My Salad Bowl

Hello, Sweet Friends! Life has been busy around here, and part of what is keeping me busy is Spring!  I've recently been working in the back garden, so I thought I would show you a little bit of the outdoor nesting that's been going on around here.

Above, is what I call my "salad bowl".  It's full of all kinds of yummy heirloom lettuces.  It's nice to be able to pick a fresh salad for dinner.  There really is a difference in flavor with fresh lettuce.  This lettuce has been really easy to grow, and with it hanging I haven't had to worry much about slugs and snails.  Love. That.

 

Recently I've been picking up plants here and there to get my vegetables, herbs, and flowers going again.  I found a few of my herbs and tomato plants at a garden club plant sale at McKinley Park in East Sacramento.  I love going to garden club sales.  You never know what you're going to find.   

One of my basil plants is called "Goddess Basil".  I got a kick out of the name, so I couldn't resist bringing it home.  Apparently it has a fairly spicy flavor and is considered a gourmet basil.  I wonder if it's the basil often used for "Green Goddess Dressing" ?  I love how there are so many types of basil to choose from.  Check out this fun basil list-- I was shocked at just how many types there are!

I also picked up some low growing plants to refresh my fairy garden.  Winter was not kind to my fairy garden this year, so I'm excited to re-plant and re-fresh my tiny garden.  I think the fairies will be very happy with my choices.  The gnomes, however...

This is just a little peek at my potting bench.  It's just a teaser because I want to make a new skirt for it before I reveal the whole thing.  I've had this potting bench for several years now and although it's very simple, I love it.

Okay, so I love a good Buddha in a garden.  Is this not the sweetest face on this Buddha?!  I know, this is not exactly vintage/cottage style decor for my garden, but I adore him.  I picked up the little aqua pot with succulents at Trader Joe's last year.  I love Trader Joe's for little things like that.  They make great gifts.  This was, uh, a gift for myself.

Soooo... what do you do with a dead tree?  You hang bells and chimes on it!!  Can I call this repurposing and recycling?

This vintage water tank stand has been repurposed into a plant stand with a galvanized bucket and some flowers.  I love repurposing vintage items in the garden.

I love the columbine and ranunculus flowers.  The fluffy white ranunculus flowers remind me of Hagrid's fluffy head.  Oh, that is Hagrid's fluffy head!

I hope that you are all enjoying spring.  I'll be back soon to share more of the back garden.  I've been very busy-- this is just the tip of the iceberg, friends!

Hugs,



Under The Sea

This past month has been a busy one for stitchin'~ all gifts for special friends and family... and friends that I consider family. These two lovelies are going to make their way to Boise, Idaho to two of my favorite people in the whole wide world-- mother/daughter dynamic duo, Debra and Chelsey. Deb, Chelsey, and I have been lifelong friends.

When Chelse-Woman was a wee one, she loved Disney's "The Little Mermaid". She would spend hours in the tub singing Ariel's "Ahhhh... ahhhh... ahhhh...". Those of you who have kids may know that song well, as your little ones probably sang it in the tub too. When Chelsey sang, you could hear her down the hall, and Deb and I would just look at each other and giggle.

Chelsey was a fun, precocious little girl, with gorgeous red hair and an incredible imagination. Chelsey was often in "Chelsey-World"~ dancing and singing around the house in her tie-die leggings, and her twirly-whirly red square dancing slip that her grandma found for her. Seriously, (giggle) I don't think I ever saw her without one or the other-- or both. Chelsey could speak from a very early age, and introduced us to vocabulary we didn't even know existed. To this day, we still incorporate "Chelsey-isms" into our conversations. ("Oh my goodness-- Deb! We need to have a discussment!") Just goes to show, close friends have a "language all their own", right?

Well, Chelsey has grown into an incredible, lovely, talented, world-travelin' young woman. She's an amazing photographer (I love, love, love her photos), a great cook (she can cook Julia's boeuf like none other), and she's got great style (she wears her leggings in solid colors now). And yes, she still has that gorgeous red mane.

However, no matter how grown up Chelsey is now, whenever I see a great mermaid image--I think of her. Needless to say, this was the inspiration for choosing these vintage mermaid embroidery patterns to stitch for Deb and Chelsey. I hope these images will bring back sweet memories, and that they will love them as much as I loved stitching them!

Hugs,

Clay Play, And Some Sweet Vintage Embroidery

ost Fridays, my friend Kathy and I get together for what we call an "Artist Date". It's a fun way to stretch our creative wings, discover creative inspiration, and to simply have fun. Recently, Kathy and I had the opportunity to play with clay! Kathy has access to a kiln, so we have been excited to try our hand at sculpting. Above is my sculpture. Can you tell what it is??

