Creatures and Critters and On A Whim still going strong

Creatures and Critters and On A Whim fabrics are still selling and sewing..... here are some goodies for the wee ones to feast your eyes on.
I can't wait to see what you make with the new Forest Fun fabrics!

Spud and Peanut on Etsy






GiggleBerry on Etsy




Spoiled Sweet Couture on Etsy



Little Thing Design on Etsy

Festive Salads and Molds

Flea market find, circa 1966: When Jell-O ruled.




And canned food ruled too....

Inspired By.....

...the elegant and simple design and brushwork of Japanese textile designer Naomi Ito....

Flying Birds

Badskirt gave my birds real wings:



Forest Fun fabrics now available here too.

Illustration

I have been revamping and re-organizing my illustration portfolios and came across this illustration that I sold to Hallmark a few years back that I thought I would share with you.

Finding Forest Fun Fabrics

Say that five times fast! I am getting lots of e-mails regarding where to find the new fabrics. Spice Berry Cottage and Lucky Kaeru Fabrics on Etsy have some in stock. I think it will hit most retailers that have been carrying my fabrics in the next couple of weeks.

And (thanks Melanie), they are also here.

And the Winners Are:

Thanks to everyone who entered the give away. It was so much fun reading through all of your short stories about your critter encounters. The stories were funny, majestic, scary, and a blast to read through. Here are the winners!



Nicole told a very funny moose story (and wins the moose fabric and four badges):

"I come from a very big family and when we went on a vacation it was either camping or to see grandparents. One summer camping we had a really nice spot by a river. My mom liked to get up early, and spend some time alone before we (all seven of us) woke up. She has terrible eyesight without her contacts, but somehow this did not deter her from wandering a little in the morning. One morning she got up and was surprised to see a horse at the river. She grew up with horses and was concerned about this loose horse. she called to us to come see and she went to retrieve the horse. She was about 10 yards from the "horse" when my dad calmly, but loudly said "Stop! and walk back to us very slowly" What my mom had thought was a horse was a large moose. When she got back and the moose ran off, we all laughed and laughed.....then made mom promise to put in her contacts before retrieving any other wildlife!"



Paula shared a majestic story about the animals of the night (and wins the owls fabric and four badges):

"When my three oldest children were little (5 and under), we went to a park near dusk. As we drove around, it was like a special place opened up right before our eyes. We began to spot night life everywhere we looked. My little children screamed with delight as they saw animals in real life for the first time: raccoons, baby skunks, possums, armadillos, and then as we drove out of the park, shiny eyes caught our attention. A herd of deer, 20 or so, lying in the grass. It was a wonderful night for my little ones, and a memory I will have for always."



And finally Joan told a potentially dangerous story about a barn "kitty" (and wins the forest animal print and four badges):

"My critter story is also one of my first life memories. We lived in rural New Hampshire with our house across the (dirt) road from our barn. I was about 4 years old and loved to play in the barn, and was allowed to play alone there. One morning I crossed the road and opened up the barn door, to see a beautiful "kitty" sitting up in the barn rafters, looking down at me. I ran home and said, "Mommy! There's a pretty kitty in the barn! Come see!" My mother came with me to see the kitty, and let out a shriek, grabbed me and ran. It turned out that "pretty kitty" was a mountain lion. I think I will always remember his eyes looking down on me."


Congratulations to all the winners, I will be e-mailing you soon to get your addresses. I want to thank all the people who entered and shared their wonderful critter tales!

Another Critter Tale From the Archives

Here is another critter tale from a long list of my family's critter encounter stories.

My son was in the first grade, we had bought a hamster at the local Woolworths. My not so trustworthy hubby turned the hamster over and said, "Yup, it's a boy". The next morning we awoke and noticed about fifteen squirmy little worm like critters in the hamster cage..... yup, you guessed it, it was a girl, a new mommy hamster with lots of new babies and no nest. We managed to find homes for all the babies (I bribed a lot of people with new cages that I sprung for) and we decided to keep one.

