Etsy Shops I Love

 Another Etsy shop that I am in love with, is Red& Main. Meg makes the most adorable little creatures.  There are Yetis and Unicorns....

 and cute mammals like this anteater.....

and who could resist two sloths hugging!  Pop over to her shop and have a look around.

As for other news, circumstances are taking me back to Iowa for awhile.  I'll be packing and getting ready over the next couple days, then all next week I am going to be off-line.  I will get back to regular blogging just as fast as I can.  Thanks so much for hanging in there with me over the past few months!

TTFN,

Something Beautiful

A few weeks ago, DH and I were up in Ogden, walking down Historic 25th Street, when suddenly up ahead I saw a heavenly glow around a bin outside a shop door; the sign on the bin said "50% off Vintage Linens".  Trumpets sounded and I called to DH, "wait up!  this is just what I've been looking for."  This, my lovelies, was heaven for me!

It was glorious!

I have a project that I've been working out in my sketchbook and in my head.

I'm going to use these pieces of needlework as canvases, so to speak.  I will be adding drawings, stitched drawings, and fibers to create new works.

There were so many beautiful pieces.  Some were store bought, and machine made.

In others, you could clearly see the hand of the maker.

I just couldn't believe my good fortune.  Inside the shop, there were even more bins and cupboards full of linens.  They weren't half price though;)  Still, they all elicited many oohs and aahhs from me.

I think until each piece is ready to be used, the stack needs to be on display somewhere I can see it everyday.  I took a few moments today to go through each piece and iron it smooth.  I love the feel of the fabric, the textures of the embroidery and crochet edging, and the smell of the hot iron.  This is one of my self-soothing activities.  I know some might think me insane, but it's safe, quiet, and oh so calming.

What is one of your self-soothing activities?

I'm In a Mood...

I've been getting lots of some spammy comments on blog posts from ages ago.  That, combined with having to go do something that I don't want to do this afternoon, has put me in a snippy mood.  This is evidenced by my new comment policy addendum.  Check it out just over on the right hand side of the screen;  too much?

Pinwheels are much happier things to think about!  These are some new necklaces I put in my shop this week.  Ahhh spring is coming! Someday.

I've been thinking I should do some tiny pinwheels for earrings.  I can do them in matching colors.  What do you think?  Doesn't it just make you think of sail boats and beaches?

This one was a custom order for a bride.  This was so much fun to work on!  She sent me a pic of her in her dress, plus a link to her shoes so I could match the aqua color.  It feels good to get to play a part in a day that is so important:)

I'm going to go give myself some positive affirmations now to improve my mood.  It is Friday after all!  Have a fabulous weekend; see you Monday! 

Here is my coaster pattern I came up with.  It took quite a few attempts to figure out just how many stitches I needed per round to get it to lie perfectly flat.  I'm still not completely satisfied; it may need just a stitch or two here and there.  I've decided to leave off the edging to keep it more flat.  I think the extra edging would make glasses unsteady.  I don't need any help when it comes to spilling things!

I started out writing down what I did on each round, but I frogged it so many times that I just got tired of scratching out and rewriting.  So my next step is to go back through, re-crochet each round to be sure I have it the way I want, and write it down as I go.  I'm learning to document my patterns so I can recreate them.  I've done a couple things just winging it, then when I wanted to do them again, it was a struggle trying to figure out what I did, especially if all I had to go by is a photograph, because I sold the original.

I can crochet pretty fast, much faster than I can knit.  When I look at this coaster, I wish I could crochet faster!  I imagine sets of coasters in all the colors of the rainbow and I want to see them before me now:)  Oh patience, will I ever learn how to embrace you?

Potholders

I have developed an obsession for making crochet potholders.  I think it has to do with the almost immediate gratification I get from making them.  They are fast and I can say, "oh look what I finished!"

I also really love the vintage inspiration.  This pattern is a modification of the one above, that I found here.  I like working vintage patterns because I learn new techniques, it helps me learn how to write patterns, and most importantly, it helps me learn how not to write a pattern.  A poorly placed comma can mean a completely different set of instructions!  Needless to say, this pattern took a couple tries to figure it out.

I found this one on Ravelry. It's a lot less complicated than it would appear;)

Now, I've decided I want to interpret that pinwheel flower design at the top into coasters.  It shouldn't be too hard to figure out.  It may need to be accompanied by some caffeine though!

How is your week shaping up?  Do you have any projects in the works?

Etsy Shops I Love

I've recently become the proud owner of some lovely Etsy goodness, and I wanted to share with you.  This Wallflower is from Raw Bone Studio.  I've been admiring her shop since I first discovered Etsy, a few years ago.  The other day I was making treasuries; I added this, and as soon as I published the treasury, I popped over and bought this lovely!  I couldn't help myself!

These next two shops are team mates of mine on Etsy.  I've been oogling all the beautiful brooches at mmsVintage.  I'm especially enamored of enamel;)  So when I saw this set at a steal of a price, I had to have them!  I'm going to remove the clips from the earrings and replace them with posts, or I may incorporate them into a necklace.

During the holidays, we played Secret Santa with our team mates.  My SS was Bug Miscellany, who sent me my very own mountain that I can take with me anywhere:)  I didn't grow up around mountains, and in fact never even saw a mountain until I was an adult.  Now mountains have become a very important aspect of my personal landscape.  They give me such a feeling of security, grounding, and navigation.  Mountains mean home to me, so I am in love with this little plush mountain.

Happy Friday everyone!  See you next week:)

Mug Rugs

Have you heard of Craft Social?  It's a fun group that gets together each month on twitter and chats about crafty stuff.  This month, as a fun extra, we did a mug rug swap.  A mug rug is a coaster that has room on it for your mug, plus a snack.  We were all given a name and address of someone to send a mug rug to.

This was my surprise from Norma.  How sweet is this?  Not only did she send a mug rug, but included a tea cozy with a "B" on it, and a cute little domino magnet!  I love them!

My recipient likes steampunk, so that's what I was trying to go for here.  What do you think?
Does it convey steampunk? 

I didn't want to attach a bunch of metal gears and things because it is supposed to be washable.  Plus, there must be room for that tea and cookie!  I did crochet the edging, and the little circles, under which I inserted those flattened marble thingies.  I don't know what they're called.

I have some chicken soup simmering on the stove.  DH caught my cold, even with lots of declaring that my germs can't make him sick.  I'm off to add more garlic to that soup:)