WOYWW 282 - Stitchin' to Do!

 Well this isn't the usual view...it's more of a closeup of my before and after mess. I found my precious mother's stash of vintage Aunt Martha and Vogart embroidery transfer patterns. I'm loving going through them, piled high on the desk. Some of them were only nineteen cents each back then. I'm imagining my beautiful young mother embroidering her tee towels and pillow cases. I can't believe how many of these she kept all these years. So sweet.

I played with them and tested them out a bit--they still work with a hot iron fifty years later! After I had them nicely organized and put away for another day, I started on my reindeer cross-stitch.

My sparkly aida cloth is my favorite thing to cross-stitch on. I'm enjoying the latest episode of The Paradise, cross-stitching, and drinking hot tea. That seems like a winter day--but I'm really just getting a head start on a Christmas decoration. Happy What's-On-Your-Workdesk-Wednesday! Visit all the desks over at Ms. Julia's.

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch

Trick or Treat Tag Tuesday

Today's theme over at Tag Tuesday is Fright Night - but I'm more into a Happy Halloween. I posed my tag with a pumpkin from my garden, after all.

I gelli printed a craft paper tag and stamped the cutest witch's hat from my Unity Itty Bitty stamp (won in a Thursday blog hop over at Unity) and added more stamping, gelatos, ric rac, hemp cord, and white paper ribbon. Fun! Visit all the frightening tags over at Tag Tuesday.

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch

WOYWW 281--Crafty Coupon Queen

Well, I told myself to cut down a bit on the trips to Michaels, JoAnns, and Hobby Lobby--my craft store haunts. But then hubby insisted I must go enjoy myself and use a fabulous coupon that arrived in the mail--one of those 20% off everything INCLUDING sale items. How could I resist that? So, to keep about my frugal ways I stuck to only buying sale items. I got 60% off a couple of Recollections tools--the mini trimmer cost a little over a dollar after sale and coupon. So cute. And a fab new craft knife for three-something! Got a great storage container for scrapbook papers for 70% off. But my favorite thing was getting an Ott Lamp that was normally 60 bucks for around 23 dollars. Happy happy! I needed a lamp like that for the crafty table  - woo hoo!

Now go visit Miss Julia over at What's-On-Your-Workdesk-Wednesday and see what the crafty tribe is up to. I've got diecutting to do! Happy Wednesday!

My new natural lighting at the crafty table.

 And one more thing--happy mail with a sweet card! Had to share my precious blog candy from Nikki C in Canada! Going to play with these goodies today!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch Happy

Tag Art Creativity ♥

 Tag Art Recipe: Old file folders, a tag punch, and whatever you have in your stash to decorate! You can do anything with tag art. You can also buy a good supply of shipping tags and have fun--I do that too. And whether you have a tag punch, a tag diecut, or a pair of scissors you can make your own tags out of used file folders, old greeting cards, or even cereal boxes.

 When it comes to file folders, I try to re-use them as much as possible. But at some point the tabs wear out, and that's why I keep a tag punch at the office! Before I throw them away I punch as many tags as possible and keep them in my stash. The other day I was gelli printing, and all those upcycled tags were painted within minutes!

Gelli printing

Embossing and decorating little tags

They were so cute with all that variety of gelli printing. I added lots of things from my stash--vintage buttons from my Aunt sis, craft buttons, little sentiments, embossing, gelato on the edges, punches from scrapbooking scraps, and even some stitching on the sewing machine.

Hearts punched from old dictionary and music pages

Adding flower stitch to the bottom

My Aunt Sis' vintage buttons

Finally I decided to put most of them together in one art piece. I had some burlap canvases from Michaels. For the base I added washi tape to the top and bottom, and then a sheet of scrapbook paper from a vintage pack I really liked. I added hemp cord to each tag, arranged them, and glued them down. Each one has a little inspirational sentiment and altogether, it's tag art!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch

WOYWW 280--Tag Love

I stopped in the middle of an extremely satisfying tag art session to snap this crazy craft table.

