Jessica's blog

Crabtree Studio now has some retail presence! We're super excited about our new opportunities at I Like You and Crafty Planet. I Like You is a fabulous store that carries local handmade goods only. You may know owners Angela and Sarah from some of the local craft shows, most notably Handmaiden Minneapolis, which they run four times per year.

And, of course, we've raved about how cool Crafty Planet is before, which is better than ever now that they're in their new location on Johnson Street.

Crafty Planet is carrying Amy's wonderful new knitting needle holders:

And here's a peek at some of the items available at I Like You:

The Needle occasionally hosts a plush swap. It works sort of like Secret Santa; those who participate receive the name of a swap partner for whom to make a plush. This swap's them was your partner's favorite color. Eva of Effunia received my name and sent me this fantastic plush:

His name is Sky, and he came with a cute note explaining that "he's a very friendly creature who likes to save snails and earthworms when he sees them on his path. And he loves nothing more than sticking up his little nose in the air and taking in his surroundings. He makes a loyal friend."

Indeed he does; he's already cozied up to San, the alpha dog in my little pack:

San looks slightly nervous about her new friend, but I adore him. Check out Effunia's blog, Etsy shop, and Flickr. She makes fantastic plushies!

I'll blog about what I sent to David Wolk (aka Mr. Crammed of Cranky Yellow in St. Louis) when I know he's received it. I don't want to ruin the surprise!

As a general rule, I don't get that excited about spring. I'm one of those strange people that actually enjoys the winter, though fall is the best season of all. But what does excite me about spring is being able to photograph outdoors again (yeah, I know I can photograph outdoors in the winter too, but when you work outside the home, you often miss out on daylight).

As you can tell from the vibrant colors above, my color palette tends to change in the spring as well. I gravitate toward bright blues, pinks, oranges, and yellows.

Though I enjoy winter, by April, the drab greys and browns outside start to weigh me down. As a crafter, though, I can always create an instant pick-me-up. Making something brightly colored can lighten my mood, as can creating something in a nontraditional color.

Enjoy the season, everyone. Soon enough, we will all be complaining "it's not the heat, it's the humidity!" and longing for cooler temperatures once again.

We are pleased to announce that Crabtree Studio has been selected as a vendor at Shepherd's Harvest Sheep & Wool Festival. The festival takes place every Mother's Day weekend at the Washington County fairgrounds in Lake Elmo, MN.

Amy and I have been attending the festival yearly to stock up on gorgeous handcrafted yarns and other fibers (and to ooh and aah over the lovely sheep, goats, and alpaca, of course!), and thought "why not join the fun and become vendors?" Some of our favorite patterns are fiber animals, and what better place to showcase these than at a fiber festival? As such, we will be concentrating our inventory on knitting bags, sheep, alpaca, camels, and rabbits. We hope you come out and see us there! In the meantime, here's a small sneak peak of what we plan to sell:

Crabtree Studio has recently joined the online plush collaborative at The Needle. We are very excited to be part of such a wonderful, talented group of plush designers and makers. Be sure to bookmark the page and check back often, as the community is very active and fantastic new creations are blogged about daily.

Some of you may have seen my two cute squirrels in the Playful Things exhibit at the Wausau Center for the Visual Arts. I started making squirrels when a coworker requested  an "evil Loring Park" squirrel. For those not in Minneapolis, Loring Park squirrels seem mangier and crazier than the citywide population as a whole. But I couldn't bring myself to make this guy mangy; he was just too cute.

This squirrel was a hit with my coworker, and he immediately requested an albino squirrel and a zombie squirrel. That was months ago—before Halloween, I'm afraid—but they're finally finished after a long hunt for zombie-colored fur and some tweaks to make the pattern more squirrelish:

(I apologize for the poorer quality of this one. Night time and white fur do not mix!)

Thank goodness the zombie squirrel has a taste for acorn brains only! This one was really fun to make. I was disappointed I couldn't find maribou in the right color for his tail, but I'm pleased with the outcome nonetheless. I had no qualms about making this guy mangy, but you should see the number cutting patches out of his fur did to my craft room floor! It was well worth it, though, as the recipient of both these pieces is ecstatic about them. I think he's already scheming on future crazy squirrel commissions and other zombie animals as well. In the meantime, I think I'll craft some regular old grey, red, and brown squirrels!