YAY!

Rhiannon had her baby! It might be a bit before she posts but he is CUTE!

Pogo

Pogo
She really wants outside... poor girl.
UPDATE: 1 am and two kittens, more to come we think...

Very cool letterpressed card on Etsy from PaperedTogether. Sadly, she didn't seem to have any more in shop but still a beautiful illustration.

Putting up more artwork at our Original Art Etsy shop

Working on custom orders...

Working on some custom dolls. Thinking about other things to do next week. Haven't said this here yet but we are awaiting Pogo to deliver a litter of kittens soon. We weren't sure how she'd take being kept inside but so far it is going ok.

Esme ad her first semi-solid food yesterday. Pureed peas and carrots mixed with breast milk. She loved it but later that night, predictably, she had worse than average tummy troubles. We're discussing switching her to formula soon along with the new foods so we can both feed her equally and Mark can feed her when I'm out for the day.

for Meow

I think purple is her color.
She just grew in to the 6 month mommasaurus clothes Meow sent from Canada ;) So many size oddities, as she has fit some of the 6 month stuff Susan sent for a while (ie, these jeans).

There are definitely two teeth coming in.

Crafting365: day 31: Citrus stripes Zebra (and more to come)

A brightly colored Zebra baby toy with a little collar in a matching fabric. I need to stack up a few of these in different fabrics for MamaMade too.

MamaMade was featured on Music City Bloggers!

Back to the shop... I have so much to get done!

Crafting365: day 30; Multicultural custom Rag Dolls

The first few dolls in Almond and LT1 skin colors
I now have seven different skin tones to make my custom Baby sized rag dolls in. I'm working up a few in each color for MamaMade. A previous customer had asked me about a different skin color for a doll for her friend's baby. I had a few different choices but none of them were quite what she wanted. I went out to town today and picked up a few more to fill in the gaps from light to dark. I think this will really add to the 'make-your-own-custom' quality of these little dolls.

I also got a really great review today on these dolls 'Stands up to the vigor of playing with a 1 year old' YAY! I love to hear the toys I make are loved AND durable. Another customer sent a beautiful picture of her 3 month old baby girl asleep with her hand around her red-haired dolly. I'm smiling from ear to ear :)


Rag doll skintone chart

Crafting365: day 29; On My Desk are... Six Aliens!

For On My Desk today I have Six Alien Monsters, Special Limited Editions. Mark says I should call them the Beatles, or the Elton John Alien Monsters with those bright colors. Some are waiting for their features to actually be sewn down.

What else is on my desk? More fabric to make brightly colored rag dolls. A diecutter from Mark's old army surplus stuff that I'm using to make price tags for MamaMade and a rabbit pattern that will soon be stacking up lots of Michael Miller Carnival Bloom rabbits.

My best friend from high school called last night. She was going to let her kids go to their dad's for a few months while she moves. I said I still couldn't leave Esme for more than ten minutes without feeling that 'Where is my baby?' twinge. I've still never left her with anybody else for more than six hours. My best friend said 'Oh, that's just a New Mommy Thing, it'll pass. You'll WANT to hand them off...' She might have been kidding... but the sentence struck me. I truly hope I never get that feeling about my daughter. Even when she's crying at the top of her lungs I want her just as fiercely as when she was born. Maybe I want her to go to sleep and give me a few minutes peace, but I never want her to go away.

Other things I want to get done soon:

• A pair of soft-soled shoes for Esme that fit
• Finish up these aliens
• A fabric 'ABC' book for Esme (at least the A,B & C)
• Finish elastic in the four pairs of pants sitting behind the sewing machine

Crafting365: day 28: Sterling Silver Earrings

I can't wear just any type of metal in my ears. That is the reason I've had my ears pierced at least four times in my life. I wear the wrong metal and then my ears get sore, and I don't wear any earrings for a while. Then they close up. The last time I got my ears pierced was when Esme was two months old. I've been wearing the titanium studs since then but it's time to spice things up.

Sterling silver is the metal (besides these new titanium) that has always been best for my ears. I had a beautiful pair of oblate hoops for years that I wore every day. Then I lost one.. and the cycle described above set in again.

