The Adventures of Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red Riding Hood decided to have lunch with her grandmother one day, so she packed some sandwiches and headed off into the forest.

Red's mother warned her not to dawdle in the forest because there were many shady characters lurking there!

: the lurking monsters…

and she didn't notice the most dangerous lurking creature of all...

Red arrived at her grandmother's house way past lunch and she noticed her grandmother didn't quite seem like herself.

Red said "granny, I'm sorry I'm late, but there were so many interesting things in the forest, I got hungry and ate our lunch, one thing led to another and anyway, here I am!"

"You ate our lunch?!" " Damn it Red, I'm starving!" yelled the Big Bad Wolf.

"Oh my goodness!" declared Red, "I'm such a ninny. I think I left the iron on at home . Gotta go granny! Later!" Red ran out the door and hurried home, never really noticing that the Big Bad Wolf had eaten her grandmother and was waiting to gobble her up too, because let's face it, Red wasn't the sharpest tack in the box." C'est la vie.

Needle felting with spheres

A few years ago, I was looking through a book about needle felted figures and I thought to myself , “I want to make one of those!”. I taught myself how to needle felt by looking at a lot of photos of finished pieces, reading what I could find and practicing a lot. I started creating my first needle felted pieces with spheres and other simple shapes.

This little bird in her nest is made by adding shapes together, oval body, little oval-flat wings, ball head, triangle beak. A thin layer of wool over the area where the shapes are connected blends the shapes together seamlessly. I sewed two tiny seed-beads onto the head for eyes. The nest is a sphere, cut in half and felted into a bowl shape. I sewed a beaded string to the bird and Poof, she’s an ornament.

Keeping with the round theme, I made an apple.

I added a twig for the stem of the apple.

The apple has a surprise inside! A cute little worm, made completely from spheres!

This little green worm has eaten the entire inside of the apple…

exept for the seeds!

The apple started as a sphere, it was felted into an apple shape, cut in half, hollowed out and the inside was felted white. The twig and big green leaf were added to complete the apple container. The little worm consists of four spheres felted together. The seeds are tiny balls, mostly shaped by rolling them between my fingers.

Forge Ahead

Today is one of those days your mother warned you about. You know when nothing works, things crumble as you walk by them and you just can’t get it together, let alone feel creative. My cash register dosn’t work today, so I can’t very easily open the store; I’m sitting here waiting on a repair man (whom I’m guessing from past experiences will never show up). My computer died a few weeks ago and I’m still trying to get the hang of the new “used” one that I now have. It’s missing the software to download my camara, so I can’t download any of my current photos And my phone is broken And my website is taking a really long time to finish And then, someone came into the store yesterday and gave me some “constructive criticism” and it kinda killed my creative buz. I’m looking for a little inspiration and a kind word. It’s not always easy to find what you need here.

Many times when I walk out the door in the morning, my neighbor yells hello to me from her window. It’s not uncommon for her to ask me, why don’t you do something with your hair or are you getting fat? It sounds a little harsh, but really that’s how people relate to one another around here, rather bluntly and without any sort of filter on their mouths. You’d think I’d be used to it by now (10 years)! Don’t get me wrong, my neighbor is great! She’s a lovely woman, we just have very different communicating techniques.

Well it’s time to open the store, no repair man yet. Maybe I’ll run away to the flea market to look for some inspiration. A little voice inside my head says you must stay, you need the register to work. Another little voice inside my head says, take this Friday off, go shoot some great photos and sit at a cafe. The voices are now dueling, who will win?

Childhood

Eenie, meenie, miney, moe

I told you so, I told you so!

I’m not tired-I don’t wanna go to bed!

There’s nothing to do, I’m bored, she said.

I know you are, but what am I?

Rock, paper, scissors!

It’s not fair.!!!!!!

I don't care.

You’re not the boss of me!

Liar, liar, pants on fire!

Get out of my room!!!

Star light, star bright.

Are we there yet?

I love you!

Fairies, Elves and Sprites!

I think this is my favorite costume that I’ve designed for my store. The little elf works for all ages, boys and girls. The funny hat can be worn as a costume as well as a winter hat and the elf shoes make great house slippers! The kids love all the magical and make-believe costumes.

Can’t you just see the sun rays streaming through the tall, green trees and far below, on the mossy forest floor, a little elf is sitting under a big, red mushroom. There are fairies, sprites and elves luking in the nooks and crannies of this beautiful world.

Oh! Look! Here are the big red mushrooms of the fairy forest.

Our imaginations can take us anywhere we’d like to go, just notice your children and listen to their private, play conversations. No one can see these fairies, elves and sprites inside their little worlds. Elves, fairies and sprites are free to do as they please; This is why they are sometimes cheeky and mischievous.

Fairies are easy to find if you know where to look. Outside, in the trees, in the tall grass, inside the flowers and blooming vines, look very closely. Sshhhhh!