more felt goodness!

I must admit... been on kind of a felt kick lately. Well, when I'm not feeling totally overwhelmed by the impending holidays. Are you almost done with your list? I actually didn't plan that big this year, but these last-minute things I keep adding... someday I'll learn. Here's a quick recap:

A Ruby Doll (from Jhoanna Monte's pattern in the Craft Hope book) for my niecey Ella:

Some quick-and-easy birdy ornaments for my fabulous coworkers:

And finally, some folks are getting giftcards. Totally the opposite of handmade, probably, but it happens! And that doesn't mean the packaging can't be fantastic! Here are some simple felt gift card envelopes (free tutorial over on the Lark blog if you're interested):

And the saga continues. I don't know what it is, but I feel like a crafter possessed! Something about the early darkness makes me want to crank up pandora and sew, sew, sew! The dolly and birdies were fun - a nice break after sewing a lot (!) of flat things. Still pondering some possible blog themes for next year. In the meantime, happy solstice everyone!

stocking redux!

If you've already gotten the Special Holiday Issue of Fat Quarterly (and if you haven't, get cracking!), you've seen the lovely coverage they've given to Fa La La La Felt (many many thanks yous to the Fat Quarterly folks!!). As part of a holiday round-up, I remade my Oopsy Daisy stockings from the book... following my original instructions. What an exercise it was! And here are the results, hanging from the bar. I riffed on the original pattern a little (less daisy, more asterisk!) and used some of the Kate Spain Christmas fabric the FQ team sent me. I'm also including a free tutorial from the book (over on the Lark Crafts site). Happy stocking making!

Holly, jolly... July!

Just a quick note to say that you should check out the loveliness over at Sew, Mama, Sew's Christmas in July. They'll be featuring several projects and designers from Fa La La La Felt (including some of my faves), which hits shelves early next month. Should be lots of fun, and it may be enough to put you in the mood for hot cocoa - though it's pretty unlikely in this extremely hot "mountain weather" here!

everything's coming up toadstools!

Okay, yes, that's probably the cheesiest blog heading I've ever come up with, but I can't help it. These little ladies just make me happy. Thank you, Cathy Gaubert! And they make our Christmas ficus look oh-so-merry, don't you think? Despite the fact that they look a little...er...dehydrated.

More holiday crafting updates to come, and soon if I'm going to get everything made in time.

big (big, big) news!

I'm so very excited... remember that "felt mystery project" I was working on over the summer? Well, mystery revealed: I was feverishly creating projects for this book: Fa La La La Felt. Lots of hard work on a crazy fast schedule, but so worth it! This book is Lark's very first ebook, available for purchase at Zinio.com. It's also coming out in its print version early next fall, but instant gratification is so nice, especially this close to the holidays. I had such a fun time getting acquainted with felt (especially the whole easy-to-work-with bit)... and the book is chock full of super cute designs, both traditional and indie. And what a smashing collection of designers!

Here's one of my designs as a sneak preview; maybe it's my quilterly ways, but I couldn't help but bring a little fabric into the mix. Wanna get a free project from the book? Try Cathy Gaubert's totally rad Holiday Toadstools on for size. I want to make about 62 for our Christmas ficus!