These are some pairs of earrings I beaded with some sterling silver findings last night. We'll have them on sale here later today.


Blue Porcelain


Tiger-Eye


Turquoise (Mark helped bend the tops on these)

About the Economy

Sometimes I get a little clueless to world news, but Mark pointed this one out to me. There are food riots going on in West Asia and the Middle East. Food prices everywhere have been rising, the economy is in high fluctuation and I've seen 'unrest' headlines, but none specifically calling them 'food riots' until he directed me to a few articles. It makes me want to till our garden and plant lots of corn for the coming season. That won't help anyone else... but you haven't seen Mark eat sweet corn. He could probably eat an entire field in a few days unchecked. Good for us it freezes well.


Those articles are interesting reads.
From rice in Peru to miso in Japan, food prices are rising
How Food Shortages Provoke Economic Nationalism

How have the rising prices of food and resources in general affected you? Have you noticed things being made more cheaply and/or less quantity for the same or even greater prices?

Other observations:

• Cheap plastic things are being made even cheaper. Some of them SMELL awful, as if the plastic was uncured or made differently. Some of the baby things that are sold I wouldn't let Esme get near her mouth because they still have a very strong 'fresh plastic' smell days after opening them. We are having a harder time finding suitable replacements for some of these things. I'm more apt to make something for her, or buy a vintage, handmade or more expensive item just because I know it will last longer and probably has better materials/workmanship in it.


• For the past few years there has been a boom of babies born to everyone we know. Maybe we've been a bit more sensitive though, expecting ourselves. This could explain some of the belt-tightening across the economy as more people have to stretch the same dollar further to support their growing families.


• We had a very hard time giving away large puppies. It seemed people didn't want to commit as easily to feeding a large dog as they used to. Everyone was asking why we didn't have little dogs like chihuahuas or yorkies.


• With the housing market crashing, how many people are going from owning their own home to renting again? That will affect the country economically, politically (not my land, why should I care what law gets passed about it) and socially (less neighborhoods, how many of you know your neighbors anymore?).

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A Good thing this economy shift might bring about: More Americans turning to home industry, or at least learning how to do important things for themselves again. Americans used to actually PRODUCE and MANUFACTURE things right here in the United States. Somehow we fell out of that in the past few decades and saw an increase in the 'service industry.' I predict there will be further downfall in the service industry reducing some but if it results in more things being made in the USA again it could be better for us all long-term. Before, it was cheaper to produce overseas and import to the US. That has changed with higher fuel and freight prices and the fact that the cheaper merchandise has been diminishing in overall quality as well.

Also: I saw this line in an article the other day. 'The 37 year old will tighten her belt by dyeing her own hair, making meals at home and bathing her own dog.' OH MY. Uh, if you don't already do those things for yourself then you DO have a lot of belt-tightening to happen in this economy. And then some.

Crafting365: day 27: Special Edition Alien Monster Dolls for MamaMade

Aww, no baby yet for Rhiannon, but we're keeping an eye out!

Special Edition Alien Monster Dolls
Bright bold colors make for one weird looking but cute alien softie.
I'm making six for MamaMade (besides the normal colors)
There will also be one in the Online toy shop.

Esme says: 'What IS that thing Mom?'

Note: These are also the very first alien monster dolls to NOT be made of felt! Their mouths and eyes are still felt, but the body is in another cool bold fabric I found at the Paris quilting shop. It's called Michael Miller Pom-Pom Dots.


Esme's 'Esmerelda' pants

These are 3-6 months size and I'll make her a 6-12 month size as well out of the other half of the yard :)

Crafting365: day 26: Happy Easter!

EVERYBBODY THINK GOOD THOUGHTS for Rhiannon!.
It looks like she'll be having her baby boy soon :)

Happy Easter!

For Easter we'll probably take Esme up to her grandparents for a short visit (have to call them yet) and make Mark a good dinner :) We still have a steak left in the freezer. Esme is a little too young for any other Easter festivities, but she'll get to chew on a cotton bunny I'm sure ;)

I'm still going strong on Crafting365. The hard part is keeping a post up of the things I've done, since I'm truly always doing something. Yesterday I made a few toys and set out some 'big plans' towards making more of the things I've mentioned.


