Thursday, October 31, 2013

a halloween clown, treasures, and a little break

A Happy Halloween and day to you! 
Isn't this Halloween Clown so cute! It is from the October 1954 Workbasket magazine. It would be fun to embroider this on a tea towel or pot holder! ;) 
Thank you all so much for your sweet comments on my last post on my kitchen shelf and quilt block! And, I apologize that I have been so quiet in visiting with you this week. Life has been busy and I have been working hard on my Christmas items for the shoppe. :)
Well, I did take some time to make block 3 for Donna's Quilt Sampler! I really love the spool and it was super easy to make and so pretty!
 A couple weeks ago I found some vintage Christmas treasures at the thrift store. 
 Cute Santa mugs, a Season's Greetings crepe paper roll, and...
 all these fun goodies! I am looking forward to using them in crafts and decorating this year. 
 My sweet friend Sherri sent me these neat Workbasket magazines!! Thank you so much Sherri! I love them both! 
And, this is a sneak peak at my prototype for one of my Christmas embroidered tea towels that will be in my shoppe very soon! 
I am going to take a little blogging break to focus on getting all my Christmas items finished and put in the shoppe hopefully by the end of the second week of November. I am looking forward to you seeing it all! I will be peaking in and visiting with you as much as I can! ;)

Wishing you all a beautiful and crafty start to November! I will be back soon! xo



Thursday, October 24, 2013

a busy kind of week

 Happy Sweet Day!
Hope that you are having a lovely week so far! It has been quite busy for me and it feels the days are just flying by. The weather has been so beautiful these last few days, and it is always hard not to go out and enjoy it! Have you been enjoying some wonderful weather, too? 
Well, I made my second block for Donna's quilt sampler which you can find here and I am still just loving these Sidewalks prints! I actually messed up on this block and after some help from Donna (thank you!), I got it right, but didn't take a new photo. It is always the points that I seem to cut off! I am still learning, and I do love the process of it all! Thank you Donna for a sweet block! 
 Awhile back I bought this shelf at an estate sale, and I finally got it up in my kitchen! I am still playing around with putting things in it, and I am really looking forward to decorating it for Christmas! And, yes, I am eager for Christmas decorating and the season to begin as it is my favorite. 
I dressed up this cute little silver tinsel tree for Halloween using some vintage images from sweet Meri (thank you Meri), along with some black and white scrapbook circles that I punched out. 
I still need to make a little skirt for the tree, but for now a fall vintage hankie will do! 
 And, some peaks at the vintage Christmas pillow covers I am working on for the shoppe! 
It will be a busy next few weeks trying to get everything done, so if I get a little quiet, you'll know I am busy working away in my workshop! 
And, these gorgeous fabrics came this week from the sweet Shay of Simply Sweet Fabrics!!    Oh, how I can't wait to make some pretties with these! 

With the cooler evenings it has been nice to work on my ripple blanket again, and it always keeps me warm as I work on it. What sweetness are you working on this week?

Wishing you all a beautiful and crafty rest of the week! And, thank you for stopping by! You always make my day brighter! I look forward to catching up with you! xo


Thursday, October 17, 2013

quilty sweetness

Hello Sweet Friends!
I was so excited to make my first quilt block for Donna's quilt sampler quilt along over at her beautiful blog, Donna's Lavender Nest! It felt good to do some patchwork and sewing again! I decided for all the blocks that I am going to use the pretty prints from Sidewalks that I recently received from Donna's fabric shoppe, which you can find here! There is still time to join in this quilty sweetness! 
And, since I was already sewing away I thought I would work on some 16-patch quilt blocks. I have about 3 more rows to go for this quilt and then it will be time to put these pretty blocks together! 
 
In the November 1950 issue of The Workbasket magazine, there was this quilt pattern, Star of Bethlehem, that I thought was so beautiful and would love to try one day! It looks a little hard and I am thinking probably hand piecing would be the best with these shapes. I just love how it says to cut the pattern pieces out on cardboard. Such a great idea. 
Green, pink, light yellow and white were the most popular colors this quilt was made with, which I think are lovely colors together. I am even think this would be a pretty pillow cover, too! Have you seen this quilt before?

Thank you all so much for your sweet comments on the Little Women book and other sweet treasures! Hope that you are enjoying some lovely weather and crafty goodness!

Wishing you a wonderful day and weekend! 

