I'll slow down after the new year...

...but until then, I'm keeping a pretty frantic pace.

I finally printed out a few planner pages (thank you, donnayoung.org, for all the printable calender and planner pages I could ever use) today because the jumble of things I need to do in the next two months was causing some severe sleep deprivation.  Putting the mess on paper got it out of my head so that I can sleep at night.  Yesterday afternoon, as I began to fade out after only 3 hours of sleep the night before, I decided to make coffee.  Generally I drink one mug of half-caff in the morning and that's it.  Well, I brewed up half a pot of very strong Ethiopian coffee and drank three mugs the size of a soup bowl (thanks, Annita, for the new mug--it'll be handy for morning coffee or soaking my tired feet in).  I got pretty wired; Una said I was vibrating...

Much of what's on my mind is related to Christmas.  Making things for the shop and for the kids.  I finally finished these little pocket gnome-babies and got them listed in the shop, with a couple put aside for Gemma and my niece.  I think they turned out well, the proof being that my boys, right up to my soon-to-be 12 year old, all love them and ask, "Can you make one for me?")

I'm sharing this on Keep Calm, Craft On {Crafting On}, on Frontier Dreams and Creative Friday on Natural Suburbia.  So...what are you working on for Christmas?

Crafty

Never an idle moment in the last quarter of the year!

The days have been passing in a blur as every moment not spent on home, hearth and schooling has been dedicated to crafting.  Some of it is knitting, some of it sewing, and it has been pretty equally divided between making things for our Etsy shop, Frost Lane, and making Christmas gifts.  I have made wool dryer balls from these instructions, for myself and as gifts.  The little autumn babies tucked into walnut shells are in our shop now awaiting adoption, and I have made a number of cherry stone heating pads/ice packs for the shop as well.  Currently in production are the "Pocket Babies."  I have to attach their little gnome hats and wrap them in their felt blankets, but I hope to have them in the shop soon--with a couple put aside as gifts for a couple of special little girls I know.

I'm linking up with Frontier Dreams (Keep Calm, Craft On)...

Crafts for the shop

I've spent the past week making things for our Etsy shop, Frost Lane.  It's been a while since I've done any crafts (I'm a wee bit put out by the fact that only my youngest two like playing with craft materials when I have an assortment of them that would stock a small craft supply store!)  I worked on wood-burning some one inch buttons, made some more toadstool-pendant necklaces and made some little autumn gnomes with acorn cap baskets.  I think they came out really well!  I hope to have them in the shop later today...

I'm late! I'm late--for a very important date!

Nicole of Frontier Dreams is generously hosting a giveaway for our shop, Frost Lane from today through Saturday in honor of Michaelmas (September 29th).  We are giving away a very lovely sword and shield set (or toddler-sized dagger and small shield set, winner's choice) and offering a discount in the shop for the rest of the month.  Stop by Frontier Dreams and leave a comment to enter!

Frost Lane giveaway on Wild Armadillos!

We're excited; Bret and I are being featured on Wild Armadillos today, and we are giving away one of our shop's sword and shield sets, plus a dagger.  Stop on by there to see our interview and get a chance to win!

Creative Friday

I'll be linking up with Natural Suburbia and Creative Friday today...I love hopping around to see what everyone has been making this week!

New in our Etsy shop this week, a "Hobbit" sword!

I also made a few more of these, which have been out of stock for a while now:

And I put this in the shop, too.  I made it a while ago, after seeing one like it on Taryn's blog a few months back.  Isn't it sweet?

And Sebastian hand-dipped his own birthday candles on Wednesday. 

On it's way to California...

A sampling of our wooden swords and cutlasses is off to Greenshops in California!  We're excited!

Creative Friday--crafting for Christmas

Advent is always marked by a flurry of Christmas crafting around here!  I have been furiously knitting since October, and for the last few weeks it has just been hats for the menfolk in the family...I still have one to do for my husband, and then I may attempt to knit up a couple of pairs of requested fingerless mitts.

There are other holiday gifts for the kids in the works which for obvious reasons cannot be mentioned here.

I haven't had time to make all the things I had intended to make for our Etsy shop before Christmas; I'd had plans for St. Nicholas dolls and tree ornaments and such, and just can't manage it.  I did manage to make two stockings from this adorable fabric, and they are available at Frost Lane.  I used the scraps--too cute to toss out--to make a few little stuffed ornaments for our tree.   They are backed with red felt.

I have loads to do and so many fabulous ideas (Pinterest is killing me!), that the days are too short and too few between now and Christmas.

So...what have you been up to?  Drop by Natural Suburbia for Creative Friday and to see all the fabulous things being crafted!

The Norsemen are coming!

Here is the new Viking Sword design in our Etsy shop, just in time for Christmas shopping. 

Somebody really liked these (party-pack of 30 swords, ready to ship).

Remember, when you purchase your holiday gifts from a small mom & pop business, you are probably helping them to purchase holiday gifts for their own kids!  

Joining Linda over at Natural Suburbia this week for Creative Friday.  Please visit and see what great things are being made, or join in yourself!

Cutlasses for a pirate party

Making wooden toys for our Etsy shop is frequently a family affair.  Bret cuts them out and routers them, and does the primary sanding, the kids help with the finish sanding, and I am in charge of the shop and the packing and shipping.  We just had a large order in for a "Party Pack" of twenty cutlasses.  It was lovely to send them on their way...

