Happy Holidays - 12 Days of Gifts

Season's Greetings dear friends!! 

To celebrate this special time of year, I'm having a 12 Days of Gifts Special in my Etsy Shop!  Each day for the next twelve days, one pattern or pattern set will be on sale for 50% off the regular price!  Each morning I'll post an announcement on my Facebook page with the special gift. 

 So, if there's a particular pattern you've been wanting, please be sure to visit my page every morning as this special will only last for a limited time!

  Sweetest Wishes,
~Shelly xo

Black Friday Sale

Hey there!  I'll be having a sale today only in my Etsy shop with 20% off your entire order!!  Please use coupon code THANKYOUSALE at the checkout for the discount.  I just want you all to know how very thankful I am for your support!

 Happy Black Friday!
~Shelly  xo

Scrappy Bunny and Bear

Hello there!  Been working on a new pattern and it's finally ready to share with you all!  This darling pair, a tiny bunny and bear are designed to look like they've been loved and cuddled to bits! Each is missing an eye - possibly due to too many tugs and twists or sharp little teeth ...  and each is slightly creepy, but awfully cute!

  I've used left over scraps of my favourite hand woven wool felt to make these little characters which I think adds a lovely soft, plushy look.  A tiny, glittery felt crown adds a bit of sparkle and is a delightful accessory to add if you're making a little girl bear or bunny princess!

Don't you just want to squeeze her??

And he looks like he could use a big hug!

Measuring between 3 and 4 inches, I also think they'd be perfect as a toy for a bigger doll like Blythe - here's my little Peony holding the little bear.

Pattern is now available in my shop :)
Love and hugs,
~Shelly  xo

New Pattern!

Hi dear friends!  Hope you've all been well :)  As most of you know, I've been working on a book project for the last few months and have not had much time to post very often here on my blog or work on any new patterns for my shop.  The second batch of dolls is now complete and they've been sent to the publishers house for the next step of the process. 

Before I start on the third batch, I thought I'd take a couple of days to work on a little animal hat pattern that I've been envisioning in my mind!  The hat is designed to fit Blythe dolls and includes four pairs of animal ears to choose from - from left to right, a lamb, kitty, mouse and panda (or bear).

These darling little hats are super easy and quick too! 

I'll be working on writing up the pattern and it should be ready for my shop withing the next few days:)

Sweetest regards,
~Shelly xo

A Wonderful Holiday!

Hola amigos - hello friends!  We've just arrived home from a wonderful time in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico!  The weather was nice and hot each day and we got to experience some amazing thunder and lightning storms almost every night.  I love how friendly the people of Mexico are and would highly recommend going there if you're able!  Here's some pics of our trip..

John and I on the beach in front of the resort - Royal Decameron

The view from our suite - facing right

Facing left

Two for the road:)  Wandering outside of the resort grounds..  we found a path which led to the next resort.  On the way, we met an old Mexican man who was stationed at a little hut just beyond the trees behind my shoulder to the right of the photo.  He was the security guard and was just starting a little fire to keep the bugs away.  We stopped to say hello, but couldn't understand a word he was saying and he couldn't understand us either, but we seemed to have an entire conversation with him before moving on to explore the rest of the trail!

Two of the dozens of iguanas that live at the resort.

We booked a horseback riding tour:  http://www.bestofbucerias.com/product_horseback_riding_rancho_capomo_335 - what a fun day!  Oh my goodness, we had a blast!  Our tour guide picked us up early one morning along with a 5 other couples and drove us to a ranch in the mountains of Las Palmas about an hour away from the bustling city.  Along the way, he showed and told us interesting facts about the surrounding areas.  After a 3 hour horseback ride through the jungle which included a stop at a beautiful waterfall, we headed back to the ranch to learn how to make pico de gallo which is a super tasty Mexican salsa.

Basically a mix of chopped tomato, onion, cilantro and jalapeno peppers, salt and lime juice.  Here's a link to a recipe for anyone who'd like to make it:  http://www.food.com/recipe/pico-de-gallo-83371

Oh yum!  We also watched how they made tortillas and got to eat them for lunch.

 Yay!  We made it to the waterfall! 

