Rag Pets

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas, Kwanzaa, Solstice, Hanukkah, Festivus, Yule, Saturnalia or which ever holiday you wish to celebrate!
May this holiday time bring you lots of joy and happiness. :)

Rudolf in the snow

I trudged through knee deep snow to take photos of my Christmas Rag Pet today, but unfortunately my camera's battery didn't much like the cold and it up and died after just a few photos. Also, a little snow -or sleet, to be more exact- storm hit about the same time the battery popped it's clogs, so I decided that it's best to trudge back home from the forest and go back for more photos when the weather is better and the battery fully charged again.

So, Rudolf the rag-reindeer is still waiting to have a proper photo shoot, but I thought I'd post the few photos I did get of him today any way, since he is my Christmas Rag Pet, and with Christmas Eve just a day away, he deserves to make his introductions in time for it.

Rudolf, or Rudy as his friends call him, is an ace at orienteering. He's got a very keen sense of direction and he's really good at reading maps.
He's made out of soft grey wool and his handsome antlers are made out of dark grey velvet. He has a lovely little tail too, but I didn't get a photo of it this time round.
Rudy is wearing a red wool waistcoat with ric-rac and button trim and a warm knitted woolen scarf. And he's very glad to make your acquaintance. :)

Luv-able + Hug-able

The Luv-able + Hug-able show opened a week ago at Gallery Hanahou in New York and apparently the opening party was a bast! Lots of people turned up to see the exhibition, and it looks like the place was packed to the rafters with people and plushies.

(Photos by Gallery Hanahou.)

I'm greatly amused that my rag-snowflakes are hanging out at the gallery next to guts and poop -very cute internal organ brooches by I Heart Guts and super adorable Pocket Poops by Anna Chambers- and some more snow, in the form of happy Snow Angels by Leeanna Butcher.

Snowflake no. 4 sold on opening night, and I'm really chuffed that he's going home to Mochimochi Land, since I'm a fan of Anna Hrachovec's knitted critters and it's really neat that she bought one of my snowflakes.

Pieces from the show are available to buy online now, through Junie Moon/Gallery LeLe. There's still loads of great plushes waiting for new homes, so go nab yours now, they're going quick!

And the winner is...

Without further ado, I'd like to announce that the winner of my giveaway is lucky number 74! Yay, congratulations Wendy of I Love Baby Quilts, I'm sure Flakey will be very happy with you in Texas.

I'd like to thank everyone who commented -so many comments!- you made Giveaway Day a blast! It was really lovely reading what makes the holiday season special for all of you. :)

I'm going to start preparing for some Independence Day celebrations consisting of yummy food, good company and watching the president's Independence Day reception on telly (I like to look at all the gorgeous -and not so gorgeous- gowns the guests are wearing) now, and I'd like to wish the many, many, many of you that visited my blog these past few days for Giveaway Day, and otherwise too, very happy holidays!

It's Giveaway Day again!

This is Flakey the rag-snowflake. He's an unique little snowflake at about 22 cm tall.
Flakey made out of soft snowy white flannel and his nose is appliqued stripy blue cotton. He has little button eyes and he's wearing snuggly cotton gingham pyjamas with mother-of-pearl buttons on the back.
Flakey is filled with rags and wool.

Since going to bed early makes Santa come quicker, Flakey has donned his PJs and is going to sleep now in order to make the presents come faster!

To celebrate the spirit of Christmas and the joy of giving I'm taking part in Giveaway Day, and thus I'm giving Flakey the rag-snowflake away to one lucky person who leaves a comment on what they enjoy most about Christmas here on this entry between today and the 6th of December (that's our Independence Day here in Finland!). Every commenter will be assigned a number, with the first person to comment being number 1 and the second commenter would be number 2 and so forth, and then on the 6th, I'll randomly draw a number to see who Flakey will be going home to (I'm happy to ship internationally, so it doesn't matter where you live).

Check out the whole long, long, long list of other wonderful crafters participating in Giveaway Day, too, they're all listed at the Sew Mama Sew-blog!

The best thing about Christmas for me is the decorations, I put up my Christmas lights up yesterday while listening to Christmas songs and I'm really looking forward to getting a real Christmas tree to decorate again. I buy a few new Christmas tree decorations every year, with most of them being bird-related in some way.
I do like Christmas music a lot too, and I tend to listen to it pretty much every day come December. Oh, and Christmas food! I love Christmas food! Joulutortut (Christmas tarts) and glögi (mulled wine) and porkkanalaatikko (carrot casserole) are at the top of my list of things I want to eat at Christmas. :)

Added on the 6th of December:
Commenting is closed now, and a winner has been picked. Thank you so much to everyone who commented, you've made this a super giveaway!