Doormouse Designs

Crafty Wonderland Sneak Peak!

2009-12-12T21:10:00.000-08:00

Tonight we all met at the Oregon Convention Center (Hall D) to set up for the extremely wonderful Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Holiday Sale! You should all come visit us! Here's a sneak peak at what we will be bringing.

Cheers!
T

Come visit us!!!!!!!!

2009-12-04T19:16:00.000-08:00

We'll be there... will you????

New Buttons!

2009-10-12T07:59:00.001-07:00

Ahhhh!!!
I went button crazy this past week and made a LOT of buttons for our next craft show. I can't wait! They all turned out so sweet!
T

Even Dorkier for Cork!

2009-10-04T14:14:00.000-07:00

Happily I was able to get some more cork boards painted this weekend, and I'm so pleased with how they turned out! See them on Etsy here.
T

owl earrings!

2009-10-02T18:31:00.000-07:00

These fetching red and blue owl earrings are now posted on etsy!
(See I really did get something accomplished today.)

T

we're back!

2009-09-20T14:17:00.000-07:00

Ahhh!!! It's over and done, and my apartment looks like it's been hit my a train filled with felt, thread, pins, needles, scissors, and other craft supplies. It took me all morning to pick up the mess of the past week. But now I can sit back, enjoy the pot of tea I made this morning, and spend a little quality time with the computer.

I think my favorite thing about craft fairs is hanging out for a day with other crafty people. They're all so friendly! And we got a lot made during this show for our next show, which made it a very successful craft day. And I'm now inspired to embroider a sign that says, "We accept cash, checks, haggling, bartering, and bribes." I have to admit, I love bartering!

There were so many great booths there. It was a really nice craft show, even though it was really more of a craft swap.

T

Buy our stuff, Get a FREE bag!

2009-09-18T07:59:00.001-07:00

We have a new deal going on right now at Door Mouse Designs. Buy our stuff, get a FREE bag. Are you tired of stuffing your newly purchased craft goods into your purse. Well worry no more. Now we will give you a cute little Door Mouse Designs bag to carry your purchases in for FREE with any purchase. Limited to however many people get one until we run out or make more.

As if I didn't have enough to do to get ready for Saturday, I decided to make bags for our craft show last night. I love how they turned out, but now I need to focus on the important points of getting ready... like picking up the table and chairs.
Once again come and visit us at Skating with Scissors, Saturday 19th, 11am - 7pm at the Oaks Park Hanger.
I'll see you there!
T

5 days and counting!

2009-09-14T13:47:00.001-07:00

Come by and see us!!!!

(we're kind of excited, can you tell?)

Skating With Scissors

2009-09-05T21:13:00.000-07:00

Come visit me and Trina at:
Skating With Scissors Craft Bazaar
Presented by the Rose City Rollers

Sept. 19th 11am-7pm
Oaks Park Hangar in Sellwood
Portland, Oregon

Mrs. Annabelle Witzel

2009-06-27T17:10:00.000-07:00

Here she is! Mrs. Annabelle Witzel.
And I finished her just in time for Miss. Ada's birthday.
I've attached the pattern I made for her just in case someone wants it.
Enjoy!
T

More little creatures

2009-05-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

I'm up far too late for someone who's been sick for almost 2 weeks. I think the copious amounts of sleep over the last few days is throwing off my entire sleep cycle. Don't worry, I'll take some tylenol pm and off to sleep i'll go.

i just wanted to let you all know some more little creatures have mde their way into the shop tonight. Sleep well!

We've updated Etsy!

2009-02-10T10:39:00.000-08:00

I actually updated the Etsy shop last week, but due to my runny nose I haven't actually posted an updated blog post yet. I guess now is the time for that.
Here's what's up so far:
flower pin

poppy pins (well, I guess they're hair clips really.)

pig potholders

cork message boards

...and there will be more to come!
T

Update update update!!!!!

2009-02-07T10:24:00.000-08:00

There are new little lovelies in the shop. Spring cleaning and sunny motivation has hit us hard so expect more to come all month.

Clair perched up high

Clair and her favorite Philosophers

Gus and Gracie (she peeking out from behind)

Gus and Gracie at home

Handmade Bazaar

2008-12-03T07:56:00.000-08:00

This is it, another craft show! Come to the Handmade Bazaar! Me and Trina will have a booth there for DoorMouse Designs and we'll be selling all kinds of neat stuff! I realize it's a really busy time of year, but if you get a chance you should come down and see us.
See you there,
T

A Dork for Cork

2008-08-20T20:30:00.001-07:00

Oh my, I haven't been blogging lately. I've got a lot of lost ground to cover.
Here's my latest endeavor, hand-painted cork message boards. We'll be selling the cute little guys at our next craft fair, planned for this September. More on that later, but for now, back to work.
T

Goodbye little ones

2008-07-11T13:21:00.000-07:00

This week our dear little Allison, and Sylvie & Bruno each found new homes. Good luck in your new life of adventures! Send postcards and pictures!

