Cardi Revamp

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned my girl Sarah was having a series of giveaways on her blog, and I was the lucky winner of giveaway #2!

This was my first blog giveaway win, and Sarah really spoiled me with a package full of vintage goodies. Most of it consisted of vintage embroidered linens, making me giddy with excitement.

One of the items was a set of napkins, and I decided to take a couple and try something different. I attached fusible webbing to the back of the napkins, cut around the design, and made appliques for a tired old cardigan.

It's hard to see from the pictures, but I added some whip stitches along the edge of the applique for added security. Some of the buttons were missing, so I went through my button collection and added a mix of jeweled pretties.

What do you think?

xoxo
Amy

Alice & Friends

I ordered this adorable cross stitch kit from Superbuzzy last week, and I am so glad I did.

First off, this was my first order from Superbuzzy, and I will definitely be going back for more. They processed and shipped my order on the same day, so I got my 2 days later. Awe. Some.

Second, they included 2 little, yummy and cute pieces of Japanese candy as a bonus / thank you gift. Umm, hello? Fizzy taffy? Yes, please!

Third, just look at the cuteness I created!


The kit I ordered came with two patterns, and this is the smaller of the two. I'm working on the other one now.

All of their cross stitch kits including this one are designed by Japanese crafter Kyoko Maruoka of Gera!

Skimming through her blog, which is in Japanese, by the way, she has crafted some of the cutest items I have ever seen. It looks like Superbuzzy has most of her fairy tale designs in stock, as well as a Matryoshka kit. What I didn't see on Superbuzzy or Kyoko's site, but would love to find, are her Christmas designs.

I sent a love letter to Superbuzzy, asking if they plan on stocking these designs. I'll let you know what they say!

*Edited to add: I just got a reply from Kelly of Superbuzzy, and yes, she ordered the Christmas designs and hopes to have them in stock! YES!!*

xoxo
Amy

Pumkin Girl

Now hanging in our living room. Thank you, Andrea for the free pattern.

xoxo
Amy

Little Things

Good Friday to you all!

Sometimes it's the little things that can make a big difference. Take this tea towel I made a few months ago for instance:


It's a very cute design, but it was just too small for this tea towel, making it questionably cute.

So I finally decided to make the little change that this design has been so desperately needing. I put it in a picture frame!


There, that's better! Now it's undoubtedly cute, don't you think?

Do you love this design? It came from a Japanese embroidery book, ISBN: 4-8347-2498-0

xoxo
Amy

Swap Love, Part 2

Now that my swap partner, Kristi received the package I sent to her, I can tell you about it. Be sure to also get the run down from Kristi, via her blog!
Note: I forgot to take pictures of my items before sending them off to Kristi, but she has mad photography skills, so the pictures below are courtesy of Kristi.

Remember, the purpose of this swap was to make something cute for the others' bathroom. Kristi had just finished remodeling her bathroom and she chose aqua as the new color base.

A while back, she embroidered this amazing lady for her bathroom, so I started thinking of "mod" style designs.

After brainstorming over 3 basic ideas: aqua, mod, and French knots, I embroidered this:


I decided to embroider on linen, with the original intention of stretching it over canvas. But with the design, it really looked best with some sort of frame / border surrounding it, so I put it in a pretty white frame.


This piece measures approximately 9" x 12", so it took a little while. Not to mention all the French knots! Kristi says there are over 300 French knots! Whew boy!



I also sent her other goodies including: embroidery books, a zippy pouch I made, and an embroidered tea towel. You can see the rest of her loot here.

I have participated in swaps before, but this was Kristi's first, and I have to say this was the best one yet!

xoxo
Amy

Oh, Deer!

Last week, I gave you a little sneak peak at a squirrel tea towel I've been working on. Well I'm still not finished with that little squirrel, simply because I've been busy with other projects that take priority.

But I did complete a deer towel before starting the squirrel, so I will share that with you today!

These adorable patterns are courtesy of doe-c-doe. You can find the deer and the squirrel patterns in this post here.

For more inspiration, check out Flor's deer! I love that she did hers in baby pink, and it was hard not to follow her lead. Truthfully, I enjoyed this pattern so much, I just might do another one in Flor's color choices.

I'd like to wish a happy birthday to my girl Rachel!

Happy Birthday, pardner!

xoxo,
Amy

Swap Love, Part 1

Dearest Readers,

Sorry for the long, unexpected hiatus. I fell into a bit of a funk, plus I've been ultra busy with stitch work. The funk is over, thank goodness, so I'm ready to come back for the occasional show and tell post.

Today I'm sharing stitches not by me, but by my friend Kristi of Stitchy Stitcherson. She is just the sweetest little thing that I've come to know online. A while back, we decided to do a personal swap, and the subject was to embroider something for the other person's bathroom.

I told her I'd like something played off of my shower curtain, which is cream colored, with a print of chocolate colored foliage, and blue birds. Anything nature themed is what I wanted.

I received Kristi's package a couple of weeks ago, and I was absolutely thrilled with what she sent.
I wasn't really prepared for the cuteness that she made. My heart swelled with joy and satisfaction, just like I knew it would, because Kristi is a very talented stitcher.

This little hedgehog is my favorite of the cute critters.

She sent extra swap goodies, delighting my joyful self even more.

That's a Golden book called Baby Animals that she sent for Darcy, (which she insisted on sleeping with for the first 2 days after she got it.) a cute little zipper pouch with a sassy lady on it, some fancy hand dyed embroidery floss, and a Q-Snap embroidery frame! (The squirrel towel inside the frame is a project I started just after receiving my swap package, and I will share it with you soon.)
With my recent obsession of variegated floss, this hand dyed skein is a real treat. It's just lovely. So much so, I think I'm going to hold on to it for a while, and save it for something extra special.

If you don't already read Kristi's blog, I recommend adding her to your blog subscriptions or bookmarks, because that girl can make a needle smoke!

Stay tuned for what I sent to Kristi.

xoxo
Amy