easter's on its way

i wet-felted the eggshell using an actual egg as the form. then, i sliced the crack in the egg with an exacto knife. i mostly needle-felted the little chick. i made it for our friend, ida jane, who will be turning 4 in a few days. we did the photo shoot out by the surprise lilies in the front yard.

cozysoap

did you ever have something you want to blog about so badly, that you can't even wait until daylight (when your camera takes nicer pictures) to get it online? that happened to me today. i know that soap felting is already out there, in the crafting community, the etsy crowd etc., but i just found out about it, tried it, and fell in love.



for those of you not in the know, it's a bar of soap, wrapped in felted wool (some call it "soap in a sweater"). you wash your skin with it. a built-in washcloth, if you will. they are beautiful to look at, nice to hold, scrubby, yet soft when sudzed up, and oh-so-easy to make. i made 12 of them in the span of 2 hours---hours during which i was distracted by the needs and desires of one-not-yet-capable-of-fully-caring-for-himself. i found locally made/handmade soap, for cheap, in the 'seconds' bin at the co-op. making one's own soap would be even better (though you wouldn't be able to see the soap itself). did i say how much i love this yet? i really do. they are so quick, and so wonderful, i want to make one for everyone i know.

crafting projects that are more involved, difficult and time consuming can be great too. i' tell a story about one of those next time. in the meantime, if you want to know how to felt a bar of soap, here is a step-by-step guide. it's not the instructions i used, but it looks about right to me.

heteronormative plush toys

cosmo's uncles, ch & h, gave him toast for his birthday, when they visited last year. cosmo is very fond of toast, probably because he came from them, but he's also pretty damn cute, if you ask me. i started felting a plush toy for some friends' new baby, but when i finished it, i knew that it could not go to the new baby. i had obviously made grape jelly, toast's girlfriend. or...er...uh...friend! buddy. pal. sister?



in any case, cosmo likes them both, and he likes for them to "talk" to one another.



i still need to make something for the baby.