Ornament Thursday

Now that we've all survived Halloween I can make it official... from now until Christmas I'll have a special feature called:

ORNAMENT THURSDAY

That's right... scanning the internet, looking for the the thrill of glittery, and the agony of discrete. I'll be showcasing a different ornament or two here every Thursday. With links, to boot.

Garnet Hill kicked us off last week. Today we're off to
Smith & Hawken ...
Where you can find this squirrel ornament...or a whole set of forest friends. So cute, and sparkly, too.


It's fun to find ornaments that can appeal to my love of animals and my love of the sparkly at the same time.

Gorgeous photos

I'm quite taken with this blog whcih I recently came upon. Wonderful crafty projects and she takes amazingly gorgeous photos! Lots of color, which I really love to see. Very well done, Tsaiware!

Sneak Peek # 3 Snow Lion

Meet the Tibetan Snow Lion. This little guy will be up for sale on my site later this week.

What's a Snow Lion you ask? Well, he's a mythical creature from Tibetan Buddhist Folklore... a white lion with a green mane.

Here's a bit of right-on info about Snow Lions from Snow Lion Publication's website (Snow Lion Publications publishes Buddhist books, images and the like-- a great resource):

"The name "Snow Lion"originates from a mystical animal that has great significance in Tibetan culture as the national symbol of Tibet. Two lively snow lions appear on the Tibetan National Flag. They are fearless and valiant and indicate the complete victory over all obstacles. They represent the strong vitality of the Tibetan people who revere the Three Precious Gems- the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Elsewhere the lions appear supporting the thrones of various deities and symbolize the strength and fearlessness of those who have perfect wisdom and compassion."

I hope my little creation can do justice to that.

More insanity

If I was sane normal person I would wait until Halloween is over to post this. But I'm more like a Christmas-looney crazed misfit, so I have to point out these lovely ornaments from Garnet Hill



Speaking of Garnet Hill, I so want this shirt:


Ok, now that I've said it, I feel better.

Fairy House

Fairy House 2
Originally uploaded by Fern House Studio.

My boyfriend Phil and I made a fairyhouse a few weeks ago... on a whim. I've got more pictures of it on my Flickr page, but this shot shows the "people" Phil made with green hair from pine needles. He even carved little faces on them with his pocket knife. Such a Boyscout! I, meanwhile, did all the construction and landscaping (sigh!) :) It's fun to do these types of ephemeral projects. I love the work of Andy Goldsworthy, which seems to be not so far from making fairyhouses.

Sneak Peek # 2

This very 50's Retro Robot finger puppet will be up on my site next week. There's only one--he's kind of special. I was thinking of those tin robot toys from the 50's when I made him. The antennae are made from plastic-coated wire. I painted him red after a vintage robot toy I saw on Antiques Roadshow a few weeks ago. He's kind of a friendly robot--not so scary. Boy, I'll tell ya, it was hard getting the square shape with the Creative Paperclay! But a fun challenge and I'm pleased with the result, if I may say so. I think someone will be very happy with this little guy.

Speaking of retro stuff, I got this really cool wallet by Tiny Meat at my favorite shoe store nearby (ShoeGazer). You can see their wallets here . They don't have the one I got up on their site, a 50's family in a red van going on a family trip. But I like this one from their site: My only improvement on these would be not to have "Tiny Meat" written on them so prominently. It's a little over the top, for my taste. But their wallets are very cool and outrageously inexpensive at $12 each!

Meet Millie

This is Millie:


Millie is my new sweet friend. She arrived from Washington, where she was made by the talented Karen of Kraf-o-la. I'm so happy to have Millie among all the creatures here at Fern House Studio. And thank goodness she has a scarf! It's getting cold here in Maine.

This just in!

Just a quick note to say that new fingerpuppets have appeared at the Fern House Studio store. View all the thumbnails here.Or see them individually...
Snails
Turtles
Owls.

... also for collectors, I now sell the stands for the fingerpuppets on my website.