Hair Mice on Etsy

2008-07-01T12:39:00.000-07:00

"Hair Mice, like head lice, but nice!"

Finally! We've got a couple of Mair Hice... I mean Hair Mice posted on Etsy! I know I said, "Coming soon!" but with me coming soon my take quite awhile.
Today, I've posted Miss. Posie and
Mr. Edgar.

Posie is a darling little creature who's favorite place to be is nestled in you hair. But she wouldn't mind being clipped on a bag or sweater. She also likes hiding in drawers and sleeping in big piles of silk scarfs.

Edgar is a kind little guy who loves to hide in messy hair. He also enjoys sneaking into the kitchen for a midnight snack of sharp cheddar cheese.

You need to be careful not to use hair spray while wearing your hair mouse... they don't like that very much. And you also need to be aware that once you own one, you may need to own another. They are social little critters and like to be with other hair mice friends.

Posie is made with yellow floral polka-dot fabric, purple rosebud fabric, and grey yarn and felt.
Edgar is made with teal geometric fabric, brick-red felt, and brownish yarn. They're both about 2.5" long.

They're looking for a good homes, so buy one today.

T

l'ours de danse

2008-06-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

Poor little DoorMouse blog! We've left you alone for much too long.
So, here's a new post for you.

Here's my latest little work. The frame is the one I bought last week at Good Will. Then I spray painted it black, and made this collage to live inside. It incorporates some of my favorite things: silhouettes, clocks, paintings in paintings, birds, and animals in fine clothes. I just love paintings and pictures of clocks. It's always the same time, in that little land, and I'm always curious why the artist picked that particular time as opposed to another time.

I cut my silhouettes from this old book, which I salvaged from the Oregon City School sale. Had I not bought it, it would have been sent to the dump. It's a 1925 reader to help children learn to read out loud. And I was able to build a very pretty collage from all the various little silhouettes inside.

T

All Buttoned Up: Part 2

2008-06-21T10:34:00.000-07:00

And here's the new sweater I made.
T

The little creatures get some notice. :)

2008-04-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

So i did something this week that for me is brave, I entered 3 (well 4 if you count Bruno and Sylvie seperately) of my little felt creatures in the 2nd Annual Softie Awards. The entries can all be found here on flickr. I entered little Allison, cuties Bruno and Sylvie, and the precious Harriette. And the other day on the Softies Central blog Harriette was featured! :) I'm so proud of her for being so brave. Entries have ended so now i wait to see if any have made it to the final 5 of their category. :)

All Buttoned Up

2008-03-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

I think I need a button sweater... just like hers!
All I need now is the sweater.

Little Buddies

2008-03-17T23:11:00.000-07:00

Felty felty goodness up in the shop! I am a bit worried that once they sell there will be heart ache & tears around here. They are just so cute and we love them bunches and their quirky personalities endear them so! But you are all wonderful and will be great homes for the little dears.

Steve with his new friend Allison

Siblings Sylvie and Bruno

Dear little Harriette the cupboard mouse

We like mice.

2008-03-11T20:22:00.000-07:00

Will the excitement never end???

2008-03-04T22:34:00.000-08:00

Theresa and I have been working on Doormouse a lot this week. Right now we're still small which is fine with us. We really just love to craft and will do it anyway so if we can maybe make a dent in our craft supply budget then we'll be happy. But it's so terribly exciting to see people mark us a favorite. We even got notice today that someone has put one of our items in a treasury they made. :) And so far this week... WE'VE SOLD 4 THINGS!!!! It's so fun, we just get giddy every time something sells. I think we're all checking it every few hours or so during the day just seeing if anything has changed. So thanks to you all who read this and have cheked us out over there. :)

the treasury

Things are moving along nicely

2008-02-27T22:43:00.000-08:00

There's lots more stuff up in the shop since i first posted that we are finally working on Doormouse again. Some more flower pins and a few pendants and some really cute bobby pins. :) More to come this week. :)

We're not dead

2008-02-21T21:18:00.001-08:00

No really, we're not. Now i know it's been, oh let's see... WAY TO FRIGGEN LONG since we've posted but well, life got the better of us. Not a good excuse or explanation but there it is. But this month was the month for us. No more major holidays, no more family medical issues, no more two job a piece. No kidding, Theresa and I each had two, yes, two jobs a piece. Granted Theresa had the far greater weight in that, one of mine was only seasonal, but still... But February came and the clouds parted (literally, it's been bright and sunny lately) and 2 jobs became 1 a piece and the creative bug came out of hibernation.

Last night dave, theresa and i made a little doormouse production line and started posting stuff to the shop. Dave was taking pictures, Theresa was editing the pictures and i was writing descriptions and titles and posting items up in the shop.

