Above Water

Is this week over already? I am ready for it to be and it is only Tuesday! I got my biggest order yet from RosaBlue and I have been busily cutting away felt, embroidering pockets and faces on bears and bunnies, ironing wrens on fabric labels...

I am just trying to take it slow, to do them in color batches, so I don't get overwhelmed. Between trying to keep the household chores up, take care of this order, go to work and prepare for my new job (in which I am doing the "handover" this week), I am endeavouring to keep my head above water.

But, when I feel overwhelmed and nothing seems to be getting accomplished, I take some "Jack Byrnes Wisdom" and I step back, take a deep breath, take a break and go back to it in a little while. It will all get accomplished, not everything all at once, maybe not as quickly as I intended or how I planned and organized it, but in the end it will all get done.

So, right now, I am just focusing on keeping my head above water, I've always liked a good challenge, so I am more than ready to take this on....

(Image: Esther Williams found on Flickr)

Good Morning!

After pulling an all nighter Monday evening to finish up the last of my RosaBlue order, I am very content this morning to munch away on my lucky charms cereal, with the hum of the dryer in the background as I get caught up on laundry and just be!

Oh, Mt. Laundry, I will tackle you today! I will reach the top and wave my banner of accomplishment high! Or at least come close to chipping away at your peaks!

The wind is whistling around the house, so I think a cup of hot chocolate will be the next thing I make as I slowly move into the kitchen with my green shamrock cladded socked feet! Hope you are having a nice morning wherever you are...

Lavender's Blue

Lavender's blue, dilly dilly, lavender's green,

When I am king, dilly, dilly, you shall be queen.

Who told you so, dilly, dilly, who told you so?

'Twas my own heart, dilly, dilly, that told me so.

Lavender's green, dilly, dilly, Lavender's blue,

If you love me, dilly, dilly, I will love you.

Let the birds sing, dilly, dilly, And the lambs play;

We shall be safe, dilly, dilly, out of harm's way.

This wee ditty played in my head this morning as I tucked some little lavender colored bunnies into pink striped tissue paper to mail to RosaBlue.

I am sure they would have rather hopped, but with the help of the post they should get there faster and their paws will not be tired, there will be plenty of space to hop around the shop...

Down the Rabbit Hole

It is late, it is very late, after 1am to be exact. I seem to be having another bout of insomnia, coupled with the lovely cold I seem to be getting! It is quiet this time of morning and very very cold so, I have wrapped myself up in one of my quilts. This one is an 1800's quilt from the American Mid-West with a log cabin pattern.

I always stare at it when it is on me, looking at the fabric, wondering who made this, how long it took them to sew it, how long it took them to save the flour sacks or old dresses to have enough material to make this quilt? Was it the work of a young girl, practicing her hand at quilt making or that of a young woman for her wedding bed? A mother for her child? If only it could speak or was handed down to me from someone who knew its story...

Since, I am up I thought I would share with you a few more pieces of the wonderful Japanese illustrator Katogi Mari's work. I used one of her illustrations in my Friday Post.

We saw Alice in Wonderland yesterday, it is all still sinking in. It was a kaleidoscope of color, fantastical, imaginative and it is amazing what a computer can create today with the help of many human hands and hours behind it.

I love the colorful yet simple designs, the clean yet detailed and whimsical nature of Katogi Mari's work. This series sums up the fanciful side of Alice for me. And, I love the 1960's Japanese-esque of it all.

I feel as if I have fallen down the rabbit hole myself with all the bunnies I am stitching for RosaBlue and my sinuses are making me feel as if I am in a topsy turvy world, I am waiting for cakes with eat me piped onto them and pianos and books and chairs and teapots to come floating by my head.  I am now going back to stitch on more marshmallowy bunny tails, so they will have more hopping power to jump into their box when they are all sewn up!

Blanket Statement

This morning the sun is shining yet again, the little pot of bulbs by my front door are ready to pop open and a rap at my racing green door was opened to find my jolly postman waiting for me with a parcel in his hands.

What was in my delicious parcel? This:

It was written by the lovely Vicki Haninger, who runs the Turkey Feathers Blog and the Pattern Bee web shop where she sells wonderful vintage and retro embroidery designs.

