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In the Mail...

Have I ever told you how much I love making these little felt ornaments? I'm pretty sure I have. Making ornaments sure beats the pants off my most recent project...altering a costume for the Nutcracker.Yuck!

Slippery synthetic fabric and alterations=MISERY

I think I would rather gouge my eye out with my scissors. In fact, I almost did. Fear not. I am done with the alterations and I still have both my eyes. Yay and yippee!

Now back to my little felties...I loved every minute of making them. They went in the mail to Canada earlier this week. I think they will be happy living together in a sparkly Christmas tree up north. I had a little trouble parting with Foxie Loxie, but I said my goodbyes and put her in the mail with the others. I think I heard her sniffle a little when I was wrapping her in tissue paper. Oh, wait. That might've been me. I have another little fox part way stitched. I wonder if she will make it on my tree this year. My make-it-before-Christmas list is pretty long, but maybe...

An Owl To Call My Own...

I've been busy making some felt ornaments for an Etsy order. One of the ornaments requested was an owl. Let me just say that I LOVE Jessica Levitt's owl pattern. Those little owls started my whole love affair with felt. Her pattern was my go-to for owls.  If you look down in the corner of the pattern, however, you will see a little copyright and a request for the consumer to use the pattern for personal use only. I am assuming this means you shouldn't use her pattern to make owls to sell. Well, I am a rule follower. ALWAYS. I think it is a part of my genetic code. Sometimes it bites me in the butt. No matter. I follow rules. Since I couldn't use Jessica's pattern,  I got busy crafting a little owl to call my own. After more than a few drawings and a garbage can full of paper rejects, I finally got her just right.Please welcome Miss Betty Lu Hoot, the newest addition to my little felt ornament collection...

What do you think?

Just a little FYI...I get lots of requests for patterns of my felt ornaments. The only pattern I have ready to share is the squirrel. The rest of my little forest friends are rough sketches. I mostly fashion the pieces as I go. Maybe someday I will create a few patterns for sharing, but for now they are not available. So sorry.

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Hello friends. Look at these birds. Are they not the cutest things ever??? I haven't been this in love with a project since my apple fix a few years back. I found the pattern at The Paper Shed. 

Birdie Bleu was stitched for my mama. I LOVE my mama. As soon as Birdie Bleu was complete, I knew that my friend, Beth, needed a little sparrow. Beth's journey to motherhood has been punctuated by sorrow. As I stitched Birdie Bleu together, I remembered this blog post she wrote. 

I hope Lady Lavendre reminds Beth of her sweet Eve and the lovely seven months they got to spend together. Hoping for blessing upon blessing in the days to come, Beth.

I *HEART* Felt...

I love me some wool felt. Such a versatile medium. Good for ipod covers, ornaments, pincushions, coin wallets, and so much more. 

My stash has grown over time. Yesterday it was a frightful pile lacking order. It was chaotic and irksome. So I organized it...

Then I used it...

to make new clothes for my measuring tape.

Ahhh...order from chaos...it's inspiring. Maybe I should ride this wave of inspiration and tackle the triplets' bedroom. It looks chaotic and irksome. Hang tight while I think about it. Okay. Done. Ummmm, no. Not going to happen. I'd rather just focus on this bit o' organized felty goodness. Lovely. 

Foxy Felt Ornament

There's a new girls in town and she's feeling foxy! 

I am not feeling foxy. I am feeling buried by all this Christmas goodness. I will be digging out soon. Today was the final Nutcracker production for one of my girls. I love the Nutcracker, but I am ready to say goodbye to it until next year. Hope your holiday happenings are merry.

XOXO~

Cassie

Felt Ornament Tutorial...Finally!

Remember the tutorial I hinted at here?

Well....

I'd like you to meet the Nuts...

Hazel...(And the crowd goes wild. Okay. Not really. But that would be cool.)

and Filbert...(More raucous cheers...in my own mind, anyway.)

And now for your warm, fuzzy enjoyment...A tutorial.

Collect your supplies:

• Squirrel-colored felt
• White Felt
• A puff of fluff for stuffing
• A pen for tracing
• Embroidery floss
• Embroidery needle
• Scissors
• 2 black beads or small buttons for eyes
• 10" hanging string (Divine Twine, Ribbon, Emboridery Floss, Yarn, etc.)
• Powder Blush (optional)

Download the pattern here (Squirrel Ornament Pattern). Warning: Pattern is not fancy. If only Heather Bailey was my neighbor (sigh). Pretend my pattern looks like one of her faboo masterpieces. Okay?

Cut pattern pieces out and trace them on to the felt. (Tip: I use a Uniball Roller pen to trace my pieces.)

 

Cut pieces out of felt. (Tip: I like to cut just inside the pen line.)

 

Stitch belly to body. Then stitch on ear piece. Use any kind of stitch you like. (See picture below for placement.)

