thursday = embroidery

I got this design in a lot from eBay when I first started embroidering and used it to practice my stitches.


I also thought I'd share this wall hanging I made as a gift for newborn twin girls. The image is from a children’s book and is from the story of Snow White & Rose Red I believe {I’m too lazy to go hunt down the book right now, sorry}. Its not very big, I think something like 12” by 6”.


I was inspired by all the great redwork I see out there in blogland and thought that it could be a nice alternative for a girl’s room, especially one being decorated by a graphic designer who was avoiding pink as much as possible.

I was so happy with the way this turned out and I have plans for at least 3 more in the near future, also based on fairy tales. Though, while I’m going to stick with all one color for the embroidery, I don't think I'll do red this time. But I will stick with the natural linen for the fabric since I love the subtle quality it brings to the piece. Maybe brown or light cream floss?

I did a similar combo of embroidery & fabric for my sister, although I kept it to one fabric pattern. Similar yet different...


I’m itching to get started on them but I need to finish an embroidery experiment first – I might be ready to share it tomorrow but we’ll have to see because all of sudden its gotten late!

Oh - I just found out the guy's making crepes for dessert tonight so I'm going to go help make dinner so I get an extra helping of Nutella in mine! Good night...

wednesday = books

First, a pet photo. The boy cat’s whiskers are particularly photogenic I think.


Okay, its book day today isn’t it? I didn’t forget…


Title: Things to Make for Children
Author: the Editorial Staffs of Sunset Books & Sunset Magazine
Copyright: Copyright 1961 {mine is Third printing December 1962}


There’s a lot of stuff packed into this book. Some of the projects are quick and easy, some are more complicated and require the use of power tools.





I know a lot of families were looking for alternatives to the plastic toys made in China this past xmas and I think there are a lot of great ideas here for gifts to make for children. I hope if you find this book interesting that you’re able to find a copy in time for Dec. 2008…

Speaking of Xmas 2008, I had an idea the other day…I think I’m going to do Xmas in July at the blog! For the month of July I will feature holiday themed books and crafts and such. I need to get an earlier start this year…not exactly July, but maybe Oct. This might help me get that gathering phase done ahead of time so come Oct. 1st I can get right to it and actually accomplish something.

What do you think, brilliant or insanity?!

tuesday = fabric

Just a quick post tonight to share some pretty vintage fabric swatches.







There are a couple additional swatches posted on the flickr vintage fabric pool

I really need to get stitching...I started 6 new projects this past weekend. I'm really excited about them, I only wish I had more time to just sit and work on them!

See you tomorrow...

monday = thrifted

Oh thrifting, how I love you…

That’s Dotty the cat – she’s from an estate sale and she was $2. That framed print is from the thrift store and is an example of something that drives me crazy. When they put the price sticker on the artwork so that no matter how carefully you take it off it takes some of the image with it. The "B" is metal, I'm not sure what it was used for originally...I bought it at a garage sale for $2.

I have two of the folding bag thingies – I’m not sure what their technical name is. I use one for my embroidery supplies and then this one holds fabric scraps and my collection of vintage ovenmitts.

Now don’t pretend like you don’t want to see those ovenmitts…you know you want to see them and you know I want to show them to you or I wouldn’t have this blog!

I’m going to ask the little metal Eiffel Tower {thrift store - $3} for some help here…






Oh - and just in case someone was taken with Dotty and wanted to make a pillow of their own I scanned her in and redrew her to create a pattern. The embroidery detail on mine is done in a chain stitch, a really tiny, perfect chain stitch that blows my mind.


{If you know where this design originated please let me know, especially if I’m treading on any copyrights posting it here. Based on what I could tell from the estate sale, I’m assuming it was originally done prior to 1950 but I could be wrong.}

sale!

I thought I'd share that my Michael's has alot of the Martha Stewart Craft items on clearance, maybe yours does too! Like the keepsake boxes are $5 for the 6.5" x 8.5" {regular $14.99} & $7 for the 8.5" x 11" {regular $17.99}.

Those items were in the regular aisle but then there was even more stuff over in the clearance aisle, like treat boxes and recipe cards.

Anyhow, just thought you might want to know...

peeking in

Okay, seven random things per betttyninja:

1. When I was a young girl I was horse-crazy & had a collection of horse figures that number more than 200 {obsessive collecting started early – I still have them packed away}

2. The year I was in 8th grade my junior high made shop class open to girls for the first time – I was one of a small hand-full of girls that took them up on the offer. I made a shelf…

3. I raised pigs & took them to the county fair for several years when I was in 4-H

4. I also never finished a sewing project when I was in 4-H, I would start them but my mom always finished them for me the night before they were due

5. I am allergic to penicillin – like my dad

6. I don’t believe raisins should be put in anything where they get warm and swell up – that is wrong

7. I apply Blistex lip balm approx. 15 times a day & keep tubes handy in:
- the bathroom
- the living room
- in my purse
- in my car
- by my computer

I don’t really know many bloggers yet, so lets just say you’re tagged if you’ve ever left a comment on my blog or count me as a contact on flickr – that’s probably not even 7 people but I’m new at this so cut me some slack!

