I’ve got four sets of pretty sewing pins and a new redwork embroidery to list, along with some 5×7″ prints of my sewing pin photos. How’s that for productive? (For me, at least!) I’ll be headed over to Etsy to start making listings as soon as I click “publish” on this post.

For more creative spaces, visit Kirsty at kootoyoo.

(Oh, and for those of you who asked, I will be selling sets of postcards with the pin photos as well. Just have to wait for them to be printed and sent to me!)

Click!

This weekend found me boiling my embroidery. Yes, that’s right. Boiling it.

Upon rinsing out the marking pen from a finished embroidery piece, I discovered that some of the red floss had bled onto the fabric. Horrors! (I’ve used this floss before and never had this sort of trouble.)

After doing some research on the Internets, I decided to try the following:

Fill a pot (large enough to hold your embroidery) with water and bring it to a boil. Throw in a couple of teaspoons of cream of tartar and let it dissolve. Turn off the heat and place your embroidery into the water, stirring it around gently a couple of times. Let it soak for 10-15 minutes, then remove from the water. And …

… it worked!

I don’t remember where I found this suggestion or I’d link to it. It was originally suggested for red floss that had bled onto linen, but it worked wonders for my muslin as well. The stain lifted almost immediately, and the piece was saved. Oh, thank you, Internets!

As you can see, it’s a smaller version of my embroidered doll’s house, intended for the shop. Now it’s on to finishing and writing a listing and pricing it…. Oh, and enjoying this nice little patch of sunlight on this wonderfully warm day.

Meanwhile, I’m still in pin mode—making some pins for the shop, testing prints of the pin photos. To those of you who requested them (and even those who did not, if you feel so inclined), which prints are your favorites? Do you think you’d prefer postcards, greeting cards, or larger prints, such as a 5×7″ or 6×8″? Ah, the decisions!

Alejandra, or Ale as I came to know her, sent me links to her websites, and I just fell in love with her photography. I can appreciate some beautiful architecture, and I love good photography, so I knew all of you creative types would appreciate Ale’s work as much as I do.

Here’s a taste:

(All photos by Alejandra Symonds, used with permission.)

You can find Ale here and here. (Most of the text is in Spanish, so if you need a translation, you can plug it into Google Translator if you like.)

Thanks, Ale. I hope you’ll continue to share your amazing view of the world with us!

New decorative sewing pins required …

… new paper packages, which required …

… little card stock “stickers,” which required a new hand-carved stamp.

I printed way more than I need at the moment because I have ideas for other ways to use them. I’m still snipping them all out.

The packages are matchbook style and made of double-sided card stock that I had forgotten I’d bought and discovered while looking through my papers. I stapled pieces of white felt into them for holding the pins and attached the “stickers” with a little bit of double-sided tape to cover the staple on the front. They overlap the edge of the bottom flap a little to look almost like a clasp.

Being inventive and resourceful to meet needs can be fun, but it can suck up an awful lot of time. That’s sometimes the trouble with creating, isn’t it? You just keep creating and creating and creating….

Back to snipping. Busy, busy, little bee!

(Find more humming creative spaces at kootoyoo.)

The pattern does not include a border, but I decided to add one. (Hubby tells me I am constantly altering patterns and asks, “Do you ever just make things the way they were intended to be?” Hmmm.)

Anyway, the corners of the blanket turned out just a tad wonky, and I’m not sure if that’s due to poor blocking (only lightly blocked) or poor construction.

Ah, well. No one ever seems to notice except me, so I’ll go with it.

I’ve got a little longer to work on the next blanket, so I’m thinking about knitting up one of my all-time favorite patterns. First, though, I’m going to turn my eye to a few other things for a break from all this yarn!

Oh, and look who arrived on Friday!

I am love, love, loving him! He is even cuter in person, if that’s possible. I’m also loving the little chicken tags and matchbook notebooks. So much fun! Thanks, Lynsey. Tweedie will make a fine addition to my collection!

The first time I attempted these, I had all sorts of troubles with beads that came loose, glue that didn’t cure, and messy, gluey strings and blobs that had to be picked off. It took several tries for each pin before I had it presentable and durable enough for gift-giving.

I assumed this time there would be more of the same, but amazingly, not a single bead was loose, and there was nary a wispy, glooey string to be found when I checked them 24 hours later. Huzzah!

I am contemplating fine-tuning this process so that I can try selling some in the shop. At very least, I’ll be making a few for myself.

The next step is making up little packets for each set of 6. (These will be presented as favors at a quilting retreat.) At the moment, though, I’m having too much fun taking creative photos of the colorful collection. They look like cheerful little trees, don’t they?

Hope your weekend is a forest of color!

Tonight I’m going to be making some more decorative sewing pins for a commission order, and then I’ve got a little something red that has been begging to be finished for months.

After that, who knows?

More creative spaces as always at kootoyoo.

After a rather hectic few days, I’m swinging in here pretty late on a Friday feeling a little brain-drained, so I thought I’d do something a little different and feature another blogger/crafter I admire. Aha, Feature Friday makes its return! This time I’d like to point you to the fabulous Lynsey of Swirlyarts.

Lynsey is the queen of recycling and makes the greatest book covers, envelopes, mini notebooks, gift tags—you name it!—out of recycled papers. I especially love the things she makes with old book pages. She’s used several of my favorites so far, including Charlie Brown and Richard Scarry.

Lynsey is also famous for her cute little “cheeky chickens.” She makes larger sizes as doorstops and some smaller ones to be used as paperweights or pincushions.

On a recent visit to her shop, I just couldn’t resist clicking the buttons to procure this adorable little tweed guy. I have been checking the mailbox every day without fail in anticipation of his arrival (even when it was way too early for him to possibly be here!).

Beyond being a talented recycler and crafter, Lynsey is just an all-around sweet gal. If you haven’t visited her before, check out her blog and her shop. (The shop is currently on vacation but will be back soon.) I feel certain you’ll find something to love.

Ah, now, that felt good. It’s so much more relaxing to write about someone else’s wonderful things, perfect for the end of the week. Have a good weekend!

(Note: All photos were pinched from Lynsey’s blog or flickr page with her permission!)

I’m still making baby blankets. I know everyone gets lots of baby blankets, but I don’t think the store-bought ones can beat a thick, squishy, soft hand made version.

I almost don’t want to give them away. (But I do, and I will.) I’ve got one more to go, and then it’s back to some embroidery.

No shop update this week, but there are still lots of goodies waiting for new homes!

For other lovely creative spaces, pop on over to Kirsty’s place.