Gingermelon Dolls

The Winners Are....

2012-02-01T17:53:00.000-08:00

Hello dear friends! Firstly, I just want to say a big 'THANK YOU' to all who entered my pattern give away! Your sweet comments mean so much, and inspire me to keep creating!

Ok, so on to the best part! The three winners were chosen by the Random Number Generator and the first number picked was 90 - Marlene, second was 53 - Taube, and the third, 63 - Malu2. Congratulations ladies!! Please contact me at: md1911@shaw.ca with your email addresses and I'll have those patterns off to you ASAP!!

Have a wonderful week everyone!
hugs,
~Shelly
xo

Woodland Elf Patterns now Available

2012-01-30T23:22:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to let you all know that the Woodland Elf patterns are now available in my shop! Yay! I'm so excited about these and I'm so glad they're finally ready for all of you who have asked for them!

This little sweetheart is completely hand sewn and made from hand woven wool felt. Her sweet face is hand embroidered and her hair is needle felted onto her head.

She wears a pretty dress and fold over boots that are embellished with tiny beads and embroidery. A beaded crown completes her outfit.

Happy week everyone!
~Shelly

Give Away Patterns!!

2012-01-29T18:33:00.000-08:00

Oh hello!!! I thought you all would love to know that I'm finally ready to have another GIVE AWAY!! Yay!! Up for grabs are three new patterns - The Love Birds, Bunny Boy and Bunny Girl. There will be three lucky winners, each will pick a pattern they'd like to have and I'll send it off via email.

So, all you have to do, is leave a comment with the pattern of your choice and I'll draw the winners on Wednesday, February 1st.

Bunny Girl.

Bunny Boy.

Love Birds.

Good luck everyone!!
~Shelly
xo's

Eleanor and Prudence

2012-01-27T17:45:00.000-08:00

Eleanor and Prudence have been sitting in a box filled with pretty fabrics for the longest time! Well, I should say that their bodies were all made up, but I was saving them for a special idea. Finally, this week, I dug them out of their cozy home and began their transformation.

This is how they turned out! Eleanor, above left, with Prudence on the right - named of course after two of my favourite Beatles songs!

Each little doll measures about 5 inches tall and is made from unbleached muslin. I made their little 'button' eyes out of paper clay and then painted them black. Their dresses are made from Japanese cotton and I've added a teeny beaded apron for each.

Pinning on their hair.

Little baldies:)

These tiny rag-dolls are available for adoption in my shop and would make wonderful friends for a bigger doll.

Wishing you a creative weekend:)
~Shelly

Newest Dolls

2012-01-26T15:59:00.000-08:00

Happy Thursday everyone! We're having such a beautiful, sunny day today! Makes me think that Spring is just around the corner!!

I finally finished up the last doll that I was working on and thought you might like to see how they turned out:)

This little Petite Poppet is Lacey. I hand painted her face with water colour paints and also used pencil crayon to give her some rosy cheeks and shading.

The next three are the Little Ladies - Lillian, Skye and Tuesday, from top to bottom.

My dearest mom, who makes the most beautiful dolly outfits, (http://www.etsy.com/shop/myfairdolly) made their little cardigans as well as their tiered skirts and peasant blouses.

All four have been adopted and will soon arrive at their new homes and I must admit that I always find it a little hard to see them go. Have a grand adventure dollies!
Hugs,
~Shelly
xo

The Little Ladies are Back!!

2012-01-17T16:20:00.000-08:00

Happy Tuesday everyone! Hope you're all having a wonderfully creative week:) Just a quick post to share some pics of the Little Ladies and Petite Poppet I'm working on. Two of these dolls are custom orders (the Pink and Brunette) and the other two will be available for adoption once they're completed.

This is as far as I've gotten today - they really take a L O N G time to make! I'll be starting on their outfits tomorrow and I'm hoping they'll be ready by the weekend. My mommy dearest is making the little cardigans as well as one of the custom outfits. You'll notice that the Poppet still needs her little face painted - that always makes me nervous!

Pinning their hair on... I think they look like princesses with beaded crowns!

All sewn up and ready for their hair.

And this is where it all starts! Stitch by tiny stitch...

Hope you'll pop in again to see how they're progressing!
hugs,
~Shelly
xo's

New Year's Wishes!!

2012-01-04T16:42:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year dear friends! Hope you all had a wonderful Holiday Season:) I thought it would be a nice idea to start off the new year with a new look for my blog - what do you think? Is it easy to read, or should I darken the font? I wanted a simpler look with more room to add bigger pics.

Over the holidays I worked on a few things. My favourite of all were the Cuddle-Me Stufflings and when I get a chance, I'll definitely make the pattern up for my shop.

In the large pic, from left to right is Daisy, Dapply and Posy. Aren't they sweet?

I also made three bunny friends especially for Blythe, Secret Dolls or Lati Dolls. I love the little boy bunny (Binkin) in the centre at right! I made him a pair of cross-over suspenders with little bead "buttons".

These are Valentine's Day Love Bird ornaments. I've been wanting to design some sort of bird for a while, but could never settle on what sort of shape to use. I thought that these would be perfect as hanging ornaments that could be kept up all year round. Hope you like them:)

And lastly, this is Harriet. I made her specially for my hubby's grandma who lives on Vancouver Island. She's made from hand woven felt and a sweet Japanese bunny fabric. I sent her off in the mail a couple of days ago, so I can't wait to hear what she thinks of her!

I've got so many plans for this year and will share them all as they happen! It seems that my head works quicker than my fingers and it's filled with all sorts of dolls and animals just waiting to come out!

Warmest wishes for a magical 2012!!
hugs,
~Shelly
xo's

BOXING DAY SALE!!

2011-12-25T23:31:00.000-08:00

It's Boxing Day!! To celebrate, I'm having a SALE!! Yay!! Now's a great time to stock up on some patterns to whip up during the Holidays:) Please pop in for a visit to my shop and enter BOXINGDAYSALE in the coupon code area once you reach the check out and receive 15% off all patterns.

Happy sewing everyone!
~Shelly
xo

Merry Christmas Dear Friends!

2011-12-25T14:56:00.000-08:00

Hello dear friends! Just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours!! Hope you're all having a wonderful day:) I couldn't resist snapping this pic of Little Miss taking a breather - she was having such fun destroying the neat pile of Christmas pressies this morning!
We'll be heading over to my sister's house soon to have dinner with the whole family and I'm looking forward to seeing them all and enjoying the festivities!
Christmas kisses to you all,
~Shelly
xo

Woodland Elf

2011-12-15T17:09:00.000-08:00

Dear friends, I hope you're all finding time to kick up your toes and relax during this busy holiday season!

Just wanted to share a new little felt doll that I've been working on. She's a little Woodland Elf that has really been a wonderful experience to make!

She is the first bead-jointed felt doll I've attempted and she measures about 9.5 inches tall. I've made her a sweet little tunic dress, a beaded crown and a pair of fold over boots which I've embellished with beaded, embroidered flowers.

Unfortunately, the weather has not been co-operating with my picture taking, so the pics aren't as clear as I would've liked.

Oh dear, I just noticed that I've forgotten to blush her cheeks - must remember to do that before I get her ready for my shop!

This pic, however turned out very well as we were having a brighter day when I took it:) I am definitely planning on working to make this pattern available in my shop soon. It is a little more advanced than my other doll patterns, though not too hard to do. As with all my designs, it will be hand illustrated and explained as best as I can to make it simple to create. It will require some embroidery experience, needle felting and imagination - the possibilities are endless!

As soon as the pattern is ready I'll be having another GIVEAWAY!! So please check back and make sure to enter for your chance of winning one!

Have a happy week:)
~Shelly

Emily Temple

2011-12-02T21:35:00.001-08:00

Emily Temple has been in the works for far longer than I intended. When I first began her journey, I made several drawings of dolls and posted the pics I took of them to my Flickr page.

I then asked my friends to pick which of the dolls they liked best. From their answers, I put together a new doll based on attributes they liked the most from each doll.

For the next while, I worked on designing the outfits. Once I had chosen which of them I'd be using, I went about colouring them all with pencil crayons. And then.... I got my sweetest, dearest, most wonderfullest hubby to make everything into a little booklet!! Oh, he's a wonderful man and I really don't know what I'd do without him! Here's what he came up with..

This is the front cover. It's made from a creamy, heavy weight card stock so Emily is nice and sturdy.

Here's a sneak peek of the inside. Each page is vibrant and full of fun! There are seven pages of dresses, hats, play suits and accessories to cut out and each booklet is packaged into a clear, re-sealable plastic sleeve, all the better to keep everything together once you're done playing with her!

I'm so glad she's finally ready and I'm hoping to intice a new generation of children to discover the joy of Paper Dolls!

These little booklets are now available in my shop:)

Wishing you all a very happy weekend!

hugs,

~Shelly

xo's

Holiday Weekend Sale

2011-11-25T13:27:00.001-08:00

Wishing you all a very happy holiday weekend! Hope your Thanksgiving was relaxing and enjoyable! To celebrate this very special weekend, I'm having a sale in my shop. From now till Monday, enter GIVETHANKS in the check out and recieve 15% off everything in my shop! It's a great time to stock up on patterns and kits especially if you love giving handmade gifts!

These are some of the patterns to chose from.

Hope you'll pop in for a visit!
~Shelly

Paper Doll in Progress

2011-11-23T14:50:00.001-08:00

I've been working on a new Paper Doll Set and have a few more outfits to colour before she'll be ready. Here's a sneak peek so far...

My plan is to make a little book which will be similar to my colouring book which you can see here. The cover will be made with a sturdy, heavy weight Bristol paper and will be printed with the paper doll itself. I'm not sure yet whether she'll be on the front or back cover as I might do a little pic of her on the front dressed in an outfit. The pages on the inside will contain all the dresses and accessories that I've chosen from the ones above and will be printed on medium weight, acid free drawing paper. I'm looking forward to finishing them up and having them ready for my shop by the weekend.

For those of you who've been following the story of our sweet Little Miss, thank you all for your thoughts and prayers! We had to take her back in to the vet's on Monday night as her incision had opened up and they ended up having to re-stitch her. Today, I noticed a hard lump running along the entire right side of the incision about as thick as my little finger. So, once hubby gets home, we'll be taking her back in to make sure it's not something serious. I must say that she is looking good, eating well and is as pert and playful as ever, so hopefully everything will be fine!

Enjoy the rest of your week:)
hugs,
~Shelly
xo's

A Bad Day...

