After Effects (and A Happy New Year!)

Whew. We had the loveliest of days yesterday (my clever husband bought almost all my gifts from my "favorites" list on etsy!), but with a child in the house, sleep is not something you get on Christmas morning. And then, of course, we overindulged in all kinds of yumminess, so we're lying around today recovering a bit.

Meanwhile, I'm popping in to say that I'll be taking a blog break until the second or third day in January--we have out-of-town friends coming to ring in the new year. (Hey, Players--we can't wait!) But it won't be long because I'm fairly bursting with new ideas--for the shop and for the blog. January makes my sewing fingers fidget. Wait for it!

(P.S.--I've discounted the remaining few holiday items--including a couple of those ornaments you see at the top--in the Little Pink Shop if you're interested in socking away something for next year.)

Decking the Crowe Halls, Last-Minute Style

I'm sure this sort of thing has happened to all of you--after admiring the beautiful wreaths all over the internets for the last several weeks but feeling too busy to even think about making one, I was suddenly overcome, last night, with a burning need to do just that--two days before Christmas and with, really, no appropriate supplies. But. I. Had. To. Make. One. Immediately.
What resulted from this 20-minute frenzy is more shabby than chic, but I'm pretty happy with how it transformed the Christmas mantle, just in time. In case you're stricken tonight with a burning need to wreath, this is the inner ring of a very large embroidery hoop, dozens of 10" X 2" fabric strips, torn (no, really) and tied on tight.
Here's wishing you a peaceful, warm, and happy night (and tomorrow, too!), my dears, from all us Crowes.

Snowbaby: A Rerun

If you've been around since this time last year, you've seen this little guy before.
But, come on--a good rerun is a good rerun. I could watch any episode of Family Ties a thousand times. Sure, this post has zero Michael J. Fox factor, but it's got a snowbaby, people. And if you want to make one (a snowbaby, that is--I have no inside track on the manufacture of Alex P. Keatons--sorry), you can have a look at this post. Might be a good way to stay awake during your 27th viewing of Rudolph, no?

Vanload of Fun

While I'm happy to enjoy a white Christmas, somehow the palm trees are calling me. How about you?
Sadly, there is NO room for us in the van, but we can dream.
Off to the P.O., I go!

Regarding the Minivan and the Straddling Dog

So, here's where I'm at with the minivan-taxi portrait--lots of taxi, not much portrait, but that's all going to change after lunch. I must get this thing in the mail, folks. Wish me luck.

And then you have your straddling dogs. Well, just one really.
Is that not the funniest thing you've ever seen? She's been completely forlorn since we moved the other sofa away from the window--it had a wide back where she could lie and look out. She's deeply into surveillance, and until a couple of days ago, this couch wasn't cooperating. She's a clever girl, though. She figured it out.

The Cousins, Complete!

The letters on the banner are (no, not some cryptic curse or hieroglyph) the cousins' first initials, the way they always sign gifts and cards to their grandparents (who will be the recipients of this cousin-rific portrait).

Fair warning: I'm putting black glasses on everyone I feltify from now on because it's so stinking adorable. Joking, of course--but it was all I could do not to go glasses-crazy on this whole crowd. Also my best friend is convinced the lovely young lady in the turquoise skirt is her--so I might do a "Where's Waldo" type thing and start putting Jen in every portrait, and 20% off if you can spot her. Come on, every business needs a gimmick, right? The golden arches are taken, so...

I'm tired and my neck hurts. It must be Christmas.

Just kidding--sort of. I still haven't quite figured out how to handle Christmas as a crafter/artist. I know I have to work this season--it would be kind of crazy not to--and yet I also want to crash on the couch watching The Christmas Carol in all its incarnations, make cute felty things for Miss A.'s stocking, snuggle. I want to eat candy canes and cookies and carol the streets of P-Town. I want to grow some skin back on my fingers and stare at the tree.
I'm sneaking in little bits of all those things between listing ornaments in the shop and sewing the above cousins onto the above canvas. Then it's a family of eight popping out of a minivan taxi on the beach. (This stuff is F-U-N--don't get me wrong.) And then, then nothing but candy canes and staring. For reals.

Listies

Had a fantastic, exhausting time at Jen's sale last night--it was warm and friendly, lots of yummy snacks, so many talented women, and a steady stream of happy shoppers. An ecstatic Miss A. sold seven of her beautiful bunny coloring books. Perfect.
Having gotten a good night's sleep, I'm slowly adding things to the shop, including these "listies" I posted about before. (Now there are snowmen, too!) Tomorrow there should also be ornaments and wool-felt flower brooches.

In other news, I was on Apartment Therapy yesterday. Aw, shucks. ;-)

Bunny Love

With about two days before the holiday sale, Annabelle and I are hard at work--I've given myself hay fever making lavender-and-jasmine sachets, and my girl is completing production on a limited run of hand-made coloring books, bunny style. It would be very easy for me to begin annoying all of you with my self-congratulatory kid pride, but will you look at this? I colored it last night, and I have to say it was among my most satisfying coloring experience ever. (I love to color, ardently. I wish I could do it for a living.) Here's hoping she sells a few and has her first experience as a working artist!

Oh, Today--How I Love You

You ever wake up and feel that the day is just right? It's partly the winter light--Portland got its first snowfall last night, and we woke to that wonderland scene outside that's somehow a surprise every time. It's partly that I finished the above portrait, which I like to call "Cool Cats," and I have only two more to complete in time for Christmas. I have three nearly skinless fingers that will be awfully grateful when I put the last of those puppies in the mail--though of course I love the work.

And that's really the last part--that despite struggles, which are real, and sometimes many (not the least of which is cussed old money, but the worst of which is seeing my beloved Mark so little these days), I love my life. I love my smart, funny, argumentative kid, and my lovable, furry little dog, and my beautiful, hard-working, ferociously-good husband. I love my little sister, who has become my dear friend, and who truly gets me and laughs at all my jokes. I love my dearest friend, Jen, with whom I have embarked on new adventures after all these years and to whom I feel closer despite the distance, geography-wise. I love Portland, which has, in 18 months, become my home, most assuredly, largely because of the women I've met here. And I love that I have spent over a year making things and sharing them with you all. Today is good. It's really good.

Hair...of the dog? (Okay, I'm just grasping at title straws here.)

In a couple of sessions--last night before bed and this morning upon rising--Annabelle designed and constructed this wool-felt stocking for Sophie. Clever girl.
And here's the hair--it's hard to take a photo of your own haircut, my dears. I promise I wasn't deliberately holding out on you. ;-)

S is for Sa-weet!

Since I am crafting madly but mainly in the dark (quiet house, everyone asleep, too dark in the kitchen for anyone to care about the dirty dishes), I can't show you any good w.i.p. pics right now, but I can show you the very cool graphic my friend Jen made for our holiday sale. And--in case you're local and the type who loves a good mystery, loves to crack a code, is mad for scavenger-hunt-type activities--you could try to find the sale by looking for the brick-and-mortar version of this felty abode:
I dare ya. ;-)

(I cut all my hair off, folks, a la Audrey Tautou. My head feels lighter and, I think, cuter!)

Bloomin' Christmas

Yes, Melissa's back, with a whole new round of puns and a little garden of brooches--for "S is for Sale."
If you're a P-towner (Maine-style) or live within driving distance and want to stop by on December 10, between 5:00 and 9:00, send me an email (address is on the right side of the blog), and I'll send you the specifics.
Meanwhile, I'm off to the bead store--new project means new supplies!