wise little owls

I made some more little owls for a commission (actually for an old school friend of mine).

These are made from ecospun felt.  I found that wool felt is too thick and it made them a funny shape – it’s probably just me, but it does feel good to make something nice from all those nasty plastic bottles.

Anyway, these are destined for a group of nursery children and I really do hope that they enjoy playing with them as much as I enjoyed seeing their little characters emerging.  Looks like the start of a beautiful owl relationship to me.

I am more than happy to make more of these to order…you can buy them through the shop.

Valentine Fabric Finch

Hmm…wonder what these are

If I turn my back will they move?

Nope…but they did get shinier…you saw that, right?

Oh well, best be on my way now.

In the shop now

Tartan Owl Ornament

This tartan chap was created as a commission this weekend.  In keeping with our attempts to reduce waste, he’s made from a piece of tartan that would have otherwise been binned and some ecospun felt.  Stuffed, as usual, with reclaimed polyester stuffing.

He’s got a bit of a problem though.  Whilst out for his morning walk, he came across a very strange object.  It looked like a grassy mound but he couldn’t be sure.

At first he stood next to the mound, he thought it enhanced his green wings and the green stripes in his tartan, but after a while he became suspicious that the object wasn’t a grassy mound at all but an owl eating alien so he made a hasty retreat to his new home.

Felt bird give-away!

Hard as it is to believe the blog here has been on the go for a year, the first post being made on 27th December 2008.  I think we’ve both come a long way since then both in terms of style and approach!

The blog was initially conceived as a venue for sharing our arts and crafts, Jolene with her varied needlework projects and me with my rather tribal carvings and papier mache projects, and whilst it certainly has provided that it has also provided something of a focus to make sure that particular projects get done … of course I have projects which will be entering their second year quite soon!

One thing that the blog has shown us is that there is definitely an appetite for what we’re doing, the growth of the blog if nothing else has shown us that and the hundreds of followers and tens of thousands of views confirm it!  So I think we owe a great big “thank-you” to everyone who has visited, commented and is currently following.  It means a lot to us, so:

THANK – YOU!

In light of the support we’ve been shown in the blogoshpere I think it’s only fair that we give something back, or maybe more specifically we give something away, or perhaps even more specifically we give this away:

Fantastic fabric finch flapping far and away for a fabulous fan of flappy fabric finches!?

All you need to do to become the lucky owner of this little fellow is have a look through the posts from the past year and tell us which post is your favourite and why … leave your comment below.  We’ll then choose a comment at random to whom this gorgeous fabric finch will be sent!  The draw will be made on Saturday, 2nd January 2009 and announced the same day.

According to the software we use for the blog  these are this year’s top ten posts (by views):

1. Matroyshka Dottee Doll;
2. Felt Bird Sculpture;
3. Character from Dickens Novels … ;
4. Handmade Christmas tree decorations;
5. Book binding … (coptic binding);
6. Cartoon Dinosaur … ;
7. The devil’s monkey … ;
8. The world’s best christmas cake … ;
9. “Stained glass” birthday cake;
10. Little felt owl and a few plant … .

Although I’m not sure that this makes them the best, here are my own favourites for the last 12 months:

January:  What to do with all those vintage buttons?

February: Papier mache spring flower bowl

March:  Papier Mache works in progress

April:  Vintage fashion ATC’s

May:  Lion dottee doll

June:  Ernest Eric – wood carving

July:  Houndstooth scotty dog

August:  Traditional scottish macaroon

September:  Commissions – mobile phone cosy

October:  More hand carved plant pokery plant pot decoration fun

November:  Sock creatures

December:  Handmade Christmas wreath

The next year for the blog, and the new year, will see a load more posts and projects featuring our preferred mediums as well as some more experimental and varied stuff, we both have our hopes and plans for our crafts and the site although I think we’ll keep them under-wraps right now!

Again thanks to everyone who has been following, those who have commented and those who have lurked, we look forward to taking you all with us as our crafting adventure continues … slainte!

COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED.  THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN TWO TICKS.

handmade felt christmas tree decorations

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later … that’s right the spirit of Christmas has finally caught up with me, almost.  Anyway, in preparation for it’s imminent arrival I felt compelled to make some decorations, contrary to my usual ‘bah humbug!’ approach to Christmas!!

Actually, it wasn’t just me, Jolene started it with these rather pretty little crocheted stars …

… it’s while she was making these that she tossed a bag of felt offcuts in my general direction and told me to stop being ‘lazy’ and to ‘get on with something’ …

… I was …

… I was drinking tea …

… it’s important!

I spent a few minutes rummaging, looking at the various shapes available, before coming across some bendy triangles.  It wasn’t a huge leap to come up with the trees above.

I’m hoping to get some pine cones done up in time for Christmas, maybe as a table decoration or maybe as a few more hangers for the tree, whatever I do I’ll be sure to share them here.