2011-11-17T19:16:00.001-08:00

Dear Readers,

Our dear Little Miss went in for surgery this morning to be spayed. A few hours later, I got a call from the vet saying that they had accidentally cut into her intestines whilst they were opening her up. Though they did their best to sew up the hole, there is a possibility of it opening back up again and allowing toxins to seep into her abdomen. She will be spending the night there so they can monitor her and I'm hoping that all goes well and we can bring her home by the weekend. My mind has been in a turmoil all afternoon and I just have to pray that she'll have no complications.

The pic above was taken this past weekend. She loves to climb on our shoulders and is such a snuggle-bum! Please excuse us, we're still in our PJ's and scruffy beard:)

I did manage to get an order finished today and am hoping to take a break from custom orders for a while. I'm feeling a bit overdone and really haven't had a day off from sewing for months.

These little pixies and tag-alongs are off to France as a special gift for Christmas. I love how the bunny turned out in blue!

Anyway, will keep you posted about our kitty,
hugs,
~Shelly

Happy Monday!

2011-11-14T13:04:00.001-08:00

Happy Monday everyone! I've been super busy all weekend working on many, many orders and also celebrating my youngest son's 17th birthday. My, how time flies!! We had a lovely get-together yesturday with our family and will be going out for dinner tonight to his favourite restaurant.. Looking forward to that!

Just wanted to share some of the things I've been working on lately.

Two pixies that are almost done and a new design for a cloth doll similar to the Damsel Dolls I made last year. You can see Georgina here. Unfortunately, I have misplaced the original pattern for these dolls, so have re-designed one on paper that I can't wait to try! I think that if they turn out well, I will offer the pattern in my shop. These would have the option of having hand embroidered faces or hand painted ones and would be made from unbleached muslin. I'm so excited to get started on them!

I had a lovely request from a friend on Facebook for two sets of my Paper Doll collections as well as a Lullaby Lamb. These will be gifts for his nieces for Christmas. I forgot how much work went into putting these little ladies together! Thankfully, my dearest hubby helped me cut them all out - should've got a pic of him doing it!! I don't think he was too impressed but did a wonderful job anyway!

And here's the lamb, slightly different to the original Lullaby Lamb. I like to keep every item I remake original, so no two are ever alike.

Well, gotta get back to work, hope you all have a very nice week!
hugs,
~Shelly

Christmas Gift Ideas

2011-11-07T15:31:00.000-08:00

Today I'm very happy to introduce a little colouring book I've been working on and let you all know that it's available in my shop.

This sweet little book features 16 adorable animal prints for your little one to color. For a limited time, each book will include a set of eight mini pencil crayons (while supplies last) which are enclosed in a re-sealable plastic envelope.

Here's a sneak peek inside:

Each set will be packaged in a re-sealable plastic bag to keep things organized.

I'm also happy to say that my Gingermelon Men patterns are now available. These can be made into ornaments or brooches and are delightfully easy to make!

And, lastly, I finally got my order of felt in the mail today, so, for those of you who requested the Tag-Along Doll and Bear kits, they're now available too!

What could be nicer than finding one of these tucked inside a stocking on Christmas morning, all ready to cut and sew up over the holidays?

hugs,

~Shelly

Gingermelon Men

2011-11-04T15:53:00.000-07:00

Just had to share the adorable Gingermelon men!

These little guys measure just over 3 inches tall and are made from a wool blend felt. Each has a hand embroidered face and I've appliqued teensy pink cheeks on beneath their eyes. Seed beads encircle their 'wrists' and 'ankles' and a pretty bow made from seam binding ties about their necks. The one in the middle is a brooch and the two on the ends are hanging ornaments.

And here's what they look like on my mini feather tree. I'm hoping to have the patterns for these little sweeties available this weekend.

hugs,

~Shelly

Gingermelon Man

2011-11-03T19:04:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

Just a quick sneak peek at a new little guy that I'm working on - a Gingermelon man! Will have the patterns for them available soon:)

This one's going to be a brooch, but I'll make a few hanging ornaments too.

I also finished up a couple of Bunny Babushkas today and have two more awaiting eyes before I can complete them.

They're available in my shop.

Will be back to post as soon as my little guy is finished. Can't wait for you to see him:)
hugs,
~Shelly
xo

Pattern Kits

2011-10-23T15:39:00.000-07:00

Yay!! I can finally put my feet up and relax for the rest of the day! I've had a busy, busy day (week, month, year!!) and have just finished stocking my shop with new Pattern Kits - yes, the little doll and the sweet bunny are finally ready!! And, I've also added new pdf patterns for all the Tag-Alongs for those who would prefer to use their own supplies. I'm just so happy they're all finally done!

The Tag-Along patterns are great for beginner sewers and I created them in hopes of inspiring children to learn how to sew. I have very fond memories of my mom and both grandmothers teaching me how to knit, sew and embroider when I was young, and I think every child should have fun learning those basic skills.

These little kits would be wonderful as stocking stuffers at Christmas time and I'm sure that it just might be the perfect time to spend curled up together on the sofa on a chilly day making these little sweeties with your little girl or boy!

Wishing you a happy week:)

hugs,

~Shelly

Bunny Babushka Pattern Winners!!

2011-10-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much to you all for entering my little giveaway! And many thanks for all your lovely comments, glad you like the Bunny Babushkas!

A huge congrats to the following winners:
Nancy Perennec
Jennifer Rydell
Skooks

Hope you have fun making these little cuties:)

Wishing you all a beautiful weekend:)

hugs,

~Shelly

Bunny Babushka Pattern Giveaway!!

2011-10-19T22:29:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Just a quick note to let you all know that the Bunny Babushka patterns are now ready and available in my shop! Yay!! To celebrate, I'm having a little GIVEAWAY!! Three lucky readers will each win a copy of this adorable pattern, complete with easy instructions and hand drawn illustrations to guide you along the way. I've also included a page with embroidery design ideas for your little creation.

To enter, please leave your name and email address (very important!!) and I will draw the winners on Saturday, October 22. Best of luck to you all!!
hugs,
~Shelly
xo

Lullaby Lamb and a Bunny Babushka

2011-10-16T19:46:00.000-07:00

Happy Sunday everyone! We've been having the most wonderful fall weather here in beautiful British Columbia and with so many sunny days and mild temps, it's almost tempting not to get any work done! But, I've been busy; super de-dooperdy busy! In fact, I've been so busy that this last week or so has slipped by as quick as a wink! I got two large custom orders done, wrote up a new pattern and started making some new ornament dolls. So, for those of you who have asked for the Lullaby Lamb pattern, it's now available in my shop.

This little lamb is terribly cute and super easy to make!

One of my custom orders included a request for a little boy Pixie. I named him Charlie after the sweet Toy Pomeranian my Gran and Gramps' had when we were kids. I made a pair of short overalls for him with cross-over straps, and used my favourite pale blue soy/wool blend yarn for his hair. I think he turned out pretty cute!

Earlier this week, a wonderful idea planted itself into my head! I so badly wanted to try it out, but had to remain on track with my orders before I could bring it to fruition. I imagined a Babushka doll with a twist - one with a pair of bunny ears, or even a pair of kitty ears to spice things up a bit! Oooh goodness! To have to wait till I was finished my orders almost drove me mad with anticipation!!

But, eventually I was able to design the shapes and cut them out, and then the fun began! I embroidered the 'dress', added a couple of teeny beaded flowers, sewed it all up and attached the bunny ears and, Voila, a Bunny Babushka ornament! Just had so much fun making her! I've got two more on the go and they should be ready tomorrow.

The Babushkas are a little tricky to make and might be a bit hard for a beginner. The patterns for these will be available in the near future as they are perfect as Christmas Tree ornaments.

I'm also happy to say that most of the Tag-Along pattern kits are also now available in my shop. They include an Owl, Fox, Bear, Kitten and a Raccoon. I'm still working on the Doll and Bunny patterns.

Oh, dear! I guess I'm at my picture limit! Blogger is not allowing me to upload any more pics for this post, so I guess that'll be all folks!

Have a fabulous week!!

hugs,

~Shelly

Congrats to the Winners!

2011-10-07T15:01:00.000-07:00

Hello dear friends! I have an important announcement to make today! Three lucky winners will be receiving the Halloween Ornament Patterns!

They are:
Django,
Mia (please contact me with your email address)
Kimi.

Congratulations to you all and many thanks to all who entered this giveaway for your sweet comments!

I decided to make a little felt house this week. It didn't quite turn out as planned:( I spent quite some time embroidering it and putting it all together and was pretty pleased with the result until I started stuffing it. Had I given it some thought, I would have made a cardboard insert to provide some stability to the house, but it didn't occur to me until after the whole thing was stuffed and sewn up and bulging out like a little puffed up balloon house! Will have to try another one sometime!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend and to my Canadian friends, Happy Thanksgiving!

hugs,
~Shelly
xo

Halloweenie Pattern Giveaway!!

2011-10-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

Hello dear friends, I have some wonderful news! After many hours of writing, illustrating and changing pattern layouts (and of course, lots of coffee to keep me on track), my Halloweenie Ornament Patterns are now ready and available in my shop. The patterns include a dear little witch, a delightful baby ghost and a darling little bat. I think it's about time to have another GIVEAWAY!!

Three winners will each recieve the entire collection of Halloweenie Ornament Patterns! All you have to do is leave a comment with with your name and email address and I will draw the winners on Friday, the 7th of October.

These are so much fun to make and very easy too!
Finished ornaments measure between 4 and 6 inches tall and are entirely hand stitched and made with felt.

Best of luck to everyone!

Hugs,

~Shelly

New Pattern Kits and Halloweenies

2011-09-22T19:52:00.000-07:00

Much has happened since my last blog post and I must confess that I didn't quite realise how much time had slipped away in the mean time! I finished sewing up the Tag-Along's and am now waiting for the supplies to come in the mail so that I can begin making up the little kits for them. I think they turned out quite nicely and I'm hoping that they will inspire children of all ages to try their hand at sewing. As I mentioned before, each kit will contain a pattern - there are seven to choose from and include a bunny, bear, kitten, raccoon, fox, owl and a little doll; a piece of felt, a pair of safety eyes and a snippet of seam binding to tie about the neck. There will be two levels of difficulty - superdy duperdy easy and very easy! Can't get much easier than that!
Here's what they look like...

Once the supplies get here and I've put all the kits together, it'll be time for another give away and the winner will get to pick which Tag-Along kit they'd like to make. Hope you'll all enter for that!

This week, I started working on a few new designs that I came up with while we were away on holidays. These are the Halloweenies...

On the left is the first set I made. Mabeline the witch, Ms Batticus and Baby Boo. The second set on the right include Ozzy the bat, Winnie, Minnie and Whispy. Unfortunately I've completely run out of the white and black felt as well as the pale green I used for the witches faces. Got to wait for more to come in the mail:( I just hate it when I'm having fun with a project and then I run out of something that I just can't go to the store for! Oh well, it'll give me time to write up the patterns for them!

