Little Elephant

Lizzie received the sweetest sewing kit for her birthday a few months back (thank you Grandma!) and she's been working off 'n on stitching up this 'lil elephant. I told her yesterday if she finished it up I'd show it off on the blog today. She's so proud of it and I'm proud of her for doing it *mostly* on her own.

Sewing Notions

Vintage Sewing Basket Full 'o Crafty Notions

I had planned to spend the weekend doing a bit of spring-y cleaning 'round my virtual shops and....I did! Both shops and this space have a new banner using snippets from 1950's newsprint (a fav of mine). The dust was swept out of the corners 'n off the shelves and I even spruced up my profile pages and re-addressed shop policies--all that nitty-gritty stuff that has been put on the back burner again and again. In addition to cleaning virtually, I did a bit of sorting and cleaning of inventory (including this sewing basket) for my newly re-named shop, Sushipot Vintage (it was time to cast off the old name of Sushipot Parts). AND...before I head off to bed for the night....a BIG thank you to everyone who came out to shop my pendant sale.

Pyrography Portraits

I'm thinking I was quite lucky to come across such a unique pair of antique pyrography portraits. Although I was sorely tempted to keep these ladies for our own collection they were purchased with shop funds and into the shop they must go! You can read all about 'em right here.

Patchwork Bunting

What to do with a beautiful but terribly tattered 'n threadbare quilt top? Make patchwork bunting of course! Snipping, starching, punching and stringing these 'lil bunting flags together was a nice break from other household duties over the weekend. Of course I've put aside some prime pieces to stitch up into pillow shams at a later date. For now, I'm offering these patchwork-y bunting strands in the vintage shop. These look pretty sweet hanging 'round the house if I do say so myself!

Caution: Reindeer

There's been a crafty craze of reindeer in these parts. I was greeted with this caution sign yesterday afternoon when I ventured out of the studio. Since then an entire herd of these candy cane reindeer has been spotted roaming the house and making their way into packages for loved ones near and far. And below....another version of reindeer and candy cane craftiness. Someone's been busy!

Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Turkey Day to all you celebrating Thanksgiving in the United States and a Happy 24th of November to those of you 'round the world! I'm hoping this fine bird makes its way through the day with his gobbler intact. He was such a friendly fellow and even posed for this portrait the day we visited his farm.

Our holiday repast will exclude any meat dishes this year as Patrick and I gave up meat for a week long challenge back in the Spring and have not eaten any since (yeah, I can't believe it either). This year it's turning into somewhat of a carb-fest (ie, double servings of hash brown casserole please!) as neither of us are taken with the idea of consuming faux meat.

But...our yearly tradition of crafting a fruit turkey will carry on. It was always a fun memory for me growing up and we've been making them with Lizzie every year--this one is from two years ago and boy has she grown (Lizzie not the turkey!).



And what am I thankful for this year? Well, I'm still trying to top last years list of family thanks: treasure boxes, coffee, Apple Inc, and paper chains. Life is good!

Hanky Doll

I was perusing Etsy late one night last week (totally unlike me I know!) and this charming little lady waved to me. Ohhhh, such a sweet n' folksy little hanky doll--I knew at once I must take a closer look. An even happier surprise to find she was created by Cali, an 11 year old middle schooler, who has set up her own Etsy shop with the encouragement of her Gramz, The Jewel Seeker. Cali has several more of these sweet hanky dolls in her shop, Cali Cakes Creations and I'm certain one will wave at you too!

My Parents Home

We're back home again from our weekend trip to visit my parents in Indiana. I put Instagram to good use throughout the visit so you may be inundated with Insta-imagery throughout the next week or so! These are all snapshots of objects in my parents home. My mother loves origami and paper craft and sent Lizzie home with a pocket full of tiny paper frogs and stars. Even grandpa got into the paper folding action and made an oversized paper hat with Lizzie which they had fun decorating together. It was a lovely weekend--hope yours was too!

Alphabet De La Brodeuse

An old volume of embroidery patterns, Alphabet de la Brodeuse, published by the DMC library of France has come into my possession. The tiny book is chock-full of elegant lettering, monograms, and ornamental patterns. I'm sure that snippets from these pages will start appearing here 'n there in my collage pieces very soon. Enjoy!

Pure Kaleidoscope

Speaking of recently acquired crewelwork I must show you this incredible piece. In a spontaneous ebay bid I won this pure kaleidoscope of needlework. I was drawn to its color (who couldn't be?), its Springtimey-abstract-landscapish feel and most definitely my favorite part of many things....its backside. It didn't hurt that the project was started in the Spring of 1974 (my birth year) and I love the fact that it was completed over 4 years later and didn't become one of those unfinished projects that plague many makers of things. I would love to tell Christen Baldwin--wherever she is now--that the piece of needlework she painstakingly invested hours of stitching is being wholly admired and enjoyed by me and mine.