Checklists like this sometimes help me keep on track

This is.... my demon

drewzel suggested this week's 'This is' theme to be 'This is my demon'.

Quote from drewzel's blog:

I’ve been thinking a bit about having a demon (metaphorically speaking), and the concept introduced by this crappy film (I haven’t read the book, so maybe it’s good) where: “In Lyra’s world every person is accompanied by a daemon, a physical representation of their soul in animal form. “ Have you got a monkey on your shoulder or a tiger in your chest?

Wow. My art is all about this. People being 'composed' of multiple animal spirits all working in one like some musical metaphysical symphony. In these ink symphonies I describe myself most often as a bird or rabbit, but also sometimes as a fox or bear. All of that will have to be another blog post, someday...

In more normal terms I have a couple of demons. I love coffee. That is a typical demon. There are reasons I shouldn't have much (blood pressure and breastfeeding) but I still get a few cups a day at least in order to function. If you wave an almond caramel cappuccino in front of my nose it might get grabbed.

My other demon is almost an anti-thesis of addiction. It is an addiction to a way of thinking. Mark has been helping me crack this one, but it is slow-going.

Because this demon is part of myself, part of how I was raised in a very strict, all-for-the-better-good family. I've come to realize that the definition of 'selfish' and 'frivolous' I learned as a child was FAR from normal... my mom's highest praise for us kids was 'You never ask for much.' And we didn't... partially because there wasn't much resources with which to buy anything and also because it became an unspoken rule that wanting anything that wasn't practical was 'bad'.

Thus, I can sometimes paint myself into a corner by having TOO GOOD of self-control. I deny my true wants easily or let other people talk me out of them if they can make a good argument. Sometimes, I can even get talked out of true NEEDS. Even if it would be good to relent some and/or change my mind it becomes an inner struggle of one willpower against another. And I end up not doing what I really want and sometimes not doing much else either. That's really hard to explain...

Mark makes me open up my eyes and try to see what I really want in life, and how to get there. He breaks me out of my old routines and ways of thinking into a fresher, more active and ALIVE way of living. Sometimes it is difficult to take his criticism on these things but it is most often enlightening. And Mark, I'm very grateful for that ;)

Crafting365: day 25: Is it really Saturday already?

Oh wow it's already the day before Easter! I can hardly believe it. I have a few things to get done early today and then we can relax for the weekend.


Nap Zone
Mark and Esme get a head start on the relaxing part...
This was so cute they had a symmetry going on with the utter collapse of consciousness ;)


Custom order for Tillie going out today in the mail.

Things I'd like to get done soon:

• Esmerelda pants for Esme
• Playtime Rabbits in mike miller scraps
• Alien softies batch
• Pink and blue haired rag dolls

Crafting365: day 24; Esmerelda fabric arrived!

'Esmerelda' fabric (you can read it in the picture!)
and a custom red-haired dolly ordered
last night from the toy shop.

Thanks to everyone who responded to the rant yesterday. I'm glad I'm able to vent those things here and not feel like I'm the only one.

Note: Happy Vernal Equinox! Esme went for her 4 month checkup yesterday and she weighed 14 lbs, 4 oz and 24.5 inches long. The nurse called her a 'little doll baby' because she was grabbing and gently feeling the nurse's hands as she tried to check her heartbeat. It was really sweet ;)

Crafting365: day 23; Thinking about printing

Thinking about making some drawings to print up on baby onesies. This isn't the actual drawing I've taken to the printers. Just getting quotes on quantities and sizes etc.. right now to see what the best investment is. On small quantities, even CafePress isn't that bad of a deal. Our local printer can even print up custom fat-quarter cloth yardage. Hmm...


A tiny test image
not the real deal

Rant(s): Why haven't you visited us? and Room to Be Me

At our House

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I'm ranting here... and it's not pretty. so... this is me venting.

