A Valentine For You

Valentine's day was always one of my favourites

 from cinnamon heart candies that always came in the little red heart-shaped plastic container, to the paper valenitines you punched out of an activity book (remember making the envelopes?)

heart shaped cookies, and heart shaped cakes

 

heart shaped ornaments and sachets

pretty in pale colours with a little stitching

a grown-up valentine

a special heart for all you lovers of anything and everything French

the pattern I used calls them pincushions...

I made them smaller, and I think they are the perfect size to fill with lavender and tuck in a drawer

or add a loop and hang on a tree

or a drawer knob

 

the beauty of the pattern is that you start with a square of fabric 

and at the end, you have two hearts

maybe one for you and one for a friend?

I kept it simple - all light fabrics and threads; cream and ivory coupled with icy palest blue

(i never seem to tire of this combination!)

a little woven ribbon bow and two heart charms

 

these are addictive little creations

if you would like to try your hand you can find the pattern here

I made mine smaller - I think I started with an 8" square, and did crazy quilting, but any technique would be wonderful...and instead of sewing ties I just used ribbon

and a Happy Valentine's day wish for all of you...

"My love for you is immortal

as the rocks upon the hill

And though the winds may blow

My love is steadfast still."

I wrote that when I was 13, probably having read far too much English Literature centered around struggling love in stormy mansions... I never added to it although at one time I thought it could perhaps be an epic love poem and my life's masterwork

(don't you just love the grand illusions and ideas of youth?!)

the older I get the more I like it just as it is... the stormy part is there, as is the concept of endurance

and the ideal that true love can go on forever

Oh, Not Again!

I love trying new techniques... it's that old curiosity thing again...

and I love it even more when I after trying something new, I realize that although it's cool to know how to do it, I don't really want it for a hobby... soap and paper making were like that, as was basket weaving and needle felting... 

not the case with my latest endeavour

a week or so ago I took a beginner course on making jewelery

and since then I have been in hot pursuit of beads, baubles and trinkets and anything that says "bling"

so much fun

 now my work table looks like this

and I am trying to figure out storage for all this "stuff"

 working with wire like this was not part of the course but I wanted to fiddle with it 

 

 I do love stacking up beads and caps and such on head pins and eye pins

 

and playing with different combinations

the whole thing seemed completely peculiar to me at first as I really wear very little jewelery... I love it, but every time I put it on I think I look ridiculous... 

like I've been mucking about in my mother's jewelry box again

 

and then I realized beads and baubles on wires and things could decorate lots of things besides myself

this looks kind of goofy in the picture but in real life it looks quite pretty... strange how the camera does that...

anyhow, it seems I have a new hobby,

and I'm looking at beads and baubles everywhere, and books and magazines...

Going's On

going's on...

that was always a favourite expression of my Grandmother's and it stuck with me...whenever I have lots of things happening in my sewing room it comes to mind

and there is lots going on these days - at least, there are lots of things started!

remember a few posts back - the evolution of an idea?

you were all so intrigued so I thought I should show you where I'm at now....

the inspiration fabric made me think of writing, which made me think of writing letters, which made me think of how I didn't write as many as I would have liked, which made me think of how I sent some postcards from France when we were there (but they don't really count as a letter), which made me think of the postcard graphic from the Graphics Fairy

 

which made me think of a set of stamps I bought from Etsy a long time ago that had a Paris postmark stamp and a cancelled one

 

which made me think of making postcards from Paris,  which made me want to send some (but as I won't be back there for a long time, it makes that idea a wee bit difficult)

 

which made me think I could make some anyway, but what to do with them?,

 

which made me think wouldn't they be a fun invitation for my sale this year?

a postcard collage with images of Paris, painted and stamped to look old and shabby, with a heart made of little knots of fabric

 I still need to put the eyelet in the corner so I can string through a ribbon ... and then figure out what I will write on the back, but that will be a whole 'nother thought process!

thanks to everyone who commented for the fabric giveaway...

the winner is commenter #3

Suzy of Suziqu's Threadworks

send me your address Suzy and I will mail it off to you!

and speaking of mail - I have three Wishing Stars left to finish and then I will be sending them out to all of you who gave me a word last year. 

I'll be emailing you in the next few days to get your address info.

your words were all beautiful and stitching them gave me time to think about each one and what it means to me - I'd say it's a fair exchange.

and speaking of words, I have finally chosen my word for February... there couldn't be a word in the whole of the English language more appropriate for me right now than

 prudence

stay tuned

Have You Ever...?

So I'm taking this online course... well, truthfully, I'm taking a few

it's an addiction, apparently...

I signed up for Stephanie Lee's Handbook of Elements class last Fall, even though I knew I had no time for it when the class was actually happening... but the beauty of online classes is that they are usually available for a a three month or more time period

so I knew I could get to it, eventually

and eventually is now

 it's a course on making books, with covers of metal and the pages of plaster

and the button string you see above and below is just one of the things Stephanie showed us how to do

I'd never made one before - never even heard of them but now I think I'm addicted...