I have been desiring this little book ever since I saw her cute elephant doll, sweetly dressed for a party with a heart bejeweled crown on her head. But you could not get it in England and I could never find it when I went home to visit. So, thank goodness you can now get it through Amazon UK, that makes me 1 very happy camper!

So, sitting down with a steaming cup of tea, I tore into this package like a child on Christmas morning and I flipped through, oohed and aaghed and then I flipped through again and oohed and aaghed some more.

What a sweet treasure this book is and the other ideas it has already started spawning in my head... it is really adorable!

If you can't wait to get your hands on your own copy, you can already begin making a project from her book. She offers this darling little lambkin pattern on her website. It looks like something straight out of a vintage shop. I can just see the 1950's little girl it belonged to in her pink coat and matching bonnet with this little lamb tucked under her arm.

I can't wait to get started making some of the projects out of here. But, first there are bears and bunnies to be made for RosaBlue, so I am busy happily stitching away!

Click on the Lambkin for a pattern and directions:

1st Valentine's Candy of the Season

Last night while at the grocery store, I got my 1st bit of Valentine's candy. These little jellybeans just jumped right into my basket, they must be jumping beans, instead of jellybeans.

They tasted like the good Easter jellybeans, you know what I mean?... YUMMY!  So, last night while sitting on the couch with my sweetie and watching an episode of "Rescue Me" we munched away on Valentine's happiness! I have to go back for more, these would be adorable on top of cupcakes or pressed into a sugar cookie...the possibilities!!

P.S. speaking of hopping, those little bunnies hopped right into their box and hopefully by now are safely in the hands of the lovely Penelope.

100th Post!

I can't believe it! Today I am writing my 100th post! We have done a little work in the flowerpots this morning, cutting back and sweeping things up.

We had to make a milk run this a.m. and my grocery store surprise was 3 brightly colored primroses.  So they are now happily nestled into their new homes and will bring a smile to my face every time I come into our cottage door.

I still can't get rid of the last remnants of Christmas.  With the weather still being so icy here, my Christmas wreath is still living merrily on my front door. So, off came the bow I had made for it and on went a heart hung in the middle for Valentine's Day.  I am going to keep enjoying this little wintry wreath as long as I can.

I am still hard at work on crafting my little bears, a personalized pink colored bear has been added on to my order.  So, that will be my last bear to complete, along with 3 little bunnies that need to be stuffed.

They have just had their fluffy little tails sewn on and are more than ready to be filled with marshmallowy fluff and be sewn up, so they can hop on into their wee traveling box to be posted on their way to RosaBlue.

(Image of the Cake Invitation & Sweets from the BabyGardener, embellished by Jennifer Michie)

Bears, Bears, Everywhere!

I have been busy sewing away the past few days, amongst other things and still have a bit more work ahead to finish up these little bears for RosaBlue.

So our house is filled with colorful bears (and bunnies too--but they haven't been put together yet), they seem to be everywhere. They even ended up in the bed last night! It is tiring work being sewn and stuffed together and so some of them needed to take a nap.

Well, I am off to do more work, those little pockets won't stitch themselves and I have some bears who have been patiently waiting to be put together.  It is so cold here at the moment, I might need to make them scarfs for their journey to the shop...

Is it a Bird? Is it a Plane?

What's that peeking out from behind my little line of tooth bears? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, its bunny ears, peeking out!

That is the new pattern I have been working on! I am now making tooth bunnies along with my bears. I have sent two samples to Rosablue, so we will see what the customers think about them.

I had so much fun creating these little guys and sewing on their fluffy bunny tails. I had to be careful they almost scampered away before I scooped them up and placed them in tissue paper in their box to be mailed.

I am sure they were happy to have arrived at RosaBlue, there wasn't much room for them in the box to hop around...

10 Little Bears

10 Little Bears all in a row

when they are made
it is of to RosaBlue they go!

This is my WIP (work-in-progress) on this blustery day. It is so windy I had to take my lantern in from its little hanging perch by my front door for fear of it blowing away. It is silvery gray outside and has been pitter-pattering with rain every now and then.

