Look-alike?

Woolies

knitted to look like

Richard Scarry's Nicholas the bunny from I am a Bunny

Did I do ok?

:)

Tree Man

Have you ever been to a Renaissance Festival? I remember the first time I went, there was a giant (12 feet tall) tree guy, just kind of wandering around. (I asked my brother if he has pics, as he loves the Festival..waiting to hear back).




Anyway, I was knitting a tree, and then it became apparent that it had to be a person. Tree Buddy. Tree Guy. Tree Friend.

Yes I know, my family thinks I'm crazy too.

Anyway, you can find my tree friend at Woolies. :)

Natural Kids Team Giveaway!

You could have a chance to win all these natural goodies for kids!

Giveaway items from the Natural Kids Store!

Head on over to SOULE MAMA - TODAY!

Educational Toys

I did not home school my kids, but I SO believe in the incredible value of educational toys - even, or especially! if your kids go to a traditional school.

One of my oldest son's favorite toys was a wooden alphabet puzzle - like this one:

Alphabet puzzle available at Wood That's Fun.

It taught him the alphabet! Colors! Manual dexterity! I made sure none of the letters got lost. I was kind of fanatical about it.....

Beneath the Rowan Tree has another take on alphabet games, with these coins -

The Enchanted Cupboard has another game - sorting and stacking bowls:

The acorns can be found at FairyFolk's shop.

It's been on my mind for a long time to create a memory game - Voila!

Available at Woolies!

Give your child something fun, that they will treasure forever! (Well, maybe not forever, they do turn into teenagers....)

:)

What are you thankful for today?

My list is very lengthy -





My husband, my kids, my animals, my home, the beauty of the world around me, the cool air on my face this morning, the bat that flew by me when I took my dogs out in the still-almost-dark.





I'm thankful I have a job, and enough $$ to live. I'm thankful that I also get to create beautiful things. I'm thankful for my support - my friends - the Natural Kids Team.





They keep me going.

Thank you to my Natty Sisters!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Christmas In July!

Who doesn't love a great sale? The Natural Kids Team on Etsy is offering discounts during the next 10 days - shop now for the holidays!

Just click on the picture which will take you to a directory of Natural Kids Shops, detailing each shops sale.

At Woolies, I am offering 15% off any item over $25. Now that's a Deal!!

This Tiger really needs a new home!

Thanks for visiting!

Natural Toys I want to play with!

Maybe one day I'll have grandchildren (well, hopefully not for quite a few more years yet....). I think it might be time to start collecting my favorites (the ones I don't already have but have been yearning for...).

Don't you want to play wild west with this set?

By Willowbaus.

Pretend that running water and inside plumbing wasn't invented yet....

You can find at PrettyDreamer.

Hmmm, I might be needing these woodland animals sooner rather than later....

by JustHatched.

And I have this thing for mermaids....

At TheEnchantedCupboard.

And, for sweet dreams at night, who doesn't need a dolly best friend?? At LittleElfstoyshop.

You can find more wonderful MAGICAL. natural toys for children HERE.

Natural kids Giveaway!

Head on over to one of my favorite blogs - Soule Mama! My team, the Natural Kids Team on Etsy, is doing a giveaway. Ends tomorrow morning at 8am, hurry up!

Earth Day Celebration!

I'm old, I admit it. I remember the very first Earth Day, 40 years ago. I grew up in Philadelphia, and there was a big festival on Belmont Plateau - lots of bands, vendors - hippies everywhere. I was still a young teenager, and was just in awe of everything. Heard some great music that day! I rode my bike to school that day - and school was quite a few miles away.

So - Earth Day is coming up, and the Natural Kids are having a celebration. 55 shops are offering all kinds of wonderful discounts and gifts with purchases.

Also - hidden in many Natural Kids shops is a picture of a little gnome.

Find the gnome, and tell the shop owner, and you will receive as a GIFT - a beautiful PDF file of wonderful crafts, recipes and games that you can play with your children, in honor of Earth Day.

Visit the Natural Kids , and find some amazing eco-friendly, organic, good for you - your children - and the earth.

Visit Woolies, for more stuffed animals for earth day!

Just a bunch of Woolies

Wanted to say hello.....

consumer product safety improvement act

Have you heard about the new law that is going into effect February 10th? It may possibly put my shop, and many others like mine, right out of business forever.

Please spread the word :

http://www.zrecommends.com/detail/five-steps-you-can-take-to-save-natural-and-handmade-companies/

Thank you.

Decisions..............

So, if you are an Etsy aficionado, then you know that there are about 80 bazillion scrabble tile pendant shops. My shop, Buster and boo, has been offering them since about February. I've sold over 170 of them. I also have some around the US on consignment, and wholesale.

Etsy is getting more and more crowded. It is more and more difficult to get your work seen. So, I am debating.

My other shop, Woolies, is my true love. I also have some Woolies wholesale accounts. Woolies take much longer to make than pendants. It's a MUCH bigger investment of time.

So, I'm in a dilemma. I am considering slowly closing my pendant shop, and just concentrating on Woolies.

I'll probably leave Buster and boo open through the holidays, and see what happens. The good news is that my pendants were accepted at LollipopShops, which will be opening in December.

