Making felt ornaments for Leu Gardens ***UPDATE***

The Craft Shack is closed this week as Debbie is up in North Carolina enjoying a vacation with her parents. Meanwhile, I'm finishing up the felt ornaments and stuffies for the Leu Gardens Holiday House. I made the above prototypes first and then created stencils for them so they would be easy to "mass produce." Many thanks go out to Wendy Cagen (cardinals) and Patty Nowell (hedgehogs) for all of their hard work in making these whimsical little ornaments. 

These little ornaments have inspired me to work more with felt. I LOVE handsewing, and as soon as I let go of the need to make perfect stitches, a whole world of creations springs into my mind. I am working on some super cute felt JELLYFISH for the upcoming holiday markets. So keep your eye out for those. I'll post some soon!

And here's how they look on the tree as it is set up in the children's room at the Leu Gardens Holiday House. The house will be on display for guided tours throughout the holidays. Please stop by and check out The Craft Shack's room. Check http://www.leugardens.org/ for schedule. 

Until next time, Lovebeams to you!

Artist Date - East End Market

Now that Artist Way has started up again, at the beginning of each week, I try to think of a place where I would like to have my artist date. I was contemplating the library or bookstore or possibly Ace Hardware. THEN, quite by chance, I had the opportunity to stop into East End Market. If you haven't been here, you have to check it out. It is a combination of different vendors: a bookseller, a little greenery, and so much goood food!  I had the pleasure of trying something from Houndstooth Sauce Co. and Fatto in Casa.  First, I spotted some pesto at Fatto in Casa, and since I was planning on making pizza that night for dinner, I thought this would be good to have on hand. Then a mixed green frittata caught my eye. At $4, this would satisfy my wallet and my need for some pr otein. While waiting for my frittata to be heated, I stepped next door to Houndstooth. At the very top of their daily menu board was curry split pea soup! I love curry and I love split pea, but I had never thought to combine the two. And this would make the perfect accompaniment to my frittata! Delish!

I did end up making pizza that night, but I also was inspired to make a tomato, mozarella, and pesto tart...and it turned out friggin' fantastic if I do say so myself! 

I can't wait for my next visit to East End Market to check out some more culinary inspiration. Oh, I forgot to mention it is located on Corrine, a short distance from RT Art's. Come to think of it, I need to pick up some prints soon...

Until next time, go out and be kind!