March YOE

Hedgehogs! The March YOE theme was hedgehogs. I was excited because I think hedgehogs are among the cutest of forest creatures. The task was to create a hedgehog ornament for your YOE tree. Check! The challenge for March was to create a hedgehog pin cushion. Check again! So here they are.

I made the ornament from felt and hand stitched his quills one night a few weeks ago while my husband and I watched Red starring Bruce Willis. I thought he turned out rather sweetly but wanted to try more of a 3-D hedgehog for my pin cushion so I stuck with the same basic shape but added additional pieces to the back and nose to get more of a rounded look.

My hedgie pincushion is made from recycled, felted wool sweaters, black beads and a black pompom. I had a hard time sticking pins in him. As a matter of fact I heard him cry out in pain but hedgies are used to spines and pokey quills so he got over it quickly.

I have greatly enjoyed making hedgehogs this month and have several other ideas I'd like to try. I also have the makings for another wool hedgie pincushion cut out and ready to stitch up when I get some time to do it. I think I might need to add the hand stitched quills on the second hedgie pincushion.
I have to say I am LOVING the YOE swap! It's been so much fun to stretch my creativity. Even better I've gotten to keep the last few things I've made. Imagine that, I hardly ever make and keep something for myself! Now that the hedgies are done and March is drawing to a close, guess what the theme for April is. . . . bird nests. I have a perfect idea to try and am anxiously awaiting some time to get started. I also feel a few felted wool birds coming on. I went to a bag sale a local thrift store this weekend and got a garbage bag full of wool sweaters and jackets. Tweet, tweet!
I'll try to catch up later this week on some belated posts like the Chicken Loving Mama's apron swap, more pictures from Hawaii and some Nature Girl at her sweetest(yes, she's always sweet!)

Shazam!

Nature Girl picked out this pink sequins hat while we were shopping last weekend. Isn't it cute? The sequins send off little reflections of light everywhere. When I see it, I can't help but think shazam! She loves her new hat! We were prepared to pay full price($16,) however when we got to the checkout it was on sale for $2! I loved that. Cute and on sale, now that's my kind of hat!

I'm participating in the Year of Enchantment this year. February's theme was to create a gnome home. The challenge was to create it using a media you don't usually use.

Well we're half way into March and I finally finished my gnome home! I was vacationing at the end of February instead of finishing my ornament. Plus I wanted a 3D gnome home where the roof could come off to revel a gnome inside. That's a bit of a challenge when you have to hang the house from a tree branch so the roof can't be totally detached. I ruminated on the best way to achieve a roof that would retract but would still hang like an ornament. I essentially made it up as I went so it's a good thing this one is for me. There are too many things that make it a bit wonky to send it to anyone but that's okay because wonky or not I like! It took me a little while to finish it but I'm happy with how it turned out. It's made with recycled felted wool and embroidery thread. Now I just need a gnome for inside my little home.

I doodled this picture awhile back and planned to make a little 3D gnome to go inside but I haven't done it yet. Instead I stitched my picture to create another ornament for my YOE tree. My intention was the meet the challenge of using a different media by painting on the fabric to create the gnome. I've been in love with the painted dolls and creations over at Cart Before the Horse for years. Jo and her husband Dylan are super talented! If you haven't visited their site you have to check it out! I've been wanting to try this media for a few years but haven't mustered up the courage. Hopefully I'll give it a shot in the next few weeks. In the meantime I'm moving onto the next YOE theme. . .hedgehogs! I can't wait to make a hedgie!

Chicken Heaven in Hawaii

We just came back from a vacation in Hawaii. We spent a week on the island of Kauai visiting my sister and her family. This was my first visit to Hawaii. Knowing I was heading on vacation I quickly finished up my Chicken Loving Mama's apron package and sent it off to my fabulous partner Chrissy. (I'll post pictures of the package Chrissy sent to me and the package I sent to Chrissy later.) Now in hindsight I wish I had waited because did you know that Kauai is chicken heaven? It turns out it really is, there are wild chickens everywhere!!!!

There were wild chickens in every parking lot from the Walmart parking lot to the sight seeing parking lots. You can't drive a quarter of a mile without seeing a chicken on the side of the road or in someone's yard. As a matter of fact we ate at Dukes on the patio one evening. My daughter looked down to find a chicken by her chair. It ran under the table and over the top of my sister's foot before exiting the patio through the bushes. I think that chicken was looking for an adrenaline rush! Imagine showing up at a restaurant! Crazy!

This chicken is on the playground at the school my nieces attend. He disappeared when the kids came out for recess. I think many of the kids like to chase the chickens!

