Woolnimals

Freshly added friends in my Etsy shop! Mini pig, mini otter, a brown bear and more to come! I'll be posting a proper blog post in the very near future, including some pics from a recent visit to a farm, some updates on Wedding OWLS, and more. Stay tuned!

I've just updated my Etsy shop!   I included a squirrel and two new designs - a frog and a little brown dog. They're so cute! I also wanted to show off a few little works in progress. I'm working on creating a snowy owl by customer request. She and her fiancee are having a Harry Potter themed wedding and loved my cake toppers, but asked if I could do snowy owls. I'd never tried, but I have some beautiful wools that are layers of white and black which I've never used - and it turns out that it works perfectly for snowy owls. Here's a preview shot: I'm also working on another set of penguins - a father and chick. This will be my third set: And lastly, a brand new design! I've never made a bengal tiger before, so I dug down into my wool and found a beautiful orange merino called "Cinnabar." It works perfectly for the tiger fur. I'm super excited about this design and can't wait to show off the finished product: ...

I love getting packages and letters in the mail. I know I'm not alone in this, and I think Etsy sellers in particular know how important packaging is to the overall essence of their product and shop. In business terms, packaging is added value. A beautifully wrapped item is a joy to behold and unwrap. The seller who goes the distance with packaging is showing how much value she places on the contents within. Since I began selling my wool animals about two years ago, I have gone through many permutations of packaging. Since they're light and small, I have a wide range of options available to me. It was important that the packaging be safe, beautiful, whimsical, and that it reflects the product and the overall image of my shop. I have slowly transitioned from boxes, to tissue paper tied with ribbon and stickers, to brown kraft bags tied with jute string.  For the last year or so, I've been content with the kraft bags and string and little crochet flowers as adornment. It wa...

The art studio has been in utter chaos for months...so imagine my relief when just yesterday I finally organized all of it. Wool, paints, canvas, sketch books, Sculpey, clay, art paper, oil pastels. The whole lot of it in one gorgeous array of possibility now lines my floor-to-ceiling studio shelves. Do you know what this means? Oh, inspiration! Cookiepuss the cat watched on...only slightly disturbed from his sleep... In the coming week or so I'll be unveiling a whole bunch of interesting and arteresting (tee hee) projects and Woolnimals. I'll be blogging more here again too. Happy New Year! May this be the best yet!

These new friends are now available in my Woolnimals Etsy Shop ! Free shipping too!

Stop by my new Etsy shop on Saturday night! I will have a bunch of new listings - including foxes, a pig, an owl, bears, rabbits, my oh my! Free shipping on all items this weekend only. I'm so happy to be back on Etsy and to offer up a lovely collection of friends for sale once again. Keep Smiling!

Hello Friends! Just a quick note to say I've updated my shop with a few new friends! My favorite of this batch is the Jelly Bean fox. I'm really loving this new shape! What do you think? More updates soon!

(My cat Cookie looking VERY handsome on the dresser in the morning sun...) Hello Friends! There are green things abounding now that Old Man Winter has finally heaved off, and I'm looking forward to more days full of open windows, cats asleep in sun spots, and general peace. I've been cleaning my house (which has been in desperate need of attention) and needle felting. I've had a very relaxing week and I'm now in Barnes and Noble, enduring the slow internet and uploading new creatures to my Etsy shop ! A brown bear with bunny ears? Yes. What would happen if you cross-bred jelly beans with pigs? And this little Sea Otter...which is my absolute favorite creation thus far. He's holding a little starfish. So cute! I can barely manage to part with this. All in all, it's been a great week. I'm starting a new venture tomorrow and my online presence will be a little less until I get situated. I'll write more about that later. In the meantime, I'm wishing you ...

Two new cuties are now available for sale in my Etsy shop ! I really love the squirrel - he's the most polished of my squirrels yet. He's irresistable and I contemplated keeping him in my art studio, but I think he'll be happier somewhere far away from my cats!

Since painting those Dream Whales a few weeks ago, I have been positively BITTEN by the painting bug. I can't get enough of painting whales. I've been sick and my hands hurt so badly from being dry and cracked that I've welcomed the change from needle felting. I will definitely be doing some needle felting too in the coming weeks, but lately I've just been enjoying the smooth, hushed sounds of the paintbrush on watercolor paper. In my spare time I collect antiques and animal-related vintage things. My father was an antiques dealer for much of his life and I've inherited the bug for that too. I get such a rush when I find a truly remarkable find at a flea market or thrift store. The problem is, I have a limited amount of space. So instead of opening a bunch of different shops for my Felting, Painting, and Vintage items, I'm going to be selling all three in my current Etsy shop. I hope that the aesthetic remains the same - colorful, adorable, beautiful, and unique...

I have so many ideas. I have a little folder full of them - drawings, poems, inspirational clippings - and IDEAS. Abundant and running amok. My creativity is sparked and flowing and my hands can't keep up. I know a lot of artists feel this way - especially if they have day jobs and families to attend to as well. Life gets in the way, doesn't it? But Spring is coming..and I'm moving forward slowly, passionately, and without reservations. I've been painting. Sculpting polymer clay. Assembling jewelry. Considering my watercolors. Figuring out how mobiles balance. Sifting through my vintage wooden animal collection. Buying vintage books of animal sewing patterns. I'm looking forward to flea market and garage sale season. I'm letting my creativity fly. If you love what you are doing - you can't go wrong. I truly believe this. More (and diversified) art will soon be available in my shop. I'll do some blogging about it to share my bursts of inspiration too. Ev...

Sometimes you just need a whale made out of wool. I know I do. I almost can't stand to sell this whale because I've been trying to perfect the shape for months. I finally got him looking how I want him to look...but I can't tell you how many whale-esque cat toys there are floating around my house. I think he's one of my favorite creations ever...and he's for sale in my shop!