Here's a little peek at the baldies:)

Tomorrow is a very special day! It's my Nannykins' 94th birthday and we're having a big party for her! She'll be in for a real treat and I can't wait to share the day with her! Hope you all have a good one too:)
hugs,
~Shelly
xo

Sneak Peak!

2011-09-07T23:07:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! It's so nice to be back home from our holiday, we had a lovely and relaxing time away! I feel refreshed and ready for some new projects so I thought I'd share a little sneak peak of what I've been working on these past few days.

Little Miss wanted to meet you all and sat so prettily for her picture. (She's usually so busy playing and I can never get a good shot of her sitting still!)

For my next project, I am making little kits geared toward children who would like to learn how to sew. These will include a very easy pattern of an animal or doll, the felt to make it with, the safety eyes and a bit of seam binding to make a bow around the neck. The felt I've chosen is a wool blend from http://www.etsy.com/shop/BenzieBazaar. Renae, the owner of the shop, has a wonderful selection of colours and her prices are fabulous! Perfect for beginners and so lovely to sew with! I'm hoping that once a child has made up the animal or doll in the kit, they'll want to make another!

As you can see, I have all the pieces cut out and most of the faces are ready. Most of them require a basic applique stitch for attaching eye pads and snouts and then everything will be sewn together with a whip stitch. Easy Peasy!! Will keep you posted on them as they evolve.

Here's a few pics from our trip.

That's me paddling at Cultus Lake.

John making faces in the hot tub:)

Jody on the left and Dylan underwater. I can't believe how much our kids have grown!

The two of them when they were little! Again, Jody on the left, Dylan on the right.

Have a fabulous week:)
~Shelly
xo

Give-Away Winners

2011-08-17T15:24:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,

Thank you all so much for the wonderful comments you left on my latest pattern GIVEAWAY! I'm so glad you like the new Pocket Pals!

To help with the draw today, I got my son and his friends to pick four numbers out of a total of 67 entries. Here are the names of the winners:

Deana Novak - Teddy and Bunny
Angela - Teddy and Bunny
Tracey Marsden - Teddy and Bunny
Andrea creates - Piggy and Kitty

Congratulations to you all, hope you enjoy making these sweet little animals:)

Looking forward to your visits once we're back from our holidays:)
hugs,
~Shelly
xo

Parkland Stuffling Patterns

2011-08-16T09:26:00.000-07:00

Well, it's taken me long enough, but I've finally managed to get the Parkland Stuffling patterns made up and they're now available in my shop.

These are available as a group, or as indiviual patterns.

The Parkland Squirrel

Parkland Bunny

Parkland Raccoon

I'll be closing my shop from Thursday, August 18 to Monday, August 29 as we'll be away. There is still time to add your name to the draw for the Pocket Pall Pattern Giveaway if you have not done so yet. I'll be announcing the winners tomorrow - Wednesday, August 17th. Best of luck everyone!!

hugs,
~Shelly
xo

Pocket Pal Pattern GIVEAWAY!!!

2011-08-14T18:30:00.000-07:00

It's time for another GIVEAWAY!! My Pocket Pal patterns are all ready to go, so if you'd like a chance to win one of four patterns, please leave your name, email address and your choice of either the Pocket Kitty and Piggy or the Pocket Bunny and Teddy.

This will be a very quick giveaway and I'll be drawing the names of the winners on Wednesday, August 17, as we are leaving for holidays at the end of the week.

Looking forward to hearing from you:)
hugs,
~Shelly
xo

A Piggy, a Bunny, a Kitty and a Bear

2011-08-12T23:10:00.000-07:00

I have some good news to share tonight, my new collection of Pocket Stufflings is finally completed! I am delighted to share them with you and will be working very hard to make the patterns for them available by early next week! Here they are...

So, from left to right - Anchovy Kitten, Petula Piggy, Tinker Teddy and Beatrice Bunny. All are made from hand woven felt and completely hand stitched. For the boys, I made short overalls with cross-over straps - they close in the front with snaps and are edged in contrasting blanket stitch. The girls wear dresses with working pockets and I've added beaded lace at the hems and/or buttons and beads down the centre of the neckline. All are available in my shop.

The Pocket Stufflings will be made into two separate patterns, each featuring a boy and a girl.

The Kitty and Piggy.

The Teddy and Bunny.

As usual, I will try to make the patterns very easy to follow and will also include hand drawn illustrations at each step of the process. These would be perfect for little ones to carry around with them wherever they go and are very sweet together as a set. The only draw back to making them is that you might not want to give them up!

Please be on the look out for my next post as I'll be doing a very quick pattern GIVEAWAY for these little Stufflings before we leave for our holidays at the end of next week. If all goes well, the patterns should be ready by the end of the weekend and the draw would take place next Thursday, the 18th of August.

Enjoy your weekend,
~Shelly
xo

Pocket Stufflings

2011-08-08T20:17:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week, I was inspired by one of my favourite pieces of fabric to make a new series of Pocket Stufflings. You can see it here. I've used it in many other dresses that I've made for my cloth dolls and I also gave some to my mom so she could make dresses for her shop. Well, the two of us were talking about it the other day and as I was thinking about how much I'd really like to get some more of it, a little idea popped into my mind. A perfect idea that would work so well if I modified my Pocket Pixie pattern here and there. So, to start, I made a sweet little Pocket Piggy....

I think she's absolutely adorable, but she needs some friends...

So these will be them! I just love how their little faces turned out! Next, it's on to the bodies and then clothing. The bear and kitten are meant to be boys, so I'm thinking of a pair of shorts for one and pants for the other - with suspenders of course! And a pretty sundress for the bunny.

I'm hoping to make these patterns available for the fall - perfect for Christmas gifts!

Have a gorgeous week:)
~Shelly
xo

Needle Book Tutorial

2011-08-03T23:19:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I have a new project for anyone who'd like to make a felt needle book. This is a very easy pattern and only requires a basic blanket stitch to complete. These are fun to make for friends and always handy to have in your sewing basket.

You will need:

: Felt - I chose hand woven felt, but any will do,
: Embroidery thread,
: Seed beads
: Snap

Download the pattern pieces below and cut out one Needle Book Cover, one Needle Book Page, an Outer Petal and an Inner Petal.

Blanket stitch around edges of the cover and pages. If you like, use a contrasting thread.

To make the flower, fold outer petal in half and, using a double strand of embroidery thread, take a few tight stitches right in the centre of the fold. This will create a little pucker in the middle once open. End off thread at the back.

Do the same with the inner petal, and bring the thread up through the centre.

Lay the outer petal behind the inner petal and attach seed beads to the centre, making sure to take the needle through both layers of felt. Leave a length of thread at the back for later. This will be used to attach the flower to the flap that closes the needle book.

Place the 'page' onto the wrong side of the needle book cover - right side up.

Fold in half and line up the pages and edges of the cover.

Thread a long needle with a double strand of embroidery thread and insert on the inside of the cover, about half an inch below the top edge of the cover and blanket stitch the spine of the book, going through all layers of felt. End off on the inside of the cover. This will ensure that the beginning and end of the thread will not be seen once the book is open.

Sew male side of the snap to the inner flap of the needle book cover.

Bring the thread out through to the front.

Sew on the felt flower using tiny stitches to attach it to the top layer of the felt. Try not to let your stitches show underneath. It looks neater this way:)

Sew on the female snap as shown.

Now all you have to do is add some needles and pins and your little book is complete! Hope you enjoyed this project!

Click Here to download/print the pattern pcs.

Art Deco Inspired

2011-07-31T18:14:00.000-07:00

There's just something so soothing and magical about working with clay... My fingers have been moulding, shaping, pinching and smoothing - manipulating the clay and then, waiting for it to dry before the next layer can be added. My newest creation is inspired by old beauty advertisments, vintage patterns and of course a little something strange and out of the ordinary. She's still got a ways to go till she's done, but here's her progress so far..

I'm not sure what's in store for her, but I'm sure she'll tell me as we get to know each other better:)

Awaiting her hair and stole.

Made a sweet little sleepy lamb named Lullaby this week. She's off to a new home, but I have plans to make a little pig in a similar style as soon as I'm finished the art doll.

Oh and I must show you some pics of our newest baby - we picked her up on Friday night and she's just so adorable!! Don't have a name for her yet, so she's been called Little Miss for now:)

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

~Shelly

Sweet Animal Barrette Tutorial

2011-07-25T16:23:00.000-07:00

I have a fun little project for those of you who'd like to make some sweet little Animal Berrettes! This will be my first tutorial and I'm hoping to offer more in the future.

These little cuties are SO easy to make and really don't take long at all! All you need is:
: Felt in different colours
: Seed beads
: Embroidery thread
: Polyfil
: And a metal hair clip

** Please read through carefully before you begin **

: Print out the pattern at the bottom of the page.
: Cut out two faces, two ears of your choice and the flower

Using a double strand of embroidery thread, embroider a tiny X slightly below the centre of the face. Sew on the seed beads as shown and, if you like, add little 'lashes' at the outer corners of the eyes.

Whip stitch the darts on front and back face pieces, making sure to sew them up on the wrong side of the felt.

Open both pieces and carefully sew the ears onto the wrong side of the back of the head using invisible stitches. Just make sure that you don't see the stitches on the right side.

This is what the front and back pieces look like at this point. Note how I've placed the ears slightly inside the edges of the head.

Pin head front and back together, wrong sides together and whip stitch around to the base of the ear.

Blanket stitch across the entire length of the ear and then whip stitch to the second ear, repeat blanket stitch once you reach that ear.

Continue whip stitching around, but leave a space at the bottom for stuffing.

Stuff the head, using an orange stick or popsicle stick to gently push stuffing in as you go. Whip stitch bottom closed. Do not cut your thread, instead, insert it in through the bottom and out just below an ear.

Thread your felt flower onto the needle.

Add a seed bead in the centre and carefully attach flower to the head. If you have enough thread left at this point, take it out through the back of the head.

Using the photo as a guide, place metal clip at the back of the head and securely stitch the inner prong in place.

And there you are!! How sweet is that?? I'm pretty sure that any little girl would love one or two of these adorable hair clips! Of course, you could also attach a pin back onto the back and make them into brooches too:)

Please click here to download and/or print the pattern pieces. Then just print and you're off to the races! Hope you enjoy making these for yourself or someone you love:)

Shelly
xo

New Little Ladies

2011-07-23T16:33:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, hope you're enjoying your weekend! I'm super excited to let you know that my two Little Ladies - Amilie and Sybille are finished! I had hoped to have them ready earlier this week, but you know how things go.. Just glad I can share them with you today!

