Fleece Navidad...

Fleece

 

No. Your eyes aren't fooling you. This image is not out of focus. These two fabrics are fleece, and they're the designs I've chosen for our granddaughters' Grammie's Jammies this year.

Do you see the corgis? There are light-colored ones and dark-colored ones, too! I know a certain not-so-little redhead who will love this soft, cuddly print.

Both are washed and dried, and ready to be cut out. I'll be sewing today. I'm really looking forward to making these, and I'll share grandson's pajama fabric tomorrow.

My Exchange Ornament

This is the ornament I received in the exchange on Tuesday. Isn't it sweet? The base is a tiny, tin Jello mold topped with felt. I love the tiny bottle brush trees and the Santa head. I may have to make a few of these myself!

We got our first serious snow yesterday. Tag had a ball, running around in the snow, while I shoveled to clear our back entry and approach to the garage. Of course, as the sun went down, the wind picked up, and all my hard work started swirling around the yard. I'll be shoveling again later. I'm going to sew first.

Button Floozie Ornament Exchange...

I'm a Button Floozie. No. Really. I've been a contributing writer to the weblog, Button Floozies for some time. It's a great place to read about all the different kinds of buttons and meet new bloggers who share this interest, too.

For the past couple of years, our administrator, Laurie has organized an ornament swap for our members. Each of us belongs to a group of five and we create ornament sets to share among our group. In my group for this swap are two old friends, Denise and DeeDee, and a couple of new friends, too - Debbie and Renee.

Our deadline to mail our hand-made ornaments is today. So, guess how I spent yesterday? Yup. Making ornaments!

I had help. Miss Ellie (my Babylock Ellisimo) was all too happy to help me create the base for my ornaments, and she stitched out her work in record time.

After she was finished, it was my turn. Sewing, stuffing, stitching, detailing with vintage buttons and making the cording for hangers all went into the creation of each ornament.

They're all finished and in the mail...right on time. I'd love to show you a picture of them, but I really have to make you use your imagination. There's a chance that one of the Floozies in my group might peek at this post, and we can't have her seeing her ornament before she opens her package, now, can we? Thank goodness for Photoshop and their special effects feature.

I'll show you the actual photo some time next week, after I'm sure the ornies have been received. Today, I'll be making the November mini quilt for our monthly QAL at Sandy's Quilt Shop. I'll be taking it with me to the shop on Saturday, but I promise to share it with you first.

Happy Friday, y'all. I hope you have a creative day, too.

A Corgi Ornament...

I received a Christmas package from my blog bestie, Shell at The Raspberry Rabbits. It came as a surprise, and when I opened the package I actually started to cry!

Staring up at me was this gorgeous, glass corgi to hang on my tree, and then reside year-round in the studio.

I mean...Look at this face!!

Shell included one of her annual handcrafted cards (I smile when I get those bunnies each year!), and to keep my corgi ornament safe, she also sent along a soft, felted wool acorn ornament.

How good was I this past year to have received these special gifts from my beautiful friend? I know my corgi friends are all going to want one, but this one is mine and I'll treasure it forever.

Thank you, dear Shell. You really hit the mark on the head when you chose my gifts this year. Sending long distance hugs filled with gratitude for you!

Button Floozies Ornament Swap Gifts...

It's time for me to show you the gorgeous ornaments I received from my swap partners in the Button Floozies Ornament Swap.

These are the ornaments I sent out to my three partners. (Remember, I showed them to you late last month?) All three of my partners have sent theirs to me now, too. Wait til you see their gorgeous creations!

The first to arrive was this beautiful Button Ballerina from Marsha of the Oklahoma Button Society. Becky started with white pipe cleaners, added an empty thread spool for a body, crepe paper for her ballerina skirt and buttons for the head and hanger. Isn't it pretty? (Thank you, Marsha!!! You're so creative!)

Next to arrive was this beautiful ivory stocking from Becky of Rebecca Rose Designs. Her stocking is embellished with printed muslin fabric, and a paper rose and velvety leaf. Vintage buttons finish off her pretty stocking ornament. (I love it, Becky! Perfect for any decor and full of vintage lovliness! Thank you.)

