the stuff trees are made of

When I saw this fabric online, I thought it would make fun curtains for Lil Dub's room. (Lil Dub is one of the many nicknames we have for our 5 week old little boy.) The print ended up being larger than I expected but I liked the bold graphics and the colors. Now for some black out shades behind them and we're in good shape.
I'd seen a similar example online of using fabric to make rattles and stuffies, so I embellished some remaining trees with a squirrel friend, birds and some apples.




The tree stuffies make great mini pillows and it makes me wonder how our little one, after seeing these, will draw his first tree.

harvest

Our Moby Grape tomatoes were nearly falling off the plant, they're so taut and red so I snatched all of them up this morning.
I'm not sure what they should become! Red sauce? Salsa? Maybe a Caprese salad?

little sun on the prairie

Tonight RD and I went for a walk in Sunfish Lake Park in Lake Elmo. The woods were already dark at 6:30 and full of mosquitoes. We chose to take the prairie path, and I'm so glad we did.

On our trip to Portland and the Oregon coast we stopped at Fort Stevens on the mouth of Columbia River. This wall was in one of the underground bunkers and it reminded me of Julia Child's kitchen, of craft rooms, workshops and studios. Imagine the young guy from WWII setting it up, tracing each tool, and painting the outline so carefully. Now if any tool was missing, you'd know which item was gone. So clever.

crochet buddies

I picked up this wee octopus from Tracy of Ball of Fire while at Johnstock 2011. He's great perched on a bookshelf.

Or perched on a crib, overlooking a sideways-mobile. These cutouts and stickers won't be there for long but they're so much easier to see than something hanging from the ceiling when little ones only have a site distance of about a foot or so.

a special project

My little dear friend Moses has turned 1! I thought it might be time that he had a special pal of his own. I've had my own Brown Bear (yes that is his name) since I was 1, and Mo needs a Brown Bear of his own.

I made up a quick pattern and set to putting together a fluffy fleece bear with wool felt ears, eyes and nose. He's all built with the rough and tumble lifestyle of a 1-year-old in mind.



His birthday party is on the 11th of June. I hope he likes his new friend.

sneak peeking

Here are just a few of the items we'll have available at Johnstock (May 21st 10am-6pm & May 22nd 11am-3pm).

Felt Flower Fancies - 100% wool felt flowers. Brooches and barrettes in charming colors.

Fuzzy Buzzys - 100% needle-felted wool and trim. A little buzzy buddy.

Posy Corsage - 100% wool needle-felted flowers. Statement brooches in stand-out colors.

Storybook Pennants - vintage book illustrations and ric-rac. Bedtime memories for room décor.

Come see what else we've got up our sleeves. Johnstock is in Nordeast Minneapolis on the 2800 block of Johnson St NE. We'll be there rain or shine. We're the ones under the yellow and white striped tent, with flowers in our hair and galoshes on our feet. Come say hello.

our debut

We admit to hiding out these last 2 months in our crafty caves working our creative minds and fingers to the bone. All the blood, sweat and tears will culminate in our big rapturous debut, happening May 21st and 22nd at Johnstock.

We present to you...


What is up with that name? - Firstly we love the word "wandering" because it seems lighthearted, casual and fun. Secondly "ham" is after the vintage travel trailer culture where people refer to these old campers as "canned hams." And lastly we just threw "the" in there for fun.

Will the trailer (the ham) be at the show? - Sadly we need to leave the ham at home for this first outing. Expect to see her (of course it's a her as most good transportation items are) sometime in the future.

What kinds of goodies will you be selling? - Stay tuned for a post that includes preview picks.

Where else can I find out info about The Wandering Ham? - come visit us at Johnstock or find us on facebook!

keep calm and...

Thos "KEEP CALM" posters are everywhere I look, so I took it upon myself to make my own via the Keep Calm-o-matic.

Here are a few choices that capture my thoughts.

super sisters celebration

A coworker's twin daughters wanted to celebrate their 5th birthday in a super way, so I volunteered to help with their superhero themed party. Wonder Woman and Batgirl were a requirement (of course) so I gave them a perfect-for-5-year-olds twist and designed some dynamic details for the girls' perfect party.



The invites were printed on shimmery silver paper and the red sparkly envelope closed with a custom sticker.

The day of the party, all the little heroes received these fun (iron-on) tees with their initials all supered-out! As a bonus it made the party goers extra easy to identify in a crowd of indoor maze madness.



You truly couldn't have a proper party without cupcakes. These toppers were a blast to make and they brought the theme to the table with some amazing POW!





When the day was wrapped and the kidlets headed home, it was time to sit down and send out handwritten cards thanking each guest for attending, complete with super special stickers to seal the deal.



It was a fantastic project to work on and the kid-friendly theme was a hit with parents and kids alike. I hope I get to be a part of next year's party. I wonder what the theme will be?

nest

For this year's Freshly Blended ornament swap I made these needle felted wool birds. Eleven of these birdies flew to Germany, Scotland, Australia and many places in the States and I enjoyed each packaged hand-made ornament in return. Perhaps these birdies would make fun mobiles too.

happy 1/1/11!

Yesterday before Janet and Ben came over to ring in the new year, I made some paper horns for the big moment. I'd bought some cheap party horns at the grocery store but I didn't like their look and big lame "manufactured in" giant label.

BEFORE

AFTER

I removed the squeaker/blower from the horn and then gently peeled apart the foil paper part. I traced it onto a piece of old cardstock and used that as a template to make my own.

I found happy scraps of wrapping paper that I had in my studio room and some paper fringe as well as some vintage tinsel trim. A little glue and reassembly and voila! I think they turned out great and look so much better than the original.