These two are quite possibly my favourites of all the Little Ladies I've ever made and I really wanted them to be very special. Their dresses are edged in ruffled hems and I hand beaded little lace collars at their necks. Tiny patches are appliqued on the fronts of the dresses.

I made them the sweetest little undies with lacy leg openings and used hand woven wool felt for their shoes.

I finished all the outfits late last night and decided to wait till I got up this morning to dress them. Thank heavens the sun was shining early and the pics turned out lovely!

Amilie

Sybille

Both Sybille and Amilie are available for adoption in my shop.

Recently I was contacted by a lovely lady named Renae who runs BenzieBazaar on Etsy. Her shop carries a wonderful selection of Merino Wool blend felt and is available in 80 gorgeous colours. Renae asked me to curate a list of colours from her collection of felt that I thought would be perfect for complimenting my patterns. Here are my picks:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/77899134/benzie-guest-curator-gingermelon for a better look!

Thanks so much Renae, it was fun working with you!

I also wanted to share a lovely story about a South African lady I met on Etsy who had featured my Woodland Fox pattern in one of her treasuries. When I realized she was from my native country, I left a comment for her on the treasury in Afrikaans - a language only spoken in South Africa and a derivative of the Dutch language. Well, we instantly became friends and it turns out she lives very close to where I grew up!! Small world! Anyway, she did a lovely feature on her blog about me a couple of weeks ago which I really meant to share with you sooner, but unfortunately didn't get around to it with my busy life and sick hubby! But here it is: http://mieartandcrafts.blogspot.com/2011/07/its-very-small-world-gingermelon.html. Baie dankie Wilmarie, alles van die beste vir jou en jou gesin!

And lastly, I just want to say a HUGE thank you for your thoughts and prayers for my hubby. He's taking it easy and we're hoping that he doesn't have to go in for surgery. Both the urologist and our family doctor have said that if the stone doesn't pass on it's own, it would have to be removed surgically. Neither mentiond the ultasound shock therapy so I'm not sure if it's too big for that. Will let you know how everyting goes.

Have a wonderful weekend:)
~Shelly
xo

Sybille and Amelie

2011-07-18T21:20:00.000-07:00

Hello! Just wanted to share a few quick pics of a couple of Little Ladies I've been working on. I just had an urge to make these two and thought I'd show you their progress so far. They still need their dresses, undies, shoes and a smidgeon of blush, but they're coming along nicely and I'm hoping to have them ready by Wednesday afternoon.

Sybille is on the right and Amelie the left. I took this shot right after I applied the first layer of hair.

Please excuse the nudity, they're still waiting for their outfits:)

What do you think? I love the texture of the blue yarn and how it has a wavy look about it, it's a soy wool blend. The lavender yarn is sooo soft and is made from 100% baby Llama wool.

The last few days have been very stressful. I had to rush my hubby to the emergency on Thursday because of severe pains in his flank and groin. I was so worried because he is a very healthy guy and hardly ever gets sick. Thankfully, the staff were wonderful and quickly hooked him up to an IV with painkillers. After an ultrasound, they were able to diagnose that he has a 5 mm kidney stone. Who knew that a tiny thing like that could cause such unbearable pain?? I've heard people say that the pain is worse than childbirth!! So, he has spent the weekend on heavy pain meds and we are still awaiting the passing of the stone. Today we visited a Urologist and he's hoping that it passes on its own. If it doesn't, John will have to have surgery to remove it. Please say a little prayer for him. I would really like him to be able to take more time off work, at least until the stone passes, but unfortunately, things are very hectic at the moment and he's really needed there. I'm just hoping he doesn't have to wait too much longer!

Have a wonderful week:)
Shelly

Pattern Winners!

2011-07-13T16:08:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to all who entered the Pattern Give away! It's really quite interesting to read from the comments I get as to which patterns/paper dolls etc. are the favourites among readers! Well, it seems that the Petal Bears are definitely the fave's of this give away! Thank you everyone for your lovely comments!

Drum roll please! And the winners are:

Serendipity - Scaries

Normita - Petal Bears (please contact me with your email address)

Blueberries in the field (please let me know which one you'd prefer:)

Kimber - Scaries (please contact me with your email address)

Linda Hinckley - Elephant

Carolyndolls - Petal Bears (please contact me with your email address)

I will contact each of the winners by email and send out the patterns within the next day or so. I do hope you all enjoy making them! Please contact me with any questions you may have, I'm happy to help:)

~Shelly

A Trip to the Patisserie - Paper Doll and Accessories

2011-07-11T16:47:00.000-07:00

Did you love paper dolls as a child? What about vintage greeting cards, beautifully hand illustrated and sprinkled with glitter and nostalgia? Well, I am a huge lover of both and wanted to create a paper doll collection that would reflect a certain vintage charm and bring back memories of a childhood filled with innocence and fun.

A Trip to the Patisserie is the first in a new series of paper dolls and accessories that I am working on and I'm very excited about the finished set! I hand drew and coloured them with pencil crayon, turned them into prints and then embellished them with tinsel and fine glitters, as well as microbeads. Each set will be signed and dated by me and I think they'd look lovely set in pretty frames and hung in a little girl's room.

This set is also available in a colour-your-own version, and both are now available in my new shop. Hope you like them!

P.S. Thanks to all who have left comments on my pattern giveaway! There are two days left before the draw, so if you haven't put your name in yet, please don't forget!

See you on Wednesday:)
Shelly

New Patterns and a Giveaway!!

2011-07-09T00:12:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers!!

It is very late and my hubby and I have been working most of the night to finish up three new patterns that will be available in my shop tomorrow. I'm super excited about these as I've had many requests for them in the past and I am happy to finally make them available.

This is the Petal Bear pattern. It'll include Bunny, Kitten, Bear and Puppy ears, as well as all the accessories - cookies, a little book, a fish and bird friend and a sweet little beaded felt flower for adornment.

This pattern is very easy and I've made it especially for those of you who would love to try a mohair project, but think it might be quite daunting. Well, it's not!! And I can assure you of that!

I share tips on cutting the mohair and sewing it with a sturdy combination stitch that will keep your bear looking good for years to come. Included are easy to follow instructions and illustrations to guide you along the way.

Best of all, they are so sweet, everyone you know will want one!

These are the Scaries. Quite possibly the kookiest things I've ever made! But, oh-so-much fun to do!! If you have a quirky imagination, these are for you!

These can be made into hanging ornaments, brooches, or just mini characters.

Perfect for Halloween!

And, lastly, the Little Elephant pattern. These are a little more advanced, though still easy to follow even if you are a beginner.

I just love these - They are unbearably cute and I think they might just be my favourites of all!

This pattern uses a combination of mohair, fabric and hand woven felt. I've used cotton lace, a tiny silver charm and a beaded felt hair flower as a finishing touch for them.

For a special touch, I've embroidered a little beaded daisy onto the pink elephant's foot pad and appliqued tiny fabric patches onto the foot pad of the yellow ellie.

Now for the best part!!! I will be giving away SIX patterns. To enter, please leave your name and the pattern you would choose if your name came up in the draw. I will hold the draw on Wednesday, July 13.

Best of luck to you all :)!!
Shelly
xo

New Shop - SugaredViolet

2011-07-05T23:39:00.000-07:00

Yay!! I'm happy to announce that I've just opened up a second shop on Etsy - SugaredViolet - which will have all my paper dolls and, hopefully in the future, some prints I've been thinking of as well as some other paper related things. Please stop by for a visit: http://www.etsy.com/shop/SugaredViolet.

Left to right: Olive, Violet, Azure, Peony, Raspberry, Tangering and Crimson.

See you there:)

Two Little Elephants

2011-07-03T13:19:00.000-07:00

My hubby and I just celebrated out 17th wedding anniversary this week and our oldest son has graduated from high school! Wow!! Where did time go? I am such a proud mommy and can only wish him the best for his future! Our youngest son will be graduating next year and is a little upset that he won't be able to bug his brother at school anymore:)

So, between all the goings-on, I managed to finish three little projects I'd been working on. These are two little mohair elephants I've made.

Trifle, on the left, is a custom order for someone special. Buttercup is available in my shop. Both are made from long pile mohair and vintage floral cotton. Each wears a beaded felt flower in her hair and a lace collar to which I've attached a tiny silver charm. I will be working to make the pattern for these elephants available within the next week or so.

Putting all the pieces together.

For those of you who are wondering, these are super easy to make and are mostly hand sewn, except for the body, which is machine sewn. Finished elephants measure 5 inches tall, seated. Once I've completed the pattern, I will be having another GIVEAWAY, so please check back if you're interested in putting your name in the draw!

That's us on our anniversary. We celebrated it on the same day as my son's graduation, so it was doubly special!

Jody in cap and gown. Yay, he did it!!

My little sweeties, Dylan on the left, Jody on the right.

To all my friends in the US, happy Independence Day!! To all my Canadian friends, hope you had a lovely Canada Day long weekend! And to everyone else, have a wonderful week:)
Shelly
xo

Baby Blue

2011-06-22T21:42:00.000-07:00

A quick hello to share some new things I've made over the last week or so. Today I finished up a new little bear named Baby Blue.

Baby Blue is made from pale blue mohair. He has glass eyes, a cute embroidered nose and he's the first bear that I've designed that incorporates a head gusset. I plan on making more in this style and have also used a cotter pin so that his little head can move from side to side.

I made two companions for Baby - Cloudi and Puff. They are hand embroidered and made from Japanese felt and fit into a little tote made from hand woven felt. I appliqued a tiny red heart to the front of it and blanket stitched the edge to give it a neater look.

Also completed are the Parkland Stufflings: Florence Bunny, Rosie Raccoon and Sesame Squirrel.

For the next few days, I'll be busy with a couple of custom orders. After that, I am putting all custom orders on hold for a bit while I concentrate on making more of my patterns available for my shop. I'm planning on adding patterns for the mohair bears/bunnies/kittens as well as the Scary Stufflings and Parkland Stufflings. So, for those of you who have requested certain patterns, you won't have to wait too long!!

Enjoy your day:)

Paper Doll Winners!!

2011-06-18T17:31:00.000-07:00

Thank you ever so much to those of you who entered the Paper Doll Giveaway!! Your lovely comments are very much appreciated! It definitely seems that Olive has been the favourite of the batch:) Some of you notified me via email and flickr that it was hard to leave comments on my blog and I have taken your names into consideration too. I have also included those of you who left comments on my Creating the Hive blog.

So, without further ado, here are the winners!

