My Big World Etsy Shop Launch Today!

 I launched the reopening of my Etsy shop today!  I am so excited to share this with you.  It's been a labor of love (and some crying, too!) for the past several months.

 There is a saying that goes something like, "there is good in the bad."  When my father in-law was diagnosed with Stage 4 brain cancer in September 2014. that's all we could think about.  I needed a distraction, something to take my mind off this.

 I needed a project.

 So in between visiting them and helping out and working, I started sewing.  It was therapeutic and a good distraction.  I am passionate about early childhood education (as most of you know) and I am a self-proclaimed geek when it comes to small toys like Schliech, Safari Ltd., Papo, Peter Rabbit, Tinkerbell, etc.  So why not combine the two?

 Playscapes are landscapes for imagination.  All hand-stitched with tiny details, these wool felt play mats are designed to encourage children's imaginations.  Maybe Peter Rabbit is in Mr. McGregor's garden again or...

 Maybe the fairies are hiding their treasures in this cave or the animals are having a camp out or...

 Maybe Hello Kitty and her friend are tending to their garden in the forest beside a stream of lily pads.

 Or maybe Mama Bear is watching her cubs play with their toy boat by the stream.  The possibilities are endless really.  Each whimsical playscape is all hand-stitched and filled with tiny details like tufts of grass, enchanting gardens, caves, twisting streams, hollow logs, stone pathways, 3D bridges, mossy patches, ponds, etc.  I have 4 to 6 hours in each playscape, but I love how they turned out.

Each one is approximately 15 inches by 15 inches.  Ready to ship. Ready to play.  There's a link over to the right hand side that will take you to my shop.

Have a fun & playful day!
Mel

Upcycled Cottage

We needed a new cottage for hosting baking parties, or, at least, that's what l was told :)  This little 2 year old certainly has opinions. I cut out a 3 wall frame (easy access for little hands) out of a cardboard box and added scrapbook paper.

Then...it was a party!  Music and animals and yummy treats!

All the scrapbook papers are from Micheals.

The thing about kids...

 The thing that l love about kids so  much is their imaginations.  It doesn't matter that it's a Woodzeez bakery with two McDonald's toys and 3 Lego princesses.  It doesn't - they are all friends.

 Later, Lego Cinderella takes her carriage over to a Doug & Melissa dollhouse to have plastic food picnic with fairy friends, a ladybug bathtoy, and baby shower favor babies.  It works.  All their toys don't have to be perfectly matched.  Most kids don't care about that stuff and that's what makes it fun.

And dinosaurs can love Valentine's Day too.