12 Days of Gifts Special!!

Season's Greetings dear friends!!  

Just wanted to let you all know that I'm offering a 12 Days Of Gifts Special in my Etsy Shop! Each morning I'll post an announcement on my facebook page with the Gift of the Day ~ a different pattern or pattern set will on sale for 50% off the regular price!!  

So, if there's a particular pattern you've had your eye on, please be sure to check in as this special will only be on for a limited time!

Have a happy weekend:)
~Shelly xo

Free Santa Ornament Pattern

Hello lovelies!  I have a bit of a surprise for you all - actually, it's really an early Christmas pressie for those of you who love to sew!  This darling little Santa ornament is super easy and fun to make and I'm sure if you get started on them now, you can whip up some for your family members, co-workers and friends!  To download the pattern pieces, please click here.

You'll need:

:  Scraps of red, white, blush and green felt
:  A pair of 4.5mm safety eyes
:  Embroidery thread
:  Polyfil
:  Seed beads
:  Crewel embroidery thread or narrow ribbon for ornament loop
:  Tiny pompom
:  Pink pencil crayon
:  Water soluble marker, craft glue

Lay pattern pieces onto felt and carefully cut out.  I prefer to use a sharp pair of embroidery scissors to cut out the felt pieces as they provide a precise cut, especially around tight corners and pointy bits.  ::  Please click on the photos to enlarge them  ::

Position the face behind the facial hair and pin in place.

























View from the back.

 Using small, neat stitches, applique opening of facial hair onto face.


Mark nose, mouth and eyes as shown with your water soluble pen.





Embroider nose onto face, and mouth onto beard.
Being very careful, make two tiny holes where you've marked the eyes using the tip of a very sharp pair of scissors.  (Again, the embroidery scissors work best).  Insert safety eyes and connectors at back..  Embroider tiny eyebrows above the eyes and add a hint of colour to his cheeks with your pink pencil crayon.

Position hat onto facial hair, slightly overlapping the bottom edge of the hat onto the top edge of the facial hair.  Repeat with the back pieces, taking note that they need to be reversed in order for them to match up with the fronts when it's time to sew them together.

Applique bottom edge of hat onto facial hair.

 Align bottom edge of hat cuff onto bottom edge of hat.  Applique bottom edge as well as top edge of hat cuff onto hat.  Repeat on the back piece.

Stitch base of holly leaves in place and sew on three seed beads.

Cut a 7.5 inch length of crewel embroidery thread or ribbon for your ornament loop.  Fold in half and knot the end.  Stitch knot into place on the INSIDE of the back of the hat as shown, keeping your stitches small and invisible as you don't want to see them from the right side of the felt.

Lay front onto back and pin.  Starting at one side of the hat, and using red embroidery thread, blanket stitch all the way around to the other side of the hat.  End off your thread.

Start blanket stitching at the hat cuff with your white thread, stopping about an inch before you reach the other side of the hat band.  Stuff and blanket stitch opening closed.

Glue a little pompom onto the tip of his hat, and voila, you have a sweet little Santa ornament!

Have fun!
~Shelly xo

Hurricane Sandy - Donation Drive

It's not very often that I write two posts in one day, but as you all know, Hurricane Sandy caused major destruction across the countries in the Caribbean as well as the eastern States of North America.  Thousands of people have lost their homes, many still have no power and temperatures are dropping.

I'd like to help in any way I can and thought it might be nice to do a 24 hour pattern blitz!  The proceeds of every sale made in my shop for the next 24 hours will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross for their Hurricane Sandy - USA fund.  You can find out all about them here:  http://www.redcross.ca/article.asp?id=44456&tid=001.

Between us, I think we can make a difference!

