Woodland Gnomes Box

Inspired vaguely by Moomin Valley, gnomes, and the arrival of fall, my latest creation is a trinket box covered with flowers and vines.

Sorry Sheldon...

I've only tortured him once with this sweater. 

Game Changers: Plants that Changed History

When I still had some weekday time off I volunteered on the Education Committee at the Mitchell Park Domes. Our big project was creating a display in the tropical dome that taught visitors about how tropical plants affect our lives and where in the world tropical rain forests are. My schedule and then job changed, so I lost touch with the project, and hadn't realized that after more than 2 years of planning, the display was actually installed, and turned out better than I could have imagined. While the lighted display blew me away, and was a total surprise, the basic design concept was largely based on my ideas! 

Sheldon the Helper Cat

I'm working on a new box inspired by gnomes, Moomin Valley, and fun polymer plants. Sheldon decided that my desk needed a mascot. :)

Sonic the Hedgehog Knit Hat

Every year Bryan's baseball team has a costume game, and he wanted to go as Sonic. He had the outfit planned, but needed a hat to rock the look, so he asked me! I've never made up my own pattern before, but I think the Sonic hat knit up pretty well! I started with a basic beanie, added ear flaps, and then modified pieces from various other patterns to create the shapes for the rest of the hat.

Why do I love you?

Farmor made this for my Farfar when they were first together over 50 years ago. She wrote the poem and painted the water color love birds. 

A Prayer Stone for Farmor

My middle name is Charlotte, and I am very proud to be named after my grandmother. My Farmor, my father and I are all cut from the same mold, so the name fits me so well. When I found out she was seriously ill, I wanted to find a way that she could know that I was loving and supporting her, even if I was a state and six hours away. 

When we were kids, my grandfather (Farfar) taught us about worry stones, a pebble with an indentation that fits your thumb. As you hold the stone, your thumb rubs in a circle, and the stone takes up your troubles. 

I made this a prayer stone out of polymer for my Farmor to hold onto in this difficult time. The stone fits naturally in the hand if a couple different orientations so that it is easy to use. The body is covered with a granny square patterned cane. Her wedding present to Henry and me was a granny square afghan with yarn left over from sweaters she had made for family members over the years. This was my way to give back from that gift. The yellow flowers are to look like Gullvivan (Primula veris), the swedish flower that Farmor's Vasa childrens dance group was named after. The blue flowers are Forget Me Nots (Myosotis) which adds to the blå och gul theme of the stone. 

A Masque Ball

This summer since our birthday's are so close together, Char and I decided to throw a party together. We came up with the idea of a Masque Ball, everyone had to have some sort of facial covering (this was liberally interpreted).  I did an experiment, and made mine and Henry's masks out of polymer. To get the form right, I started with paper maches casts of our faces (Henry's I made to fit over his glasses).  It was a very warm night, so in this picture, we are little droopy with the humidity, but it was a good night, and the masks were a fun touch.