Today a baby shower celebration in a room decorated in shades of soft teal and pinks. Baby snowmen and snowflake beribboned packages everywhere! I had the pleasure of creating the items for the room and decorating it for the big day! Even the mom to be's special chair was covered in snow with a mitten hanging from the top.

The large pool table became a field of snow with snowbabies and snowballs. Each large window was hung with a large crystal snowflake. It was such a delightful project and my client was very pleased. The room was done early in the week so she could enjoy and add little touches here and there before the big reveal. Being part of the celebration, helping to create the surroundings was very special.

Sock Monkeys have become even more popular in the last couple years. All kinds of silly sock creatures have popped up! I had a cute pair of striped baby socks and decided to make a baby sock monkey for a gift for a friend. I always make the face first as it helps decide on the rest of the character. (I have a small drawer of heads that did not make it any further perhaps someday they will become some sort of creature!)

I thought this wee guy had a please take me home expression. The fun thing about making sock characters and using child or baby socks is you can get wonderful fun patterns and need to only do some hand sewing to create a cute playmate! Happy National Craft Month! Debra, CEO!

Our past influences each present day, I was reminded of this in my world when looking through some pictures of my pattern line I had in the 90's when country bears and dolls were huge. Each bear had a story and a friend, I designed them for Crafts, Teddycrafts and Butterick and it was my main design focus for several years. I found pictures on the weekend for several of my favorites. In the recent report of our CHA Designer Section Trend Team of which I am a member, teddy bears are on the rise in popularity again. Plushies and softies, quirky and whimsical have been embraced by the younger sewers and designers, I am embracing the quirky attempting to go past my two eyes need to be the same size or even if a cuddly creature needs two eyes! I will have to really stretch before I can envision a third eye on one of my characters but you have to move on with the times. Creativity without traditional boundaries is a whole exciting adventure and endless inspired territory beckons. So I give you a view of my past and Benjamin was inspired by my childhood memories of the little yellow rail car box which contained a favorite cookie treat, Animal Crackers!

And in the present I am working on all kinds of projects for three different seasons, needle felting, sewing but they are all for future publications and cannot be revealed!

Follow the JOY! Keep creating! Debra, CEO!