We had such an amazing time and I can't wait to visit again!  I ❤ Mexico!!

~Shelly xo

New Stuff!

Hello!  Thanks so much to all who popped in for my End of Summer Sale!  It was a great success and I'm sure you'll have lots to keep you busy for the  next while!  I've taken a little break in-between deadlines for my book project and have created three new Pocket Poppet doll kits and three new Poppet outfit kits.  The doll kits are ready and available in my shop and the outfit kits will be available within the next few days.

 I forgot how much I love making poppets!  Each pattern kit will include the pattern booklet to make the doll, the wool blend felt to make the body of the poppet and her shoes, the gorgeous wool yarn for her hair and the pretty polka dot felt for her little sundress.

For the outfit pattern kits, I used the Summer outfit pattern and created three different choices.  Each kit will include the pattern booklet to make the outfit, the wool blend felts to make her sweet little hat, shoes and flower accessory and the polka dot felt to make her pretty, flutter sleeved dress and matching hat band.  This pattern kit will not include the pattern to make the doll.

Also, I've added felting needles to my ever growing section of Supplies.  These are perfect for needle felting the hair of many of the dolls made from my patterns such as the Poppets, Pixies, Mermaid Girl, Mini Moppets, Tag-Along doll, Woodland Elf and Pony.

Have a great week :)
~Shelly xo

End of Summer Sale!

Oh yes, it's finally here - the End of Summer Sale!!  Time to stock up on patterns and supplies and get busy making for the holidays which are just around the corner!

All patterns and select supplies will be on sale Saturday and Sunday, Sept 6-7 in my Etsy shop and will start tonight at 12:00am Eastern Time.  Please use coupon code ENDOFSUMMER to receive 20% off your entire order.  Hurry, don't miss it!

See you there!
~Shelly  ｡◕‿◕｡

An Exciting New Project!

Oh my goodness, it's been a while, hasn't it!?  I hope you've all been enjoying your summer or winter - wherever you may be in this wonderful world of ours!  My summer has gone by in the blink of an eye!  True's Bob, the older I get, the quicker it goes!  Do you find that too??  Anyway, I'm not complaining as I still get to do what I love everyday - make dollies!

My two latest projects have been shrouded in secrecy and it's been terribly hard to keep everything to myself!  Firstly, I've collaborated with the wonderful Australian Homespun magazine again and they will be featuring a doll pattern that I designed exclusively for them in the January 2015 edition.  The second project is extremely exciting for me, but it's enormous and will keep me busy into the New Year!  I'm working on a book of felt dolls, each with a different theme.  There will be between 12 - 15 themes in total and will include a ballerina, princess, fairy, amongst others.  As you know, I love sharing 'work-in-progress' pics, but due to the nature of both these projects, I've not been able to even give sneak peeks of anything till now...

This is the first batch of dolls for the book, all wrapped and ready to go to the publisher's.  I know it's a bit of a tease, but it's all I can show.

Here's what I can show - teeny tiny felt undies for the the dolls :)

Please know that I will try my best to keep in touch.  I've had almost no time at all to check my Facebook page over the last few weeks, but please keep posting photos of your Gingermelon makes on my wall - they are such an inspiration to others and I love seeing how they turn out!

Sweetest regards,
~Shelly xo

PS  Watch out for an End of Summer Sale coming soon!

LolliPoppet Pattern Winners!

Many thanks to all of you who entered the draw for my newest pattern giveaway!  I'm so pleased to hear that you like the dolls!
I have drawn the names of the winners and sent each one an email with a copy of the doll pattern and the little knitted dress pattern designed by my mom.  A big Congrats to:
::  Yunita Arianty
::  Esther Gomez
::  Nicole Brinkley
::  Joie
::  Ada Novakova
::  Kristy Honeylime
I hope you'll love making them!

 Lollipoppets patterns are now available in my Etsy shop!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
~Shell xo

LolliPoppets Pattern Giveaway!!

Hello everyone!  I'm having another pattern giveaway!!  I've been working on a new idea for a little cloth doll with painted features and hair made from different mediums such as yarn, mohair, alpaca and braided wool.  I wanted to create an easy way of applying the hair that would allow for more options than the standard yarn hair.  

