Happy Heart Day

We went to an especially lovely Valentines breakfast buffet this morning...the sun is shining and it's an absolutely fresh and beautiful day in the Ozarks. A new pair of little diamond earrings didn't hurt a thing either! And now I'm in the mood to make more heart pillows. Have a beautiful Valentines day lovelies.

“It’s loving and giving that make life worth living.”

—saying

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”

—Mother Teresa of Calcutta

“Love stretches your heart and makes you big inside.”

—Margaret Abigail Walker

“Eventually you will come to understand that love heals everything, and love is all there is.”

—Gary Zukav

“Love is all there is.”

—The Beatles

“The final word is love.”

—Dorothy Day

“If there’s ever an answer it’s more love.”

—Dixie Chicks

 
Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch

Stitch Your Heart Out from Stash - Stash Dash 2015 Heart Week

Stash Dash 2015 Five Simple Rules - click here

I think all crafters have their "go-to" crafty work that they love, and they may even have it with them constantly in their bag, or in their car, or at the office.

For me, it was cross-stitch before I really got into sewing, embroidery of all kinds, knitting, tag making, scrapbooking and cardmaking. And no matter where I am, I always have little squares of aida cloth and floss with me. If I'm sitting in a waiting room, or stuck in a line--I'm that crazy lady who'd rather stitch than look at her phone like the rest of the world.

To stitch little hearts, I don't need a pattern, it's the same heart every time. Although the first time I stitched this heart pattern it was a wall hanging with many hearts in different color combos--which is very cute, by the way, I realized at some point I could stitch one at a time, on one little square and applique it to anything and any design.

The things my cross-stitch hearts go on:
Art Journals
Art Quilts
Bags 
Banners
Cards
Clothes
Dolls
Envelopes
Lanyards  
Mug Rugs  
Pillows
Scrapbook Pages
Tags
Wall Hangings

That's a lot for some little stashy hearts!
 

crafty envelope

little art quilt

art journal

lanyard

wall hanging

valentine ornament

patchwork for a quilt

Mug rug

this became a pillow

My little hearts really do come from stash, because the aida cloth squares are always cut from leftovers...I have a huge stash of DMC floss (read here about the floss lover)...and I don't know if there is a more inexpensive hobby than embroidery! As I always say, it's yoga, it's therapy, and it makes me happy. That's what you need in this busy, complicated world! Happy heart week. Put that phone down and stitch a little.

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch

WOYWW 297--It's Heart Week!

I love hearts and Valentines Day--always have ever since the grade school years when we turned our shoe boxes into little Valentines post offices and you got a card from everyone in the class.

*sigh* so lovely.

By the way, it's What's-On-Your-Workdesk-Wednesday and I'm off to visit the planet's most fun work tables, AND, mine is at odds with this peculiar angle. Not very revealing at this angle, but you can pretend like you just walked up on me while I was sitting there gluing or stitching or something with Downton Abbey pulled up on the tablet.

I swear, I'm going to start knitting with that giant bulge of pink very soon. Hugs and happy heart week dears!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch

Tag Tuesday Valentine - And How We Made Lollipop Valentines

It's a heart day celebration over at Tag Tuesday today...stop by and share your heart!
I had a short window of time to put my tag together, because I had spent the afternoon helping my adorable nephew make the valentines for his class party. We took a couple of dozen craft tags from Hobby Lobby and turned them into lollipop valentines. Our first step was to diecut lots of hearts--so my Valentine tag here features some leftover hearts from my nephew's diecutting session, and I took the extra step to emboss them. What else! Now, darling nephew is very well trained and always supervised on the Big Shot--but he does love it, and loves crafting, so we may have a future Tim Holtz here.

After he diecut many, many hearts in a variety of patterned papers, we folded the tags and used washi tape and a hole punch to turn the tag into a pocket for the lollipop. My nephew used a "to-from" stamp on the back (he loves stamping) and a few more decorative stamps so that each lollipop valentine is unique. Aunt Sandy finished them off with the ribbons in the top. 
 
For the complete instructions, visit TheFrugalCrafter's Blog right here.  That's where we got all our inspiration for this project! Note: we didn't have a long-reach hole punch, so we punched the hole at the bottom in the center after the tag is folded. Also, the Jolly Rancher heart-shaped lollipops fit perfectly inside! (the watermelon flavor is gooood) I think what the most fun about this project is--you can get as fancy or stay as simple as you please. You can make each lollipop valentine unique to the recipient, and you could also really use up your Valentine stickers too. We had heart stickers, but he really preferred choosing the patterned paper he wanted and diecutting the hearts. I was only there to supervise, and give basic instructions, but I let him have complete creative freedom, and that's what really made it fun.