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My mom called last night and really got on my case about not having brought Esme up to see her in Northern Minnesota yet. 'Esme won't know me. I AM her GRANDMA. Why don't I get to see her before I get too old? Well.. Mom... she's four and a half months old. Is she really going to remember this visit anyway? It's an 18 hour drive from here to there, even if you take it straight-through. I'm still not ready to do that yet with Esme, especially in the cold. Mom said she was really hurt and that SHE had brought my sister to see my grandma when she was born back in 1972... But my sister was born in July in Oklahoma, so I'm thinking that was easier!

Anyway.. Mom put the guilt trip on thick last night. *sigh* She keeps saying 'Well I guess I'll have to come down there if I want to see her.. ' and pouts.. Pictures aren't good enough, she wants to hold her. I tell her she can come here if she wants. Or, she can wait some more and we'll come up when the weather is warmer and we can arrange things for the dogs and the shop. She remembers this stuff for a few weeks at a time, then I have to explain it to her again.

*sigh* I know she wants to see Esme 'in-person'. I want her to see her too, but I don't feel the same rush. I don't like being in a large group of people and with my mom, that happens. I can put off the stress of that crowd of people I know she'll invite over when we DO visit... 'Rhe is coming up! Everybody come over! You HAVE to see the baby!' I'm thinking there will be about a dozen people in that house waiting for us to arrive. And then there will be more people we're obligated to visit the next day etc...

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I need room to be the me I want to be, not the one you think I should be...

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I know. Lots of excuses on my end of this. But I found when I became an adult some separation from my family was not just good, it was NECESSARY for my sanity. Even living an hours drive away from them was enough. That way I didn't have unexpected people dropping by my house every night and planned calendar days full of things I didn't agree to.

Some people probably would 'kill' for togetherness like that. *squeak* I'm not one of them? *squeak* I need some mental space to 'be me'. Call me on the phone, write letters every day... one person can visit... but please don't crowd in on me because then I nearly lose myself in what everyone wants/expects me to be. And that is worse than anything.. I have no voice when they all crowd in on me. That was a painful but important realization about my own character. I bend too easily to my family's ideal image of me, even when I'm trying really hard to be my own person. Keeping some distance is so far the only thing I've found to remedy it. Lately I've started speaking my true mind to my mom, without filtering it through the 'what does she expect of me'. Of course, that just gets her mad at me usually... but at least I'm getting some points across to her, for short periods of time at least.

There will be a Minnesota visit. I'm just not sure when. And I don't feel like being rushed into it before we're ready, because then none of us will enjoy it at all.

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OK, I'm done whining now. *sigh*

Crafting365: day 22; On My Desk: Playtime Rabbits

Today is 'On My Desk' Wednesday, sponsored by Kootoyoo.
It is rainy today and dim, so I'm going to cheat and use a picture from a day or so ago -- but these things are still on my desk today.



I'm putting together more of these star shaped Playtime Rabbit baby toys. I made a bear like this for Esme the other day and she threw him around some. I love to see how she handles toys, it gives me great insight as to why some are so popular :)


Custom order for Lewes

At Our House

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Esme ran a bit of a fever last night after her immunizations. We gave her some tylenol and I watched her during the night. She seems much better today and is having a nap with daddy while he reads. I have lots of toys I need to start on, and pairs of pants to finish etc...

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Crafting365: day 21; This is... my creation

The theme for this week's 'This is' is 'This is my creation', suggested by Betty
My first thought was Esme. Mark and I collaborated on this Mona Lisa ;)



Jhoanna has already done her daughters, and I tried to think a little further beyond my toy shop.

My other great creation could be the way I look at the Universe.



I think of universes within as well as without, of connections of a thousand different things that make up the whole and how they move together in time and space. In math, science, art, language... there are strange and wonderful parallels to be explored. If we don't create the way we look at the world, who does?

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At our House: Esme got her 4 month vaccinations today. She was cranky earlier and wanted to be held, but now she is asleep. We have to go back for a 4 month check-up on another day. Mark is making chili with garlic tonight! I have a custom toy order and am still working on more rabbits for MamaMade.

