Salley’s New Book! Give-away ahead!

I am so pleased to be part of the blog tour for Salley’s new book, Felt Wee Folk! Yes, we are friends, but that is not influencing my opinion that this is an amazing book.

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I received an e-copy to review but I’m an old-fashioned kind of craft book reader and I was thrilled when I got my hands on the paper edition. There are so many beautiful photos and projects and so much inspiration! I love how she choose to make families of dolls and also dolls for specific occasions like wedding cake toppers and a nativity scene. There are a variety of doll sizes shown although they are all (in my doll-making world) on the tiny size- 1 1/2″ baby to 4 1/2″ grown-ups.

As I paged through the book, what caught my eye was the variety and I think anyone interested in embroidery and or doll-making would find something fun to do. There are instructions for simpler versions that a child could do and the projects ramp up to higher skill levels and detail work. My most favorite ones are the doll house family. I would have loved having them as a child or making them when my kids were small. The wonderful thing is, these are dolls that can actually be played with, not something that has to be appreciated from the shelf.

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Another project that I loved was the Hansel and Gretel dolls for a candy house. You could make an entire Christmas tree covered in all the characters that Salley came up with. And that is only if you stick with her designs because I can see using her book as a jumping off point to make all the characters for your own story or adventure.

There might be confusion that it is just an updated version of her earlier craft book, Felt Wee Folk: Enchanting Projects since it has almost the same title, but really, it seems all new! I would think of it as an add-on instead. There were some non-doll felt projects in the first book that she left out and that leaves room for a lot more dolls. The photos are all new and there are many lovely fabric scenes that are what I think of when I imagine Salley’s artwork. I love this one-

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So here is the fun part- there is a book give-away! Anyone can enter- US address wins a hard copy book, International wins an e-book. Post a comment on the blog by midnight (Eastern Daylight Time) Sunday, March 15 and I will use a random number generator to pick the winner. Remember, you must come over to the blog and leave a comment to be entered. I can not count emailed comments.

If you NEED the book immediately, here are some other options- Amazon

 

or Salley’s Etsy shop where you can get all her books, supplies, posters and all sorts of goodies.

I thought this was cool too- A Child’s Dream, where I buy lots of my felt, has put together this basket and also a felt collection, designed for these projects.

And, lastly, if you are anywhere in the Boston area, you can see some of Salley’s original work in the next 2 months- the Lexington Library in March and then the Newton Library in April. Go see it if you can- they are work a trip. If you just want to take a virtual journey, check out the other blogs on the tour- everyone is having a give-away so you can enter them all!

Felt Wee Folk Blog Tour

March 3 – Mary Corbet’s Needle n’ Thread
March 6 – Mimi Kirchner – Doll
March 10- Margaret Bloom – Wee Bloom Here
March 12 – C&T Publishing’s Blog
March 13 – Kimara – Wee Folk Art
March 15 – Phoebe Wahl 

Visit to Salley!

I went down to the Cape to see Salley and her amazing artwork!

I’ve seen enough of Salley’s artwork to know it would be worth the drive to see this piece in person- it was amazing! She blogged about the visit here.

We sat in her studio and chatted, we walked in the woods, we visited the show, we had lunch… and it was a perfect Autumn day. Salley’s studio is so beautiful- I always enjoy visiting and seeing what she is up to. Lots of work-in-progress!

this week

I’m working on some things that I can’t show and that is a bummer. But, look who came to visit me yesterday!

Salley! I was even able to uncover a chair for her to sit on. hmm, yes, the studio is a pretty big mess these days. I got to see her cover art for the January Horn Book magazine. There is no describing how amazing that piece is in real life. No matter how wonderful the photo turns out to be, it is not the same. I feel so lucky to have seen it!

And, here are some thrift goodies, all disassembled, washed and ready to go.

I believe it is a law of thrifting that if you are looking for something specific, you will never find it. Even if it is something perfectly ordinary- like the time I needed a plain white sweater. I could not find a single one in 5 different thrift stores. I am indeed looking for something specific- a gray wool fair isle sweater. I didn’t find one but found some other goodies. I’m not complaining. I now have a good excuse to do some more searching this weekend.

Lastly, I hope to have an update in the next few days about the Scotch and Soda copying/stealing situation. I appreciate all the support you have given me so far. Thank you.

trip to Cape Cod

Yesterday, a friend and I drove down to Cape Cod to visit Salley Mavor and see her show at Highfield Hall. What a wonderful expedition!

First we stopped and chatted and relaxed in her studio for a bit.

I didn’t take a lot of studio photos (here are some old ones), but here is one- I loved seeing her thread in the baskets-

We went out to lunch and then to the show. It is amazing. The book photography is beautiful but a completely different experience then seeing the artwork in real life.

Here we are at the show-

If I could have taken any of the pieces home with me, it probably would have been this one of winter. I’m not sure why, but it really spoke to me. Here it is in the book-

And here is my blurry photo of it at the show. It is difficult to get a decent photo with low light and glass fronts.

I now have my book and Salley gave me a poster to hang in my studio-

And look at the wonderful inscription!

After the show, we were on our way. Since I was on the Cape, I wanted to make a few more stops. We made it to Yummygoods and said hello to Melissa! I got to visit her gorgeous little shop, see her studio when it wasn’t all gussied up for a photo shoot (real life workspace, I love it!), and see the new fabric line, all close up and personal.

And then to Tumbleweed, one of my favorite fabric store destinations. It was a great day!

Salley sneak peak

There is a dearth of finished projects around here, although I have made a great leap forward with my Kitty pattern. I spent yesterday working on the computer with a friend helping me out.  Another few days of that and I might have something to show for it!

Salley sent me some photos from her upcoming book and I asked her if I could post them. Here are the details- It is called POCKETFUL OF POSIES: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes. Publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Available, Sept. 2010.

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I love the beautiful leaf designs- they are often in my head when I work on a tiny world.

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I LOVE this one! The baby, the tree, the walnut shell! Swoon!

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Here is the cover- although Salley tells me that the actual cover photo will be much better.

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And, here is the drawing for the cover. So interesting to see the idea and how it comes together.

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Thanks for the preview Salley! Here are some other photos of her work.

visit with Salley

Salley Mavor came over for a visit today. She was in town to meet with her publisher. She is working on a book of nursery rhymes. She brought some of the pages to show me. They take your breath away with their details and craftsmanship. I took some photos-

this is a detail shot of the chair that the girl is sitting on-

do you see the embroidered detail on the shirt above? Amazing!

I love the bees in this one-

Stone wall of felt and beads. The gate has hooks and eyes for hardware-

And that rat! I love him!

This is what I’ve been working on-

I will post better photos onto the blog and list them on etsy once I get some decent photos.