My Elf made the Winter issue of Celebrate 365!!

I sent pics of my sledding needle felted elf to Connie Porcher at Celebrate 365 and she has picked him for the Winter issue. Here is a picture of the page he is on. He is in the upper right corner of the right side.

Whipe Out!

Just finished this elf, she was sledding on her mouse trap sled and whiped out into a bed of clay and poly fil snow. She is entirely needle felted.

been gone

Ive been unable to get online and post. My mother passed away late Monday evening from colon cancer and complications of chemo. She had been batteling this since May 26th of this year. She was a nurse for over 20 years and knew when the doctors told her she had large clots in both lungs that things had gotten bad. I was with her by her side for every chemo and doctor trip she made this past 6 months. I was with her when she passed, she fell asleep at 11:00 p.m. and passed at 11:15. My dad was able to get to the hospital and be there the last few minutes. She went into this fighting and never gave up. She would have been 62 on her birthday this year Dec. 24th.

Snowball throwing elf

Ohh theres a snowball war and this little elf is more than ready for it. Shes got a pile of snowballs laying beside her and one in her hand. And from that look in her eye I dont think I want to mess with her.

She has a needlefelted head and hair from wool, her mittens and boots are sculpted from clay. Her legs are painted wood and so is the stand. her coat and scarf are made from felt. Her snowballs are little styrofoam balls and she is standing in a bed of polyfil snow. She is 9 3/4 inches tall including the stand

Christmas baby doll

He is entirely needle felted except for his blanky which is made from felt. he is 9 inches long. My youngest wont look at him as he says hes creepy, and my oldest says there is something def wrong with that baby, lol. I wanted him to be yawning but he seems to be doing more of the open mouth drooly thing.

The Big Bad Angel

Normally I decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving but this year I will be decorating my moms house that day and since today all of my clients have the creeping crud I decided to go ahead here at the house. I drug out all of the Christmas stuff and started putting it here and there mostly up out of the dogs reach.

I have a angel I picked up a couple of years ago because I just thought she was the cutest little snow angel I had ever seen. I had her out the past few years and never had a problem. Well we got our english bulldog this year and he hasnt seen this cute angel before.

Needless to say Angus thinks shes is the most dangerous thing in the world. As soon as I put her out he started growling and woofing low and mean. Hes trying to scare this big bad angel off, lol. I got her down and let him sniff her good but he still is not happy with her. He is currently under my feet hiding and woofing softly but threateningly towards this angel. I may have to put her up but I think I will see if he finally comes to ignore her.

Poor Old Sarah new art doll

Poor old Sarah Long, her heart was taken by a hired hand. Her daddy didnt think he was good enough for his little Sarah so he run him out a town. Since then Sarahs been pining away hoping he'll come back. It's been 23 years and she's still waiting. Poor Old Sarah Long.

Sarah is 9 inches tall, she is entirely needle felted her clothing is handsewn.

Shadow box with Great Great grandmas lace

I finished a shadowbox I was working on. Inside it are pictures of my grandmother, her mother, her aunt and her grandmother. There is a item that belonged to each of them next to their picture. I used prints of my great great grandmother and great grandmother. My great great aunt lived to be in her 90s also. She helped raise my grandmother, she had no children of her own and went to live with my granma before she passed away about 17 years ago. Im going to give this shadowbox to my grandma for Christmas this year. When she found out what I was doing she got really excited and sent the other items and pictures to me to use. I think she will be pretty tickled.

elves and penguins

Ive been making these little guys for gifts and to sell, ive sold 8 so far to family. I love making them and hope you enjoy them. I got the idea from a felt penguin tutorial in a craft magazine and thought why couldnt I make one with a needle felted head instead so her is my versions

I sold 2 dolls, and just about wet my pants ;)

I listed some of my dolls on Etsy and Ebay a several weeks ago. Ive been getting pretty down since they havent had many views and no sells. Then Saturday my Ebay sales ended with a bidder, yep almost peed on myself. I sold my little girl holding her heart, she was shipped out yesterday.
Then today I was going through my dolls and came across a ornament I had entered in a contest that wasnt picked, he is a Santa with beaded arms and legs. I put him on Etsy and listed a new doll on Ebay. When I came back to Etsy he was already sold :) Yep almost peed myself again. SO I do believe I need to make some more ornaments since they are smaller, I can charge less for them. Its picked my spirits up and inspired me which I needed.