Sarah - Violet
Paige - Peony
Biky - Tangerine
Victoria Pham - Crimson
Susie McMahon - Olive
Lovemandy - Olive
Gunilla Back - Azure

Congratulations!! I will contact each of you by email and send the pdf so you can print it out and start having fun!

Have a beautiful weekend:)
xo

Paper Doll Giveaway!!

2011-06-14T18:42:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited about my new Paper Doll collection and thought it might be a nice idea to share them with you! Since there are seven girls, I am giving seven of the digital prints away. Winners will be sent the paper doll of their choice via email and all you need to do is print them out on card stock, cut them out and assemble them with tiny brads. If you're interested in winning, please select your favourite girl and leave a comment for me with her name and I'll put your name in the draw. I'll draw the names for the winners on Saturday, June 18th.

Azure

Peony

Violet

Olive

Crimson

Tangerine

Raspberry

** Please note that I've added a pic of how the doll will look once you've put her together.**

Best of luck!

~Shelly

Paper Dolls and Parkland Stufflings

2011-06-10T20:59:00.000-07:00

I've been working on some new things this week and wanted to share some photos of my Parkland Stufflings which consist of Bunnies, Raccoons and Squirrels.

I'm so excited about these little guys!!

Florence Bunny is finished and I'm hoping to get the next two done this weekend. These will also be available as patterns in the near future. And that means another GIVEAWAY!! Hope you all enter for it!

The paper dolls I designed a little while ago are finally available in my shop. I've done them in three different versions: already cut and assembled, you cut and assemble, or you colour, cut and assemble. They are lots of fun to play with and would look lovely in a shadow box frame as a piece of art.

Have a fun weekend:)
~Shelly
xo

An Afternoon on the Lake

2011-06-05T19:18:00.000-07:00

We finally got some sun!! I was beginning to think it would pass us by because we really have had nothing but cold, wet weather all spring with temps sitting well below the norm. So, we got the canoes out and had our first row today and wow!! it was fabulous!! I think I might have some pretty sore arm muscles tomorrow:)

We found a shady little spot on the far side of the lake where we relaxed and saw ducks, geese and herons flying by.

That's me watching a heron eating his lunch.

My sweetie with his hockey playoff beard. We are H U G E Canuck fans and are hoping they win the Stanley Cup this year!!

Got to see two herons. The one on the right was fishing and managed to catch his lunch right in front of us. Oh, I just can't wait to get out again!!

I also wanted to share a photo of my baby boy (well he's not a baby anymore, just my youngest). He and a group of friends did their very first gig yesturday and I am so proud of him! He is the lead singer as well as guitar player for their band and they did songs by Coldplay (the Scientist), Badfinger (Day after day) and a song they wrote themselves. Dylan is wearing the red and blue cap.

Here's to many more performances!!

Happily Ever After...

2011-05-28T20:59:00.000-07:00

Hello:) Hope you're having a nice weekend! I'm just so happy it's spring and to celebrate the season, I decided to make a wedding couple. I've been wanting to do one for a while and finally got the chance to give it a go. I think it might be a lovely idea for a cake topper!

Presenting the happy panda pair - Isabella and Percival.

For the blushing bride, I added a string of glass pearls to her neck and made her a tiny veil from a pale pink piece of netting to which I added flower beads. Her cheeks have been lightly blushed with pencil crayon and her eyes are smudged with pencil crayon and ink.

Percival wears a felt top hat with a sparkly band and matching bow tie. I sewed green crystal glass beads to his chest and smudged his eyes too.

Zoe Kitten was given the honour of being their flower girl. She wears her favourite lavender ribbon around her neck and a pretty felt flower on her head. The wedding party is now available in my shop.

We're hoping to get our canoes out tomorrow and go for a row if the weather is nice. Can't wait!!

Shelly

Scary Stufflings

2011-05-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

These are the 'Scaries'. Each one is completely hand sewn and made from woven wool felt.

Little Edna loves sharing a pot of tea with her big sister Ida who's been teaching her all the scariest tips and tricks of the trade. For now she takes great delight in hearing how best to scare the daylights out of unsuspecting humans.

She wears a hand-me-down necklace from big sister Ida and her hair is styled from needle felted wool roving. Please be sure that she remembers to brush her tooth - it's most important to keep it good and healthy for future bites....

Before she joined the 'Scaries', Dorcas was just a sweet little ragdoll, but that is not so anymore. She now has a penchant for tickling any toes that are not covered with blankets and there's always a possibility that she might pinch those toes instead.

Dorcas has one tuft of hair remaining on her head. I think the little girl who owned her before might have been a little rough with her. I managed to fix her missing eye as best I could with a scrap of felt and a pretty bead.

Don't let Gertie's grin deceive you. She might look sweet and hugable, but she's not. And be careful where you pin her, she has a nasty habit of leaving tell-tale holes in anything she can get her teeth into...

She has one safety eye left. I'm not sure where the other one is, so I mended the hole with embroidery thread. Gertie wears a jaunty lavender bow at her neck and her favourite pearl buttons are sewn onto her chest.

These days you're likely to find Ida drinking tea and reading gothic romance novels. And though she's sweet and demure and seemingly innocent, don't be fooled. Those scary bumps and scratches you hear at night are most likely from her.

Ida never goes anywhere without looking her best. She wears her favourite pink dress with the button-up front (she's had it for years and takes pride it the fact that it still looks quite nice), and a dainty neck scarf.

Ned is a bit of a biter. As you can tell, he takes great pride in his chompers and is sure to brush and floss them three times a day. He likes the fact that they make short work of shredding things to pieces...
Ned is a firm believer in looking his best, no matter what he's biting, er, doing. He wears a tweed suit and a jaunty neck tie. Unfortunately he has lost an eye, but l've mended it with embroidery thread till it gets found.

These were so much fun to make, but they sure made a huge mess of my table!

Have a crafty week!

Congratulations to the Winners!!

2011-05-22T16:32:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who participated in the pattern giveaway! I have taken the entries from both my blogs and added them together. In total there were 73 names. Since we had a bunch of kids over this afternoon, I got them each to pick a number from 1 to 73. Here are the winners!

2 Evelyn - Raggamuffin pattern
11 Natalia - Anime pattern
12 Traci - Anime pattern
22 Mother Goose - Raggamuffin pattern
46 Lina - Anime pattern
66 Kirsten Soto - Anime pattern
54 Kimber - Raggamuffin pattern

Yay!! Hope you all enjoy making them!

Have a wonderful week:)

~Shelly

PS Evelyn, Mother Goose and Kimber, please contact me with your email addresses as I did not find them on your blogs. Thank you!!

All Cut Out and Ready to Sew

2011-05-20T17:47:00.000-07:00

My day has been spent cutting, cutting and cutting some more! First, I designed two new mohair animal patterns - a kitten and bunny that will be similar to Daisy May's style, and then I designed a new panda pattern and another bunny pattern similar to the Circus Stufflings which will be made with hand woven felt. Also, a new little creature was born and another is waiting to be finished. They are Scary Mini Stufflings and I'm not too sure if I like them yet!

A bunny, kitten and elephant. Made from mohair and vintage floral fabrics.

The felties. I'm leaning towards making a bridal pair with the pandas.

And last but not least, the Scaries!! They're pretty small and could be made into brooches or hanging ornaments. Don't know if I'll bother going any further with them though.

Please don't forget to enter the draw for the Pattern Giveaway if you haven't yet done so!

Pattern Giveaway!!

2011-05-18T20:29:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! I've been working very hard this week on two new patterns and they're finally ready! To celebrate, I am having a giveaway! To enter, leave your name and the pattern you'd like to win and I'll draw the names of seven winners on Sunday, May 22. These patterns will be available in my shop tomorrow.

These are the Anime Stufflings and include instructions for bears, kittens and bunnies:)

The Raggamuffins. Pattern includes instructions to make the boys and girls and all their outfits:)

Best of luck to you all!
Hugs,
Shelly

Like a Kid in a Candy Store...

2011-05-15T19:49:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! We've just returned from our trip to Vancouver Island where we spent a few days visiting my hubby's mom and stepdad in Parksville and then his dad and grandma who live in Victoria. We began our trip by taking the ferry over to the island which takes about an hour and a half. The scenery is breathtakingly beautiful as you leave the ferry docks in Horshoe Bay.

This shot doesn't really do it much justice as the weather has been so gloomy here, but you can see the marina and the tourist town of Horshoe Bay in the distance.

We couldn't resist popping into a sweet little vintage candy store in Parksville where we got some English fudge and chocolate buttons. So yummy!

I fell in love with the store front!

Look at all that candy!! Did I tell you I have a sweet tooth??

The photo above was taken on our drive to Victoria. We love to take the scenic route which winds around the southern most tip of the island. If you have never been to Victoria, it's a definite 'Must See'! The whole area is steeped in history and has a very quaint British atmosphere, complete with double-decker busses and horse drawn carriages. We had a lovely time visiting and I feel relaxed and refreshed and ready for the new week!

Before we left for our trip, I managed to finish up the raggedys I've been working on.

From left to right: Dandle, Dixie Doodle, Aidan and Anais. Each was a delight to make, from their little shoes to their buttoned suspenders and tiny aprons.

These little dolls are all sold and are fortunate enough to be going to their new home as a group! I will be working to make this pattern available as soon as possible. The dolls themselves are easy to make and are entirely hand sewn as are the little felt shoes. The outfits were machine sewn.

Anyone interested in a pattern giveaway once it's ready?? Will keep you all posted!

~Shelly

Raggedys

2011-05-08T18:12:00.000-07:00

I made my first raggedy a couple of weeks ago and have been looking forward to making some more with eager anticipation! Before I could begin, I had to order more felt and I thought I'd get some prim doll yarn for their hair too. Today I finally got them all sewn up and they're ready to put together. There will be a boy to match Anais and then I'll be making a boy and girl with the traditional red hair. Here's a shot of their progress so far,

Anais is laying on the fabrics I plan to use for their clothing and isn't that lace beautiful?? Can't wait to use it!!

Ok, must admit that cutting out is NOT my favourite part - but unfortunately there's no way around not doing it!! If only I had some little elves to come and do that part as well as all the sewing up, that way I could do all the fun stuff!!

These are the boy shoes. I appliqued a strip of lighter felt down the centre and added black beads on either side. Finished them off with little embroidered crosses as the laces.

So, that's as far as I've gotten for now. I'm hoping to get them all done before Thursday as we are going to Vancouver Island for a few days to visit my hubby's family.