Embroider nose and mouth. 

Add black bead eyes.

Hazel has a little powder blush on her cheeks. Apply with a q-tip.

Embroider a design on the tummy if you want. Here are some ideas.

I like to embroider a date on the back. (Tip: Make sure you are stitching on the correct side of the back. Not fun to find out you've done it wrong after you've put in all that work. Yes. I am speaking from experience.)

Match body front to body back and blanket stitch around the edges of the ornament. Before you sew the ornament completely shut, you can add a fluff of stuffing if you want your squirrel to be plump.

Add a string for hanging. I used Divine Twine. Other ideas...yarn, ribbon, embroidery floss, etc.

Say hello to your new squirrel friend. Perhaps you will name her Chessie. Get it? Chessie Nut. Chestnut. I think that's funny. Are you feeling warm and fuzzy yet? I hope so.

Happy stitching, friends.

***Ornament pattern not intended for resale. Ornaments made from this pattern are for home use or gift-giving. Please do not sell them. If you share your ornament(s) made from my pattern on your blog or facebook page, I would surely appreciate a link to the tutorial. Thanks much. ~Cassie

Coin Purse Line Up

 

I took a little break from my hook to stitch up some zippered coin purses for a friend's wedding. This project was fun, fun, fun. Fabulous felt, flowers, and floss. Mmm. Mmm. Mmmmmm. She only needed ten but I couldn't stop. I've fallen and I can't get up. I mean, I'm stitching and I can not stop. I put the four extra coin wallets in my store, just in case you can't live without one. 

I best go. There are 10 thirteen-year-olds, yes TEN, 4 boys (gasp!) and 6 girls in my back yard. They were saying something about starting a fire. Perhaps I should be out there.

Later friends,

Cassie

Feeling Owly

I put the finishing touches on these little owls more than a week ago. (Pattern found here. Thanks, Jessica.) Since then NOTHING crafty has been going on. This makes me feel a little owly. It seems that all my time has been consumed by stripping wallpaper and washing wallpaper paste off the walls. Rip. Spray. Scrape. Spray. Scrub. Wipe. Spray. Scrub. Wipe. Rinse. Wipe. Move over. Repeat. Gag!!! I think I would rather poke needles in my eyes than remove wallpaper. I have told my family that if I suggest that we put wallpaper on anything ever again, they are to take me out in the back yard, beat me, and then see how I feel about that wallpaper. 

I probably shouldn't be complaining. This wallpaper removal is part of a major kitchen renovation. I have been looking forward to a kitchen redo since we moved into this house twelve years ago. But...come on...Rip. Spray. Scrape. Spray. Scrub...UGH! The good news? I think I am done with wallpaper eradication. Tomorrow I get to start priming and painting the walls. I like painting better than wallpaper removal, but just by a little bit. I must remember to keep my eye on the prize. It's a good one!

Fabulous Felt...

Hello friends. Just a quick post to say hi. I hope your Christmas happenings are merry. I am smitten with felt and ornament making right now. I promise I will show more of these felt friends later. I might even write a tute.  I love them that much.

Feeling warm and fuzzy~

Cassie 

It's A Hoot...

Have you tried to make Jessica Levitt's felt owl ornament? I highly recommend it. It's a hoot. Get it? A hoot! I know, lame-o. But I think it's funny. The only changes I made to her lovely pattern (found here) were to enlarge it by 25% and to use a little piece of fabric for the tummy instead of felt and ric-rac. It would be a shame for anything to leave the craft studio with out a little Full Moon Polkie on it, after all. Will I ever NOT be in love with the Full Moon Polkie?  It's doubtful.

I'd like you to believe that I stitched this little hoot together snuggled into my couch on a peaceful Saturday morning with a symphony of lovely tunes floating through the air, a cup of cinnamon spice tea at my fingertips, and my kitty friend curled up by my side. But that would be a lie. In reality, I frantically stitched this little hoot together on a busy Saturday morning after I readied myself, but before Grizzly game day festivities began. While I was stitching it, I hissed at all who dared to interrupt me and growled at all who got too close. I needed to be focused. Attentive. Efficient. On task. This owl had to be put in the mail ASAP. If I did not successfully complete my mission, it would not reach my sweet mom on or before her birthday. There would be no handmade love in her gift. I couldn't have that! Yes, indeed, this was another of my infamous eleventh-hour stitching projects. Why, oh why, do I do this to myself? Can someone tell me?

I do plan on making a few more of these. Even in my heightened state of purpose, little hoot was fun to make. Hopefully the other owlies I make will be stitched in peace and tranquility. A girl can dream, right?

Have a lovely week, 

Cassie

Just for the record--I did teach the triplets how to make these little owls the day before I made this one. There was music playing and joy abounding. I'm not all hisses and growls. Just sometimes.