For more creativity and inspiration, visit Creative Friday on Natural Suburbia.

If you haven't done so already, please do enter my giveaway from Armadillo Dreams this week!  They are giving away the most adorable chicken family!

Decompression Crafting

This time of year is crazy.  I am trying to "finish" this school year (I school pretty much year round, but our umbrella school requires grade reporting and I need to sort of assess where we are in order to figure out what we are doing next), prepare for two birthdays and get ready for another school year, this one with the added stress of planning Una's high school years.  Ugh.  I obviously have absolutely no time to be working on crafts--other than those that are birthday-gift related--but that is how I decompress when I feel sort of ready to burst at the seams.  I suddenly develop this overwhelming urge to escape to my workroom and sit at my workbench or at the sewing machine.  Which explains why, in the midst of all that I should be doing, I have been doing this:

I've been practicing wood-burning a bit on some wooden buttons, which are now in the Etsy shop.  And I have nearly finished one of Gemma's birthday gifts, a set of clothing for her favorite baby doll.  I still have a couple of pieces I want to finish.

Do you craft for stress relief?  

Stop by Linda's Creative Friday on Natural Suburbia and see what other crafty folks are doing to decompress.

If you haven't done so already, please check out the sponsored giveaway I'm having this week and enter to win some herbal goodness from Twysted Thystle!  

A few new sketchbooks for the shop

I've been busy with sketchbooks lately...it feels good to be "flexing my bookbinder muscles" again.  Having finished these, I will be ready to sew up another batch as soon as my paper order comes in from my supplier.  I have also received my first custom order, which I am very happy to fulfill!

These and other goodies are available in our Etsy shop, Frost Lane.  Come visit!

And don't forget to drop by Linda's Creative Friday on Natural Suburbia!

Yarn Along--Love, Knitting and Rejection

Hello!  I am back this week, joining Ginny's Wednesday Yarn Along once again.  I was dealing with a lot of ugly stuff last week, as a stomach virus ran through our family.  I did knit a little, in dribs and drabs between doling out saltines and flat Coke and holding little heads over toilets.

Right now I am knitting this wonderful little Esprit Folk vest for Gemma.  I am using Cascade Eco Yarn for the first time, and I love the yarn and love the pattern.  I want to make another one of these vests in a light gray or oatmeal color.

I finished Una's slouchy hat nearly two weeks ago, but it took me some time to get her outdoors for photos. I now have the notes up on Ravelry.  She literally has not taken the hat off since I made it, except to bathe or sleep.  I am forgetting what her head looks like without it.

I still haven't gotten a photo of Adrian in his birthday Henley, although he has worn it a couple of times now. Maybe I will get one today, as the weather is supposed to be mild.  My camera just doesn't like the low light conditions of my house.

And now we go on to the title of this post.  It is not pleasant when one puts one's heart and soul into making a gift for someone, and that someone does not like it.  And two year olds have not learned tact or diplomacy.  The object to which I refer is this sweater:

Yep, the labor of love with the needle-felted toadstools and hand-painted buttons.  Gemma will not wear it.  In fact, the first time she modeled it for my camera was the last time I got her to wear it for more than two minutes.  In all truth, she doesn't like most of what I have made for her, at least not the cardigans and pullovers.  It might have something to do that this girl is almost always too hot.  I keep the thermostat at a chilly 66 degrees, and she is constantly stripping off her shirts exclaiming, "I hot!"  She wears the vest I made for her, which is why I am knitting another vest.  I'll try a cardi again, but use cotton and see how that goes over.  All I know is that she won't let me put it on her.

So, I am putting it into our Etsy shop.  I can't get sentimental about a sweater Gemma never wore, and I hate the thought of it just being packed away.  If it sells, fine, and if not, I will put it in tissue paper and mothballs and see if I one day have a grandchild who doesn't hate it.

Knitting can be such an emotional thing, you know....

As for my reading, I am officially halfway through The Fellowship of the Ring.  I am loving it all over again.  Even though it dips into my knitting time in bed.

Can't wait to see what you are reading and knitting!

I love toadstools...

...and I have a thing for gnomes and ladybugs and hedgehogs, too, and all those things that remind me of growing up in Germany.  That's why you will come across those things frequently on my blog--and in our shop.

I have been stockpiling these wooden shank buttons whenever I can find them, sanding off the finish, and now I am painting them.  My first batch is toadstools, which I first made for Gemma's "Woodland Cardigan Number 2" (Ravelry link here).  I received some comments and inquiries on the buttons, so I decided to make some for the shop.

These are 3/4" in diameter and sold in pairs.  I have some larger ones I may paint up soon as well, likely to be sold individually.

Let me know what you think!

To see more creativity across the blogosphere and spanning the globe, visit Creative Friday on Natural Suburbia...

Making things

This week, between school, household chores and errands, I have been laboring for our Etsy shop to stock the imaginary shelves (um, a big cardboard box in my workroom).  My workroom is getting a bit crazy between the Etsy creations and the stuff I am trying to get done for Halloween, Gabriel's birthday, Thanksgiving and Christmas...actually, it is a bit of a disaster right now.  But back to the new items:

 Watercolor sketchbooks (I have a stack sewn up and ready for covers):

Stitch Markers:

And I finally got these note cards printed up:

Have you made something this week?  For a little inspiration, stop by Creative Friday on Natural Suburbia!