Finding gifts for grownups. Tough. While you may still be able to slip in a Matchbook car, trying to figure out which video camera accessory or computer component or even sweater or Sephora product is going to do the job is – well, pretty near impossible. And expensive. It’s not like the old days when a couple of Nancy Drew books and a bike were the things of wonder and astonishment.
So I’ve been trying to come up with magic made by hand. Unexpected treasures.
Ambitious, I know, but it’s kinda fun to try.
Treasure chests:
I found these cool little unfinished wooden chests in three sizes at Joanne’s. I got one for myself, to hold treasure for grandkids. The more I looked at its blond wood self, the more I thought it cried out for some visual fun.
The fun was thinking about icons of old lives and new –
And a wee one for Chaz –
One of my favorite artist/craftswomen is The Goode Wife on Etsy. I bought a few patterns from her – the Ghost and Black cat I put up here in October of 2013. She taught me how to start with muslin and a character. She really kinda set me free. So I decided to make some deer. It took some messing around with shapes, and I finally came up with this little girl:
I wanted to use sticks from our trees for the legs, which mean trying to figure out a way of transitioning from stick to fabric. G and I experimented with some fly tying stuff, but finally settled on some silky cord to make the joint. Then, it was amazingly fun to study up on deer coloration, and then to wrangle the paint for hue and texture.
Choosing the sticks was fun, too – looking for the right shape, using the native characteristics of the twig itself to help add to the character.
Then the finishing, festive details –
Every one of them had a character of its own.
They were kinda too big to hang easily from the branches of the tree, so they became branch grazers. And they hung around on the top of the book cases and hutch.
Lately, I found a pattern offered free by a woman who had made a Tilda-like sheep. Her design didn’t say sheep to me, so I took what I learned from her construction and made myself a little suffolk guy. I’m liking this concept. Gonna have a lot of fun playing with this one.
Is it silly to get so excited over something that won’t change the world?
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