Felted White Pumpkin

White pumpkins are all the rage, aren't they? I am the proud owner of both of the pumpkins pictured here. One was grown by family and one came to life through my own blood, sweat, and almost tears. Well, I exaggerate, it really wasn't hard at all. I grant that my felted pumpkin is a far cry from perfection but I adore it. I like it even better than it's orange mate (not pictured).

To make this little guy, I used core fiber, white and green roving, a felting mat and single felting needle. You can find all the supplies here: http://www.weirdollsandcrafts.com/needle-felting-roving/felting-fiber.html I highly recommend you save yourself the headache and just order what you need. A.C. Moore and Michaels do not offer felting supplies that are worth the drive to the store (though I confess it's been a while since I checked Michaels and I don't want to give them an undeserved poor mention - they do have clear glass ornaments and you'll need those for an upcoming project) and JoAnn has some roving and some decent felting supplies but no core fiber. I was exceedingly frustrated last year when felting was really taking off in the craft world and I couldn't find any supplies anywhere. It was my neighbor that found this site and ordered a set of supplies for me, so a special thanks goes to Jane.

It was very easy and somewhat thereapeutic to make. The materials are soft to handle and this is a low-mess project so you can even do it in front of the TV. But, if you noticed I mentioned blood above, don't get too absorbed in something else and stab yourself. Those needles are very sharp! I am speaking from experience.

There are loads of good tutorials out there on how to do this. Martha Stewart has a great one and I like this one too: http://www.flickr.com/photos/17292505@N05/sets/72157607186893130/

I hope you give it a try! I'm dreaming up Christmas projects to use with this technique and if you're really hooked, look up Betz White's blog: http://www.betzwhite.bigcartel.com/product/felt-stitch-holiday-iii-online-workshop-10-18-11-12

Have a wonderful evening! I hope you get tomorrow off too.

The Joys of Fall

The joys of fall: The pleasure of picking apples and selecting pumpkins, the feeling of the warm sun mixing with the cool air, the sights and smells of the leaves beginning to change, a pumpkin spice latte on a cool afternoon, and of course, the multitude of pumpkin crafts and Halloween decorations waiting for me in the craft room all combine to make fall a truly delightful season.

These pictures are from my trip last weekend with the kids to my parents' house in Maine with our friend Maria. (Tim stayed home to build us a pretty incredible new entertainment center for our newly re-arranged and painted livingroom.) How are you celebrating the season?

Blog Redux

It is time. Time for a blog redux. It was a long, hot summer and not a whole lot of craftiness was happening around here for one reason or another. Add to that my ongoing internal debate about what I really want for this blog to be about, and you have a bad case of blogger block. I suspect that Martha Stewart would say something like "create the blog you want to read" and then "make it beautiful". Pretty clear instructions, yes? Time to get off my lazy rump and be the blog. (As I write this I'm sitting with my feet literally up, sipping coffee, listening to the children arguing down the hall, and thinking about those 3 large pumpkin cookies I just ate. So maybe not "off my lazy rump" so much as just being productive whilst on my rump.) So here goes nothing. Let's start with an early fall recap, shall we?