yesterday: feb 16

I'm still battling a cold. Yesterday I asked mister to drop me off downtown in our tiny downtown while he went for a second interview. I wandered, took pictures and bought a new paper punch. Once home, I proceeded to pull a muscle in my hand punch, punch, punching out circle after scalloped circle. But that's okay, today, I stitched up all those happy shapes and made delightful garlands that will soon be in the shop. I also bit the bullet and made a hair appointment and then I hung up the phone and cried because I am weepy like that.

valentine swap: received

Howdy folks! So, you saw the valentine I made for my partner in Tara's Valentine Swap now here is the valentine I receive. 

Yay for lovely, happy mail full of sparkles and cheer! Thank you Tanya!

still in the mood for lurve

I think I'd celebrate Valentine's Day every day of I could get away with it. Pink? Red? Chocolate? Lace? Vintage goodness? What's not to love? Here's a peek at what went on yesterday and carried over to today. I'm duking it out with a cold and gray skies and I'm certain I gave myself a work injury punching out all those scallops. There is a blister my friends, yes a blister! I'll have my wool flower tutorial up tomorrow with photos. I've mentioned in in a couple of different projects but decided to take pics of each step so you can see it better. 

Some of the mama a-go-go's vintage Valentine's.

mister played with legos for a blog post...

While I stitched up happy tags and wool flowers...

 I valentined up my morning coffee...

 And punched circle after scalloped circle. And I think the pretty is totally worth a sore blistered thumb.

 I also rushed out in the rain to catch this shot before the sun set...swoon!

Finally, a belated Christmas present (stocking) from Ms. Stacey arrived with all sorts of goodies and pretty. This hat? Isn't it swoon worthy? That lady has some mad creative skills, she really does. And now, back to Blossom Dearie...happy Tuesday!

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?

the week in review: feb 7-13

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.