Holiday Crafting and Felt Ornaments

Holiday crafting is in full swing. My friend and I were invited to participate in a local holiday craft fair with a European theme. We were thrilled to have the opportunity but we needed to come up with some new items along those lines. I decided to try my hand at felt ornaments as I had a stash of the fabric and I've been wanting to dabble in it for a while now.

Can I say that I'm in love?

I know, dramatic. But seriously - stitching in felt is so awesome! It's smooth, easy to work with and manipulate, and it got my creative juices flowing. Once I got started, I couldn't stop! I made over 40 ornaments over the course of two weeks. Intense, yes, but it felt so nice to be crafting like that again.



I think our display ended up looking beautiful, and the craft fair was a lot of fun. There was tons of foot traffic and we met a lot of great people.



I'm really proud of all of the stuff that I made up for the fair, but I do need to get my Etsy shop updated with some of my newer baby items. I did get a chance to put some of my holiday ornaments and decorations in though, and readers of this blog get a holiday discount! Just use the code '10PERCENT' for 10% off of your purchase. I can ship pretty much immediately, so there's still time to get things for the holidays.  Here's the link: What's Up, Cupcake? Etsy Shop



Isabel made up some adorable onesies in fun holiday designs. She also had these new onesies with a crochet flower. The flower detatches to make for easy washing. How clever is that?? I need her to help me clean up my crochet skills. Her work is so delicate and intricate, and to be honest, I feel like mine can be a little sloppy.

Aside from ornament crafting, I have a few new baby lovie designs to stitch up. I'd love to get that done in the next few days so I can ship them out as well. I've already had some mommas asking for them in my online groups. And then, I'm hoping for some R&R. Spending time cuddling with my little guy and enjoying the winter weather with my family.



I hope you, lovely readers, are doing well, and enjoying this holiday season! I have some more yummy treats to share with you and I'm going to be cutting out my Zinnia skirt soon. It feels good to be at the sewing machine again!

Lovies and an Etsy Shop

I've been doing a lot of sewing lately, though still not a garment for myself - mainly crafts.  One in particular has been little lovie blankets for babies.

Having Ian introduced me to many things... baby love and snuggles, dirty diapers, breastfeeding, and the world of baby accessories being just a few of them. Within this world, I found muslin swaddle blankets.  When I first heard of them, I couldn't understand the appeal.  Sewing muslin does not usually bring to mind the softest of fabrics.  I found that this muslin they speak of is actually cotton gauze. A soft, lightweight cotton that is perfect for swaddling little babies in.  There are a few big designers, especially Aden and Anais, Swaddle Designs... and it seems like so many more are constantly popping up.

Tilly recently featured a post on Selling Your Handmade Stuff. It was a good read, and had a few things I had to consider when coming up with my shop.  I checked out the existing market for lovies and found that most were made from minky and cotton fabrics... but why not from these beautifully designed blankets? I set to work. I made a few designs and offered them within my online mommy groups. They performed really well so I thought it was time to reopen my Etsy shop.  I've made a little inventory and had my first few sales... and I'm really pleased with the results. I think the lovies turned out beautifully and I think they will make many a happy baby. My little guy loves his.  I have a few more versions to make before the holidays but I'm trying to squeeze them in between my own personal sewing projects.

Ian on one of his swaddle blankets

If you would like to purchase a lovie, you can get them from my Etsy shop with a 10% discount for blog readers. Just use the coupon code '10PERCENT'

Crazy for cross stitch

Thanks to a crafty friend of mine, I’ve decided to add cross stitch to my craft repetoire.  I’ve been meaning to try it for a while, but never found a pattern I liked.  Teddy bears and kittens weren’t really something I wanted hanging on my wall (sorry, just my own personal taste).  When a fellow Highland dance friend created some tartan patterns, I had to try them out.

I picked up a pattern from her etsy shop, Tartan Hearts, and guessed my way through basic cross stitch materials.  

I wasn’t off by too much in supplies, but I did have to watch some videos to make sure I wasn’t making a mess out of the process.  The video that was a lifesaver was from Yarn Tree on YouTube.  Once I watched it, I was on a roll!

Voila! The final product!  

Thanks Jess!  The pattern was great!