Fluffy Flowers

Twirly Girls

I meant to tell y'all a while ago that I put some really cute Twirly Girls in my shop.

Each one is unique and has a colorful, pretty skirt.

I just love how cute they are!

sweet surprises

This time of year seems to be nothing but rush, rush, rush. I'm creature making like mad. The ballerinas are done so now I'm working hard on Ginger Girls. But I had to stop and admire this pretty little heart that popped up as I was fitting a skirt. Just a little unexpected sweetness to make me stop and appreciate the moment.

Ballerina Dolls

I've been super busy getting ready for the ICE Atlanta show in a couple of weeks.

And I finally finished up these new creatures, er, I mean ballerinas.

I kind of absolutely love them. There are a bunch over in the Fluffy Flowers shop if you love them too.

3rd Annual It's Fall Y'all SALE

The Georgia Etsy Street Team's 3rd Annual It's Fall Y'all Sale stats Friday!

Shop Fluffy Flowers October 9th - 11th and get FREE shipping to ANYWHERE in the world.

Check out panAsh's blog on Friday for all the other exciting deals available from other fabulous Georgia shops.

psssst....I started my sale a little early so rush on over today to scoop up the deals.

Miss Bra Turtle

Meet Miss Bra Turtle.

She's is hiding in her shell. She's a little shy.

She was made for the Plush Team's Breast Cancer Awareness Fundraiser 2009.

Breast cancer sucks. What do you do with those old bras after those medicine men have finished chopping you up? Make a bra turtle! Miss Bra Turtle is made from a real underwire bra. No kidding.

Miss Bra Turtle is dedicated to the fabulous Cassandra Danz aka Mrs. Greenthumbs who died of this wretched disease. She left her words behind for me to find to bring me out of my shell and turn me into a gardener. Thank you.

Please visit the Plush Team Etsy Store to support the cause and buy Miss Bra Turtle or one of the other fabulous plush creations where 80% of every purchase goes to the Susan G. Komen Institute, an international fund dedicated to raising money for Breast Cancer Cure research.

pretty padded pouches

Before I got sucked in to the world of gardening delights, I did spend a little bit of time sewing.

I decided that I wanted to start working with more colorful fabrics and I think these fit the bill!

Cheery and fluffy and pretty. I love them!

And I really love how the contrasting polka dots ones turned out.

They're all for sale over in my Fluffy Flowers shop in the padded pouches section.

Y'all have a great weekend!

big Blooming Garden pouches

I sewed a new batch of pretty flower bags.

I love the big, bold flowers on them.

And I love the fact that they're roomy enough to cram in all the essentials.

Plus, I decided to try a new photographing technique.

I'd been photographing my pouches with an off white, textured background for a long time. But this new batch of pouches aren't padded so they don't stand up.

I decided to try photographing them laying down with my lime green background I usually use for creatures. And because it was overcast I decided, what the hey, I'll do this outside. And just to add more fun to the mix I used freakin' props!

I kind of had fun mixing up the props. I was trying to show scale. It's tough to figure out how to do that! Very time consuming though.

I think I really like these photographs and may try more like them in the future.

If you love these pouches and want one for yourself you can buy them in my Fluffy Flowers shop.

Plushstock

VOTE for your favorite Plushstock entries from the fabulous Plush Team!

We are celebrating the 40th anniversary of Woodstock Plush style.

Cast your vote in all these categories:

* Musicians
* Instrument
* Hippies
* Peace Symbols

Voting will close at midnight EST on August 30.

Make PLUSH Not War!

My Fluffy Flowers entry is an awesome Plush Amp! To celebrate I've made a few lyric changes to the song Woodstock, with apologies to Joni Mitchell:

I came upon a Plush Maker
She was walking along the road
And I asked her, where are you going
And this she told me

I'm going on down to Morgan's farm
I'm going to join in a rock 'n' roll band
I'm going to camp out on the land
I'm going to try an' get my soul free

We are Plush Team
We are stuffin'
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the craftin'

By the time we got to Plushstock
We were half a million strong
And everywhere there was song and celebration
And we were plushin' all day long

We are Plush Team
We are stuffin'
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the craftin'

Check out more groovy photos over on my Flickr slideshow.