The method for applying the hair on each doll basically requires the same technique, but as you can see from the photo above, each has a different look.  The doll on the left's hair was made from braided wool, the middle one was made from a Waldorf doll yarn (smooth mohair) which can be brushed or combed and the doll on right's hair was made from combed mohair which I hand dyed a pale lavender-pink.  For the doll below, I used a Tussah silk/alpaca blend.

The facial features were traced onto their faces with a Pigma Micron pen which is waterproof and fade proof.  I then used acrylic paint to fill in the details. 

Please don't think you need to be an artist to attempt the painting, it is easy to do and I think you'll be surprised at how fun it is to decide on what colours you'll use for their irises and lips!

 The pattern will include instructions to make the doll itself, as well as the little dress shown in the photo above.  I will also explain how to paint the shoes and stripy socks.

My mom has designed the sweet little knitted dress shown above and will have the pattern available for purchase in her shop as well:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/myfairdolly

This little darling was inspired by the flappers of the 1920's.  I wrapped a length of tassel trim around her body and sewed it in place.  Her head band was made from a piece of vintage trim that my Nannykins gave to me onto which I sewed tiny silver sequins and seed beads.  I made a little choker for her neck and painted on dainty purple shoes to finish her look.

In order to win one of the new LolliPoppets patterns, please leave your name and email address in the comments area below, or on my Facebook page where I'll have a link set up specially for your info.  I will draw 6 winners on Friday, July 11.  As a bonus, the lucky winners will also receive the pattern for the little knitted dress!

Now please don't hesitate to enter, the giveaway ends soon!

Best of luck to you all :)
~Shelly xo

New Felt Colours!

It's almost been a month since my surgery and I'm happy to say that I'm finally feeling like myself again!  Due to a huge fibrous mass on my uterus that was rapidly growing right into my bladder, my gynecologist decided that it was best to do a hysterectomy along with a bladder repair.  My bladder was so squished from the fibroids taking up so much room that it could only hold 1/2 a cup of fluid at a time.  As you can imagine, I was constantly running to the bathroom and going out anywhere always meant hunting for the nearest washroom.  Because of the weight of the fibrous mass, a lot of stress was put on the neck of my bladder, so, once the uterus was removed, my bladder was tucked up into a sling to hold it in the proper position.

I cannot tell you how much of a difference the surgery has made!  I can now go for hours at a time without needing to go to the bathroom and the ever present feeling of discomfort is gone!  Although I had a few complications after my surgery, the benefits have been well worth it!

I am still taking it easy and my dearest hubby has been a wonderful nurse, cook and cleaner!  My dear mom has been such a help with getting orders ready for mailing and my two boys have been a blessing too!

Ok, now for the other good news!  As most of you know, I recently decided to discontinue a few of the not-so-popular colours in the Wool Blend Felt collection and replace them with some pretty new ones.  Well, they're finally here!  The 9 new colours are:  Linen, Butter, Georgia Peach, Lilac, Love Bug Blue, Aqua, Inkblot, Spearmint and Emerald.

Soon I will add another collection of felts, these will be similar to the Polka Dot felt, but will have hearts and stars instead.  Here's a sneak peek at a few of the lovely colours in the collection:

The new Wool Blend Felts are now available in my shop.  The Heart and Star collection will be available soon!

I just want to thank all of you who have sent me well wishes, thoughts and prayers, I really appreciate your thoughtfulness!

~Shelly xo

Out With the Old Sale!!

Hi dear friends!  These last two weeks have been quite a trial since my surgery and recovery has been a little rocky because of some unexpected complications.  But I'm happy to say that I'm finally feeling a thousand times better and I've gotten dreadfully tired of doing nothing all day!  Anyway, I've been doing a bit of thinking and have decided that I'd like to freshen up my Etsy shop a bit, so I'm planning on adding a whole bunch of lovely new colours to my Merino Wool blend collection of felts and it's time to make some room for them! Out with the old, in with the new!! 

There are a few colours from the original collection that will be discontinued and these will be available for a limited time at a very good price for those of you who'd like to snap some up before they're gone.  The discontinued colours are:  Espresso, Garnet, Plum, Asphalt, Cadet Blue, Juniper, Evergreen, Indigo, Cobalt, Royal Blue, Pacific Blue, Tangerine and Dandelion.

