I’m in one of those blah moods today………you know those days when you really can’t be arsed doing anything but you’ve got a ton of stuff to do so you do it but really slowly? well that’s how my day is going.

It probably doesn’t help my mood much that for the last couple of days it has heaved it down rain, with no sunshine in sight. I’m starting to get really p’eed off with the weather in the Midwest, especially since I know that it’s just gonna go boom…. straight into summer with no warning…..sigh hello humidity. Anyway I don’t mean to moan (honest) I just thought I’d share how my other hanging fruits and vegs turned out

I even listed them in the shop just in case anyone is looking for some hanging fruit and veg on Etsy I have them covered. Alright back to work

Yes I know you have been sitting on the edge of your seat………wondering what the heck I am making next…….and the farmer’s market hint  in my last post was so cryptic right?   Well take that bit from your mouth today is the big reveal…………

So does it make sense now?  These little wooly treats will have an acrlic loop attached to them and hopefully will be hanging up around Anthology in Madison by this weekend.  I know the carrots must be cute as my husband wants one (gasp) to hang on the rear view mirror of the car (double gasp) which is shocking as he hates stuff hanging of mirrors in cars…..so  that is what I am working on right now…….well that and critter boxes.  I still haven’t properly played with my sewing machine (so little time) but I am hoping to devote more time to mastering it……perhaps next week

No not that kind,  this isn’t school afterall.  I am of course talking about this kind………

The lil’ bee is a new pocket critter… I also made ladybirds or lady bugs as you Americans call them

So I will add these to the shop soon……..

The lil’ cardinal came about because of my obssession with making peepers (which are a bit Easterish) I want to make Jays and Robins and maybe crows as well,  they are called tweeters and are for year round enjoyment yaaaaaaay

I had such a great time at Anthology this weekend doing my demo (thanks to everyone who stopped by) and  I was hit by inspiration while I was there,  hopefully I will have something to show you soon but it’s a surprise………..ok a hint then…..hmmmmm think farmer’s market,  does that help?

I figuered I needed to add another critter to the menagerie……..meet Sheldon. He’s a sea turtle, but he is rather obsessed with all things relating to the cycle world. It is his dream to compete in the Tour de France, and he is very serious about his training and his bikes. He has the latest carbon frame model (which makes him smile just to look at) and it weighs less than a pound unfortunatly with Sheldon on it it weighs 124lbs……..if he ever thought it was his shells fault for him not being super quick, well it would just break his heart…….especially since he just paid a small fortune for a small titanium spring that is going to lighten “the bike” by 0.00000000000001 oz. Who knows if he trains hard enough you may just see him whizzing through the Paris streets soon enough.

In non felting news…….I finally bit the bullet and ordered myself a sewing machine this weekend.  Now this is scary for me as I’ve never owned a sewing machine before,  in fact I can’t even remember the last time I used one……..eeeek.  But I figuered it makes sense for me to learn as it will take  the pain (and time) out of sewing my felt donuts and I can make other felt mobiles providing I can think of something else of course.   Anyway I got a basic Brother and I can’t wait for it to get here.

Wow I can’t believe it’s been a whole year of blogging already. I remember typing my first feeble attempt at an entry and thinking what the heck am I going to write every week……..I was never good at keeping a personal diary when I was a kid but I always really loved the idea of having a journal, so I would buy the cutest books with the resolve that this time I would successfully keep a diary. This really meant that everyone of them would have scribbles on the first couple of pages before I gave up.

But I feel so accomplished with this blog……….I may mostly just talk a lot of nonsense but hey I do in the “real” world too so what can you expect?

Anyway a little while ago someone suggested I make baby rattles out of my lil dunker’s and so I finally did it. They took me ages though as I wanted to make very sure that my stitches were as perfect as possible…….I don’t want anything coming apart in a little kiddies hands……….They most likely will be heading off to Anthology this weekend with a box load of needle felted roses.

So we had more snow………….lots and lots of snow, which meant no Madison this weekend as I hate driving when the roads are iffy. So I made this little guy instead

I’ve called him Delerium after the yummy Belgium beer, and he’s a pretty guy even if he does make you feel a little squiffy.

