Beginning Sewing

Last month, we had a weekend that wasn't overscheduled. I pulled out my sewing machine to do some mending and to make some pillow covers. The girls were fascinated by what I was doing and wanted to participate. So I helped them make their own pillows. While we were searching for fabric, they were having trouble deciding, and I mentioned that we could make skirts, too. "You can sew SKIRTS?" Well, the challenge was on, and here are photos of the end products. We all had fun.

 

Looky looky!

Look what came in the mail yesterday. Karen at Pins and Needles did a fabulous job finishing my pumpkin sampler (and photographing it). Isn't it gorgeous? Thank you, Karen!

Versatile Tree

Here's my latest swap card. I wouldn't have guessed that Branch Out would be my "go to" stamp set. It is, however, quite versatile. I love this tree. Now I just need to make a summer one to go with the set. All products are Stampin' Up.

 

In Color Fall tree: Blackberry, Moss, Lagoon, Honey, Tangerine, and Rose Red

 

Spring Tree: Rose Red, Close to Cocoa, and Wild Wasabi

 

Winter Tree: Bordering Blue, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, White

Seeing Stars

Here's my latest card for the swap. The theme was "holidays", and my card is suitable for either New Year's or Independence Day.

All products Stampin' Up. Seeing Stars stamps and punch. More Mustard, Night of Navy, and Real Red ink and paper. Gold embossing powder. The "celebrate" comes from a retired birthday word set.

I've been remiss in posting my squares from the summer Fair and Square patriotic swap. Here are the squares I received from Linda.

And here is the Quaker heart I sent Linda.

I hope your September is off to a good start.

HB!

Two of the reasons why August is always so hectic. Hard to believe that they are 6 already!

A Chihuly pose at the Corning Museum of Glass (a most excellent museum for young and old alike).

Summer Swap Cards

Wow! Has it really been since April since I've posted? Yikes. Easter to Labor Day always feels like a marathon, with August being an uphill run all the way. There was lots of fun, but not a whole lot of sit down at the computer time.

Here are a couple of cards I've made. All products and images are Stampin' Up. Everything except the Moroccan tiles stamps is discontinued.

I've also been stitching. I finished a piece, but it's for a swap. I'll post when I can. I did, at least, remember to take photos before I mailed it.

I have a bunch of photos to share with you of our tour of western NY last month. It was a great vacation. They'll have to wait for another post though.

Happy Easter!

Staycation

I am having a bit of a staycation. DH and the girls went to see my MIL for spring break, and I am home alone this week. I love my family. I'll be excited to see them on Saturday. I'm enjoying my free time this week. Even though I'm only taking one day off from work, I have been using my extra time in the evenings on projects that are too difficult to tackle during the usual bustle of school, work, dinner, and laundry. I'm cleaning out closets and cupboards. I'm reorganizing shelves. I've left a mess on my dining room table all week as I sort things out. And I've been crafting.

Last night, I finished my witch. This was a fun project. It's DMC (108 + 310) on Aida, and the original pattern is here.

I don't think I've shown you this project before. It's Cathy Jean's Buttercups. I've been working on it since 2008. It's one of those projects that goes pretty quick when I'm working on it, but then I set it down and forget about it for a while. This is going to be a birth sampler for one of my girls. It's a companion to this piece. I'm using the same fabric and the indicated threads. I stitched the left side lavender on Sunday at my craft group, the one I rarely get to attend any more. It was fun to sit and stitch with my friends again.

This is my April swap card. The theme was black, white, and one bold color. I used Rose Red. The stamps are SU! Botanical Blooms.

Wishing you all a Happy Spring!

Swap Cards

This month's theme was "special occasions". I usually do sympathy cards because, sadly, I often need them. Someone chose that theme before me, so I went with "religious special events". The inside of these says, "on your special day". Whisper White paper, Gold Ink, SU! Special Blessings stamp set. The panel is popped up on foam dots. These would be 5 minute cards, except one has to wait for the gold ink to dry before moving on to the next step. The ink smudged so much, I threw half of the first set I made out. Even a few days later, the large images would still smear if touched.