This one was my favorite rooster. Look at all of those colors! He was strutting around at one of the Waimea Canyon lookout stops.

Here's another pretty boy. This guy was hanging out on the beach with us. I think it was Baby Beach which is part of Poipu beach. See I'm telling you there were chickens EVERYWHERE!!!

We learned on the Kilohana Plantation tour that back in 1992 and 1993 a series of hurricanes destroyed many of the chicken coops on the island. The chickens ran free. It turns out that there are no snakes or natural predators that eat chickens on Kauai so the chicken population keeps growing. Now there are chickens everywhere on the island. there are also tons of chicken souvenirs that you can purchase! One vendor joked with us, saying "For every chicken item you purchase we'll give you a real chicken to take home for free!"

If you've always wanted to see chicken heaven you have to visit Kauai. The island was beautiful and the chickens are plentiful!

We have lots more Hawaiian adventures and pictures to share. I'm still trying to adjust to the time change and get into the swing of being back at school this week. I'm really dragging!! Anyway stay tuned for more posts on Hawaii and the swap package post.

The Winners of Our Random Crafty Bits

So I'm a little late posting our winners. I've been busy finishing swap packages and completing reports for work before we head off on vacation this weekend. It's been busy around here!

My random number generator.

I finally sat down tonight and used my random number generator to pick the winners of our random crafty bits giveaway. She picked:

Karen
Christy
Val

Congrats ladies, you'll be receiving random bits of craftiness from us sometime this year. I'm excited to craft something for each of you. I'm not sure what it will be yet, but how fun!

YOE January Ornaments

I joined Val's Year of Enchantment(YOE) ornament swap this year. They had so much fun last year so I've been super excited to participate in it this year! I sent off my first YOE package earlier this week to my partner Gin. Here are the ornaments I sent.

The two snow birds are painted on a sand dollar and the other two ornaments are sewn from recycled bits of felted wool. You can see other YOE participants ornaments here. Below was my first attempt at a YOE ornament. It was added to my unfinished pile as a misfit, though I think I'll will finish it up for myself.

Have you ever had an idea that looked better in your mind? This happens to me all the time!!! That's what happened with my snowman snowflake ornament. This was my original sketch and my first attempt at sewing it. Nature Girl thought it looked like a snowman with lots of hair and she didn't like the scarf as it didn't match my drawing. My husband agreed with her on the hair so it was back to the drawing board or in this case the bag with the recycled wool bits for a second try. I think the version I sent Gin was closer but still not quite what I had originally envisioned. This misfit one is destined to hang on my YOE tree I think, though I may need to have a second tree for all of the misfits I create this year! Either way it was fun trying to create it. Now I'm working on the February YOE ornament, it's a gnome home theme. Since it's a craft along in February so I get to keep what I create. Let's hope my gnome home ornament turns out closer to the idea in my head!

** On another note did you notice the blog background change? Nature Girl picked out this frog recycling background. She thought it was very clever to have the recycle symbol as the leaves in the tree. It seems appropriate for a little Nature Girl!

Lovely Mail

We've been fortunate enough to get some lovely mail recently. Karen from Sewmuch2luv opened her own Etsy shop. We purchased two of her beautiful owl pincushions. They arrived last weekend and are just so sweet! Nature Girl picked out the blue owl for her birthday. She squealed when it arrived and spent hours playing with both owls.



She took lots of pictures, found furniture for them and just had fun playing with them. Nature Girl has no intentions of sticking pins in her owl, she's using him as a softie instead. I can't say that I blame her as the owls are truly lovely with beautifully hand stitched embroidery patterns on their wings. Each owl is unique. I have to admit that I haven't stuck pins in mine yet either, I think he might be too cute to pick!


The package Karen sent was beautifully wrapped in tissue paper with stickers that match her shop logo. Karen definitely puts together a wonderful package! She's thought of all of the little details that make for a lovely shopping experience. She just added a lovely little gnome pincushion to her shop. Go take a peek at her shop now, you'll be glad you did!



Now I have to brag for a minute. I recently won two giveaways. That's right two! I won this beautiful snowflake ornament from Val as part of the Year of Enchantment January swap. It arrived on Monday and is beautiful. I still need to get my YOE tree put up so I can put my new ornament on it. The second giveaway was Karen's. She did a giveaway where she chose several winners to receive a random crafted surprise this year. I was lucky enough to win! It's very exciting to win two giveaways! I feel very fortunate! Of course when you're fortunate enough to win you have to share the love so don't forget to enter our random bits of crafty mail giveaway. We'll choose three winners on February 20th. You can enter by going to the post here.