Hope you’re having a nice weekend! Now lets go make the most of the rest of it…see you tomorrow with some more thrifted stuff.

friday = misc.

Last night I started work on a new embroidery project. I was really happy with the prep on it since it went smoothly {I hate the prep step} and I was getting excited until I actually started to embroidery. Ouch. OUCH. I don’t know what I was thinking…embroidering through something other than fabric. But it looks cool and I want to keep going – even with sore fingers.

This week I managed to get something done that has been on my list for awhile…framing some prints I purchased from theblackapple. I love these so much and could kick myself for taking so long to do this.


I bought the double frame at the thrift store {couple bucks} and the other frame was in a free cart at another thrift store. I had been looking for just the right frames and was really happy with these - only problem was that they are small and the prints wouldn’t fit.



So I scanned the prints and resized them – so not the same quality as the originals but at least I can see them now instead of having them packed away.

And after only a week I actually finished a project – I tend to drag these things out for some reason. I bought this framed squirrel at the thrift store last weekend {$1.50} because I thought I could do something with it & because I like squirrels.



I cut it up to create a double mat, then covered one in wood-grain contact paper and the other in a scrap-booking dot paper. Painted the frame and there you go. I think its kind of fun…



So in addition to the new embroidery projects I alluded to yesterday here are photos of two more thrifted items I have plans for re-styling. The idea being maybe if I post it here I will be more likely to actually complete them…we’ll see.




Bettyninja tagged me – my first one, I’m so flattered! I need to think about it a little before I post it though, maybe a special weekend post is in order?

Hope you have a lovely weekend! {I’ve got a hankering to go thrifting personally, then again when don’t I?!}

thursday = embroidery

So this pattern isn’t particularly special or hard to find I think…but I picked it for my mom because I didn’t think she’d like the human/vegetable mutants that I prefer for embroidered kitchen towels. Plus it’s a long, dark winter where she lives and I hoped these would brighten it a little for her.

I found the {vintage?} towels at an estate sale for a couple bucks. I’ve started keeping a look out for good towels to embroidery on after I realized that they are hard to find at stores. At least the kind I like, which these are an excellent example of – vintage looking, cotton, little bit of color & lots of room for the embroidered design.


I had four towels, so picked the 3 floral designs and then threw in the fruit basket to round out the group. In hindsight I should have done the wine bottle, since my family isn’t afraid of the vino and we grew up on the homemade stuff my Dad made.


I kept the colors simple by making the flowers two shades of the same color and I like the way that looks – simple, yet colorful. I put a little design on the other end of the towel too, which is what you see in the photo there at the top.


My mom sent us two tins of cookies at xmas so I’m going to put these in the empty tins and send them back to her. I was very proud of myself coming up with this idea – I felt bad sending the tins back empty but I’m not big on baking cookies so this was a good compromise I think. Now I wish I had bought some xmas tins when they were on clearance since I love the idea of giving a tin stuffed with embroidered towels to people. They will expect cookies and hopefully be pleasantly surprised by the towels {fewer calories!}. Plus, I think if you’re giving them to someone who bakes you cookies every year, you know they spend a lot of time in the kitchen and will appreciate something decorative to look at. The bonus is they will have a tin to fill with cookies for you in exchange!


I’ve been thinking of a couple new embroidery projects to start working on now that this one is done. I’m excited but nervous about them since I want to try some new things and I’m not sure exactly how I will execute them…

Oh wow – I just found this embroidery book resource via angry chicken…this could be dangerous!

wednesday = books

I was visiting cathy of california last night and I started thinking about how vintage cook-books are great sources for embroidery designs. It’s probably not surprising that we have more than one vintage cookbook at our house… I will have to start sharing those on book day as well.


Another great source for embroidery designs is vintage coloring books. I was reminded of this after discovering Picnic by Ellie’s amazing photos on flickr last night. I always watch out for them when thrifting since they tend to be on the cheap side. So I dug out one to share with you today as well as the children’s books I had already planned on. {I scanned so many things from the books that I wanted to share, but its alot for one post so I'm just going to put the covers here and the rest of the pages in the vintage childrens book pool on flickr if you're interested in seeing more.}


Title: Adventures with Words
Author: Adelaide Holl
Illustrator: J.P.Miller
Copyright: 1963 (mine is the 1970 Edition)


Title: Walt Disney’s story of Hansel & Gretel
Illustrator: not attributed
Copyright: MCMLXVll


Title: Fun to Do Coloring Book
Author: Whitman Publishing Co.
Illustrator: Vincent & Dorothy Fago
Copyright: 1966

Yesterday the guy bought me some flowers; they are so springy I thought I’d share them.

That glass apothecary jar is new – I’m trying to think of something clever to fill it with, any ideas?

