It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Fuzzy Girl and Fuzzy Cat on Fuzzy Pillow

I had the great pleasure of making a fuzzy birthday pillow for one of my uncles-in-law. Because he's an Irishman in Chicago -- a cop no less! -- we were pretty much obliged us to go with a mostly-green color scheme. And as a girl with reddish hair myself, I find myself in possession of lots of green things, including three or four shades of green fleece.

So my fleece, my mother-in-law's initiative, and the birthday boy's gorgeous photos combined to make this pillow.

Don't worry: the ID blocker strips over their eyes are for internet use only. I've decided that I owe it to my clients and their loved ones to keep their faces off the world wild web. The recipient will actually be able to see and identify his granddaughter and cat. Yes, I'm relieved too.

The Reason I Had Babies

You may remember that I like sewing. And possibly more than that, I like costumes. And despite what I said about evolutionary instincts, the real reason I wanted to have children was to be able to make Halloween costumes for them. Remember my Mr. Potato Head? Remember my awesome monarch butterfly?

So it comes as a great surprise to me that I did not make their Halloween costumes this year. Why?

First (and this might not surprise the wiser among you), having twin babies is a lot of work, and I don't have a lot of free time.

Second, having stocked up on five children's costumes already at consignment sales, I had a free treasure trove of available costumes. Free -- or already bought for 3 dollars each -- costumes are less expensive than buying fabric.

Third, how could I deny the world the chance to see Elisa as this particular bunny and Amanda as this particular pink poodle?

So maybe next year, when the girls have a little more idea what Halloween is, and are aware that they're wearing costumes at all, I'll make them something special. For this year, we did just fine.

Stamps of Approval

When I went to camp for the Women's Weekend, one of the crafts I did in the Hobby Nook was stamp making, part of a class on Letterboxing. Letterboxing is a fabulous centuries-old hobby that involves following treasure-map-like instructions to find boxes people have hidden. Inside each box is a rubber stamp and a notebook. The finder herself brings a rubber stamp. As the guest, she stamps her mark in the notebook. Then she stamps the box's mark in her own book. Over time, collections develop -- within the box and in the participant's book.

Fastforward to my life. I don't get out on treasure hunts much these days. But I do appreciate the heck out of rubber stamps. In my class I made a lamb and a panda, for my Elisa Lamb and Amanda Panda. I printed them on postcards that I sent to the girls, the first postcards they ever received. (Come to think of it, I should show them the postcards so this isn't purely a from-me-to-me exercise).

Some day we'll get to step this up and go on real letterboxing adventures ourselves. For the moment, I'll let them nap while I build their baby books. I can't think of a better rainy day adventure than that.

Bringing a Wish to Life

A friend of mine commissioned a portrait of her grandmother, whom she had never known but wanted to be close to. She found an old picture of her and I went from there.

On the computer I turned the black and white portrait to sepia, and printed it onto two surfaces: white cotton, and an acetate transparency. I colored some modest make-up onto the fabric picture with colored pencils. Then I sewed antique ribbons, luscious prints, and a rich velvet around her face, with decorative stitching to bring it all together. I layered the transparency photo ontop of the fabric for depth and shine, letting the cloth of her blouse show through a spot I cut out of the transparency. Then came the embellishments: a vintage earring here, a ribbon flower there. I put them all together in an oval frame encrusted with black buttons. Add a ribbon for hanging, and there she was, in all her splendor.

Her name was Maude. I was very glad to have the opportunity to spend time with her. And I was happier still to send her to live with her granddaughter. May they have many happy years.

Polymer Clay Art -- or Is It?

Am I the only one who sees polymer clay art here? It's nature (red cabbage) imitating art. Or, wait: does polymer clay inherently imitate red cabbage?

For some juicy morsels of polymer art and jewelry, go to one of my favorite sites: Polka Dot Cottage, where Lisa Clarke sells her masterpieces. Also make sure to visit her blog, which is everything this blog wants to be and never well.

Yea, Lisa!

A Big Bad Quilt and the story of its picture

I have been working on this sucker for two years or more. I finally finished it this summer. It's king sized! Not only does that mean I had to wrestle it in the sewing machine, but it also means that I couldn't get a picture of the whole thing at once. What you're seeing is a composite of about four pictures. If you look closely you can see -- or at least I can -- where I blurred the edges to try to make the seams disapper. It's not perfect, but with such a busy quilt, it works just fine. Ah, technology!