Wow, look what came in the mail from Sweden! I was lucky enough to win 2 of Hanna's artist's trading cards (ATCs) because she participated in the One World One HeART Giveaway. You can see her original post here. I have been reading her blog ever since I received a postcard from her through a postcard swap hosted by My Little Mochi (..has it been 2 years already? more? less?) Hanna's card was my favorite for some reason, and this is a good chance to post a photo of it here. Thanks Hanna!
Here is the pin cushion I made for an exchange I found over at Swapbot, the first swap I've done throught this website. Nothing like an exchange to get one sewing again! The cushion came out soft and feminine looking, in spite of the grey pin striped suit flannel.
I love grey, pink, and ecru together.
Now that I'm sure that the stuffed animal I made for Eireann in the Backtack III swap finally arrived safely, I can post pictures! I don't have many photos of it though unfortunately, because I just took a few quick pictures before putting the pony in its yellow Postbox paddock.
I wish I had taken more detailed photos! The pony's eyes are very tiny
vintage mother of pearl buttons, and I added a little hand embroidery on
his legs and appliqued flowers on his hind quarters. This little felt
horse was made from a pattern I bought in Sweden about 17 years ago. A
little more hand sewing than I remember, and a bit tricky, but it
makes a very cute horse. Here is another shot of him admiring the view
from the roof of my car
Ma petite Bunny says: Don't forget to VOTE for your favorite Backtack III stuffed animal! Voting is on until June 24th.
I am embarrassingly behind with everything in my life right now:
housework, e-mail, sewing, reading, washing, (take your pick) - and
it's after 2 am Friday night, but I just wanted to finally post a
couple of teaser shots of the Backtack III Softie that I made for Eireann.
About time, I know. Without giving too much away, the accent color is
red as you can see, and I used a pattern that I bought in Sweden about 17 years ago
(!). There was more handsewing than I bargained for, but I really like the way it turned out. That's all I can say now, until it arrives safely in the U.S.
This week at the new job was a little better, but I still feel like I've been putting out a lot of little fires the whole time. And this weekend has to be better than the last 2- I mean a 3rd weekend with a 48 hour migraine just cannot be. And for once, this Saturday there is no school, no karate, and no homework- woohoo! So I plan to read, sleep, do something creative, and maybe even squeeze in a little housework (yuk)!
In the middle of all my new job turmoil, I received my Backtack III softie- isn' she CUTE?!!! J'adore. Eireann sent me this little Zakka style rabbit, and she really made a great softie. So many reasons to love this!
I only hope Eireann will like the softie I made for her half as much as I love the one she made me! I wracked my brains for a pattern too. I couldn't decide on one of the patterns suggested by Backtack, so I was all: "should I make a different cat? a bear? a horse? a dog? a badger??", then I got interrupted by that damn job interwiew and migraines... Well, I'll upload and post some teaser photos soon, but for now I won't say what I finally decided on making :o)
PS: See Eireann's shop for all manner of pretty things !
I haven't forsaken my blog or forgotten my mail, but honestly- this new job is kicking my butt. At the moment I'm too brain-dead in the evenings to do little else than get everything ready for the next day. Please bear with me- this won't last. Once I get to know the ropes (as the saying goes) at work, everything should be back to normal. Whatever that is.
Today I received these 2 little envelopes with the ATCs from that Flickr exchange I mentioned. The package is so pretty and I'm so zonked out, that I just think I'll enjoy it another day before I open it...
The only creative thing I managed to do today. One ATC, hold the beads, comin' right up. Fresh off the sewing machine and out the door in a flash. It was still warm when I put it in the envelope :o)
I used a little irise film, a top layer of gold tone synthetic sheer fabric, and Sulky silver metallic thread (Opalescent) around the edges so the colors change a lot depending upon the light- the results are pretty when you hold it in your hand but it's very hard to photograph! I just noticed that Sulky has a free projects section on their website - this one is for my friend Barb at Woofnanny since she has a thing for men's ties :o)
PS: Speaking of ties, here's a great tutorial for a necktie schoolbag.
Here is my Whiplash contest entry for this week's theme "No fear"! I don't know where the idea for this came from, but whenever I make something it's usually a product of several things from my stash just coming together, almost by accident, in this case:
- a scrap of hand painted cotton, done ages ago in a textile art class
- a piece of painted and distressed Tyvek, which I almost wrecked because I got a little too enthousiastic with the iron
- beads in the same colors as the background
- a little appliquéd Moomin figure, with just the right expression on its face
- a bit of sheer green ribbon, frayed, fused, and emboidered over
- little plastic eyes (hiding in the tree trunk)
I thought this was fitting for the No Fear theme - dark places and the unknown are always a little scary- so here's our little Moomin trying to make up some courage for himself, a good thing to do in a his situation.
It's 5 x 5 inches, (is this a mini wall quilt?) and made using the same techniques I use for in my fabric postcards. The square format is something I've been wanting to give a try since discovering art squared. But I cheated a little because art squares are supposed to be 4x4 :o) Anyway, here are some other picture and close-ups of my entry- click the photos to see them bigger. (Ill try to add better ones on Flickr later). Don't forget to go over to Whiplash, check out the others, and vote for your favorite! Thanks to all the people at whip up for putting this weekly challenge together!
