march 3rd is girls' day in japan, celebrated with special food and doll displays. the photo above, with the full display on 7 stairs, is from ping magazine, which also has a great and in depth explanation about the dolls and the culture of the festival.
and this bag was made by the super nice and talented seamstress jacqui of mee a bee. and she's giving it away! check out her blog for the details.
spring plum blossom pattern on a traditional japanese tenugui towel.
i was in toronto for a few days last month, and one of the places i made a point to visit was bookhou, a most lovely shop. their pieces made of felt, linen, gorgeous prints and elegant simple furniture are a perfect collection. and they have screen printing workshops in their attached shop, too!
this overly literal cat, from flickr user hine, is one of my favorites from the CRAFT pool tagged for the valentine's craft challenge. so clever.
(updated to add: CRAFT picked this one as a winner too!)
and on a sad note, you've probably heard by now that CRAFT magazine will stop producing their print magazine after the current (#10) issue. thankfully, they will continue to exist online at http://craftzine.com.
CRAFT is dead, long live CRAFT!
more needle felted valentine's conversation hearts!
and for those of you looking for supplies, i've put together a kit of supplies if you want to try making them yourself at home. it's over in my shop.
for step by step instructions, check out my previous post.
a perfect easy felting project for valentines day, or modified for an inaugural craft!
materials: wool roving, felting needle, silicone heart ice cube tray (ikea).
this is an easy beginning needlefelting project.
start by rolling up a bit of the wool roving in a ball. roll the wool tightly.
place the ball of wool in the ice cube tray.
gently poke the wool with the felting needle. the barbs on the needle lock the wool fibers together. usually needle felting is done over a mat or brush or sponge, and the needle passes all the way though the object. but in this case you can just make sure to stop when you hit the plastic.
the wool will felt in the direction that you stab it from. so poke it from all directions.
just make sure to stab straight in and out, to prevent the needle from breaking.
turn the wool over and continue to work it from both sides and all angles.
it won't be exactly heart shaped right away. wrap more wool around the ball, and continue to stab it.
to create a more defined heart, you can also stab it when it's not in the ice tray.
you can keep adding wool as you like, to get the thickness you want.
to add words, take a little bit of a contrasting color wool, and twist it with your fingers.
hold the twisted fibers where you want to start making letters.
stab through and next to the contrasting color, forming the letters you want to write. you can always add more wool to make larger stronger letters.
if you are having a hard time finding the supplies for this project, i put together a kit of supplies that is available in my etsy shop.
ellen, who writes the lovely blog the long thread, which is about "handcrafted goods in the age of mass production" has been so kind as to include my felt candy cane tutorial in her top 100 list of 2008! thanks ellen!
2009 is the year of the ox. this image is an original traditional japanese wood block print, or moku hanga, made by qi papers http://qipapers.etsy.com. the artist also has a great explanation of the process of this intricate art form on her blog.
this is the stunning felt work of oyku, a very telented feltmaker from turkey. okyu has etsy shop at http://oyku.etsy.com, and she and her sister showcase their lovely collection at art.i.choke.
happy holidays and happy winter to everyone!
i took these photos last week at the beginning of our epic snow storm in seattle.
this is what my street looked like.
i'd like to share a few of my favorite finds from the urban craft uprising in seattle last weekend. the pear print moleskin cover with the pencil pocket is from the genius that is chikabird, in collaboration with slow loris (whose shirts i love), now located on guemes island washington. that's an image of their gasworks park design below.
be sure to check out the slow loris shirts, i am pretty sure you will love them.
also spotted: these wonderful ormanents made from vintage wallpaper available from ladies and gentlemen, a new vintage store by jane from chikabird.
from portland, the beautiful ceramic work of leah nobilette. the colors are wonderful,
and the texture is stunning.
and more pretty portland art from twosarahs, printmaker.
and finally a bit more from some neighbors to the north, bellingham that is. spincycle yarns spins and dyes all their own yarns, and if you get a chance to see them in person, their yarns are spectacular.
i'm loving these wee holiday stocking ornaments in a group. they are in my shop, available as a single ornament or in a set of 3.
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