Wednesday, December 9, 2009

WIP Wednesday- Return of the Crafting Mojo


Eight o'clock at night has become a pretty special time for me. The boys are all tucked into their beds and I finally get my quiet time for crafting. I have time to peruse your blogs for inspiration, sit down and focus on instructions and actually have some time without distractions to let my imagination and hands work together! For whatever reason, I felt like I was in a crafting slump for most of November. Then this past week, something clicked (funny how swap deadlines will do that to you!) and I felt like I had all these ideas just waiting to be formed into actual creations.

The talented Maike inspired me so much with her wonderful Adventswichtel that as soon as the boys fell asleep that night I had to make my own little wichtelman for our tree!

For the Seasons Round Exchange, I decided to try making my first felted doll. For anyone who wants to try this, I have to say that the book More Magic Wool is a fantastic resource! I sat at our kitchen table with a pile of wool, felting needle, that book and my Snow Angel was born.

Two of Nico's darling little friends had a joint car themed birthday last weekend and certainly needed crowns to commemorate the occasion!

I participated in a very fun ornament exchange where I was able to play with our wood burning tool a bit and have some fun actually doing some cursive writing! It had occurred to me that almost all my written communication these days is with a keyboard. This was definitely good practice getting my fingers ready to write out our holiday cards!

The boys made a few lovely hand-dipped beeswax candles at a Winter Faire last weekend, so Ivan and I drilled a few holes into a found piece of wood to make our own custom candle holder :). Shown here with the Fire Element Gnome from ZooLooNaturals.
Lastly I will end with my knitting project that has been sitting in my bag for months... what I call the Scarf of a Thousand Bad Stitches. There really is no reason or rhyme to this scarf. I knit a few rows, purl a few... I don't even pay much attention to how many stitches are across (gasp!). I just wanted something to keep my hands busy when I have a free moment.

There has been a lot of crafting and creating going on around here this past week. I'm grateful for the return on my crafting mojo and for all of you who inspire and encourage me. I'd love to hear what you're working on these days!

Happy Work In Progress Wednesday!



18 comments:

Nicola said...

holy cow, marina. (that was the nicer version of the impressed expletive that emerged from my mouth at your beautiful and very talented creativity!) i am in awe. everything looks amazing! you have me inspired, although i just stood up from finishing embroidering a gift that just looks sad in comparison to your creations! practice makes perfect, though. (ah! sound like my grandma!)
nicola
http://whichname.blogspot.com

MammaNatura said...

Your Christmas decorations are delicious

Carin said...

Oh my goodness! You sure have found your crafting mojo!!! That's a lot of projects! I especially love the snow angel. I've still to learn needle felting, but it looks fantastic so may have to give it a try in the new year.

Annie said...

WOW!!

You've just inspired me -- I'm on my way to a needlefelting figuring workshop this morning :)

8pm has almost bittersweet for me these days -- I still have more crafting to do before the holidays than possible in those evening hours -- I think there will be a few unfinished presents... so 8pm comes around and I rush to my knitting all the while thinking "can i even finish this?" I've been doing that since mid september with kids gifts for their october birthday -- I must start some chrismtas presents THIS winter for next season!! :)

thanks for sharing Marina :)

Jen said...

Keep crafting!

Joy said...

You got your crafting mojo back indeed! LOVE the angel! The wichtelman is amazing! Can I just tell you how much Finn would freak out if he saw those crowns. For about 3 months I couldn't get him to wear ANYTHING handknit until I bought some of those car buttons. Now they are on almost every handknit piece he has. :) And the ornaments. I think my heart skipped a beat when I saw them. SO lovely!

Anonymous said...

That scarf is a pretty color! And how sweet of you to make birthday crowns.

FrontierDreams said...

Hear, hear!! (Can you believe I just had to look that up to make sure I had it correct? :p )
The girls go to bed at 6:30 but aren't ready for me to creep out of bed until 7:30'ish. That's MY time. Oh how do I need it, it's my therapy.
You know I love the current needle felting projects, I told you your mojo returned!!! And the ornaments for our swap.. EEEEEEEEK!! I can't wait to see them in person <3 <3

I have so much t say but I'll save that for e-mail <3 Please know you have been in my thoughts non-stop these past few days. Holding you and yor family close to my heart <3 <3

Keep that crafting going my sweet, wonderful friend!!

Tonya Gunn said...

Thank you for sharing your work - Wow!! The felting is amazing and those branch woodburned ornaments - beautiful.
Warm wishes.

Simple Mama said...

You certainly did get your mojo back. Wow! Everything is beautiful. :)

Mama Rose said...

So glad to hear your crafting mojo is back. Isn't it a wonderful thing to return to? You've got some really nice projects going on there! Great job on the needleworking too :D

Mama Rose said...

So glad to hear your crafting mojo is back! Isn't it a wonderful thing when it returns? You've got some really wonderful projects going on, and great job on your needlefelting :D
Love it all!

Anonymous said...

felting, wood burning, drilling and knitting...oh my!
i'd say the mojo is back....although we could argue the point that it was never really gone, creative friend.

TheSingingBird said...

So Beautiful!

Jessica said...

Wow! I absolutely love your little wichtelman! He is just precious!!

mamakopp said...

Hello. I LOVE your blog and your home. You have wonderful sight ;o) Just wanted you to know who was looking through the last few pages. Happy Holidays to you!

Anonymous said...

It's nice to get a few crafting moments to yourself during this busy time of year!

Jen said...

8 o'clock is my special crafting time, too. I'll be thinking of you as I sit down to work on the hobby horse I am knitting for Isaac.