silks and flowers

with halloween and costume making behind me, i finally found time to actually look at what i bought at the country living fair. any guess what these lovelies are? they are about the size of a business card and the flowers are printed onto silk. still don't know - well, neither did i.

i spent a lot of time picking out the flowers i liked and was thinking i could use them in some collage pieces. they were priced at $1.75 a piece, but i got them down to 4 for $5, or i should say my friend joy did since i am a wimp with price negotiations. i know exactly what i want to pay for things, but i don't like asking:) anyway, when i paid for them, the booth owner let me know that they were called "cigarette silks". she said that around the turn of the century, these printed silks were included in cigar packages. wives and daughters would then take these silks and use them as embellishments to their sewn pillows or quilts. how cool is that???

after a quick etsy search, it turns out these images are quite collectible. they come in all types of subject matter, even some that are pretty risqué, especially for the time period. i also found out that $1.25 each was not a bad price to pay at all. score for me!

thanksgiving and a tutorial

i am so excited to show you my latest project for leaf and ribbon place cards. with halloween behind us, i think it is the perfect time for a thanksgiving tutorial ;)

 

it's no secret that I love to decorate and i especially love to decorate my table for holidays. i am not much of a cook, so at least one thing that day is pretty, right? i want my thanksgiving guests to feel special, so i decided to create personalized placecards that they can take home as a small gift or even use as an ornament on their christmas tree. due to drying times, this project is spread out over a few days, but it is so worth it in the end when you see the shimmering leaves paired with beautiful may arts ribbon.

 

i am also thinking about making some leaves, stamping them with words like; joy, hope, love, and painting them gold for christmas tree decorations. 

click here to be introduced to some projects you might not have used before and learn how to make this place setting.

tricks and treats

happy halloween to you! the past week has been filled with halloween decorating and costume making. i am currently a mother to an airforce pilot and a smurf, one costume bought and one made. i am trying to hold on to their innocence as long as i can, so no blood and guts from this address, yet :)

a little green and a little yellow

can you see it? can you see the yellow starting to emerge? three lemons have been growing on my lemon tree for close to 6 months and they are just starting to turn yellow. i was beginning to wonder if i was sent a lime tree instead. haha!

oilcloth and a giveaway

through the small world of blogs and twitter, i was asked by the wonderful kelly mccants of oilcloth addict to help out in her country living fair booth. well, she didn't have to ask me twice! plus, the icing on the cake was when she said i could sell my aprons and hoop art in her booth. i said it to my friends all day long, and i will say it here - kelly is truly one of the most generous people i have ever met. the opportunity she gave me to be a part of this festival means more than she knows.

me (on left) and kelly braving the cold morning temps

so, i spent saturday cutting and rolling oilcloth for the thousands of people who came through the gates - um, can you say workout. seriously, i never knew that rolling oilcloth would make me break a sweat! i worked with 5 great women all day saturday and met so many fun people coming through the booth. i hope all of your oilcloth projects turn out beautifully!!!

did i mention that kelly was generous? she sent me home with a signed copy of her new book "sewing with oilcloth" from wiley publishing as a giveaway for one of my blog readers. just leave a comment here letting me know what you love about oilcloth. that's it! the giveaway will run for a week and a half, ending on sunday, november 6th. i will announce the winner on monday, november 7th. *be sure to leave an email or blog link so i can contact you if you are the winner!