prairie mouse

one

advent

we are a day ahead down here so have begun the countdown! firstly i want to thank each and every one of you for your lovely comments on the homespun mouse. i meant to do that in my last post and it wasn't till later that i remembered i hadn't - how rude of me! i spotted 4 copies at my local magazine store so for those of you in the US if you are interested i am happy to work out the costing and mail it to you. its only $11.95 NZD and the postage is probably less than that. just drop me an e mail. 

yesterday we put in the christmas window at salvage. it was the biggest installation yet. it took michael and i 3 hours in sweltering heat. it doesn't look that much but it was the hanging of the washing line and the winding of the lights that soaked up the time. now i can attend to my house that looks like a felt bomb has exploded inside - its terrible, my poor patient family who walk around with little bits of thread attached, even the cats are not safe! so, no photos, my word is enough! and this morning when i was there doing last minute things 2 wonderful woman came in and bought lots of goodies. so the housework may have to wait as i stitch up some more.

i will leave you with some images from the window and then i will do a separate post of the advent surprise that will be on the line in the shop - i am going to do one every day so i have my own little prairiemouse countdown!

again, my thanks for the mouse love!! xxx

this girl has been residing in our living room taking up room like a third child. she has been a little naughty, snagging people as they go past with her twiggy hands. 

i would quite like to borrow her skirt to wear myself!

and of course she had to have a babe.

and a basketful of burlap bags that hold the daily goodie (i must admit that at this point most are stuffed with brown paper awaiting the goodie fairy!)

blog that frog

recently, a friend of my mothers broke her ankle. prairie wanted to make her a card but didn't know what image to use. we decided on a frog as noleen is very fond of them but prairie said she didn't know how to draw one. i did a very rough thumbnail and left her to it. she drew her frog onto light weight green card and clear cut it and glued it onto a piece of watercolour paper. she even did a little shading. she was very happy with her work and asked if i could blog it - well, of course!

and here, even though i have swamped you with pictures of the babushkas, are more! i made them for my mother for her birthday and it is all about the fabric. the floral i found a while ago in salvage (of course!) when kay held it up i think i may have yelped a little. it was what my darling grandmothers couch and chairs were covered in. it was like when you smell something, how it takes you back. i hope it has the same effect on mum. knowing me, my eyes will start to leak when she is opening them. and on this wonderful holiday of yours that i think the whole world should adopt, i am thankful that i got to spend mountains of time with her. margaret winifred-janey. 

happy thanksgiving all you swell gals out there!!!

homespun

i think it was at the beginning of the year that i started work on this project and its not till now that i can finally reveal. move that bus! 

this is the cover of the magazine.

and inside - i designed a christmas mouse and baby to make.

and a profile on moi along with mug shot. the there are the directions. i scrawled pages and pages and pages writing those up.

heres another photo they sent me but didn't use. i like the little matchbox bed.

have a great week!

hope.............

america, we watch and wait with you. the only thing we cannot do is vote. for michael it has been cnn, bbc and fox on our television, the huffington post and the LA times online and an airfreighted new yorker by the bed. all bases covered. he studied politics at university so the race to the white house has been all encompassing. our country has its own election on saturday but this pales in comparison somehow. our fingers are crossed!

in the meantime...........yesterday i finally finished my club little house sets. 

all wrapped and ready to go!

one day i will make a quilt for a real sized bed!

weeny blankets cause winter is on its way

and a little rug so toes don't get chilly

fare thee well my girls!

in an old house.................

with the spookies behind us, i can nearly cast my attention to the ho ho ho's on the horizon. i am still working on the goodies for club little house and this weekend finished the dollies. nearly there. the beds are all made but still to be painted. then they can fly away to their new homes!