But what I really need to do is order the huge box of tags from online--seriously, I think I do something with tags every week, and the kids in our family love to make bookmarks with them, little greeting cards, everything!

We brought all the supplies into the dining room and had a great afternoon!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch

♥ It's Heart Week! Shop Your Stash and Make Something Heart Felt ♥

 Hearts and Valentines are probably my favorite things to make! And now, it's heart week people! You have a week to stitch, glue and create some heart-felt fun. Maybe I intended a pun there...it's great to get into your stash of felt and stitch up a few quick projects. Last year I made these owl coasters for Valentines. Fast and easy.

 I am always stitching up frippery from felt scraps - they make perfect ornaments for a little Valentine tree. Just get out your Big Shot, do some diecutting, and stitch the layers together.

 Another fast and easy way to use up your felt stash is to cut out a bunch of hearts, and stitch them on the sewing machine (no turning out needed). You can choose to stuff them or not stuff them. They are ready to string up on a Valentines banner or use any way you wish. Stuff them with beans or rice for a beanie toss game!

 Fat felty cats make a cute little Valentines gift. You can stitch a little heart onto their chest, and don't forget a pocket for the kitten!

It doesn't take much felt to make some great heart day projects. And I love stitching on felt...no hoop needed...no unraveling fabric...just fun, relaxing stitch time! If your stash is low, felt is so inexpensive, so you also don't feel guilty stocking back up! Happy Heart Week!

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch

WOYWW 296--Mollie Didn't Make

After a week of makes, takes, bakes, and all that we are up to, it's time for a peek at What's-On-Your-Workdesk-Wednesday. Ms. Julia lets us post our workdesks and then go visit. Join us!

Unfortunately, I didn't make too much this week. To the left there is my latest Smash book--it's packed with art journal pages that include some of my project instructions, lists, and ideas...that's my theme for this one...in the middle is some patterned paper and tags (and nothing done with them yet) with some floss scattered around because on the right are my stitched matryoshka girls and I'm still stitching more because they are just so fun to cross-stitch. And at the upper right is a little box of recipes from my mom's massive recipe collection, and that wonderfully huge skein of pink yarn from darling daughter. I've decided to make a simple, thin, comfy pink little lap blanket. I'm going through this particular little box of mom's recipes because I noticed she had put a lot of older ones in there, and there are many in her handwriting which is of course precious to me now. And who can resist recipe titles such as "Dream Cake."

I'm a little behind on the worktable because I had a busy weekend which included a family Superbowl party--among other things we made homemade chicken nuggets for our crowd, spinach dip in the crockpot which is a huge favorite, and luscious dark chocolate brownies. It was a busy bowl day! But I loved the halftime show with Katie Perry and Missy Elliot. Hopefully I'll get my mojo going again this week and you can call me Mollie Makes next week. Enjoy your desk hopping!

the spinach dip after all the yummy ingredients were first piled into the crockpot

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch

Stash Dash 2015 - Organize Your Fabric Like a Mini Fabric Store

Do you ever have fabric envy? A few years ago we had dinner at a friend's house, and she was amazing at making hats. They lived on some land and resided in a house that was built onto the original log cabin on the land. It was still a tiny house - but inside she had created a jewel box of beautiful decorating and handmade art. Even though it was a teeny tiny house, she had managed to create one tiny room with nothing but shelves for fabric. She had so much fabric, and much of it was on the big bolts, just like in the fabric store. So that meant it was very organized, efficient, and she could always see what she had on hand.

My fabric, what little I have, has been a mess for too long. I don't have fabric store size bolts to wrap it around, but I did decide I could wrap it around something and organize it like she did. 

So, I destroyed a couple of cardboard boxes and went to work! I cut rectangular pieces of cardboard (my mini version of the bolts), and I found that when I folded even the most unruly cut-up pieces of fabric into some kind of long folded rectangle, it would wrap very nicely around the cardboard pieces, and then file right into a square box, basket or tub.

I tried to keep like colors together, and I am happy not only with being able to actually see everything I have, but the fact that the fabric will stay more wrinkle free now. What a simple solution!

Best of all, I can go shop for fabric, knowing that I'm not duplicating what I already had. And if there's something in my stash that will serve the project, even better. No shopping trip needed!

Click here to see five simple rules in dashing your stash.

We had dinner a few times out at my friend's tiny log cabin jewel box house before she moved into a bigger home. And the way she did things and made things and transformed that tiny space influenced me forever. I will always love the handmade, the created-from-scraps, the hand-of-the-artist look to everything. It holds much more beauty, personality, richness and character than anything mass produced.

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch