All my favourite colours.

A hearty cup of spiced chicken and bean soup was the helping hand I needed to start an Autumn pom pom garland and embroidering some new cushions last week.

Will I ever see the sky again

Snow, rain and now thick fog. I am forgetting what it is to see a blue sky, and so is my camera. An evening with my friends on Saturday saw the wine glasses emptying and topped up a little too quickly and I woke up yesterday with the feeling that someone had sunk an anchor into my head. I am not a big wine drinker and now I remember why. A good time was had so I am not complaining. I just feel a little resentful towards myself for not having my Sunday with a crisp clear mind. But there is always next week.

I spent a few hours spent peacefully stitching by beloved glass beads to some vintage lace yesterday so all was not lost, and now the sun has just appeared through the clearing fog. Happy Monday to you.

Namolio

In her own words "Photographer and graphic designer by day, artisan by night." These beautiful works are from namolio over at Etsy. Namolio stocks all manner of lovely things, handmade items like these pin cushions and supplies of linen, textured, woven, plain, ribbons and trims. Its hard to know what to chose. I think I will order my next batch of fabric from here, but for now I have snapped up this charcoal linen and crochet lace pin cushion. I can't wait to receive it.

kid gloves

A sweet someone I recently met online introduced me to the lovely work of Hannah Lamb. The lapel pins are my absolute favorite!

All photos hannahlamb.co.uk

History

Happy sunday to you. I know a few kind bloggers have been posting about my Estate sale boxes and I thank them for being so sweet. I also thank them for finding the boxes new homes, as there is no doubt that all the coverage has increased sales. If you were one of the purchasers I thought I would tell a little more on the boxes history.

All the items are a mixture of vintage and new haberdashery that I have collected over the last 10 years. From craft shows, craft shops, foreign travel (paris, prague,USA), antique stores some bits I inherited from my great grandmothers and great aunts sewing boxes. All I have treasured with such a passion I didn't know how to finally decide what to use them for.

I have always dreamed of owning my own haberdashery where I could help others choose the perfect things for their projects. So when I discovered Etsy I knew I just had to share. It makes me so happy to know a box of my treasures has made someone else's day, and that with fresh new eyes and vision they will create what I couldn't.

Whimsical walnut mill

The lovely Sam, one of my etsy customers, has sent me a picture of the sweet folk she created at a recent Julie Arkell workshop. I am beaming to see the antique lace from the collection Sam bought being used as part of the outfit for her creation. I expect it was easy to be inspired surrounded by such scenery, part meadow part english country garden, set in the grounds of a fourteenth century french walnut mill. Its just breathtaking. Rooms can be rented here for bed and breakfast so you can also stay in these beautiful grounds.

Loop

After my last post I had to share some more lovely pictures from the London store Loop. I don't knit or crochet but my mama does and the next time she visits I'll be sure to take her there to get some lovely supplies. I may have a hard time getting you to leave aye mum? By the way family in Ireland you can comment now I have lifted the weird settings I didn't realise were on my account.

Pretty stitches

Perusing the submissions in my flicker groups this morning and in the Text stitch and paint group I found something new to love, these amazing needle cases.
Made from vintage envelopes that have been collaged with found ephemera, copied onto linen then embroidered with pretty stitches and vintage buttons. They are made by Hens teeth art and are for sale over at Etsy. Follow more of this lovely work and process at the Hens teeth art Blog and Flickr page. Hope you are all enjoying this new week. My last couple of days in the bar and off to start another new proper job on Monday.

Kind embrace

Tuesdays smile was made by the new items in the Two Trees shop owned by Shanna Murray over on Etsy. These little bears are such a joy. All embroidered and stitched by Shanna's fair hand, each one is stuffed with real sheep's wool and wears a little hand knitted scarf. They also carry a linen heart in their front pockets on which you can write a special message. How adorable is that? I love this quote from Shana's profile.
"I believe in simplicity. In living a deliberate life that is fill of purpose, kindness, growth and love for the earth and each other. I want to encourage a thoughtful and kind embrace of the world we live in."

Found via Smosch and Freshly Blended

All images and quotes Shanna Murray.

