In Full Bloom

The rose garden at the park is in full bloom. A sweet smell of roses is drafting down the road, especially with all the rain we have been getting. This weekend dear hubby and I made window boxes for the house. We filled them to the brim with hanging petunias in purple and white, and also some hanging vines. Hubby got a rickety ladder out of the basement and carefully, while I pleaded for him to not get hurt, put the window boxes on the thick stone ledges. Today we noticed bees and a hummingbird visiting the new flowers.                      

We also planted some more herbs and a white peony bush that I can't wait to bloom big frothy ruffled flowers. Onyx the cat is loving the catnip plant, maybe just a little too much - he's currently sleeping it off on the couch. 

There was also some more wallpaper stripping - Ugh it's one project that I wouldn't mind ending. We only have the downstairs hallway and our room left. It's the hardest paper of all. Thick, shiny, and doesn't like to peel off easily even with water/fabric softener mixture. Paint swatches have been hung up just in anticipation. A deep dark navy blue for just one wall of our bedroom - called Midnight. Tuxedo Tie, Lunar Eclipse, Belle Grove White, and Snowday are just a couple other colors we like for other rooms. 

My back is starting to feel better, and I am really grateful. I've always known that I like to keep busy, but I never realized how much until I was stuck to the couch for a couple days. Honestly I can say I am not a television person. But with all that thinking time, there was a lot of planning. Crafty things that I just can't wait to start. 

Project List

My project list keeps growing by leaps and bounds. Recently I finished this cute little tie shirt for a coworker who just had a baby boy. I'm starting some embroidery projects for an art swap I am so excited about. There is a pile of old black and white family photos that need to be scanned, framed, and hung on the wall. Two quilts that haven't really left the planning stage yet. Fun Easter projects with the kids. Naturally dying eggs is also on this list. To have a list so full, there is never a bored moment. 

Whatcha Working on Wednesday: Red Cross Stitch Holiday

Just when I thought all the craftiness left me until next year out came the red floss and a snowflake design. Red cross stitch just screams the holidays. This little project is for a dear friend and once she gets it I will gladly show off the finish product. 

Isn't it funny how one little thing can inspire ideas - like new stockings for our fireplace (it will be our first Christmas ever with a real fireplace to hang the stockings on) and a new tree skirt for next year. What are you working on?

Crafts and Art Marketplace

Tomorrow, if your in the area, stop by the Crafts and Art Marketplace - I will be there!

One Financial Plaza

1350 Main St. Springfield, MA 

From 11am - 3pm

I'm finishing up lots of things tonight - like watercolor prints, some bibs, crochet rock paperweights, and more Let It Snow garlands. Also I will have a couple bags, fabric covered thumbtacks, a few reusable snack bags, and a toddler quilt. If you do go, please stop and say hi - bring coffee :) !

Beyond Disorganized

We worked this weekend on stripping all the wallpaper off the living room walls and taking the varnish and yellowish stain off the fireplace mantel. It was a bit addicting - in fact dear hubby found a way to get an entire strip of wallpaper off in one piece, something that made him really satisfied. Now we just need to prime, paint, and get rid of the shag carpeting. Of course I am still tackling the fireplace mantel a bit, soon it will be a rich dark brown - more of a suitable color for the grey walls.
In the process I have been trying to do some crafting for the upcoming a handmade craft fair happening this Friday. As you can see everything is everywhere - which made for some choice words when Buster ran by chasing the kids knocking over a box full of thread spools. Did you know they bounce? Also there was a small melt down by myself, which I'm sure looked a little funny. It wouldn't have been so bad if everything was a bit more organized but as it stands there still is no real organization.
While the inside of the house is deyond disorganized, we are enjoying the outside as much as possible. The leaves are starting to turn crispy, and twirl down in there pretty orange red yellow colors - there are little tree helicopters everywhere, and we put out some fall mums on our stairs. There is this musty earthy smell at night  and the air is getting a little chilly. Soon we will carve pumpkins on the porch! Can you believe it's October already?

Package for Felix

Awhile ago I couldn't contain myself and shared with you the Hexagon Bib that I made for a lovely friend and her soon to be little girl. What I didn't show, because I promised myself that I would wait till it was delivered, was the baby quilt, embroidered bib, and crochet booties. 

I debated over the blanket for a little bit. Usually I like to make children's blankets something they can grow into and use on a toddler bed or even a throw blanket but this time I made it smaller. Small enough to take on car rides, carry around the house, or fold into a large tote. The inspiration came from my youngest son Odyn. To this day he still has his "fuzzy", a small blanket that doesn't cover him anymore, that is WELL worn, and often gets toted around the house even up and down the stairs. "Fuzzy" has a hard time getting put into the washing machine, getting left behind, or not being slept with at night - in Odyn's own words - it's his best friend. If this blanket should be special enough to be a best friend to my friend's daughter, than it would need small enough to go many places. 

As for the fabric, I used Hideaway by Moda for one side. It's a nice cheerful collection of pretty chateau villages, gingham, cuckoo clocks, and sweet woodland deer. The other side I wanted to be a bit softer so I used soft white fuzzy dot fabric, pretty vintage floral sheet fabric, small red strawberries, butterflies, and bicycles - a nice random mix of fun patterns all in the same color pallet of yellows, oranges, whites, and pinks.