My Nephews' Samplers

I can't believe I forgot to post the pictures of these framed. The pictures are horrible, but you can see the framing OK. All three use the same frame and same green mat. The undermat is light blue on two and yellow on one. The framer did a fantastic job making them all the same height, as there's about an 1 to 2 inch difference between all of the samplers. The widths are all different, but close enough that the casual observer isn't going to notice.

My sister was delighted with them, and my oldest niece started campaigning to get a matching one with bling. I don't have a picture of hers, but it's very country-kitchen sort of design (I bought the pattern in colonial Williamsburg in 1992) and done in bubble gum colors. It was my sister's style when my niece was born, but it's so much not my niece. Since her birthday is also in November, I'd either re-do the middle pattern or find something similar.

Monocromatic Stitching

Some time at the end of January, I found my stitching groove again. Blame it on the weather or in anticipation of the Olympics. I'm just happy that I've had time to put needle to fabric again.

I started this project last fall and finished it yesterday. It's Autumn Spice + White by Bent Creek. I used WDW Tobacco Road instead, and I'm still trying to decide if I want to fill in the turkey. I also changed the wording from Bless You to Thank You, because that's more my style. If I did it again, I would adjust the lettering a bit, but overall, I loved working on this project.

Not a stitching project, but the Valetine's cards I made with the girls this year. So much fun. They're from Stampin' Up, and we added little heart erasers (instead of chocolates) under the hands. Normally, I'm all for chocolate, but I've found that my girls get a steady stream of sugar at school already, and I appreciate when we receive non-food treats.

This is another project I started in the fall. It's been my travel project as much as anything. It's DMC (108 + 310) on Aida, so I'm not afraid to wash it if I have to. I found the pattern via the DMC blog, and the original pattern is here.

Finally, do you remember this project? I started it in June 2008 as part of the ornament SAL.  The last time I showed you the progress on it was January 2011. I had a babysitting gig through our co-op the end of this January and was able to spend some quality time with it. If I have one real stitching goal this year, it is to finish this. Only 30 rows (of 81) to go. It's over one with two threads of GAST Cranberry on platinum cashel. The pattern is Rejoice from Milady's Needle.

One of these days, I'll return to more complicated patterns. For now, I'm enjoying the one-color-floss challenge. Especially since I only spend 1/2 hour stitching at a time, these kinds of projects allow me to see progress quickly.

Winter Thanks

Happy New Year! The holidays were quiet for us. We stayed in town, and only took a few days off. The girls went to day camps most of the time, but we had a few days of Mommy Camp, too, which they loved.

One day, we went to the Smithsonian American History Museum. I asked the girls which museum they wanted to see, and they decided they wanted to see the "presidents' dresses". So, off we went to the First Ladies gallery. They really enjoyed viewing all the dresses and wanted to know which First Ladies were still living.

We also visited a "pirate ship", saw Kermit the Frog, and viewed a phonograph. Of the three, the last was the most perplexing to them. I had planned to go see Julia Child's kitchen, but the girls energy was running out by then, and we were distracted by the doll house. I think we spent 20 minutes checking it out. It is really, really cool. A book about the doll house came home with us. We ended our visit with ice cream and took the Metro home. I think riding the Metro excited them almost as much as visiting the Museum.

On another day, we went to see Frozen. The girls loved it. I thought it was cute, but I'm not as enamored with it as many parents seem to be.

While I've been stitching, I don't have enough to show you a progress picture. Sadly. I also ran out of thank you cards, so I made a set of these quickly one afternoon while I was home with the girls. The design was inspired by a foggy day here in DC.

All products Stampin' Up [mostly retired]: Bordering Blue paper; 

White, Basic Brown, Close to Cocoa, and Baroque Burgundy inks; 

Branch Out, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, and Artfully Asian stamps.