(not unlike "second drink")

The other morning I made a joyful discovery in my wallet: a JoAnn's giftcard left over from my birthday with $11.75 still left on it. I had forgotten it was lurking in there somewhere, so it was like Second Birthday! I spent it on deer hat supplies and other little things I go through quickly -- buttons, ribbon. (I think I have a dollar still left on the card. Someday it'll be like Third Birthday and I'll go get more ribbon.)

So thanks to Second Birthday, it's been deer hat mania here at chez maidensuit. I put these two I completed Friday and Saturday up in my Etsy shop yesterday and they were both gone this morning. I have two more in these colors in progress, so there's more on the way in the next couple of days. All of these little felt antlers and ears are littered over my desk waiting to be stitched together.

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winspiration!

I'm busy with work stuff today but I just wanted to take a second to perk myself up by looking at pretty stuff!

This mushroom bird ring at daileedose on Etsy! Oh my, I love this color for fall!

I adore this beyond words! I probably already have enough toadstools and pincushions and toadstool pincushions, though... UNLESS I SAY I'M COLLECTING THEM NOW, that makes it sound sane to others!

What a cute little pink bowed clutch. From Fredflare.

I love this straight As dress from sleepforever on Etsy. I have another plaid dress by her and it's one of my faves. I hope I can buy this one before someone else does, but I'm penny-pinching and grinding my nose on the stone and all that!

I love these socks (from Sock Dreams) in both of these colors. I feel autumn colors coming on!

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business up front, party in the back

I've got a sickness, dudes. I've got pom fever and the only cure is more poms.

Friday night, I made two of these purple pixie-plus-pom hats from a skein of Silky Merino Malabrigo in "velvet grapes" (one to sell and one to keep).

Last night I made two of these white pixie-pom hats from a wool yarn I've been hoarding for months. Double the hats, quadruple the poms. Out of control, man. This fever rages on. (Plummery's got the brunt of modeling because Aury's been getting her hair set in curls for the past week.)

These are both in my Etsy!

I'm thinking of making a few deer antler hats, or at least opening up the option for commission, but the idea of pricing them (always difficult for me, on Etsy and billing with my RL jobs) and figuring out the best way to ship them without antler damage is a bit anxiety-inducing for me right now.

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the endless tree

Trying out a different blog layout, since Blogger is hawking its new template designer. I am not sure how I feel about it. Actually, I don't like it all that much, but I did need a change and I will probably change it again anyway!

Here's a picture of Plummery in a little mustard yellow dress my best friend, E, knit for my girls last weekend. I arrived and she whipped it out and I was beside myself. She's got such skillz! I love it!! Blythe clothes are the best presents.

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take it to the yard and tie it to a rocket!

A super-bummy couple of days. Coping mechanism of choice: 30 Rock/pixie hat binging. I really enjoy losing time and coming out on the other side with hats. Tonight's hats:

I have appliqued a lot of birds and chicks, but this is a hilarious-looking one. S/he is a little bloaty and has false eyelashes. (So basically it's Britney Spears. OH, I'M JUST KIDDING AROUND. And I look forward to the "Britney/Brittany" episode of Glee.)

I really liked making this one!  I also like to applique fruit. I've done strawberries, apples, mangoes, cherries, TARDISes... oh wait. Not cherries.

These hats are both in my Etsy shop. Meanwhile, my desk greatly resembles Marjory the Trash Heap from Fraggle Rock.

Only it's alllll leftover bits of embroidery floss, stuffing, bits of felt, and weirdly, a package of rice from when I was making pincushions. Or so I'll claim.

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made while watching 30 Rock...

I should probably cool it with the pincushions. And learn a stitch other than the lazy daisy stitch. It just truly is a lazy thing for me.

I sent these three to a friend. Currently theorizing that the guy up at the UPS store is evil and my arch nemesis.

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don't let no one in who's not on the list 'cause this mess is gonna get raw like sushi, so haters to the left.

Watching 30 Rock right now - on the third season. Bless Kenneth's little heart.

So cool: Aimee Ray collected some pictures of people who have done her ghost birds embroidery pattern and mine was in the group!

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all fists and elbows

Crocheted this little mori-ish cowl up out of pretty white wool yarn this morning and attached some pom-pons. This lead to my friend L and I pondering the usage of "pom-pons" (the cheerleading/pom squad kind) versus "pom-poms" (generally accepted as a spelling for decorative/clothing items). I guess I will use the blanket term "poms"??

I've been a bit of a whirling dervish lately. I made three hats yesterday, including the toadstool one above.

This one was lofty, conceptually speaking! Two clouds, two moods. On one side, dark and rainy, on the other, sunny and sparkly.

This bunch-of-balloons one was vaguely inspired by the ads Sofia Coppola did for Miss Dior Cherie.

AND I DO MEAN VAGUELY...

But two of these hats sold rather instantly on my Etsy shop, which made me feel like the girl holding the balloons and floating away. What a good day!

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in headlights

Tonight I finished up a deer-themed helmet that's been sitting in my room for the past couple of weeks. I got to practice my blanket stitch (something I always forget how to do about ten seconds after I stop doing it - so I had YouTube at the ready!) and use up most of the rest of this earthy green cotton skein of yarn.

An in-progress shot. The hat wasn't even totally finished. I didn't know if I wanted it to have a strap or pom-pon ties, but I went for the over-the-topness of the pom-pons plus the antlers and the ears. Why not, right?


I'm tickled! It fits Plummery's mori personality totally. And I'm satisfied because I've had such a yen to craft for the past week but my hand's been out of commission.

True Blood tonight!!

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this always happens when I watch Power Rangers

Aury got these fabulous space-woman silver pants the other week. They're paired currently with SP's stock black boots, sleeveless turtleneck, and headband. Aury can get away with this because she's distantly related to Queen Frostine (of Candy Land fame). When my friend L saw this ensemble, she said:

L: I like Aury's equestrian-esque outfit
L: disco equestrian
me: that's her, she rides the horsehead nebula around

Love it!!

Combined with my crazy metallic Orly nailpolishes (in Luxe and Rage, respectively - you can see them in detail on this blog) and this makeup organizer I got when ELF had free shipping the other day, these sate my need for metallics for the foreseeable future.

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