sewing stuff: inking & stitching

My stack of dye catcher sheets is growing again so I started playing with a few of them the other day. A few stencils, some inks and a little stitching and some pretty gift card envelopes are in the works!

Can't wait to see how these turn out!

Storage Worth Stealing: Thread, pins & needles

When I am sewing, which is a large part of my crafting lately, I want my favorite threads and needed tools close at hand. I am always looking at things wondering if there is another use for them. If I like it, I can usually find a way to use them in an unique way.

This votive candle holder was the perfect size to hold my most used colors of thread.

This tart tin was perfect for colorful straight pins.

Practical uses for pretty things = Creative Storage.

live the repuposed life: beautiful reinventions

{Creativity is allowing yourself tomake mistakes.  Art is knowingwhich ones to keep.  ~Scott Adams}

I have long since learned that this

is the beauty of {ART}. There is

no right or wrong. No proverbial

black or white. We, as creators

of art, are free to claim our

mistakes as much more. We are free to scoop them up, recycle them, re-purpose them,

reinvent them ... make them into something beautiful once more.

... but first let me take you back a bit ... 

I have long since been a lover of the primitive arts. Years ago I bought a simple set of

directions, a rug hooking frame and some scraps of wool. I was literally {hooked} if

you will! Armed with a new cutter and a notebook full of designs I began creating rugs. 

They took hours and hours and hours and hours to make, but they were {real}. They

were going to last a lifetime. A craft of the past. When someone ordered a custom

designed rug they were in fact getting an heirloom.

... fast forward ...

I recently started what was to be a miniature {rug} for a wall hanging. Somewhere

along the way it dissolved into something smaller than miniature. A mistake. {or so I

thought}. So I tucked it away for another day ... after all, the wool had been dyed,

stripped and partially hooked. I could abandon it, but I have never had to heart to

take a rug apart ... and so that day came. Last week, as I rooted through a cupboard

I stumbled across the partially finished {miniature rug}. The colors were wonderful

and since I have been a fanatic crazy woman making bags left and right, around here

I decided then and there it might not be a rug, but it could certainly be a bright and

cheery panel on a bag.

... and so it was ...

I remounted it on the frame and finished the hooking. It was satisfying to be holding

the hook again. Once it was complete I sewed it to one of the panels of a duck cloth

tote bag I was working on ...

... a fresh and funky design. Birds, hearts, arrows, scallops, flowers ...

 ... as I am huge into {re-purposing} these days as well, I gathered up some cool

vintage fabric my sweet, sweet neighbor gave me and used it as a liner for the

tote bag. Some canvas straps, a shabby muslin ruffle and of course, a {great big

huge ruffly silky flower}. I even threw in a hand dyed velvet center for the flower ...

 

...the reverse side of the tote is embellished with a tiny felted heart with wings ...

... and so there are no mistakes.

 Just {beautiful reinventions} ...

 ... and always a reason to {CREATE} !

 

 

{farmhouse apron feature}

A while ago I made this sweet {farmhouse chic apron} ... it was, surprisingly my first sewing project ever, on a machine, even though I had been collecting fabric for years...and sewing little things by hand ...

... when I showed my pals, they encouraged me to send it in to (apron-ology) magazine. Imagine my surprise when they accepted it into their February 2012 issue!

I had posted a few photos but somehow when I was updating some computer/blogger information this post, among others, was lost. Since the apron is to be featured this month, I thought I should recreate the post ... so here it is.

... I am a collector of fabrics. I do not need a reason to buy them. I have stacks and stacks of favorite textiles lining the shelves of cupboards in the studio. One day I happened to move something and there was a little pile of neatly folded calico's ... and an apron was born.

... I have fond memories of a favorite grandmother wearing an {apron} at all times. She was the matriarch of a hard working farm. No matter which chore she was immersed in, you could find her bedecked with an {apron}.

... and while {Granny's} aprons were not neatly starched and spotless, they were {loved}. Each one of us grandchildren would find a way to bury ourselves within her {apron strings} ... she would dry our tears, wipes our mouths, and mop up our spills with her {apron}.

To don an {apron} is a wonderful thing for me ... a reminder of my past and the love that a sweet and wonderful woman gave to me. I think of her often, as I brush crumbs into my pocket ... Granny keeping her post tidy ...

... and so the {farmhouse style}. A gentle reminder of what I remember. What I {love}.

{featured here}