So, I am staying cozy indoors and working away on my little tooth bears. I am also creating another tooth animal to tuck away treasures in for the tooth fairies...

They are patiently waiting for me to sew on their faces and tooth pockets so I won't keep them any longer!

Its Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas...at the 2009 Christmas Fair that is! The Fair was a great success, for all involved! It has taken me up to today to get my breath back! What a day! Everyone had so much fun and the Charity did really well.

I made 3 more little Christmas bags on Thursday night to bump my table out a bit more and I was going to make another one but my husband said he was unplugging my sewing machine if I didn’t stop, I just needed to rest. So, in fear of being unplugged, I snuggled up on the couch with him instead.

I could not sleep from all the excitement, I was up at 4 and it was a frosty morning when I left the house at 6:30. Everything was quiet and calm and it gave me a chance to collect my thoughts as I walked to the Fair.

The front porch was decorated so sweetly and that immediately put you in the Christmas mood. Upon entering the house, Christmas music was already going and Ella Fitzgerald was crooning you through the doorway. I made 3 Christmas mixer Cd’s a few years ago and that is what plays throughout the day, I was in dreamland getting to listen to Christmas music all day long.

After, putting the finishing touches on my table, I took the chance to look around everyone else’s stall, I oohed and aahed and began to do a little Christmas shopping of my own before the crowds arrived. A beautifully hand painted, "Twas the Night Before Christmas" sign, a vintage green trunk and a vintage school poster with a snowman scene were just a few of the treasures I found.

Lucky for me, my stand was next to the very sweet Penelope of RosaBlue. Everyone’s stall looked splendid! There was such a nice mixture of new things, antiques and homemade items, as a customer you were definitely spoiled for choice.

The day went by too quickly and as we were packing up, it was sad to think that I will not see some of my “fair” friends again until the Summer Fair or even next year’s Christmas Fair; but, to a cozy house we will all march to get warm by the Aga, enjoy a cup of tea, catch up with each other and spend a day of “work” just having fun!

I have a commission for my “Oh What Fun!” blanket, so I am off to cut out hearts and start stitching away in my own little world with some Christmas music in the background of course!

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho off to RosaBlue we go...

Well, I don't know if you remember but after the Summer Fair in June, I had a lovely store owner ask me if I would make tooth bears for her(see post 6/14/2009).

I did and they all sold! So, here is the second wave of bears getting ready to go out the door to her gorgeous shop! They were all trying to peek out of the box when I took their picture.

I hope they all go to happy homes and have lots of Tooth Fairy visits.

Look below at the gorgeous store that my bears will live in before they go off to new homes.

RosaBlue

All the Fun of the Fair!

The day of the Fair was an early one. I was up at 5 am and after showering, double-checking I had everything that I needed; I was out the door and on my way. There was already a flurry of activity when I arrived.

The sun was beaming through the trees and drying up the morning dew. The stallholders who had already arrived were moving methodically and quietly. Everyone was concentrating on setting up their stall and getting ready for the fun but long day.

It didn’t take me long to set up and before we all knew it, customers started to appear. The weather held out for us and we had a steady flow of people. Children squealed at the sight of the dollhouse they could play in and had their own tea parties inside while their mother’s had grown-up tea parties at one of the quilt covered tables. You would see everyone making 2 to 3 loops around the stalls trying to take everything in, before stopping to have tea and then going back to make purchases.

It was an exciting day and I got my first big break. Penelope, another stallholder and owner of RosaBlue (www.rosablue.com), came over to look at my stand and after seeing my products she was interested in trading with me.

Our first venture together will be selling my “tooth” bears to her and offering a personalizing service to her customers who want a child’s name placed on their particular bear. I am thrilled and hoping to be able to have some of my other products sold by her in the future.

The day was over all too quickly and after breaking down my stand and helping to clean up we all sat down and toasted the day and the sunset with a glass of wine. After hugs and kisses goodbye, to some friends I won't see again until November, I gathered up my stock and decided to take the long way home to just have time to myself to reflect upon the day.

Click on the Pictures Below to see some of what the day held.