Woolnimals

I'm so happy I could squeak! I've been accepted as a vendor to the Queen City Craft Bazaar on May 8th! It's at Union Station in Burlington and I will be selling an entire line of plumpies and mini plumpies! I have an unbelievable amount of work to do between now and then. Since it's a day before Mother's Day, I'm going to make a bunch of mom/baby sculptures. I'm also going to focus on some less expensive items because I know I tend to want a little something from everyone at craft fairs. I want to make my art accessible. I'm so excited! I could dance and sing!

For the last week or so I have been careless with my felting needles. I've left them out in a foam pad on the coffee table, or on the entry-way table, and the kitten has asserted her anger with us for not feeding her dry food at night by breaking or losing almost all of them. I'm left with a couple of needles that are really quite thick and are great for getting projects underway, but are horrible for detail work. So, in essence, I'm dead in the water for crafting until my new supply comes in from a Canadian Etsian named Fantiny (www.etsy.com/shop/fantiny). In the meantime, I'm making a list of items I want to create and wishing on all the stars in heaven that my needles come soon! It's raining. I'm waiting to hear back from the Queen City Craft Bazaar on whether or not I'm approved as a vendor for the May 8th show...and if so, I'm going to be a very busy beaver indeed over the coming weeks. If not, I will attend anyway and spend all of my hard earned mo...

When all else fails you...when life is hard, when the skies are grey, when you aren't getting enough sleep at night, when your heart is heavy...when nothing feels quite right, there is always yellow. It's our fiscal year end at work. This means late nights, long hours, and a lot of extra work. In addition to my family situation, I have had some rough days. My husband - the most amazing and gentle soul on the planet - brought me these daffodils yesterday. He didn't realize that there was a rogue orange-centered daffodil (my absolute favorite flower on the planet) tucked away amidst the others. I'm so grateful. Here they are on my desk at work: I'm going to spend my lunch break finalizing a couple of pieces I'm working on. I had to shorten the toothy tusk of a narwhal I've been working on for what seems like weeks. His tusk was so long that he flooped over on it. It was kind of silly. That's what you get when you make the tusk first! Or tooth. Or horn? Wis...

My little shop is featured today over at http://www.jonicania.blogspot.com !! Hooray! There's an interview with me and pictures of my favorite pieces. I had a lot of fun answering all of the questions. I like to talk about myself and I'll unabashedly admit it. Check it out!

Prior to this past week, I have never felt starved for time to create. I have never had moments where my fingers actually itched to be creating, but my energy is so low that I cannot bring myself to do it. I remember a few weeks ago when I was working furiously every day...I was so upbeat and happy! Crafting really gives me life and light. This week has been very, very hard and last night I finally made a plumpy that I've been turning around and around in my imagination for a while. He is so lovely and will be listed on Monday. I'm hoping for some solid, peaceful sleep this weekend. I'm sending thoughts and prayers out into the universe in hope that everything works out and everyone in my life finds peace and joy. *exhale*

I squeezed in a photography session this morning, even though it's pouring rain - which is blah and against my etsy ethics, but we had a family emergency this weekend and it's been raining for the past two days, so I need to fiddle with my options. Vermont is a rough place for good natural light. You could sit around for days looking out the window waiting for the sun. I listed an owl, my little elephant, and a princess Bird in my shop! They're great and colorful and make me smile.

On Saturday morning I met up with the owner of The Green Life on Main Street in Burlington. She purchased a collection of my little creatures for her store, which is BEAUTIFUL. I'm honored to have my work included in her collection. The store is beautifully laid out and her inventory looks like a BEST OF ETSY collection. Hooray! www.thegreenlifevt.com

Here is my fox army: I have been making foxes every single day for weeks, and I'm finally on my last batch of "reserved" foxes. I've traded some, sold some, and some were hand delivered to my nearest and dearest. I took this picture because it shows the various stages of foxdom - from beginning to near-end. I'm going to finish stabbing them and photographing them and listing them this weekend. Then? I'm taking a break from foxes for a little while. On to Narwhals, Owls, Possums, Cats, and acorns....

