Since I am working on organizing my new laptop (think of it like this: a virtual bomb went off in my old laptop and my addiction to “a place for everything and everything in its place” which i cannot as yet do with my house-in-progress has come out in full with the organization of my new machine), I thought i would send you on to some of my favorite RSS feeds. I hope to one day own something from each of them!

With that said, I do own something from PrincessLasertron but she makes me drool with her creativity of color combinations and embroidery choices, so why wouldnt i want more? She made a wedding bout for Boy and a wrist crosage for me and I love them both. Here is one of her recent creations that I stared at for entirely too long:

I love AnnWoodHandmade for making the sweetest little birdies out of vintage clothing she finds at local antique stores. She makes wedding couples, ballerinas, campers, pirates – all adorable. She also has owls and spiders and sailboats with wobblers, and offers some little trinkets that she finds while searching for fabric. My favorite so far has been this guy:

I dig LilFishStudios for the earthy context of her work. She makes felted acorns with real acorn tops, cute little fishies and birds in addition to other earthy items, and even wearable art. Namely the felted brooches with birch shells, like these:

I hope you enjoy the eye candy each crafter offers. I was recently asked how I find the websites I go to and its pretty simple. I usually start with a google image search (i am addicted) and find something I like – it could be something specific like “felt starfish softie” or more general “cute fish”. Then i quickly skim the photos on the first 3 or so pages of results, opening new tabs for anything that catches my eye. Then i quickly scroll through the site and see if its something i would like or not. If im not into it, i get what i need about the image, and close the tab. If i like it, i might add it to my RSS reader (I use NetNewsWire). If I really like it, i go through all the links on their site because typically birds of a feather flock together. Be careful though! There is so much good stuff out there that you could spend all your waking days drifting through it – but if you did that, you wouldnt ever have the chance to try it on your own – so be careful, as it can be addicting:)

And then just to throw you for a loop, here is a site that I often visit to stay up to par with what is happening in the world of anthropology. John Hawks teaches at one of the schools I might apply to for grad school and Ive been following him since the Homo floresiensis discovery. I really like his blog because in general his posts are summaries of larger articles so its like a crash course on everything I am missing while taking a break. But you expect crafty things from me, so Ill leave you with this idea: One day (probably far far in the future) I would like to blackwork embroider this (or one of his other sketches) on a tote or a wall hanging or a bookcover, or somewhere, but the point is, it would be a fun project and encapsulate both my purposes in life.

Ta-ta!