Happy Hallow'en!!

 Wishing you all a wonderful Hallowe'en!!!!!   We have no snow and the temperatures are above zero - great conditions for a prairie Halloween!!!!!!!!  The little pie pumpkins are carved, the seeds are soaking and will be roasted with supper and our snack as we welcome Trick or Treaters!! Therese

All Occasion Card - double stamped vellum in a frame with a layered die cut floral embellishment

Here is another of my double stamped vellum cards.  This one features a dotted flower (SU) and I stamped the back of the vellum with three colours - yellow, orange and red.  I mounted it into a frame (SX) which I embossed with a script embossing folder (CB) and then added the piece of white bond.  I trimmed a red card and then some coordinating scrapbook paper which was a bit short on the width which left me with a gap after I tore it in two.  I dug through my flower punchie stash and found four flowers which were the perfect colours to make a layered die cut flower embellishment for my card.  I used a silver brad to hold them all together.  I adhered my frame with 3D foam tape and then added my little flower with 3D foam tape as well.  Therese
 

Birthday card - mushrooms with a fun greeting, a bit of brown raffia and some ribbon

 This is my card for my second card exchange partner!!  A very different look using another mushroom (digital - Pixabay) image which I colour printed and trimmed out of the large sheet.  I left a lot of room around this one so I could add the raffia and added a bit of watercolour to remove the starkness of the white cardstock.  The brown raffia was embellished with brown and red ink to coordinate better with the background.  I wrapped the raffia around my mushrooms after I had added some paper piercing with my pattern tracing wheel.  A bit more texture was added by applying 3 eyelets to the top right corner.  I layered this element to a kraft rectangle and distressed all the edges.  I trimmed the background, added a length of red ribbon and mounted it to my large dark brown card.  The mushroom focal element was added to my card using 3D foam tape.    It is off to my partner in today's mail!!  Therese 

Birthday card - a fun greeting on a card featuring mushrooms and collage background with eyelets and raffia

 I was playing with the fun greeting referring to a "fun- gi" combined with a mushroom for a card which will show up later because it is not quite finished yet. I made this card for one of my card exchange partners for October.  I am late getting these out but they will be in the mail today!!!  I started with a beautiful cluster of mushrooms (digital - Kisspng/Cleanpng) with a fun font greeting which I colour printed and then trimmed out of the large sheet.  I ran my pattern tracing wheel around all four edges and then layered it with green cardstock which I distressed all they way around.  I created a large dark brown card and then created a collage background using two different papers.  To add some texture I added six pewter eyelets and then ran some brown raffia through them creating a bit of a diagonal element on my background.  I adhered my background to my card and then added my mushrooms using 3D foam tape.  

Halloween treats - hot chocolate!

 I made up these cute little pouches to package hot chocolates for Halloween for grand kids!!

I used two pieces of 6" x 6" pumpkin scrapbooking paper which I glued to a 2" x  6" piece of cardstock which I scored and folded and became the bottom of the little pouch which allowed the pumpkins to all be upright.  I wrapped the hot chocolate in white tissue paper, inserted it into the cavity, added the green stem and then punched two holes where I added a length of ivory raffia to hold all the pieces together!!  Cute and relatively quick!!!  Therese

All Occasion Card - double stamped vellum in a frame with leaf die cut embellishment

Here is another one of the cards I made with my pieces of double stamped vellum.  I stamped this one with a beautiful leaf and used my Creole Spice stamp pad on the back.  I embossed my frame with a leaf embossing folder (QCutz) and added the vellum along with a white bond backer.  I trimmed a piece of decorative paper a that coordinated a bit short and tore it in two which left me with a green gap.  I mounted my leaf focal element to my card front using 3D foam tape and then added three little leaves (TH) in green, purple and orange tied with kraft raffia as my embellishment also adhered with 3D foam tape.   A nice fall card!!

