FIELD TRIP!!!

Hello friends.....it is pouring outside and will be doing the more of the same tonight and into Friday. But I don't care because guess where I am going today?????

The American Sewing Expo in Chantilly, Va.!!!

This show travels around the country and I try to attend every year. I always come home with bags of wonderful notions, fabrics and innovative sewing ideas and techniques. I am like a kid in a candy store.

I would bring all of you with me if I could....we would have a blast!

I am bringing my camera in hopes that some of the vendors will let me take some photos for my blog. 

So do come back later and read all about my adventure in sewing!

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

If flowers could smile

Hello friends...it's raining! We have not had any significant rainfall in quite a while and my plants and flowers are really struggling to survive. But I woke up this morning to the lovely sound of rain..a nice slow and steady rain. Hallelujah!!

 These are the begonias I bought during my Amish weekend in April. I have never been able to grow begonias, but my luck changed this year. These beauties have bloomed constantly all Spring/Summer and now into the Fall.

 Any Orange flowers get my vote! You can see the leaf stress as the edges got crispy and brown.

 My basil is loving the bath...perfect for my Tomato & Basil soup.

 The colors are so intense on these begonias that it is difficult to photograph them. They always end up looking fluorescent. 

 I adore Marigolds and these are courtesy of my bird friends. Now if I can only get the birds to seed all my flower boxes next year  ;-)

Oh yes...I absolutely believe flowers can smile!

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

How can you be 29 when I'm only 42??

I will never forget that day ...29 years ago I said hello to one of the greatest joys in my life. I gave birth to my first born son, William Evan.

 As a little boy he was everything a mother could wish for. He was healthy, happy, smart as a whip and was one of the funniest kids you could ever meet. 

 Not much has changed. Billy is still one of the smartest people I know and still making everyone around him laugh. His Dad and I were not surprised when after college he informed us that he wanted to be a stand-up comedian.  

 He is a handsome guy, but that's just his Mom's opinion  ;-)

Billy has a lovely new lady in his life and his Dad and I are very excited about meeting her...did you hear that Billy?...we want to meet her!

As far as the happy part goes.....I think it is safe to say that Billy is still very much a happy guy! Some things never change.

Happy Birthday Billy...we love you more than you will ever know and are so proud to tell people,  "That's our boy"

Until next time be kind and stay creative.

Playing with my Amish Linens

Hello friends...yes, I know...I'm posting AGAIN! I just feel like sharing everything I am doing in my studio. I know so many of you have similar interests and a love for fabric, vintage and finding new ways of putting them all together.

This is what I just worked on. Remember my Amish trip, when I found all those fabulous vintage linens ? I've embellished a few of my couture aprons with some of them and today I cut up a few to incorporate into some lovely clutches. 

 Of course I lined them with some pretty striped designer remnants. I also used this strip for the backside of my clutch. The designer fabrics have a nice texture and sturdiness to them. I love the pale lavender zipper.

Wow...just look at the gorgeous french knots and the beautiful satin stitching. Thank you lovely lady of yesteryear who must of had the patience of a saint to sit and create handwork like this. I bow to the master!

So that's what I am doing today...what have you got cooking??

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

In a blink of an eye...it's gone!

Hello friends..sometimes I sit in my studio and work on a new design and I wonder how it will be recieved. I play with my vintage fabric and trims...take my scissors to an old tablecloth, pin something here..tack something there. I stand back and take it all in. In the end I usually fall in love, but I always wonder if others will see what I do. 

Well today I realized that most of the time...YES..others do see the beauty in lovely well worn vintage fabrics like I do.

I listed this new Betty Grable Couture apron in my Etsy shop at 5:45pm and by 5:50pm it was sold to a lovely lady from Texas.

 At first, I thought Etsy had dropped my listing...I could not find it. What the heck! I just spent all that time listing...describing...loading photos and poof they lost it!

Then something made me check my 'SOLD' items and Bingo...there she was. 

Thank you Miss. Stephanie...will you be opening an apron Museum soon??

