Crafty Manolo

(via One Twelfth Scale)

Sometimes it’s good to take a moment to think about what you’ve accomplished lately. For instance, I spent the other day making several lace ornaments. A couple will go on our tree, and a couple more will go to friends who will enjoy . So I’m curious. What’s the last project you finished? Did it turn out well?

And be sure to go check out the brilliant miniature work done for the picture above. It’s really fabulous.

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I love quilts. In fact, one of my most prized possessions is the lovely quilt a good friend made for me and Mr. Twistie as a wedding gift. It tells all about us, from our meeting at Renaissance Faire to Mr. Twistie’s songwriting to my lacemaking, and more. A couple years ago, she gave us a matching pillow with the Vulcan salute on it. Too cool for school.

The quilt pictured above looks more like the quilt my great-grandmother made. Classic, familiar, cosy. I love classic quilts.

But I also love the exciting things people are doing with the classic craft now to challenge and amuse us.

For instance, take a look at this fabulous quilt done by artist Amy Ahlstrom:

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Tatting is a lovely craft with a long history… well, dating back to the early 19th century, anyway. It’s been practiced by queens (quite literally, when Lady Katharine Hoare wrote a popular book of tatting instructions and patterns in 1910, she included work by Marie of Romania) and by random women nobody outside their families ever knew much about. Traditionally,  it’s done with a shuttle, as in the above illustration.

But what if you don’t have a shuttle? What if you tried a shuttle and found it awkward but would still like to try the craft? What if you’re just curious about alternative methods? Have I got some YouTube links for you!

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Happy Hanukkah, everyone!

Yes, tonight is the first night of the Festival of Light. If you’re looking for a fun way to celebrate, then go get yourself some chocolate coins and head over to Crochet By Faye to find the instructions for this adorable crocheted dreidel.

Sometimes it’s fun to wander around Etsy just to see what I find. Well, these fascinating dolls by ferrytalesgifts caught my eye and wouldn’t let go.

How cool are they? Very. The method used is assemblage, that is by using found objects to create a new three-dimensional object. In this case, molded doll parts, wooden blocks, bead jewelry, bits of lace, and lots of other interesting bits of flotsam and jetsam are turned into bizarre yet charming dolls.

This doll runs $36.00, and is one of a kind. If you aren’t wild about this particular one, or if you miss the window on it, ferrytalesgifts has plenty of other wonderful assemblage pieces for sale, including more dolls of this nature, jewelry, sets of scented candles and room spray, and the odd collage.

I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t mind finding something like this under my Christmas tree.