Therese

All Occasion Card - double stamped vellum in a framed with some fiber and lace and a stamped heart punchie

A few weeks ago after reading about the double stamped vellum technique on Splitcoast Stampers I decided to give it a go!!  I choose some stamps and dug out the white embossing powder and vellum.  Most of the stampers had used some sort of frame so I dug out a large frame die (SX) which would make it easy to adhere the vellum.  I cut the vellum just a bit larger than the opening and stamped both sides with the same stamp - the front was embossed with white embossing powder and the back was stamped with a colour.  I had cut six pieces of vellum so I die cut six white frames to go with them.  Life got busy and I did not get back to them for a few days and have been making cards sporadically as time allowed.  This is my first card.  I embossed the frame with the Swiss Dots embossing folder (CB), adhered the heart (SU) stamped vellum to the back using double sided tape and then backed it with a piece of white bond paper which gives it a nice clean look.  I wrapped a length of white fiber to the frame tying a knot on the upper left hand corner.  I added two lengths of scalloped lace to my background before securing it to my card front.  I added my frame to my card using 3D foam tape and then embellishing the card with a coordinating white embossed heart punch in pink.  This will be great for a little girls card, Vallentine's or an anniversary.  Therese
 

All Occasion Card - simple flower on a bright and textured background

I found this background under a box I had been using for pressing finished cards a while back and with no idea of the original concept of the card I was going to create I just went with a new one!!  I added a purple ribbon across it and adhered it to the purple card I found with it then tied on a short piece to simulate a bow.  I dug through my stash of images and found this simple rose (CraftStarters) which I watercoloured to coordinate.  I ran my pattern tracing wheel around all four sides of the image before adhering it to my card front using 3D foam tape.  A quick and easy card!!!

Therese
 

Christmas Card kits - Card #3 - colour printed tags over a torn background

I always make my last card kit a quick and easy one!!  This one features a colour printed tag (Homemade Gifts Made Easy) which I downloaded from the website and colour printed then trimmed leaving a white border.  These are all different which makes the cards all different because I simply chose coordinating papers and cards.  I did add a coordinating simple ribbon embellishment to the tags by adding a bit of ribbon from the front and securing the front and back with double sided tape and then flagging the ends.  I downloaded several sets of tags which worked very well for making focal elements on Christmas cards!!  

I cut a four inch square of decorative paper and tore in into two pieces and then mounted them to my card front.  I added 3D foam tape to the tag and positioned it over the gap at a bit of an angle.    Therese

 

Christmas Card kits - Card #2 - a snowflake wreath with a bow and a printed greeting

For my second card I chose to create a wreath with colourful snowflake punchies.  These were punched from a variety of scrapbook papers - mostly scraps in several greens, dark maroon and gold.  I printed a guiding circle on the white layer to help situate the punchies in a wreath shape. At the same time I added a printed a coordinating font greeting.  Once the wreath is created I added a colourful gold bow and adhered it with a glue dot.  This large element was adhered to a dark maroon layer and then to the dark green card.  The snowflake punchies (MS) make a very effective wreath with nice feathery edges.  

Therese

 

Christmas Card kits - Card #11 - peaceful dove with an embossed vellum greeting

A friend of mine who is an enthusiastic card maker has asked for a set of Christmas card kits.  She is very creative and likes to make the card her own.  

For the first card I worked around a white dove die cut (SX).  I layered this one over a dark purple oval (Nestibilities).  It was mounted over a mottled paper (printed digital background) to which I had added a stamped and embossed PEACE greeting (Recollections) on vellum simply folding the ends to the back and securing with double sided tape.  The torn edges of the greeting go well with the mottled background.  The dove is mounted over the oval using 3D foam tape to give it a bit of dimension.  

I made a few different colours to give a bit of variety to the kits.  

Therese
 

Slow Stitching - five more little cats embellished with stitching

 I have been working on and off in the last few weeks on these cat squares.  I have added a variety of hand stitching to frame them nicely on their black squares.  These will be added to quilts somewhere along line as I get back to quilting.  It has been a busy summer with a variety of events and family occasions.  The fall has been beautiful with no hard frost yet so more jobs around the house have been added to the TO DO list.  