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I have more pristine and gorgeous 1940's table linens I am working with so I will be adding to the Hollywood Golden Years series. Keep a lookout!

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

Sweet Birdy Love Indeed!

Hello friends, I hope your weekend was relaxing and I thank you for coming back to visit with me. I want to share with you a very special package from my cyber friend Claire that arrived in my mailbox on Friday afternoon.

 I have mentioned to you before about my fascination with how the internet has the power to bring strangers together. People who live on opposite ends of the world and would normally never in their lifetime have the chance to be friends somehow find each other. During my short time as a 'blogstress' I have made so many important and strong bonds with some fabulous and generous people. You guys know who you are...names are not necessary.

So Friday afternoon I found this  in my mailbox!

How beautiful is this pincushion?? Looks to be created from upcycled wool sweaters (I'm in love already!) Claire said she was inspired by my Knapp Farm post which you can see here.
Pretty sunflowers with delicate thread work. Take a close look to see the teeny little bumble bee...OMG.

As if that was not creative enough...turn it over and I found the most lovely sentiment stitched in black cursive handwriting. I'm starting to get teary eyed at this point.

I then open the second pink package and I found these gorgeous vintage doilies...you know how I love my doilies!

Yet another tissue paper package held these three handmade note cards. Just read the fronts and tell me these were not custom made for me!!  This lady is so creative. Now I am in full crying mode.  Claire..Claire...Claire...what am I going to do with you?

All these generous and beautiful gifts came to me from the land down under, Australia. My bloggy friend Claire from Sweet Birdy Love Blog is one sweet and creative gal. I am so happy that I found her blog. She is witty, creative, artistic and takes wonderful photos of her beautiful farmette ( I love her chicken stories).
Her handsome and very talented musician son Richard has recorded a wonderful CD and after I had trouble placing my internet order, Claire generously included it in her package.
I read the leaflet on her hometown, Yackandandah and it is on my list of lovely places to visit before I leave this world.
So Claire...all I can say is Thank you...Thank you...Thank you. I am genuinely touched by your thoughtfulness and generosity.
PS...the Cadbury Koala caramel chocolates where melted, but a quick pop into my freezer and they are as good as new and very yummy!
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This weekend my sewing machine had her yearly spa treatment. While I was machineless, I worked on an idea for some pumpkins that would use up my larger felted sweater remnants. This is what I came up with. As soon as I picked up my machine I sewed up these two plush pumpkins.

I think they turned out great...just as I imagined them. They were so simple to put together. I plan on making more for my NY show in November. I hope they appeal to people for either Halloween or Thanksgiving.
Well that's it for now. Thanks again for visiting and remember.....
Be kind and stay creative.

Tutorial Tuesday With Hope Studios...Who's up for a Snowball fight?

 
Hello again! I hope all your weekends were relaxing and creative. 

I am linking up with Jennifer at Hope Studios for her weekly Tutorial Tuesday. This is a blog post where we all get to learn stuff...lot's of wonderful and creative stuff. Be sure to visit Jenn's blog for all the great tutorials. You might just win a cool prize...guess who the Giveaway sponsor is...ME!!! I am donating one of my pretty zipper pouches that I blogged about here..and here.

For my tutorial, I am going to show you how to make beautiful frosty wool needle felted snowballs for your winter season decorating. They are super easy and fun. Let's get started!

You can purchase roving at your local yarn shop or online in places like Windrose on Etsy...or yank it off some wandering sheep. Ok...not really ;-)

I normally do not use styrofoam as my base when I make these for my home. To create the snowballs from roving only is much more labor intensive. However....I am trying to make this an 'anyone can do it' type of craft with quick results. The ball will act as our base and give us a good headstart. Any size will do..depending on what size you want your snowball. 

This is a needle felting tool which you can find here. It can be used with or without the holder. I often just hold the needle in my hand and skip the holder thing. Click on the photo to notice the barbed tip. This tip aids in pushing the roving into the ball, but not pulling it out when you remove the needle. Just like those spiky things at the car rental places..you know, you can drive in but not out...same thing. 