Hope all you moms had a very special Mother's Day!!
hugs,
Shelly
xo

Lilly and Madeleine

2011-05-04T17:20:00.000-07:00

I'm having a super busy week trying to catch up with some custom orders that I've had for a while. I had to mail order felt for doll bodies and yarn for hair and it seems that I've been waiting for them forever! At least I got the felt, so I was able to cut out four dolls - two are made and I can cross them off my list. Here are my two new Pixies - Lilly and Madeleine.

Both are reserved and will be off to new homes very shortly.

Just a couple of work in progress shots. They look so funny without hair!

I've been having an urge to play with clay lately, so I started a little head on Sunday night. It's still rough, but at least it's started. I'm thinking of making it into a bust, but that could change as I see the personality come out. As soon as I'm all caught up, I'm going to have a good clay day!! Can't wait!!

Enjoy the remainder of the week:)

Daisy May

2011-05-01T18:54:00.000-07:00

Sweet little Daisy May is finally finished and as promised, here are a couple of pics of her:

I finished her off with a beaded flower at the front of her ear,

and a sweet little silver charm attached to a lace collar about her neck. She's off to Australia tomorrow, so I've got her get her packed up and ready to go. Hope you like her:)

~Shelly
xo

Daisy May WIP

2011-04-30T21:05:00.000-07:00

This little sweetie is Daisy May. She's not quite ready just yet but I wanted to share a few pics of her progress.

At this point, her arms and legs still need to be attatched. I've made her with a very pale pink medium pile mohair and vintage cotton fabric.

Checking to make sure the proportions look right.

Love this printed cotton!

She should be finished tomorrow and I'll post a pic or two:)
~Shelly

Vintage Paper Dolls

2011-04-25T18:47:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share a quick pic of the rest of the paper dolls I've been working on. They're all coloured and I'm very happy with the results!

As you can see, Ginger is packaged up and is now available in my shop. I am selling her as an original - hand coloured and signed by me. She will be one of a kind as I did not make any prints of her. I'm hoping to offer the rest as prints - they can be cut out and put together very easily with tiny brads. They will also be available pre-cut and assembled for those who'd prefer me to do that fun task:) I have many more ideas just waiting to be put on paper and can't wait to share them with you all!!

Shelly
xo

Paper Dolls

2011-04-23T21:29:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately we had to postpone our trip to the island, so we're home and enjoying a lazy, sunny weekend here instead! Of course, I just can't be lazy for very long, and I've been wanting to have another go at making Paper Dolls, so, that's what I've spent my day doing! I wanted to go with a 1930's theme and I hope you'll recognize it when you see the illustrations. Please let me know if I'm too far off the mark:)

This is Ginger (had to give them names of famous movie stars!), she's the only girl finished for the moment. I printed her onto cardstock and coloured her in with pencil crayons. The colours are really a lot more vivid in person and hard to capture accurately with a camera.

Top left: Just coloured and waiting to be cut out. Top right: A print of the original, printed onto card stock.

Mae Clara

Vivienne

I'm hoping to finish the other three tomorrow. Can you guess which movie stars I've named them after? I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with them yet, but I'm thinking along the lines of selling them as a set of colouring pages. Kids (or adults) can colour, cut and put them together very easily and the best part is that they pose very nicely:) I'd love to hear your ideas too!

hugs,

~Shelly

Happy Easter Dear Friends!

2011-04-21T19:10:00.000-07:00

Wishing you and yours a very Happy Easter! We are off to Vancouver Island to visit my hubby's family for the long weekend and I'm looking forward to getting away for a few days! Will take some pics of the lovely scenery and post them when we get back:)

Hugs and Chocolate Kisses,

~Shelly

Sweet Pea and Chester

2011-04-20T17:17:00.000-07:00

Chester's job at the Sweet Stuffling Circus is to show people to their seats and make sure they're comfortable while Sweet Pea sells candy floss and giant lollypops during the interval. However, once the lights have dimmed and the show's begun, they may be found stealing kisses or sharing a bright, swirly wirly lolly!

Sweet Pea is made from hand dyed felt. I chose the pale pink and blue to make you think of cotton candy. She wears a beaded crown and tutu and measures about 4 inches seated.

I wanted Chester to compliment Sweet Pea's colouring so he is made from the same pale blue felt and a lovely houndstooth moss green felt. He wears a beaded top hat and waistcoat and measures about 4.5 inches tall seated.

Both Chester and Sweet Pea are looking for new homes and are available in my shop today.

hugs,
~Shelly
xo

Circus Stuffling Patterns Now Available!!

2011-04-18T19:36:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Just wanted to let you all know that the Circus Patterns are now available in my shop! I've made them available as a set of all three - elephant, dog and bear, or separately - the dog and bear are basically the same pattern with different ears and clothing options, or the elephant. These little guys are super easy to make and wonderful to give as gifts!

Hope you all have a creative week:)
~Shelly
xo

Ragamuffin - Anais

2011-04-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

I've always been intrigued about making a Raggedy style doll, so I thought I'd give one a try this weekend. Earlier this week, I received a pattern in the mail fromSweetMeadowsFarm. It included instructions on how to make a cloth raggedy and was very detailed with steps on how to paint, sand and coffee stain your doll. To be truthful, I found it all a little intimidating! So, because I just love making dolls out of felt, I thought I'd put my own spin on this classic doll.! Please meet Anais, my first little Ragamuffin...

She's definitely not an ordinary Raggedy, and I'm looking forward to making a few more! Unfortunately, I've run out of the skin toned felt, so will have to wait till my order comes in!

Anais' features are hand embroidered and her hair is made from a gorgeous blue alpaca wool. She wears a printed cotton dress with matching bow and a removable apron with a tiny key. Her shoes are made from felt.

She is reserved, but I will be making more as soon as I can:) Hope you like her!

Shelly
xo

Giveaway Winners!!

2011-04-15T15:11:00.000-07:00

Hello dear friends! It's time for the Blog Anniversary Giveaway Draw!! I've been looking forward to this event all week and decided to use the Random Number Generator to pick the winners. Of course, this was not an easy task for me as I'm quite computer illiterate, so I just added the first winner's widget. The runners up were picked by the number generator too and I've just written them down the numbers with the corresponding names.

The 8th person to comment was Kaerie Faerie! Congratulations Karen, you are the winner of the Spring Pixie Bear!!

Runners up are: 24 - Victoria, 71 - Lesley, 48 - Kelly. Congratulations!

Thank you so much to all who entered this draw! Your comments always mean so much to me:) I will contact each winner by email for shipping details and pattern choices.

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Shelly

Circus Stufflings

2011-04-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

Did you enjoy going to the circus when you were a kid? To me it was a delight to the senses! I remember sitting on the edge of my seat as I watched the trapeze artists soaring through the air, the smell of cotton candy and the bright, colourful outfits worn by all the performers. And of course, I loved the animals too! So, for my latest project, I thought it would be fun to make some Circus Stufflings.

Ellie is a dear little elephant who's wery skilled at walking the tight rope. She wears a beaded lace skirt and crown. Barnacle is the ringmaster and it's his job to make sure everything is running smoothly. I made him a waistcoat edged in a contrasting blanket stitch and a top hat with a silvery band. Dandy is a little clown and he has a removable clown nose that ties behind his neck. He wears a ruffle collar and a hat with a matching band. They will all be available in my shop tomorrow.

Dandy with his clown nose on.

Barnacle.

Ellie.

Please remember that I'll be having the draw for my Blog Anniversary Giveaway on Friday the 15, so if you haven't entered you still have a chance: http://gingermelondolls.blogspot.com/2011/04/blog-anniversary-giveaway.html.

Shelly
xo

Blog Anniversary Giveaway!!!

2011-04-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hello! Do you know what?? I just realized that I forgot about the first anniversary of my blog which was on the 16th of March. So, to celebrate this wonderful (belated) occassion, I thought it would be nice to have a little Giveaway! I am so grateful to each and every one of you for visiting my blog and commenting on my posts and I hope you'll continue to come and see what's going on in my little corner of the world:)

So without further ado, here's what's up for grabs - the first prize is one of my newest Spring Pixies: Pixie Bear.

For 3 runner's up, there will be a choice of one of any of my patterns:

: Sweet Stufflings,

: Mini Stufflings,

: Gingerbelles,

: Pocket Pixies,

: Bear, Bunny and Fox Brooch

: Woodland Stufflings

You can take a look at the patterns in my shop to see which one you'd like best. To enter, just leave your name and the name of the pattern you'd choose and I'll announce the winners on Friday, April 15.

Best of luck to you all:)

Shelly

Spring Pixies

2011-04-08T16:29:00.000-07:00

Hello friends! Are you noticing the signs of spring yet? It seems like we've had an extra long winter this year with lots of grey, dreary, wet days here on the West Coast of Canada! But, we've had a couple of sunny days this week and it really amazes me at how much more creative and energetic I feel when the weather starts warming up! I've been busy with a few new pixies this week - they're very similar to the Pocket Pixies, but I've designed little Beanie hats with animal ears for them. So, these are the new Beanie Belle Pixies, and they'll be available later today in my shop. I'm wondering if I should make this pattern available and would love to hear what you think!

Now that the Pixies are done, I'm starting on a new project that I'm quite excited about! I have an idea in my head that is based on a circus theme. It involves a trio of animals, the first being a little dog that I'm working on right now. His name is Dandy and I envision him in a colourful ruffle collar, a clown's hat and a ball. The second will be an elephant wearing a tutu and I'm still trying to figure out the third.

Dandy.

Wishing you all a beautiful weekend:)
Shelly
xo

Gingermelon dolls' photostream

2011-03-30T23:07:00.001-07:00

Gingermelon dolls' photostream on Flickr.

Please pop in for a visit on my flickr page!

Easter Pixies, Kitty Girl and a Birthday

2011-03-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

Hello dear friends! This is a real quick post as I've got so much on the go this week, but I wanted to share a few of the things I've been working on.

These are the beginnings of some Easter Pixies. They're ready to be sewn up, but it'll be a while before I can actually finish them as I need to complete a couple of custom orders first. Oh, and by the way, I hate to say this, but I will not be taking any custom orders for quite some time as I have soooo many things I've been wanting to create but not enough time to do them!

Also on the go is a paper clay kitty girl - she's been waiting to be finished for quite some months now and just needs a new pair of arms. Not sure if you can tell that her hair is the most amazing shade of pale lavender!

Just had to share a couple of pics of my oldest baby's birthday. He turned 18 on Sunday which is scary for me because it seems that not very long ago he was a little boy who needed me to do everything for him. Soon he will be ready to graduate and make his own way in the world and we will be needed less and less as he discovers his own path. I wish time didn't go so fast!

Hope you have a lovely week!
xo

Dress Up

2011-03-24T14:48:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's nice to take a break and do something different. I had an urge to make some Blythe dresses this week and at the same time gave each of my girls a little bit of much needed attention! I really haven't had much time to enjoy them lately, well, except for customizing my little Ginger Snap, so it was great to use them as models for the photo shoots!