Ive been quilling

I didnt even know what quilling was until friday night. I was looking for gift tag ideas and seen a beautiful paper quilled snowflake one. SO I googled quilling found free patterns and thats what I did after trick or treat time last night. So remember these are my first ones, thats why the snowflakes are very crooked. The smallest was quilled on a toothpick and the bigger ones were done with a bamboo double point knitting needle. I cut the points off of both and put a groove down the middle for the paper to go into to start rolling. I just used cardstock and scrapbook paper for the strips.

another pic of the lace

My great great grandmothers lace

My aunt called me yesterday and while we were talking the subject came up that I was looking for old lace and trim for my dolls. She stated that somewhere around her house she knew she had some old rick rack. This morning she called and said she had found it but couldnt remember where she got it. She cleans houses for a living and alot of those clients give her things so she assumed thats where it came from. She brought it over a earlier today and told me that while she was at my grandmas this morning she showed her this rickrack.
Well the rickrack is handmade lace done by my great great grandma. Years ago we moved my grandma to town. During the packing there was a old trunk of her grandmothers things on the back porch. Photos, cards, odds and ends. They threw out alot of things that were damaged and packed some things in an old lockbox my great great grandpa had built for his wife. About 10 years ago grandma went through this box and gave her children each some of the things inside. My aunt was given a bag full of things and among this was the lace. My aunt had packed it away and forgot about it until I said something. My grandma said her granmother died in 1935 at the age of 95. She said that she figured her grandma made the lace in the 1800s because she didnt think her grandma was able to do needlework in her later years due to arthritis.
The card the lace is wrapped around is just a plain piece of cardboard but I dont know if the writing is plain in the picture but in pencil it has 3 1/2 yards written down. I told my grandma I didnt think I could use this on one of my dolls since it was really a family heirloom. My grandma informed me that it needs to be used her grandma made it to be used but that maybe one of the dolls wearing a dress with this lace could be kept in the family.
I try to use vintage lace on my dolls, by vintage Im talking 1950-1960. Not antique lace handmade by my great great grandma in the 1800s. The lace is a little stained, yellowed but I cant find any holes or tears or anything, I dont know how because it was not in any packaging or protected after it was removed from that lockbox. I cant begin to understand how long it took her to make this lace. Im just going to look at it and cherish it for now.

Little one still has Strep throat

Took my youngest to the doctor on the 14th of this month, Strep throat. He took his zithromax and felt better until yesterday. He started running a fever again and had a sore throat. We went to sick call this morning and the dr said he had a really bad ear infection. But tested him for strep anyway, it came back positive again. So now he has started a new antibiotic which they said should cover the throat and ear. They couldnt believe he was that sick since he was acting fine to them.
My youngest has a crippling disease called Dutch Kentucky syndrome. He was unable to open his mouth due to an extra bone in his jaw until they operated when he was three. He had been on a all liquid diet and his dental care was very limited. By the time they did his surgery almost all of his remaining teeth, yes he was missing teeth from them being pulled out to remove things from his mouth that were stuck like food and toys, were very decayed. He had numerous infected teeth but had never complained. I think this is why he has a high pain tolerance. By the time he complains of pain the infection is very bad. He fractured his jaw at school in 2nd grade did not shed a tear, got stung by yellow jackets 7 times on the play ground in 3rd grade didnt cry. He was even knocked out by a line drive to the forehead and didnt cry. This is scary for us because his hearing is becoming affected by the numerous ear infections he gets and doesnt complain of until the membrane has ruptured.
So it always suprises the doctors when he is sitting there laughing and joking with his strep, or ear infection or tooth ache. This doctor scheduled him for a follow up in 2 weeks and is going to have his hearing tested. Hopefully he will be over the infection and doesnt get it again.

Gertie the gift giving elf

Gertie has a needle felted head face and body, her arms and legs are polymer clay and her clothing is handsewn. She has a bead and push pin holly berry hairpiece and painted shoes. She bares a little ribboned gift box that I made. She is 10 3/4 inches high.

Sweet Lil Polly

Wasnt so sweet, lol, to make that is. I wanted her mouth to pout she wanted to look like her tongue was sticking out, blah! I wanted her to have blonde hair but couldnt get the wool to take the tea bath enough to look blonde so she got brunette like she wanted. And her shoes just couldnt get right, maybe next time I will try to sew them on or something different. At least shes not barefoot like she wanted.
Needle felted head and body and hair, clay arms and legs, handsewn dress and pantaloons. Painted stockings, bow is removable from hair. 10.5 inches tall.

Sour Little Agatha

SOUR LITTLE AGATHA
Sour little Agatha in her clothes of black and gray
She was never accused of running out to play
Never did her mouth turn up in a smile of happiness and joy
Even when she caught the eye of a blue-eyed handsome boy

"She'll always be a spinster" talked the ladies down the way
"For she'll never catch a husband with her smile turned down all day.

The Blue-eyed boy saw through her frown the beauty of her heart
One day he asked her to go for a ride in his fancy pony cart

That summer there was a celebration in the month of May
Sour little Agatha wore white on her wedding day

Agathas head and body and hair are needlefelted with wool. Her arms and legs are sculpted from polymer clay. Her clothes, hat, bag and shoes are handsewn and handmade. Her stockings are painted.

Bernadine the Brat
Bernadine Bratston was so spoiled she stunk.
If she didnt get her way she turned her toys to junk.
Her mom and dad warned her she better be sweet, or Santa wouldnt bring her any treats.
Bernadine said " I dont care" as she tore off her Dollys feet.