Word of Caution: These needles are VERY sharp...I repeat VERY sharp. This is not a childs craft by any means. It is a very mobile craft...easy to take with you in the car, while watching TV or a movie.  I'm actually watching my favorite 'Little House On The Prairie' reruns while I photographed this. Mary is going blind ...again!

 Ok...let's begin. Gently pull about 6-8 inch section of roving off.

 Start wrapping the ball in roving and slowly begin to poke with the needle. You only need to poke as deep as the barbed tip...do not poke needle all the way in. Avoid fingers  ;-)

 Now simply poke..and poke..and poke..and did I say you had to poke? Lot's of poking going on here. Are you getting the hang of it? Just keep poking and jabbing, moving around the ball as you go.

 You will notice the roving becoming embedded into the styrofoam ball. Keep this up until the entire ball has a couple of layers at least. You can add as many layers as you like...the more you add, the more plush and softer your snowball will feel.

Look closely...see all the tiny poke dents? That's the look you are aiming for.  Looking like a snowball isn't it?

Keep adding layers until you like the feel and the size.

 I usually use German glass glitter, but a more affordable and easy to find glitter is Diamond Dust. You can find this at most Michaels or good craft store. 

 I cover the felted ball with spray adhesive and dust with the glitter. You can also simply leave the snowballs unglittered for a more homey primitive country look.

You will notice I have mine drying on a kabob stick. The stick makes it easy and much neater when spraying the adhesive. It will not get all over your hands. 

 Aren't they beautiful and so festive. You can see I have left some plain and glittered some. Using a large eye embroidery needle, I strung the snowballs onto some plain drug store twine. You can either knot before and after each snowball or glue into place on the twine. Won't they look wintery on your tree this year or maybe strung on the holiday mantel. I always fill a bowl with them for my coffee table.

These quick and easy needle felted snowballs make fabulous holiday ornaments. The perfect teacher gift..how many "world's greatest teacher" mugs can they use? Because they are seasonal and not religious, they are the perfect gift for anyone this winter. I guess you can say they are politically correct  ;-)

I hope you give needle felting a try, it is so much fun and the results are beautiful. An added bonus is that wool roving comes in hundreds of colors, which makes the possibilities endless.

 Maybe next time I will show you how to make your own wet felted acorns for the holidays! 

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

Sorry..I could not get this link to load correctly. I am also linking up with Todays Creative Blog!

Help...I'm Addicted!!

Hello friends...I'm addicted alright...to zippers!

 I can't stop sewing up these cute zippered bags. I am having too much fun playing with beautiful fabric.

Lot's of feminine embellishments.

 And of course ...beautiful linings in all of them.

Ok...that's all for now, have to get back to my machine  ;-)

Until next time...be kind and stay creative!

Labor Day was for Laboring.....Right?

Hello friends...I hope you had a lovely Labor Day holiday. Mine was great, the weather was perfect and as my homage to the occasion...I labored. I found this beautiful bird fabric in a local fabric shop and fell in love with the gorgeous colors and whimsical designs. If you follow me on Facebook or here on my blog, you know I love my birds.

 I decided to create a bird bag series...colorful zippers, ribbon pulls and beautiful linings.

 You can click on the photo's for a closer look at the fabric.

 I added just a touch of freestyle stitching to the front of each pouch for a little extra detail.

 I even nested some beautiful birds in with the linings. I love opening the bag to get a pretty fabric surprise. The little touches make the difference.

 Aren't the colors striking? They measure about 7 1/2 inches x 8 inches and have plenty of room for special treasures.

 They all have a 2 1/2 inch flat bottom so they will stand on their own.

 The front and back on each bag is of a different color and bird...like two bags in one!

 And I love my new tags that Sasha of Tags and Labels on Etsy made for me. The Empty Nest on one side...

 and my name on the other. I like that I can use them this way or fold them as a loop and sew them on.

So yes...I labored...a lot.. on Labored Day and enjoyed every minute of it.

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.