Live Dream Create

Tested out the first of these silly gooses! Or maybe they’re lucky ducks? Either way, I think I’m in love! 🪿❤️

Freshened up our space at Northside Marketplace today!

I knew it was low since I’ve not been able to accomplish too much post-baby, but I hadn’t realized just how empty it was! 😱 But now it’s all spruced up for Spring, and you can even find a couple of the new mushrooms hanging about! 🌷🍄

Turning these stars into something ✨magical✨!

I am absolutely loooooving how these upcycled appliqué mushrooms are turning out! 😍

I upcycled scraps into raw-edge appliqués, layered onto sparkly white felt I have been holding on to for ages waiting for the perfect project (it was too stiff for plushies), and then added free-form stitching for a whimsical hand-drawn look.

I found my stash of thrifted sweaters that I was originally using for tiny plushie squirrel sweaters and used some as backing to bring some extra cozy vibes.

Added some ribbon loops for hanging anywhere your heart desires, and *ta-da* - colorful, whimsical, patchwork, upcycled mushrooms! 🍄

****
I will have the mushrooms, plushies, and more at the Kent (Ohio) Art & Wine Festival on June 6th! 🐿️🍷🎨

Learning to trust the process and loving the direction these mushrooms are heading! They were giving a bit of a stained glass-vibe this morning in the sun- so I can’t wait to get them stitched! 🍄

Something a little different than the plushies we’re used to and why:

While we were going through the process of packing/unpacking to move last year, we discovered a *mountain* of fabrics, scraps, and project leftovers that we need to do *something* with…

Since the art teacher in me hates to just throw usable things away, over the last several weeks I’ve been going through and experimenting with ways to up-cycle and breathe new life into these fabric stashes.

It’s been a fun way to get back into the swing of things, experiment with new techniques, and try things I don’t usually get time to do otherwise!

These tend to be “quick”, “smaller” projects, so they’ve been keeping my adhd/focus in-check since I can see/feel that I’m accomplishing things - especially with being limited to doing most of my sewing in short bursts while the kiddo is napping, and normal plushie projects are still taking me *a lot* longer than usual to complete. (I’ve tried several times over the past year to get plushies going again like I was doing full time before… the timing wasn’t right yet, and there have been many false starts in the process.) It’s been very helpful to have some things I can go from start to finish within a naptime or two!

These pics are from today’s sewing experiments… I’ve been on a bit of a fish-kick this week for some reason. 😅 (Probably because the family finally noticed that I snuck a thrifted vintage “ugly” wall fish into our bathroom decor… it took about two weeks for some one to notice my “weird” dollar bin find, and now my brain is stuck on fish. 🤣)

I am experimenting with some ways to turn old scraps into new, mis-matched “quilted” ornaments and decor items. I’m still getting used to the free-motion sewing and using the sewing machine to “draw” - there’s a lot more freedom to “go with the flow” than I’m used to with the precision needed when sewing plushies. It’s been quite freeing!

I’m fairly happy with how the first few fish turned out so far, and I have some more things I want to try with embellishments and stitching. I have a few ideas for turning these into mobiles, garlands, ornaments, and some other plushie-adjacent things! 🐟🐠

Attention Facebook World, this Saturday we come together to hold a very special Facebook Live. Parker is the niece of Jacob from Norwich Royals and is in need of some assistance to help save her hearing. At just eight years old Parker is a budding artist and with the help of uncle and grandma has created 6 original pieces of art for us to sell for her. Along with the Fae’s Artist community coming together with donations. All proceeds will go directly to her family.