Momma Squirrel

Ursula is almost ready! ~ Make Mine Pink Monday Show and Tell :)

ursula3, originally uploaded by mommasquirrel.

Hello,
I have almost completed the lovely Ursula. I am so excited with her progress! I just need to make a couple of more items for her basket and she will be ready to find her new home.
Since last we talked I have found her a lovely little basket and painted and sanded it to Halloween perfection. I made her a little felt frog (for her potion, shhh dont tell the frog, I would hate for him to hop away on us, LOL)
I have also added a lovely vintage lace collar, I had just enough of this pretty lace to do her cuffs as well. I love this lace and have been trying to find just the right project for it as there was only about 3/4 yards of it left.
Ursula has a pretty new skirt made from orange and black homespun, (very practical for traveling) and a pretty pair of pantaloons underneath. I took some of the skirt fabric and used it to sew a tie on her pretty cloak. It worked out perfectly as it covered the open seam from where the hood attaches the the cape, this gives a nice finished look to her "unfished looking' cloak. I also added a few rusty bells to the tip of her hat and the closure of her collar.
the real ingenuity came in when I was trying to figure out how to make her able to be displayed hanging as well as sitting. I usually use a nice strong ribbon and a pretty button fastened at the back of the dolls neck for hanging. But I did not want to cut a hole in the cloak so that the ribbon would poke through nor did I want to just hang her from a ribbon on the cloak as it would make her look like her cloak was litterally hanging her. So I came up with a very clever solution. I took a vintage shank style button and attached it to the back of her neck, then I made a pretty loop on the middle inside of her cloak to fasten to that button, and put my regular style loop and button on the outside back of her cloak. This worked perfectly as she is able to hang from the wall with her pretty cloak still on.
Any who, All she is lacking now is a couple more goodies for her basket. I am trying to find a little bottle I can grunge up and I will probably make a little pouch to put in as well. She should be up tomorrow for auction.
Thank you for sharing a bit in my creative process.
Hugs, xoxoxo
Colby

Don't forget to visit Make Mine Pink to meet more lovely and incredibly tallented ladies and see their clever and unique wares!

Ursula and Glinda

Ursula and Glinda, originally uploaded by mommasquirrel.

Well, I am up burning the midnight oil, and I realized that the weekend was gone and that it was allready Monday! WhooHoo! Time for Show and Tell!
I have a couple of little lovelies that I have been working on for Halloween and am so happy with the way they are turning out. On the left is a round head witch doll tentatively named Ursula. She is in a pretty raw form right now. I have finished sewing and stuffing and have drawn on a rough outline for painting. I can not wait to finish her as I am very excited with the way she is developing. On the right is the lovely Glinda, (also a tentative name) a lovely green eyed gal all dressed up in a cute little 40's style childs outfit and ready for a Halloween party. She is patiently waiting for me to finish her hat and her little kitty cat.
Hugs, xoxoxo
Please stop by http://www.makeminepink.com/ to check out all the lovely shops and to chat with the wonderful women in the forum. The women of Make Mine Pink are truly one of a kind.

Make Mine Pink ~ Monday

My newest creations :), originally uploaded by mommasquirrel.

Well this is my first show and tell since what my family and I now refer to as the "computer fiasco" LOL.

I have some lovely new items for sale.  The pears I call "Perfect Pears"  they are so cute I just love them. I used a new technique that  I have been working on with watercolor paint and beeswax. I am writing up the pattern for the pears and then the pattern will be available on my website. I am also writing up the pattern for the witches hat and kitty cat which will also be available on my website. The dolls are a bit of a departure for me as I have not done an Annie doll for such a long time, so I did some Annies with my personal little twist on the faces and hair. I love the way that they turned out and they will go up for auction on my eBay tonight. The little pink and green one is my spin on a Fuschia flower. I think she represents pretty well. I had seen a picture on flickr of a fuschia and just thought that the stamens looked like little legs and the petals the skirt. She is even wearing a cute little green cap on her head. So sweet! The other little cutie pie is Katie Anne and when I saw the fabric at the quilt shop I just knew what I wanted to do with it. I love the bright colors and the pink and aqua are so pretty together. 

Anyways I have truly missed the show and tell and can not wait to do some blog hopping. Whoo hoo.

Oh yeah, do not forget to check out the pretty little ladybug below - she is my very first offering for a give-away!

WhooHoop!! It's Show and Tell Monday!!

Make Mine Pink ~ Monday Show and Tell

My favorite day of the week is here again! The lovely ladies at Make Mine Pink have a wonderful Show and Tell blog hop on Mondays, and I am ready to HOP!

I have had a bit of a rough week this week and I just wanted to share some of the things that helped to make me smile in the midst of a troubling week.

First I went shopping for a bit of fabric for the new line of kitchen patterns that I have bumping around in my head, and I found just the most perfect and precious fabric. I love vintage 30’s, 40's and 50's decorating and the thought, work, and care a woman of that era put into making their homes a place of function and beauty. I want my patterns to evoke the innocence and grace of that era without being too fussy or hard to complete. I realize that the women of today do not have a lot of extra time to devote to handiwork so I want to keep the designs uncomplicated and fun! And what is more fun and innocent that pretty cherries and blue gingham?

I found these lovely fabrics at Joann Fabrics and just fell in love with them.

The second thing that brought me great pleasure this week was the completion of my little Lola Ladybird, she was a custom order that was unfortunately backed out of by the customer but still brought a smile to my face. She really turned out cute, and her pretty face is now up on eBay charming the spots off of all who see her. I have enjoyed her company this week.