It's very rare that I draw something, color it in, and then proceed to make a Plumpy to resemble a sketch. I've never been an illustration-type person. However, the other night I was scribbling in my journal and drew an elephant. She had crown of flowers on her head and a very sweet face. Her colors were feminine and springy and I thought "Eh, cute picture!" Last night I actually tried to make her out of wool. My creative process usually involves very little intent. I sit down with a handful of wool and a general idea and begin stabbing. Usually I let the wool take me on a little journey and some sort of creature results. It's a horse of a different color to work with intent. It takes a great deal of time to purposefully make something. I ran into this phenomenon while making foxes to fill custom requests in my Etsy shop. It turns out a fox takes about three hours to make when I'm trying to make it! Anyway, here's Ellie. She's a work in progress, but t...

I will write more when my hands stop cramping and my vision clears. These little minis were murder on the fingers, but so worth it! Now available in my etsy shop!

*sniff* *sniff* Goodbye my sweet little owl friend......goodbye! Realistically, I'm so glad that someone purchased this owl and it's going to a good home. It was a joy to make and bittersweet to part with. I will have to make myself an owl one of these days...

I've decided to remove the Dandylion Vintage section of my shop. Given the amount of time I've spent focusing on my felting and painting, I think collecting vintage pieces and listing them may be too much. I want to hone the focus of my art and my store (as well as whatever "brand" may be associated with my work) and the vintage section feels a little scattered. I'm going to leave the pieces up in the shop for another couple of weeks, and they are all discounted 50%, which is a steal for some of them. If they don't sell, luckily I love them all enough to keep them around the house! GOOD NEWS: Tomorrow I have a meeting with someone who runs an ecological home store in Burlington. She's interested in potentially carrying a few of my wool creatures in her shop. I'm thrilled just to go into the shop, nevermind have my little friends there for sale. It's great just to go out and talk to people about my art. Anything beyond that is just icing. I'm go...

Because I have no consideration whatsoever for my eyesight or cramped fingers, I'm going smaller. Hint #1:

I just applied to be a vendor at the Queen City Craft Bazaar in May. I'm really hoping to get a slot - not just to sell my little duffers, but because there are SO many amazing crafty people in Burlington that I haven't met. I think it'd be great to make some connections with other crafters. I've been itching to join a craft circle with other 30-something women. I'm kind of craving being around other artists...not just on etsy but in person as well. I'm in love with this lion. He's the second one I've made and his little smiling face makes me grin inside. He's a little dose of sunshine: I added six new items to my shop (lion included) and have been getting the first bits of feedback for the items shipped last week. This is the first time strangers have received my items and left feedback, so I'm nervous...I want everyone to love what they get. I'm also realizing I may not have shipped internationall in an expedient way - so I'm hoping tha...

My studio is exploding out into the living room and kitchen. After shipping all of my little friends out, I have packaging materials, cardboard boxes, bins of inventory, and raffia strewn all about everywhere. The cats are haywire with it all. The husband is, as always, patiently tolerating the mess. I think I need to reorganize my studio space to make it work for me. Right now, I love felting on a comfortable space (like a couch) with a table in front of me for holding everything. The only place to do that is the living room. So maybe it's time to reinvent my space to keep it contained. In addition to replanning and redecorating my art space, I have many, many custom orders in the pipeline. I'm realizing very quickly the power of "no." It's going to be hard to turn away some people or give them a 4-6 week turn around, but that's the reality at the moment. My day job is now entering it's busiest time, right smack in the middle of my shop being recognized. ...

Hooray! My sitting fox was featured in Etsy's Storque Blog - Cute and Cuddly Finds! I'm thrilled. I'm also drooling over the many other obscenely adorable items in the listing. So much cuteness! Overload!!!! Etsy rocks. Etsy Finds: Cute and Cuddly :: Etsy Blog

I'm awed by how quickly some of my plumpy wool creatures have sold on Etsy. Some of my favorites are being shipped out tomorrow. Some are going to Argentina, and the UK, and California. Since each of these creatures takes many hours of work, I do develop a little bond with the finished piece. We sort of had a journey together, from beginning to end, and I poked my fingers a lot along the way and swore loudly. I'm so thrilled with the feedback and encouragement about my art. People seem to love the little duffers, and I'm honored to be sending them to good homes. Today I listed a little penguin chick...and hopefully I can make use of some daylight soon to photograph and list another lion, an inchworm, a barn owl, and some more penguins in love...! I'm going to make some more foxes because they're just so much fun to make. And lastly, in sadder news, one of the cats had a hairball all over my photography backgrounds. Two of my favorites are ruined, including the snowy...

Happy March! My shop is FINALLY OPEN!!!! See links to my store on the right. I'm dancing in circles! I'm so happy. Now it's back to work making sheep, lions, koalas, cats, birds, bears, bunnies...