Crochet Candy and Clay Gnome

Good afternoon! Wow two posting days in a week...I'm shocked at myself. :)  And I even have a bit of the flu going on today, so I'm amazed anything is getting done at all.

Well for starters, sharing a cute little candy...uh..thing.  I didn't have a pattern for this, just made it up.  It became part of one of my niece's birthday gifts last month and she can put it on a necklace or barrette or whatever she likes.  Or add it to her play kitchen foods! :)  One of these days I'll write up a pattern for it hopefully!

Another garden gnome pick to add to my growing collection! This time he actually IS a gardener, complete with watering can and a flower behind his ear. :D  I do wish I'd gotten a better picture of the back..he is one of the only ones I've made without a jacket because he is wearing over-alls with suspenders and I wanted to see that.  But anyway, he is living with the rest of the gnomes now and he makes an even dozen so far that I have managed to keep. :) I'll have to get pics of the whole set soon to share.

Mummy, Gnome and Gingerbread Man Scarf!

Rawrrr...No?  Well that's what I picture looking at the top photo :)  I didn't make that guy...the other half did.  I made the birthday gnome and there they are all ready to get wrapped in bubbles for their trip to my S.I.L.s house.  They were part of her birthday gift. :D  She loves gnomes and zombies...so he decided to make a mummy instead (do they count as zombies?). 

And this scarf- what a pain in the you-know-where! But it turned out so great, I'm glad I decided not to scrap it.  The pattern is from the Twinkie Chan book and the little gingerbread guy are indeed super fast/easy to crochet...but sewing them all together and putting on the details was time-consuming.  The suggested way to do white "icing" is to make a long chain and sew it on... I decided to surface crochet instead.  I do think it looks nicer than it would have if I'd sewn on a chain, but boy did it take some time!!   I probably would've made the mouth smaller than the pattern specifies, too, but oh well... it's done!

Definitely cute results :)

2 Capes, a Gnome, and a Candy Necklace!

Good evening!! We had a moment of sunshine today (shock!) so I took advantage of it to get a couple of photos of these two capes I finished up this week. The red one is going to be part of a Little Red Riding Hood costume for Halloween. The multi-color one (Red Heart's "peruvian print") is for one of my niece's Christmas gift. Figured I better start now so I have time to make all this stuff!! :)

I love the pom-pom tie for the red one, but it was suggested in the pattern for use with kids over 3 and the button-tab option for kids 3 and under, so that is why they have different closings. I have to apologize I don't have the name of the book the pattern was from...I checked it out at the library already had to turn it back in. (Forgot to write down what it was). I did end up making several changes along the way, but for the most part the pattern was easy to follow.





A new gnome was created, too...this guy has a nice curly beard and is sticking out his tongue to get at his lollipop he's holding. If only he could reach!!! :D



With the left-over clay from making the gnome's lollipop, I rolled out some super thin "snakes" and cut them into candy sticks. :D Like yesterday's post with the micro mini gnome in a necklace...these are the same kind of bottles. Approx. 1 1/2 inches tall and a cork glued in..whole thing strung on a ball chain necklace. The little candies are pink, white and purple shades all swirled together... I love how bright it is. :)

Teeny Tiny Micro Gnome (polymer clay)

Does anyone remember Ice-Cream Gnome? There he is on the right...and if you look closely, you will see the super-duper tiny gnome to his left. Sitting on top of a toothpick! That was his pre-baked phase...and up close after baking to the far right.


This bottle is only about 1 1/2 inches high. There is dried moss in the bottom for him to sit in. :)


Very close-up shot- I think he looks cozy! :D In making this guy, I used polymer clay and some findings (the necklace, bottle, moss, etc..) to put it all together for a necklace. The cork is glued in so he will not be leaving the bottle any time soon. Also his feet are glued to the bottom anyway, so he'd really have to try hard to make a break for it. ;)

Thanks for viewing and let me know what you think of him!! :D

Gnomes!!! Wizards, Reapers and Flamingos.. oh my! (polymer clay)

I haven't run out of ideas yet for these little guys!! In fact, for every one I make, I think up two more while I'm in the process. :) I sat down on Sunday night and did all 3 of these guys. Above is a wizard with a magical sphere and a wand. His beard, sphere, stars and moon on his hat, and wand tip all glow in the dark!