And third I got out and did a little tending to my garden. It is a work in progress and while my poor beds are at the moment covered in layers of wet newspaper in preparation for some much needed mulch and a new birdbath, it still managed to produce some beautiful pink roses. They even stopped swaying in the breeze long enough for me to get a couple of pretty pictures of their pink perfection.

And last but not least my two new friends, Glenna and Gallagher the Garden Gnomes! They thought my front garden looked so inviting that they decided to take up residence beneath the Jasmine.

Here’s to happy thoughts and wonderful friends to share them with!

Hugs to all, xoxoxo

Make Mine Pink ~ Show and Tell Monday!

In honor of the lovely Harvey Korman. 

I wish you all love and laughter throughout your day.

Pink Hugs, xoxoxo

Colby :)

Carol Burnett Show- Funt & Mundane
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egD-5vxBNpQ

Make Mine Pink ~ Monday Show and Tell!!

Francine Frog, originally uploaded by mommasquirrel.

It's Show and Tell Time! I am showing my little Francine Frog off today. She is one of my New Year,s designs and I am so pleased with how she has come out. I use vintage fabric for her body and it is almost gone now so I am not sure what will happen to my frogs personalities when It does run out, but I am sure I will find just the right cloth to use when the time comes. I even found some cute bug fabric to go with her and as luck would have it I found some stickers with the exact same bug design. This is one of those dolls that begs to be made. I think if I were a Prince I would want this little sweetie to stay just as she is when I kissed her!

Make Mine Pink ~ Monday Show and Tell!!

mosaic6419514, originally uploaded by mommasquirrel.

Ok lovely ladies, I have had a bit of a slow week this week but I did manage to get 2 dolls finished and I did manage also to get some notes and sketches done towards the patterns that I want to make.
I must confess that I love Show and Tell. I thoroughly enjoy blog hopping to see what everyone has been up too and I think that it is a very inspirational way to start out the week.
Thank you lovely pink ladies, from the bottom of my heart.
Now a little about these two lovely ladies you see here. The dark haired little lady is called Julia, and she is just a sweet little spring angel, she measures about 10 inches tall and she is just as cute as can be. She is holding a sweet little ladybug that I hand painted. I sealed it with beeswax which I have never done before but had read about it in a magazine. I really love how soft and shiny it turned out. Julia is going to be added to my ezshoppe. (As soon as I figure out how to add items. LOL)
The lovely blue eyed lady is called Daisy and she is a 21 inch doll. I have been inspired by my garden this week so as you can see I have a flower theme going on. Daisy is on eBay this week.
I hope everyone has a great week.
Thank you so much for stopping by!

Strawberry Shea

Shea1, originally uploaded by mommasquirrel.

The lovely ladies of Make Mine Pink have are having a weekly show and tell, I just love blog hopping on Mondays, and I think it is a lovely way to get inspired for the week. So here is my show and tell for this week.

BiG PiNK HuGS xoxoxo ~ can't wait to get blog hoppin!

Strawberry Shea is my newest addidtion to the Forest Brownie series. I have had a new character bumping around in my head to the series for a couple of months now and here she is :) Shea is for sale in my Etsy Shop,

Here is the background story behind my little Forest Brownies,
Once upon a time while our country was first being settled, a group of immigrants from Scotland settled in the beautiful mountains of what is now north eastern Georgia in an area near Tallulah Gorge. Little did they know that their little House Brownies, afraid of being left behind and wanting to continue serving the families that they had served for centuries packed up all their belongings and followed their families to the new land.
Well let me tell you, while the little House Brownies were busy helping their families build new homes and taking care of the livestock and doing various chores, another group of little people that the Cherokee who lived in the area called Yûñwï Tsunsdi', (or “little people”) were watching the new settlers and immediately fell in love with the little Brownies and visa versa.
Any ways to make a long story short, the little Brownies and the Cherokee “little people” began to intermarry and soon a whole new clan of little people were born, I call them “Forest Brownies” as they are a perfect mixture of the two cultures, both keeping watch and caring for the forest creatures as well as helping out lost travelers and working with livestock and doing other outdoor chores for the people who live in more rural areas. You don’t often see them anymore as they live deep in the mountains and the Yûñwï Tsunsdi' are very private by nature also very few of the House Brownie families are still in the area. But, the little people of the Forest Brownies are much easier to spot as they like to help people who get lost find their way, and they are much brighter colored in both complexion and dress, taking on the beautiful colors of the mountain foliage.

Show and Tell Mondays :) Lila The LadyBug!

lila1, originally uploaded by mommasquirrel.

"Lila the LadyBug", I made her for my little ezshoppes grand opening on May 5th. I love how she turned out; I have made several new designs for my shoppe and am having a ball with them. So far they have all turned out just as I had envisioned them which usually does not happen as I usually have to tweak my designs a couple of times to get them just the way I want them.
I have 10 more dolls on my worktable in various stages of being done and my hope is to have them all finished by the end of the week, then I will start on the patterns for them, and then move on to the kitchen goodies that I have in my head!
I am going to do patterns for aprons, chair covers, chair cushions, pretty hand towels, pretty bag holders and appliance covers, curtains and valances. All using a combination of found fabrics such as old embroidered linens, tablecloths, and trimmings, mixed with new fabrics and pretty buttons and such.
Then I will move on to my favorite place the work/sewing room and make some pretty accessories such as pin keeps, vision boards, organizers, chair covers and chair cushions, sewing wallets, and so on.
My vision is to make a line of already made goods and a pattern line for the DIYer. I know I love to make my own things and with the economy the way that it is I think more women are going to return to the home arts as a way to be thrifty with their money and to beautify their homes without spending a fortune.
I want my home goods designs to be elegant, simple and timeless. I will continue with the dolls also as they are my first love but I feel the need to express and expand my love of all things hand made.