embellishments!

we've been spending a lot of time moving things around in our house in preparation for another person to be added into the mix... and one of the things that had to be done was to move my studio, again. i've had some trouble getting back into the swing of things after the holiday madness, especially with my materials scattered all about, but now i am ready.

it didn't hurt that i had a deadline, either. my friend shannon, of sweetpepita, will be at the AltCraft section of ACC this week, and that meant i needed to make more little felt bits for her adorable pixie hats. (as she puts it, they are the chocolate to the hats' peanut butter? i probably screwed that up.) anyway, i think i ended up with somewhere close to 80 of them, and they just look so awesome together i had to share.

i've got lots of new work in progress, and have a lot of work on sale in my shop now to make room for the new, so stop by!

and if you're in baltimore, stop by and see the ACC show!

oh, coraline

rick and i were lucky enough to get out of the house long enough to see coraline last friday. i had heard nothing but good things about the movie, but i also went with pretty low expectations, as i was really afraid of being disappointed. we saw it in 3d, which also made me a little nervous. for one, i tend to hate the gimmicky way it's often used, and also, because lately i'm prone to motion sickness in any movie.

the opening sequence was breathtaking - i was happy to go home after that. the rest of the movie was pretty good too. excellent, actually. i am a huge fan of stop motion animation, and while i think it would be amazing to work on a stop motion film, i acknowledge that i am a weird combination of way too spazzy and way too obsessive to ever do it well.

if you haven't seen it yet, go. it won't be the same on a tv screen, although i will happily watch it again at home sometime in the future. the detail, and oh, god, the garden - the garden will inspire you.

CPSIA uspdate

so, february 10th has come and gone, and the CPSIA is now in effect. we were all given a year reprieve, which means they have a year to figure out how to allow us to comply without putting us out of business. we do still need to put pressure on elected officials to put the law into effect in a way that makes sense. if you value your ability to make/ purchase handmade for kids, please download the action kit and spread the word!

read more about the current state of the CPSIA here.

hear some of my side of the story here, just published in the catonsville times.

thanks, all of you, again, for your support! for me this fight is more about having access to handmade toys and clothes for my kids than anything else!!!

image by greenstarstudio.