Giveaway white felted acorns Christmas ornament

I'm hosting my new giveaway. One lucky giveaway participant selected by a random number generator will win a set of five hand felted white acorns with real acorn tops. Each acorn has a thread and could be an ideal Christmas tree ornament. To read more about acorns please go to my CityCrochet shop.



The giveaway ends on Friday, November 2nd. The winner will be announced on Monday, November 5th.

To enter: Please visit my CityCrochet shop and leave a comment below about any item(s) you really like. Don't forget to leave your contact information (e-mail address, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest) so I can contact you in case you win. Your info will NEVER be used for any other purposes!!!

Extra entries: Please leave one separate comment for each extra entry following the instructions below.

Open to US and Canada only. Winner will be chosen by online random generator. Winner will be notified by Monday, November 5th and will have 3 days to reply or another winner will be chosen.

Good luck!:)
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Giveaway Tree of Life felted wool brooch

I'm hosting my new Autumn giveaway. One lucky giveaway participant selected by a random number generator will win my Tree of Life felted wool brooch. I hand felted this brooch of white wool and hand embroidered it with my own design. I used cotton brown thread and glass beads to decorate the brooch. To read more about the brooch please go to my CityCrochet shop.



The giveaway ends on Friday, October 26th. The winner will be announced on Monday, October 29th.

To enter: Please visit my CityCrochet shop and leave a comment below about any item(s) you really like. Don't forget to leave your contact information (e-mail address, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest) so I can contact you in case you win. Your info will NEVER be used for any other purposes!!!

Extra entries: Please leave one separate comment for each extra entry following the instructions below.

Open to US and Canada only. Winner will be chosen by online random generator. Winner will be notified by Monday, October 29th and will have 3 days to reply or another winner will be chosen.

Thank you and Good luck!:)

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DIY How to make Halloween ghost home decoration

Some of us will most probably decorate our homes for Halloween. I would like to share an idea of a DIY project of making felted ghosts for Halloween.



We will need white and black felting wool, a glass to use as a form, soap, water and a piece of bubbled wrap paper.



On a piece of bubbled wrap paper put an empty glass upside down. Slowly start to cover it with white wool. It makes sense to water the surface of the glass beforehand so that our pieces of wool could stick to it. Once the glass is all covered with wool it's time to wet our wool with soapy water. It makes sense to water it slowly so that our wool doesn't fall off the glass and stays there covering it nicely. Once white wool is wet we can start making our ghost's "face".



With a piece of black wool make an eye and attach it to our white ghost. It's much fun to experiment with sized and eye position as our ghost's face expression will change dramatically depending on what shape and size ghost's eyes will be.

Once all the wool pieces are at place we can start the felting process. Carefully wrap bubbled paper around our glass and start rubbing it. Be gentle so that our wool doesn't fall off the glass. Once wool fibers become inseparable and our white form turns into a firm piece of felted wool it's time to rinse it.

To dry it well I let it sit on a glass overnight. Thus, the original form of the glass will be preserved and whet our ghost is nice and dry it will stay firm and round. I've attached a thread on top of it so that I could hang it anywhere in my room or outside. My little white ghost turned out to be not scary at all. But it's all in your own hands. Designing the ghosts face is the most creative part of the whole process!

DIY How to make city style felted bracelet

I have recently received beautiful wooden beads as a gift. They are of a cylinder shape and dark tan color. I don't have anything like that in my beads collection and I felt instantly inspired to create a summer themed piece of jewelry or a light and bright accessory using these beads.

The color combination of pure white and brown is my favorite. Accessories in white and dark chocolate look stylish and classy. They go well with business or casual outfits.

To create a bracelet we will need felting wool in white and brown and wooden beads. We will also need a piece of bubbled plastic wrap paper, soap and clear water.

I first start with felting a white bracelet. On a bubble wrap piece of paper I lay out pieces of wool to form a rectangle. The rectangle will later turn into the bracelet. Since the wool will shrink I make the rectangle about 30% bigger that the original size.

Once the rectangle is formed I wet it with clear water and add soap. Once the piece is all wet and soapy I cover it with the rest of bubble plastic paper and start the process of felting. I stroke and rub the plastic helping wool fibers to bind and felt.