Peace, man.

Clarence the Creature

Hey y'all, meet Clarence the Creature. You might remember his cousin Clyde who went to live with Helen over here.

I'm pretty sure Clyde was unhappy being the only one of his kind in the world so I built Clarence here when I had an uninterrupted four hours in a row. Not an easy thing to find, I assure you!

Clarence is needle felted from wool roving. Needle felting is a labor intensive process of changing wool fibers into felt by repeated stabbing with extremely sharp needles. And let me tell you those needles are super sharp! Try stabbing yourself a couple of times with one and you'll know what I mean.

I've been wanting to make another needle felted creature for ages and suddenly got the inspiration one day to make ol' Clarence here.

Clarence kind of reminds me of that angel who wanted to earn his wings in It's a Wonderful Life. Now that was a great movie. They don't make them like that any more.

This little Clarence is ready to spread his wings and fly into a new home. If you'd like to invite him into yours you can send him the invitation over here in my shop.

Christmas in July SALE

* * * FREE Shipping * * *

* * * anywhere in the world * * *

* * * July 8 - 22 * * *

This is the first time I've offered shop wide, world wide shipping in my handmade Fluffy Flowers store.

So now is a great time to stock up and save money and time.

You can tuck these treasures away in your Christmas closet and save stress during the holiday season.

Or buy yourself something as a treat right now.

I promise something in my shop will make you smile.

Twirly Girls

There's a little Plush Team fundraiser going on over here.

I've designed and donated these cute miniature little Twirly Girls for $5 Mini Plush Monday.

 
They love to dance and spin and spin so that their skirts billow out around them.

You can invite one into your home for just five bucks. There's a lot of love in that tiny package.

Georgia Etsy Street Team Peachy Deals summer sale

Welcome to the Georgia Etsy Street Team summer sale!

Visit these Georgia Etsy Street artists offering fantastic sales between
Sunday, June 21st to Sunday, June 28th!

Visit these participating Etsy shops to find your Peachy Deal:

Amber's Aromatherapy
Bath products, specifically soaps and lip balm, custom blended teas, and jewelry.Free shipping and free custom blended tea

Amelia's Soap Co.
Handmade soap products
15% off all individual soaps

Berd & Bee
20% off handmade housewares

Bijouterie by Nipurna's Creation
Unique and modern Handmade jewelry, one of a kind and excellent prices
All item 15% off.

Birds and Cherries
Photography with a somewhat quirky point of view!
Free surprise bonus print with all orders during the sale

Crafters Crossing
Handmade Swarovski crystal and wire jewelry.
10% off merchandise orders totaling up to $99.99.
15% off merchandise orders totaling $100 or over

Deb's Pane In The Glass
Stained Glass items from Lamps, Suncatchers to Window Panels & Business Card Holders, Note pad Holders.
Free Shipping in the USA & discount internationally: $5.00 and $2.50 for a second item.

Deuce Goods
One of a kind handmade accessories.
All items 20% off.

Echo d'Amour
Custom jewelry designs - monograms and more!
20% off all orders during the sale

FavorsRUs
Handmade bath products
15 percent off store wide

Fine Art by Rachel M Cotton
Free Shipping on Original Artwork
Surprise orginal ACEO with each order over $20

Fluffy Flowers
cute creatures & pretty pouches
HALF off on select Zipper Pouches

Growin Like A Weed
Specializing in hand- painted children's growth charts, step stools and room accessories.
All items 15% off.

Inky Illustrations by Tamara Garvey
Lovely, whimsical pen-and-ink illustrations made into prints and stationary.
All Prints 15% off, please use coupon code Peach15 and either wait for yourdiscounted invoice, or pay and I will refund your 15%.

