Cuteness Alert!

Those of you who have been following my blog may know that I have a thing (a recent, kind of inexplicable thing) for gnomes and mushrooms. So, while searching "gnome" today on Etsy (instead of doing the gazillion things on my to-do list) I happened upon the most adorable shop: A Little Sweetness.  Be still my beating heart: there are girly gnomes (hooray!) and mushrooms, and even Little Red Riding Hood!

These are all embroidery patterns, but there are also prints and notecards, and other lovely things made from shop owner Tasha's delightful artwork.  You simply must go check it out!

I think once I'm done with my 25 Days of Christmas Stitchalong, I'm going to treat myself to a few of her darling embroidery patterns!

I hope your holidays are going well.  Things are crazy around here, but festive, too!  Happy holidays!

New Sampler

Here's my new sampler project.  I'm stitching on vintage toweling fabric, which is kind of an adventure, because it is stretchy in a way that linen is not.  Still, I like the different look of it.  I was looking forward to doing a more "freestyle" sampler this time, but I find that I often come to a total standstill, because I'm not sure what/where to stitch next.  Having the 40 squares drawn out was definitely easier for me.   But this style allows me to use lots of trims and laces in different sizes, so I'm having fun with that.  We'll see how this continues to develop!

I made the pink tutu into a decorative sign, and it's in the shop now:

Now I'm off to do my volunteer duty in the school library.  I just love libraries! But that's a post for a different day.  Hope you have a great Tuesday!  :)

The Tutu, Revisited.

I missed that little pink tutu from my sampler, so last night I whipped up this one.  I'm not sure yet what I'll do with it.  I may turn it into a sign or tag and put it in the shop, or it may be a good "end of the year" present for Chloe's ballet teacher.  We'll see.

Tonight I think I'm going to start a free stitching project on some of the vintage toweling fabric that I bought in Warrenton.  I've been putting it off because I'm not sure what to start with, but maybe the thing is to just start with something.  So, we'll see if I can get to that.

I'm feeling really grateful today: my dad finally came home from the hospital after almost two weeks.  It's been a scary, stressful time, but I think that he is on the mend.  It's been a excellent reminder to me of how fleeting time can be with our loved ones, and how important it is to cherish every minute.

Hope you are having a lovely Spring day!

Dresses Have Arrived!

Thanks to all of you who left such sweet, encouraging comments about my dress tag!  I was so excited about the feedback, that I made two more.  If you're interested in them, you can find them in the shop right now.  I'm planning to make more of these, but if you'd like one in a certain color or with a certain look, let me know, because I'm happy to do some as custom orders.  Hope you all have a happy Monday!  I'm off to buy more stitching supplies!

New Stitching Project and a Question

 I loved the little pink tutu that I stitched/put together for one of my 39 squares.  Inspired by that, and by my obsession with frothy vintage dresses, I made this the other night.  I stitched the bodice, made the skirt and attached it, and then cut it out of the linen embroidery fabric.  I wasn't really sure what to do with it, so I covered a large chipboard tag with some of my favorite papers and then glued it on (and, of course, added some bling).  I kinda like it (if I do say so myself). 

But here is my question for you: Etsy shop or no?  Would someone buy a tag like this?  I'm just wondering, because I feel like making a bunch of these, but then what would I do with them?  Pondering....

Finished Sampler

All done!  Here's the finished sampler.  I'm so pleased with it, but I'm kinda sad that the project has ended.  I think I'm going to continue something like this on my own, because I enjoyed it so much.

Happy Friday!

Square 38

Here's my next square, which I stitched yesterday while sitting in a hospital waiting room. That's a story for another time, but I will say that it was calming to me to be able to stitch while I waited.

Meanwhile, my daughter Chloe is on fire with her stitching!  Last night she came up with this mixed media creation:

Today I'm mailing off my Secret Garden swap box to my swap partner -- all the way in Malaysia!  Stay tuned tomorrow for a few sneak peaks of that fun project.

Square 37, a Guest Artist, and an Ode to Cath Kidston

So here's my next square.  I was inspired by my favorite Spode Mayflower dishes.  I've really been enjoying this project so much, I'm sad that we're nearing the end!

Remember when I said that one of my daughters was really taken with my stitching?  Well, I gave both girls an embroidery starter kit for Easter, and here's what my older daughter came up with on her first try:

I think it's so cute and wonderful!  I can't wait to see what she does next!

Lastly, my Cath Kidston order has arrived!  I didn't have time today to artfully arrange and photograph everything, so excuse the photos, but here's my loot:

And here's the inside of the sewing basket -- darling!  I also ordered the cute Union Jack needlepoint pincushion.  Now I just need to get all my stitching stuff organized....

Squares 34 - 36

Square 33

Square 31 and My Most Recent Obsession

Here's square 31 -- more of an assemblage of things than an embroidered square.

In keeping with my recent (and still somewhat surprising) focus on embroidery, I wanted to share with you my latest obsession: vintage embroidery transfer patterns.  Not too long ago I bought a box of these, not exactly sure what I would find, or even what I would do with them.  This week I took the time to go through the box, and here's just a little sample of what I found:

Seriously -- could these be any cuter?  The tea set with faces?  The dancing cutlery?  The basket full of hearts? The love birds?!  I just can't believe how awesome these are!  I'm still not exactly sure how I'll use them.  I think they are too fragile to try to use them as intended (iron-on transfers).  Instead, I may use tracing paper to transfer the designs onto embroidery projects.  Anyway, lots of fun to come, I think!

Happy stitching, everyone!

39 Squares: Square 30

Here's my latest square, a strawberry.  This darn thing drove me to distraction last night!  I had the most exciting idea for this square, but it did not pan out.   I have these wonderful antique beads left over from (long ago) when I bought a bunch of old beads for my wedding dress.  Some of these tiny old beads have a slightly silver sheen, and they were perfect -- PERFECT -- for the seeds on my strawberry.  Only one problem: I don't have a needle that is small enough to fit through the bead!!  Ugh!  I tried 4 different needles, and finally had to give up and resort to French knots.  I looks okay, I guess, but it wasn't the grand plan that I had in my head.  Well, you know what they say about best laid plans....   :)
On to the next square!

39 Squares: Sampler Update

 

Here's an update on my sampler progress so far, along with a picture of squares 28 and 29.  I like how it's all coming together -- and I can't believe I'm almost out of squares!