Fast forward a few months. The baby hamster was amazingly crafty at getting out of the cage at night. One night, about 2 in the morning actually, I was awoken by a rustling sound next to my bed. The rustling sound was the baby hamster walking on top of a tissue box on my night table. I woke up my hubby and we got him safely back in his cage. The next night, around the same time, I heard the same sound and nudged my hubby and grumbled, "The hamster is out again". We groggily got up turned on the light and to my horror, instead of a fuzzy little cute baby hamster, there was a giant long tailed grey rat (a roof rat actually). I never screamed so loud in my life. The roof rats hang out up in the trees and this guy must have gotten into the chimney. After chasing him around the house with a broom, we finally chased him out the door. (My favorite part of the story was that the rat ran into my son's room during the chase and he slept straight through the commotion!).

I will announce the winners tomorrow.

Bird Dog

Thanks for all your lovely forest critter stories, I have been having so much fun reading through them and will let you know the winners next Thursday....the 15th.

In the meanwhile, I wanted to share these bird dogs with you. They were posted in my flickr group recently and I just had to share with you! Aren't they grand? The artist has a store on Madeit.com.au. You can see more of her work on her blog, Badskirt and also here.

Forest Fun Give Away

THE CONTEST ENDED ON JANUARY 15TH


Forest Fun Give Away Details

Welcome back from your holidays…. I know we are all a little tired, yet re-energized, reflective and hopeful, looking back and looking forward. I thought I would give you something to look forward to, maybe another package in the mail?

1. WHAT YOU GET:
I thought it might be fun to change it up a little bit for this give away.
First off, I will be giving away one yard of fabric from the new Forest Fun collection with Robert Kaufman along with a packet of four forest critter pins to three readers.

(click to see larger)


Pins close up -


The first winner will get:
One yard of the Forest Fun owls fabric in the spring colorway and a package of forest critter pins.

The second winner will get:
One yard of the Forest Fun forest animals fabric in the spring colorway and a package of forest critter pins.

And the third winner will get:
One yard of the Forest Fun moose fabric in the spice colorway and a package of forest critter pins.

2. WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

Just leave me a comment with your favorite forest critter encounter. Please be sure I have a way to contact you.

3. HERE IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE CRITTER MEETINGS:

I was home alone, I was quite sure… my husband had taken my then toddler son out for a while. I was enjoying my solitude when my phone rang and it was my brother. I sat down in my studio which was separated by a wall from the living room area to catch up with him. Mid-conversation with my brother, I hear, quite clearly and quite definitely, someone playing the piano in my living room. My heart started beating really really fast and I said to my brother, “Hold on, oh my, there is someone in my house!” “Whatever you do, don’t hang up”. I called out my husband’s name and then my son’s name and as I expected, no one answered. Now I must tell you, it was not any tune that I could recognize, but a jumble of notes that a toddler might be able to pull off. Extremely confused and a bit worried, I slowly crept up to the edge of the wall where there was a wide doorway. I very carefully snuck one eyeball around the corner and lo and behold this is what I saw….






(keep scrolling down)











It was pretty funny… he/she probably got caught in the fireplace and wound up in my house. My neighbor helped me chase him/her out of the house after much scurrying around and lots of fallen living room fixtures. I’ve had lots of interesting critter encounters living in the woods, but this was one of my favorites…


So good luck with the drawing…. I will announce three winners on January 15th. In the meanwhile, don’t forget about the new free pattern downloads. And please be sure to leave me a way to get in touch with you.

Sewing Frenzy

I have been on a sewing jag this weekend. Trying to finish these little outfits before getting back to my illustration work.

Remember the latest Spoonflower fabrics I printed? I used the Portobello Pixie Apron Dress pattern along with some Kaffe Fasset fabrics and a few fabrics I found at Contemporary Cloth. I love it! I put it on a hanger and walked it around so I could oohhh and aahhh and take in the absolute sweetness in lieu of having a little one around to try it on. My family thought I had spent a few too many hours at the sewing machine...hee hee.

I still have about ten panels left from the Spoonflower fabric (the oversized pocket on the apron) available on Etsy.

Forest Fun Outfit

I thought this pattern by the very talented Tina Givens was the perfect fit for the Forest Fun owls and coordinates. I altered the pattern just a bit, very pleased with the results. Take a look....

(by the way, I just saw the fabrics for sale here and here if you are interested).


click on pictures to see enlarged photos: