Tuesday, February 15, 2011

for tara: valentine details

Here are the details of my handmade Valentine...and I did end up making more...the pretty was too pretty to resist.My swap partner told me she liked quirky and maybe a little shabby chic. So I did my best and quirked it up but in shabby chic colors.
 A wool flower made from felted sweaters
 Quirky hand-stitched cloud full of lurve in a glassine envie.
 This red and white label is vintage and came from grannie's stash.
 Machine-stitched tag with vintage lace and button.
 Machine-stitched garland in quirky colors thanks to a K & Co. paper pad. The garland is wrapped around a vintage postcard blank, also from grannie's stash.
All layered together a la Tara-style! So, what do you think? Do you think these would move in the shop? I really, really, want to get a birthday haircut. Seriously, I NEED a haircut and am brokety-broke. Any ideas?

Sunday, February 13, 2011

make a lovely handstitched cloud

Make this sweet little last minute cloud of lurve for your valentine. Pop a magnet inside and you've got a one of a kind sticky bit, add a pin back to turn it into a brooch or do like i did and simply stick a pin through it. It's all sorts of lurvely, don't ya think?
Here's what ya need:
*white felt
*red &pink felt
*scissor
*2 embroidery needles
*embroidery thread
*silver thread (optional)
*scrap cardstock
*white glue
Draw yourself a wee cloud shape that is three inches across and two inches tall. Keep the bottom flat and line it up with your paper. Three to four cloud bumps look good. If I had a scanner and/or any clue, I would have a PDF for you, sadly, I am clueless. Cut it out.
Grab a piece of white felt or polar fleece. I used a small piece left over from the capelet project. One piece folded over in half is the easiest to work with. Pin cloud pattern to felt lining up bottom edges.
Use your scissors to carefully cut out cloud shape. I did a general cut first then went into the nooks and crannies. Remove pattern and pin your pieces together.
Gather your thread and thread your needle. If using embroidery thread, split you piece into three strands. If using silver thread on a spool, double up your thread then knot it. Use a blanket stitch to whip around the cloudy part of your cloud. Begin by going through just the top piece so your knot will be sandwiched between the two pieces.
When you get to the other side, set it all aside, do knot stitch all the way around yet.
Cut a thin rectangle from your white felt about two inches across. You are going to anchor your hearts to this piece. Get all fancy with your scissors and cut out four teeny-tiny hearts from various shades of pink or red felt.
Poke needle and thread through the rectangle and then weave the needle through the heart from top to bottom. Your aim is to anchor it to the string so that it slides up and down from top to bottom. Leave a long tail with a knot at the end and trim. Repeat for the remaining three hearts.
Slide rectangle with hearts into the cloud. Gently pinch ends closed and continue with you blanket stitch. This part gets a little hairy with all them threads waving all about. Take it slow and loop your blanket stitch as soon as you can to keep dangling threads from getting snagged. If you find it too frustrating, weave a straight-stitch and knot at the end.
Knot up your final stitch and trim with scissors. Stagger your hearts on their individual strings until you like how they look. Add a drop of glue to the top and bottom of each heart. This will keep them from sliding right off. Allow to dry and Happy Valentine's Day!
*If you want to turn it into a magnet, pop the magnet into the cloud along with the heart anchor. For a pin back, either hot glue it when it is all stitched up or dtitch on your pin-back first thing. I myself, kinda like how it looks with a straight pin.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

this one is for my mister

You can easily make your own with some painted/patterned paper, scissors, and  gluestick. Happy almost Valentine's Day!

Friday, February 11, 2011

i should make some more


I am participating in Tara's Valentine Swap and well I feel quite intimidated. Have you seen her layer? Oh my, that girl has some mad pretty skills. 

Valentine's Day is Monday and I needed to get cracking. So, channeling my inner Tara, I gathered up an armload of vintage lace and quirky bits and managed to impress myself. I hope my swappy swap partner likes her Valentine from the west coast. Now I need to make more, I have been in too much of a gloomy gloom to get ahead for heart day. I really wanted to send y'all something pretty. Maybe I still will, just not by Monday.

Happy almost Valentine's Day!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Valentine's Day: cheater cookies


Make this crazy easy marshmallow delight for Valentine's Day. Very low on difficulty, you only need to pop em into the oven for two whole minutes! Recipe at scrumdilly-do!