still life with chips

I wanted to share these felt lunches I've been making for the store around the corner, Sacred Art. Now that I've got my pattern down, they are pretty quick to sew up. My lunch includes a sandwich, a bag of chips, an "oreo" cookie, and a brown "paper" bag. 

I'm sure you've seen a ton of these around the interwebs and my version is heavily inspired by others. I find it really interesting that making felt food has become so popular. I suppose it's because felt is easy to work with and comes in bright colors.

Either way, I think I should take some serious still life pictures of my felt food, arranged just so to look extra appetizing. Maybe a Cooking Light recipie made up of felt? Any suggestions?

Ps. Still time to enter the giveaway!

Holiday Giveaway!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! I had a deliciously huge meal with my friends, spent some time with my family, performed a few shows, and sewed a lot of ornaments. 

To kick off the holiday frenzy, I would like to giveaway an ornament to a lucky reader - Whoohoo! You can see the available styles above and in my shop. 

To enter, just comment here with your favorite holiday tradition or memory and I'll pick one winner on Wednesday, December 1st!

It's Black Friday!

It is the biggest shopping day of the year or whatever! Huzzah! I'm celebrating by working from home in my pajamas and updating my Etsy shop. You can now find all my holiday ornaments there, as well as the Girl Scout Totes aaaannnndddd....

A new mounted mustache! That's right - it's Santa's mustache! 

To celebrate this festive holiday weekend - all new items in the shop have free shipping. And especially for my blog readers - if you enter the code BLACKFRIDAY at checkout, you'll get an extra 10% off everything. Whoohoo!

the weekend in numbers

Number of:

hats knit - 4

ornaments cut out - 53

ornaments sewn - 10

ornaments still to be sewn - 43

shows done - 5

glasses of opening night champagne drunk - 2

(photo by www.ryanwardthompson.com)

windows broken - 1

bricks used - 1

hours slept - not enough!

It's the Holiday Season!

First and foremost, I want to show you the ornaments I've been sewing for local shops. My very favorite ornament is the white heart with the blue and red stitching. After a little brainstorming session with my bff, I've come up with 5 or 6 other designs that I plan to make up in the next day or two.

I'm not sure why I'm drawn to felt again and again. I think it was one of the very first materials I ever worked with around age 8. Although I've explored a lot of other fabrics and fibers and techniques - it usually comes back to this. And things like this are what people respond to, which has always surprised me. Maybe it's the simplicity? I'm not sure, but I'm happy to keep at it.

Secondly - I wanted to confess that it's always been hard for me to focus on just one art. I have always wanted to do it all, and because of this sometimes I think I've missed out on perfecting a skill. In the past week I've made about 50 felt things - ornaments, brooches, magnets - and it's been interesting. Interesting and exhausting. I'm not used to working like this and it's wearing me down. But it's also given me a new perspective, which I think is a good thing. 

Thirdly - I'm going to do a big holiday Etsy update next week in time for ye olde Black Friday, in which these felt things will be included, as well as my tote bags. December, here we come!

Countdown to Opening

My play, And He Flew Over the Forest, opens in two days, and I couldn't be more excited. 

I created this map of the fantasy world for the program, and I think I missed my calling. I should have been fantasy cartographer. I was on a deadline for this map, so it's not perfect, but I can see many fantastical maps in my future. Creating each little detail was too much fun! 

If you're in the Chicago area, I would love for you to come see my show. Information here or leave a comment and I'll email you. 

Ok, regular crafty business will resume tomorrow. I've been busy with rehearsal, but I've got a few things up my sleeve, including some holiday updates!

felt inspiration

While clicking around in Flickr-land, I came across this work in progress by Olivia, who blogs at Young Captive.

She titles it "Dresses I Didn't Buy," and I love it. I mean - serious love happening over here. 

busy weekend...

This weekend I:

Made a toadstool & his little buddies.

Began the Christmas crafting in earnest. From top to bottom: Owl ornaments, brooches, magnets & holly brooches. How gross is my ironing board cover? Time to put this tutorial to good use!

Got a new head of hair. It's for the show and it is much darker than I anticipated. Luckily, it makes my eyes look supernaturally blue, and Holly just posted this guide to keeping your very red hair very red!

What I've been up to...

Please excuse this break from your regularly scheduled (crafty) program:

Taken for a show I was in last fall - I'm on the left.

For those of you who don't know, I'm also an actor. For the past three months, I've been writing and rehearsing a completely original new show, "And He Flew Over the Forest." The show opens next Thursday, so the past week has been a bit crazy. All of this is part of my theater company, Brain Surgeon Theater (Click on that, because I also made our website! See, that counts as making something, right?). 

If you're in the Chicago area, you should come out and see me. Heck, it's for people of all ages, so you can even bring your kiddos! Comment on this post if you want more info and I'll send you an email.  

I promise it will be good - I get a sword, so c'mon, that's a recipe for success!

Ps. Shout out to MafiosaGrrl, who correctly guessed that Chris and I dressed up as the Oregon Trail! You're the best!