From left to right - Ginger Snap, Peony and Skye.

Spring Garden Dress with tiny pink buttons at neckline and glass beads at hem. Matching hair bow included.

Princess Dress in the most adorable fabric! Tiny hearts, puff sleeves, glass beads and lacy trim. Perfect for a little princess!

Spring Garden Dress with tiny turquoise buttons on a square necked bodice. Glass beads at hem and a matching hair bow.

Those were so much fun to do! Thank heavens I got all the pics taken because as I was taking this last one, my camera slipped off the box Ginger Snap is standing on and broke!! :( @#&*$%!!

Little Lady Aggie

2011-03-21T18:05:00.000-07:00

A little while ago I got a request to make a Little Lady for a lady who is expecting a baby girl in April. She wanted me to make her look like a doll I had made a couple of months ago, you can see her here: http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.202586458.jpg. So, this is Aggie, one of three Little Ladies I've got on the go.

Aggie wears a hand knitted cardigan made by my talented mom, a sweet little piggie and panda dress in Japanese linen and black Mary Janes. Below are some pics of her work in progress.

I finally managed to write up the pattern for the Bunny, Bear and Fox Brooches and it is now available in my shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Gingermelon.

These little cuties can be made into brooches, onraments or just left as minis.

Hope you all have a wonderful week:)

Thank You!!

2011-03-19T21:49:00.000-07:00

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO PURCHASED 'HELP JAPAN' PATTERNS!! TOGETHER WE RAISED $500.00 FOR THE CANADIAN RED CROSS. These funds will be used to support Red Cross emergency response efforts in Japan. This may include relief items (blankets, sleeping mats, and hygiene items), medical supplies and equipment and deploying emergency personnel.

You folks are awesome!!

Help Support Japan in their Time of Need

2011-03-17T00:22:00.000-07:00

:: March 17-18 :: 100% OF THE PROCEEDS OF EVERY PATTERN SOLD WILL BE DONATED TO THE RED CROSS ORGANIZATION TO HELP SUPPORT THE PEOPLE OF JAPAN :: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Gingermelon

A little can go a long way! Please help in any way you can!!

A Bear, a Bunny and a Fox

2011-03-16T16:52:00.000-07:00

Hello!! I didn't realize how long it had been since my last post! I finished up a few custom orders last week, and while I was working, I had a little idea forming at the back of my mind. So, as soon as I was done, I made some sketches, cut out some felt, got out my embroidery thread and whipped up three little brooches.

These little guys measure between 3 - 3.5 inches tall. Each one is made from a gorgeous new felt that I purchased from: http://www.etsy.com/shop/quiltingacres. I'm loving the plaid and houndstooth felt from this wonderful shop!

This is Bunny Boo.

Foxy.

And Blue Beary.

All three are available in my shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Gingermelon. Patterns will be available as soon as possible. Hope you like them:)

Enjoy the rest of the week,
Shelly
xo

Pattern Winners

2011-03-04T19:51:00.000-08:00

Hello dear friends!

I just want to thank everyone who participated in the draw for the Pocket Pixie Pattern Giveaway! It was lovely to read the wonderful comments you all left for me! All the names of everyone who left comments on my blogs, flickr, facebook and fan page and were added to the draw and here are the winners:

1. Doreen
2. Lesley
3. Beth
4. Victoria Stitch
5. Shannon's lil critters
6. Cheryl
7. Mademoiselleblythe

Congratulations to everyone who won!

Pocket Pixies Pattern Giveaway!!

2011-02-27T20:51:00.000-08:00

I'm very happy to say that I've finally finished working on the pattern for the Pocket Pixies!! To celebrate, I am having a little Giveaway for seven lucky readers. If you'd like to be in the draw, please leave a comment on my blogs, facebook or flickr. Draw will take place on Friday, March 4 and I will notify the winners via email.

Best of luck everyone!!

Pocket Pixies - Pansy, Marigold and Petunia

2011-02-20T17:13:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a busy week again and I've just finished up the last two Pocket Pixies. Marigold and Petunia have been adopted and will be travelling to their new home tomorrow. I know they're excited to meet their new mom and all the other sweet dolls she collects! Pansy is patiently waiting and hoping to win the heart of someone really special too!

I gotta say that these little dolls were sooo much fun to make! The pattern will be available soon and I think I'll have a GIVEAWAY for a few of the patterns! Please check back soon for info!!

Pansy wears a cherry pink dress in hand woven felt with teeny buttons and appliqued pocket. A beaded lace trim accents her hem. Just love the colour of her hair!! I think it's my fave! Her hair has been needle felted onto her head and can be gently styled.

I gave Marigold a cute little bob and used a juicy orange organic wool for her hair. She's dressed in a robins egg blue dress which I've accented with teeny orange buttons and a beaded lace trim.

Each Pocket Pixie is entirely hand stitiched and measures 7 inches tall.

Pocket Pixie - Petunia

2011-02-17T16:45:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to share a new project I've been working on this week. I wanted to create an easy to make doll pattern made from felt that would appeal to any level of sewer. This is Petunia, the first of the Pocket Pixies! She measures about 7 inches tall and is completely hand sewn. I've needle felted her hair (an organic wool) right onto her head and her dress and shoes are removable.

Hope you like her! As soon as her pattern is ready, it'll be available in my shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Gingermelon

Fluff and Wasabi

2011-02-15T08:40:00.000-08:00

Goodness me, how time flies! Didn't realize that it's been over two weeks since I've posted anything! Hope you all had a wonderful LOVE day!

I recently completed two mohair Petal Bears. The first was a custom order for an anime kitten. Her name is Fluff and she has a pet bird named Mavis. The second, an anime elephant named Wasabi.

Fluff is made from cream and pink long pile mohair and she wears a pink and white ruffle about her neck with a pretty beaded flower. Mavis is made from felt and I've beaded and embroidered her tiny body. She can sit and stand and turn her head from side to side.

Pea green and cream mohair were used to create Wasabi. She wears a delicate lace scarf with a vintage button and a rusty bell. Available in my shop for adoption.

Hope you all have a wonderful week:)

Oliver, Cleo and Sparks

2011-01-30T21:48:00.000-08:00

Oliver, Cleo and Sparks are all ready for their new home. I've been working on them for quite some time and they're finally ready to meet their new mommy! Each has been a delight to make as I got to try out some new mohair that I recently purchased.

Oliver is an Anime Panda made from luscious lemon and lime long pile mohair. He wears a cream ruffle collar studded with tiny turquoise glass beads. His pet fish is made from felt and I've embroidered a little design on his sides. He has tiny glass bead eyes.

For Cleo the Anime Kitten, I used a super soft cream and pink mohair. She wears a pink and white ruffle collar with a pretty beaded flower. Her bird pet is embroidered, made from felt and plumped with polyfil.

Sparks the Anime Puppy wears a silver collar with tiny bells. He is made from a pretty blue sparse mohair and a pale brown short pile mohair. I made some cookies for him from felt and embroidery thread.

A shot of my work in progress. Sparks is waiting for his limbs to be sewn together in the background.

With a Sad Heart

2011-01-25T18:04:00.000-08:00

Sadness has touched our family. Our beloved cat had to be put to sleep last week after battling a rare kidney disease. When he was no more than a day old, we found him abandoned in our apartment's underground parking lot by his mother, a feral cat. No matter how many times I tried to put him back in the nest she'd made inside a wooden box concealing some pipes, she would not have anything to do with him. His little umbilical cord was still attatched... So, we took him to the vet, got some kitten formula and I proceeded to bottle feed him every 2 hours for a number of weeks. He loved that bottle so much! When it came time to ween him, I added wet kitten food to the formula and fed it to him in that bottle too. We had to replace the nipple every other day as his little teeth would tear it to shreds! He grew into a wonderful companion, enjoying car rides, camping, walking on a leash and eating marshmellows. He truly was a very special part of our family and knowing that there was no way to cure his medical problem, only prolong it, we did everything we could to help him live the best life he could. Sadly, he couldn't fight it anymore. We couldn't bear to watch him suffer just so we could keep him with us a while longer. Making the decision to put him down was the hardest thing we've ever had to do, and we miss him terribly!

I couldn't stand being at home without his constant companionship, so on Saturday, we picked up our new baby, a sweet little ginger kitten. He doesn't have a real name yet, though for now we call him Babycat. He's helped to heal our hearts a bit and I know as time goes by, he'll be just as dear to us as his big brother was!

Isn't he the cutest thing?? He's quite fascinated by my dolls and is enjoying Willow's company here.

I managed to finish up some new Gingerbelles for my shop this weekend and also made the pattern available for those who'd like to make some of their own. They're super easy to make and quite sweet once done. I've used my favorite felt from http://www.feltorama.com/. to make them. I cannot say enough about this wondeful felt and April's fantastic customer service! Please check out the feature she did on my patterns!!

For the next while, I'll be finishing up a few custom orders I'm working on at the moment. Here's a sneak peek of my new desk with my work in progress:)

Have a lovely week!

Shelly

I am Canadian! Finally.....

2011-01-14T22:25:00.000-08:00

Today is the day I became a Canadian.... Very early this morning I took the oath of Citizenship and swore my allegiance to the Queen. It only took me 23 years to do it!!

My family moved here from South Africa when I was 17. Like any young girl on the brink of graduating from high school, I had begun to make plans for my future. Plans that DID NOT include moving house and home to the other side of the world!! I must admit that the whole process was quite daunting as we were not sure of the future that lay ahead for us all. It took some time to settle in and more time to feel comfortable in our new surroundings. But, we managed and eventually we all made new paths for ourselves and life went on.

I am blessed to have a sweet, caring and supportive hubby and two talented boys - Jody will be 18 soon (how did that happen so quickly??) and Dylan is 16. They are both wonderful singers and are very active in their school band and choirs. Did I mention that I'm very proud of them? I have a wonderful relationship with my dear mom and dad and of course my two sisters are really my best friends! We are also lucky to have my sweet Nannykins with us still and though she is 93, she is a big part of our lives too.

I procrastinated for far too long about getting my citizenship!! The rest of my family have been citizens for years, but for some reason, I never felt ready to let go of my roots. I am ready now and it feels great to be Canadian!!

Hope you have a lovely weekend!!

Stange things Afoot.....

2011-01-08T22:22:00.000-08:00

My dear hubby has half a toothpick lodged deep inside his foot. It's been in there since New Year's eve and is showing no signs of coming out anytime soon. Now you're probably wondering how on earth it got there in the first place, so I'll tell you. NEVER let your hubby vacuum the house with knitted slippers on!! To make a long story short, the poor guy has had to hobble along very uncomfortably for the last week and we're waiting to hear if he needs surgery to remove it.

