Ta Daaa...

It's finished!

My green cotton sweater is now moved from my Unfinished Projects to Done! I'll have to add this one to my De-Stash Along 2010 Project list hosted by Missy at Crafting With Craft Hair because I had all the supplies I needed in my stash.

The yarn is 100% Egyptian cotton from King Tut. The pattern is Rosemary Drysdale and was so much fun that I will probably make another in a ribbon yarn (after the wedding dress, that is). I love the lacy hem and the patterned sleeves. I told Handsome last night that making the sleeves was such fun that I could see myself just making these sleeves for a while!

So, there you have it, my friends. A finished cotton sweater that I'll look forward to wearing year-round. Back to the studio now. There's a lot to do in the next few weeks.

Thanks for all your kind words for Kes (and me). I promise to let you know what we find out when we visit the vet tomorrow.

I'm Twice Tickled...

Aren't these beautiful? Come on. Be honest now. Aren't they perfectly "Brynwood"? (Ok, I mean, aside from the fact that they actually say, "Brynwood".)

Before Christmas, I was grazing around on Etsy looking for a supplier willing to create personalized twill tapes for me. I came across a talented woman named Anna. Her shop is LillaLotta, and her stock twill tapes are simply lovely. I knew I'd found my perfect match.

After a few convos in which I transmitted my Brynwood logo and desires for two different tapes, based on elements from my logo, she sent me artwork that was a perfect interpretation of what I wanted.

One, as you can see, uses my own Brynwood lettering and my small acorn. The other features my acorn alone. Both tapes will be cut to use as "signatures" on some of my handcrafted items. For that reason, she left room around the designs on my tapes to allow for cutting and stitching. I can't wait to use them!
You can click on Anna's shop name above, or on the photos of the lovely twill tapes I purchased from her. I know that I'll be going back to her for future custom orders, and I love that she's so professional that she won't sell my designs to others. We collaborated on these tapes, and they're Brynwood's alone. She will afford that professionalism to all her custom requests. Another thing - She is located in France, but my tapes arrived quickly and the shipping wasn't expensive. No need to hesitate because of her location.

These are the other tapes I purchased from her Etsy shop. Twill tapes featuring red and blue Swedish Dala horses (remember my last name is Swedish), tapes featuring beautiful dimensional hearts, and tapes with a stack of tea cups and the words "Tea Time". I'm thinking a tea cozy with this tape on it might be in order for Mum.

So full of inspiration in the new year, and now fully stocked to move full-speed ahead. Watch out 2010!

I also want to tell you about something else today...

I've signed on with Missy and her Crafting With Cat Hair blog Destash-Along 2010.

Missy has a wonderful blog where she offers easy-to-understand blog tutorials, has lots of free patterns and ideas and shares stories of her life with her two cats, Daphne and Drusilla. In fact, I'm working with some of her blog tutorials for some new features you be seeing here at Brynwood very soon! I always enjoy visiting her.

Now she's come up with an idea that seems custom designed for me this year. Her Destash-Along for 2010! The whole concept centers around "Out with the old, and in with the new." I can celebrate using all those supplies that daily call to me from the studio, and feel pride in the fact that I'll be more thrifty in the new year because I'm committed to working first from my stash. Click on her button to read more about it. I hope you'll join this great new year's event. I'm looking forward to sharing my projects with you this year...and I'd love to see what you're doing, too!