JoyAnna.etsy.com
Handmade one of a kind pillows, purses, diaper/travel bags, scrapbook covers, tissue box covers
15% off everything in shop

K. Berlin Metalsmith
Handcrafted Artisan Jewelry - Precious Metals and gems
Free Shipping on All items

Lydia's Spa Collections
Natural Bath and Body Products With Fabulous Fragrances
10% off everything in the shop with free shipping

Maria Luna and Kartu
handcrafted artisan jewelries and fine art nature photography
15% off excluding sale items

Miss Molly Cottage
All items 20% off

Nanty's Naturals
Natural, Handcrafted Soaps
15% off all soaps and a free mini sample soap with any purchase

no flying in the house
handmade original artwork and vintage items
free shipping on all items

Painted Paws Folk Art

Dog Folk Art
prints 15% off and free shipping of prints

Princess Ciarra Raye's Designs
For the Little Girl Inside You
Free Shipping and a Free Gift to with every Purchase.
Buy 1 get one free gift, Buy 2 get 2 free gifts and so on. You won't be disappointed with the gifts. Valued at $10 or more

Sheboygen
Vintage and handcrafted jewelry and accessories
1/2 off all vintage

Smelly Rhino Studio
Original paintings, prints and cards
10% off storewide (excl. PIF and Charity items). Free shipping on all orders over $10! Surprise Summer treat with every purchase!

SweetPea Boutique
Colorful hairbows and clips for girls of all ages
Buy one hairbow or clip set and get one of equal or lesser value for half price!

Whisper Wing Studio
Handcrafted Jewelry
All items in sale 15% off

Worthy Soy Candles & Crochet
Soy Candles & Unique Crochet!
Buy One Get One 50% Off on Specially Marked Items! Over 30 to choose from!!!

These shops are participating in the sale, but you can always find other items from our team members anytime by searching for "GaEtsyTeam". Happy Shopping!

Yart Sale

Yard + Art = Yart

YART Sale :)

Having a bit of a sale from now through Sunday, June 14th.

Several items in my shop are marked HALF off.

There are lots of other folks participating in the YART Sale too so be sure to search YART on Etsy this week.

You just might find something you can't live without!

padded Pouches

Ever since I learned how to put in a zipper I've been addicted to making pouches.

And now that I know how to do it I've discovered that I really enjoy the pouch design process.

I've started to mix and match oodles of different kinds of fabrics.

This last batch of pouches is a fun mix of imported Japanese animal prints and home decorator fabrics. All are heavier weight materials which makes for a sturdier bag.

Plus, I had fun picking out some colorful coordinating interior fabrics.

And best of all I've made them super thick! Yep, these jokers are padded to within an inch of their little zipper lives.

I love how this batch of bags turned out. And I've got a lot more design ideas up my sleeve which I can't wait to make. If you see a bag you can't live without, you can purchase them over in my Fluffy Flowers shop.

Hatch Market 2009

The Hatch Market was a big ol' success! Thank you everyone who sent me positive vibes for a good show.

I met oodles of nice folks, both customers and vendors.

Plus, hooray that the weather held and we only had about three drops of rain toward the end of day two!

Many of the Fluffy Flowers creatures went off to new homes so I've got to get busy in the studio soon to make more.

Some of them got to come back home with me though...

... including this little grumpy fellow...

... who was a lot less grumpy when he found out he'd be returning home to Macon.

There were so many fabulous vendors there that I couldn't squeeze them all in here so I posted them over on my Fluffy Flowers Flickr page. Sorry I didn't get a picture of everyone! I was running around top speed snapping pics like crazy. But you can see a full list of vendors here.

A big ol' thank you to the organizers and volunteers. The show would never have happened without y'all!

Thanks also to everyone who came out to support the show! If it was too far for you to attend I hope you'll check out and support your local indie craft shows. And if you're here in Georgia remember that the super fabulous ICE Atlanta is just a couple of weeks away. I'll be there but I'm afraid the creatures are staying home :)

on the trail and Hatch Market

The Fluffy Flowers creatures and I will be at Hatch Market this weekend. So if you're in or around south Atlanta or the Griffin area drop by and check out all the fantastic crafty stuff that's will be available. And remember, Sunday is Mother's Day so how about bringing out mom for a great girl's day out.

Last weekend the doggies enjoyed their walkies at the Indian Mounds.

Lots of pretty things to see there.