Monday, October 14, 2013

little women

Happy Sweet Day!
Thank you all so much for your sweet comments on my new treasures and goodies! It has been a little busy for me, and I have been neglecting all my crafty projects, so sorry that is has been a little quiet around here and might be until November as I am working on Christmas items for my shoppe, which I look forward to showing you some sneak peaks soon!
I was able to venture to an estate sale of a 97 year old woman on Saturday, but unfortunately there really wasn't anything that caught my attention or old, but I did walk away with this 1911 edition of Little Women. 
 I love collecting old books and I have to admit that I have actually never read Little Women, but hopefully will be able to now! I am not a huge reader. I seem to always keep my hands too busy.
 I thought this was a neat stamp in the back of the book from The May Company book store. The May Co. was a department store that was based in California starting in 1923. If they could have only stayed around! 
Some more Workbasket magazines from 1948-1950 that I got on eBay and I look forward to sharing some neat things. I really just love the nostalgia of these magazines and reading them makes me feel like I am in that era! Oh, how fun would it be! 
These Christmas card place settings were a gift from my mother-in-law which I was so excited to have! 
 They are so cute and small, and I look forward to having them out for Christmas!
 The snowmen are my favorites, but I guess they are all pretty cute!
And, Christmas is coming very soon to my shoppe! I have been busy getting started on tea towels last week, and there will be many more pretty Christmas goodies!
 I received some sweet mail last week! These lovely goodies I won from the most lovely Fran of Hey, Mom! What's For Dinner? which I was so excited about! 
 Candles, cookie cutters, and a cute Jack-O-Lantern spatula. 
 And, some darling hexies and a beautiful vintage feed sack!! Thank you so much Fran for having such a sweet giveaway!!
 These pretties also arrived in the mail from the sweetest Donna of Donna's Lavender Nest! 
 A darling fat quarter bundle of the newest line by October Afternoon, Sidewalks, which I am absolutely in love with! And sweet Donna has this darling bundle as a Vintage Grey Blogger's Choice which you can find here in her shoppe! Thank you so much Donna!!
Aren't these prints just pure eye candy! I can't wait to make something pretty with them and I can tell you it might be a little hard to cut into them, though! ;) If you haven't had a chance to get some of these prints, make sure you head over to Donna's shoppe, Donna's Lavender Nest to get some for your fabric stash! 

Miss Donna is also going to be having a quilt sampler of 12 sweet blocks where she will be posting one a week with a tutorial, starting this Wednesday, October 16th. So, if you are interested in joining in this quilting fun, pop on over to Donna's blog for more information. I know that I am looking forward to this sewing goodness! 

Well, I am off to work on some things and catch up with all of you! Wishing you all a beautiful and creative week dear friends! 



Monday, October 7, 2013

treasures and pretties

Hello Friends!
Hope that you had a wonderful weekend! I have been busy working on some custom orders, which I love! Thank you all so much for your sweet comments on the strawberries for the swap and my new items! You always brighten my day! 
I haven't had much time for sewing, so my projects have been a little neglected, but I did manage to finish this hexie flower yesterday. I think only two more to do! 
I went to an estate sale on Saturday on a quest for wooden hangers, and came home with these two sweet ones.
I really love the aqua one and only wish there was more! A lady ahead of me in line beat me to the other hangers, and only left these, but I was happy to take them home! ;) 
I also brought this gorgeous aqua and white crocheted pot holder, that I just fell in love with! I have never seen this design before, and it was in such good condition. There were at least 20 pot holders, but they were so pricey, so I could only take one.
              I love the starbursts and can't wait to figure out the pattern so I can make one! I was  thinking how pretty it would be in either green or red for Christmas.      
This is The Workbasket magazine from October 1955. Every time I read through this, I just imagine how neat it would have been to receive these in the mail and to read through all the fun articles and patterns. The stuffed toys are cute, so I will have to scan them to show you. 
The flower for October is the beautiful poppy! 
 Over the weekend some pretty mail arrived from sweet Erin of Why Not Sew?. I was here partner for her strawberry pincushion swap and I was overjoyed with all the gorgeous strawberries and pretties she sent me!! All the details were so sweet, and she even made a cute grey strawberry, which I love! 
 Thank you so much Erin for hosting such a sweet swap and for sending me all these darling pretties to treasure!! 

Well, I am off to work on some orders and maybe work on some unfinished projects. I have also starting planning Christmas goodies for the shoppe and can't wait to start working on those this week. I hope to get my Christmas items in by the second week of November! I look forward to visiting you and seeing what sweetness you have been up to! 

Wishing you a beautiful and creative week! xo

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

strawberries, new items, and coming soon...

Happy October!
Hope that you have had a lovely start to the week and are enjoying some wonderful autumn weather! 
Well, I was so excited to join my sweet friend Erin's strawberry pincushion swap, as I just love strawberries and making them, too! The "Strawberry Picker"above is from the June 1951 of The Workbasket magazine. I thought was he so cute and would look adorable embroidered or even framed in a shabby aqua frame!
These are the two strawberry pincushions I made for my swap partner! I added some vintage lace, and on the smaller one, a vintage pink millinery sugar stamen. The red one I embroidered a cluster of french knots for centers.
I also made a little one with a gingham top, and put them all in a vintage tin for a sweet finish!
I had fun making these strawberry hexie coasters using some of my favorite strawberry prints for my partner, too! 
And a few other goodies, including a pretty vintage felt hydrangea brooch and strawberry decal. Everything is sweetly wrapped and out in the mail to my swap partner! Hope she likes it all! And, thank you Erin for having such a fun swap! 
 Of course, I couldn't resist making one for myself, too! ;)
I have just listed some new items in the shoppe! A couple more sets of maple leaf coasters and some pretty rolling pin pot holders and a new vintage inspired flowers in a window pot holder! 
Well, as you know I have a love and a passion for creating, but I also have a love for packaging what I create to make it extra special and sweet. So, I thought it would be fun to share that with you and will be adding a pretty packaging section to my shoppe, where I will have gifts tags and other pretties to make your gift wrapping extra special and sweet!
 For my orders in the shoppe I like to do seasonal wrapping. Simple, but sweet!
 A paper doily and vintage touch is always a must.
So, I wanted to share some samples of the gift tags that will be coming soon! I will also be working on Christmas gift tags and goodies, too! 
 I look forward to visiting with you and seeing what sweetness you are up to! 
Wishing you all a beautiful and creative week!