Is it easier to tell in this photo? It's a pincushion! You know, the classic tomato with a strawberry needle sharpener. I used white clay, and decided to glaze it clear. I thought it would turn out with a more of a matte finish, but it's a bit glossy. I had hoped that the "fabric texture" would show more too. The strings came out okay though. (Okay, okay, okay, I'll stop the critiquing...)

Although I learned so much on just this little project, I have so much more to learn. This little pincushion was so fun to create and I'm really looking forward to the next project!

I love this little vintage embroidered dresser scarf thingy-- did you notice it under the pincushion? I collect vintage embroidery pieces here and there, and this is one of my favorites.

Each stitch is so perfectly stitched, and the images are so sweet. I love this mama duck and her little ducklings. Check out the baby duck butt-- that little duck is diving for something!

I love the trees on this piece also. They used two shades of green, and they look great.

Such a sweet stitched scene!

Hugs,

Happy Little Cottage

I love Etsy. I love that it's such a great way to shop for fun, unique homemade and handmade items. One of my favorite bloggers, Debbie from Happy Little Cottage, recently opened an etsy shop that totally reflects the style of her cheery, happy blog. I love her style, her choices in color and patterns, and now I know I love her craftsmanship!

Will you look at how cute she packages her pincushions!? I love this! She stitched the bag closed! So clever! If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know how I love creative, special packaging. Love. It.

Debbie's great style is easy to see in all the other charming sewn items in her shop. Please visit her etsy shop here~ you'll be so happy you did!

Hugs,

Time For A Cuppa

Hello, Sweet Friends. I've finished stitching another tea towel and wanted to share it with you before I send it off to my favorite auntie! (Won't it look cute next to her yellow kitchen aid mixer?!) I love these vintage anthropomorphic images. They've got so much whimsy, and they're super easy to stitch.

Oh-- and I love that this silly teapot has a pair of spiffy red shoes! She's stylin'.

I hope that you all enjoy the rest of the weekend... I'm spending time with friends tomorrow, and looking forward to doing some more stitchin' on Sunday! I've been embroidering a lot of tea towels lately, and will be catching up on posting them soon~

Hugs,

Valentine Swap, Part 2

Hello, Sweet Friends. I've been so excited to share Part 2 of this Valentine Heart Swap, hosted by the marvelous Marsha of The Tattered Chick!



**(Please click HERE if you missed Part 1~ believe me, you don't want to miss it!)



Kate, from the blog Crazy Purple Mom was the recipient of this little valentine heart that I created. As you can guess, her favorite color is purple, so I decided to stitch a heart in a soft shade of periwinkle/lavender. I love periwinkle. I've always thought of it as the perfect shade of purplie-blue. (Yes, another new vocabulary word for you all!)

This was my first real attempt at stitching with felt, and I loved it. I may be hooked. I wish that I could stitch a valentine heart for each of you! I've always been inspired by the beautiful and whimsical stitched felt creations of Elizabeth and Paulette, and have always wanted to try my hand at it. This heart swap was the perfect opportunity to stretch my stitchin' wings! I sent this little heart in the felt envelope above, addressed to Kate...

... and even sealed the envelope with a tiny stitched "xox"! I stitched the back of the heart with a little flower, a "J", and a little stitched heart. As they say, "love is in the details"-- right?

This was also one of my first attempts at beading. Don't you love these little pearl beads? They're so teeny tiny-- it took a bit of time to get the hang of handling them. I thoroughly enjoyed creating this sweet little valentine, and hope that it makes Kate's heart happy. I know that having the opportunity to stitch it for her made my heart happy!
Happy Valentine's Day, Sweet Friends!

Hugs,

PS: Please visit Marsha's blog for links to see a fun variety of hearts from this Valentine's Day Swap!

Valentine Swap, Part 1

A few weeks ago I took a leap and decided to join Marsha's Valentine Swap. I knew who I was to create a heart for, however I did not know who I was going to receive a heart from. Little did I know that I would receive an envelope all the way from The Netherlands~ from the lovely Lisette from Liszha's Scrappy World! She created this adorable polka dot pink stitched heart, and I love it! And as if that wasn't sweet enough, she included even more wonderful goodies:

Isn't this fun??!! Lisette is so generous~ and so creative!
I instantly fell in love with this adorable dangly heart key fob! She used my current favorite color combination-- pink, red, and turquoise. Looking at all the little details, it's so evident that she made this with me in mind.

Lisette is also a very talented paper crafter. She created this absolutely gorgeous tag for me using a variety of materials-- it's so beautiful! I've always admired people that can bring together several elements and materials so perfectly. It's a skill that does not come naturally to me, so I'm always so in awe of people who seem to have a natural knack for it.

Oh-- and she included this rubber stamp and some fun, sparklie di-cut tags also! This was such a fun envelope to open, so full of fun surprises! Thank you so much, Lisette, for the beautiful heart and all these wonderful, thoughtful goodies!

Hugs,

PS: Please don't forget to come back tomorrow for Part 2~ I can't wait to share the heart that I created for Kate!