Last, but not least is the gorgeous ornament I received from Deb of Deb's Vintage Soul. The base of her ornament is a wooden disc, which she covered with silver glitter. Then she added a green cameo to the center and encircled it with buttery vintage buttons. She added a sweet curly hanger to the top and sent it off to me. (Thank you, Deb! I love what you created and it will be the perfect addition to our tree!)

Finally, thank you to Laurie of Button Floozies who organized the swap. I sent an ornament off to her, too. It was a variation on my nutcracker ornament. I embroidered her nutcracker in dusty blue and all the buttons I chose were toy-themed to make it look like the toys a child might find under the tree on Christmas morning.

I really enjoyed the swap, and appreciate the hard work that Laurie and my swap partners put into the exchange. You can click on the Button Floozies link (above) to see all the ornaments that were creative by all the talented participants. I'm sending wishes for a Merry Christmas to all, and looking forward to a Floozie New Year!

We Now Return You To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming...

Things got back to normal yesterday. No worries. No more snakes. Sorry if I freaked anyone out. I've got a few things to take your minds off the mild trauma of it all today. First, I've got a photograph of the two finished ornaments for my swap partner at Ravelry. Think she'll like them? (I hope so!)And then, I wanted to show you the sweet bookmarks I made from the beautiful handmade egg beads from my dear friend, Marion. I'm going to send her one of the finished ones (along with some other surprises) as a thank you for her generosity. Each bookmark has a 14" length of birds' egg blue velvet ribbon, one of Marion's beautiful blue beads on one end (along with Swarovski crystals), and a bird charm with crystals on the other. I got the idea from a recent cover of Somerset Life. I knew I'd just have to try it!And finally...and I've been thinking about this for a few days...I've noticed that my following has climbed to over 150 members. I'm going to add another giveaway gift if we get to 200 by the time the 200th Post Giveaway ends. Here's what I'll offer if we can celebrate a 200th Follower Giveaway:I'm offering another color-themed gift package...First a vintage washboard. It's about 18 1/2" tall and I'd love to see what the winner does with it. Also included is a hardcover book called Heirlooms From Loving Hands, by Sandy Lynam Clough. It's chock-full of her wonderful, painted images and inspirational words and ideas. You'll also receive a cool wine bottle gift box. I have one in my studio that I use to store knitting needles. I'd love to know how you decide to use it. And, finally, a velvet "Joy" ornament (I didn't make this one, but I loved it).

So, if you haven't already told your pals about the 200th Post Giveaway, or you haven't posted up a button on your blog yet, here's another incentive. I'm thankful for each and every one of you this year, and if we get to 200 followers here by Thanksgiving, this is how I'll show my gratitude.

Tomorrow I'll be sharing the Brynwood Needleworks Acorn Ornament pincushion tutorial with you!


Here's a button you can add to your blog to crow about the 200th Follower Giveaway. If we get to 200, one lucky follower will win all of the items in this photo! I'm crossing my fingers for y'all!

In the event we don't make it to 200, I promise I'll keep this gift set together until we do! Someone is going to win this - either next week, or very soon.

A Christmas Dove...

This year, I'm involved in a Christmas ornament swap on one of my favorite online sites. This swap requires home-crafted ornaments, so I set about making the first of two needed for the swap.

I decided to use Warm & Natural batting as my fabric. (Thanks to Dawn from The Feathered Nest blog for the inspiration.) I cut out the dove body and wing pieces and then hand stitched the matching parts together. I even remembered to leave an opening for light stuffing. (I used my favorite - 100% organic wool.)
I used heart-shaped buttons to attach the wings to the body, added two black beads for eyes, and a pretty "sprig" for its mouth. I used a medium thickness metallic thread for its hanger.

My last step was to spritz it with spray adhesive and press it into chunky white glitter. (You can click on the photos to enlarge them to see the glitter detail.)

What do you think? Was my first ornament for the swap a success? Do you think my swap partner will like it? I think the second ornament for this swap will be a lacy Christmas tree - or a heart. What would you do?

Tomorrow will be my 200th Post! I'm planning a Giveaway, and hope you'll come back to see what I've gathered for you.