A New Needle Felted Creature

I call this guy Ice Cream Monster. Rawr!!!

Happy crafting and happy weekend!

Avocado Juice

Today my husband made me a drink known in Morocco as Aser lavoca, or avocado juice.  Though it is known as a “juice” in Morocco, it is more closely related to a milk shake in the most literal sense because it is actually made with milk (not ice cream).

Ingredients (makes two large glasses)
One ripe avocado
1/2- 3/4 cup milk
6 ice cubes
sugar to taste

Directions:
Blend first 3 ingredients above until very smooth.  Add sugar in small amounts to taste.  Serve and drink!  Refreshing and nutritious!

This is a very popular drink in Morocco and variations include apple juice, banana juice, and almond juice.  All of these are made in pretty much the same way, though you needn’t add sugar to the apple or banana juices.

You can also get the best orange juice you’ve ever tasted if you visit Morocco.  Moroccan orange juice is not made with milk by the way (yuck).  It’s just fresh squeezed and served right before your eyes.  No water or sugar added.  So refreshing!

Do you have a refreshing summer drink you’d like to share?  I’d love to hear it!

Image at top of post:  Needle felted avocado that I made the other day.

More New Needle Felted Designs

So I’ve been working on some new needle felted creations lately and thought that I’d share what I’ve come up with so far.  I’d love any input that you would like to share in terms of which designs you think are successful or which ones need some work.  Or if you have ideas as to items or characters you think would make good pins or ornaments, just leave me a note in the comments below or on my facebook page.  Thanks bunches!

Above is the garden gnome that Kelly P. suggested for my Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Post.  This little guy is about 3 and 1/4 inches tall, a little too big to be a pin, so I made him into an ornament instead.  I’m pretty happy about the way that he turned out.  And, because it’s an ornament, you are able to see him from every angle.

To go along with the whimsical garden theme, I made this little toad stool, using the Mario Brother’s mushroom as my muse, but without eyes.

Continuing with the mushroom theme I made these two little guys, this time with the eyes included but using non conventional Mario colors.

Last week I had a job interview for a position at a local bakery that specializes in breads.  For the occasion I decided to make a bread themed piece and this is what I came up with; Pirate Toast.  The owner, who was interviewing me, noticed it right away! This may have had something to do with a certain pirate movie that was recently released, though I haven’t seen it yet.

This little guy is a Mexican Corn Cob and came from a sketch that I did recently.  Originally, he was supposed to be a cow boy, but the hat was looking more like a sombrero than a coy boy hat so I just went with it.

And finally there is this interesting pin.  This was a suggestion/request from one of my husband’s work colleges.  Can you guess what it’s supposed to be?

Giveaway Day!

I am thrilled to announce that I am participating in Giveaway Day Hosted by Sew Mama Sew!  Officially, Giveaway Day starts Monday, May 23, 2011.  For a complete list of all participating blogs and shops check out the Sew Mama Sew blog on Monday morning.

But what is Giveaway Day?  It’s an excuse to browse other people’s blogs and shops with the added bonus of possibly winning a little handmade treasure for your troubles.  Plus, it’s just an exciting way to meet new people!

I invite you to browse around and if you like my blog, you’re welcome to sign up as a follower or like zween on facebook.  I don’t have an Etsy shop (yet) but if you’re in the Cleveland area, some of the things that I make are available at a locally owned shop called Crafty Goodness.

This is my very first giveaway!  The item that I will be giving away for this event is this funky skull needle felted pin.

I just recently started needle felting out of a couple of unusual requests and I really enjoy the medium.

To win this pin just write a suggestion in the comments below for an idea you think would make an interesting/funny/weird/creepy idea for my next pin.  Check out my recent posts to see some of the things that I’ve been making lately.  You may post a comment between now and midnight (eastern standard time) on May 25, 2011 to post your comment.  The person whose suggestion I like the most will be the winner and the pin will be shipped to you on May 30, 2011!*

*I will only ship inside the United States.

Please make sure I have your email address, or I have no way to contact you.  Anyone in the US can enter, but if you are not a blogger with an email address available on your profile, then you must leave your email address in your comment.  To avoid getting spam, leave your email in the following format:  emailaddress (at) provider (dot) com.  Make sure you check your junk folder on Thursday in case my email goes there.  If you are an international reader I am sorry that I won’t be able to send you this pin, but I would greatly appreciate your comments if you choose to leave one!

This contest is now closed.  Thank you everyone who participated!

Hope you have fun browsing all the giveaways!!

New needle felted designs

Yesterday was the MayDay Show at Bela Dubby.  The best part of the show was being surrounded by so many talented people from the Cleveland area.  Despite the rain (or maybe because of it), we had a pretty good crowd in the small coffee shop and I was able to sell three of my new needle felted pins; a mustached banana, a ware wolf carrot, and an eggplant with eyeglasses)!  These sales, along with the four special requests from Jon’s coworkers at Trader Joe’s, leads me to believe that I need to explore this media and subject matter further.  So today I made several sketches of new designs and worked on some new pieces, starting with my forth special order of an evil cupcake with a mustache…

I went ahead and made a second one just like this one plus another, more girly cupcake which I didn’t get photos of yet (today is not the best day for photography).

