Sunday Morning

Good Morning ~ The sun is shinning and it looks to be a beautiful day here in Central NY.

I've been busy this week with gardening and yard work as well as setting aside time for a daily walk with Daryl. We've been taking a different route every night and have found some very beautiful places that I didn't know existed, even after living in this town for 20 years! So far my favorite is the BREIA (Black River Environmental Improvement Association) Canal Trail. It's mainly used for Cross County Skiing, but this trail is great for walking as well. Here's a link for your convenience: http://www.sar101.com/x-c_sking/x-cSKING.pdf. Of course, all these pictures are in the winter. I must remember to bring my camera on our outings!

I've added a few new items this week, including a pair of pretty pink piggy baby booties. These are just so cute and soft~



Two sets of felted wool banges have been added as well. Both are super fun and great colors!









A beautiful nesting bowl set in orange and grey is a great home decor piece, for yourself or a great gift.


This green scalloped edge wool bowl is perfect to keep your buttons, paper clips or beads handy. Or my favorite... candy~


Need a unique gift for a wedding? This wine bottle cover will do the trick. Just slip it on the bride and grooms favorite bottle and you've got a winner! Knit in 100% wool with a classic cable design in white and the lightest of grey with beads on the tips of the drawstring, it really puts that extra special to a basic gift.


Enjoy more felted goodness by visiting my etsyshop and my artfire studio.

Enjoy your week!!

Sunday Morning

March has come and although it is a beautiful Sunday morning, it is still very cold. These pictures were taken just today and I think the snow can just go away till next December.




New in my shop this week~~~

Knit Wool Classic Cable Scarflette ~ Black



Knit Felted Wool Bangles ~ Charcoal Collection



Crocheted Felted Wool Pins and Hair Ponies:





Visit me on etsy, shophandmade and artfire

New This Week ~~

This past week has been hectic to say the least! With the holidays coming quickly and the end of year reports needed to be completed at work, it seems that there is barely time to breathe. But breathe I did. In fact, I was extremely productive this week, which rather surprised me.

New in my shop includes this softer than soft, whiter than white classic cable scarf. Made with a lucious acrylic/wool/nylon blend. I have named her 'White Lily'




Also new are 3 bangles. Two of which are felted using upcycled plastic bottles as the base which shows that being green can be beautiful. And one is a feastive knit covered bangle ~ great for those holiday parties!

Lilacs:


Blue Stripes:


Silver Holday Cable:


This new set of nesting bowls are perfect to keep your holiday goodies hidden in each corner of your home and are appropriate to keep around all year! The maroon, heather and white colors are striking and they have double thick rims for extra sturdiness:

And to show your little one is part of Santa's Elf Team - This adorable set of felted elf booties! The sole measures 4 inches and would fit babies 6-10 months.



I tried something new with the left over yarn from White Lily and came up with a set of snowflake ornaments. Each one has metalic yarn through out and will sparkle when next to the lights on the tree!


And last but not least, this soft peach pin. Look for the matching scarf in my shop!


Whew ~ I think that was alot for one week! And I managed to do some holiday shopping and believe it or not, the laundry is all caught up too! I guess the saying is true... "if you need something done, ask a busy person to do it. They always find the time".

Come on in and visit my shop at http://valeriesgallery.etsy.com. I hope you will have fun!

Winners of last weeks raffle ~

These two bangles were up for raffle last week.






Hippiedippydesigns and HomemadeZen are the lucky winners!
Congratulations to both of you

I am starting a new line of felted / knit bangles in my shop and am very happy with the results. These start with reused plastic bottles (soda and bottled water) and are covered with wool yarn. These are then put through a process that will shrink and bind the wool fibers and make a wonderful cover.

Here are 4 more that are listed in my shop available for purchase:

Winter White - Petite:


Holiday Red - Large:


Woodlands - Large


Houndstooth - Large


Stop by my shop often to see more as they are added

New This Week ~~

Sunday Morning is the morning when I look back at last week and evaluate what I accomplished and determine what direction I want to go in next week. For me, Sunday is a connector... from week to week.

My work is done in cycles ~ I first crochet / knit the item, then I put it through the felting process and then the items dry for a week.

Right now, I have a set of cool nesting bowls and 4 new bangles that have dried through out this past week. I plan to embellish the bangles today and will get some pictures taken if the sun comes out. You can see these items added to my shop throughout the coming week.

And here is what is new in my shop this past week ~ all available for purchase and truly make wonderful gifts.

Deep in the Ocean ~ Felted Bowl:



Classic Cables Knit Scarf ~ Peaches and Cream:



Teddy Bear's Picinic ~ Felted Booties:



Woodlands ~ Felted Bangle:


Overall, this past week was productive and included a good variety. I think it was one of my better weeks! Stop in and see how I measure up next week...

Felted Bangles ~ and a raffle

It really surprises me that I have evolved into a "morning person". I remember when I was young, my mother had such a hard time getting me out of bed every day. I was the classic sleepy head. Now after several years of struggling to get my own children out of bed, I found that I just love being up and about in the early morning hours ~ Simply to enjoy the quietness of the house and a bit of time to myself.





This picture of the sunrise was taken yesterday morning when everyone in my family was fast asleep. I am so sorry they missed it, but it is just another of my treasured morning moments.

Morning is also a time that I have some of my best ideas. My lastest involves a new and improved felted bangle pattern that I have been testing the past few weeks. I am using plastic bottles as the base and honestly, cutting them up with a nice straight edge is probably the most challenging part! My husband tried helping by using the table saw... which totally turned out to be a disaster. Scissors are not the best, either. I found that a nice sharp razor blade works the best after measuring the lines on the bottles with a sharpie.

I cover the plastic with knit or crocheted designs and then put them through the felting process. Soda bottles work well for smaller wrists (2.5 - 2.75 inch inside measurements) and flavored water bottles work best for larger size wrists (2.75 - 3 inch inside measurements). My plan is to list these on etsy in the $10 - $14 price range (depending on design, materials, etc)

Here are a couple of my prototypes that are not listed on etsy. Both of these are size small and I am going to raffle them to two lucky winners on Monday December 1. Please leave a comment with what colors and designs you would like to see in the future. Include your etsy or e-mail address so I can notify the lucky winners.







Good luck to everyone!