Available only for the next few days (up to Christmas Eve) is the Klaus Mustache Ornament!
The Klaus is made from white fleece so it feels softer and more plush than my other mustache ornaments. It’s a little more luxurious. As, I’m sure, Santa’s mustache would be.
As with all the other Christmas ornaments in my shop, The Klaus is available with free shipping! Hurry and get one before they’re gone. Klaus won’t be available again until next Christmas.
We have a fat cat. So fat, his name is Big Guy.
Since Guy came to live with us, we’ve been trying to get his weight down a little. He’s on a healthy food and we feed him a half serving in the morning and a half serving in the evening. According to our vet, it’s what we should be doing to ensure we have a healthy pet.
Unfortunately, Big Guy doesn’t seem to get that this is for his own good. So if the bowl is empty, he just sits there staring at us. So, we started putting his bowl away if it’s empty. We hoped he would learn his feeding times better and wouldn’t beg. Bowl down = food time. No bowl=not food time. Is it working? Well… Justin recently sent me this series of 3 photos he took as he walked around the kitchen.
He doesn’t seem to be getting it….
I’ve been MIA for a little bit and will continue to be away until after Christmas. Mostly because I am up to my ears in work to do. I’ve been making mustaches every day and shipping them out just as quickly.
The sale in my shop is still going on as well.
A note on shipping: I will be shipping out items up to Christmas eve. So that means from December 24 to December 27 there will be no shipping. The shop will still be open for purchase but remember that I won’t be sending items out until the Monday after Christmas.
I will be back tomorrow with a brand new, limited offer Mustache ornament to show you. I’ve been sketching out a few new ideas and Justin and I are brainstorming on a project we’re going to be revealing after the new year.
But up to the new year, I’m going to be working like mad on commissioned pieces. And gifts. Christmas is almost here! And my niece is going to be getting this adorable Winnie the Pooh Bear ami for her gift.
This is what it’s been like crafting in my apartment since Wednesday night.
Thanks to a big windstorm on Wednesday, we’ve been without electricity for a couple days now. But the Mustache Christmas ornaments are still selling and I’m still making them! At least, during the daylight hours.
Unfortunately for me, Christmas won’t stop getting closer even though I sent a memo about the whole can’t craft and get things ready with no electricity. The craft round-up this week features more and more Christmas crafting ideas.
This crocheted mouse ornament from Lion Brand is just about the cutest thing I’ve seen all day. And trust me, I’ve been looking for cute.
Justin and I already have stockings we both like but I’m tempted by this pattern at Purl Bee to make new ones.
I’m in love with these ornament topiaries from Better Homes & Gardens.
Remember the homemade marshmallows I posted last week? The idea has been made even more decadent and hard to resist by adding chocolate and peppermint.
A fabric flower brooch would make a great, quick gift for a friend.
And last this week, I had grand plans to make these adorable felt christmas ornaments. But you know…no electricity.
Stay warm folks!
From now until the New Year begins, nearly everything in my ETSY shop is on sale. All earrings, knitting stitch markers, and the 1 lonely set of hair pins have been marked down. Some by a small percentage and others by more. There will be a Christmas ornament sale after January 1.
I want to clear my shop of all the jewelry and jewelry related items. I started out on ETSY selling these because I wanted to make some extra cash. As sad as it sounds, that was the sole reason. Justin and I needed a little extra income and this seemed like an easy, quick way to go about that. Ok, we didn’t need the extra income but it would be better for me to buy my supplies from money that wasn’t needed for bills. Ok…I wanted yarn money.
At any rate, it worked. I made enough to support my other habits. But it was never what I wanted to do in the long term. I have been searching a long time looking for the right outlet and now I feel like I’m getting closer to knowing what that is.
I have been enormously inspired by the work being done with felt, embroidery, knitting, and crochet all coming together to create artistic expressions. I’ve got lots of ideas for projects that are more about creating something beautiful and less about following somebody else’s ideas (patterns, tutorials, etc). And after the holidays are over, because I am quite booked up on projects until then, that is the direction I am going to go.
I owe a huge thank you to Justin. It was his original idea that our Christmas ornament this year be a mustache that led me down this path of thought. Coupled with my own restless fingers, and the huge amount of inspiration out there in the craft world, I feel like I’m on my way towards something good.