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Other creations I've recently admired on Etsy:

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Prints by Linda Norton : She has a nice 'American primitive' style.
FabricShoppe great collections of contemporary fabric prints
Organikx interesting sterling jewelry and more
Steampunk by RivkasMom. You've got to see it.

Crafting365: day 20; Turning a receiving blanket into a pair of pants

I did make a pair of pants for Esme out of that honey jar receiving blanket. They are soft and warm! I also had a small piece left over to make a small toy out of. Esme is making some progress trying to crawl as well, although she's quite loud in telling us how difficult it is!

Mark caught these beautiful pictures of Esme and Mouse (the manx calico) on the bed yesterday. Mouse was very gentle.

Crafting365: day 19; Doing things I've been putting off...

Writing letters, sending pictures and a flannel blanket.

I've been putting off sending pictures to family. We were out of colored printer ink for the longest time. However, I had gotten some last week and still hadn't printed any pictures out. I'm also sending out some snail mail, thank yous and birthday stuff... it's amazing how it builds up when you put it off.

My mom also wanted me to send her stuff from the toy shop so she might be able to sell them up North. However, I've got MamaMade coming up and really don't feel there are many toys to spare at the moment. I've printed her out some color flyers with pictures of the custom toys and prices so she can show those off to her friends.

Also, I've got to get over some of the other biases I have. Like this flannel receiving blanket with honey jars on it. For days I've been looking at it saying 'That would make a good pair of baby pants for Esme' but telling myself I can't cut it up because Mom sent it when Esme was born. Well, so what? I want to make it a pair of pants so I'm going to. I have no problem doing that to thrift store clothing so why is it an issue when it's a gift from my mom? This is a little thing, but a good example of such attitudes that lead to lots of other bad habits. These habits often get in the way of actually getting done the things I want to get done.


Esme's 'touch' blanket

Just like Esme's large quilt, I was also putting off the idea I had to make her a 'touch' blanket. That is, something with lots of different textures she can feel with her hands. I made this one last night. It has yellow velvet, turquoise and brown courdorouys, linens and thick textured cottons. The back is a 'fake silk' upholstery fabric with little velvet leaves. I'm not sure how it will survive the washer but if I don't try I'll never know, right?


Bunny the pit bull being cute
I need to get the camera out more often when the animals are being cute, too...

btw: Puck is doing so well we have to remind her she can't go off hunting with the others. I walked her this morning and got an almost translatable "Gee Mom, why can't I go play?"

Crafting365: day 18: Getting ready for MamaMade!

We're getting ready for MamaMade!
I've got mousebears needing faces, rabbits needing assembly and lots of other things to do. I made a list of the things I want to take along and printed it out to keep track of what (and how many) is done and what still needs work.

We also went to a library book sale in Paris, TN. I dropped off some of the official Mamamade flyers I printed out at the library. We picked up lots of cute children's books and some for us as well. This 1957 book is about a spacefaring cat who, with his master, goes to Mars. He wears a spacesuit and finds a female cat who comes back to Earth with them. Very silly but a nice little story!


Space Cat meets Mars
How can you not love that title?

The fabric I made some pants for Esme out of yesterday? The bright flowers on brown? There is another print in that same series called 'Esmerelda'! Just like we spell Esmerelda, too ;) It has pretty red zinnias on it (see here). I ordered a yard of it off of Ebay and will be making two sizes for her to grow into :)


Pogo and Mouse fight for Mark's attention curled up reading
Pogo looks betrayed: 'Hey, pet me not her!'

Crafting365; day 17: Baby pants for the shop and Puck's wounds

Mark took Puck to the vet yesterday and he came back with a pretty good prognosis. She has three large holes/bites taken out of her (one shown in the picture). She didn't get any stitches, there wasn't enough skin around any of the wounds for stitching to be good. She did get lots of antibiotics and some wound spray etc... that we have to put on her often. And we have to keep a close eye on her, which is the hardest part since she thinks she feels better already.

Hope this isn't too graphic a picture. The wounds look worse on the other side, not so bad from this angle. I've already told her several times that I missed her when she was gone and that she had better take care of herself.