COMING SOON:
Wonderful stocking stuffers: Felted carrot pens, felted pens in lovely felt cases, more fingerpuppets. Soon to be back in the store [maybe as early as tomorrow] are these finger puppet favorites: foxy, dinos, squirrel with acorn, piggy, lion & rooster. And several new ones coming, too.

Have a relaxing end to your week

-Christina

New newer newest

Got some wonderful, and very inexpensive, silver earrings from this Etsy seller.

Etsy is so great, isn't it?! Have your tried the search by color feature? It's too fun-- really-- watch it: it's a real time sucker! The latest cool Etsy search tool is this. I guess I'll waste some time on that today.

This little hedgehog is a new addition to my own etsy store

Kinda like this etsy shop.

Ok...I'll be back...Gotta go check out these search tools.

My NEW Flicker Page

I've taken the plunge and set up a Flicker page for Fern House Studio stuff. Please let me know if this link works: My Flicker page. Thanks so much! :)

Funny

Got this idea from Jen via Purple pink and orange's blog.
Google your name and to add the word ‘needs’. Then, post the top ten answers.

Here's mine:
1. Why Christina needs to be "thanked" for her comments in Blender.
2. Christina needs to work with Kanye West, asap.
3. [my personal favorite] Christina needs to wear clothes ON TOP of her underwear.
4. Christina needs to consume 1725 calories per day to maintain her current weight,
and 2225 to gain one pound per week. So perhaps we should let her eat cake!
5. Christina needs to quit losing weight.
6. Why Christina Needs To Go.
7. Christina needs to hear from you right away so she can plan effectively.
8. Christina needs a hand (not like that, perv! :P) [fyi that last quoted part was not from me, was in the google]
9. Christina needs her.
10. And I think I know what Christina needs. Assistant director: Okay, could we have
quiet, please? Stop all the work, please. (chickens start clucking) Please ...

I'm adding 11 because it's good and 9 & 10 weren't so good...
11. Christina needs to advance from good to great and become the bellwether district
in the state.

What's really funny is, that most of these could work for me...

Swoop & Scoop

I've got a lot of fingerpuppet updates coming to mysite. If you want to get a jump on these--they're going to sell out fast-- why not go to my Etsy store? I've posted several new fingerpuppets there... it's kind of a way to beat the rush at my website-- order them from my Etsy store now. These cute blue elephants are among the fingerpuppets you'll see there.

I've been really busy this week getting things packed up to send to the Farmington Valley Arts Center in Avon, CT (near Hartford). They are carrying my puppets for their holiday show. If you're in that area, please visit them. Candlelight opening Friday November 18th, then open daily from November 18th through December 24th. For more information, visit their website.

A couple of fun links

I just love the site design for this site. Love her work, as well.

Got this cool handbag thru Crafter's United to support Hurricane Katrina relief. I adore my new handbag--use it all the time! Extremely well made and well-designed with one strap-- so straps don't fall off your shoulder when you're taking things out of it.

That's all, folks!

New steals

• Hooray-- There are 2 new "Small Works on Paper" on the art page of my website (scroll down). Every time I update this section, I add one "steal"--a specially priced one. This time I added 1 and then to give more people a shot, I repriced one that's been up for a little while--making a total of 2 steals (for only $16- $18). First person to get one or both of them in their cart and checked out gets it (or them). You know the drill: It's a bit of a shell game--you have to click around on those small works to see which is the steal.

Sneak Peak

Lots of updates are coming in October & November! Sign up for our mailing list to be notified first.

Here's a few sneak peeks of things to come. These Snail Fingerpuppets are so cute and colorful-- one of my new fingerpuppet designs.

Just added: this new print design, called Finding A Friend. This one is by popular demand, as it was among the most requested when I posted jpegs to chose from on this blog.

I'm so excited about all the cool stuff I've made for the fall/ holiday shopping season... check out the felted ornaments on the handmade page .

More news & new things & surprises soon...

