Handmade Sunday

I just returned from a harried run to Micheal's where I picked up most of my gifts for my children, besides the ones I'm creating over the next week. I'm like some crazed little Christmas elf with my fabric, wool and beads awaiting me. I do a lot of "shopping" from my inventory after my sales for my nieces and sisters and sis-in-laws. Good thing I'm a little famous and they like my stuff.

I didn't get a chance to make an advent calender like I had planned, the season has just slipped past me this year. But I thought I'd share a little cartoon that I illustrated earlier this year:

(Click on them to see them larger.)

And here is a gift for you: some gift tags with this little guy on them. They are in a pdf, you can print them out on address labels and stick them on your packages. Have a creative Sunday!

I'm off to do some sewing and watch a the Christmas Story. Ho, ho, ho...

Handmade Sunday

There hasn't been much extra crafting or any strides in my gift list this week as I prepare for the show. But I did manage to experiment with silk and beads, using a tiny bit of my silk dupioni stash. Above is a little bead stocking that I made. The front is a mystery fabric that is see-through. The back of the stocking is the silk dupioni in gold.

(Back of the stocking.)

I was telling my friend about ordering silk rippins from Bello Modo and she said, "You mean silk that is ripped? You could do that Heather." Uh, I can? And there, right during Thanksgiving, she pulled out some silk and showed me how to tear it into perfect little strips.

Above is a little ornament I made using an Illuminated Manuscript bead, chain, a lucite flower and glass bead along with a bow made from the silk strips.

I immediately thought of all the colors of silk I have and how I could use these strips in jewelry. Although I am concerned about the long term unraveling of the threads.

But that didn't stop me from experimenting. Here I used a torn silk strip with a brass chain for this bracelet that features one of my new beads. More trials will ensue, I'm sure. Have you ever made your own jewelry cords from silk, any advice?

Don't forget to join me tomorrow for my Cyber Monday Open House!

Handmade Sunday

Today has actually been a fun day. No deadlines or orders, just a little organizing of the ol' craft stash and some sewing. My craft supplies have little homes all over the house. My yarn and knitting supplies are tucked in the bottom drawer of an armoire/tv cabinet in the living room. My sewing supplies and wool roving are in the dining room, tucked away in our family craft armoire. I guess I keep these things separate from my studio so that when I do pull them out it doesn't feel like work. I don't know, maybe I just need to mark my territory with craft supplies.

So today I kept it simple and made a few silk scarves. The one pictured above is a steel gray dupioni paired with an Italian tapestry fabric that is very soft and supple. I think I'm going to bead the end of it to hide my seam. I'm definitely not an expert seamstress. Thank goodness for beads, they cover a multitude of sins. The second one I created was a beautiful blue silk scarf that I did with a simple rolled hemmed and plan on beading a little snowflake on one end. I'm working my way up to tackle the pajama pant pattern that I picked up this week. Seems scary!

I was gifted with the luxurious stash of silk dupioni fabrics. Who knows what I'll whip up over the next few weeks. I was thinking today of making some monogram ornaments and using my new beads with them. Hmm, we'll have to see.

I leave you with a photo of my very hard working assistant from early this week:



Who felt he had to create a self-portrait on his glove, when he should have been busy rolling beads. Jesseeeeee...(that was me yelling like Dave in Alvin and the Chipmunks.) Now that, my friends, is handmade!

Handmade Sunday

There is an ever-ticking holiday clock looming over my shoulder. I really have to start earlier with Christmas planning and gifts in the Humble Home. Along with the regular holiday craziness and traveling, I do one huge show, take new work to the gallery and squeeze out as many online sales as I can before I slow down and enjoy the season.

So what is on my mind today? Advent calendars! I loved advent calendars when I was a kid. Artwork of any kind has always been magical to me. So I enjoyed the combination of art and one day closer to the big 2-5 each December. My favorite calendars were those picked up in our local Hallmark store. Watercolors of wintery scenes; a forest with woodland creatures decorating a tree or a snow-covered hill with children enjoying sledding, ice skating and other holiday merriment.

On my to-do list is to create an advent calendar in my illustration style. This will be my in-between the commercials project this week. Yes, I do watch TV. At least one good show a night! (Terminator and Life on Mars are my favorites until Lost returns!)

Pictured above is a paper advent calendar I made one year for the girls. On the back of each one I had a holiday activity for us to do for the day. Things like drink hot chocolate, watch a Christmas movie, make paper snowflakes, send Christmas cards, bake cookies, wrap gifts, etc. Just fun family things to slow down and enjoy the season.

Want some ideas for different interactive advent calenders? Here is a crafty Flickr group with lots of creative ideas. I hope you have had an enjoyable weekend and found some time to create!

Handmade Sunday

A little squirrel I needle felted for my youngest daughter a few years ago.

I read a great post this week over at the Croq Zine blog on 15 Reasons to Bust Your Stash. And don't we just have a mountain of crafty supplies here at the HumbleHome! When I started this new series, I was making mental notes of everything I wanted to make and what supplies I needed to go buy. But after reading this post, I thought about what I already have on hand and how to use that.

I have wool roving, yarn, fabric, trims, beads, pine cones (?), beads, chain, paint, clay, printmaking supplies, wire and tons of paper. So all of these treasures will be transformed into gifts and ornaments over the next 6 weeks.

One project I am going to tackle is a version of this artist's kit that has pockets for a little sketchbook and art supplies. We have a thing for sketchbooks here, you can never have too many! This will be a good way to use up some of the fabric leftovers from our Halloween costumes.

Have a fun and crafty Sunday with your loved ones!

Handmade Sunday

I bought my first Christmas present of year last week! This tiny Scottie from BlossomHill is for my youngest daughter. She is going to love him! I did a ton of shopping on etsy last year and plan to do some more damage to my paypal account this year. But I think this little scottie will get lonely, so I'll need to try my hand at this project:

Softy Scottie Dog Tutorial from All Sorts. Here is a Flickr pool for those who have tried the pattern, it's amazing how much it changes from using different fabric and trim. I need to find some dark gray felt to make a little family of scotties.

Enjoy your Sunday. I hope it's filled with family, laughs and little creating! I have two Halloween customs to finish sewing. Wish me luck!

Handmade Sunday

With all this holiday activity in the studio, I have started thinking ahead to my own Christmas gift-giving. We are not big Christmas spenders. In fact, my girls would never give me a list of must-have toys or electronic gadgets. We just don't roll that way. My girls love handmade gifts and we all agree gifts that are made with love are the best. (How did I get so lucky!) We also don't do the Santa thing, just a personal choice. We like Santa, but he is a character in movies and books only.

Did you take the handmade pledge last year?

This year I pledge again to shop handmade for the holidays.

I do have a few exceptions:

1. Art supplies - the gift of creativity is highly valued in our home.


2. Books - you can't give kids enough books, ever.


3. Christmas pajamas - the girls always get holiday pjs on Christmas Eve. (Although this year I'm going to try my hand at making them. I sewed doll pajamas two years ago, so I'm ready to tackle the full size versions.)


Each Sunday from now until Christmas I'll share tutorials that I find, projects that I am working on and my chronicles as Christmas elf while I prepare for the holidays.


First up is this incredibly cute chipmunk who started life as a glove. You can find the pattern here on Etsy. It's from the book, Happy Gloves: Charming Softy Friends Made from Colorful Gloves. Add a little dress, an acorn pendant and skip the stitching on the tail and this is the perfect little gift for a certain squirrel collector on my list.