A Year's Worth of Sewing

This didn't feel like a productive year.  I slogged through parts of the spring and summer for a variety of reasons.  But as I went through my photos - wow!  I did more than I thought. 

Clockwise from upper left:  Stained Kites, sewing machine case, Lighthearted Love, Mom's pillow,
mini hearts, Key West Memories, Parrot Plumes

Penguin Wine Charms

The Sculpey clay comes out only once a year.  It's packed in a large bag with tools and findings and thoughts of other things to make beyond the annual Christmas ornament.  If you're a regular reader, you know I've been on a use-it-or-lose-it kick over the last year.  Among the studs, French hooks and marbles(?!), I found a few coils of ¾" memory wire.  Over a decade ago (seriously?), I made a series of wine charms - some guinea pigs, some veggies and a set of nautical pieces for myself.  I felt the urge to use the rest of the wire, or give it to someone who'd use it.  It needed to go.

I'm not sure where the idea of penguins came from.  At first I was going to give them each something different to wear or to hold.  In the end, bow ties and scarves looked best.

Now We Are Six

I started this blog six years ago during Christmas vacation.  It was born from a desire to show off crafty projects and guinea pig goofiness; it seemed that a blog format would work best.  Since then I've written over 800 posts and appear to have plenty more to photograph and talk about.  I appreciate your comments and hope you have been enjoying my blog. 

To celebrate my sixth blogiversary I'm giving away six cards (with envelopes, of course).  I loved the crafty pigaroos photos so much, I ordered myself some blank note cards.  I also unearthed an old pair of cavymadness cards - also blank inside.  The giveaway will include two of each kind of card.

Boxing Day Gift

Today is Boadicea's Gotcha Day.  She was our Boxing Day present from two years ago.  And "boxing" was such an appropriate name for the day, although not in the way of gift-giving.  Boadicea and Cannoli had quite the boxing match when they got home.

More beautiful photos by Joey of Salem Pet Photo

Quite the rough start, but it worked out in the end.

Merry Christmas

Boadicea and Wedgwood hope you found lots of goodies under the tree.  If you see any extra carrots or lettuce, be sure to share!

Warriors

This year's ornament is based on the Warriors series of books.  These are the stories of several clans of feral cats.  Many of my past ornaments have been based on humans or anthropomorphic animals.  The Warriors cats certainly have some behaviors and traits that have been humanized, but they don't use tools, don't wear clothes (not even collars) and mostly act like cats. 

The clans are large and the series takes place over multiple generations.  So I picked the first two cats I read about:  Fireheart and Graystripe.  Fireheart is featured throughout series, and is the ginger tabby with green eyes.  Graystripe is Fireheart's friend is a fluffy gray cat with a dark strip down it's back.

Snug as a Bug II

As it has been getting colder, Wedgwood has been spending a lot of time snuggled in the upstairs cozy.  She must have learned the one-leg-out pose from Boadicea.

Leave me alone, Mama, I'm comfy.

Crafty Pigaroos

Have I mentioned how much fun it was to have Joey from Salem Pet Photography come over to take pig pictures?  I'm pretty sure I have.

It was awesome.