New Dolls!

I finished up four dolls this week and they are all going to new homes. Introducing...Lizzie, Lulu, Annie, and Shirley. Since we've had such rainy and cold weather in San Francisco, I crocheted scarves for these little ladies (Well, except for the one on Shirley. That one was donated by Jenny!) Hope you have a lovely weekend!

Cold and Cloudy

It's overcast and freezing today in San Francisco. So it's fitting I share another cloud mobile I finished this week. This special one goes to baby Adam...congrats Tommy and Phuong!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day! I thought I would share these illustrations I did for the Arthouse Co-op's Sketchbook Project last year. Hope your day is filled with lots of love!

Fiona the Fox!

Been working all week to finalize the pattern and finish up my first ever fox doll. Meet Fiona...isn't she sweet? For her body, arms and legs, I used the same pattern pieces as Lola and Lucy. Can you tell? It made the project go quicker since I only had to figure out the pattern for her head and tail. It's gonna be hard to part with her, but I gotta pack her up and ship her off to a special friend in Austin. I know for a fact she will be loved there!

Magical Elf!

Finally finished the illustration for my holiday cards and Rance was nice enough to print them for me last night. Now, I just need to get them mailed off so they'll make it to their destinations before Christmas!
Happy Monday!

Owlies!

A batch of owlies from this weekend's craft session!

Working...

 ...on holiday cards. Some sketches that will hopefully turn into the final product by the end of the week!

Lola + Lucy

Meet Lola and Lucy, the two latest additions to my doll-making adventure. Lola's sporting bright red hair wrapped up in two cute little buns and Lucy is rocking the usual bob. Last week, I bought a bunch of neon felt so I'm thinking the next batch of dolls I make will be Manic Panic inspired...ha!

Ruby!

Meet Ruby, the latest doll I made. She is wearing a dress made of hedgehog printed fabric, how awesome is that?! (Can't remember where I picked up the fabric but I think it was part of a stack of fat quarters from Purl Soho). Ruby is making her way down to sunny southern California this week where she will be loved by Lil' Viv.

I (heart) Fifi Lapin

Sometimes I feel like I'm hiding under a rock, especially when I'm just discovering cute things on the internet like Fifi Lapin and her best friend Ruby Gatta! These furry friends are so hip and stylish!  Everything in her shop has been added to my wishlist! Thanks to Rance for the introduction.

Introducing...Amy!

Of the two dolls I started making last weekend, I finished one of them! Yah! I have to say this Amy* doll turned out pretty cute! I love her outfit with the striped leggings, but I especially adore her scalloped bangs! In the second photo, she's hanging out with Molly (the first doll I made awhile back). More dolls to come soon... (Amy is named after the baby in Up All Night. If you haven't seen this new show, do it now. Guaranteed laughs.)

Return of the Dolls...

Getting crafty again and working a a couple of dolls...I sense Molly was getting lonely. Hoping to finish them up this weekend. Any fun projects you're working on?

Holy Macaroni!

First off, sorry for the lack of posts lately. I have no good excuses except that I've been feeling rather lazy lately. Hats off to all the lovely bloggers who post every single day...I just don't know how you do it! Any how, on to today's post. I've had this idea to make necklaces using macaroni forever now and finally found a local bead store that sold the kind of chain I wanted. Using some plastic colored beads found in my craft bin, elbow macaroni or ditalini pasta*, and 22 inches of antique brass double rolo chain, I crafted these fun necklaces. Reminds me of the yarn and rigatoni necklaces we made in kindergarten! The lovely model wearing the necklaces in the two photos is my sister Jenny. *I sprayed the pasta with a coat of matte fixative to waterproof it. No one likes a mushy pasta!

Hoot Hoot Hooray!

Traveling up to Seattle this weekend for my friend Amanda's wedding! I made these little bride-groom owls for the her and her soon-to-be hubby. Hoot Hoot Hooray!

Cloudy...

...with a chance of rainbow felt balls of happiness! Made a couple of these happy clouds last week for some cute newborn babies.

Happy Friday!

Despite it being Friday the 13th and all the blogger issues earlier, I'm still having a pretty great day! The weather is gorgeous, I finally got an iphone, and  I'm leaving work early today to spend the weekend in Dallas visiting family and friends! The cloud mobile and raindrops doll have been in the works for a few weeks now and so happy with how they turned out. Hope you have a lovely weekend!

Rain

...drops! Wishing you a lovely day...rain or shine.

Stamp Carving

Over the past weekend, I tried carving my own stamps. I started off with some simple shapes like dots, raindrops and clouds. Then as I started to get the hang of it,  I challenged myself with something a bit more intricate. I sketched out a lil' stumpy fox and carved away until I ended up with that cute lil' guy above. (He was actually my second attempt...the first one's tail looked severed from it's body!) I packaged him up in a little muslin bag and shipped him off to someone who loves foxes, almost as much as she loves clouds. If you are interested in carving your own stamps, there are some great tutorials here and here.

Testing One, Two, Three...

Hello! This is a test post using Katrina's Lemon Meringue blogger template. Just testing photo sizes etc. I made these 3 peas in a pod a while back for my nephew Noah. They are made from two colors of wool felt. The pod was machine sewn and the 3 peas were hand-stitched.

A Preview...

It was mad dash to finish up my sketchbook these past few days, but I did it! My book is on its way to the Arthouse Co-Op in Brooklyn. Good thing the folks there gave us a 3 day extension, otherwise I don't think it would have been possible for me to fill up all those pages. Above are a few of my favorite pages. The Sketchbook Project will be going on tour starting in March so check it out if you can! The tour stops in San Francisco mid-June...it will be so much fun to look through everyone's books!