I can 'dish' it out - but can I take it?

Like the big pumpkins which gave over to the idea of little pumpkins, so did the snowman. The big snowman are labor intensive and fickle. You think you have a good idea forming and the snow just isn't packing right. So like any Nebraska kid who can't get the snow to hang together for the best snowman in the yard, you decide to go sledding.

This little guy seems more my style and will more than likely have a few snow bowls traveling with him to Elgin for the Craft Fair.

Snowman mania ... latest design

Meet Cartman! I have an order for a snowman and the flakes just free-formed into Cartman.

Waste not - want not ...

What is it about a box of fabric swatches that makes you think 'ooohhhh, I can make something with that!' I had just such a brain cramp at an auction last summer. I bid on a small tote filled with 1 1/2" swatches of a polyblend. When I was repackaging them for storage (yes, it was a short-lived enthusiasm), I noticed no two swatches were alike. The box was closed and the intention to make something with them was abandoned.

Flash forward to a year later and I am needing a break from designing for the craft fair... the swatches were there and the need for something mindless was great.

First, trimming off the pinked edges. (sorry vaccum-that was a nice mess of fuzzy stuff on the carpet).

Then squaring each swatch to a 1 1/2" square took some time.

Yes, the finished square is the postage stamp size of 1".

Stay tuned for the next post on this project. It will be a delayed gratification because I can only do 32 squares at a time before I start to doubt my sanity.

It takes as long to sculpt the stem and leaves as it does to wrap the basket.

My goal is to turn out a basket a night. Tonight the focus was on scultping stems and leaves. This little guy has given me a whole new appreciation for working in miniature.

Pumpkin, pumpkin

OK, last night when I finished a full-sized pumpkin basket, I was left with a 10' cord piece and a few strips of fabric. Faced with a waste not-want not dilemna, this little pumpkin dish was thought out.