Thank you, your generosity will be appreciated!
~Shelly

Evie, a Christmas Elf

Hello dear friends!  Have you ever wished for a little elf to come and help you do all those things that keep piling up around your house?  Well, I've been wishing for one to help me cut out and sew up all the things I want to make!  So, I thought I'd take matters into my own hands and make one of my own!  Her name is Evie and I'm hoping that when I go to bed at night, she'll work her magic and have everything done for me by the time I wake up the next morning!

Evie is completely hand sewn and made from wool blend and hand woven wool felts.  She measures about 9 inches tall without her hat on and is fully posable.  Her little legs and arms bend at the knees and elbows because they've been inserted with pipe cleaners.  She wears a pretty pink tunic, a sweet little hat with a dangly bell and pointy shoes, all of which can be removed.

Of course, she'll be joining Santa very soon, to help him get all the toys made and packaged up.

And when she returns, I'm sure she's going to need a little holiday!  I'm hoping to surprise her with some new outfits so that she can enjoy playing dress-up!



Evie's pattern will be available sometime this week:)
~Shelly xo

Snow Folk

As you know, Christmas is right around the corner!  Some of you might not want to hear that right now, but for those of you who like to give hand-made Christmas gifts to your family and friends, now is the perfect time to start working on them!  I wanted to create a special gift for my mom and dad this year, so I came up with these little Snow Folk ornaments.  I can't wait to see them hanging on their tree, along with the other ornaments I've made for them over the years!

 With their smiling faces and cheery accents, these little ornaments are sure to brighten up any holiday get-together!

Snow Man and his wreath, decorated with seed beads and sequins.

Snow Lady with her Christmas tree, also decorated with seed beads and sequins.

I'm happy to announce that I am now offering the pattern to make this adorable couple in my shop!

Have a lovely week:)
~Shelly xo

Cloth Kitten Pattern Winners!

Hi everyone!  Thank you all so much for entering the draw for the new Cloth Kitty pattern!  And many thanks for all your lovely comments, I'm so glad you like them!
The lucky winners are:
Chantal Gregory
Jeannie Gan
Sweetpea (Christine)
Pamela Robbins
Wolfmom2ac (Dawn)
Brenda Churchwell
I've sent each winner an email with the pattern attached, hope you all have fun making them!

The patterns are now ready and available in my shop!
xo

Cloth Kitten Pattern Giveaway!!

Oh my goodness, it's been so cold and wet here these last few days, but it's perfect weather for sewing!  For my latest project, I decided to do something a little different - a cloth kitten with a painted face.  I traced the facial features onto the face with a Pigma Micron 005 felt pen (it's waterproof) and then, once the kitten was all sewn up and assembled, I used regular acrylic paint to colour in the features.  Once dry, I gave the painted areas a coat of Textile Medium to make them permanent and washable.  They could also be painted with fabric paint.
Of course, I couldn't just stop at one, I ended up making four of them!  From left to right are:  Clover, Chloe, Cleo and Clara.  Aren't they dear?  I just love their sweet little faces!

Each little kitten looked very cute in the buff, but I know how much little ones love to dress and undress their dollies, so I made each a very simple dress from pretty, light weight cotton and added a matching bow which is mounted on a button pin to make it removable.  I then decided that they each needed a little bag in case they wanted to tuck something special inside:)

Cleo in her birthday suit:)

Various stages of making the kittens.

All the kittens have been adopted and are on their way to their new homes, but for those of you who would like to make your very own kitten, you'll be happy to know that the pattern for them is almost ready.  I just have to put the finishing touches on it so that hubbs can put it into pdf format and it'll be ready for my shop.

Now for the fun part...  If you'd like to win a free pattern, please leave your name and email address below and I'll pick five lucky winners on Sunday, October 21! 

Best of luck to you all!!
~Shelly xo

Free Pencil/Glasses Case Pattern!

Here's a little special something for you to make!

 These pretty cases are perfect for keeping your glasses safe, or holding pens and pencils.  They're easy to make and you can download the pattern pieces here.