I acquired this wonderful vest at a sale at put on by the Ujamma Grandmas.  It was very well suited to me in the way of the colours, the french and english stitched words and the fit!!!  

I will be sharing with the others on Kathy's Quilts for her Slow Sunday Stitching!!  Be sure to check them out as there is always something to inspire there and lots of links to their projects and other stitching challenges. 

Therese

Bags, babies and beyond - Ujamma Grandma sale

I bought this wonderful wreath made up of cotton bolls still attached the stems on which they grow!!  It was a wonderful find at the Ujamma Grandmas - Bags, Babies and Beyond sale on the weekend!!  It was a room full of wonderfulness!!  Beautiful bags of every ilk, Christmas decoration, packaging, gifts, wall hangings, etc!! Delicate beautiful shawls in a rainbow of colours which would do any outfit proud!!  Jewelry, tags, pot holders, jar openers, mug rugs, table runners, coasters, napkins, etc that would suit so many occasions in style.  There were mittens, slippers, toques and hats made of so many ways from knitting to felted wool. A whole table dedicated to babies from blankets to leggings!!!  I went with my daughter.  She managed to buy quite a few gifts and I brought home this beautiful wreath which I will hang with an ivory tulle bow on my front door for the Christmas season.  The prices were all very reasonable and all the items were made by the members of the group and were of exceptional quality and workmanship!!!!  Therese 
 

Cards as a gift - Little cards using art from a daytimer calendar

My friend is treating me to a bag of cherries so I made her some little cards as a Thank You!!  These images were part of a daytimer calendar I used a few years ago.  The art is wonderful and they made wonderful little cards.  I used heavyweight 12"x12" paper for the card bases and then layered each image with green cardstock and then adhered each one to a card.  They make a nice little gift!!!

Therese
 

A birthday card with a cake, a fun background and some shiny threads

 For this card I used a dark pink card and pieced a background using two pieces of paper.  I tore the black one with shoes and added the polka dot one in the gap before adding it to my card.  I wrapped the front of my card with shiny thread in silver and pink creating an abstract pattern and securing the ends under where the image was going to be.  I watercoloured the cake, added some clear glitter then ran my pattern tracing wheel on all four edges.  I mounted it to a black rectangle and then mounted it to my card front using 3D foam tape overlapping the threads.    Therese

All occasion card featuring a row of cute flowers with a coordinating decorative paper background

I love pink and green together!!  The floral graphic (Clipartix) in pinks and greens was the starting point and I found this coordinating piece of decorative paper in my stash!! Perfect!!  I adhered the background to my pink card.  I cut the top and bottom of my stripe with scallop decorative scissors and used a push pin to pierce each scallop.  I added an embossed line next to the scallops uisng my score tool.  With a bit more distance on the top I added a line of paper piercing using my pattern tracing wheel.  I tied on a piece of pink ribbon and secured both ends with double sided tape.  I tied the remaining piece to the front one using one knot to simulate a bow then trimmed the ends.  I mounted my flowers to my card using 3D foam tape.  Quick and easy!!  Therese
 

All occasion cards featuring a trio of candles on handmade paper, eyelets and gold thread and a hand decorated background

The little candles are really the star of the show on this card.  They are a stamped image (white tissue paper) layered onto white handmade paper in the process of making the paper which incorporates it seamlessly.  I watercoloured them to coordinate with my card and background and added a little bit of clear glitter using a gel pen.  Once it was dry, I added four rows of paper piercing with my pattern tracing wheel and adhered it to a piece of dark purple cardstock.  I trimmed the bottom of the cardstock with a scallop border punch (SU) and added clear glitter dots to each scallop.  I embossed a line just above them using my score tool and then tied on a piece of gold embroidery thread after wrappin it around several times.  I tore my background paper (hand decorated iwth acrylic paints) and inserted a piece of colour printed decorative paper which coordinates well with the candles.  I glued my pieced background to my dark purple card front and mounted my candles element over the torn gap using 3D foam tape.  A versatile card!!  Therese
 

