A Small Fox in a Big World

Ornament Swap

Lots of cute things are being posted in the swap pool! Make sure you check it out and don't forget to upload your own contributions! My little sister is participating too and she gave me her submissions at her party. I need to remember to photograph them at some point and stick them in the pool. In the mean time, here is a look at what I'm working on!

All my little people are lined up and ready for hair and makeup. Then, it's on to wardrobe!

My first idea was to paint on the bodies. But I quickly learned that I'm not good enough at painting for my apparently high standards. So, this little lady became prototype number 1. I do like her on the clothes pin though. I think I may cover the top with white glitter to emulate snow. I may put a bit on her hat too!

I then decided to glue fabric onto the body, which I really like, even if it is a bit fiddly. And I thought that I would pop holes in the acorn caps and then thread floss through to hang them. But it was really hard to get the hole in the cap with out breaking the whole thing and don't get me started on the mess threading the floss through became!

So, I think they will end up being a mix of the two designs. Cloth bodies and clothes pin bases. I think it sounds like a winner!

Gretchen's Baby Shower

My little sister is due with her first child sometime between December 26 and January 6. So, I threw her a party, with a lot of help from my mom. We brought way too much food that I forgot to take a picture of and people came and brought lots of fun gifts, which I did take pictures of! You can see all of the pictures right here! Enjoy!

Common Threads

I'm doing my Common Threads submissions all out of order, but I'm just going with what inspires me first, I guess. And then I got all engrossed in making Halloween costumes, so I never got around to posting this.

Rossie is making a quilt inspired by the one in this post, so we were instructed to make long block chains using the code she sent us to represent letters.

The first block I made says, "Once Upon a Time."

I used three inch blocks and I tried to put a sliver of cream between all the blocks as little spaces. It got all wonky and I didn't like it all that much, but I didn't hate it either. I hope Rossie can find somewhere to use it in her quilt.

I made another block after that, using four inch blocks and no spacers. This one turned out much better!

"Don't Panic!" This was a really fun project and I really like thinking up things to say and then spelling them out with the secret code. I can't wait to see what Rossie's finished quilt looks like!

Employee Enrichment Day

Every year on Columbus Day, we go on a tour of other libraries, since we are closed. Here are some highlights of this year's trip!

I love that proper shelving resulted in these books being color coordinated. Happy accidents for the win!

The is the Story Hour person's chair. I need a happy throne just like this. NEED!

The ceiling at the state capitol.

The Law Library. STUNNING!

A stained glass window at the State Library.

Some sculpture at the new park.

And a bit of rest after a long day!

I haven't blogged in so long, Typepad didn't even remember me!

Hi. Remember me? I won't blame you if you don't. If there was a Worst Blogger in History Award, I'd probably win. If anyone remembered that I had a blog. I'd apologize for my lack of entertainment in these parts, only I'm not exactly sorry. I just didn't have anything to say. Some days, I found it hard to twitter. If I couldn't come up with 140 characters worth reading, I did you all a favor by not blogging. Trust me. Today, because I'm feeling chatty, I'm going to log a bunch of posts a few days apart in hopes that they will last until the next time I feel chatty. We shall see.

For Halloween, Brian and I were Octopi. I saw the idea in Family Fun magazine and then I made a better costume than the one they described. I stitched the legs closed, instead of using duct tape and I made my suckers out of felt, instead of just using mailing seals. My eyeballs are felt too, instead of styrofoam balls. This hopefully means that these will last a little while, as I have at least 40 hours worth of work in them. There were A LOT of suckers! I went through a whole bottle of Fabri-Tac. But we're cute and that's what matters!

First Annual Small Fox Ornament Swap: Sign Ups Closed THANK YOU!

After some disappointments the past few years participating in another ornament swap, I thought it was high time I started my own! And so, I present to you THE FIRST ANNUAL SMALL FOX ORNAMENT SWAP!

Here's how it will work. The first 20 people to email me at paperfoxling @ yahoo {dot} com with their name, address and a statement of interest are in the swap. You will then be responsible for making 10 ornaments and mailing them to me, along with $5 to cover postage, by November 21, 2009. I will then distribute the ornaments, so everyone gets what they put in to the swap, without having to worry about participants who flake out. You should receive your ornaments sometime the last week of November or first few days of December and then will have all of December to enjoy them! 

Here are some examples of what I've made in the past:

I always try to put a lot of thought, time, and effort into the ornaments that I make each year and I know you will all do the same! I can't wait to find out who will be participating! Please post any questions you may have in the comments and then please check back, as I will be posting answers there as well! Happy Swapping!

DQS7

Here is the quilt I made for DQS7. My partner said she liked mermaids, and I've been meaning to make this quilt for some time. I think I've had that mermaid in my sketch book for almost two years. The stars finally aligned and I made the quilt for my DQS7 swap partner. It was all going so well, until I had the wonderful idea to hand quilt the thing. I figured, hey, it's small, it would be a good place to start. Having never hand quilted, it never really occurred to me just how long it might take. The answer is FOREVER! But it did turn out deliciously wrinkled, so I can forgive it. Some.

I left the edges of all the applique rough, so that it would fray in the wash. I love the way it looks, all worn and fuzzy. For some reason, that really helped contribute to the underwater feeling for me. I really hope my partner likes it.

In return, I got this lovely little number from Kerri, of Lovely Little Handmades. It's like she used my brain as a sieve to sort her stash, only using the fabric that stuck. BECAUSE I LOVE EVERY ONE OF THOSE SNOWBALLS! And I can't wait to stick it in the washer and pull it out all warm and wrinkled. Thank you so much, Kerri! LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Happy Anniversary, Love

Quilting Bee Catch Up

Here is the very last block from The Busy Little Quilting Bee that I hosted. This block is for Shannon, who requested scrappy circles. Circles scare the bejeesus out of me, so hopefully she likes my reverse appliqued version.

And here is the August block for the second round of the Common Threads quilting bee. Wonky squares were requested and hopefully I delivered something that will be considered appropriately wonky. I used this tutorial to make it. It's like the anal way to make wonky blocks, which is just the kind of thing I needed. LOVE!

Labor Day Car Show