Crafting365: I've been stacking up baby pants to put in the shop. Esme has some to keep for herself, too :) She loves the bright colors of the fabrics I found at the quilt shop!


Handmade 3-6 months size baby pants at the shop

Crafting365; day 16: Puck is hiding under the trailer!

OK, good news, sort of. This morning Puck showed herself to Mark. She is hiding in the fenced yard, under the trailer, and doesn't want to come out. We're not sure why, and neither of us remember letting her into the yard (which means she went under the fence somewhere?) Mark is going to try to drag her out later today if she doesn't come out on her own. She didn't seem hurt or limping, but scurried back up where he couldn't reach her as soon as he approached. So, good news that she is here - now we just have to find out what's wrong.

THANK YOU to everyone who was hoping and praying for Puck to come home!

UPDATE: Mark got Puck in the house. She IS hurt. She has large bite marks taken out of her hind haunches on both sides and he is taking her to the vet immediately.

Mark's main computer died yesterday morning, as well. He's been scavenging and putting things together like Frankenstein's lab to make another that will do the same tasks.


Another custom dolly order for the toy shop.

Crafting365; day 15 and On My Desk

Mark walked and drove the local roads and didn't see any sign of Puck. I walked out in the forest some with the other dogs and they didn't give me any clues either.

It's also Wednesday, which is 'On My Desk' day. I have a new dreambag weaving, some small beaded bracelets, a pair of pants cut out for Esme that is yet to be sewn and some new fabric from the quilt shop in Paris.


I hadn't been to the quilt shop for years. It has changed ownership, and I went there specifically to get a yard of Amy Butler fabric. There are so many cute baby things made in Amy Butler fabric that I thought I'd try some out.

Puck is three years old, and a ferocious little hunter. She goes down fox dens, we're pretty sure of it -- hope she is okay but seriously, we think that she would be back by now or the other dogs would take us to her if there was any hope.

Puck

We haven't seen Puck since yesterday morning. She is the smallest of all of our dogs - although she always thought she could take on a lion at any time. The other day, I described something to Mark and he thought what I had heard was a coyote pack hunting not more than a mile away. We fear the worst.

This is strange. All of the other dogs and cats are present and accounted for. None of them seem upset about anything. Mark thinks it is a possiblity she was hit by a car, because the other dogs don't seem to 'know' anything. We'll go out looking today but if she isn't back by now there isn't much hope.

This is... the view from my front door

Brooke at Boobooksausagedogs has the "This is..." theme for today and I just can't resist any longer. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to play - but this bears sharing anyway :) I was over at Net's and Jhoanna's blogs and saw out their front doors this morning too. It made me miss our woods - which are right outside MY front door.



This is... out my front door
There is a white dog named Bunny there too, at the foot of the tree.

We do have the fortune at the moment to live among some beautiful cedar, pine, oak and sycamore forest in Western Tennnessee, United States. The woods here feel like where I grew up in Northern Minnesota, just with less snow. They have the similar rolling hills, wooded forest, rocky outcrops and trailing rivers of the area along Scenic Hwy 38 that runs from Grand Rapids to Marcell, MN and beyond. I spent most of my childhood and teenage years running around that area, climbing rocks, finding lakes and getting vehicles stuck in the mud. I do less of the latter lately ;) but I still do go walk in the woods.

Crafting365; day fourteen: Washable stuffed animals

These two went through the washer yesterday after they were made.
The terrycloth one is an experiment.
I'll be taking it into the bath with Esme today as a washcloth toy ;)
I'm very happy about Mousebear being a washable stuffed animal,and a handmade one, at that! When Esme spits up on him, he just goes away for a few hours and comes back clean. I tried making some mousebears out of different materials for a customer at the shop and washed them. 'Washing non-calico bearmice intrigues me.' HEH. Good experiments, anyway.


I love these bowls I got yesterday, lots of room for putting small toys in. I got five of them in different colors for the MamaMade show. I'm going to have a mousebear or rabbit-making day and fill them up, soon.