What you'll need to make one case:

9 x 6 inch felt in main colour                                         9 x 6 inch felt for lining
Scraps of felt for bunny/dog                                          Embroidery thread
Pinch of stuffing for bunny tail                                      Seed beads for dog collar
Button                                                                             Water soluble pen
Exacto blade

:  Cut our your pattern pieces and lay each piece onto your chosen felts.  Carefully cut out.  Tip:  A sharp pair of long-nosed embroidery scissors are perfect for cutting around the tiny curves on the bunny and dog.

Doggie case 

:  Position dog body onto main colour of bag front.  Applique all around outer edge.  Using your water soluble pen, mark a little eye and a tiny snout.

:  Embroider eye and snout on with black thread, adding a tiny white stitch to his eye to create an illusion of light reflecting off the eye.

:  Place ear onto head and applique on and then position collar on and applique on.  If you like, sew three seed beads onto the collar.

:  Pin both pieces of bag front as well as both pieces of bag back together.  Baste pieces together.  This will keep the front and back pieces from sliding out of place when you sew the two sides together.

:  Blanket stitch top edge of bag front.  Pin front of bag to back of bag.

 :  Blanket stitch all the way around outer edge.  Remove basting stitches.

:  Sew a button onto the front, fold over flap and mark button hole placement.  Being very careful, cut slit with your exacto blade.  To keep the hole from warping, blanket stitch around opening of button hole.  And you're done!

Bunny Case

:  Firstly, you'll need to determine the placement of your bunny in order to know where to place his back ear.  Position bunny onto main colour of bag front.  Tuck the back ear behind the head so that the head just slightly overlaps the bottom of the ear.  You can also use the front ear to help with the placement.  Once you're happy with the placement, carefully remove the body/front ear and applique back ear in place.

:  Applique tail onto body and add a teeny pinch of stuffing before closing.  Applique inner ear onto front ear.

:  Position bunny body in place and applique in place.  Follow the directions above to make the eye and add two little whiskers.

:  Place front ear in place and applique in place.  Sew the bow on at the neck using a few tiny stitches in the centre to keep it in place.

:  As in the first step, determine where you'd like to place the carrot and tuck the carrot greens behind the carrot.  Applique bottom edge of greens onto front of bag.

:  Place carrot onto greens, slightly overlapping bottom edge of greens with the top edge of the carrot.  Applique on.  If you like, use a darker orange thread to embroider some straight stitches on to give the carrot some texture.

:  Follow the rest of the steps above to finish your bunny case:)

Enjoy!
~Shelly xo

Hola! I'm back from Mexico!

Hello everyone!  I've just spent the most wonderful week in Mexico with my two lovely sisters!  The weather was perfect; hot and mostly sunny during the days, with a few spectacular thunder and lightning shows in the evenings.  One afternoon, we experienced such a torrential downpour that within an hour, there must have been at least 9 inches of rain! 

Most of our days were spent swimming in the ocean or pools on the resort, lazing in the sun, eating, eating and eating some more!  We spent a morning horseback riding through the jungle, another one bargaining at a local flea market and yet another painting ceramics!  

That's me petting the horses!

As you can see, the beach is beautiful!

My two favourite sisters - Mandy on the left and Loren on the right!  We had such an awesome time together!!

I'm not sure what this sweet little creature was called, some type of badger, but what a cutie!  The guy who took us on our horseback adventure had rescued it when it was young.  Each of us got to have our pics taken with it sitting on our shoulders:)

The bowl I painted.  Still haven't taken a photo of how it turned out!

The view from our room. 

And another stunning shot of the sun set on the beach!  Sigh!  Wish I was still there, but I'm happy to be home as I missed my hubby and boys so much!! 

Adios Amigos!
~Shelly xo

Free Doll Pattern for you to Download!

Hello there!  I have a little present to share with you!  It's a doll pattern that you can download and best of all, they're easy and fun to make!

Aren't they the cutest?  Well you can make them too!  Pattern includes a material and supply list as well as easy to follow instructions and illustrations to guide you along the way.

