My gosh it’s been a long winter here in Massachusetts.  I started to dream of green lawns and spring flowers and feared they would stay in my dreams forever.  But finally the snow has melted and the nights are getting longer and yaaaaaay Spring is on the way.

I  (as always)  have been busy.  First off we gave this guy a home…

We got him from the Worcester Animal Rescue League  and they were super nice and helpful through the process.  I highly recommend them if you are looking for your new baby.  We called him Murray  (after the Scottish tennis player Andy Murray)  and he is completely bonkers and lovely.  He seems  to be fitting in well with Floyd and Lewis too

I also got a brilliant commission for a giraffe,  and I loved how he turned out

He was super fun to make and I may just have to make one for myself.  I have also been productive with a few other projects which I hope to share with you soon.

We had sooooo much snow last weekend it was what the people in the know call a noreaster  (which Markie thought was a made up word….dummy)  so of course we lost power for a few days again…..brrrrrrrr it was chilly,  thank god for pussycat blankets.

We went to the last outdoor Sowa Market on Sunday (losing power is a great reason to go out and about on a chilly day) . It was so much fun as it was the Market of the living dead and vendors and shoppers were decked out in the best Halloween costumes.  I wish I’d remembered to bring my Harry Potter sorting hat…….there really aren’t that many excuses to go out and about in it and I clearly messed up by missing my one great opportunity….boooooo

Maureen arrived to stay with us this week

And I got to tell you I absolutely love her!!!  She took even longer than past critters as I gave her individual “spikeys” all over her and I totally adore how tactile and sweet she is.

She’s looking forward to this weekend as it is the official start of the holiday shows……..wooooohoooo.  So if you are in the area please come by and wish the critters a Happy Holiday

Saturday  the 5th of Nov 9 am to 3 pm at the Dr John C Page School in West Newbury

And then on Sunday the 6th of Nov

So we are very excited to start the holiday shows,   ooooh I love the holiday show countdown,   it’s like a timer to the countdown to how long it is till I can  stuff my face with mince pies and sweeties in the name of the holidays………mmmmmmmm mince pies.

I hope to see you at the shows this weekend.

I love, love, love custom requests…….particularly custom requests for computer game guys.  This is what I was working on last week

I had so much fun figuring out how to make Birdo……..

I was really pleased with how she turned out.  Baby Mario was fun too

But I think Toadette was probably the most fun……..love her pink piggytails

So many thanks Genevieve……..I hope they add a little something special to your Christmas tree.  I’m working on a new big critter now that hopefully I’ll be able to share with you soon.

……hurricanes hardly happen,  but in Massachusetts!!!  Nah they hardly do here either,  but when they do!!!!  Boy oh boy.  It sure has been an interesting couple of weeks in Beantown.  The day before  hurricane Irene blew through the East Coast,  Markie took part in a crazy bike challenge in Deerfield called D2R2 .  So not only is it a crazy, hilly,  long route he of course added to the challenge by doing it on a fixed bike (no gears) ……….what a dummy………I mean guy……what a guy……yeah, yeah that’s what I meant, ahem. He blogged about it here if you care to read his side of the day.

The  hurricane was starting to approach just as he finished,  so he got a little soaked at the end,  but didn’t he do well?

I had a lovely time in Deerfield while Markie was having fun.  Deerfield has a historical neighbourhood that has preserved the colonial and Federal houses of the first settlers. So after I had wandered around the village romancing with the idea of being around in the 16oo’s,  I brought out my trusty wool bag and got to work under a giant oak tree.  It was so nice (although slightly odd)  as it was right beside a working dairy farm.   So I heard the incredibly loud bleeting of sheep with every stab.  I like to think they were bleeting their approval of my use of wool.

The weather was so absolutely perfect,  it’s hard to believe that in only a few hours it had completely changed.  So back home we battened down the hatches and prepared for Irene……..and we were actually pretty lucky as she was not as bad as we were expecting (phew).  We did lose electricity for about a day and a half……which completely killed all my romantic notions of the past as I was going out of my mind with lack of internet, tv and lights after about 30 mins.    My initial thought of needle felting,  when we lost power,  were stymied at the realization that I do need some light or my fingers will bleed……. a lot.

I did add another new guy to the fold this week though……….Meet Inka

Inka is a Sloth bear,  but he’s more of a teddy bear really as he is obsessed with all the things from the 1950’s……..I will add him to the shop soon.

And in other stabby news I am happy to report that I will be vending at the Hingham Shipyard Holiday market this winter

I have applied to a few other shows so keep your fingers crossed for me that I have a few more to add to my holiday schedule.