Of course, this goes without saying, that I won’t be giving up on things I already love (you should see the size of my Ravelry queue…it’s outrageous and has its own zipcode). But my own creations are going to be the priority in 2010. And if I feel they’re good enough, they’ll be available for purchase.
In case you’re wondering, the mustaches will still be available after the holidays as well. Reincarnated but still available. In fact, the store is going to be specializing in mustaches and mustache varieties for a bit.
Oh..and don’t forget. Stuff is on sale.
Dylan Thomas
In My Craft or Sullen Art
The Crafting links had a break last Friday since I was (a) not home for much of the week and (b) it was Thanksgiving. I was doing other things.
But this week, it’s back! And loaded up with lots of Christmas crafting ideas!
Like this adorable argyle Christmas ornament. Embroidery hoops are so cheap they’re practically free. And the rest of the supplies are easy enough to come up with from around the house. This ornament should cost no more than $1.50 to make!
Looking for an affordable, beautiful calendar for 2010? Why not print one? This gorgeous Matryoshka calendar is printable, free, and has the dates empty so you could save the file and use it again in 2011!
I want to make these Snowman Felt Scenes for every room in the house. (I have a new obsession with felt. Can ya tell?)
And for more felt, try these adorable felt mitten ornaments. I really like the suggestion of making an Advent Calendar from them.
This Fall Pillow made from fabric scraps is super adorable and looks easy to make.
Fabric Flower Earrings. I need to make these now.
The visual appeal of these homemade marshmellows is too much. They look sooo good.
A couple months ago, a friend asked if I could make a monkey for his daughter. And having never made a monkey before, I agreed to. 2 months later, here she is.
She is based on the Monkey pattern from this book. My friend requested yellow and purple colors and an E on her shirt for the little girl’s name.
I changed a few things around. There was an errata on her muzzle that made it too long. So my version is longer than it should be but shorter than the book called for. It was a happy coincidence because I just decided I wanted it this length instead of what the book said. I changed the neck color change to make it look like she’s wearing a little turtle neck shirt instead of a t-shirt. The E is cut from a piece of dark purple felt and sewn on with blanket stitch in a pale pink thread. The thread was Justin’s idea. He said it looked nice because it matched her shoes. I’m still out on whether or not I like it. Miss Monk E (as I’ve taken to calling her) also got a wee ribbon for her “hair.” It’s a small piece of ribbon folded into a bow. I tacked down the center with a couple stitches of quilting thread and attached the bow to her head with the same thread. I also used permanent double-sided tape on the edges of the ribbon to make a wee hem so it won’t unravel.
Miss Monk E would have been done at the first of November if it wasn’t for one little, teensy weensy detail that gave me fits. Her mouth. No matter how I tried to stitch it on it looked (a) stupid, (b) crooked, and (c) really amateurish. But I got it. Finally. I also changed the pattern from monkey shorts to a wee mini-skirt with a ruffled edge. And instead of flip flops, I felt this monkey needed proper footwear to finish her outfit. So she got pink maryjanes (you can see them in the tree photos above).
What’s she wearing underneath her skirt? You cheeky monkey.
She’s wearing my stamp! I signed her monkey butt with my initials embroidered on a piece of felt. In retrospect, I really wish I would have sewn her a little pair of silky bloomers. How cute would that have been?
So Miss Monk E is now on her way to her forever home where I hope she’ll be bringing a little girl lots of happiness.
Up next for me? Finishing this Luigi doll
and making this Pooh Bear in time for a dual nephew/niece birthday party on Saturday. I live life on the edge.
New items for sale in my ETSY shop! Mustache Christmas Ornaments! Currently you can choose from the Marshal, 
inspired by Wyatt Earp.
inspired by boxers of the early 1900s
And The Cleveland
Inspired by this happy mustached face
(all inspiration photos were found on Google image search)
There are lots more mustaches planned for the next couple weeks. A few more cartoons, a few more historical bad guys, and anything else I can think of. Grab your favorite before it’s gone!
The Hillbilly Vampire
by Amy Tipton Cortner
Many people
are confused about hillbilly vampires.
They think:
a hillbilly vampire should look like
George Jones in a cape
or Ricky Scaggs with fangs
or Lyle Lovett, period.
They think
the hillbilly part comes first—
the feeder, not the fed upon.
They do not understand
that this
is another outside industry
come down to the hills in the dark
for raw material.