Fillings and toppings

My internet connection has died. Rubbish. I am currently only able to post or check my e-mails at a friends house. Luckily this is just round the corner. Double luckily the husband is back tonight and he can fix the wireless-less-ness! I hate technology sometimes. (mostly actually) But at least I have been a bit more creative due to the lack of online action. Making invitations for a cupcake taster evening for a few friends of mine and Tamzins. Gotta think of some good fillings and toppings pronto.

Jasna's world

Early finish today and I am happy to be home. It is sunny out and the light in my house is making me happy. With this in mind I had to post about the beautiful world of one of my favorite flickr contacts Jasna Janekovic.

Jasna creates such pretty things and has a wonderful home full of delicate trinkets and textiles. Her pictures have a calming white quality even though she uses lots of colours. I always check her page first to see any new photos or items she has posted on flickr or in her Dewanda shop. Just read her magical flickr profile statement. It paints a beautiful picture and contains a great explanation for the colours she uses in her work.

"White: stands for the unit, the whole, for all what is and where we are coming from or what we really are, the absolute; all the colours are in it and the light.

Blue: soft, open, clear, clean, width, timeless (very good
for people who are always busy).

Pink: heart- chakra, love, soft, warm, happy, sweet.

I use green, violet, turquoise and yellow too, but I don’t use black, khaki, dark green, grey, or beige. They have a negative character for me. Red and orange I use very
sparingly. These colours mean for me fury, aggression, narrowness, weight (heavy), mourning and so on, and these are all emotions we want to get rid of.

I trim my projects with buttons (I love mother of pearl buttons), brooches, ribbon and lace to give them individuality or stitch them with pearls. I’m collecting old lace and buttons from the fleamarket."

I wonder if there is a blog in the pipelines? I'm sure if there was it would be beautiful!

All images from jasnajanekovic

Light as a feather.

Out for lunch- roast pork and light as a feather chocolate cake for pudding-very delicious and my Easter morning was spent avoiding chocolate by making my veil and garter. All these pretty sewing supplies I have hoarded up for years are finally getting to fulfill their destiny! This tiny little dove was all alone in a box at the Shirley leaf and petal co I couldn't leave him in the shop so I had to find space for him in my veil. I never really plan the things I create, I just poke around my sewing room and gather a collection of bits and pieces that I feel go side by side and some how they come together, so rolling with the bird theme I made my garter using some net that will match my dress, a bow for my something blue, a diamante heart and two brass swallow findings from Etsy to embellish it.

Paper quilts and costumes

I took on a bit more than I could manage over christmas. Note to self-do not join swaps, clubs or any other projects in November or December! But I've finally finished my quilt for The paper quilt project. Using only the papers that the organizer Dawbis sent to me. Now if only I had the return address! I think I'm quite pleased with it but I find it hard to really love something I've made myself. Too self critical.

The Paper Quilt Project was a year long project that allowed artists from 32 different countries to come together and share their lives, their culture and their art with one another.

Each month 12 new artists create a collage interpreting the project's theme, "A Day in my Life," and give a glimpse into their world. Every collage from each month will soon be sewn together to create 12 amazing individual paper quilts, later each paper quilt will be auctioned off or donated to charity in order to raise money.

I have also found a new blog. One post and I'm already hooked! Mirka lives in the South-West of Finland in an old school building, Which she and her husband are slowly renovating. This first post is full of amazing discoveries, one being a small storage cupboard full of things that had been made years ago by teachers and pupils for school plays.
Costumes for little gingerbread boys & girls, a princess crown, a knights harness of cardboard, a mushroom costume made of paper and antique biology books containing images like the one below. Can you imagine finding these things? how wonderful. I can't wait to see what else Mirka has in store for us.

Above Image from Oprikka, Mirka's blog.

Little iccle rabbit.

Morning! Seeing these in another great etsy post by Holly over at decor8 reminded me of the "tweeter's" (pictured below) made by Abigail Brown. Each matchbox tweeter is delivered to you hidden away in it's little nest consisting of a vintage matchbox (that once belonged to an old mans matchbox collection) Each one is totally unique. Made from recycled and vintage materials. Thats why alas, they are all sold out at the moment! But there are lots of new items in the shop that are just as adorable, such as the Little iccle rabbit pictured here with his friends : )