And Woolies was accepted at HandmadeFusion.

Because Etsy is a bit of a train-wreck.

What would you do? I love both, but Woolies is my true love. Is it worth it to continue making pendants? Do a search for 'scrabble tile pendants', on Etsy's search. There's over 10,000 of them!

So ----

Apple? (that's the newest dolly)

or

Pendant?

Poll over on the right - please go let me know what you think!!!!

Thanks!!

Tedde Bears

On their way to Tedde.com

Natural Kids!

I've mentioned previously that I belong to a WONDERFUL Etsy team, Natural Kids. It consists of many shops that make items for kids using natural materials.


Please visit our blog, NATURAL KIDS, and read all about the incredible shops and designers.

For example:



Unwavering Faith - just a sample of what you will find!!

Woolies!

Just had to share this collection of Woolies animals - they are on their way to Tree Hollow Toys, a wonderful site for natural toys. Look at them all!!! They're very excited to be getting ready to travel!

The lambies have their blankies, and Edward the mouse has his maroon sleeveless-sweatshirt, which he thinks is MUCH cooler than the overalls.

Wave bye-bye!

By the way, I love to do custom orders, so if you ever see an animal on the pages here that you just must have, please contact me, either here or through my Etsy shop, Woolies.

Fairy Giveaway!

On Etsy, I belong to a wonderful group called Natural Kids. These are shop owners that strive to make toys and other things for children out of natural elements. I LOVE these shops. If you go to Etsy and search for handmade items, type in "Natural Kids" and see what you find!!

One of the members of our group is an INCREDIBLY talented lady; her shop name is Oritdotandolls. She has offered to giveaway a fairy!

I think her fairies are really special.

This beautiful fairy measures 9" high, made from natural merino wool and pure merino wool that Orit hand painted with ecologic colors [without heavy metals].In her hands there is a cotton pipe cleaner so you can change the gesture of her hands.On her back there are cloth petals flowers, for her beautiful wings. She is both needle felted and sewn.


This last picture is a view of the fairy's wings. The detail is so beautiful.

To register to win the fairy:

1. Go to Orit's shop.

2. Find your favorite item.

3. Come back to this blog and leave a comment with your favorite item.

4. LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS, or you can feel free to contact me at either of my shops,

Buster and boo, or Woolies, if you don't care to leave a contact for me here.

5. I'll register your name TWICE, if you also go to one of my shops and mention your fav's from my shops too.

6. Contest will end on Friday, August 1st, at midnight.

THANK YOU! and good luck!

Little Elf's Toyshop - Giveaway!!

When I first joined Etsy over a year ago, Little Elf's Toyshop was one of the first shops I 'discovered'. And one of the first shops that I purchased something from - an adorable polymer clay pony. Little Elf continues to astound me with her work.

Elfie has graciously offered one of her needle felted sculptures as a giveaway. If you are not familiar with needle felting, it is the art of stabbing wool roving (wool before it has been spun into yarn) with a barbed needle, thereby 'felting' the wool fibers. You have to be VERY careful to NOT stab yourself, it hurts (I know from experience). But it's very fun, and if you're very talented, you can create work like this:

So, if you would like to win this beautiful little bunny -

1. visit Little Elf's Toyshop

2. pick your favorite item for her shop

3. come back here and leave a comment with your favorite item

4. Contest will end Monday, June 9th, 2008 at midnight.

Thank you!!!

NOTE: some of you that have been wonderful enough to enter this contest have not left me a way to reach you. I will post the winner Tuesday morning, and here's hoping it's somebody that I can contact! Next time I promise to leave a reminder. Or feel free to come back and leave another comment with your contact information!!!
thanks!!

Giveaway !!

YAY! Another giveaway! This one is from a wonderful shop at Etsy called Unwavering Faith. Once you visit this shop, you just might be glued there, she has some beautiful things. You could win BOTH of these fairies.

The one with yellow/green hair has needle-felted hair! :0) and she has a leaf skirt.The other one has a rose skirt and her hair is black boucle (wool)She also has a silver "crown" on the back of her head. They both have wooden bead shirts and stand about 4" tall.

Jenn's shop banner states "Nature's Enchantment", and I'm sure you will agree with me that her work is really enchanting.

How do you win?

1.Please visit Unwavering Faith.

2. come back here and leave a comment with your favorite item from her shop

3. make sure you leave your email address so I can contact you if you are the winner!
4. And while you're there, think about why you love natural toys for children!

Contest will end on Thursday, May 29th, at midnight. Winner will be announced on Friday, May 30th.

Thank you and good luck!

Happy Mother's Day!

To celebrate Mother's Day, enjoy these beautiful pieces of art from some of my friends on Etsy.

The artists featured are haddy2dogs, woolcomesalive, germandolls and oritdotandolls.

Happy Mother's Day!

Ponies

Just had to share all these ponies! They look so cute all lined up together. They are made in the Waldorf tradition - no facial features. It is up to the child to decide if their pony is happy or sad, playful or wants to nuzzle. There are six of them - being shipped off today! Next up - 5 black sheepies!

:0)