Tag Archives: tins

That Reminds Me…

Crafting Continues

I haven’t been completely idle the last week or so. Instead, I’ve been doodling around with these things… Â Â Â

I’ve been particularly excited about these two new tins. Can you guess who they’re portraits of? They turned out just as well as I thought they would. And they gave me the chance to try out a few new ideas like clusters of french knots for some interesting texture.

French knotty beard.

I’m officially an RS here now (the equivalent of an RA) I decided that we needed a new door sign for our apartment. Just in case someone gets lost. I just finished the stitchery bits but I haven’t quite decided how to finish and hang it. I got to use this new technique where I draw something (like letters) on a piece of paper, then pin it to the fabric and stitch along the lines on the paper, and then cut and pull the paper out from under the stitches. It means that I was able to get some really straight and accurate lines (can you tell which font I used?) but the stitches were a wee bit strained when I pulled the paper out from under them. Over all, I’m pretty pleased with the results… AND I wanted to try to recreate a display I saw in the windows at Anthropologie in Portland. They clustered a few dozen papier mache spheres together and put some little treasures in them. I love the idea and I’m going to make some more shortly. If you’re curious about the kinds of extremely wonderful things that Anthropologie does with their displays, you can see some over at 2 Sisters, 2 Coasts, 2 Opinions.

Crafty Business

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So, as you all know I haven’t worked at Bonnieview for a while. What you might not know is that it’s crazy difficult to find a job in rural Vermont… in winter. So, here I am getting down to crafty. This weekend (Saturday) is the first Winter Farmers Market and I’m going to be vending everything I can dream up. I’ve been roosting in the apartment for the last week, my little fingers busy at the sewing machine, embroidery needle and anything else I can think of. What does that look like? This!

I just discovered this thing called shank buttons. You know, those buttons that aren’t flat but have that little metal hoop in the back. I found a shop on etsy that sells kits that let you make your own fabric covered buttons. I hand embroidered all of the teal ones in the pictures but I’m not sure how well I like them. They’re fairly difficult to keep centered when you put the buttons in the mold. They’re 3/4 inch buttons. How cool is that!?

Look at all them buttons!

Some of the new batch of finger puppets.

Here are just a few of some stuffed bird ornaments. Some have loops to hang them from things and others have little alligator clips so that they can perch on whatever the feel like. There’s about 15 of these. Â

Here are the birds again and one of the puff balls I’ve been making. The puff balls are extremely simple and fun to make. Essentially you make them the same way you would make a yarn ball (like the kind you put on the top of a knit hat) but you use wool roving instead of yarn. They’re so soft and light and fuzzy, I really like how they look. I got the idea from Wee Wonderfuls and used the technique from Kid Craft Central.

Here’s a new woolie man man. I really like this one….

I saw an epically beautiful horse on etsy that used wooden sticks for legs and I decided to give it a try. I really really like how it turned out! It reminds me of a cave painting horse with it’s thick body and spindly legs. The head pivots around too…

Lastly I got a custom order on etsy! This person wanted custom portraits of she and her sister as little girls. I think they turned out rather well, no? Any Christmas requests?