no more excuses!

it has been months since i posted on my blog. a family crisis just swept away any time available for blogging. i am back on my feet again, my family is doing well, and i have a new computer that is whiz-bang lighting fast loading images. i even have photoshop on the new pc. it was hard to bid goodbye to my old mac, but now i find i have no more excuses....

except so much has happened in the past couple of months i don't know where to start again. all my bookmarks from the old computer are gone so it took me 15 minutes to figure out how to sign in to my dashboard again, i thought maybe i had lost my blog for a panicky minute. here goes the test post. still collecting little dennison treasures. these little sewing boxes had the sweetest designs. mostly empty except for these little spools of thread. they would make the cutest traveling sewing kits wouldn't they...


a few more turquoise and yellow treasures i have gathered...
1950's yellow buttons for a house dress


the earings i would wear if i were hosting a bbq this afternoon serving roasted corn on the cob.

the only turquoise bordered dennison labels i have ever found, bright and fun.


sunny yellow daffodil crepe paper ruffles. so cheerful and summery, i feel like i have to hold on to the last few days of summer weather here. i can feel fall coming with its warm afternoon light and cool evening breezes.



and the little trailer from 'Oh so Lovely Vintage' i have been dreaming about ever since i saw it...
maybe one last little trip before autumn.


enjoy, julie

a little etsy love givaway....

this week i made an all pink kit easter decorating kit as a special request and just LOVE how it turned out!

if you find yourself still wanting one of these little easter basket decorating kits, i made one especially for jolly goode gal to celebrate jerusalem greer's big anniversary. head on over to enter the give away and win this kit!


here are a few other spring surprises i have been keeping up my sleeve...
frosted spring sugar stamens



vintage pastel eyelet trims with a sweet little bouquet.


sweet vintage cafe curtain ruffles. sewing the little blossom medallions was my favorite part. vintage dennison paper labels, wallpaper, and tiny flocked flowers, easy and so pretty.


cherry blossom stamens


and the last one, this little wool felt egg with a bunny tucked inside. happy spring, julie

strawberries and cherries

probably don't view this collection before breakfast...

i love it when i get a little note that one of my items has been featured in an etsy treasury. i just adore this one! you can even click on the images and go right to the item in the sellers shop. and i am kind of excited i figured out how to put it up on my blog. i have a whole week off from school for spring break and there is some sun outside my window today instead of snow. happy day, julie

'Strawberries and Cherries ' by ParisPhotographer

Luscious Fruits Pho... AmeliaKayPhoto... $39.00	tis the season - 8x... shannonpix $25.00	Strawberry and Vani... magalerie $20.00
The cookie jar (8x8... MayaLee $25.00	Straight Macarons -... PetitPlat $25.00	Extra Moisturizing ... greenbubblegor... $6.00
Guimauve a la Ceris... littlebrownpen $25.00	HELLO LOVE, a sweet... ORphotography $23.00	BOGO SALE - Strawbe... Lori411 $15.00
Chocolate Sprinkle ... janetsaw $19.00	cherry blossom doub... juliecollings $3.50	NEW DESIGN Wall dec... walldecors $85.00
Original fine Art P... PhotographyByA... $18.00	Fresh 8x8 Fine Art ... TheLightFantas... $11.00	Cherries the Luscio... VivienneWard $15.00
Milk Chocolate Cove... tookies $16.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

in case you would like to do the same, here is the link to the page i found with the quick tool to add an etsy treasury to a blog or web page.
here is the treasury if you want to see it all big and beautiful...

vintage 1920s dennison crepe paper

my weakness....vintage crepe paper.
this lovely set is on its way to my house, can't even wait. i'll be sewing ruffles all week i expect.

the box of vintage floral wire on spools is for making crepe paper flowers.
i found this book made by the dennison company, how to make crepe paper flowers. look how cool the patterns are:




blush and bashful has a lovely tutorial for making crepe paper flowers. i love this photo from her blog showing how the crepe paper is cut and rolled up.


martha stewart decorated this whole cake with crepe paper flowers, isn't it just a delicious tower of spring and cake? happy weekend, julie

something pretty to sew this weekend.....

thanks for the darling email from leslie at essisews, she sent me the link to how about orange where my crocheted flower tutorial is featured. love the images all together of these darling projects to sew. makes you want to get out your stash doesn't it....

