WANTED: Home for a Grizzly

This is Bramble.

He is a would-be-adventurer, a budding explorer, a rambler in the making. This year, instead of curling up for his annual hibernation, Bramble has decided he wants to see the world. He's seen all the fun that Potato is having in London with his new family -- Paris nights at the Eiffel Tower, horse-back riding, IKEA meatballs -- and he wants a bit of that.

So, what I'm looking for is a kind volunteer to give Bramble a new home. He's pretty low-maintenance; he finds his own food, he'll sleep anywhere dark and cave-like, he is good with children and dogs.

Oh, and he's very excited about Christmas. He loves singing "Jingle Bears" and can't wait to bake his special minced pies for his new friends. Bramble would be very excited to climb into a stocking, or jump out of a present to surprise someone, if you wanted him to.

Bramble wants to make sure we stay in touch, though, and has insisted he go to one of the lovely people who are subscribed to the blog by email. So, if you'd like to give him a home and aren't already subscribed, please sign up (by entering your email below) by December 1st, when we'll pick a winner!

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Babuskha Bowling

Well, the Christmas elves were busy last night. A whole set of Russian Dolls is finished, and they've set sail in the Russian Doll boat (ahem, bread basket) that our recent lovely house-guest made for Tilly. 

Tatiana, Katja, Sveta, Anya, Pinky and Matilda have a long life of fun in front of them. Not only are they dolls, they are also stuffed with little bells, so that Tilly can enjoy them as rattles right now. (Well, she could, if she would remove their heads from her mouth long enough to shake them!)

The dolls also double as skittles for a game of six-pin bowling:

But now they have to go back into the workshop to wait for Christmas, so that Tilly can pull them all out of her new stocking!

To see what others are creating today, stop by their Creative Spaces.

Ten Ten Ten

To celebrate the tenth of the tenth of the tenth today, I made a wabbit ten times the size of other wabbits. Please meet Pumpkin.

Pumpkin enjoys all things Texan, i.e. rocking in outdoor rocking chairs, drinking iced tea, watching the Spurs play basketball, and being larger than wabbits of other states.

And in case you were wondering just how big a weally big wabbit is, here you can see that he towers over Bella. She's made no attempt to chew off one of his arms yet. I think she's worried he'd fight back.

Yes, a four-foot flannel wabbit called Pumpkin. That's what I did with my spare minutes today. So, if there are no more posts on here, then you'll know: the men in white coats finally came for me...

Baa Ram Ewe

Baarney the sheep is a lucky little fellow. While he was still just a tiny lamb, he had a run in with a rather ferocious dog, and had to be rushed to the vet to have his arm reattached. All that makes him a little jumpy, and you'll always find him curled up on the couch at night rather than out playing with the other sheep. He likes to knit, and is working on making himself a pair of mittens for the winter.

The Weekly Potato

Hop on over to Jodie's to see what Potato has been up to in London so far... 

He looks wonderfully happy! And I think he's inspired the rest of the Stuffed Stuffed Completely Stuffed menagerie to leave the comfort of the shelf and prepare to set off around the world for their own adventures.

Off Goes Potato

And so, here at the Slagle house, we're getting ready for the departure of our dear Potato. For his trip, I made him a little messenger bag, which he promptly filled with all of his treasures.

Yes, he's a rabbit of simple pleasures. He enjoys picking wildflowers, and collecting bright buttons, and I'm sure he'll be able to continue with both of those passions in London. He's taking with him lots of hearts to give out to all the new friends he's going to make, and a lucky penny to bring good fortune to his new family. He also insisted on writing a little note to introduce himself.

After an exchange of farewells, and a group hug, off he went across the garden and down the road, where he hitched a ride with a friendly passing postman.

Stay in touch, little fella! We hope you enjoy the Cadbury's chocolate, the fondant fancies, and the wonderful wit and charm of England.

Creature Feature

The menagerie is growing.

Yes, it's time to stand up and admit it. I'm Astrid, and I'm addicted to making small furry creatures out of my clothes.

They always start off as intended gifts for someone. I cut, I pin, and everything's fine. But then I add the face, and it all goes out of the window, because once they have faces, I can't bear to part with them. It's the eyes. The big round stitched eyes. Begging to stay.

Anyway, today I'm about to break my hoarding tendency. I'm going to give one of you-- yes, YOU-- the latest fluffy little beastie, who was just finished up yesterday. Meet Potato:

"Potato?" you say. "That's a bloomin' rabbit."

Correct. But Potato is named after the style of skirt he was cut from.

"A Potato skirt?" you say. "I've never heard of it!"

Let me explain. While I was sewing last night, Justin was interested to see what I was making, and I told him it was a rabbit, out of an old skirt of mine.

"Which skirt was that?" he asked.

"The one that looked like a potato sack," I said.

"Oh, I liked that one!" he said.

Now, perhaps it's just me, but if you can describe a piece of your clothing as "the thing that looks like a potato sack" and people know what you're talking about, then you should not be wearing it. And perhaps, if your piece of clothing has an elasticated top and bottom, and you can wear it at five months pregnant, and it's made of wool, and you live in sweltering Texas, then maybe it's time that garment became a stuffed rabbit.

Yes, he has a big round felted red tail. You know you want him.

So, all I'm asking is that you just take a second to leave me a quick comment, a "hello" or a link to your own page, or whatever you'd like. I've been inspired by this post on connections, and would love to know who out there is connecting with me through these posts, and to connect with you back. Because I love that you're here reading. I love that my dailyness and silliness and stuffed rabbits matter to you.

I'll give it until next Thursday afternoon, a week from now... let's say 2pm... and pick a random number for who'll be getting Potato. Sound fair?

Felicity Fauxwood

Another fox has appeared, magically, from my box of scraps.

This is Felicity Fauxwood, in a paisley dress that matches our bench cushion, and turquoise cowboy boots made from an old shirt of mine.

She is the last of the foxes for right now, but I've enjoyed making them so much, no doubt there'll be more coming in the future! For now, I'll be working on making Tilly a mobile... which will be completely from materials I already have (and already have unpacked, at that!), as I don't really feel up to a trek round the craft shop. I do like a challenge!

Remington Fauxwood

It's not easy to just sit down when you've got a garage full of boxes waiting to be unpacked. But, after getting into trouble with Justin for building an IKEA bookshelf while he was at work, I've found a way to keep myself away from the heavy lifting, and occupied on the couch. Its name is Remington Fauxwood:

Yes, the pattern comes from the new book I told you about, "Sew Me, Love Me". (Although, in the spirit of handmadeness, I didn't actually use the patterns she provides, but drew my own wonky versions!)

Remington is made from a lot of recycled old clothes, including a jacket Justin used to lend me on camping trips when we were first dating, and an extra extra extra large yellow shirt that Justin's Dad passed down, and I refuse to keep around for Justin to "grow into"!

I called him "Fauxwood" in honour of how Justin pronounced the type of blinds we have ("fox wood")... he really was very disappointed to find out what "faux" really means!

I'm ready to get started on Mrs. Foxy today... feet up, drinking plenty of water, enjoying the time to rest!