Birthday card featuring a floral cupcake (digital), ribbon and decorative paper background

For this card I choose this fun floral cupcake (digital) from Cre8tive Hands.  It was laser printed, trimmed from the sheet and watercoloured to coordinate with my background.  I like that there is good contrast in the paper and it combines blue and orange!!  I ran my tracing wheel around the edges of my cupcake and then layered it onto orange.  I added a red & orange ribbon and three little coordinating square brads to my background before adhering it to my blue card front.  I added the cupcake layer using 3D foam tape.    Therese
 

Birthday card featuring an owl (digital) with collaged paper as a background

Working on a few birthday cards!!  This one features an owl (CLKER) with a font greeting which I laser printed, trimmed out of the sheet and then watercoloured with a large moon in the background.  Really like how that worked out!!  Will be doing that again.  I mounted the owl to a black flocked paper which I punched on the bottom with a scallop punch SU) and then also punched each scallop with a 1/16" punch.  I scored a line just above the scallops with my score tool and then added three pewter eyelets.  I collaged some papers to a dark brown card to create a background and added my owl element to it using 3D foam tape.    Therese
 

An all occasion card featuring a reused owl image with a layered background

I have had quite a run on making all occasion cards.  This is my last card in this session.  The little owl is reused from another card.  After trimming I layered on a rectangle of silver cardstock and then a piece of decorative cardstock that coordinated.  I embossed a line on each end, trimmed them with scallop decorative scissors and pierced each scallop.  Thinking it still needed a bit of something I added two silver/pewter eyelets in opposite corners.  That was better.  I used a light green card, added a layered background and then mounted my owl uisng 3D foam tape.  

I have really enjoyed my card making sessions and it is nice to have beefed up my stash!!

Therese

 

All occasion cards with fun digitals and torn layered backgrounds

For my first card I used a little butterfly - digital image (Pixabay) - to which I added a little butterfly kisses greeting before printing.  I trimmed the bottom edge with scallop decorative scissors and then added a scored line with my score tool.  I added a dashed border using a pink gel pen.  For my background I used a torn piece of yellow hexagon paper to which I added a piece of pink hand decorated paper in the gap.  I adhered a length of embossed vellum (CB- Dvine swirl) vertically before I added my little butterfly!!  A very cute card!!  

My second card features a cute little bear (Pixabay) It is a colour printed digital image which I trimmed then added four lines of paper piercing with my pattern tracing wheel.  I layered it with copper foil paper to coordinate with the cup then I added a brown layer with an embossed line and a scalloped border with paper piercing.  The background is a torn piece of decorative paper torn vertically with a little scrap of coordinating paper adhered behind the gap.  The background was adhered to a cool green card.  Therese

Therese

All Occasion cards featuring a fun little mouse and some birds with decorative backgrounds, ribbon and embossing

For my first card, I started with a blue card and added an embossed (CB) hand decorated shimmery/glittery background to which I had added a dotted pink ribbon that coordinated with the boots worn by my little mouse.  The little mouse is a digital (Pixabay) and she is so cute with her long tail and lantern.  Obviously, on an adventure!!!  I trimmed the colour printed image, layered with green and then with embossed vellum before adhering it to my card front over the ribbon.  

For my second card, I layered my little birds (Pixabay) with a foiled gift wrap and then an apricot cardstock that coordinates with the little butterfly.  The background is made up of three layered piece adhered to my blue card - two of the decorative paper on the top and bottom and an embossed yellow piece in the middle with gaps that allow the card to show through.  I mounted the image to my card using 3D foam tape.  

Therese

September Card Club - quick & easy cards featuring colour printed digital images with ribbon flags, an embossed leaf layer and fun coordinating backgrounds.