I've also got a lovely selection of mohair fabrics and hand woven wool felts that will be on sale as well.  I have such a huge collection of beautiful pieces of felt, fabric and mohair which unfortunately are just sitting in boxes, so I've sorted through them all and have found a nice bunch that will be on sale for a steal!

My shop is open and the DE-STASH sale is on till everything is gone!
~Shelly

PS  Thanks so much to all of you for your thoughts, prayers and well wishes for my surgery!!

Upcoming Surgery, Sale and Shop Closure

Hello dear friends!  Many of you have inquired lately about when the Dainty Dolls pattern will be available, so I've spent this past week working on making a another one which I've photographed for the 'step-by-step' instruction part of the pattern.  This is how she turned out.  Do take note of her fabulous Fly Choker!

I am considering putting her up for sale on eBay with the proceeds of the sale being donated to a worthy cause and I welcome your suggestions for something you may know of that would be worthwhile.

Also, I thought I should let you all know that due to an upcoming surgery next week, I'll be closing my shops on Tuesday, May 20th until further notice.  Once I'm feeling ready, I'll re-open and only have pdf patterns available for the first while, and then as I see how things go, I'll re-list the felts, safety eyes and other goodies.

Before I do close up shop, I thought it might be nice to have a little sale in case any of you need any supplies or patterns.  Once I figure out which day will be best, I'll post an announcement on my Facebook page with the Coupon Code and the date of the sale.

Lastly, before I go, I wanted to share this darling pic of my son's girlfriend Rhi's Cloud Pillow that she made for an expectant friend.  Isn't it the sweetest??!!  She even added her own special touch - the little kitten ears which will ensure that the new baby will love kitties just as much as we do!!

My best wishes,
~Shelly xo

The Little Cloud that Could...

..be very versatile, that is!  Hi friends!  Many of you have seen the new pics I've posted on my Facebook, Pinterest and Flickr pages lately of the little Clouds I've been working on and I just wanted to say a big 'Thank You' to all of you who have left such lovely feedback and comments on them!  They have been so much fun to make, not only because they're really easy, but because I've been able to make them in a few different ways!

As you can see above, the one on the top left has been machine sewn and made out of fabric.  The little face has been painted on and I used a pretty Liberty of London fabric for the back of the cloud.  The one next to it on the right was made out of oh-so soft, hand woven wool felt and the little features were made out of felt and then stitched and embroidered on.  I then re-sized the pattern to make the tiny ones at the bottom.  The smaller size would be perfect for making ornaments, key chains, brooches, for hanging on crib mobiles, banners, wall hangings and maybe even a mini pincushion for a budding sewist.

The front and back of the fabric cloud.

The storm cloud in front was made from the wool blend felts, the rest were made from hand woven wool felt.  These measure about 10 inches across and 8 inches tall.  I think they'd look lovely in a baby's nursery!

I really love these tiny ones!  They're super quick and easy to make and measure about 3 x 3.5 inches.

The little Cloud pattern will be available soon, I promise!  I've had many inquiries as to when it will be ready and I'm hoping that if all goes well, I'll have it ready by the end of this week.  I really liked the thought of creating a pattern that could be made up in different ways, so this one will include the pattern pieces in two different sizes, as well as instructions for making the machine sewn and hand sewn versions. The tiny key chain clouds will also be available as kits - I'll have a choice of the gray storm cloud or the white fluffy one :)

Have a lovely week!
~Shelly xo

Li'l Pets

Hey everyone!  Got some good news to share!  I've just finished writing up my newest pattern - Li'l Pets, and it's just about ready for hubby dearest to format into a pdf!  If all goes well it'll be available in my shop tomorrow!

 These little darlings are just too, too cute!!  The pattern will include two options - a kitty and bear and each can be made into a girl with a pretty little dress, or a boy with a dear little pair of short overalls.

The Li'l Pets measure about 5 inches tall and I decided to use the new PURE felts to make them with.  The pretty colours I've chosen for them are so soft and pretty!!

I hope you love them as much as I do!
~Shelly xo