Last night after the show I came home and felted this little devil…

And finally, here’s a flamboyant carrot that I had at the show but hadn’t shared with you yet on the blog…

To see some photos from the MayDay show, make sure to check out zween’s facebook page!

Last minute craft fair prep

Tomorrow is the MayDay craft bazaar at Bella Dubby and I’m busy putting the finishing touches on all of my products.  As usual, I had some last minute ideas, such as typing my website on the backs of my new, hand-embroidered note cards (above and below).

And here’s a little sneak peek of some other new items since the Spring Showers Show; bookmarks (above) and small flower pins (below).

I finally ran out of the cute stationary paper that I used to make my last set of DIY business cards, so I thought I’d get high tech and use the computer to draft my next batch.  However, as it turns out, my printer isn’t working!  Luckily I was able to bang out some new ones using my good old trusty typewriter and nice, thick drawing paper.

Believe it or not, all my products and display items for tomorrow’s show will fit in my newly refinished suitcase, shown above.  Handy, since I’ll need to walk home after the event.

I hope to see you tomorrow at MayDay!

Produce with Personality

Needle Felted Friends

The other day my husband came home with an unusual special order request from a co-worker.  She wanted me to make her two pins; a ware wolf carrot and a zombie radish.  She already has a vampire pickle.

After probing my husband, I finally surmised that the vampire pickle pin that she already owns was probably made using the needle felting technique.  If you don’t know how needle felting is done, check out this video by Moxie, which was featured a few weeks ago on Craftzine.

Watching the video made me want to try out this process, but since money is tight right now, I fought the urge to splurge on materials when I already have so much.  That’s why I’m glad this special order came around; it gave me the excuse to get some felting needles!

The needles really aren’t expensive.  Just $7 for a pack of 5.  They also sell holders for you to insert the needles into.  The holder is the part that you grasp while you’re working.  It says on the box that you should not use your felting needles without the holders.  Not true!  The holders are nice because they allow you to use up to three or four needles simutaniusly, thus making your felting go faster if you are making a larger piece.  But for small, detailed pieces you only need one or two needles, which you can easily just hold together between your fingers, and the holder is an extra $7 ($14 for the holder and three needles).  Plus, as you can see in the before mentioned video, Moxie doesn’t use a holder and she makes awesome stuff!

Luckily, I already have a good amount of wool roving (which is needed for this process) and I only had to buy a little more since I didn’t have the orange and reds that I would need to make a ware wolf carrot and zombie radish.  So as soon as I got home with my needles I started poking around and practicing with some of my other colors.  The first piece I made was this googly-eyed eggplant pin, which I gave to my husband.  He loves to wear produce inspired pins to work at Trader Joe’s.

After the eggplant I decided to make this mouse.  The mouse’s body is the same shape as the eggplant, I just changed the color and added ears and a tale.

I’m currently working on the ware wolf carrot and zombie radish, but once they’re done I’ll be sure to share them here!

Thank you for stopping by!  If you haven’t yet tried needle felting I encourage you to do so.  When you do, post a picture of your project on zweens facebook page because I’d love to see it!

New Page

I would like to point out the new page, located at the top of my banner and in the right side-bar titled “Shop.”  Here, you will see photos of items that are for sale and learn where to purchase them.   Currently, you can find my work, along with the work of over 60 other local artists, at the very cute brick-and-mortar shop, Crafty Goodness!

New products for MayDay Show!

Flowers, birds, colorful, cute, and fun. These are the themes I’m concentrating on in my current body of work, probably because I am so ready for spring and summer.

Here is a sneak peak of what I’ve been up to since the April Showers Show and what I’ll be showing at the upcoming MayDay Show at Bela Dubby on Saturday, May 14, 2011 from 1-5pm. I hope that you like what you see and come out to support the 16 local artists at the show.

Fabric flower bouquet.  Flowers are expensive and last just a few days, or a week if you’re lucky.  These hand-crafted flowers will last all season and then some!

Fabric flower broaches and hair clips.  Cute and sweet on a little girl or fun and flirty on a big girl.

Fabric collage wall hangings. Here is just one of the new 5×7″ fabric collage wall hangings that I’ve made since April Showers.

Note cards based off of the fabric collages. The note cards pictured here were available at Spring Showers, but there will be new ones based off of the new collages as well. I will also be packaging the cards in sets as well as selling them individually.

Want to make sure you don’t miss out on any future events such as the MayDay Show?  Like zween on facebook to be notified of new posts about upcoming events, tutorials, crafty news and more!