The Pink and Green Palette...

with accents of white, bluish-gray and brown.

 

This is how it started;

in my pattern book.

 

 

Green ombre with drippies of pink and coral.

 

And from there paper fabric was created.

 

 

{little known fact: wolfhounds like paper fabric just as much as they do regular fabric}

 

Continuing down this track,

 

 

a hexagon flower was sewn together.

 

Soon after, part of the paper fabric was cut into triangles to create this lovely little sun-catcher number.

 

 

I'm pretty sure there is still more exploring to do within this

pink and green palette.

 

Stay tuned.

 

 



Just Hanging Around

For me there is just something happy about garlands and buntings and hanging decorations in general.

Maybe it's the association of celebrating.

Whatever it is, hanging bits of pretty make me smile.



When I first joined Pinterest, one of the first boards I created was called Hanging Around.

I have pinned all sorts of hanging things....

fabric, shells, rose petals, globes, paper, ribbon...

you name it, I've pinned it.

The last time I went to Canton, I saw a sweet little garland created from doilies.  This garland also had letters hanging from it (I can't remember what it spelled out), as well as, baby shoes, ribbons and bits of this and that.  It was pretty, but not quite what I wanted.  So before we left I made a second stop (I had already purchased a huge bag full of textiles) at the linen lady's booth to pick up a handful of doilies in just the right neutral shades.



This was so insanely easy to make!

I took several yards of seam binding and simply folded the end of each doily over it and ran a zigzag stitch across the doily and seam binding to secure it in place.

Voila! 

Easy and pretty, to boot.

The Kerchief

Yesterday I had a million and one things that had to get done, pronto.

So I ignored my list of must do's

and made kerchiefs instead.

Why?

I don't really know.

I dug through my huge stash of hankies.

Pulled a few out and some good, heavy vintage ribbon.

Ironed the hankies.

Pinned on the ribbon.

Used a pretty decorative stitch with my sewing machine

and voila.

Someone else got a pretty, little kerchief too.

I'm thinking about stitching her name on it,

but I'll probably wait to do that when I have another humongous list of to do's in front of me.

Cuz that's just the way I roll.

Have a beautiful weekend!

Because Even Tough Girls Bake

The Graduate has been dating the same girl for over a year now.

We fondly refer to her as

That Girl.

At first we wondered.  

But it didn't take long for her to become part of the family.

(I have tucked her safely and snugly under my wing with the boys.)

We wondered because she is the complete opposite from The Graduate's last girlfriend.

You see, That Girl is a rough and tumble tomboy.

She plays soccer (one of the best on her team), she plays shoot'm up video games (she shoots better than my boys), she's the first to jump head first into a stupid teenage prank (thankfully The Graduate is level headed.)

That Girl is going into the Marines at the end of summer.

Even though I think she is much better suited to teach music to children with special needs.

See, she may be a rough and tumble tomboy, but she has a very soft side to her too.

Next to those children, part of that soft side includes baking and sharing.

That Girl's birthday was last August.

And I, being the Ambassador of the Perpetually Late, was nearly 8 months behind in making and giving her her birthday gift.

Fitting, don't you think?

(That's me, by the way, not her.  And though I'm not a tough girl by any means, feisty and bull headed at times maybe but not tough, those are my cute camo kicks.)

Along with the apron, I decided she needed a tough cupcake recipe book too.

Quite honestly though, I hope I don't receive any wasabi cupcakes any time soon.

A big {belated} Happy Birthday to That Girl.

p.s.

One should really remember to check her ISO settings before shooting a gazillion photos.

I apologize for any graininess that my cause you to go cross-eyed.

Kisses & Hugs

Happy Monday!

I hope you had a nice weekend.

Mine was full of cooking and art.

It was good.

Last time, I shared the Valentine Tag Swap I took part in and today I have the second swap.

Kandeland's Valentine Ornament Swap

I wanted this ornament to be simple and elegant, so here is what I came up with.

osnaburg fabric and white lace

vintage millinery and a bit of pink velvet



and a message

kisses & hugs

Until next time....

From Sampler to Pillow

Remember this from last September?

Well, I finally finished it.
Completely that is.

The sampler has actually been finished for months now.

And while I was stitching it, I decided what I would do with it.

A pillow.

I thought a pillow would be the perfect something to turn it into.
A pillow for a certain somebodies.
Who happen to live on a certain beach.
Of a certain island.

Certainly the best function and place for it.

PS. This is the first pillow I've ever made. It's really not much different than making a sachet... which I've made lots of.

PPS. Note to self: use smaller piping next time... sheesh!

It's In the Bag!

I am wiped out!
Those Gilded Girls sure know how to host an event!
It was fantastic, but it may take me a few weeks to recover from the fantastic-ness of it all.

I, being me, of course did not take a single picture the entire weekend.
I've come to the conclusion, that I will just have to take this whole not photographing events as a fact of life and embrace it. I guess I just get way too involved in soaking up the experience to do anything more than just that, soak.
With that being said, I can share swaps and projects.

I did one swap.
A flea Market bag swap.
Heather asked me for a messenger bag of turquoise, green and pink, ruffles and polka dots, and feminine.
So this is what I gave her.

I've never made a bag before, so this swap used up quite a bit of brain power.
I thought I would simply be able to go out and find a ruffled messenger bag pattern.
Oh boy was I ever wrong!
So I took a what I could find (which was a wonky looking bag pattern) and altered the fool out of it.

It has two pockets on the inside and a large one across the back on the outside.
It's nice and roomy and will hold quite a bit.
I know this, because I almost filled it to the brim with junquing essentials.
(A little known fact, I have a tendency to get carried away sometimes. Okay, so maybe that's not really a little know fact.)

Here is one of the little goodies I popped into the bag. A junque journal for notes on measurements and such.

I'm pretty sure that I won't be making another bag anytime soon, but this really was a fun swap.

Next time I'll show you the gorgeousness that I received!

Have a beautiful Monday.