And one last thing, a sneak peek of the embroidery post coming tomorrow - see you then!

tuesday = fabric

I really like this trend towards bringing the outside in – with all the natural forms, patterns & woodland animals in home decor. For example I like this “little birch jewelry stand”
It reminds me of walking in the woods, and playing in the creek when I was young. The promise of fairies and gnomes behind each leaf and tree. I think its true what they say, you can take the girl out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the girl…

I don’t wear necklaces very often but when I would go to get one they would be all tangled so I kept on the lookout for something to hang them from and I found this stand at a garage sale for $1 this summer.


It’s not quite as pretty as the tree but I like it and it makes me happy to see these hanging in the bathroom being useful as decoration if not adornment. I got the sweet little blue bird at an estate sale for $5 - one of those items that made my heart flutter when I saw it and I couldn't get to it fast enough.

Yesterday I got a lot of the things on my to do list done – including making a 128lb lasagna. Okay, I might be exaggerating slightly about the weight, but it was big…and heavy. But luckily, also pretty tasty. Which is slightly amazing since I’m not good with the whole cooking food thing. It was like a movie scene, with me in the kitchen surrounded by dirty pots and pans, sauce on the floor, ricotta cheese on the ceiling...

I also organized my office/studio, which included putting the large wobbly stack of fabric in the closet into plastic bins so I can actually open the door without an avalanche. I re-discovered many pretty patterns I had forgotten so I’m going to share some of them today.





I’ve posted more fabric swatches in the vintage fabric flickr pool if you're interested.

2 posts for the price of one

I was just adding my embroidery links to the right over there and I wanted to highlight an interesting source for embroidery designs.


I don't know how I found this website, but its called exceedingly curious. Its 254 pages from a public domain embroidery stamping pattern catalog from 1886 by J.F. Ingalls.


Now I just need to figure out how to function with no sleep so I can actually get some embroidery done...

monday = thrifted

Did you have a nice weekend? As usually, mine was too short and I didn’t accomplish everything I had planned. However, today I have off from work so I have big plans for a long list of to do’s. I’ve gotten up early and already gotten a start so I’m feeling optimistic…

I need to get going on that list, so just a quick post to introduce Tiki Cat and his new friend Penguin.


I bought Tiki Cat at an estate sale for $5 this past summer. He’s marked made in Canada on the bottom. He’s crazy looking and that’s what we like about him! Penguin I got this weekend at the local thrift store for $4. He’s made of something heavy, although I don’t think its cement. There’s nothing on him that indicates where he was made and I don’t know if he’s old or new but I still think he’s fun.

There’s definitely an animal theme at our house. I love having real animals and then these sort of odd faux animals mixed together in the house.

I’m working on several things to share this week that I’m excited about. Embroidery Thursday I have a vogart pattern and actually stitched examples of 4 of the designs since I finally finished a xmas present for my mom. Then on Friday I’ve got a thrift re-style project in the works. Nothing fancy but I’m kind of excited about how it might turn out. I’m at that point in the project where it could go either way, either be very cool or just ridiculous looking and a waste of time…I’m keeping my fingers crossed for very cool. {I should probably have a plan B post ready to put into action if this whole thing goes south!}

Okay, I’m off to accomplish an amazing amount of stuff {fingers crossed} – hope you have a great day.

wednesday = books

Happy book day! Today I’m combining my love for books with my love for embroidery.

Speaking of embroidery love, first I need to talk about how bad I want this alphabet ! I love wood, I love the alphabet, I love embroidery and I love what I could do with these!

Okay, need to fan myself a bit and get back to books. Vintage Ondori books to be precise.




Title: Embroidery for Children’s Clothing
Author: Ondori
Copyright: 1977
Contents:
Flowers & Things
Amusing Animals
From the Toy Chest
Delightful Vehicles
Puzzles in Figures
What’s your Name
The Alphabet
Lovely Border Patterns
Gifts for your Baby
For Naughty Children
At the Kindergarten
Grade School Children
For the stylish Teen-agers





Title: Ondori Embroidery #3
Author: Ondori
Copyright: 1974
Contents:
Dandy Flowers
Pleasing Geometric Pattern
Lovely Imagination in a Fair-tale World
Fine Initial
Fantasy of Flowers
Various Kinds of Stitch

I bought both these books on eBay because sometimes, no matter how much the thrift goddess loves you, she will keep certain things from you. When it comes to me she keeps Vintage Ondori books far away on eBay and never at the thrift store for $1.50. But that’s okay because there’s eBay and sometimes I get lucky and actually win something instead of lose it to that evil program that lets people outbid you with 4 seconds to go! Again, I’m getting a little overexcited – sorry.

Tomorrow is more embroidery so please come back and maybe you’ll get excited about the vogart pattern I’ve got for you!

Oh, and one more thing…here’s a picture of the girl cat sleeping in the sun for those of use who had dreary days that were all overcast, cold and wet.