Happy Birthday Mr. Philip J. Cutie-Pie Frey

Two birthdays are better than one...on Monday my sweetie Phil is turning, well, just a nose older than me.

Phil is a very talented artist... you can see his paintings here . Happy Birthday Philip! (aka Mr. Dobolina-- Mr. Bob Dobolina--, "Paintbox" Frey, and... uh... Boogerhead (it's a term of endearment--no really!) No matter what we call you Phil, you're the best. Have a wonderful birthday.

For his birthday, Philip is getting this. What a lucky guy! All I can say is, it's what he said he wanted. I think this site will probably make Philip quite happy.(Do not fear clicking on those links--it's all very clean!)

You can leave Philip a birthday greeting below.

Happy Birthday Skyler Fox!

Happy Birthday to Skyler Fox... my one and only most excellent niece.

Skyler is 2 years old today. This photo was taken by her grammie, because one of Skyler's first words she liked to say was "flowers". So here she is, the babe in the flora.

And happy birthday to her dad, Peter, too-- whose birthday is coming right up on the 23rd.

For those of you who care about these things, I got her this cutest little sushi print pants outfit from One Little Monkey .

You can wish Skyler a happy birthday by leaving a comment below.

Feedback on my site redesign

Hi Everyone,

I need some feedback on some minor redesign I'm getting done on my site. You can see it here .

What I'm aiming for is something a bit bolder and that showcases my work a bit better on the index (home) page. I also wanted to work in more ferns/ green to pick up on my business name, Fern House Studio. I think I'd like the background green a bit more green, like a more spring green color,and maybe the ferns a bit more prominent

Please let me know what you think. You can post at this thread.
Thanks thanks thanks!

Update on October 7th: The new design has gone up... But you can still look at my site and give me feedback! Thanks...

Snail Mail (and chicken mail, and blissed out mail...)

The Common Ground Fair was wonderful. We had perfect Fall Maine weather this weekend, though it's now raining as I write.

One of the vendors I always visit at the CGF is Toki Oshima of the wonderful TokiCards. Toki's cards are awesome--I am so inspired by her work depicting the joyful aspects of life in rural Maine. Here's one I bought-- a belated birthday design called "slow birthday" featuring a snail and turtle-- so clever!
All of Toki's cards are printed on recycled paper with soy-based inks. Fortunately for all you non-Mainers, she now has a website: Tokicards.com

Speaking of cards, I got this nifty chicken cards from Young And With It Industries in my Sampler.

Lastly, for your snail mail pleasure, there are wonderful cards at blissen.com.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that many of the cards on my site make great holiday cards, so think about stocking up. Sadly, I'll have to raise the card prices a bit in October, so I suggest stocking up now if you have a chance.

Happy mailing!

New Things

• New things are coming to my site, very soon... be on the lookout. A new steal, a new print and I just completed lots of new fingerpuppets that are making their way to my site over the next couple of months in stages.

• I spent $81.00 yesterday on office supplies at Staples. Small business is not cheap. What is cheap is poor people working in substandard conditions in some less developed countries. I saw some very cute sewn fingerpuppets at a Pier One-like import store yesterday. It was obviously a lot of work to make them. You know what they cost? $7.00! It's just too sad... Someone very skilled is being paid next to nothing to create this stuff.

Reason # 1 to buy handmade: You know the person making the item has set their own price, and chosen their own working conditions, and gets a lot of joy from making what you buy.

I'm going to be posting more reasons as we head into the holiday shopping season. Just to keep you feeling good for maybe spending a tad more, but doing the right thing.

• Oh, I also got all this cool fabric today, for future handpuppets (too exciting-- I love buying fabric and already have way too much-- but all these were only $2.69/yard)


• Got this cool tissue,too, to wrap all your orders in:

• Speaking of handmade things, I'm going to the Common Ground Fair this weekend. Sponsored by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), they always have lots of great crafters there, as well as other vendors, fun-to-look-at livestock, lots of great organic food, and organic produce to buy.

Have a great weekend, everyone.