Make Your Own Scandinavian Style Hanging Bird Ornament

You’ll need:

printer
paper
sharp needle
sharp scissors
6″ x 4″ piece of felt
36″ of 6 stranded embroidery thread
stuffing

Stitches used:

Blanket
Lazy Daisy

Instructions:

1. Click on the pattern below and print and cut it out.  It’s sized to A4 so you’ll need to make sure your page size is set to 210mm x 297mm so that the picture doesn’t distort.
2. Pin the template to your felt and cut two bird shapes.  You may find it easier to do this one shape at a time.
3. Separate two strands of thread by holding one end of the strand and gently pulling it from the group.
4. Using lazy daisy stitch, Sew three small flowers on each bird shape around about the belly of the bird.  Pay close attention to make sure you stitch on the right side of the bird shapes.
5. Separate another two strands of thread.  Using blanket stitch sew the two bird shapes together starting at the mid back and leaving about an inch of a gap for stuffing.
6. Stuff the bird quite tightly and sew the gap closed (with blanket stitch).  You might find at this stage a pencil or chopstick is useful for getting the stuffing into the corners but be careful you don’t poke it all the way through!  Secure your thread with a few small stitches.
7. Thread the last two strands through your needle and double them up to give you four strands.  Starting on the back of the bird, roughly where you started the blanket stitch, sew a few small stitches to secure your thread and then create a loop.  Sew some more small stitches to secure the loop.
8. If you wish you can sew a few loops onto the tail end of the bird to resemble feathers.
9. Hang from your tree/door handle/peg and marvel at the cuteness.

 Pattern:

The copyright of this work belongs to MadeStuff.  You may use this pattern to create as many ornaments as you wish for your own personal use and to give as gifts.   You may not use this pattern in any shape or form for commercial gain.

If you can’t be bothered going out to buy the materials you’ll need to make this lovely bird ornament, I have some kits for sale in the shop.  The kits contain the pattern, including instructions for the stitches, thread, felt and stuffing…enough for one ornament.

commissions – green felt birds

This week I’ve been working on some commissioned felt birds.  These ones are a departure from the ones in the shop in that they are made from 100% wool felt and if these are typical of the results to be gained from spending a few extra pennies up front, I think I’ll be using 100% wool felt for all my future birdies.

These chaps are far sturdier and easier to work with than the ecospun felt birds that I had been making.  That’s not to say that the ecospun felt birds are poorer quality, they’re not…these ones just are easier to work with.

I’m extremely happy with these, I love the green felt, and I really wish I could afford one and find a place in the house to put one…maybe one day we’ll have finished renovations and there’ll be a special shelf just for me.

Handmade Christmas Tree Decorations

Over the past few weeks I have been busy with a couple of commissions and finalising a new idea for Christmas tree decorations.  I’m reserving the commissions for a post of their own because they took me so long that they deserve a gold plaque, never mind their own post!

I know it seems too early to be talking about Christmas but it will be here before we know it and last year it totally caught me off guard so, like all good girl guides, this year I’m being prepared…besides we have a mega craft fair two weeks before Christmas and we don’t want to be embarrassed by a lack of stock.

The christmas tree decorations started life months ago now as a rough idea for bodies and I’ve had these embroidered bodies lying around in my sewing box all summer.  With the closing in nights it was time to finish the job.  They are now a mixture of felt bodies and polymer clay heads, hands and feet.  I think the picture speaks for itself.

At this stage I have 18 of these delightful little girls.  Each one is different.  I just need to think of a name.

Scotty Dotee Doll

A while ago now onecrazywoman contacted me with the proposition to swap dotee dolls.  She is making me a dotee doll with a Texan theme and I am making her a dotee doll with a Scottish theme.  I’ve been making this doll on and off now for the past month and finally last night I finished.

This is Morag – she is a traditional highland Scot but a bit kooky at heart which is why she wears a traditional plaid outfit but it’s pink!  She her unruly hair – she never brushes it and the wild Scottish winds have whipped it into a bit of a bird’s nest!

She’ll be on her way to join onecrazywoman’s dotee collection in Texas next week.

~ You can also find onecrazywoman as lovetoquilt2 on SwapBot.

Little felt owl and a few mini plant pot ornaments

The little owl has been floating about for a while and I was surprised he’s not featured in a previous blog entry, he’s made out of ecospun felt, with recycled polyester stuffing, and old buttons.  I think he’s a rather cute wee fellow, especially with the little ‘o’ embroidered on the front.  With luck Jolene will see fit to make some freinds for the fellow, but as things stand he’s a one of a kind!

Available in the shop.

I’ve also been trying to get some decent pictures of the ‘plant pokes’ for the shop, but hell have they been acting up!  I don’t know whether it’s been the poor lighting or just their irregular shapes but it’s been a complete ‘mare trying to get in focus shots!

Available in the shop.
SOLD OUT!  Please contact for custom orders.