Everything is.... that is! And that's one of my favorite parts of early spring. I've been working on a little side series (for a show this July - fingers crossed!) with little hooped-up mushroom outcrops. These are so addictive - really the perfect thing for those little fusible backed scraps in my scrap basket. I've been painting the hoops... and, er, getting better as I practice.
Speaking of mushrooms, we have so many varieties of mushrooms here in western North Carolina! Imagine our surprise when we stumbled upon a crop of these tasty morels, growing in a random bit of mulch in our apartment complex! Guess what's for dinner? Yes, a bit alien looking, but so so tasty.
I'm loving this little mini theme - welcome to my new blog header! I stuck with the same one for so long, I'm really enjoying switching things up seasonally. Keeps it interesting! And I'm thinking a birdy might look right nice among those fungi...
I must be in a restless mood cause I am hopping around with the craftiness! That's what happens when you work on craft books... the latest bug I've caught is needle felting, inspired by the lovely Lisa Jordan over at Lil Fish Studios. Man, this lady is a crafty genius! I fell hard for her mushrooms (even bought some!) and then I had to try them for myself, which lead to an apple tree to a topiary... I'm officially hooked, even though it hurts to type because I accidentally "needle felted" my middle finger. No pain, no gain, I guess! Now what else to make in miniature...
Oh, the start of beach camping season - how I love thee! I spent last weekend camping in Edisto, SC, with my mom, her new pup (a cairn terrier named Paula Deen), my grandma, and my cousin and his fam (hi, Kate and Ned!). We had so much fun, especially decking out my mom's new camper with its requisite amount of mingos. Here's Ned with a small portion of the flock... right before the carnage started. And there's nothing like sharing some grand marnier with your soon-to-be-88-year-old grandma!
Sometimes I need a break from sewing flat decorative things... you know the feeling? The whole reason I got into sewing was to make clothing (back, oh, 15 years ago) but I haven't done much of that in a while. Until, that is, our good friends had little lady Sofi. Making kids clothes is so much fun... in about an hour and with about $3 worth of fabric, I whipped up these little cuties (using a pattern from Sew Tina!). Fun, non-commital, useful... lovely! A sew-errific Saturday was followed by a leisurely hike at Sam's Knob on Sunday (oh, Blue Ridge Parkway, I love thee!), with my little lady Violet. So nice to move and just breathe some fresh air! And get some much-needed exercise after lots and lots of sitting! That is a downside of this crafty life of ours...Violet went to the vet last week and she is absolutely tipping the scales at 51 pounds - yikes! Turns out those "growths" I was worried about are actually just love handles.... 
A case of art/craft imitating life? May be! I've been so enthralled with all the little mushrooms popping up here in WNC, especially the tasty kind (see my previous post!). This month's installment of bird-a-month was brought to you by morel power! Gosh, those little mushrooms are fun to make, especially when I should be doing other things like a zillion WIPs, walking the doggies, cleaning the house, and cooking food and stuff... oh, crafty distractions! 
I couldn't help myself with the basket! Now to figure out where Mr. Birdy is headed next....