December was a strange month for us and I'm glad it's over! Although we had a lovely Christmas and New Year, the rest of the month was best forgotten. It started with our cat progressing to stage 3 of kidney failure and he's steadily getting worse as the days go by. Then, I got a ticket for not wearing my seatbelt when in fact I was! The officer was adamant that he did not see me wearing it as we drove past him, so he gave me a $168.00 fine. I couldn't believe it as I always wear it and wouldn't even think of not putting it on!! I will be contesting it for sure!! And then, to top it off, both of my sisters were in car accidents (on seperate occassions) and their cars were totalled. Thank heavens they were fine, just shaken up! Oh, and I almost forgot, my dear Nannykins took a fall on Christmas day and ended up sore and bruised. I'm hoping we're on to better things for 2011!!

Well, I've been busy, busy, busy!! I've just finished some new Woodland Stufflings for my shop and they're finally ready for adoption.

The Woodland Stufflings include owls, foxes and deer. I will be working on their patterns which will also be available in my shop.

Miss Francis and Basil the deeries.

Twiggy and Valentine Rose the foxes

Llewellyn and Lady Loo are owls

And Harriet too.

Now that they're done, I'll be moving on to something new. This time, I'm venturing into making Paper Dolls and I'm quite excited about them! I've made a little template of a jointed doll that will serve as my guide for making others in that fashion. I'm still working on the details for their outfits. I'm also planning on doing traditional Paper Dolls with plenty of outfits, accessories and pets.

I'm looking forward to a creative year and hope you'll join me on my adventures with cloth, paper and clay!

Wishing you a beautiful 2011!!

Shelly

Happy Holidays Dear Friends!!

2010-12-20T21:47:00.000-08:00

Here's wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!! I also wanted to say a HUGE 'THANK YOU' to you all for your visits and comments on my posts! I always look forward to reading what you have to say:)

As this will more than likely be my last post befor Christmas, I thought I'd share a couple of things I've been working on this week. I just finished up three new mohair Petal Bears: Francesca Kitten, Charlie Bunny and Blossom Bear. The kitten and the bunny are now available in my shop, but the Bear was a gift for a very dear friend.

For Charlie Bunny, I made a tiny, embroidered felt book that will keep him busy on his travels. He wears a cream scarf to keep off the chill. Francesca loves playing dress-up, so I gave her a lacey scarf and headband and added tiny glass beads and a felt flower.

Both are filled with generous pinches of fragrant lavender, so they smell divine!

Lately, my head has been full of new ideas and I'm excited to give you a sneek peek of my next project! I'ts going to be something completely different....

These are but a sampling of some ideas swirling around in my head. One of my plans is to make them into bigger prints, painted of course and embelished with all sorts of pretty things like glitter, beads and lovely papers! And maybe, just maybe (it's still a thought..) make some into paper dolls with different outfits.

For now, I am going to finish this busy week and enjoy Christmas with my family and take a much needed break! I hope yours is filled with peace, love and joy:)

Warm Wishes,
Shelly
xo

Lulu and Clementine

2010-12-12T14:13:00.000-08:00

I've just finished making two new mohair Petal Bears. Lulu is a sweet little kitten made with pink and cream long and short pile mohair. She wears a delicate lacey scarf with a chartreuse green beaded flower and she never goes anywhere without her best friend Fishlette. Clementine is a dear little bear with a bit of a sweet tooth, so I've made her two 'iced' cookies with sprinkles to take to her new home.

Both are available for adoption in my shop.

Posing in my cream jug.

That's Clementine on the left with her little cookies and Lulu on the right with her best friend Fishlette.

And just a quick shot of their work in progress:)

Are You Counting Down the Days??

2010-12-09T20:55:00.000-08:00

It seems that time is whipping by, getting ever closer to the big day! My days are filled with finishing up little projects I have on the go, chatting with clients while I do their hair, going to band concerts and shopping, shopping, shopping!!

Since I've been pretty bad at posting anything for over a week, I thought I'd just share what I've been up to.

I finally finished the four dresses I've been working on all week. I just want to make a whole bunch more because they were so much fun to do, but I need to move on to something else. I'm thinking of making a couple more mohair bears/kittens.

The little fellow above is Clarence. He loves baking and has just made some delicious cookies with a creamy filling. Clarence was made with short pile mohair and his little cookies were made wtih felt and embroidery thread. He wears a beaded ruffle collar. He's been adopted.

My mom knitted these gorgeous coat and hat sets and I finished them off with hand woven felted flowers.

And last, but not least, I finally finished creating a new pattern for the Miniature Sweet Stuffling Ornaments. Thank you to Vicky for the idea!! I had so much fun creating both of my patterns and I look forward to coming up with more in the future!

Short and sweet, but that's all I had time for! Hope the rest of your week is wonderful:)

Shelly

Little Ladies in Waiting...

2010-11-29T16:40:00.000-08:00

My Little Ladies are back!! For a while, I've been busy creating Petal Bears, Sweet Stufflings and a few Petite Poppets, so I felt it was time to whip out my old pattern and make some new Ladies! These cloth dolls are what led me to open my etsy shop and they have always been a pleasure to create! I just love how each one is different and unique!

These two are sisters, twins in fact, though they're not identical. Wren, on the left, has golden hair and blue eyes and Robin, on the right, has green eyes and auburn hair with a sprinkling of freckles on her nose.

Each Little Lady has hand embroidered faces and organic wool hair that has been securely hand stitched onto their heads.

Both girls wear dresses made from Japanese linen and I've edged them in lace and embroidery thread. My mom made their pretty hand knitted cardigans and I added embroidered flowers to them. Felt mary jane shoes with working buttons complete their outfits.

Wren and Robin will be listed in my shop sometime tomorrow and they're both hoping to find good homes:)

CYBER MONDAY SALE!! 10% off EVERYTHING in my shop!!

2010-11-28T20:37:00.000-08:00

I'm having a SALE!! Please pop in for a visit and get 10% off everything in my shop on Monday, 29th November 2010! http://www.etsy.com/shop/Gingermelon

I just finished up a new Petite Poppet. Peach is her name and she has hand painted features with a sprinkling of sweet little freckles. Her hair is made from an organic wool and she wears a cotton dress, edged in embroidered lace. Tiny embroidered felt shoes and a hand knitted cardigan complete her outfit.

Of course, there are other goodies available too, so don't waste any time, come and take a peek:)

Sweet Stuffling Christmas Ornaments

2010-11-24T19:56:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to share my Sweet Stuffling Christmas ornaments. These little cuties measure about 3 inches tall and are made from my favourite hand woven felt. I received a request to make two of these for a dear lady who has a few of my other bears in her collection. Thanks for the wonderful idea Vicky! I didn't think it could be done because of the tiny arms and legs, but I think they turned out quite nicely:)

So, the first pink and white bunny and the last red bear above are spoken for, and the rest will be available in my shop tomorrow.

I'll be working on some Little Ladies and some tiny Christmas Poppet ornaments and hope to have them done by the end of the weekend.

To all of my friends in the States, I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving! Enjoy that turkey!

Giveaway Winners!!

2010-11-19T21:21:00.000-08:00

I just want to thank everyone who participated in my Sweet Stuffling Giveaway!! It was such a pleasure reading all your lovely comments and because there were so many entries, I decided to add a second winner.

Drum roll please..... The winners are Gret and MissLK!! Hope you have fun making these sweet little Stufflings! The pattern is now available in my shop. When I designed this pattern, I wanted to give you the option of making ALL the animals, so that means you get to create Bunnies, Bears and Kittens!! It's easy to follow and I've included hand drawn illustrations along the way.

Congratulations ladies! Hope you'll send some pics when they're done:)

Giveaway!! Sweet Stuffling PDF Pattern!!

2010-11-13T19:39:00.000-08:00

I'm very excited to announce that I will now be offering a Sweet Stuffling Pattern in PDF format in my etsy shop! Sweet Stufflings are adorable, easy to make and fun to give as gifts. When I designed the pattern, I wanted to give the sewer the option of making ALL the animals, so pattern pieces for the Bear, Bunny and Kitten are included.

I have created this pattern with simple, easy to follow instructions and illustrations and have included a list of materials and supplies. It is suitable for all levels of sewing skills.

Now, for the best part! I will be giving away one free pattern to a lucky reader. If you'd like the chance of winning one, please leave a comment with your name and I'll draw for the lucky winner on Friday, 19 November. I will be adding all names from both blogs, flickr and facebook.

Best of luck to you all:)

Twizzle and Honey Bunny

2010-11-09T18:49:00.000-08:00

Twizzle and Honey Bunny are my last two Sweet Stufflings. They're finally finished and that means I get to move on to something new! What shall it be?? Little Ladies, Petite Poppets or something entirely different all together? I'll keep you posted...

Twizzle belongs to a family of musical bears. He plays the bassoon, a large, low-pitched woodwind instrument that he finds a tad cumbersome to lug around! Twizzle is made from a luscious, cherry red hand dyed/woven felt and a swirly printed cotton. I added a ruffled collar and glass bead 'buttons' down his front, and embroidered a tiny beaded flower to his footpad. As usual, I added a generous pinch of fragrant lavender to each Stuffling's tummy, so they smell divine!

Honey Bunny has a bit of a sweet tooth and if you're not careful, will nibble on any candy she sees! She is made from a cream and brown hand dyed/woven felt and a pretty paisley printed cotton. Honey Bunny wears a ruffled collar with a silk rose and a rusty bell. A tiny flower is embroidered onto her footpad.

I am almost ready to make the Sweet Stuffling patterns available as a PDF. I'm hoping that they make great Christmas gifts for anyone who likes to sew and I'll include a list of my favorite on-line felt and fabric suppliers.

The Stufflings make wonderful pets for Blythes!

Honey Bunny's work in progress:)

Have a creative week:)

Clara and Belle

2010-11-07T13:52:00.000-08:00

Clara and Birdie are an unlikely pair, but that doesn't stop them from being the best of friends! The same goes for Belle and Fishly, who enjoy each other's company very much!

Clara and Belle are made from long-pile mohair and measure about 4.5 inches tall. Each was completely hand sewn and coffee stained to create a well-loved, vintage look. I added ruffled seam binding to their necks and then secured a tiny flower on for each.

Birdie and Fishly are made from brightly coloured Japanese felt that I embellished with embroidery thread. I used glass beads for their eyes.

Above left is Clara the kitten and Birdie, and of course at right, Belle the bear with Fishly.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend:)