When the wool has felted well I rinse my bracelet in clear water and let it dry completely. With a piece of brown wool I make a felted bead by rolling a wetted and soapy piece of brown wool between my palms.

Once my bracelet is ready I needle down brown wooden beads. The color of wooden beads matches the color of the brown felted bead nicely!

The bracelet turned out to be very soft, thin and light. It's made of all natural materials and is very pleasant to wear. The felting technique is very eco-friendly as to felt an item one just needs some water and a bit of soap. No chemicals are used in the process of felting. To wear the bracelet one simply has to fasten the brown button.

Summer Wedding Essentials contest results

Russian Artists team on Etsy just had its Summer Wedding Essentials contest. Fifty six team shops took part in the contest submitting their hand made wedding-themed items. All of the entries were fantastic! They can be checked out at Russian Artists Facebook Page.

Although all of the items submitted were amazingly beautiful, creative and unique, I picked up a few of my personal favorites. All of the wonderful items presented will make any wedding an unforgettable experience!

1. Dog Crochet Wedding Floral Collar by mailo


2. Event Decor for the Wine Glass by MamaTita


3. Tea Set, Original decorative painting by Yury Tarler


4. White earrings with pearls by HoneyCase2

Summer wedding decorations white acorn wind chime

This year summer is all about weddings! It's not only about Mr. and Mrs. Wales' one but about all those wonderful couples that are having a moment of their life this summer. Interestingly the color scheme is not always white. This summer purple, lilac, green, pink, turquoise and aqua colors are en vogue. Even yellow and orange somehow fit into the perfect wedding color palette.

The selection of decoration ideas and wedding gifts offered by numerous on-line shops is outstanding. I thought I would share with you one decoration idea that came to my mind and that I created using felted acorns, wire and cotton thread.

Wind charms and mobiles look great as garden decoration. Why not to use them as a wedding ornament? White acorns with real acorn tops are attached to a round base. They quietly swing and wave in the wind adding style and elegance to wedding arrangements.

The acorns could be of any color. Bright blue acorns would accent white of the bride's dress. Lemon yellows would play well with bright green of the surrounding landscape. Not too overriding acorn wind chimes will add flair to any summer wedding.

My Red Rose brooch featured on Etsy Front Page

It's so cool that my Red Rose brooch was featured on Etsy Front Page today in a beautiful red and white treasury curated by Baronyka. Thank you so much for creating such an amazing collection and featuring me in it!

Clematis flowers in purple, tender pink and white

I love taking pictures of flowers. Most of the flowers are so exquisite, tender and glamorous! Even if they are not flowers still somehow radiate positive energy and happiness. Clematis with its wide range of purple, violet and pink hues definitely deserves to be noticed. A unique shape of the flower's petals and stamens makes it a great object for macro photography.

As a result I've got a number of abstract images of clematis colored mulberry, orchid, pale pink, purple and white. All the curves and twists add sophistication to the images.

The flowers could be a great inspiration for artists and craftsmen. Their tender color mixes and delicate lines could inspire jewelry makers, felting artists and many other wonderful members of hand making community to produce unique and stylishly colored pieces.

There are over 200 pieces of Clematis that comes in a wide variety of shapes and colors. The plant is relatively easy to grow. It doesn’t take too much space. Clematis is a climbing plant that could be grown into a beautiful fence in your yard.

Virginia Dogwood in bloom

I've never seen a dogwood in bloom prior to moving to Virginia. However, in Richmond, VA dogwoods are everywhere. Beautiful in their simplicity dogwood flowers add color to our backyards. They come in all shades of pink, white and even greenish colors.

April is the dogwood month as all the trees start to bloom. One can see spots of red, pink and white in the otherwise bright green palette of spring forests. In the fall dogwood's bright red berries will be an excellent source of nutrients for birds, rodents and other small animals.

Covered with many large and beautiful flowers dogwood trees look rather like brides waiting for something great to happen in their life. Plant a dogwood in your yard and you will have a fairy bride coming to your yard every spring.

