I’m working on my entry for the Holiday Softie Awards.  Well really I’m sitting on the couch whining to no one imparticular about being sick and trying to motivate myself to actually work on my entry for the Holiday Softie Awards.   So far it’s working pretty well, but there are a few more components and I’m a little nervous about tackling those.  I don’t want to give it away before it’s done, but you could probably figure it out.  Any guesses?

My daughter and I did a little craft project, but seeing as we are all sick it really wasn’t much of a project.  I taped a a big sheet of paper to a table (it would probably have worked better on the floor, but I didn’t want her little brother messing with it) and we colored little scenes for her toys:  a table she could draw food on, a road for all the cars, she drew a lake and I put in a diving board and some sea creatures, and a playground.  We color all the time, but I don’t usually think of getting her other toys “involved.”  She could add new things when she thought of them and her little people ate and swam and drove all around.  It made for a nice morning of rainy day play.

jack sprat could eat no fat

his wife could eat no lean

and so, betwixt them both

they licked the platter clean

Here they are staring at the clean platter.  The platter was kind of an afterthought actually (and I think it’ll probably end up as a rug in the dollhouse, because it looks more like a rug anyway) but it has given me a couple ideas for the dish who ran away with the spoon.   Jack and his wife turned out well–not quite as I imagined, but good enough.  I have this silly notion that if I can come up with the idea and draw it, then I can sew it.  When really I’m not a very experience sewer and even less experienced when it comes to soft toys.   These two, I think, are closer to dolls than to soft toys (if there is such a distinction).  And dolls are hard:  little limbs are hard, heads are hard, and hair is pretty much impossible.  I wanted Jack’s wife to have a little, neat bun, but instead she has a mass of wool dreadlocks rolled into a ball at the back of her head.  And the bonnet I made (pre hair) is a bit too small, but it matches her outfit–and it’s reversible–so it stays.

On the other hand, I’m very pleased with how Jack’s hair turned out.  Granted there isn’t much of it, but it turned out just as I pictured, so I’m happy.  He is a little lacking in the accessories department, so I think I might whip him up a little vest to wear to dinner.Just one more picture, so you can see his wife’s apron.  I based it on one of Amy Karol’s aprons in Bend the Rules Sewing and I’m happy to say her patterns are just as fabulous in teeny tiny sizes.If you’d like to see more pictures of these two you can jump over to my flickr page.  Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

I was lucky enough to be a part of the lovely “pay it forward” giveaway on Life in Yonder’s blog. If you haven’t heard of this little crafty exchange, the rules are as follows:

“I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week… but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.”

So please leave a comment and play along! I don’t know what I will make yet, but it seems I always have good ideas after Christmas is over (and the pressure off). It could be a little toy like the elephant I made for a new baby, or a little patchwork piece, or maybe one of those art quilts I’ve been meaning to get to. Who knows? That’s part of the fun. And if you are visiting via whipup, welcome! It was such an honor to have a one of my soft toys pictured on their wonderful site. If you stick around I might just have some pictures of Jack Sprat and his plump wife tomorrow. I finished them this morning!

hickety pickety my black hen

she lays eggs for gentlemen

gentlemen come everyday

to see what my black hen doth lay.

This is the first of a series I hope to do. Obviously it’s based on the nursery rhyme “Hickety Pickety.” Though I recently discovered that there are two more lines: Sometimes nine, Sometimes ten; Hickety Pickety my black hen. So I guess some eggs are in order. I’ve always liked nursery rhymes, but now that I say it, it sounds strange. My mother would read to me all the time when I was little–from the big, black and white checked Mother Goose book. And because my sisters are much older they had babies when I was the perfect babysitting age and so I read to my nieces and nephews from the same book. And then came high school and college and cigarettes and boys and I forgot completely. But having kids made me remember how lovely those short, little verses can be. They aren’t as intricately constructed as Lewis Carroll’s books and poems, though he did have his way with some (queen of hearts, tweedledum & dee), but the language is still silly and bizarre. And they haven’t been boobified by disney like the fairy tales and really they couldn’t be–some are strangely violent. They are an odd mix of drinking songs and counting rhymes passed down orally. Which I think is fantastic.Jack Sprat and his wife are in the works, but as of this moment are headless.

owls for luka, originally uploaded by elsiemarley.

If you have a blog that is even marginally related to crafts you must make a stuffed owl. This is the number one rule of craft blogs. You cannot break it. I tried. And here I am making frikken owls. And I’ve only had this blog for a week.These were made from Moonstitches tutorial, which I would link to if I knew how (here it is), and really they were a pleasure to make. They are for a new baby boy so I make them with rugged, little boy fabric: cordoroy, denim, wool, and canvas. It was a little bit of a pain when it came time to sew their beaks, as all the fabric was quite thick, but I like how they turned out (if I do say so myself). This was my first attempt at embroidery and it’s pretty wonky, but I had a damn good time doing it.