Bernadine didnt believe in Santa or being good at all,
she only wanted candy, toys and trips to the mall.
She still tore up her toys and threw lots of fits.
Her mom and dad gave up, they completely lost their whits.

Christmas morning whitness Bernadine sulking under the tree,
for there sit a little lump of coal on her knee.
So listen to your parents kids and mind them when you play.
So you dont end up like Bernadine and get coal on Christmas day.

Bernadine has a needle felted head and body. Her arms and legs are sculpted from polymer clay and her dolly is paperclay. I mostly handsewed the clothes and painted her stockings and feet. She is 11 inches tall. I would measure her dolly but shes got a foot tore off and wont stand so good, :)

Got my new wool in!

Yeah! Im doing a happy dance, got the wool I ordered in from www.dreamfelt.com and she sent some samples of her fun batts. Now I dont know which colors to use first and it is great! The core wool I normally use is good but it has alot of veg matter like straw and cedar tree pieces that I have to pick out. It slows me down, and when I get to the bottom of the bag I might as well trash it since its full of dirt, etc.
But Patti at Dreamfelt sent me a sample of her core wool and a color, I tried them out and it was so much better. Her core wool felts so nicely and its soooo clean. I needed reds and greens and she sent me samples of red and green. Love it, now I have to get to making my newest doll so she can have some color!

If your interested

This was posted by Connie Porcher on creating the hive. She has the catalog Celebrate 365. She is looking for Christmas themed designs, like ornaments, figurines, etc. She excepts all media, clay , wool, paper, etc.
If she picks your design your item will be in her catalog. You need to have the item ready to sell in your store, website wherever when the catalog comes out. Submissions need to be in on or before the end of this month. Read on below if interested.





I am accepting submissions for Christmas-themed designs for consideration in the holiday issue of Celebrate365.

Deadline: Oct. 31 (more or less!)

Please email your submissions to: C365.images@gmail.com

Along with this information:


•Your name/business name
•Preferred email contact address
•Web address(es) for where people can purchase your work
•Name of your ornament/design (if applicable)
•Size
•Price
•Material/brief description
Please submit a high resolution image photographed against a light colored background.

Any design selected for publication must be available for purchase at the time of publication. I'm aiming for a mail date during the first week of December.

Don't hesitate to ask questions!

Youngest son has strep throat

My youngest son aged 10 has had a sore throat for the past couple of days but we thought it was allergies. Yesterday when I got back from taking mom to her chemo he had called the house and left a message to be picked up from school. When I got him home he was running a 101.4 fever and had had tylenol and hour and a half before, I took a flashlight and looked at his throat, yep nasty! This morning I was supposed to take mom to get fitted for her radiation mask but my dad had to take her. I dont want to expose her anymore than she already has been. Took the youngest to the sick call, got him swabbed, yes positive for Strep throat. Got his antibiotics and he is out of school until Monday. My youngest has a high pain tolerance, this will not slow him down much at all. Except for eating, he will be bored by this afternoon so I may have to add a nap to his medical care.

Sleeping Beauty done

Sleeping Beauty Briar Rose, caught in a sleep of deathly stillness until her one true love should place a kiss upon her lips.

Work in progress

I needle felted this doll and used paper clay for the arms and legs. I still have to do her hair and clothing. I have a terrible time with clothing on these little dolls but Im going for lots of white, cream and beads.

Out of Red and green wool

Been trying to needle felt Christmas ornaments for the Celebrate 365 chance to be in the catalog dealio, and after one and a half Im out of red and green wool, ugh! Ordered some more but right now I have blues and purples and pinks, I know some use these for Christmas colors but they dont inspire any ideas in me right now. I may have to do some mixed sculptures so I can use clay and paint red and green. We will see.

Listen to HomespunDollss Playlist

Couldnt sleep a wink last night

I have been working on a new doll and thinking of how he will be dressed and posed kept me awake last night. I also had ideas for ornaments going through my head and I had tried my hand at paper clay yesterday. I kept getting up to check on whether it had fell of its armature or not. Nope but it is cracked like crazy so Im gonna have to do some spackling later when it dries. But the main reason I couldnt sleep was a bulldog named Angus on my head. I know the crafting ideas keep people awake but how many have a bulldog who likes to sleep on their head, lol.

Before and after crafting area

Before we took the wall out seperating the two small bedrooms I used a corner of the kitchen table to craft on. My crafting supplies were located in various spaces, such as top of the freezer next to the table, under the table, pantry, utility room, hall closet, bedroom closet, basically anywhere I could find to store them. So evertime I worked on a doll I would have to go all over to dig out my things I needed. I sometimes couldnt find where I stored something so I would then buy more of that thing. Now I have a craft area, all of my supplies have been rounded up and are in the craft area, sigh it is bliss.

My newest creation The Holiday Troll

This lovely little girl was finished today. She is a needle felted doll. Needle felting is the process of taking wool fibers and using a barbed needle felting needle you start poking the wool fibers. This causes the wool to compress and begin to firm up. You can sculpt the wool into shapes and forms by adding and felting wool where you need it. I guess you can say I sculpt with wool