Clear glass beads summer bracelet

I went shopping the other day and bought a string of beautiful clear glass beads. Beads were so shiny and perfectly cut that I couldn't stop myself. Since I ended up buying these beads I had to create something out of them. It didn't take long to come up with a design of a summer bracelet.

Beads are of medium size. They are beautifully cut and sun light just shines through them. I wire wrapped glass beads adding some small dark gray ones to accent the color. The combination of clear glass and dark dots looks very stylish.

The bracelet I eventually created is simple yet elegant. It locks easily on one's hand and its size could be adjusted. The neutral color will go well with any summer dress or business casual outfit. The bracelet is of that clear color that will look perfect on a bride's hand. The combination of a beautiful white dress and transparent, pure beads should work very well!

Felted flower brooch in peach orange

I continue experimenting with coloring. My favorite coloring solution these days is KoolAid that comes in a few bright colors. I've created my flower brooch hand felting white wool and coloring it with orange KoolAid. The color is very intense and beautiful! Because I color every layer of the brooch separately I can control the process and apply as much color as I think is necessary for each layer. The idea is to apply maximum color to the center of each layer leaving the edges uncolored. It adds volume to the flower and makes every brooch look different and unique. On top of that the brooch smells of oranges and makes me think of spring and summer!

Etsy Front Page treasury

I just ran into a post by Katrinshine about Etsy Front Page. Her Cream Leather Earrings were featured on Etsy Front Page yesterday. Congrats to Katrin!

The post made me go and check my recent appearings on the front page. It turns out I was recently featured as well. A totally amazing treasury by Ayca in pale blue, sky and turquoise colors made it to Etsy's main page! The February Line 5 collection absolutely deserves its 30 minutes of fame!

Thank you Ayca for featuring me in your beautiful collection!

Crocheted earrings in white and beige

I've created white crocheted earrings as my last nod to this season's winter. Cold weather and chilly winds are still around but we are inevitably approaching spring with its burst of colors, warm sun and positive attitudes.
Although I'm really looking to the spring season, winter has its own beauty. I'm celebrating it now while white landscapes are still around.

Red Rose Brooch for Valentine's Day

I've recently came up with an idea of creating a rose brooch for Valentine's day. It's made of red felted wool and wire. The idea is to celebrate a wonderful day of love, passion and upcoming spring. Bright red and fuchsia hues will be seen everywhere as we approach Valentine's day! Let's celebrate!

Felted flower web brooch in white red gray

With all the holidays approaching we will need a lot of accessories to spice up our outfits. The same nice top could be worn to a few occasions and yet it will look different every time. Just add a new brooch or pin every time you go out! It's amazing how much even a small brooch can do to a dress.

Brooches are fun as they are easy to wear and usually not expensive. Made from felt they are durable as well. One can pile them up in one's store room and they won't take much space. Yet brooches add so much style and color to our outfits. I have a whole bunch of them in different colors and shapes. It's nice just to look at them. All those colors and shapes make me feel happy somehow!

Felt wool white frosted berry brooch

It's Christmas season and we will eventually get some snow here in Virginia. Coming from Russia I personally love snow. There are so many things one can actually do in winter. And don't forget about beautiful winter forests! Trees are covered with snow, one can see frosted berries here and there, animal traces. It always feels like a fairy tale in a winter forest.
White felted beads are plush, durable and beautiful. They are easy to work with and there is this natural feel about them. Felted beads are made from wool using eco-friendly techniques and, thus, are ideal for eco-conscious and nature-loving individuals.

Fine jewelry inspired by Northen beauty from Arctida of Sweden

While searching for beautiful jewelry items created by European artists I came across Arctida, an amazing jewelry designer from Sweden. All her items are absolutely unique and inspired by white and snowy Northern winters, short and intensive Northern Summers and the beauty of country's deep blue lakes and rich forests. I'm always curious to learn more about talented artists, their everyday life and creative processes. I'm very grateful when they are willing to share their experiences and insights as this knowledge enriches us all!

