Not Quite Finished!

Although I've been stitching my little fingers off, this piece is still not quite done! I've discovered that machine stitching on these sheers and knits makes everything wrinkle and pucker, so I'm doing a lot more handstitching than I thought I would and it's very slow going. Here are some in-progress shots. The three seahorses, above . . .
. . . sea anemones I added to the sand below,
. . . a close-up of two seahorses and some sea weeds,
. . . the jelly fish above,
. . . and the top layer of sparkle tulle which I'm now hand-quilting on. After that's done, I'll need to stitch the sides closed somehow (maybe I'll be able to use the machine for that) and then make loops on the top for hanging. We'll show these at the Northern Star Quilter's Guild annual show at John F. Kennedy H. S. in Somers the first weekend in May, so I have another few weeks to complete everything before then.

I needed a break from sewing, so I decided to explore my options for my next charm swap, which has the theme "Feather Your Nest." I couldn't resist this one, especially since I had just made a few bird-themed charms for a necklace for my sister. I thought I would make some more silver nests like the one shown here, but it seems many other charm artists are already doing that.

So today I headed out to see what I might find at the local big-box craft store. I found these cute stamps and played around with them.

Here's the results:
As you can see, I also played around with some polymer clay. It looks like a few other charmers are also making birdhouses, and these took longer than I thought to make (maybe my clay is old and getting stiff? It was hard to work with), so I'm not sure I want to make more of these. I signed up for 2 sets of 15 charms each, so I could do a variety. Right now, the one below is my favorite, made with one of the new stamps and shrink film. I stamped on the shiny side with black StazOn ink and then colored in the bird and the house with permanent markers. I used colored pencil on the rough back side which gives it a little depth. Isn't it cute?
Now the weekend is here, and the weather is supposed to be great, perfect for doing some yard work and other fun outdoor things. Maybe by Monday evening, I'll be ready to get back to my totem... Have a great weekend, everyone!