So this weekend was a tidy the house and organise my crafting crap kinda weekend….. something that really, really, really had to be done but I hate it so much. Which of course makes it a million times worse when I do get around to it which makes me hate it so much more, you see it really is a vicious circle.

I also finally bit the bullet and got a proper flikr account, so we’ve been slowly freeing up our computer of the millions of piccies that we have stored on the hard drive onto it, it’s just a pain to try and organise everything into sets that make sense. I hate organising stuff, if it’s not the apartment then it’s the flikr……..gaaaaah, what a pain!!!

I think I’m going to hang out with Delerium for a while instead. Happy Easter and Happy Birthday Mum.

Ooer missus……..eh? I hear you say.  Well before you think I’m gonna whip off my pants,  let me explain by showing you these

Making the flowers has quickly overtaken my obsession with making peepers, which as Easter is quickly approaching I guess is a good thing. Not much else going on in critterville……just trying to come up with goodies for the shops. Remember I am doing a needle felting demo on April 5th at Anthology, 218 State Street in Madison at 1.00pm so if you are in the area I’d love for you to stop by and watch the stabby stabby in action.

My camera………..yaaaaaay.  It was in the pocket of the door in the car,  oh of course it was……..how obvious (slaps head in despair).   Anyway I can now share Pudge with you

Anyway his story is that he is the unofficial  helper of the Easter bunny,  and by unofficial I mean no one wants Pudge to “help” in any way, as all he really does is hide the chocolate eggs in places no one will ever, ever look so that he can scoff them all himself.  He’s not a bad bunny just a pudgey bunny with a sweet tooth.
This weekend was great,  we went to Madison and checked out Anthology for ourselves and it is a beautiful shop.   I am so pleased to have my work there.  I also had a much needed haircut  at Baci,  Casey did a wonderful job and I am so happy with my new short cut.  So yip another fab weekend in Madison.

Are waking up a little luckier today than they did yesterday…. How is that possible? I hear you ask, aren’t they lucky enough by living in the beautiful, cool city on an isthmus? Yes they are… but today is the day that Anthology opens it’s doors. Anthology is the name of the gorgeous new paper and crafts store on State Street (the above piccie is of the owners in the store) and it is carrying the works of my favourite artists EKRA, OrangyPorangy, GlitterWorkshop and me as well as tons of other cool and crafty things. If you are ever in the area I highly recommend you stop by and say hi to the critters, and support a new cool store of course. Another reason to love the store is just look at how they displayed my cakes

Mega cute………I always think about how to make my stuff look more appealing in photographs but never follow through with my thoughts….. anyway stay tuned to Anthology as I am going to be doing a needle felting demo there soon…….eeeek I can’t wait!!! The Local Madison newspaper did a write up on the store owners and you can read it here.
Another place you will soon be able to say hi to the critters is the White Rabbit Gallery in Iowa…….some of them will soon be heading on over there and needless to say they are very excited about this fact. I keep hearing them talking about it with little squeels of delight…. particulary Cyranno the pig he wants to go weee, weeee, weeeeeee all the way (to his new) home.

I finally finished a new critter yesterday but unfortunatly I cannot find my camera to share him with you yet (how annoying is that?) It’s always a bad sign when I can’t find my camera…. particulary when my husband likes to take it on his bike rides for “action” shots. When I asked him about the whereabouts of the camera last night he responded that he “mighta had it”…. doh!!!! I’m guessing that we shall shortly be buying a new camera. But if it does show up I’ll post a piccie of Pudge.

Tommorrow is my one year Etsyversary……..is that an excuse to eat cake? Please say yes : D

Well I am not sure there is a problem exactly but it feels like I haven’t made a critter for ages, and yet I have been busy everyday with the critter world…………..I had to remedy this asap!!!!

About a month ago I had Jen of hanks in the hood custom dye me some wool in pinks and purples because I had a critter in mind but then I got distracted by the peepers, which isn’t a bad thing really, I already told you how I love making them……but this is who I had in mind….

The Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. I love the Cheshire cat and have wanted to make him for ages so obviously I am very pleased with how he turned out and I already listed him in the shop. I think I really want to make some of the other characters, particularly the white rabbit and maybe some flamingos……..but we will see.

And in other news I am trying to get another Art-o-Mat project completed…..it has been waaaaay to long since I sent them anything and I love being part of the project so I am trying to get on with it.