Q: Could you please tell us a little bit about yourself?
My name is Alecia and I'm a mother, wife, scientist, jewelry designer, photographer and a digital artist. I live on the beautiful East coast of Sweden with my husband and our sweet baby girl in the 750 year old city of Stockholm. I have M.S. in Molecular Biology and during the day I do cancer research at Karolinska
Institute in Stockholm. During the night, however, I dive into my world of handmade and digital creations.
My Etsy shop is called Arctida. The name refers to the hypothetical polar continent that is believed to have existed in the geological past of our planet. I was born far up to the North and it felt right to name my shop after a Northern legend.

Q: How long have you been designing and creating jewelry?
I've been designing jewelry for over 9 years now. Gemstones of different colors and shapes are my passion. I started to make my own jewelry as I could not find any fine jewelry with high quality gemstones of different colors here in Sweden. Ever since I stumbled upon Eni Oken and Iza Malczyk tutorials, coiling and wire work have had a major influence on me. I should admit, however, that I occasionally use torch in my creative process as I love to combine styles, techniques and materials. To make life easier for other jewelry designers I started Arctidas Supplies shop on Etsy that sells high quality precious and semiprecious gemstones of different cuts and colors, pearls and precious metal findings. I know how hard it is sometimes to find reliable suppliers that offer quality gemstones.

Q: What inspires you?
My main source of inspiration is Northern nature with its crisp polar nights and gleaming Northern lights. Northern sun almost never goes down during summer days creating unique and beautiful white nights. Our lakes are vast and blue and our sky is infinite. All these beauties are ideal sources of inspiration!
I also enjoy studying Mythology of different cultures and from time to time create pieces of jewelry inspired by different myths, legends and folktales.

Alecia, Thank you for sharing!
Alecia was interviewed by TonyaUtkina

Holiday house decoration ideas

Holidays are approaching and we all are about to start decorating our houses. There are millions of ways to do it and tones of ideas how to make our homes cozy and beautiful. Here is one of the house decoration ideas for you to consider.

I've been felting for a while now. Let me tell you that it's quite easy to create felted wool balls. It's a matter of rolling felting wool between your palms occasionally wetting it and adding some soap. When squeezed these felted balls take shapes of ovals and fit perfectly into acorn heads. The result looks super cute. These felted wool acorns will last forever unlike real acorns! They could be of different colors and sizes. One can hang it on a Christmas tree, next to a computer, on a book shelf or just put them next to his or her bed.
A good idea is to decorate a holiday table with bowls of felted wool acorns as a tribute to all natural and eco-friendly. For a romantic dinner one can always hang acorns on a beautiful tree branch in a vase, lit a few candles and voila you've got a perfect date!

There are so many ways how wool felted acorns could decorate your house! Just use your imagination and you will add uniqueness and style to your sweet home!

Happy Halloween findings on Etsy

I just created a Happy Halloween collection featuring bright orange Etsy findings. It's amazing how many wonderful pieces are created and sold on Etsy every day! It took me some time to locate these favorites as there are so many great items to choose from! My children love Halloween. I suspect they love it more than Christmas. Although I doubt if it's possible! Ok! They love Halloween at least as much as they love Christmas! So here is my tribute to Halloween!


I featured the following great Etsians in the Happy Halloween treasury:
MyWayToSay, FleetingStillness, graphicland, SilkMagic, bumblestore, Oksa, VitalTemptation, TomBjornDesigns, Beautyland, CuffeShop, FineEmbroidery, katrinshine, KarisaGraphic, cushyadornments, CityCrochet, herbolution

Lotus Nelumbo Nucifera in Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

On my recent visit to Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden I was absolutely stunned by these strikingly beautiful and exotic flowers! I had no idea they grow in Virginia. Nelumbo Nucifera commonly known as Lotus is a rather large plant with leaves sometimes measuring as much as 24 inch. in diameter.

Lotuses are apparently edible and very few people actually know about it. For centuries natives of Australia, Japan, and southeast Asia have been using different parts of this plant in their cuisines. According to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden official page lotus leaf stalks are added to salads and their seeds taste like almonds. The flowers' roots are pickled and their stamens are dried and turned into tea.

I personally like the beauty of Nelumbo Nucifera flowers. Large and unusually shaped they are of tender pink and vanilla hues. A dried seed cup looks like an alien spaceship and with no doubt could be turned into a great house decoration.