Lasso The Moon

Tired and Happy

We're back.  Our "road trip" was actually a top-secret family vacation to Texas.  I was super homesick, and my expectant sister was having a baby shower, so Donnie graciously drove us all 1000 miles back home for a visit.  (Check out the comment my sis left on my last post...she had no idea!  She was just joking!) 

Anyway, the visit was incredible, and we are exhausted but rejuvenated.  And just in time for our "busy season" to start at the church.  We have graduations, a church garage sale, VBS, and camp--just in the next two months!  I'll be back soon with the tutorial I promised, and more on the Sew U book...but now I have to get my home in order, bags unpacked, and laundry finished.  It's kinda like this every time we leave for a while.

Gocco fever

Well, as promised I am sharing the mess i just got into with my new Print Gocco.  This is so much fun!  Very different from my usual ventures with the sewing machine.  But I managed to sneak in some fiber to my gocco projects...

First, I made these quilted postcards. 

I think "scrappy fabric" is getting to be a signature with me.  These scraps are from bits and pieces of the vintage fabric I offer in the shop.  These are fully mailable, just as they are, with a letter-rate stamp.  The gocco-ed part is on the back.  The postcards I made last year were just written in with a pen.  I think these look more professional:

These were my first gocco project, so I started really simple.  And I saved the screen so I'll be able to make more. 

The second and third run are actually on paper.  Well, mostly.  I drew these with the carbon pen that comes with the set.  I wanted to use fabric with these, too so I cut out a little triangle of fabric for the bigger areas. I had to guess where to apply them to each card, since I wanted the screen print to be on top of the fabric.

I really like these guys.  The jumping girl is funny.  At first I was frustrated that the fabric wasn't lining up just right, but as I printed more, it kinda just worked and added to the screen-printing effect. 

I'll be adding a few of these to the shop today.  Along with these:

More woolly friends!  I'm going on a little road trip with the family tomorrow, but I'm going to leave the shop open while I'm gone.  Just remember that the shipping will be a little delayed.  See the shop announcement for more details...

Have a great Wednesday!  Next time, I'll actually show a tutorial on the gocco for those who have never seen it.  And coming soon: my adventure with this book! I can not sing the the praises of Wendy Mullin enough!
--Anna

Early Bedtime

Hello!  I've spent so much time in my basement dungeon workspace that I haven't been able to post here.  But the craft fair is over, and I am back! 

The fair was a success.  I think I'm getting the hang of talking about my work, but I'm sure I'll never find it easy.  It feels so vulnerable to share your creativity with someone face to face. 

I was able to do a lot of shmoozing with other vendors, and that was so much fun.  The fair was well-curated, so there was lots of variety, and not just the same old thing.  I got up really early this morning, packed everything up, and didn't realize I had forgotten my camera until I was almost there.  (Sorry, Mom!  I know you wanted to see the booth!)  Oh, well.  That was the only thing I forgot, so no big deal.  I sang the praises of Etsy so much that they should consider paying me a commission.  I think I talked three different vendors into opening shops!

I do have lots of new goodies to show you and add to the shop.  Like the little bunny girl, above...  And this:

I love banners and garlands, so this is just the first of many.  Made with some left-over vintage linens fabric.  I also started printing with my new gocco, and I have to say that I am smitten!  I'll share those when I get the chance to take some pictures. 

Thanks for all the love for my mom's chickens in the last post.  She was so surprised!  And she sold two of them over the weekend.  So if you had your eye on one, you'd better hurry!

Are you having a good weekend so far?  I hope so!
--Anna

I'm no chicken

The end of March came and went with almost no notice.  A couple of us were under the weather (again!) so we were just glad to survive the week!  But, since the challenge is over, and I can buy stuff again, I decided to start with a bang!  I ordered myself a print gocco!  It'll be here next week, so I'll report as soon as I get it.  I'm so excited!  I've been wanting one for over a year now and finally bit the bullet.

On the crafting front, I am working on some things, but don't have much to show today.  I'm  actually getting ready for another craft fair next Saturday (what am I thinking!?) so I'm busy making things for my booth.

But instead of tooting my own horn today (wow, yet another cliche!) I want to put the spotlight on my mom.  She started her own etsy shop, LittleBorrowers, a couple months ago, and has been doing very well.  She started by selling felted wool pieces and craft books, but she just came up with this incredible chicken sculpture that I am so impressed with:

They are mixed-media 3-dimensional  sculptures using paper, beads, felt, wire, wool, and more.  They stand up on their little wire legs, and they have the most hilarious expressions!

I am blown away by her creativity.  This is her own, completely original design!  The paper is reinforced and actually sewn together to form the chicken.  Wow.  Be sure to check out the rest of her creations here.  (And leave her a note if you have a minute.  She'd get a kick out of that!)  Way to go, Momma!