I know one little girl dog who really enjoyed the delightful breezes and the scenic overlook.

potholders

With all this nature activity y'all probably figure I haven't been up to much crafting lately. Not so! I've been hard at it in the evenings and on road trips.

Recently I've completed oodles of fun potholders. I love these cute things!

Ever since I figured out how to make potholders I've been wanting to make more.

And it's endless fun putting together a mix of fabrics into pretty designs.

I love that they only take small bits of fabric so I'm able to go use up some of my fabric stash.

I really love how they turned out. And I smiled my whole way through making them!

All of these potholders are available over in my shop. They make a great Mother's Day and Father's Day gift too!

new Kitty bags in the shop

I've been thinking about the design for these kitty cat bags for a long time. A very long time.

Mostly I was afraid to start them because I've never cut out and pieced together fabric before. Ever.

Seems suspiciously like quilting! And I've been afraid to try that for years.

But I really wanted to make these little bags because I thought they'd be so cute.

And I really like the way they turned out. A lot.

My favorite part was pulling together a bunch of different patterned fabrics and randomly cutting them up, then fitting them together like a puzzle. That was so much fun!

I even managed to slap a little ruffle skirt on this one. Cute!

Each bag is one of a kind and available over in my Fluffy Flowers Handmade shop.

to market

All week I've been busy preparing for The City Market on the Green.

The weather was beautiful and the creatures were happy to be outside.

Plus, I debuted my brand new potholders.

But one of the biggest successes of the day was definitely the poo.

And next week is the Cherry Blossom Festival!

Dreamy Drew and the Mystery of the Poo

Warning! The following story is inspired by real events and may disturb your delicate sensibilities.

On the other hand, if you spend a significant amount of time in the presence of a nine year old boy, or have a penchant for bathroom humor, then proceed unheeded.

Once upon a time there was a dreamy fellow named Drew. He was quite a hunk with a very cute face and a sweet nature. He was a snazzy dresser too, wearing a super cool hand knitted Harry Potter sweater.

All the girls dreamed about him. Especially his thick, wavy hair and his piercing blue eyes.

But Drew lived on the other side of the tracks and over on that side of town they had a pretty big problem. Actually, it was a pretty stinky problem.

You see, there was a bit of a poo problem over there. Everywhere folks went there seemed to be piles of really stinky poo. But no one could ever figure out exactly where this poo was coming from.

And the real problem with the poo was that the stink was so strong that if you walked anywhere near it the stink would jump onto your clothes and stick there all day.

It was so bad that the girls wouldn't let Drew get anywhere near them, preferring to admire him from afar.

This did not make the teenage boy very happy.

He was bound and determined to find out who or what was leaving all this poo all over town and to put a stop to it.

So he gathered up his backpack and headed out to discover the mystery of the poo.

At first he thought it was the cows because of all the farm land on the other side of the tracks. But it turns out that cow poo isn't nearly as stinky as this stuff. Plus, the cows are behind a fence and can't go roaming all over the place leaving their poo behind.

Then Drew thought it might be the bunnies. There seem to be lots of them around. But he realized that bunny poo was much smaller than the piles that were causing the problem.

He continued on his journey and wandered across a herd of wild creatures that he thought might be the source of the poo.

They raced across his path so fast that he very nearly stepped into a particularly squishy pile of poo. But, once again, he realized that these creatures were far too small to produce a mass with such a large stink capacity.

Then, suddenly up ahead he caught a flash! He thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye that looked suspiciously like pooing! He took off at a run to try to figure out what it was

From a distance he thought it was a cow.

But as he got closer he realized that it was actually a dog. A BIG dog. Actually, more like a WIDE dog.

Drew knew there had been a lot of stray dogs around town lately. Folks had not been very good about spaying and neutering their pets.

He figured this fellow must be one of those dogs and as he got closer he could smell the stink coming off him. Eeeww....

But the dog had such a sweet face and seemed to be smiling so hard that Drew didn't have the heart to turn away from him. Instead, he scooped him up and took him to the vet to get his insides all straightened out. And do you know what? It turns out that with the proper medicine that Lucky Cowdog's poo doesn't stink nearly as bad!

That made all the girls very happy.

Which made Drew very happy too.

The End.