Hello, Dolly!

This is the cat
that inspired the key chain
I am totally in love with this purring ball of fur.

Merci, Karlita!

I got an early Christmas gift when felter and jeweler Karlita recently held a contest over at her blog which I won. The prize: a slip of a scarf, grey streaked with marroon, ethereal-looking but tug and pull and you'll find that it's surprisingly sturdy. Since I received it early this week, I've taken to wearing the length of wet-felted whimsy wound around my hair as some sort of head band, prompting my husband to say that I look like an elf. Not a bad thing to hear, especially when earlier he had said that I looked like some sort of extraterrestrial creature. E.T. phone Karlita: I love your work! Thanks again.

A Copper Blast From the Past

Once upon a time, in an island far far away, I used to crochet and knit copper wire and sell them as strange-looking jewelry. Moving to where I am now, I didn't know where to get the right supplies, so I ended up crocheting and knitting regular yarn, and eventually sewing linen. They made my fingers bleed occasionally, but I still miss copper.

P.S. That circle in the middle of the last row is a wristlet, still unlined.

What Was The Last Handmade Thing You Bought?

On Etsy buyer Pam's shopping list: (clockwise from top right)
necklace from Dingle Dangle, straight pins from Robin Bird's Nest,
Coke jewelry set from Vintage Nouveau, and an angel
from Debby Arem Designs.

Pam from Omaha, the USA, answers the question this week. (If you're a regular on Etsy.com and frequent the forums, you would know Pam by her username PussDaddy.)

What Was The Last Handmade Thing You Bought?
"This devil/angel necklace made by Dingle Dangle and it cost US$18 plus US$2 shipping."

What made you buy it?
"I bought it because I thought it was very pretty. I collect angels, and I was having a bad day and the thought of an angel with only one wing seemed to sum up the day I was having.... Plus it was on Time Machine 2 almost immediately when I went there. I also have a fondness for things made from found objects and unusual things."

What are you looking to buy next?
"I have some things in my favorites that I hope to buy next. I get a Visa card for Christmas so that I can choose some of my own gifts. Here are a couple of things I have picked out if they do not sell [first]: a circuit board angel pin, a pendant-and-earrings set made from Coke cans, and these straight pins which I should probably go ahead and just buy."

9:52 p.m. - What I'm Loving This Minute

Linen.

I love how you can clearly see the warp and the weft of it. I am infatuated with the light colors of it. In this age of plastic and synthetic, I love how it is all-natural. My mom always said that a woman doesn't go out of the house unless she is wearing impeccable and impeccably pressed clothes, so I have to admit that I wish it didn't wrinkle so easily. Still, come summertime, along with cotton, linen is all that touches my skin.

I just got hold of a few meters of linen recently. Cut piece by piece, they'll be making their way into my Etsy shop these coming few days. Click on often to watch linen transformed into not-plastic, anti-synthetic, warpy-and-wefty dolls, stuffed toys, mobiles, pillows, and key rings.