Visit working crafty desks around the planet at What's-On-Your-Workdesk-Wednesday.

I gelli printed a lot of tags the other day, and they are quite fun to play with. In my crafty dreams I'm picturing this huge display of art tags to sell at a craft fair in November. Everyone will ooh and ahh and buy them all. In my crafty reality I better get busy because I've only done a couple--and I can only hope to sell a few! I get distracted by things like my real job, cooking dinner, cleaning, family activities, back pain, treadmill time, stitching and the garden. I will miss the garden though when the temperature drops! But when it's full blown winter you know what that means--it's almost time for Downton Abbey!!!

Behind me is my little Texture Boutique--I was embossing little tags. And there's my weaving.

The gelli printed tag I made for Tag Tuesday this week.

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch

Tag Tuesday - Autumn Extravaganza

I know, I know...an autumn tag should have oranges and browns! At this time of year, though, I just love all the pinks and purples that are still in my garden. I'm finishing up the canning and picking the last of the tomatoes--so my tag is a little celebration of that.

Also, I needed an excuse to play with the tags I gelli printed the other day! It was a fun session with my new gelli plate and I printed big tags, little tags upcycled from file folders (check back here Thursday for that project), deli paper and card stock. Yummy stuff.

My stack of gelli printed tags.

After gelli printing this tag, I went around the edges with a dark purple gelato, added a flower that had been diecut from a cereal box, painted and embossed, a button onto the flower, a vellum canning jar, paper scrap, a Unity stamp, more gelato, and ribbons. Can't decide if I want to keep this one or sell it with my other art tags. Fun!

Visit all the autumn extravaganza at Tag Tuesday.

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch, Paint

Oatmeal Starts the Day

Eating breakfast at the office? I keep a few pretty dishes there. My oatmeal tastes much better that way! (today it's low-sugar cinnamon oatmeal with a little half and half) Have a creative day!

"You have to eat oatmeal or you'll dry up. Anybody knows that."
Eloise, Kay Thompson

 
Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch

WOYWW 279 - A Wee Bit 'O Weaving

I'm wee weaving at me desk again!
And I'm visiting crafty desks around the planet at Miss Julia's
What's-On-Your-Workdesk-Wednesday blog party. A great way to start your Wednesday.

So I'm super happy with my self-warping loom, and now I'm trying out ribbon yarn with some great results. This was just a ball of ribbon yarn laying around in my yarn basket forever and now it's found its purpose. Don't you love that? As a busy crafter you get judged for having a stash of stuff that may never get used...but then, it does! I may try to do a little November craft fair and make my stash earn some cash--we'll see. I have too many things going on right now! Happy Wednesday lovelies!

Pie pans make great desk organizers.

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch, Weave

Weaving Ribbon Yarn On a Little Loom

I am mad about this little loom! Weaving on this little thing is kind of addicting, and I'm looking forward to trying out all kinds of yarn, ribbon and string in my weaving--I see some of these little squares landing in the middle of mixed-media projects, homemade tote bags, and maybe a throw. Here's how my little squares turned out today with a ball of variegated ribbon yarn from my knitting stash. It only takes a few minutes to weave a square!

I went wrong a couple of times--variegated color can trick your eye--but I mostly got this one perfect!

Loved weaving with this silky ribbon yarn that had been sitting in my stash forever!

I'm imagining a silky patchwork clutch made out of these cute woven squares

This was one of my first attempts--very easy to go wrong in the middle! But I'll still use it in something.

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch, Weave

September Photo Journal

So many people love fall, love October, and can't wait for Halloween. I can't help it...I'm a summer girl. October 1st means getting out to the garden for some clean up, harvesting the last of the green tomatoes, and starting on my Christmas projects. If it wasn't for the little ones in our family I would just skip right over Halloween! But the bright side is, I grew pumpkins again this year, and it's gorgeous weather for taking a walk! Here's my photo trip back through September.

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch Happy