I can not tell you how good it feels. It's so fun and fulfilling. I feel motivated and accomplished and full of energy.

So keep checking the shop and here. We'll keep posting and letting you know what is new in the shop as it goes up.

Today there are plenty of various flower pins and a few gnome hair pins with more new things to come this weekend.

~trina

a big contented sigh

2007-07-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

Well, our first craft bazaar is over. It was a busy and sometimes tedious week of crafting leading up to it but in the end our table looked great, we sold a decent amount of stuff and it was so fun. 6 hours went by surprisingly fast too. dave was with us all day too as our faithful minion of change making, holding stuf and lugging around our table and chairs. Theresa and I sat and crafted all day while Dave read his book. Some friends and family came and visited us and we took a few turns around the sale. so now i'll be taking pictures of things that were left over and posting stuff up on etsy now and again and getting ready for our next fair or bazaar.

theresa's amazing business card tree

tiny pin cushion lapel pins

pendants, pendants, pendants

new little owl, Clara

The sisters Sakura and Orange Blossom
Oh, and check out the little fishy pins behind them! Loving them so much.

~trina

Drool, drool, drool

2007-07-25T16:07:00.000-07:00

Look what found while looking for a pictures of that Heather Ross goldfish fabric for a post on my personal blog...

Fabric Designer Stationary!!!! Oh, how much do i want these????

~trina

Denyse Schmidt

Amy Butler

Heather Ross

Cath Kidston

~trina

Minions...

2007-07-25T14:16:00.000-07:00

so it's the week of our first craft bazaar and we are uber disorganized and not finished. :) But it's so fun! Theresa, me, my husband dave and our friend linda have all been hard at work making pendants, fabric flower pins, pin cushions of shapes and sizes, drinking way too much coffee and laughing at i don't even know what. :) We've taken to calling dave and linda our crafty minions, we called them something else to begin with but we thought minions was more age appropriate. :)

Last night we all sat around a table cutting and gluing and sewing and giggling at all the random outbursts.

Aaaaa! It's dripping it's dripping! as dave spills lemonade on the small table and we all scramble to pick up fabric before it becomes wet and lemon scented.

Linda almost pulled an edward scissor hands and scratched her forehead with the very sharp sewing shears.

And while saving crafts from lemon death theresa almost becomes edward scissor hands number two forgetting she has sharp objects in her hands as well.

Earlier, me running from the living room, yelling THE PENDANTS!!! thinking i put in a batch of pendants into the oven 15 min before (they only take 7 min to bake), when really they were still sitting on the top of the oven waiting to go in.

We've decided that for weeks after the bazaar is over with i'm going to wake in the middle of the night yelling "Dripping!! DRIPPING!! The pendants! Oh Crap the pendants!"

I wish i had action shots to share but the batteries in the camera are dead and we haven't any more in the house. i managed to get a few this morning of the aftermath with the last bit of juice in the camera.

please notice the half drank lemonade still sitting dangerously close to our fabric scraps

little mushroom-y pincushions waiting for finishing touches

I'll take lots of pictures of the bazaar and all the creations. Whatever is left after the bazaar, probably a decent amount, we'll be putting up in our shop. See you at the bazaar on sunday!
~trina

A long pause

2007-07-21T17:24:00.000-07:00

sorry things have been so quiet around. it's been a weird couple of weeks. My 14 year old little sister came and spent 2 weeks with us. it was so much fun and we all wished it could be longer. Oh yes, and i dyed my hair back to black and brown. Soooooo much better than the blond i tried last month. Trust me.

Also Dave's (my husband) grandma died. He wasn't close to her at all. Not too many in the world were i think. It was a strange good week and a good funeral. She was a funny little spunky thing, not the best mom growing up for the family, but a sweetie in her core and that really got to come out beautifully later in life for her. There were tears and happiness that now, in heaven, she doesn't have all the burden of a mind that never seemed to be in the best working order and a body that was hurting and dying and she now gets to be the Leona that she was meant to be, all whole and perfect and lovely and sweet and full of spunk. See you in heaven little one!

I have also been busy with crafting for our upcoming Handmade Bazaar appearance. I'll try to have pictures up soon of some of the things we'll be selling. But for now here is a thank you to our first customer! We sent your package today Erin! So excited for you to receive it.

~trina

Things are up!

2007-07-06T00:28:00.000-07:00

the etsy posting has begun! so over the next couple weeks expect to see things popping up over at the shop on an almost daily basis. we'll put them up as we get them finished. so go on over, look around, you might make a new friend...
~trina

Trina is also wonderful

2007-07-05T22:17:00.000-07:00

won•der•ful |ˈwəndərfəl|
adjective
inspiring delight, pleasure, or admiration; extremely good; marvelous : they all think she's wonderful | Trina is wonderful.