For our third card I went for quick and easy!!  These featured colour printed digitals (bird - Melonheadz, tree - My Cute Graphics, birthday cake - Flyclipart)  and one reused card element of a beautiful floral bouquet.  I paper piereced all the edges of the digitals with my pattern tracing wheel and added lines of embossing and some paper pierced lines to my floral bouquet.   We added a piece of double sided tape to the back or our images and added the little ribbon flags then trimmed them.  We added our decorative paper backgrounds to our coordinating cards and then trimmed our embossed pieces and added them as well.  We mounted our focal elements with 3D foam tape to finish off our cards!!!!  

So great to see my friends again!! 

Therese
 

September Card Club - leaf cards with a paper clip and ribbon embellishment

For our second card I chose another leaf themed card which features embossed leaves (SU).  I love this punch because it makes such a large leaf!!  The leaf was layered onto two coordinating squares of cardstock which were layered and then the leaf added with 3D foam tape.  Then we added the round paper clip then slipped the ribbon into the side slot of the clip and secured the two ends to each other using double sided tape.  This leafy element was then added to our card fronts which had already been layered with our backgrounds of decorative papers.    Therese

 

September Card Club - Leaf die cuts tied with raffia and layered over a pieced background in fall colours and embellished with ribbon

It was so nice to be back to cardmaking with friends!!!! A wonderful evening of being creative together!!

For our first card we glued fall coloured rectangles to a background which had a very subtle leaf pattern.  We then added our gold lacy ribbon with double sided tape and over that we added the red and secured the ends to the back.  We adhered these large layers to our coordinating card fronts.  The leaf die cuts were embossed with the coordinating embossing folder (TH - Sizzix).  We tied our ivory raffia to the stem of the leaves and mounted them to our card fronts using 3D foam tape.  

Therese
 

All Occasion cards featuring a little frog and little bear with a balloon on layered backgrounds

 For the first card I trimmed a piece of coordinating background paper diagonally and adhered each piece in opposite corners on my green card.  I added little green dots in the gap using a pencil eraser and green ink.  The little frog (Clipartkey) was layered with a gold gift wrap and then a greenish brown cardstock which had distressed edges.  The frog was mounted to the card front using 3D foam tape.  

The second card features a cute little bear with a balloon (Pixabay).  Really like this image!!  I layered a foil pink paper and then a dark brown cardstock on the back of it.  I added a torn background paper to the red card front and then added the large focal element with 3D foam tape.  

Therese

Birthday card featuring a loon (digital) with a handpainted background

 I am making up a few cards for a friend who needs some for family birthdays!!  For this one, I trimmed the loon (CLKER) with a font greeting out of the sheet after it was laser printed.  I created the backgound using a piece I had prepared with Colourbox pigment inks a while back and added watercolour to it to create the landscape I wanted for my loon.  Next, I watercoloured my loon to reflect my background.  I added a black layer to my loon and adhered my background to a black card.  I added the loon to my card front using 3D foam tape and then added faux stitching to both of my elements with a fine tipped black Sharpie.  Really like how it worked out!!         Therese

All Occasion cards featuring cute little frong and elephants, ribbon and fun backgrounds

 The first card features a cute little frog.   I trimmed it close and added black dashes all the way around using a fine tip Sharpie. I trimmed a piece of coordinating decorative paper into a tag shape, added a black circle punchie which I punched with a hole punch.  I trimmed the bottom edge with a border punch (MS).  I trimmed a piece of coordinating decorative paper for my background.  I added the tag with the ribbon and secured the ends to the back with double sided tape.  I tied back on the trimmed end to simulate a bow on the front.  I added this large element to my coordinating card and then mounted my little frog on the tag over the ribbon using 3D foam tape.  

The second card features digital image of little elephants with balloons (Pixabay).  I paper pierced the four edges and layered them with a pale yellow like the balloons.   I embossed this elegant flourish (CB) in gray and mounted the image in the embossed rectangular opening!!  I mounted this large element to a pale yellow card!!  