So, if you'd like to give them a try, click here to download the pattern.  You are welcome to sell these little darlings, all I ask is that you offer Gingermelon design credit in any written description.

Have fun!
~Shelly xo

Good Morning Pattern Winners!!

Many thanks to you all for entering the Pattern Giveaway and a big CONGRATS to the winners!  The lucky ladies are:
Wendy - littlehappystitches
A-len-ka
Debbie James
Anne Dunlop-Greyling
Erron

The patterns for the Angels will be available in my shop today!!

Have a lovely weekend:)
~Shelly xo

Angel Ornament Pattern Giveaway!

Well hello there!  Many thanks to all of you who sent words of encouragement and hope on my last blog post!  Your thoughtfulness was truly uplifting and inspiring!

I've not had much time for blogging (or anything else for that matter!) these days as I've been busy working on new patterns!  I've added four new Halloween Ornaments to my collection and have also started on the Christmas Ornaments.  As it's been a while since I did a little giveaway, I think it's about time to do another one!  So, for this one, I'll be giving away 5 Angel Ornament patterns - you can enter by leaving your name and email address in the comments section and I'll hold the draw on Friday, September 14.

This versatile pattern will allow you to choose one of three different hairstyles for your angel, or, make all three versions and give them away as gifts (if you can part with them!).  Also, it can easily be made into a little doll by omitting the wings, halo and ornament loop.  Each angel measures about 5 inches tall and is completely hand sewn.

A quick peek at all of the ornaments I've been working on.  In the bottom row, from left to right:  Mummy, Bride of Frankenstein, Frankenstein and Dracula. 

The patterns for all of these ornaments will all be ready and available in my shop later on this week for those of you who like to start your holiday sewing early:)

And, one more pic before I say goodbye - this is a sneak peek behind the scenes!  My Little Miss is always around to offer her expert advice when I'm setting up my shots!  Thank heavens for the 'crop' feature or you'd be seeing a lot more of her in my photos!

Don't forget to leave your name and email addy!

Have a lovely week:)
~Shelly xo

Dolly Days of Summer

Hello dear friends!  It's been a while since I last posted on my blog and a lot has happened in the mean time.  This has been a crazy month for me, firstly, I've officially quit my job as the manager of the building we live in (YAY!!), and can now devote my time to doing what I love the most - creating dolls!  My dad has taken over the position as manager and I've been training him in all aspects of the job.  Into the first week of August (just as my dad was beginning his new job), we had a tragic event in our building.  One of our long term tenants sadly took his own life and I was devastated as he'd been a good friend too.  I cannot tell you how I wish things had turned out differently for him, and I can only imagine the despair he must have been going through.

So, for most of this month, I've been concentrating on surrounding myself with people I love and doing the things I find enjoyment in.  I think it's very important to find as many positive things in life to hold onto and cherish!  And one of my biggest pleasures is creating and sharing my ideas with you!  These are the dolls I've been working on.

For those of you who have requested a pattern for the Little Ladies, you'll be happy to know that one is forthcoming!  As you can see in the photo, the two dolls on either side of the one in the center are very similar to the original Little Ladies.  They are slightly smaller than the original dolls in size, but nevertheless, it is basically the same pattern. 

They measure about 11 inches tall and I'll include the instructions to make the dress, shoes and undies. 

Also new are the Little Miss Camilla Dolls.  I had so much fun making these little girls!  Their sweet little faces make me smile!  They measure about 10 inches and have removable shoes.  I'll be starting to write up the pattern for them today and it'll be the first pattern to include step-by-step photo's instead of my usual hand drawn illustrations.  Thought I'd try something different:)

 

These kitschy-kooky girls are big (well for my standards anyway), soft and cuddly and measure about 14 inches tall.  I'm not sure if I'll do the pattern for them, though if you think I should, I'd be happy to!

Wishing you all a week filled with happiness and love!

~Shelly xo