There are three videos on constructing a basic spun cotton ornament and two on how to costume your figures in crepe paper and cotton batting clothing.

I hope you have all enjoyed your Christmas present

Follow this link to view my current auctions – a few are “buy it now”.

Wishing you a New Year filled with peace, love and glitter!

Paula

Merry Christmas to all of my spun cotton ornament students!  As my present to you all this year, I have purchased two months of video capability for the class site and posted three instructional videos; Making a Human Wire Armature, Basic Spun Cotton Instructions, and Another Method For Spinning Cotton and How to Fix Trouble Spots.  These are a great refresher for those of you who have taken a “live” class from me here at my studio or at the Brookfield Craft Center, and a chance to see spinning in action for all of you who have taken my Class by Mail.

Pop in at the class site soon!  The videos are only available for viewing through February 5th, 2012.  While you are at the Ning site, be sure to take advantage of the newly added directions for making a reproduction of the antique spun cotton boy in this previous post.

If you are one of my students  who has not already signed up for the class member only site, I strongly urge you to do so.  You are missing out on lots of great information and best of all it’s entirely free for all class members.

Email me at paula@asweetremembrance.com if you are a student who needs an invitation to the class site.  Be sure to include the approximate date that you took/purchased the class so that it will be easier for me to look you up in my records.  Also for those who have already signed-up for the Ning site but can’t remember how to get there, I am happy to send you a reminder

If you haven’t taken my class yet, this is a great time to do so!  Click here to visit my website A Sweet Remembrance, where you can purchase my Class by Mail. There is still time to receive your class before Christmas if you buy it in the next few days.  Don’t miss out on this opportunity to watch the video instructions (which will be unavailable after 2/5/12).

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful feast surrounded by family and friends.  I am thankful for so many things in my life, including all of my terrific customers and students.

As a virtual “dessert”, to top off all of your harvest sweets, I am having a special sale on my Izannah Walker Class by Mail (click on this link) and my Spun Cotton Ornament Class by Mail (click on this link) from now through Monday, November 28, 2011.

This is the most recent addition to my collection of antique spun cotton ornaments. I think that this chubby checked boy , dressed in red and white crepe paper, is in wonderful condition considering that he has celebrated 100 or so Christmases.

I was delighted to find this spun cotton ornament on Sunday, when I went to the Jenny Lind Doll Club’s annual Doll Show in Southbury, CT.   I wasn’t expecting to see any antique or vintage Christmas items, so he was a wonderful surprise.  I think he is quite adorable,  so much so that I plan to make reproductions of him for Christmas this year.  I’ll also be posting directions for creating a replica on my Spun Cotton Ornament class member only site for all of my students.

Cute from every direction!

Here he is again, along with two tiny vintage evergreen trees that I also bought at the show on Sunday. If you are wondering about the chest he is standing in front of, it's a small 2 drawer antique chest that I painted with mural like scenes of the Peaceable Kingdom.

Last week I was in California, which gave me the opportunity to visit Castle in the Air in person.  I’ve been buying from them online for several years, so it was a treat to get to shop in the actual store.

They have a great selection of crepe paper, but since I already have quite a lot of their crepe paper in my stash, I limited my purchases to two rolls of white and black Halloween streamers.

Then I moved on to the adjacent display of Dresden trims.  I really went wild there!  They had so many great ones to choose from that it was hard to pick.

You can see some of my shopping frenzy from this action photo Definitely a good time!

Some of my other finds were a few fantastic postcards and yards and yards of 1/8 inch wide velvet ribbon.

We’ve only been home a week and we’ve had Tropical Storm Irene to contend with, so I haven’t had a chance to make any spun cotton ornaments with my new acquisitions (but I’ve dreamed up with some great ideas).  I did manage to work a few Dresdens and a lot of the velvet ribbon into the clothing for my latest Izannahs  

Spun Cotton Girl dressed in cream colored crepe paper dress, with red and green crepe paper petticoats, pom-poms, and collar. Accented with red silk ribbons.

I am quite honored to announce that I have been juried into Early American Life Magazine’s 2011 Holiday Directory of Traditional American Crafts.  This is the 24th time that my work has been selected for inclusion in the directory and it is still as much of a thrill as it was the first time.  Thank you Early American Life!

The directory will appear in the Christmas issue of Early American Life which will be out in late September.

Spun Cotton Christmas Kewpie with a handmade molded cotton head, red silk scarf and sprig of dried holly.