I've made 6 so far and had to force myself to stop
have you ever made a button strung?

Stephanie said it was the first craft she learned, other than finger painting...
the first craft I learned other than finger painting was to knit

I would have liked this much better!

 

I added a charm to to one and love it

and so I am looking at everything with fresh eyes now, wondering how it could be worked into a chain - so addictive!

the plaster gauze arrived this week and as the class expires on the 31, I have been busy making plaster pages and getting things ready so I can bind at least one book before the video is gone

I didn't make the metal covers - I'm brave enough to attempt it but my DH is a tad nervous of some of my artistic escapades (he warn't all that impressed when I wanted to burn canvas with a heat gun - although in his defence, it was only two days after our house fire - he relegated me to the fire-pit with a 60 foot extension cord )

we'll leave soldering for another day....

and for those of you that were asking...

the above fabric is called "Communique" and is by Graphics 45 for Wilmington prints.

If you can't find it where you are, the shop I work at will mail order to anywhere in the world; you just pay for the fabric (15.95 per meter) plus postage (they will only charge you the exact cost of the postage - nothing extra). The shops blog with contact info is here, and you can email your request to them.

and, just for fun - how about a giveaway, from me to one of my Followers?

1/2 metre of the Communique fabric shown above,

just leave a comment here and I will draw a name on Wednesday at 6:00 pm Pacific time

Good luck everyone!

Evolution of An Idea

mind's a-whirr again

this cloth came in the other day and it was love at first sight

words and hands, fountain pens and postmarks

and my brain started buzzing - thoughts and ideas tumbling one after another but none forming to completion

ideas of random creations, in various stages

 

and then one started to take more shape

so far I've cut strips of fabric 1/4" wide and started tying little knots, cutting them apart with pinking shears 

palest pink tinged with gold and cream

 aqua with hits of the palest green and grey

 

a beautiful Christmas toile that is pure inspiration

 

like an ink sketch with palest sepia and washes of light pink

  

a post card image from the Graphics Fairy and a picture copied from a book about the history of Paris

all of these and more are coming together, both in my mind

and on 140 lb watercolour paper

I have an idea for the invitations for this year's Sale...yes, yes, it's early, but when ideas come, you just have to run with them....

come Sunday I'll be up to my elbows in paint and glue!

It's All In the Details

Still quilting... still loving it...

this is one of the other ones I started last week

sewing strips

cutting triangles

cutting them some more

the pieces coming together like little hearts

 

soft pink, red and dusty blue

the colours of France

most of the fabrics are from the Rouenneries collection by French General

not all though - I do like to mix it up a bit

 

beige, taupe and cream are the neutrals

and the borders pull them all together so they make sense

it's about 42" square and will be a table topper for my kitchen table

once I get the painting and flooring done that is

and the lights and the sink

faucet and curtains

borders laid out but not sewn

last night we watched Midnight in Paris.

have you seen it?

if not, I do recommend it

it's definitely a Woody Allen movie with it's fair share of distracting dialogue that is more thinking out loud than sharing a conversation - you have to be quick to catch a lot of the innuendos tossed back and forth. 

and the scenery...

there were more than a few "we were right there" moments but what I really loved about it was the way he wove some of the famous artists of Paris into the story

to see them brought to life, nonchalant in their ignorance of their later fame was wonderful

as was the idea of them all together like that... sharing...

kind of like what we do here

except of course they get to do it in Paris.. tiny little detail....

Fabric & Thread

Off today, and into the sewing room I went...

coffee in hand while the snow whirled and swirled outside

My fabric piles have been distracting me of late, and I waffle between groaning over how much there is and being entranced by all the colour, pattern and texture calling out...

 

there is an oriental print at the shop that has been there for a couple of years - black with little pink and white cherry blossoms interspersed with circles filled with oriental motifs...

a very interesting piece of cloth

 every time someone brought it to the counter I would wish I could think of something to do with it

finally one day I put myself out of my misery and bought some

and today I started a little quilt with it

 

the blocks are all finished and laid out on the floor so I can think about a border... so far I'm lovin' it

and I've been meaning to tell you - 

remember last summer I told you about our little Miss Josie cat and how the vet had diagnosed her with acute renal failure?

she weighed about 2.2 kilos (under 5 lbs) was desperately thin, and while her blood work showed the kidneys weren't functioning properly, it seems renal failure wasn't the problem. 

We have no idea what was wrong with her (worms or some kind of bird flu have both been tossed around) but with a huge effort of feeding and hydrating her, I am pleased to say Mistress Josy-phine is now weighing in at a healthy 3.9 kilos and has a lovely round belly!

 

and has taken to playing in the bathtub at all hours of the night!

she takes her little cat toys in and tosses them all about and wakes up the whole house

the other night Bozzy went in and howled something fierce at her...

and I bet it wasn't "hush"!