Scenes from Christmas card printing

I've had the Gocco out printing our Christmas cards. A two-color woodland-y sewing machine decked out with pine boughs. The pine cone replacing the machine's thread spool was Josh's idea. Pretty cute.

I've put a few up in the shop, as well.

Adventures in failed craft projects

I saw this idea on Pinterest, where so many half-baked craft ideas go to infect the minds of innocent Internet browsers.

A pumpkin bird feeder.

I had a few pumpkins still lying around from Halloween. I had twine. It seemed like a good idea.

It's so charming, so seasonal.

Of course, we haven't seen a single bird anywhere near it.

That's been the major flaw of our new pumpkin bird feeders. No birds.

The source of the Pinterest post that touched off my bird feeder lust was Dreamy Whites, and -- to her credit -- her pumpkin bird feeders look magnificent. And appear to be visited by actual birds.

So, maybe it's just me. Or maybe the birds in our yard are pumpkin-resistant? Pumpkin intolerant?

Pinwale -- get it?

 

Whales are everywhere here -- whale watching excursions, whale murals on buildings, actual whales out in the ocean. So, naturally, I wanted a stuffed whale. Enter this hot little number here:
 

Humpback Whale

There's still a few kinks to work out with the pattern (mostly tail-related), but I'm kind of in love with him.

And I found the Olivebunny buttons (I wasn't exactly sure where they'd ended up after the move). They're back in the shop, shiny as ever.

Buttons

Oh my!

In honor of my shop reopening, I'm offering free shipping in the shop with the coupon code "OHMYBEARS" -- but I want you to also say it out loud to yourself.

xoxo

Bah, bah

Nursery Sheep

Another new animal -- the largest in shop history. This Suffolk sheep is 14.5" inches tall and I'm pretty darn excited about it.

Tweed 'n' fluff

One more bear in the shop -- a quizzical American black bear. We named him Bybee, after a town in East Tennessee near Josh's hometown. As a Tennessee native, my husband links black bears with the Great Smoky Mountains. My dad described this bear's muzzle as "Fender tweed" -- which I find pretty great.

And here's a peek into a new project. Hint: it goes "bah."

Shop update!

New animals in the shop! Bears and sea creatures! New fluff!