Eco Friendly Fleece Christmas Tree Alternative

Last year, after struggling with the real vs. fake tree dilemma, I decided to make my own Christmas tree out of fleece and wood (see last year's tree here.)  This year, I have taken that design and streamlined it a bit so they are stronger and even easier to assemble and disassemble, and am offering a small number of them for sale on Etsy.  Because it was important to me for them to be as eco-friendly as possible, the new trees are made from organic cotton fleece and stuffed using eco friendly fiberfill. 

Although they will probably be going to other homes soon, what I really want to do is assemble them all in my living room so that I can have a fleece forest all to myself :)
Have a Happy Handmade Holiday!

New painting - "Anxiety"

It has been a long time since I painted a human, so when this image popped into my head a couple of months ago, i was a bit nervous about it.  Maybe that was a good thing :)

Three places to see my work this month

xMarch has been kind to me, with my work included in three shows - two in the Chicago area, and one online.  If you're in downtown Chicago, stop by ARC Gallery for the show "Materiality."  It opened last weekend and is a great collection of unusual work.  One of my pieces, the Chandeldeer, is still available, but Oscar and Saffron will be on their ways to new homes at the end of the show.  It's good to be loved :)

In addition to ARC, you can also find a few of my pieces in Deerfield, IL (just north of the city) at the fabulous Brushwood Gallery in the Ryerson Conservation Area.  The show is called "Aviary," and is a great collection of birds done in all media by several different artists. 

If you can't make it to Chicago, you can also check out some of my paintings, which have been included in a show entitled "Personality" at Caladan - an online gallery.

Hope you can make it out!

MCA Free Family Days: The Artist’s Studio – Mar 13

What a cool program! We will definitely have to check this out soon :)

MCA Free Family Days: The Artist’s Studio – Mar 13

Christmas kitchen

Zoe has been obsessed with cooking for a while now, so when it was time to decide on Christmas presents, I went with a cooking theme. I took some old cabinets I had in the garage and made her this kitchen, complete with oven, fridge and sink, and then got her a set of dishes and some play food and cooking accessories from the dollar store. She's been baking for days! Hopefully, this will help keep her busy this winter.

Materials: main structure - One 15" lower cabinet with two drawers, one 12" cabinet door, a few scraps of wood; Backdrop - 2x2s and hardboard, paint; Stove - interior rack is a cookie cooling rack, burners were made in photoshop from an internet photo and then printed on sticker paper, stove knobs are from two liter bottles and a juice bottle, sink is a baking pan, faucet is a hose adapter and the faucet handles are a single drawer pull cut into two.

New Monster Boxes on Etsy!

Well, I've finally dusted off the shelves of my long neglected Etsy shop, and am now officially back in business.  Meet the new crew of Monster Boxes!  More to come soon :)

DIY Christmas tree

I started thinking about this project last December. We had always had real trees for Christmas growing up, but the thought of a messy, sappy, needle shedding conifer in my living room just did not appeal. Especially considering we have a toddler and a kitten who would only get into trouble. That said, I wasn't about to get a fake tree either. I never did like them, and the idea of having another large piece of plastic in my life just didn't seem right either. So, I started to think about making a tree. And once I convinced myself it was possible, it was just a matter of figuring out how to go about it.

It was a big project, and I'm glad I didn't try to hurry it up and finish it for last Christmas. This took lots of planning, and about a month of nights on the couch hand sewing branches. These long term projects are always a little scary. You invest so much time and energy into them, and are never quite sure if you will be happy with the end result, but I'm thrilled with the way it turned out. Now we have this wonderful tree that will hopefully last many, many years. Yay! Now I just have to start on those presents...

Materials: Fleece (two shades of green - light on top, dark on bottom), brown yarn, large needle, shredded phone books as stuffing, 1/2" dowels for the branches, 1 1/4" dowel for the trunk, scrap wood for the tree stand and brown felt to cover it and the trunk.