Good little mouse

Thank-you notes were a big deal in my house growing up and I took them very seriously. I had a great aunt who gave out single dollars each Christmas, and it became a joke in my family that one year I thanked her for "the good dollar," having already used "nice" and "useful" in previous years...Here's Mimi Mousekin busy with her letters...

Merry Mouse on the tree!

Here's how my new mouse ornament looks on the tree. Those big ears really pop!

it's holiday crafting time...

sketching this year's mouse ornament...in the interest of time i think it's gonna be the simple triangular ones featuring fun graphic prints...i'll post again when i have some made up!

Mousekins fan letter

i received a cute fan letter today by snail mail (yay!).
(the sender's info has been removed for privacy).

she writes exactly like i did at her age -
switching out with multiple colors of felt-tip pens.
so fun!

Sylvester the Birthday Mouse

 it was a total surprise to open a package from my brother and his wife and to find this amazing knitted mouse! the pattern is a free one from Fuzzy Mitten who sells patterns for all kinds of adorable knitted toys. i love that they made the mouse together - cathy doing the knitting, and michael putting the pieces together and adding the features. it's funny because i can See a bit of my brother in the expression. i guess that's how it is with things we make.

 this mouse just seemed like a Sylvester to me. he is 3.5" tall.
we had a little bit of sun for my birthday so i took him out in the yard to check out my favorite primroses.

he smelled the purple flowers,

then visited a family of hedgehogs. they had a lot to tell him about his new neighborhood.

 

he sought some advice from FatBird about the meaning of life.

 

           then climbed a tree to get some perspective on it all.

 still tired from his move from northern CA, it was back inside for an afternoon nap.
all in all, he was happy with his new digs, and it was a pretty good day!
xo

Christmas book

the holiday season is here, and i'm happy to announce my first Christmas book: Christmas with the Mousekins - A Story with Crafts, Poems, Recipes and More!
This is really my dream-come-true book in so many ways. besides taking place in a mouse world at Christmas-time, it incorporates recipes and craftiness into the story. i designed a lot of fun projects for the book.
there's lots of love & hugs & family togetherness,
and lots and lots of cookies!
(continued in post below)

Recipes and craft instructions follow the Mousekins making them in the story. so it's all very integrated.
mimi mouse gives baby mouse this cute felt mobile, and the next page shows how to make it (as well as a Mousie Sock Puppet and Mimi's little mitten bookmarks).
there are lots of projects in the book and even more online, for a real home-made holiday. we had the book printed on un-coated stock (no shine, just matte), which is really neat, and adds to the old-fashioned feel.
i've received some nice emails already from moms who have enjoyed the story and the craft projects with their kids. one woman wrote that her older girls (8 & 12) love the crafts too, so there's a wide age-range appeal ...

and another said they are definitely making Cinnamon Snail cookies this year!
i'm sensing that women enjoy the book for themselves, for its sense of nostalgia and for the crafts & recipes. so that's great.
the story starts two weeks before Christmas, so the book would make a nice early gift so that kids, moms, and grandmas (and hey, maybe dads and granddads too!) can join in with the busy Mousekins as they get ready for the big day - decorating their tree, baking cookies and delivering them to friends, crafting paper garlands and an angel-mouse tree-topper, and making gifts from felt and ribbon.
have a Merry Mousie Crafty Christmas!
xoxo

there's a mouse in the garden!

i finally made a long-ago requested Strawberry Mouse for an amazing Etsy customer who has purchased quite a few of my plush animals.
she is made from a most precious 1940's cotton print...
and she's on her way to california.
good-bye, little mouse!

Daisy dog arrived safely in the UK!

theresia sent me this photo to show that Daisy Dog made it safely through the volcano cloud to her house in the UK. now she's hanging out with one of theresia's adorable mouse dolls, like the one i traded her for. one of the best things about Etsy is when you have the opportunity to trade with another crafter/artist. i think this was a happy deal for both of us!
this is MY mouse (theresia's original photo from the listing in her etsy shop) and i love her very much. i'll need to make her a sweater because it's still so chilly here in seattle!
see more of theresia's fabulous stuffed toys and pincushions in her shop:
www.strawberriesandcream.etsy.com