Softies... make your own cute.

This post has been almost two years in the making... well, at least the news within it.

Softies, a new book by Therese Laskey and Chronicle Books just recently came out and is filled with 25 fabulous d.i.y. softie patterns and instructions... and on page 41 you'll find Ms. Green Tea Bag... my creation!!!

It is a true privilege to be included in such a fantastic book among softie masters like Jenn Docherty,  Chika Mori, Tamar Mogendorff,  Hillary Lang (one of the very first people to inspire me to begin creating my own softies)... and so many others.  Thanks so much Therese and Chronicle Books!

You can pick up a copy of the book here and here... OR... I will be giving away a free copy of the book to one lucky reader!

If you want a chance to win, just leave a comment with your name and one of your favorite, silly, or memorable crafting moments (it can be about a project gone horribly wrong, a special time spent crafting with a relative or friend... whatever you'd like).  Next Wednesday I will randomly select a winner (it could be you)!  That's easy right?!  Can't wait to read your stories!

Comments

[Valerie]

I just started a monthly crafting night with a good friend, something we've talked about for forever, but are finally getting around to. I can't wait to make things together and to learn new things from each other!

[blushing apples]

umm.... i dont have one, please disregard this comment for the contest! but i love the tea bag! its adorable as you!

[mabelle]

Thank you so, so much for adding my website to your favs! What a wonderful surprise, I'm a big fan of your blog!!!

Sending cheery thoughts your way!

mabelle

[Sarah]

The other day, I sewed a whole section of my plush together inside out. I felt like such a goob when I went to turn it and half was the right way and half wrong. I should be beyond that, but everyone is entitled to a few mistakes!

[Caroline]

Ez, how exciting! And I love the book description "...acclaimed artists from around the world..." Who knew? Well, actually, I knew, but know everyone else will know too!

My only craft is cross stitch, and all I can say about cross stitch is...it's ALWAYS harder than it looks! My absolute HARDEST project was a horse design which looked fairly straightforward, and the front label read "easy - can be stitched in a weekend!" HA! For me it should have read "can be stitched in a year!" There were at least 10 different but highly similar shades of ivory, tan and brown, which were interspersed stitch by stitch, creating a beautiful textured finish. I had to create my own system for keeping that many similar colors separated, and the chart was a nightmare to follow. But in the end it turned out lovely, and I was very pleased with it, and happy I'd done it. I've done many projects over the years and have loved every one of them, only wish I'd kept some instead of giving them all away!

[Nicole]

Aww, your teabag is adorable! A few months ago, I noticed your site and loved it because you featured Anthropologie's Juldagen mugs. (I coveted them for months but thought they were a little pricy, then found them on sale for $1.75 each "hidden" in the store one day!)

Anyhow, my favorite crafting memory (although not a very chic one, I'll admit!) is of a Santa Claus pillow that I cross-stitched when I was 9. I started it a month before Christmas, intending to give it to my mom; of course, I didn't finish it till the following Christmas, over a year later! My grandma stayed up all night on Christmas Eve hand-sewing my cross-stitch masterpiece to a velvet backing and trimming it with gold cord. My mom loved tbe pillow so much, and keeps it nestled in a chair year-round in our otherwise Pottery-Barned-out living room. As you can tell, I'm still proud :P

[julie]

this tea bag is too cute!now for my pathetique craft story...the first time I used those iron on paper for t-shirts, I was 16 and wanted to make a cool personalized to shirt for my BFF's birthday. Things got messy when I tried to transfer the design on the t-shirt. When I started ironing the paper on the fabric I realized a bit to late that I had printed the drawing on the wrong side of the paper! The product on the paper melted on the iron's hot base...the smell was pretty bad. But everything went fine the second time and my friend was super happy with her gift! :D

[Sheila]

A memorable moment I have is an early one -- back in high school when my best friend and I made some t-shirts and pillow cases decorated with those old roller ball point pens (does anyone remember those??). We had a great time and it was something we did together during a time when we were sorta going seperate ways. Anyway, she's still a good friend and is still very talented when it comes to fun craft projects. Thanks for bringing that memory back tonight...

[Jeannie Crockett]

Love your blog, and all of the wonderful crafty news on the web. My favorite craft story is when my sister-in-law was doing counted cross stitch and referred to it as "countless cross stitch!"

[Mary Jo]

Congrats Ez, just love your tea bag! My crafting story is how I started my handbag company--I saw flowers on bobbypins at this expensive store and decided to make my own, which then morphed into making flower cat collars, and finally flower handbags...anyway, would love to be entered into your giveaway contest :-)

[Christine]

Absolutely in love with your beautiful teabag softie -- she's got so much personality you can almost hear her deep breaths as she snoozes peacefully!

My crafting disaster happened last year when I renewed an old love-affair with creating art dolls. I was working on the all-important head/face; I had pieced, stuffed, stitched, needled-sculpted, colored and painted for hours to creature just the right personality and expression. I finished off the features by adding highlights and a bit of out-lining with felt-tip pens. I was so pleased with the outcome! I grabbed the spray-fixative, aimed square at my lovely creation and let spray -- and watched in horror as the pen ink ran in streaks all down the face. Unfortunately, melted-sad-clown was not the persona I had in mind for my little doll!

Needless to say, the second head I made was spray fixed *before* I penned in the highlights.

[scribblesnbits]

I eyed that book so much this weekend and cursed my lack o' money, but maybe I have a chance for it now! One of my favorite crafting moments is when I was a kid and my grandmother alweays tried to make at least one elaborate beaded ornament for the Christmas tree. I'd been watching her do this for a couple of years and finally decided I wanted a go at it. I talked her into letting me try (didn't have to do too much convincing: she's all about getting people crafting) and she gave me pretty unrestricted access to the beading stuff. So I drew Santa and colored him green (we've since decided he was airsick) and a couple of messed up reindeer that looked more like purple crack-addicted dogs and pinned that onto the ball. Then I went nuts with the main thing that had gotten me interested in the first place: snowflake-shaped sequins! I pinned them all over the ball (almost hiding my drawing). I threaded them and spacer beads onto a hat pin and stuck in the bottom. I threaded more as a hanger. I used so many we had to go out and buy more. I later pared the ball down to look better, but it was such a fuin chance to experiment and it was great to share that with my grandmother (who was secretly aghast at the time, both of my flagrant use of materials and at my tacky sense of style, but did a really great job of not showing it!)

[adriana minoliti]

i love your tea bagits sooooo beautifull