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While packing for the weekend I scoured our office for a notebook to take on our travels and while looking for the one I inevitably couldn’t find I discovered that perhaps I have a problem…
Yes, every notebook or sketchpad you see here has some kind of chicken scratch, list, recipe, work-out log or draw-ring in it! I’m not sure how this addiction got so out of control but perhaps its time to consolidate.
I’m not much of a religious person but I know many people that abide by the rules of Lent. Perhaps more for self-control than anything and I’m thinking its not a bad idea. Can I live without a Diet Coke for 40 days or can I control myself when I head to Target by avoiding the stationery aisle? We’ll see!
So, for those observing Lent what is your goal this year?
So, on Monday I showed you what I made for the button swap. Now here’s what I received. Aren’t these simply stunning!
Ever little nub you see is a french knot. Along with the buttons were all these goodies! The only thing missing from the Flickr pic are the lovely embroidery silks. They were made in the former West Germany and have the coolest packaging.
I love the simplicity of the illustration on the back that shows how the packaging works! I’ve always embroidered with cotton so it will be a treat to work with silk. Thank you Lesley!
Wow, today sure feels like Spring here in the Midwest. Spring is my favorite season of the year even though its pretty short. All the spring clothes are popping up in stores and when visiting my local Trader Joes
I saw these adorable bulb pots. Once they’re done blooming I’ll be putting them in the yard. Well, the bulbs that is.
Bulb pots on Gamma Go Bird Tray
Of course, until then I’m sure I’ll hear the inevitable
What’s your favorite season of the year?
Well, they’re not so little but they sure are lightweights! That’s a good thing though. I haven’t bought skis before but over the weekend Jason and I, well mostly Jason, did some research online to find an ideal set of skis for a beginner to intermediate such as myself and these were the winners!
For the past couple of years I’ve always rented skis. In the beginning, it worked out great but with our upcoming trip to Park City a four day rental would be a 1/3 of the cost of a brand new pair.
These ski’s by Dynastar were wider than the average expert ski and pretty lightweight making them easy to turn on the slopes and to carry around. The longer the length the more advanced the skier. The rule of thumb for any skis (rental or new) is that they should reach your chin.
As with any sporting equipment there’s a wide range of sizes, styles and price but it comes down to what works best for you! All I want to know is…ARE WE THERE YET?
Last month I signed up to participate in a fun button swap. You may recall the sneak peak I showed earlier this month. Now that my fellow crafter has received her goodies I’m able to share more details.
The task was to create six handmade buttons in whatever style you prefer. They could be crocheted, embroidered or made from ceramics like these lovely buttons
.
I learned from the crafter I was swapping with that she loves all things organic and her favorite color is green. Since I’m comfortable with embroidery I scowered the internet for some pattern ideas.
I came across this great site devoted to educational clipart. I know clipart makes any designer want to cringe but it’s a great place to find all kinds of vintage illustrations and with 44,000 images to chose from you’ll be amazed at what you find. I search the “plants” tab and found some leaf illustrations from the 1800’s that worked perfectly for this project.
I used the illustrations to sketch my own versions and once I transfered them onto fabric with a white water soluable marker they were ready to be sewn onto contrasting fabric.
In addition, to the buttons I made the above Artsy Clutch with some leafy green Amy Butler fabric I had in my stash as well as some pretty ribbon and note paper.
I can’t wait to see what I get in the mail this week!
For my Mom’s birthday I gave her this photo album with pictures from our recent trip to England. I wasn’t all that impress with the albums I’d seen in stores so I made this one with scrapbooking paper, card stock and vellum inserts. Two simple hole punches and ribbon hold it all together.
The cover paper is from a line called Travel by American Crafts. Their site has an interesting idea gallery and a pretty nice blog! So, if you enjoy papercrafting its worth checking out.
Additional patterns from Travel paper series Heat movie download
Adhesive photo corners helped keep everything in place
Pretty vellum prevents the photos from sticking to each other
All this project took were a few supplies, a steady hand and a little time. No sewing or drawing skills required. I used my new Cricut machine to create the text on the cover. If you’re interested in how it works stay tuned for an upcoming review.
Tonight E and I watched Pride and Prejudice. The BBC version with Colin Firth is still, by far, the best adaptation out there! It was actually made as a five part mini-series. We were able to make it through three episodes this evening with DVD number two on it’s way and I can’t wait to watch the rest. The acting is superb and it’s incredibly entertaining.
So, if you’ve never watched it but love the book or just love a great romance flick then this one has to go into the Netflix queue! We haven’t make it to the “lake scene” yet but I won’t spoil it for anyone! Colin Firth is the perfect Mr. Darcy.
Of all the crochet projects I’ve made and give to others there have been few that I’ve made for my husband. Well, who can forget the Beer Can hat
but other than that I haven’t made him something he would actually wear (on more than one occasion) until now.
Ski hat made to coordinate with colorful snowboard pants. Design by John Burgerman
Some time ago I borrowed a friend’s Cozy Crochet Kit which has a bunch of simple crochet patterns. This beanie/ski hat pattern was part of the pack. It’s very simple and unlike most hat’s it doesn’t require working in rounds. I was able to work on this while crossing the pond to England last month but just finished it over the weekend with the addition of a pom pom per Jason’s request.
I forgot how fun it is to make a pom pom. I remember making them as a kid. So if it’s been a while, but you want to give it a try here is a handy Pom Pom Tutorial courtesy of The Purl Bee.
Today I participated in a papercrafting workshop at Red Lead. I learned about the store through Beth’s blog. It’s a great store but sometimes I get overwhelmed by all they have to offer and I never know what to do with it hence the need for the workshop.
The shadow box workshop was ideal because it combined painting, papercutting, fabric and sewing. I decided ahead of time to personalize the project with a favorite photo of my grandparents.
Having never taken a workshop on this before I learned that there were quite a few supplies missing from my tool kit but fear not the ladies of Red Lead have everything. They have paper, 50 kinds of glue and all kinds of vintage images and trinkets. The list goes on and on.
The thing I enjoyed most was learning some new techniques. They have some fun workshops coming up in April and although, I’m not sure the finished product is my style I’m still curious to see how it works.