Oliver

It's safe to say that no interpretation of that face can beat the original's cuteness.  His name is Oliver, and he loves penguins.  He loves orange and yellow.  It looks like he loves orange and yellow, doesn't it?  He just beams sunshine and happiness.

I love penguins too.  Earlier this year, at the aquarium, there was one lone penguin swimming at the glass.  He was the only one showing any movement at all, and he was moving, I mean really moving in a determined way, only the tip of his beak was on the glass and he was going nowhere.  It was like he was on a treadmill and not aware of it.  My heart went out to him.  It was so inspirational, I wanted to whip out a pistol and break the glass so the tuxedoed little fella could get outta there and move on to brighter places (disclaimer:  I do not and will not ever own a pistol).  We even got lost and had to back track through the penguin exhibit a few hours later and he was still swimming at that glass.  What heart.

I'll be updating my blog more frequently with all the orders I have been working on this past month.  I have gotten to know so many amazing families through this process.  I can't wait for you to meet them all!

Sweet Maddie

This is a doll I made to look like the real-life Maddie.  My favorite part about making this lovely lady was trying to match her outfit.  So darling, my heart a puddle on the floor.  I hope I captured Maddie's spirit! 

A Mid Wife, an Electrician, Two Ballerinas and A Bun in the Oven

This one goes to an adorable family in Australia.  G'day mates! 

Dani's Family

A mobile I made for a sweet and big family.  The nursery theme is the Hungry Caterpillar so I tried to make wee little caterpillars out of felted wool balls on all the strings, and a leaf with a bite of it dangling in the center.

For Wee Little Sylvie

This mobile was really fun for me.  The mom shared pictures of Sylvie's nursery: a colorful, eclectic, vintage abode that was full of warmth and texture.  It was nice to try to match its style.  Little Sylvie is wearing pink moccasins.  She also has these little flower thingies on her shirt that I made by ironing Wonder Under on lace and then backing it to fabric and then cutting out circles.  If there was a crafting version of Macgyver, he would probably have Wonder Under in his pocket instead of duct tape.  Wonder Under allows for many possibilities.  I suppose though, Macgyver would also have to carry around an iron, which might not be as convenient as I thought.  

Don't you love big brother's curls?  So cute.  Walter's hair is curly too, especially in this southern humidity.  He likes to carry around sticks and arrows so I gave him little Cupid's love arrows.  Dad is a dentist, so naturally an appliqued tooth on a white coat seemed appropriate.  I had the most fun though designing Mom's outfit.  She loves Anthropolgie, so I tried to make it Anthropologie-esque,

I love Anthropologie too.  I am over the moon for their displays and store decor.  Over Christmas break as my family was driving our 12 hours back home from family's house we stopped in Jackson, MS for some food at a fancy outdoor mall close to the highway.  There was an Anthropologie there and Joseph watched Walter while I wandered through all by myself.  It was like a little, beautiful oasis right in the middle of road-trip-with-a-toddler-and-a-nervous-whiny-dog-H-E-Double-Hockeysticks.  My favorite part was these little winter city scenes made out of different cardboard containers.  They had been painted with black chalkboard paint and then drawn on to look like buildings.  They were so whimsical.  It made the rest of the car ride home so dreamy.

Anyway, this has been a favorite of my personalized mobiles so far, and I hope little Sylvie loves it!

For a Minnesota Wee Little One

My favorite part about this mobile was the tiny extras.  I can now put "tiny felt beet maker" on my resume.  Also, can't you just picture little big brother singing the sweetest lullaby to his new sister on his guitar?

Sweet Dylan's Cutsom Mobile

My latest mobile is of sweet Dylan's beautiful family, including her two big pooches who look like good guardians.  My favorite part of this one was making little Dylan's hat.  I was originally going to give her a baby headband, but it's a bit hard to put hair on a baby without it looking odd or like a toupee.  I just love this casual and laid back fam. 

I do think that these dogs look like good friends.  I used to think my little Albert (a miniature pinscher mix) was going to be my baby, Walter's, good friend.  But it turns out that Walter is Albert's arch nemesis.  I keep thinking that with time, Walter will seem less like a small wild beast and more like a sweet boy to Albert, but it seems to just get worse and worse.  Sometimes Walter climbs in bed with us in the middle of the night and Albert gets so grumpy and very vocal about being disturbed and having to share blankets.