Yep, Trina's wonderful too. And here are some reasons why:
• She makes the world's finest cupcakes... from scratch.
• And happily shares them at tea parties.
• She's a fountain of good cheer, when I'm sad and overworked.
• Her apartment is so amazing I moved next door so I could go over and enjoy it freely.
• I particularly love the red chair and the crafty nook.
• She has an eye for finding beautiful things.
• She also has the ability to make things grow.
• The way she says pello instead of pillow.
• she's not concerned with capitalization (like e. e. cummings)
• She has two very well kept cats. (well kept as in very much loved.)
• Sophie the VW is also, very well kept.
• That she gives everything a name.
• She can make an amazing cup of coffee.
• And she can also make it by the pot.
• And the pound.
• and the spoon full
and by the gallon
an by the ocean

...and I am truly not an insomniac and need to sleep now. Good Night.
Theresa

Hello #2

2007-07-05T21:24:00.001-07:00

Welcome:
Well, let's see now. Unfortunately for me, insomniacs always get to things first. (A bit like the early bird and the worm.) Therefore, Trina has already introduced to you the subject of who we are. Leaving me with what we are. (Which between you and me seems a rather dry subject in comparison.) So, I won't dwell on it overly long.
We are two people... well sorry that's not very descriptive. Let's try again. We are two very quarky and imaginative neighbors who have a heart for creating crafty-artsy things, drinking tea, searching amongst thrift stores for hidden treasures and wearing/collecting fabulous eyeware.
(I think I'm stuck with the "Who" rather than the "What") So, lets have another go at this whole blog writing thing.
We make stuff... sorry once again, that's rather vague... Here we are. We make things based on what we like, who we are, where we live, how we... I don't know... how we ride our bikes while knitting up-side down and cooking cupcakes on Hawthorn.
Sorry, what I'm trying to articulate is what makes us different is where our influences come from. And they come from all over. Crafts are a lot like people. Each distinct and different with their own background and story behind them. Just like how people take little bits from the people and things in their lives that they know and love, to create who they are. So it is with crafts... a little thread, some of grandma's old handkerchiefs, a shiny thin needle, and a thimble mixed with some imagination and voilá... New living-room curtains... and a big mess on the floor. But after the kaos of creativity clears. You have something unique, not from any (fill in the blank)-mart. But something that truly reflects who you are and your own diverse personality.
So, this site is to serve two primary functions. (And some others I haven't thought of yet.) First to supply people with crafty little things to help define who they are. And secondly to help and inspire people to make they're own crafty little things... Because it's fun to be crafty....
hmmm... that was longer than I thought... and deeper.........
Theresa

Hello!

2007-07-04T00:56:00.000-07:00

Well hi there! welcome to our little place. Well i guess i'll start out by telling you who we are. We are two friends, living in apartments across a courtyard from each other. We get together quite often to create and listen to records and drink tea. Sometimes we go thrifting together sometimes we just make a mess with our crafting.

This adventure began when weekly craft nights turned out so fun i felt i had finally found someone to invite into my dream of making and selling crafts. Theresa accepted and joined in the dream and now here we are giving it a go.

So how this blog will work is that we'll both post from time to time, writing and posting pictures about creativity and our crafts, the creativeness of others that inspire us, and some life and thrifting along the way. Since I am the first poster i think i'll take the opportunity to tell you about theresa and how great she is. hee hee hee. sorry theresa. that is what you get for not having insomnia.

Theresa is a wonderful, quiet, infinitely creative and talented graphic designer, if i do say so myself, and a great friend and neighbor to have. She is always coming up with great ideas and spurring me on in my own. She has great taste and an eye and knack for finding the best things at goodwill and estate sales. Oh if you could only see her place! You'd be so very envious.

We initially met because of her fabulous glasses. I had purchased a couple pair of beautiful vintage cat eye frames but didn't have a clue where to begin finding a place to get my prescription put in them. Then i saw her wearing hers and asked her where she got hers done and we just went on from there.

I am, at the moment, an unemployed barista, wife and cat caretaker. I love love love to make things but rarely can i stick to one things for very long. So at any given time i'll have 3-4 different half done or continuing projects all over the house. Right now i have 8 i believe.

July 29th will be our first attempt at selling our creations. We are super excited. We'll be selling felted wool animals, pendants, and other bit and bobs we've created along the way. really anything we can get done before the show.

Handmade Bazaar
Sunday, July 29th
12 noon - 5 PM@ AudioCinema
226 SE Madison Street
Portland, Oregon

We'll also have things up for sale on our etsy site. We are shooting to have a batch of pendants up by early next week and then after the bazaar, have more things up regularly. You'll find all the info about our shop and any local craft sales here on our blog.

Well i think that is all for now. Welcome and we're glad you're here.

~trina