Papertrey March Blog Hop - Easter Egg Balloon with Bunnies

Who is this cute bunny and what is he waiting to do?

If you want to find out, grab a cup of coffee or tea. This is a bit longer than my usual post. (More pictures; not more text. Whew!)

He's the new die cut bunny (with extra details) from 'Papertrey Ink', and he will be riding in an Easter egg hot-air-balloon with this friend!

 

Papertrey's February release was a blast, and when Easter goodies came in the mail, they just begged to be put to use - immediately! The biggest thrill was the Shaker-like basket die. The basket is a breeze to make, and Nichole Heady has designed the die to make two different sizes.

I've always loved the vintage Easter postcards, with decorated eggs playing the part of a hot air balloon. With dies for a basket, bunny, clouds, and butterflies (all from Papertrey), and a 4&3/4" Styrofoam egg, I decided to whip up a ride for the darling rabbits.

I started by covering the large egg in blue felt.

The felt was trimmed to the circumference of the egg, divided into four equal sections, and pined around the center and pinned together at the 'poles'.

The excess felt was cut away,

and the seams sewn together with a whip stitch. (You can even just pin the seams in place if you cover them with ribbon afterwards.)

Now for the fun part, decorating. I chose to pin on the clouds and butterflies.

The butterflies were a bit plain so I added sequins. (Cartwright Sequins is bling heaven. If you can't find your sequins there, you probably can't find them.) Thick black button thread forms the antennas.

Now on to the basket; the small version of Papertrey's new 'favor die' basket. All the parts were cut from felt, and a heavy weight paper basket bottom, made stitching the sides to the base much easier. A strip of felt (on the inside where the brads are inserted) added reinforcement and structural support for that side.

Next, the passengers. Papertrey's new bunny die, slays me, but it needed a front as well as the cute back. The eyes are just leftovers from die cutting felt, the nose is a little brad, and the arms (drum roll please) are from a large snowman die. (If your bunny's going to ride, it needs to be able to hang on, right?)  Attach the tail to the back side, eyes and nose to the front and button hole stitch them together.

The arms are actually attached to the inside of the basket with the toes hanging over. When you sew the bunny body to the basket, it will hide the sewn on arms.

This side has a scared bunny holding on with both paws. A length of bakers twine is sewn on to the two long sides of the basket (and topped with four small Mokuba ribbon flowers),

and hung over two small buttons pinned to the balloon sides.

Now to fly it and enjoy an Easter ride.

Bye for now, and thanks for going along for the ride.

Please leave a comment if you liked this post, so I know if I should do more.

Papertrey Ink Supplies: Shape Up Series: Snowman Die Collection, Polka Dot Parade #1 Die, Favor It Box 9 Die Collection, Beautiful Butterflies Die Collection, Heart-2-Heart #6 Die Collection (clouds), Lovely Layers Die Collection, Felt - Harvest Gold

Other supplies: Rayon/wool felt, small brads, Mokuba ribbon flowers, turquoise baker's twine, white trim, sequin pins, Plasteel 'Dylite' large egg, and all sequins from Cartwright Sequins

Wee Elf, Snowman & Easy Christmas Tree

For me, there is nothing more fun than making toys at Christmastime. There are so many wonderful artists who have shared their know-how. In the previous post I mentioned crafter extraordinaire Jenny B Harris, who gives patterns on her blog. I would like to introduce you to a maker of fairies (from a book), and a sculptor of fine vintage toys (a video from Martha Stewart).

The elf (who was too big for his shoes in the previous post), seen here with his snowman friend, was inspired by the wondrous book Felt Wee Folk by Salley Mavor. This wee elf  is only three and a half inches from his feet to the top of his felt hat (bell not included). Salley's book has directions for four different sized folk, simpler body constructions than my elf for younger doll makers, and loads of costumes and venues to fit every occasion and fashion style. Once you see her beautiful photos, you will want to whip up a little world of your own!

The snowman was made after I tried my hand at a felt pumpkin person. Jenny Murphy, who designs and constructs all sorts of exquisite vintage toys, shows how she constructs her old fashioned pumpkin people. You can watch the video here. My snowman is 5 3/4 inches high and the outside is made from all cotton quilters' batting instead of felt. (One of the nifty things you learn from the video is to stuff your figure with excelsior . That detail gives them a lot of charm.) The face and buttons are sewn on black beads, and the orange nose is a pushpin glued in place.



The Christmas tree is very funky and different from my usually overworked style, but I love it. It's composed of a Styrofoam cone wrapped with a very pretty green trim that my mother-in-law had taken off a stool that was being reupholstered. Pins hold the fringe in place, as well as the delightful red gingham flower ribbon from Wrights. Very easy, and if that chair should ever need it's trim back, the pins are just removed.

Jenny B Harris + Papertrey Dies = Fun

December is holiday month, and that means playing elf and making all sorts of not terribly useful, but very fun items........like elf shoes. The elf shoes above were a match made in heaven: Jenny B Harris' pattern for elf clogs, and Papertrey's wonderful dies for holly and hearts.
 
Jenny's elf shoe pattern is as perfectly executed as it is cute. If you cut out the felt carefully, all goes together without a hitch. I used a buttonhole or blanket stitch (with real vintage cobbler's cotton thread) which worked out fine, but was a bit slower than Jenny's excellent suggestion of soft Pearl Cotton combined with whip stitch. The toe balls on hers are too cute, but they seemed over the top after the hearts and holly went on.

To be sure these would be my elf's favorite Christmas clogs, I used the smallest heart die from Papertrey's  Heart Prints Collection, and the middle sized holly sprig from the Holly Jolly Die Collection. (One of the things I love about Papertrey's dies is the fact that they can be really small.  I love creating tiny items, and Papertrey is the only die company, I've run across, that have truly small dies. Yeah!) I chose to needle felt these small felt parts to the unassembled, but cut out, shoe pieces. A few beads and a couple of sequins sewn on, and the shoes were ready to stitch together. As you can see, the shoes are a bit big for my elf, so maybe I'll hang them on the tree or leave them is some mischievous location.