Sale!

I'm having a little sale in my Etsy shop. I'm not planning on making any more ceramic and crochet necklaces in the future, a bit too fiddly and I'm excited about moving on to new things. So if you've had your eye on one, now is the time to buy.

Edith & I

I love Edith Holden's botanical work, it's stunning and I so wish that I could paint like she did. I recently purchased (from Trademe) a book about her life called " The Edwardian Lady", it was really interesting to read more about her life and to discover that we share the same birthday. Edith died tragically as she was gathering botanical samples to paint at Kew at the age of 48. Like many artists she found fame long after her death, in her case nearly 60 years later when her book was published "The country diary of a Edwardian lady".

I had a very tatty copy of that book almost every page had fallen out from it's binding and when I discovered a copy in much better condition at a local secondhand book sale it had sat quite forgotten on a shelf. It was hard to cut up the pages as I love the images so much, but as I do have another copy now it seemed a sensible thing to do. A friend is heading overseas and wants to take some of my stitched cards with her to give as gifts so I've made a bunch of Edith Holden ones for her to take. I also abandoned the sewing machine for some of them and hand sewed some of the images on for a very "rustic" look, I love how some of the images wrap around the card and the stitching shows through. I've bundled them up in groups, like birds and "bramble" ones and pretty wildflowers. I do have some spare that I'll hopefully pop in my etsy shop over the next few days.

After a very bad start to the week weather-wise, it even snowed (a teeny tiny bit) here in Auckland! It's a stunning day today, clear skies and lots of sun, I'm heading out into the garden to make the most of it. Happy weekend!

updated

I've added a few more Orchid upcycled cards to my etsy shop, a few people asked if I had anymore so I thought I better get a move on and get some listed. I've got a few more things to list too so keep an eye out.

That's all for today, the sun is shining outside and I'm keen to make the most of it!

more roses

Not long after I read this post by melissa that I found I was surrounded by roses too. There was a lucky find of a sheer embroidered cloth from my local Salvation army(in perfect condition), the kind that you cover up food with. It has beautiful roses embroidered all over it and a crocheted edge, just what I need now as the "fly" season approaches. There are the rose cards that I had just finished stitching, gorgeous prints from a vintage botanical book that I picked up at a secondhand book sale recently (they are now listed in my etsy shop). Lastly there is the iceberg standard rose that is planted outside our front door now in full bloom and giving off a divine scent. We had ten standard iceberg roses here but I sold all but one as I didn't like the idea of spraying them to keep them looking good(and they were taking up space that could be a vege garden instead). The one that I kept was the healthiest it always seemed to be the last that got the dreaded black spot (the curse of growing roses in Auckland) and I planted it right outside our front door.

pine

In desperate need of some more stationery I set about making some more stitched cards from a vintage botanical book. It had a large section of pine and conifer like images that reminded me of a Scandinavian Christmas, I've kept some for myself and added a small set in my etsy shop. I like things that have the a Christmas feel without being all about the tinsel!

miracle

Today a miracle occurred, I somehow made these three crochet items (and a small pink one for miss E too), took the photos of them and listed them in my etsy shop all with two small children at home. The rain helped as we were cooped up inside, also the massive fort that miss E built with the coffee table, dining chairs and several million blankets! There is nothing like a big fort to make the time go fast on a rainy day. The top little brooch is my favourite, the pretty little flowers peeping out from behind the crochet, like a secret garden.

for a little boy

I made this quilt for my little one year old as a birthday present. I made this wigwam for miss E for her first birthday so I thought another big sewing project was in order for mr A. It's made from thrifted jeans and my old cast off jeans, men's shirts were used for the backing side and the batting is a thrifted woollen blanket. The blanket was queen sized and marked as a dog blanket (suitable only for a dog to sleep on I imagine) for only $3. There were a few small marks and a couple of small holes but nothing I couldn't work around especially as I was cutting it all up into squares, I couldn't believe my luck. The whole thing cost me around $20 with nearly half of that price the thread. I used the ruffle quilt pattern again, mainly because it's so easy and I'm scared to try any actual quilting. It's really warm and I made it a generous size, would fit a single or a double. I tried to keep some of the "architectural" details of the jeans, like pockets. I think there are about 10 pockets sewn randomly around the quilt for hiding little treasures in, note to self - check pockets before washing! I hope that it is built to last a lifetime and will be treasured for years to come.

In other news, I'm having a summer sale in my Etsy and Felt stores check them out.

silver stars

I did a little update at my felt and Etsy shops. I added these sterling silver stars that I mentioned here. Hopefully I'll find time to do a few more updates in the coming weeks.