening of some of his earlier works, as well as a q & a with don afterwards. i really enjoyed myself, and it was wonderful seeing my old friend again.

and the winner is....

the winner of my pumpkin giveaway this month is...

tessa (the milkshake)!

congrats tessa! about thanksgiving tessa wrote:

"we make lots of deserts for thanks giving at our house.
because we all have sweet tooth's!

we make pumpkin pie, (of course) apple pie, cheese cake and fruit salad."

thanks for sharing tessa. that sounds like a really yummy idea, who needs a turkey with all that?! i'm still not sure what we are having for thanksgiving, but we have decided to take the kids this year the night before thanksgiving to watch them blow up the parade balloons in central park. i have always wanted to do it myself, and i think the kids will be old enough to enjoy it this year, especially my son. thanks everyone who entered, and i promise to do another giveaway soon.

reminder...

just a reminder that the deadline for the pumpkin giveaway is midnight tonight (e.s.t). i'm enjoying reading all your thanksgiving stories!

i also thought i'd share this little friend. he is a special order i was working on for quite some time. he's definitely something new for me... combining my different experiences with sewing. i've made waldorf dolls for my children before, and of course i've made a lot of little animals... he's somewhere in between. he is my own pattern, and i'm pretty happy how he turned out. he is based on a print from the shop, the blue egg. i appreciate her allowing me to reinterpret her cute bunny into a hug-able, three-dimensional one! her prints are darling... i have one my self!

front page...

katy and i both had treasuries on the front page today... i was in hers and she was in mine! congrats everyone!

another giveaway...

not from me this time. i saw this cute bag on just we moms, after one of the writers entered my giveaway below (thanks mandie). this cute little pig back pack is so cute for toddlers, and it's made from organically grown cotton canvas and rope materials, as well as recycled plastic! very cool. it's made my the ecogear company. i guess you can enter too if you really want to...

choose your favorite ornament contest...

i just saw that my little ornament was picked for the choose your favorite ornament contest on etsy! i was surprised to see it, because it's a fall ornament but i'm honored somebody liked it enough to include it. i'm making some for the holidays to sell at a craft fair, that will have a holly leaf and acorn. if you are interested in voting, you can do so here.

giveaway...

i promised another giveaway this month. i really had fun reading all of your responses to last month's question about halloween. this month i'll ask the obvious... "what are you doing, or what do you usually do for thanksgiving?" maybe you'll give me ideas! i need some ways to make thanksgiving a little more special. as vegetarians we can't make it all about the turkey, but haven't really settled on a special dish yet. the first thanksgiving i spent with my husband we made pumpkin lasagna! one year we made a delicious vegetable pie, but it was really complicated. i did find a recipe for a swiss chard and gruyere gratin that is cooked in mini pumpkins (i saw it in living etc. magazine, but this is the same recipe). i'd like to try it this year... other than that we have no idea what we are doing!

so, leave me a comment and tell me what you are doing. also leave your email so i can get a hold of you. you can win one of my mini pumpkins... i think they would be cute for thanksgiving... a nice decoration or hostess gift. i only have two left, a creamy colored one, made from a hand dyed wool with a green polka dot stem (just slightly different than the one above), and an orange cashmere (same material i use for my orange kitties). you can pick which color you want. everyone is eligible, regardless of where you live. i promise to send it out quickly since thanksgiving is so soon, and because of that let's make this a quick one. post your comment by weds. the 19th at midnight (eastern standard time). good luck!

** i just realized that since this is open to international readers as well, not everyone can share a thanksgiving story! please feel free to leave a comment letting me know you'd like to be entered. thanks!

snow bunny...

new winter rabbit in the shop.

** update... this little bunny is gone already! my goodness, i can't keep up with you all. next year i will have to be more prepared for the holiday season. i'm glad he's found a good home, he's a cutie.

brooklyn indie market...

i will be at the brooklyn indie market tomorrow, from 11 am - 7pm. it is located on smith and carroll, under the red striped awning. if you are hoping for some wool animals, i'm afraid i'm pretty much sold out right now! i'll have one little lonely bunny, he's pretty cute though. i'll be there with winsome hollow and we promise to have a few lovely items for the holidays. i think next year, i will be better prepared for the chritmas season... maybe.

front page...

this great treasury by soleil girl was on the front page the other day (she has a really great shop, by the way, with lot's of lovely felt goodies)! i love all the plaids there. the bunny sold, and i'm missing him a little bit... as well as my plaid kitties. i'm loving that beautiful fabric. i don't like to reuse the same fabric too much, but that's a beauty and i never want any of my fabrics to go to waste. i'm trying to work on some new items, but i've also been focusing on my family this week. they were a little neglected. i have a fair this saturday, and need to spend all day sunday working on my list of special orders! i'm a little behind... apologies if i owe you something, i promise it's coming soon! i'm working on a little winter bunny, and hopefully will have a new kitty pair, as well as some other pairs before the holidays. i will keep that series going, and continue to donate a portion to the march of dimes. now time for sleep... musn't forget that!