Apologies for the quality of the photograph on this one, but hopefully you get the idea... it's the Gnome Reaper and he's pointing at..well, someone unlucky.. and holding a giant scythe in his other hand. Naturally he's still got his red gnome hat. :)

And third...let's just say the war is on!!! Yard art vs. yard art. And in this case, the gnome is winning against poor Pinkie. hehehe :D

Random Clay Fun (polymer clay)

Today is a rainy day, which I have to admit I really love. I have always preferred rain to sun if I had a choice. It gives an excuse to stay in and bake goodies and make crafts. :) The other night we were all playing around with the clay and I had some of this "pluffy" clay that is super soft and easy for kids to work with. One of the kids came up with this "road-kill rabbit" and it is super flat. When it was baked, I picked it up and it looks like a pancake hahaha. I love it... and I'm thinking to add a magnet to the back to hang it up on the fridge.

This dinosaur is what my hubby came up with!! I was pretty impressed...he used the same pluffy clay to make a lump of a body armature and baked that first... then rolled out flat pieces of green to layer over the top of the baked armature. And basically just worked on it until it looked like he thought it ought to, then baked it again a final time. I really like the legs... way better than what I could've done for it!


I made the next few items... this one is an owl charm. In the pic, I hadn't yet bent/twisted the wire out of the top of its head into a loop yet but it's done now.

A baby dinosuar...see the stubby legs and arms?? I told you the hubster's dinosaur legs were better lol..


And a new gnome on the block!! This one is a baker. :D He has a blue apron with white edging, and it is tied in the back around his waist and neck. Also holding a frosting bag and decorated cupcake!! :) I love this guy.. he is the same size as the others I've posted about recently.

I have been starting to add new items to my Etsy shop, so please bounce over there any check it out any time. If you would like a custom order of anything, write and let's see what we can do! :)

Pirate Gnome and Hippie Gnome (polymer clay)

Another round of gnomes!! This is just a quick update for tonight..I have another finished crochet project to share over the weekend when I get a chance.

It's all in the details....on the left we have a pirate gnome. He comes with a skull & crossbones tri-pointed gnome hat, a gold earring, solid gold piece in his hand, a parrot on his shoulder and an eyepatch!

On the right we have the hippie gnome...a lovely tye-dyed jacket and underclothes, open sandals, a peace symbol on his jacket, a rosta gnome hat, braided beard, and last but not least..giving the ultimate of peace signs in his left hand.

Off to take care of dinner and think up more gnomes! :) Have a good night!

Glee-Inspired and Ice-Cream Garden Gnomes (polymer clay)

Now that all 6 of the little plant gnomes I sent out last week have safely landed in their new home, it is time to make more!

If you're a Glee fan like myself, you may see the inspiration for the Warbler-ish gnome on the left. Complete with "L" sign for being a Gleek ;) And since Summer is not quite over yet, the other guy gets a nice, tasty ice-cream cone. :D

They are roughly 3 inches high or so and made for house plants. Unless you have a really tiny backyard, in which they'd be perfect also! What do you all think of the new gnomes? I'll definitely be creating more as I think up new ones.

Garden/Plant GNOMES (polymer clay)

Who doesn't love little garden gnomes?? And when they come in miniature scale, they're even better! (In my opinion anyway) :) Today I finished up the 6th one after spending about a week working on these little guys. They are for a special request made a while back by one of my SILs and I am so happy to be able to finally get them out in the mail to her tomorrow. I hope she will enjoy them as much as I do!


You can see Mr. Blue-Hat doing a little flash dance....Orange Coat is going to dig with his shovel...Tuxedo is ready for some fancy dining...Green Coat has something hiding in his pockets...Shy & Nervous has flowers and a heart for a lucky gnome gal...and lastly, No Name in the back left corner- well frankly, he's up to something but I don't know what!

Next up on my list of things to do (or at least somewhere in the top 10) is to make more of these for my Etsy shop. :) Everyone who's seen these wants them up there, so I'm working on it!! :)

Cherry Purse, Ami Frappe, and Ami Gnome (crochet)

Hello everyone!! You can see what I've been busy with the last couple of days... I've also been picking up my embroidery materials for a few minutes here and there and I'll show that when it's finished (might be another few days).

The cherry purse is something I came up with on my own and figured I would give it a shot. It didn't turn out too bad, though I will admit I hate hand-sewing in zippers!!! lol Next to the purse is a cup of frappe with a big pile of whipped cream on top. :D And lastly, a GNOME!!! I LOVE gnomes!!! I'd like to have them all over the place, but I have to do it strategically so the hubster doesn't notice right away. ;) hehe There were patterns for both of those, but I was a bit disappointed with how they were coming out so I ended up changing it as I went anyway. I love the gnome! Did I mention that? :)

If anyone has any other gnome patterns or can point a finger toward some online patterns, I'd love to see more to try out. :D Hope everyone is having a happy weekend and staying COOOOOL!!!