Therese

All Occasion cards featuring florals, ribbon and metal accents

For the first card, I started with a handmade paper element featuring a stamped floral image (Magenta).  The image is embedded during the process of making the paper!!  Love the look!!  I watercoloured the flowers and added paper piercing to the edges.  I chose a hand decorated background from my stash which has a nice shimmery finish and embossed it with a floral embossing folder (CB).  I trimmed the bottom with an eyelet border punch (SU) and then added a burgundy gros grain ribbon just above the bottom edge.  I adhered the background to my card, added my floral image with 3D foam tape and used glue dots to adhere the little metal butterfly embellishement.  

For my second card, I started with a colour printed collage element featuring text and roses (Calico Collage) which I mounted on a shiny black cardstock and then added a little gold heart which I tied on with flimsy gold thread.  The background was trimmed, the flagged ribbon added and then mounted to a black card.  The focal element was added with 3D foam tape.  

Therese

All occasion cards featuring a cute little child with a sun balloon and some layered backgrounds

 I love this cute little child with its sun balloon (Pixabay) marching into its day!!!!  

Enough to cheer anyone up!!!

For the first card, I added paper piercing to the edges of hte image and then punched the left hand side with my ribbon/slots border punch.  I added red and yellow ribbon woven into the slots.  For my background I layered two pieces of torn decorative paper to piece of fun printed vellum and then adhered it to my sunshine yellow card.  I mounted the image with 3D foam tape.  

For the second card, I pape pierced the edges of the image using my pattern tracing wheel and then mounted to a piece of gray cardstock.  I trimmed the bottom long with deckle decorative paper scissors, embossed a line with my score tool, added three little yellow circle punchies and then little black dots with a fine time sharpie in the dots and all around the image.  I taped together a collage background of gray papers, mounted it to my yellow card and added my focal image with 3D foam tape.  So cute!!

Therese

Large all occasion card featuring a lacy heart, heart vellum and little red heart sequins

This large card started with a red base to which I added the shimmery hearted vellum.  I added the red lacy heart die cut with glue stick and then added, using 3D foam tape, the heart punchie (SU) which I embellished with shimmery paint.  To adhere the vellum to my card I simply added the heart sequins with tiny pieces of glue dots to the front and then added tiny pieces of glue dot to the back directly below those on the front so there is no glue showing anywhere.  It worked really well.  

Therese
 

Birthday card with a cute butterfly, paper flags and a coordinating botanical background

It is fun to make cards for grand children!!  For this one I started with an orange card and added this great botanical background which is not too busy.   I added the greeting and  flight path with a heart to the cute little butterfly from FLYCLIPART and then laser printed it.  Once trimmed from the sheet I distressed the edges and added four lines of paper piercing with my pattern tracing wheel.  I layered it with a green paper and then added little coordinating paper flags before mounting this large focal element to the front of my card.  It will make her smile!!

Therese
 

All Occasion Cards featuring a cute little bear (digital ), ribbon and layered & embossed backgrounds

 These two cards feature the same little bear (Pixabay).  They are a free digital which I colour printed a while back.  For my first card I added ribbon in two corners and then embellished them with square brads.  I added black dots using a fine tip Sharpie on the edges as well.  I layered this focal element on a heart embossed gray background which was layered onto a white card.  The second one I paper pierced with my pattern tracing tool then mounted it on dark brown paper.  I layered up a background using a dark brown strip in the center, then two strips of wavy edged yellow (tissue paper on freezer paper) and then green striped decorative paper.  All works very well together which highlights the versatility of these images!! 

Therese

All Occasion Cards featuring a gold embossed heart shaped leaf, some ribbon and decorative paper

 These two are from the same stash of card kits from May Card Club.  For my first card, I watercoloured and trimmed the heart leaf (Magenta) with deckle decorative scissors then layered it with green cardstock which I paper pierced with my pattern tracing wheel.  Added the little ribbon flags and mounted it to my card front which was embellished with decorative paper.  For the second one I added an extra layer of green and red cardstock in between the image and the layer, added the flags and used 3D foam tape to add it to my card front which was already layered with decorative paper.    Therese

