Cozy

I have socks!  I mean, I had socks... but now I have my very first pair of hand-knit socks, and they're awesome.  They were made by Gina Dahl, of Dahlish Knits.

Based on these, I highly recommend her shop, and may very well buy some more myself!  I didn't actually buy these, though.  She hosted a giveaway on her blog earlier this month and I won!  The funniest part?  She used a D&D die to choose the winner.  Geeky as I am, that's so fitting.

Like a glove!  Or... y'know... a sock.  And they're so soft.

Tomato

We had one.  We ate it.  Splitting a cherry tomato isn't so easy.

But worth it!

Got Kids? Know kids?

I have discovered the best ever gift, for kids, adults... or heck, myself.  Handmade wooden puzzles!  I won mine, but I'll definitely be buying more.  This is the one I chose...

And believe it or not, this was the small version.  Here's the big version:

Because it's a couple layers, Charles Hamm, the brains behind Hammcrafted, can hide treasures... like this chest.

Fun, right?  The one I got is two layers too, and this is the bottom layer.

Despite the fact that I won this and didn't even buy it, it was sent to me giftwrapped in tissue with a beautiful band.  It seriously could be sent directly to the recipient of a gift and I wouldn't have to worry that it would fail to impress.

Of course, mine wasn't a gift for anyone.  It's staying at our house so when the kiddies come visit we have stuff for them to do.  So I got to play with it.

The pieces fit together nicely, and kids could actually play with the animals, which stand on their own due to the thickness of the wood.

I even like the branding on the back, but I'm goofy like that.

For children, besides this undersea puzzle, he's also got African safari and forest puzzles, in both large and small sizes.  You can see those on his site or in his Etsy shop.

But in those places, you can also see his jigsaw puzzles, which are absolutely amazing.  Initially, I thought this one was cool.

Foxes!  But then I saw this vintage style Wizard of Oz one, and I skipped a breath.

Isn't that phenomenal?  The one that had both me and Eric say "wow" out loud in unison, though, was this one.

Right?!

Anyway, I'm impressed and want to keep up with him, so I "liked" his Facebook page.  Meanwhile, if you read up on him in his blog, which you can get to from his primary site, you'll see that he's in school learning how to make furniture.  Phenomenal!

Anyway, this is one thing I won that made me "YES!" out loud (and get a weird look from Eric until he saw it in person) 'cause I just knew it'd be great.  And it is.  Seriously, I'm a huge fan.

And on an entirely different note... tomato!

Misfits Love Company

So I made a friend for Hamish & Mad Hungry.  Meet Moo Moo the Owl!

He's soooo soft, made from a sweater knit fabric I found at a tiny local fabric shop (which happens to be on the way home from a place Eric gets his beer brewing ingredients), one of Eric's old socks, some white felt, and a couple of buttons.

You know, it's amazing how much stuffing fits into something so small.  Just sayin'.

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Artist Spotlight: Part Fifty-Six & Fifty-Seven

I have a couple talents for you today.  The first you've met here before.  And here too, for that matter.  Plus, she was my awesome Secret Santa!

Since you've met Gina here before, I'll focus on some of my favorites from her Handmade Artists Shop.  This mom of two and lover of knitting, soft yarns, and creating is inspired by her kids.  You can see the inspiration in this pair of carrot baby booties.  Carrots!

And then there's this great dragonfly keychain.

Her kids were so lucky to have hats like this!

For myself, though, I'd want these sherbert twist socks.

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And the other artist?  You've met her here before too.  Remember Tammy?

She's also got a Handmade Artists Shop.  Also a mother of two, Tammy's been married for 25 years!  Kudos to her, seriously.  Although she's tried many crafts over the years, her favorite is jewelry making and you can see that in her pieces.

Like this great leather & turquoise bracelet.

Or this fun gold link anklet with glass chili peppers.

Likin' the chili peppers?  There's a necklace too!

I'm loving these beaded earrings.

Pretty sure they'd look great on me.  And how sweet are these angel earrings?

Really, no matter your taste I think you'd find something you like in either or both of these shops.  Check 'em out!

Ooooooooooh, Dangerous. But Useful!

JoAnn's.  Oh, man, JoAnn's has become so dangerous for me.  I've always been a fan of craft-type stores, The Rag Shop (defunct now), Michael's, and A.C. Moore.

Since I started sewing, I've discovered JoAnn Fabrics.  The nearest one to me was in Ramsey, over 20 miles away.  With traffic.  It was in a strip mall, small and crowded.  Narrow aisles, tough to really see and find what you need.  Still an addiction, of course.  But I could walk out of there with just one or two fabrics easily.

And then one day in July, Eric and I were coming back from the mall and there it was.  A new one.  10.6 miles from our house, a stand-alone store.  We went, and found it to be bright and spacious, with wide aisles and tons more inventory.  Yikes.

We went in, planning to spend $50... and left having spent $100, with coupons.  Oops.  But look what I got!

How adorable are those dinosaurs?  I love that they say what they are in them!  And then there are these smiley monkeys.

Aren't they great?

And these sharks a nod to my sister's first love - she wanted to be a marine biologist and study sharks when she was a kid.  I'll have to make something for my nephew.  Any ideas?

I've got these pawprints too, just 'cause I couldn't leave without them.

I got some stuff for me, too, not just the kids.  This colorful one is for a sewing machine cover.

With this great green on the reverse side.

I love this great yellow batik, which I figured for the interior of a knitting tote or bag for myself.

With this great blue and yellow batik for the outside of the bag.

I have this duffel bag pattern I want to make, and Eric wants me to use these great penguins.

I also got this great purple knit to make a denim/knit skirt for myself from an old pair of jeans.

I don't have any specific plans for this green felt, but figured it'd be handy to have around.  Same for this pretty olive green fabric.

I got this amazingly soft, fluffy yarn with the intent of knitting finger puppets.

And this purple canvas remnant will be perfect for part of the "quiet" books I want to make for the nephews.

Then I also got some generally useful things...

And today?  Today I finally used some of the fabric!  I followed this tutorial and made a holder for all of our supermarket bags!  It was pretty quick and let me remove the smashed-in pile of bags from the shelf of the baker's rack.  Awesome!