fan girl break...

a completely, heavenly day.

back to the normal blog now....

nice blog feature, great blog...

i was very happy to be a pick on the blog creature comforts recently! i'm keeping very nice company there... or my black bird is, i should say. i'm really glad to have found this blog too, it's a new favorite! really lovely... and the woman who writes it has a nice etsy shop called the wren and chickadee!

lantern walk...

a few years ago, my son belonged to a waldorf playgroup. although he is no longer part of a waldorf school, we had so many great experiences while he was there. luckily we are still able to participate in the lovely seasonal ceremonies... thanks in part to the communal nature of the group, and also that our dear friends now teach this group. tonight we are going to participate in the lantern walk. we all meet in the park at dark, and walk through it with lighted lanterns... "discovering" a fairy feast that has been left for us at the end. my son still has his lantern from the group, but my daughter is old enough to carry one this year and doesn't have a lantern. i was searching for quick easy ideas for a last minute lantern, when i came across a great site explaining the tradition of the lantern walk, with ideas for making lanterns.


i particularly liked the glass jar lanterns... quick, and recycled too! the funny thing is the entry was actually from one of my fellow natural kids teammates! faerie rebecca had a lovely blog sharing her experience of waldorf homeschooling, today in faerie school (she no longer writes on this blog unfortunately, but does keep up her crafting one). her post on the lantern walk is great, and has many good photos (like the ones above) and links. jack henry decided if sidney was going to make a lantern he would too.



they had a lot of fun! we shredded color tissue paper and used glue sticks to glue them on. the kids did it almost entirely by themselves (they are 3 and 5), so it makes a fun project for little ones... whether you actually participate in a walk or not. i think they will look beautiful tonight with tea lights in them, and i'll try to take some pictures of the walk. these are the pictures of their lanterns, before i added the handles. here is a link to the story of martinmas, as well.


happy fall!

saturday shopping list no.10...

i have been thinking about thanksgiving coming up, enjoying the fall leaves on the trees and ground, and wanting to settle in away from cold weather ahead. i'm trying to capture a warm, rustic feeling with my shopping list... and hope you get a nice cozy feeling from it!

1) le amor... hanging metal chandelier candle holder, by baconsquarefarm
2) handcrafted farm table, from gracedanieldesigns
3) resting sparrows tumblers, by justmare
4) nesting (journal), by mamaroots
5) gothic house no.1, from weewood
6) felted woolen slipper socks, made by pawfelts
7) table runner, by kelgwo
8) woodland gift tag decoration set, from mothtoaflamestudio
9) vintage mikasa, from modishvintage

hope you are all staying warm... i'm always wishing for a fire place around this time of year. visit fancy picnic for more in the shopping series... and also winsome hollow.

mama and baby cat...

new mama and baby in my shop today!

etsy article...

the storque article featuring our needle felted how-to is up! you can find instructions and pictures (that's me!) showing how to make a cute little turkey step by step. don't forget to log into the virtual labs thursday to see us live!

etsy virtual labs...

well, i have a lot on my plate recently... and i apologize for getting so behind in adding new items to the shop, especially for the mama and baby series. i made a few new ornaments for winter... but my animals are still in progress.

i have been working on something special this last week, with katy (winsome hollow). she was contacted by etsy about doing a tutorial for the virtual labs, and was nice enough to include me. i have to say i'm so nervous! i'm really not good at this kind of thing! if you are interested in watching, though, you can log into etsy on thursday at 7pm (eastern time), and go into the virtual labs. there you can see katy and i do a needle felting tutorial. we will show the basics, and how something as simple as a ball of wool can be transformed into many different things... like a turkey! we came up with this cute little turkey, which is a simple but sweet idea to have for children at thanksgiving. it would look so cute on display, and also make a nice gift for any little ones on thanksgiving day. afterward we will also show off some of our favorite natural toys for kids. hopefully i'll get through it with out making a fool out of myself! maybe it will even be fun:)

i promise to share some pics of the kids from halloween and sidney's birthday, and some photos of our local fall leaves! lot's of updates coming soon. if you are in the u.s. i hope you will be joining me in voting today! don't forget... it's too important. i really hope our country is in for some great changes, and it's amazing to think of this as history in the making!


regardless of who you are voting for... just vote! find out where to go here.