Crocheted flowers by me
Appliqued pillow at Fiskars
Retro apron at Sew4Home
Tea wallet by Handmade Therapy
Gathered potholder by Prudent Baby
Zipper brooches at Craft Stylish

baby bird ella....

(hey, did you notice baby ella got a make-over? thanks lorraine, just love the new background!)!)
i was shopping on amazon a bit ago and found this darling book little birds. the tiny chick on the cover was enough to make me order the book on the spot....i just had to make one of these little wool chicks by margaret oomen.


baby bird ella is the first little wool birdie i have sewn from the book. something weird is up with the pattern in the book i think. the first body i sewed from the pattern was really too small. i had to enlarge the body and beak, to look like the photo. i made the tail a bit bigger and scalloped the end and added little glass bead eyes with embroidered eyelashes... i used these vintage pipe cleaners that stephanie sent me for the legs instead of wrapping wire with torn fabric. its so fun to shape the little feet so they look like they are ready to take a tiny step. this little bird really was so much fun to sew, and used such a tiny piece of wool! a great take along project to hand sew while you are waiting somewhere.

i found a great pink jacket at the thrift store that i felted for the body. **felting note** if you are machine felting a piece of old wool clothing be sure to remove the iron on interfacing. i did an experiment this time to see what would happen if i left a piece on the wool and it felted right to the fabric. might be useful, might be nasty.
i used a sweet little girls cotton shirt for the wings and tail. i decided to stitch around the wings and then stuff them with a bit of stuffing and then stitch through it all for some definition on the wing.

there are some other great projects in the book i can't wait to try:

the stork mobile by amy adams would be such a fun baby gift


this little birdhouse by abigail brown is such a wonderful idea. just browsing her website creature textiles was incredible.


and i love 'mildred and the baguette' by samantha cotterill.... her etsy shop mummysam is one of my favorites!


samantha has a new book out 'fanciful felties' that is on my new book wishlist after i have had some fun with this one first.


here's the back cover of little birds with more fun images to get you thinking about sewing again.


happy monday all, julie

tweet and the love birds....

its so luxurious i can't stand it....
i'm relaxing after work in my studio and my sweetie is in the kitchen making dinner tonight. somebody scored a few points tonight bringing home dinner, flowers, and a heart shaped box of chocolates for everyone.
thought i would send you a little love from tweet and the love birds for your valentines day.


embroidered fabric collages on book covers. i made tweet at my art group and came home and made love birds the very next day.
tips for picking out book covers: choose different sizes and colors that might be fun to work with. don't worry about a different color spine or a some wear on the cover.
'tweets' cover has some cool brown scalloping and even a bit of the authors name showing through. to punch holes through the top to hang with ribbon use the Crop-A-Dile - Eyelet and Snap Punch Tool. i thought my japanese screw hole punch would do the trick until i tried this beauty! punched through like butter!

'love birds'
cut out fabric shapes by free hand or use a sketch. lay out all the pieces on your cover to get an idea of how you want it to look. i added some baby ric rac behind the heart and then pinned each of the bird pieces in place to sew on in this order-
1. bird body cut from linen 2. bird wing cut from printed cotton 3. bird beak cut from felt 4. bird eye cut from a cotton millinery flower petal. the brown cotton leaves were sewn on the machine and then cut out.


the linen embroidered banner was first penciled on, stitched, and then cut out.
glue it all in place using aleenes tacky glue. the little stamen bundle was first wrapped in silk ribbon and then glued to the top of the heart.

'tweet'
cut out fabric and felt shapes and arrange on your book cover. the leaves and twig were part of a design printed on fabric that i cut out and arranged like a branch.
glue the stitched pieces down in this order 1. branch 2. feet and beak 3. stitched felt body with tummy and eyes embroidered on using little glass beads. 4. stitched wings-2 pieces one felt and one printed fabric and 5. collage letters to spell tweet.


feels so light and airy today, must be spring. i just wore a sweater to school.
love it all. happy day to you, julie