Sewn Heart Gremlin and Some Cherries

Yay! I've wanted to do this for a while. I kept thinking that the heart gremlin would translate well to fabric and here's how it came out. His name is Rynar and he's going to be hanging around my Etsy shop if you find you need to give him a new home. He's really kind of a big guy measuring in at over a foot in height and width.

And yes, his heart is removable.

I've also got a cherry key chain for ya. There will be a couple of these over in my Etsy shop too.

I guess I haven't talked about reading much. Let's see I just finished Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I hope to jump into Catching Fire, book two shortly. You will find that it's not out yet for the rest of you, but that's one of the perks of working in a bookstore. Anyway, Hunger Games is a wonderful young adult read. Imagine the United States sometime in the future where there is a capitol in the center of the land mass. There are twelve districts surrounding the Capitol. There were thirteen but that one was obliterated during the rebellion. Now the twelve districts must take part in a Reaping in which kids ages 12-18 are entered into a lottery. Two kids are selected from each district and are send to fight to the death in an arena.

I am finishing Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon so that I can jump right into his new one, Angel's Game. Shadow of the wind is a book book. By that I mean that it's a book about books or one book in particular. A boy named Daniel is searching for the reason a book by Julian Carax is being destroyed. Daniel has safely tucked away the book in the cemetary for books in Barcelona. As he uncovers the past of Carax a gothic story of lies and would be loves is laid bare.

$5 Mini Plush Monday

Five Dollar Mini Plush Monday is a cool new thing we're doing in the land of international plush makers aka the Plush Team. I've got five little rocks in costumes that need new homes and they are only $5 a piece! What a deal!

Head on over the Plush Team shop to see what other team members are offering at this amazingly low price.

Happy Plush Hunting!

Something New!

You might say it's about time that I started sewing again. Well I've got oodles of things planned and here is just the beginning. I've hand sewn a doll. I've come to call her Goldie as in Goldielocks. There will be bears, but probably not the types you are thinking of. I'll be working through a series of prototypes. Of course I'll be sharing them with you along the way.

So, let me know what you think. I am happy to get any feedback I can get. Thanks!

Turtle Soup!

My ingredient for the Iron Plush challenge was Mirrors. I used sequins as my mirror element on the turtle shells, the little ones and the big one.

I made this turtle soup according to Cajun tradition in that it is quite a bit like a tomato bisque and topped with a slice of lemon. The turtles are swimming on top of the tomato soup of the tomato mixture on this case and can be taken out and moved around if you wish.

It's soup you can hug!

To see other entries in the Plush Team Iron Plush challenge go check out the blog. There were a bunch of us that signed up for this challenge. There were 5 groups each with one specific ingredient that had to be used and about 5 people were in each group. The 5 ingredients were, foam, pom poms, mirrors, velcro and faux fur. The contest will be judged soon by our panel of celebrity judges.

Yart Sale!

Yup. It's a sale! You can go to Etsy and search for Yart to see the tons of shops that are having a Yart Sale at this time.

The word Yart comes from this simple math Yard+Art= Yart.

Etsy also has an interesting article on the history of the Yart sale that you can read.

I am offering $5 off selected items in my shop. So you should totally go check it out!

Cats and a Rat

Meet our new kitties. First up is Kitty . He's chatty, cuddly, he's missing a piece of his left ear and he loves to play with yarn.
Then we have Jasper. He's sweet, charming, calm and smarter than Kitty, but we try not to point that out.

I also made a rat. His name is Barret and he's chocolatey brown and cute.

I Like You

If and when you are in the Twin Cities you must check out I Like You! It's a great shop that celebrates local and handmade items. The ladies who run this shop, Angela and Sarah, are amazing.

I'll give you a mini tour of the shop. Here is the cork wall that you must check out for lovely prints and things.

There is no better way to showcase greeting cards than a card catalog!

Neato display with belt buckles and things.

Look at the plush and magnets and frames and necklaces and things. Oh and check it! The carpet is actually turf! And though I didn't get a picture of it there is a swing in the front window.

And there's miss Sarah behind some great pottery and felt flowers.

And there is a wonderful selection of handmade soaps and bath products.

So, I love this place and you should check it out and let me know what you think, too!