Beaded Forest

Dinner at Barb's (and family)

Christmas was great!  It started a few days early, when we went for dinner at my friend Barb's house.  She, her husband Rob, and their kids Alyssa and Matt were great hosts...and they just sent me a few pics of the event!  Barb gave me a beautiful quilt she made, and they all showed off the homemade gifts I gave them: Alyssa's dragon, a doggie for Matt, and scarves for Barb and Rob.  The last pic is David being swarmed by kids and stuffed animals!  (By the way, I don't know why my hair looks so incredibly red in these pictures...it's not really that color!)

Monster/Kangaroo

Every year, my neighbors Kathy and Alistair host a great Christmas eve party.  Silly games are involved, and great food and great company.  An important part of the evening is a gift exchange, and each year has a theme...something broad, to be interpreted as each guest sees fit.  This year's theme is "Dreams".  Well, I decided this was the perfect opportunity to create a strange dream monster.  I started out with a green cotton print, and the result had lots of arms and legs and other odd appendages, but just didn't have "it".  So I scrapped that idea, and decided my creature would be furry.  I made a pear-shaped body and a round head, added a long neck and eye stalks, which later became ears, and a silly nose.  Once the legs were added, there was no denying it: this guy looked like a kangaroo.  I really don't know how to interpret this: my dream monster turns out to be a kangaroo.  What does that mean???

Otter!

Well, my dad couldn't resist opening his Christmas present early (and his dog was threatening to eat it!), so I can now reveal this guy on my blog (I gave a little preview here).  He's a sea otter from a pattern by Aardvark to Zebra, a wonderful company with a great variety of different stuffed creatures.  It's where I got the pattern for my aardvark, too.  The otter is made of mohair, his nose is wool felt, and he has glass eyes.  The shell uses an upholstery fabric for the exterior, and a pink satiny material for the inner part.  I'm pleased with how he turned out, and my dad is thrilled!  He has a "thing" about otters, so when I saw the pattern, I knew I had a Christmas present to make!  Now, as long as he can keep it away from the dog, who continues to be fascinated (Airedales are descended from Otterhounds, after all!), all should be well!

Dragon!

Here's the dragon I've been working on for so long!  He's been quite a project.  The pattern is "Jewel" by Michelle Pearson of Raggedy Stitches.  I bought it through Joggles, which is a very fun web store.  The pattern was good...a couple of confusing parts, but mostly clear and she's got little encouraging comments throughout.  You have to do a lot of turning and stuffing of itsy-bitsy parts, which is a bit wearing, but hopefully worth the effort!  He's got a wire through the length of his body and tail, which keeps him posed however you want him.  I learned a lot by doing this project, but I doubt I'll be working on another dragon anytime soon!  He's for my friend Barb's daughter, Alyssa...hope she likes him!

Finished projects

I can't show this whole critter until after the (unnamed) recipient gets it for Christmas, but here's a sneak peek!  He's made of mohair and wool felt. 
I'm almost done with my dragon, a gift for a friend's daughter, and I'll be posting that up pretty soon.  What an undertaking it's been!  Quite an intense project.  Lots of little pieces to turn right side out and stuff and stitch together.  But I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.
Now, on to presents for the swap!

My Komodo...

Here are a few more pics of my Christmas Komodo (see previous post).  I'm sorta sad and confused.  I'm not at all sure that my pictures got into the Softies Awards, and I don't understand why.  Therese of Softies Central has been so nice in responding to my multiple emails on the subject.  She says she can see my guy on the Flickr pool, and I can see him too...IF I'm logged into my Flickr account.  If I'm not logged in or try from another computer, he doesn't show up at all.  I think when I emailed my Flickr page to Therese, it somehow added my pics to her account, and that's why she can see them, but I doubt anyone else can.  I'm mystified as to what I've done wrong.  Any suggestions, anyone?

In other news, I'm heading down to Dallas tomorrow to see my Dad and stepmom Barb, and meet their new adopted dog!  The dog and I are both arriving tomorrow (separately, I must note!).  More information to follow!

Christmas Komodo!

I finally finished the project I've been working on furiously for the past week or so...my entry for the Holiday Softie Awards run by Softies Central.  It's a Christmas Komodo dragon.  You ask, how did I come up with such an idea?  Well, I mentioned the awards to David, and asked for a suggestion.  The first thing that popped out of his mouth was "Komodo dragon," so I said why not?  I found some cotton quilting fabric in a Christmas tree pattern that reminded me of scales, and got to work on creating a pattern.  It's been quite a process!  I started out with him standing straight, but decided on the body curve...that was an undertaking right there.  And figuring out all those different legs, the claws, etc. has taken me a long time.  I was starting to get nervous, because tomorrow midnight is the deadline for entering!  I would have hated to get this far and not finish on time.  But I did it, and now my guy is posted on the Holiday Softie Awards Flickr page for viewing by one and all.  Here's a couple of pics of him; for some reason the uploading is very slow tonight, so I'll post a few others later:

Downward dog done!

After about a gazillion prototypes, I finally finished my Downward Dog pattern, and here is the finished product!  I'm so pleased with the way he turned out.  I'll be making up the pattern to sell it, so keep an eye out here for more information on that!

Sewing day

Today I got together with my friend Barbara to do some sewing.  Despite Barb nearly slicing her finger off with a rotary cutter, and my stabbing myself with a seam ripper (plus a few too many Mallomars all around), we managed to have a good time.  In the picture, I'm holding the teddy bear arm I just finished, and Barb and her daughter Alyssa are showing off Barb's first-ever quilt.  I think she's done an amazing job!  And Barb's younger child, Matt, did a nice job of taking the picture (after implementation of a makeshift tripod and a little coaching).  Thanks for the fun time, guys!

Dippy Dinosaur

I made this adorable dinosaur from a pattern called "Dippy Dinosaurs" by Pauline McArthur at her Funky Friends Factory shop on Etsy.  She's in Australia, and once you purchase her pattern, she sends a PDF file to you.  She recommends using fleece, but I used a couple of Kaffe Fasset cotton prints.  This guy cracks me up...he looks to me like he's somehow, despite his best efforts, ended up in this wildly-patterned skin, when inside he's shy and reclusive.  I think I haven't photographed him on his best side (see, he doesn't even know how to pose for the camera!).  He's tilted a little on this side, and stands flat on the other.  That's why his eyes look a little off, but they are actually centered, he wants to assure you.  The pattern and instructions were great, although she expects that you know some basics.  There are three dinosaur variations in the pack, and I may end up having to make another one!