Liquid Paper

inside my workshop

How about a little peek inside my workshop? It's the elf assembly station -- a.k.a. dining room table. Yes, I know I have a nice studio, but sometimes I just like working in the heart of my home. I've got cooking/decorating shows playing back-to-back on the TV, a toasty fire in the fireplace and a 24-hour kitchen. I ask you, what more could a girl want?

I have to tell on myself a little. This morning I was working on the elf clothing and I had just gotten one of the tiny legs turned out when I let out a squeal of delight. Mark hollered at me from his office, thinking that I had somehow harmed myself. I hollered back, explaining that the tiny outfit was so ridiculously cute I had to express my delight with a squeal. He dryly (with an I support your efforts undertone) replied, “You’ll have to blog about that." He knows me so well.

I added notes to the image in flickr in case you're wondering what some of the items in the picture are. You can see it BIGGER here. By the way, does anyone else think that the outfits look like tiny deflated fabric turkeys?

Ack! I almost forgot to say that the elves will be availble in my shop update on December 1st! I'm only making a few of them so if you really want one, please sign up for the mailing list (the link is in the sidebar to your right). I'll send out a little reminder email just before I re-open the shop. Thanks!

under construction

Yesterday was all about construction and today will be all about figuring out how to send these things in the mail so that they arrive uncrushed. Here are a few photos of the process... (I apologize for the poor lighting in these photos, it was dark all day yesterday. )

This time I decided to cut out the window as a square and then go back and add the little trim for the panes -- gluing it to the inside. Much easier than cutting out four tiny panes for each window.

Making the curling paper smoke for each tiny chimney.

A scattering of little floors.

Phew! Now I'm moving on to elf-making and hopefully a not too long list of Christmas gifts to make. Right.

giving thanks

Popping in to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I'm thankful for my health, my family, and for a surprise package that arrived recently. Our friend Dee from Houston sent Mark and I a little housewarming gift. For me she included these two amazing trims which she found in her mother's sewing box. She thinks that her mother bought them when she was in Germany. Thank you so much Dee, they're lovely.

ornament idea #3

I think I can safely promise (fingers crossed) that this is my last trial ornament idea before I make my final decision. I really wanted to do something with paper and a little house was exactly the cozy ornament idea I'd imagined. I'm afraid that the window came out a bit wonky on this one, but I can fix that if I decide to make more.

Anyway, what I really wanted to see with this idea was curling paper smoke coming out of a tiny paper chimney. I can imagine a whole tree full of these little houses or a fireplace mantle with an entire paper village covering it. Oh, and there's colorful holiday paper lining the floor of the house too -- although you can't see it very well in these shots.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! How are you coming with your ornament ideas?

millinery, mail and more

Not much going on here. Still working on the ornament ideas. I finally made that red velvet bird and despite my earlier reservations, I really like the look of it. The fabric is stretchy so I was sure it would come out all lumpy -- but it didn't!

I've also started a new business -- a tiny millinery. Hats for new elves are in the works.

And last but not least, I'm planning a small Mod Dots Shop update on December 1st with iron-ons and a few one-of-a-kind elves. If you'd like to be notified when the shop is updated, please click on the "join our mailing list" button below (or ue the one in the sidebar to the right).

Thanks and have a great week everyone!

ornament idea #2

Here’s another ornament idea. I really love how it turned out! I'm definitely thinking that they'd make a great new item for the pre-Christmas shop update, which just happens to coincide with the deadline for the holiday ornament swap. Nothing like putting a little pressure on myself, right?

So, what do you think about every elf getting his own outfit, including dresses for some cute little girl elves. Here are a couple more photos to check out. I think you'll really like the one of him from the back!

p.s. I still plan on making idea #1 in red velvet . So the hunt for the perfect ornament for the swap continues!

p.s.s. The verdit seems to be in on organizing fabric by color -- a resounding yes, you should do it! Thanks everyone for your advice. Very soon I plan to be sitting down (on the floor) with that very task in front of me.

wip::ornament idea #1

Here's a wip that I'm considering for the holiday ornament swap. I think I'm going to try making this guy in a couple of different fabrics, as well as testing out some of my gazillion other ideas before I can narrow it down to that one final project. Oh... the pressure of making the perfect ornament. I want to express my own peculiar crafting style and make something that all my swapees can love too.

Funny, a couple of weeks ago I was suffering from a lack of inspiration and this week I'm drowning in ideas. I'm loving this week! Oh, and because organizing my studio was such a creative boost, I'm thinking that I need to go ahead and organize my fabrics by color. It seems like that works well for a lot of people. Anyone out there have an opinion about it?

Have a great weekend - happy holiday crafting everyone!

ornamental inspiration

I stopped off at 18th Street Antiques and found a small closet full of vintage Christmas novelties. Everything was 50% off so I picked out a trio to reward my self for... finding the shop!

Today I received my holiday ornamant swap recipients list so I've got to get moving on my design. Ahh. What to do... what to do? How about a nice look at my new holiday treasures for a little inspiration.

Both the Santa candle and the deer candle were made by the Gurley Candle Co. in Buffalo, NY and their original prices were a whopping 19 cents.

This tiny sleigh-bound fellow has no tag but I loved his little face too much to leave him back at that shop.

finally, a w without an ip*

(*Title tanslation: finally a work without an in progress.)

This weekend I was bound and determined to finish something, anything, because I've been in a big rut lately. Up until now, it took all of the creative energy I could muster to scrounge together a few scattered wip posts. On Friday night, I was feeling particularly sorry for myself so I looked to my online friends for inspiration. I found what I was looking for at Amanda's blog, in this particular post.

As I looked at the pictures I knew immediately what was missing, what had stolen my creative mojo, and I had only myself to blame. I'd been pretending to organize my studio for a couple of months now, but I hadn't really made it mine. So I spent the entire day on Saturday reorganizing everything just the way I wanted it. I found a place for every scrap and I put all of my favorite things back up on my 3ft x 4ft memo board. I can't tell you what a difference it made! I know where everything is and now I want to be in my studio -- instead of averting my eyes every time I walk by.

Another thing I did to break out of my rut was make a list of projects I want to do. The first and easiest one on the list was a little business card holder and updated business cards for my shop. It turned out okay, but that's not what matters. What matters is that I finished a sewing project and I haven't done that in a long, long time. It feels good and it makes me want to do more, more, more!

Here's a photo of the holder with the wooden button closure, linen fabric lining and a buttery colored vinyl for the front. I will definitely use a different fabric for the front next time. There is zero room for error with this stuff -- you only get one chance and there's no ripping out a seam because the needle holes are eternally visible. Overall, I like the shape and it works for me.

This is a detail of the front. Again, there's a wonkiness to the fabric, but I'll know better next time what to do.