All Occasion Cards - little embossed gifts with flagged ribbon for texture layered on coordinating backgrounds

 I found this kits from my May Card Club on my desk and made them up!!  They feature little gold embossed gifts (Hampton Arts) which I watercoloured, paper pierced with my pattern tracing wheel and then layered with coordinating cardstock.  I distressed the edges of the first one.  I added the little ribbon flags and mounted my focal element to my card front already embellished with coordinating decorative paper using 3D foam tape.  Therese

All Occasion Cards - flower and butterfly stickers on waxed backgrounds

These cards all feature flower and butterfly stickers which I bought locally.  The colourful square (3.5") waxed backgrounds I made a while back by melting wax crayons onto white textured wall paper.  Totally cool!!!  I watercoloured the stickers to coordinate with the backgrounds and then created cards around them.  The first one has an embossed front with torn decorative paper layered over it.  I added two little pieces of ribbon to the square before adding it with 3D foam tape.  The second one has a coordinating layer with a border punched edge.  I added a layer to the waxed square with a wavy edge on the bottom and some paper piercing above it.  

The third one has a turquoise background with a shimmery purple ribbon and I layered the waxed square with green cardstock.  The fourth one has a multicoloured cardstock layer on the back of the square, a shimmery purple ribbon and a pink polka dot background.  

Therese

 

All Occasion cards - torn background, watercoloured images - a cute bird & a tulip

 I am making all occasion cards for my stash!!!  These two feature digital images from MelonHeadz Illustrating.   I love her images and often print several at a time.  These came from my little box of extra images.  I watercoloured the images and then ran my pattern tracing wheel on all four sides. I layered them with cardstock and added a shiny layer to the bird between the image and the cardstock.   I added green oraganza ribbon to the little birdie one as there was enough space for it.  I trimmed the backgrounds shy of the four inches and tore them vertically before adhering them to the coordinating cards.  

Therese

Slow Stitching - one of a kind vest at the Ujaama Grandmas sale

 I bought this heavyweight vest at the "One of Kind Weareable Art" Ujamaa Grandmas sale last weekend.  This organization supports grandmothers in African who are raising their grandchildren because their children died of AIDS.  They are sponsored through the Stephen Lewis Foundation.  They had a wonderful selection of very unique garments and good amount of people interested in making purchases.  I love the colours and the hand stitching in French and English referring to the blue planet, blue skies and blue sea.  It has an inside pocket large enough for a phone and keys!!  I found two buttons in my daughter's button stash that remind me of sky and clouds and are the kinds of buttons we used to have when were were kids.  I will use them to create a unique tie in the front to keep the two sides together which will work well when the weather is a bit cooler.  

I am pondering creating a yellow brooch which will reference the yellow sun, the yellow canola and grain fields and the yellow fall leaves.  It will need a bit of green which would represent the tree lines which intersect the fields.  It is what I love most about living on the prairies and really says "HOME" to me.  Therese

Slow Stitching - last two apples

I have finally finished slow stitching the apples I started a while back.  I love how they look and am anxious to get them into a quilt though as of yet I do not have a plan of how that will happen or picked the fabric to put between them.  For the most part I had my stitching reflect the design in the fabric as to not provide too much distraction from the apples.  Stitching the stems in brown went well and I see that I have three leaves going in one direction and three in the other!!  A happy accident!!  

Therese

 

Slow Stitching - a little sewing kit in a case

This idea came to me a while back and after a bit of internet research I found that it is not a new idea!  Turning eye glass cases into sewing kits is such a good idea.  This small kit is best suited to small projects like I have been doing - 6" square or so.  It is easy to fold up the project and include the skeins of thread you are going to need.  The two buttons hold a rare earth magnet so there is always a safe place to put your needle. It includes a needle threader as well.   There is a wool layer on the bottom which easily keeps your pins and needles in place.  The little leather sheath covers a regular sized single edged razor blade and the little hole in the fold allows you to cut your thread safely in a jiffy!! All you need in a very portable and enclosed space!!  Perfect!!  Therese