There was a bit of horror story with the second bib. One that had me gasping and praying that once washed everything would be fine. I know my sweet friend is naming her daughter Felix (love that name for a girl!) so I decided to embroider an F on the bib. I picked out a very Old English Script font and traced it onto the fabric with...pen. Let me right now, not recommend regular ink pen to do this. I stitched away, added the cute little flowers to the side. I sewed the bib all together and even added the pretty turquoise snap. Noticing that some of the ink tracing was sticking out a little from where I stitched I decided to try to remove it. With rubbing alcohol and q-tip in hand I slowly began to rub the ink away, a trick I have used many times before. This time, however, the ink began to bleed and go everywhere. It wasn't looking pretty. So with one last effort I poured a larger amount of rubbing alcohol on all the ink, rubbed it a little bit together, and quickly put it in the wash. I didn't even have the heart to look at it before drying it - so into the dryer it went. As you can see from the final result, it all ended well, but was very close to being scrapped.

The little Maryjane booties I made from a pattern I found on Ravelry. Without the little bit of paper stuffed in them they kind of lose their shape. It could have just been the yarn I used though - not sure. But who can resist baby shoes and tiny baby feet?!? They were a must to put into this sweet little package. Also not pictured were my favorite cookies, the mom to be's favorite cookies, and some tea that I swear caused my water to break when I past my due date with Odyn (don't worry I put the story on the sleeve containing the tea).

I had so much fun creating this package. Hope my vintage soul sister loves it just as much. 

Binding

Looking around today I noticed my house is a bit out of order. There are dishes that have piled way too high, thirsty children with an almost empty juice container in the fridge, heaping piles of laundry, and a dog that seems very content with making a clone of himself by shedding. So I pulled up my big girl pants this morning,  and tried my best to put things back in order.
Lately my free time has been spent sewing. Dear hubby even remarked this weekend that he hasn't seen me this crafty in awhile. It feels good to get back in that mood. Soon I will need to start organizing the studio into boxes and pairing down some supplies, but for now their is a bit of last minute creativity happening.

Handmade Baby Bibs

For awhile I've been working on a cute little surprise of handmade baby items for a blogging friend. I probably shouldn't be showing pictures just yet, but I just can't help myself. Keeping things a surprise has never been a strong suit for me. 
Last night I finished up this hexagon flower bib - I have other little items but I promised myself that I would only share them once they are mailed out and the mommy gets them.

Making things for babies is so much fun, I could literally get carried away with it all. Which is why I am giving myself the whole day tomorrow to do just that! Hope your weekend is full of things that make you get carried away ♥
P.S. Sorry about the blurry pictures lately - I really need to start using my tripod again!!

This weekend I finished embroidering my pillowcase. Please excuse the lack of ironing, or the fact that I didn't wash out the drawing marks yet. During Father's day I some how managed to pull a muscle in my back, which made me incredibly grateful that I'm a pretty healthy person who doesn't have this happen very often. It's required me to slow down a little. 

Luckily our plan for Father's day was just to relax at home anyways, although I do feel bad and owe one very wonderful hubby (who is also an amazing father) a homemade chocolate cake. All is forgiven with chocolate cake!

 Hope everyone out there had a lovely Father's day weekend. 

Aries' First Sewing Project

The pillow. It needed to have a bit of pink in it and hearts. Amazingly I didn't have any fabric with hearts ...ut oh! Aries wanted to glue, paint, or tape everything. It's difficult to explain how thread and a needle work to a 5 year old. She picked out all the pink sequins while I drew a heart on the back of the fabric. My explanation  of how to sew was laughable. Poke here ... pull pull pull....then poke again..not my finger...ouch... pull pull...oops ..it got tangled...and it kind of went on like that all night.

At one point Aries said she had a hand cramp but we persevered. Her favorite part was stuffing the pillow full of cloud fluff (her words). Every night her doll, princess Amanda, sleeps on her new pillow - except for the night it fell down and I was woken up by a teary eyed Aries. The boys are not allowed to play with it or lay on it. Damien has already asked if I would teach him how to crochet....look what I started.

Spreading Cheer

Things are looking up here and I hope they are where you are. We are looking at homes, getting interviewed for positions, and promising not to start any new projects. Well at least that's my promise to myself. The studio is getting overwhelming. Filled with items that have either been started, or are just hanging around.
So while cleaning up and starting to pack, I came across some of my finished projects that need a new place to call home. The first thing I spied was this flour sack dishtowel with an embroidered red barn on it. I'm not sure if I intended this to be for me, a farmer's market, or the shop. But I can just picture a freshly baked loaf of bread wrapped it in, ready for a summer picnic.

Now the second item I found I completely forgot about. I started making this shirt for baby Odyn right after he was born. It's size 6 months ...and now Odyn refers to himself as a big boy who is 3. He never wore it, only because by the time it was finished he was wearing sizes much larger. When I folded it away I pictured giving it as a gift at a friends baby shower, but it has stayed there.

Until now!!! I'm offering these goodies up to you :) 

All you have to do is leave a message on this post telling me which prize you would like. 

Also if you are a follower of this blog (anyway - bloglovin', GFC, Twitter, FB, Etc) 

leave another comment for an extra entry. 

Giveaway will close May 3rd.

I''ll pick two winners one for the dishtowel and one for the shirt on May 4th.

 Please don't forget a way for me to contact you!!!

Keep Shining

The sun is shining today! Things are on a up swing, which is much appreciated around here. I started working on more hexagons last night. They're part of a quilt I have started...well kinda. I've promised myself no major projects for a month or two.
Yesterday I reached 200 sales in my Itchin' Stitchin' Shop!! Even more reason to celebrate. Kids and I are going to play outside, eat ice cream cones, and make some puddles with the hose. Have a great weekend.