Crafting365; day 13: Cappuccino anyone? A sewn coffee cup pincushion

I'm sure you've seen those cup of joe coffee cup pincushions and crocheted teacup pincushions out there in blogland. Where are the sewn versions for these? There are versions that use an actual teacup as well. But I implore, where are the plush coffee cups? There are softie versions of lots of other felt food and treats.

I didn't want to knit or crochet and was having a hard time finding a pattern for a sewn coffee cup pincushion. I decided it was up to me to make one.

Here are my first efforts. The handle needs to be up higher and maybe add a rim to the cup on the next one but this one makes me quite happy just the way it is. I think the button really makes it and need to go look for more similar buttons today.

I'll be working on this pattern for the shop after I make a few :)

Crafting365; day 12: Some sewing patterns have sane sizing

Some sewing patterns have sane sizing
say that ten times fast... ;)


These fit!
Even though she is only four months old, most of the 'store-bought' clothes Esme now wears are 6 months size. I've made three pairs of baby pants, 12 mo, 6 mo and 3 month sizes. The 3 month size fits her. Apparently there are still 'sanely-sized' clothing patterns in the world. I also saved each of the other sizes on newspaper as I cut down the pattern to 'small' - so no worrying about when she outgrows this size :)


A custom dolly order for the shop
for a special little girl on her way to America.

Custom Soft Toys available at KnitOwl shop

Custom make-to-order baby toys in the KnitOwl shop.



1. Mousebears : Machine washable soft baby toys
2. Custom rag dolls for babies in your choice of hair color
3. Custom horse softies and zebra toys
4. Choose your own colors pairs of Alien Monster dolls
5. Machine washable cotton bunny toys

Crafting365; day 11: Snowbunnies and sweet faces

For Phyllistene:
Squeaker is getting big!


We had snow here last night!
It was enough for me to make a snowbunny ;)
That counts as my Crafting365 entry today.

And Esme is getting so strong!
Here she is being cute for me.

I made baby pants last night. However, I made the wrong size (eep). I made the medium which ends up being 12 month size. They're put away for later and I am now making a six-months size pair. Pants are not difficult. The hardest part was getting the idea that when the pattern says to put one leg right-side-out inside the other (inside-out) - it is to sew the 'front-to-back' seam.' I stared at that picture on the pattern HARD and finally the idea crystallized 'OH - DUH...' and I was making pants. ;)

Crafting365; day ten: Revisiting Dream bags or I play with string again

Green dream bag

This is a little narrower than MY dream bag I finished earlier last year. This one is for the shop. I really enjoy the process of my dream bag. I hope to share that process with others who would be open to the idea of trying to use their dreams as a tool to better self-awareness. Many cultures believe in the power of dreams. It was one of the things I was fascinated by in my anthropology courses (I was an Anth minor ).

The process of dreaming:

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Dreams are often not just nonsense. Some of the symbols that appear, especially recurring ones, are there for a reason. They just need to be understood and then used to translate what the rest of the dream is saying. Once we understand what a dream is saying it can be directed and used as a reflecting tool for our waking lives.

Often a nagging problem can be solved in dreams because our dream self is not restricted by physics and time - we can go anywhere, do almost anything, if only we become aware we are dreaming. This is called 'lucid dreaming.' Realizing you are aware and able to direct things in a dream is an awesome feeling, even though it is often short-lived and the inexperienced dreamer can easliy wake themselves up as soon as they realize things 'aren't real.'

So, what are dream bags?

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Dream bags are put under your pillow, or on your bedside table. The bag itself is slightly symbolic in colors and materials, but is mostly about durability and being a pretty object :)

What is inside a dream bag is the most important part of the process. A favorite piece of jewelry (perhaps from a loved one?), a special token or totem symbol, gemstones or semi-precious stones symbolizing the things you wish to dream about and other objects that have special meaning to you. These items are placed in the bag in a hope to direct your subconscious thoughts into dreaming about the ideas they represent. A dream bag is very personal, and the contents will be different for every person.

It is good to often take everything out of your dream bag, sort through it, remind yourself of why it is in there and put back only the things that still have meaning and purpose. This is a good time to redirect what you hope to dream for and put in new objects as well as take out old.