Red Mister Ted

I decided to make one of my 'Mister Ted' bears yesterday - I'm not sure where he's bound for yet. I have to say I've spent way too much time taking photographs of him though! I have a couple of ideas in mind for him yet, but haven't quite decided - his fate is in my hands! Poor Ted!

When I've decided which online shop to add him to, I'll give you his eventual destination!

My boys are on half-term hols this weekend, so I'm not sure how much crafting will get done - we'll see!

Bye for Now!

Edited to add: 'Mister Ted' has been sent over here!

my creative space . . .

I'm posting on Wednesday (evening) this week as it happens to be my more craft intensive day of the week and when I start most projects - whether they get finished is another matter!

I'm on the couch today, amongst the newspaper crossword puzzles! Well, actually I'm everywhere! The ironing board is set up in one bedroom, my fabrics in another room and my sewing machine is set up in my kitchen - I get around! I designed a prototype for a little Harris Tweed bus (about a year ago - ouch!), and eventually today decided to get one sewn up and started, ready to go into my Etsy shop.

The gorgeous tweed you can see underneath was used to make some of these covered buttons which you can see below. I added these to my Etsy shop earlier today.

Hope you're having a creative/productive day, in some form or another!

See more creative spaces over at kootoyoo's blog. My thoughts are with those who have been affected by the horrendous bush fires in Victoria, Australia this past week.

Bye for now.

How to Eat Cake!

Make it . . . .

Lick it . . .

Spread it . . .

Eat it . . .

Yum!

Technology Eh!

I had an interesting experience last night which I thought I'd share . . . wait for it! After feeding the troops and doing all the usual parental bedtime routines (eg. chasing the youngest up to bed and trying to reinforce the idea that he's actually supposed to stay there!), I logged into 'Twitter' and was hence led by an Etsy announcement that there was to be a Virtual Lab on needlefelting starting at 10 pm.

Well, I don't usually take much notice of such announcements but intrigued I followed the link and found myself in a virtual auditorium, while a video played in real time of someone in Brooklyn giving a demonstration on how to 'needlefelt'. I hadn't a clue how to respond, interact or anything really but after a while I got the gist of it (sort of!). There were only about 7 other 'Etsyians' attending the workshop which was quite cosy actually! I didn't get round to chatting with anyone in the auditorium, but I was totally intrigued by this use of technology.

The idea of sitting in my living room in the Outer Hebrides and taking part in this virtual lab workshop in Brooklyn, New York gave me quite a laugh - but I really enjoyed the whole idea and would consider giving it another go. It was really interesting to see who else was attending and read their profiles and have a quick peek at their shops. Good fun!

From time to time, I get a bit downhearted about my Etsy shop, which I struggle to have time for, but then I come across something else on this amazing site which keeps clawing me back! By the way, I've got a SALE of my Valentine hearts and 'heart teddies' in my Etsy shop if you're interested!

I'm going to get my head down this week and build up my stock. I listed my Harris Tweed soft dice on my website at the weekend so may start to stock up on them in different colours of tweed for my virtual craft fairs and maybe even some 'real' craft fairs!

Bye from my 'Virtual' Hebridean world!!

(By the way I still don't know anything about 'needlefelting' but I'll go back another time to find out!)

A little snow . . .

Here's a quick pic of the small amount of snow we had here today - not quite the extent that much of the rest of the country experienced! It's so sunny, I don't think it'll last long.

I love the snow - it makes everything look so crisp and bright - but then I don't drive so that's maybe why it doesn't bother me!

Finished 2D Dino

I thought I might as well post a pic of the finished dinosaur, seeing as my previous pic gives a little bit of the inspiration behind my dinosaur designs. I was quite pleased how he turned out and adapted a previous pattern and in fact bits of other patterns came into use. I hand appliqued his features in wool felt and then decided to give the feet some shaping with two rows of stitches in favour of further applique claws. I think the stitching gave a bit of texture too.

I'm hoping to do some more in different colours/variations. He's designed to sit at the end of a child's bed or on a bedroom chair (although he likes a cuddle too!). He's almost two dimensional as he's blank on the reverse. I've been trying to design a pattern which would be simple enough to use over again, so we'll see how this one goes! It would be fun to customise, add different applique details - maybe pink hearts on a pink dinosaur for girls!

It would be fun to try him in a check/tartan tweed - I don't know why but I seem to have this vision of a tartan dinosaur!

So many plans!

my creative space

Sorry, I'm rather late with my posting today - trying to get the house warmed up (dodgy heating system again!). My creative space today is a bit non-existent today as I finished my project last night and should have taken some pics in mid-creation! I guess I was carried away with the desire to finish it.

However, I've taken a pic of him this morning along with some of the images which inspired him. Having two boys, there are never any shortage of dinosaur reference books in our house, so I've spent some time poring through pictures of various types - not that I'm an expert mind, I'm more interested in stuffing them, than identifying them!

The vintage patterns in the photo are ones which I treasure and managed to buy them from E-bay, much to my delight. I create my own patterns but these have been inspirational sitting on my desk and I've probably used elements of them, almost unwittingly! My softie dinosaur obsession has probably been spurred on by being surrounded by them in one form or another for the last few years, and they're great for creating dramatic 'softie' silhouettes.

You can see more creative spaces at kootoyoo's blog.

Hope you're having a good day!