keeper

I made this little elf a long time ago. I can't exactly remember when I made it, but I have loved hand sewing since I was really young. I wish I had more of the little animals and such I made as a kid but I don't know what happened to them. I just read an article in the New York Times about this very dilemma...to keep or not to keep your kid's art. I have to say the article kind of made me laugh. Let's try not to over-think these things, New York Times!

frozen lake

One of the many lakes we have right here in our fair city. This one is extra special because it has an island you can canoe (or walk or ski) around. We met a man who was flying a radio controlled airplane on the lake too. He was very popular with our crew!

I used to be a serious figure skater as a kid. When I say "serious" I mean that I took it quite seriously...not that I was ever all that good. I can still jump and spin a little but mostly I just love to skate.

♥

I'm working on the custom Valentine bears today... I think I can still take one or two more orders if anyone is interested. I'll keep the listing up on Etsy until Friday.

It's been so fun to get such a nice response to the new brooches. Thank you!

ta-da!

These are in my shop now!

nearly three

I remember when Oscar was this age (nearly three) he used to make amazing block constructions too. Then all of the sudden he stopped...probably some developmental quirk? I'm finally realizing how fleeting it all is and I'm better at appreciating the wonder of a stage like this. We are working on Jude's application for preschool next year and I think it's really getting to me!

We are supposed to be having some much needed warmer temperatures around here next week...in the 20's ABOVE zero. I'm getting the ice skates ready.

bearface

I made this new brooch today. Actually I was envisioning it as a little pal to put on a kid's backpack (so cute!) but it would be great on a kids coat lapel too. I'm feeling kind of pressed for time these days...two classes to teach this semester and many other little projects swirling around. I am going to TRY to get a few of these in the shop in time for Valentines day just for fun. It's nice to have plenty of inside projects this time of year. We are having a lot of sub-zero temperatures this week and it's kind of a drag.

dress-up

Jude dressed as me.

Seriously.

send off

We had a nice sunny day yesterday so while the kids were napping...or "just resting" in Oscar's case, I did another photo shoot. This big bear with the pink bow went off to her new home yesterday so I wanted to make sure to get some nice photos of her before I shipped her off. This sock monkey is a permanent fixture in our house...you may remember that this is not her first time in front of the camera! See more pictures of her *here*.

a boy and a boat

I hope you are having a weekend with plenty of playtime in it.

hawk!

It's been a busy week around here...my classes are starting up again and I'm in the middle of lots of projects. I wouldn't have much to post this week except what a serious mess my work table is.

I wanted to show you this picture of the hawk that landed outside our big kitchen window the other morning with it's prey. Of course if I were a better photographer I would have had the hawk in focus instead of the vitamins on the kitchen table, but I still like this picture. I've seen several hawks in our neighborhood in the past couple of years and this summer we saw bald eagles soaring over our house...amazing! I'm not a particularly superstitious person but this felt like a really good omen.

heart's desire

Later today I'll be putting a listing in my Etsy shop for custom Valentine's Day bears. I've never done this before but I thought it sounded like a fun project even though I'll only be able to manage a hand-full of these little guys.

Each bear will be either pink or red hand dyed mohair, with vintage shoe button eyes or glass eyes. For each color bear there are three fabric choices for a little neckerchief. Each bear will come with a little wool heart on which I'll embroider the name of your choice (or a simple message of love, be mine, xox..you decide!)

The little heart is similar to the valentine I made my oldest son when he was just a baby.

boys' room

We've done some rearranging in our house lately and now the boys are sharing a bedroom again. This is the calm, peaceful sleeping room. Next time I'll show you the "play room" where all the Legos, Playmobil and yes, Toy Story toys are!

brights

I'm working on a little something to offer up in my Etsy shop for Valentine's Day. Custom bears in pink or red....I hope to have them available to order sometime next week. I seem to be working in brights lately..not my usual M.O. It might just be a survival tactic as it gets pretty cold, dark and colorless here in the winter months and working with a little bit of color feels good.

These are the big bears I made for my kiddos this Christmas. They were well received but are not as popular as the Toy Story toys Santa brought! Santa really went way out of his comfort zone when he decided on those toys let me tell you!

details

Some little details from the photo shoot yesterday. I'm taking pictures of everything, just for fun.

a new project

I did a little photo shoot today with my NEW camera (happy birthday to me!) and it was really fun. I still have a lot to figure out with this camera but I like it a lot so far. I see more of these photo shoots in my future....It's a fun way to document my dolls and animals and it gives me a way to use some of the many many bits of vintage doll clothes and other tiny treasures I've accumulated over the years.

Bundle up...It's cold out there today!

gallery

A small rotating selection of some of the toys I have made...

  For more toys please see the "dolls"  "bears" "rabbits" and "handmade toys" sections listed to the right under TOPICS.  For all available toys please visit my shop.