This Summer has been awesome!!!  Lots of critter love at the Sowa Market has made me giddy with glee (and no I don’t mean the all singing teenybop kind of glee I mean the good ole’ fashioned yaaaaaaahoooo kind.)  I just love meeting all the wonderful people who kindly give a critter a new home…….like Walter’s new mum

Walter sure is one lucky ducky as he is heading of to Florida,  no more cold winters for him.  And I just love how my nut job looked on Katherine

So very cool.   I also have another motivational reason for critter making as critters have a new Boston address,  that’s right you can now find a vast array of them hanging out at Sarida

It’s such a beautiful store and I’m thrilled to have the critters there,  I’ll take a picture next time I am in there as the displays and items really are quite stunning…….I will be there dropping of some new guys on Sunday  as it’s Sowa market weekend again (my penultimate one………doesn’t time fly?) so you shouldn’t have long to wait for a pic.

On the wildlife front check out the size of the Luna moth we encountered hanging out on one of our meadowland walks

Mark put his hand in the picture to give you an idea of the size of him………can you believe it?  I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything like him before he was absolutely gorgeous and all fuzzy in the middle………..awwwwwwww

I am just loving my new apartment,  we have a balcony which is brilliant for sitting out and enjoying the weather but doubley brilliant for enjoying the chirpers

We have a lot of other birdies that come and enjoy our feeder but I managed to have my camera near me when the grosbeak, cardinals and jay stopped by (which is really rare for me as normally I’m not at all prepared).

It certainly has been very exciting for one new critter………Spencer

Spencer is the neighbor’s cat,  but he just loves hanging out with us……….especially at lunch time and dinner time or if a new fire is lit in the grate………….unless of course the neighbors are home.  I’ll add Spencer to the shop  which I’m excited about doing as he will be the first new critter that I’ve added for ages.

That means Spring is 19 days away,  yipppeeeeee!!!!  and as we all know Spring means it’s almost Summer….and jeeesh I can’t wait for summer.  Anyway I’ve been very busy with the critters the last couple of weeks…..and I’m finally gonna update the shop with a couple of new guys.

First up is the oddballs

I can’t tell you just how much I LOVE making these guys…….they always make me smile when they are finished and I love that they all have distinct and very odd personalities,  much like myself.   As of last week a bunch of Oddballs decided to head on out to pastures new and  can be found in their only Wisconsin home,  Zip Dang on Monroe Street in Madison.  How very exciting!   I just hope they behave themselves.

I also made some mini bears

They sure are cute……..And last week they decided that the Glitterworkshop in Madison was the only place perfect enough for their picnic parties.  I will add a couple of oddballs and teddies to my Etsy shop for fun though as it seems like a very long time since I’ve put anything new in there………oooooops.

I also just made a facebook page for the critters (wow, that took a while huh?)  so as Sally Field once gushed………Like me,  please like me…..Lulu’s Stabby Critters on facebook

It’s that time of year again……yup it’s pep talk time for Markie ,  which is always especially lovely for me as we  get to stay at the Del on Coronado island for a whole week.  Oh how I love the Del.   While we are there it’s going to be our 12 year wedding anniversary (can’t believe it’s been 12 years already).  So anyway I’ll give you an update  of the trip when we get back which will be around the 25th as we are also going to Los Angeles for a bit too……….yaaaaaaaaay I’m excited.

I thought I’d share a couple of  my favourite custom orders I did over the holidays…….First up I made an homage to Goo,   Goo is the beloved teddy bear of Andrea’s baby Bennett and looks like this

and then my stabby recreation

I hope Andrea liked him,  I thought he was a real cutie and he got me thinking of the possibility of little bears for the ole’ craft booth…………we will see.

I also got my Mario fix for the year as Elizabeth requested a Yoshi kart…..

Yoshi was probably my hardest challenge in a very long time,  the kart was very hard to figure out how to make it look convincing in wool.  But I love how it turned out and I hope Elizabeth does too.

Speak to you after the 25th as I’m off to pack for California………..yipeeeeeeeeeeeee

What?  You don’t believe me?……..sure,  sure they are not going to comic con anytime soon (it’s not  really their thing) but hey a hamster has to be fancy dress party ready (oh my how hamsters love fancy dress parties……..just ask one and they will squeak excitedly for days)

Julie sent me a piccie of one of her party ready furry friends…….do you like his cupcake outfit?

Pretty cute huh?  I mean you really can imagine picking him up and eating him he’s so sweet……..or is that just me?

So of course being this cute means that he needs a stabby homage……

No offense to the original hammy but I felt that his costume would have been a little more fun if he had a blob of cream as a hat so I made him a detachable one that he can tie on, should he choose to,  his cupcake I hand sewed from felt.

I hope Julie likes her little furry cupcake as she is one of the vendors from strangefolk (which is how she found me to request this critter).

Speaking of Strangefolk I can’t believe the date is getting closer and closer

I am really excited for this show,  almost as excited as I am to be leaving for Las Vegas on Saturday………wooohoooo I love Vegas!!!!!

Poor ole’  Walter,  all his buddies are leaving for their winter vacations and checking themselves into the fanciest river retreats and Walter will not be joining them……..you see Walter is scared of heights.  It’s pretty tragic,  even standing on the jetty brings Walter out in hives……ever seen a duck belly flop in a panic?  most likely it was Walter.  So Walter is looking for a nice warm home to avoid the winter…..do you know of anything?

Walter will be in the shop soon.