A crazy week......

First off I want to tell you that this is a warning.....I grab lots of my photos from my Flickr account (as most of you know).  With the new changes (ugh) on Flickr lately, and my stupidity on computer situations, todays post might be a jumble mess.  Time will tell!  IF I could keep my fingers crossed as I type this, I would, because today has me baffled as to what might happen.  So, here goes:

First, I want to introduce you to two new "Ladies".  #48 is the first one.  Meg is her name and here she is:

And here is the original photo that Meg sent to me.  Actually, there were originally 3 people in the photo, but I cropped her out to show you.

Next, we have the lovely, Paula.  Actually, Paula was commissioned by a friend as a gift for her 50th birthday.  I had to wait a long time to show you Lady #39, but here she is:

And here is Paula with herself:

Other "ladies" are in process of flying to their owners so hopefully, you will see more next time.  I'm ready to sew more of you, so anytime you're ready, I would LOVE to create you in fabric too!!!

Onto the swaps......!!!  I had one thing to do and yeah.......I finished that last week too.  I signed up for the simple group (although this project did take me close to 5 hours), but I love the result and actually thought about keeping them myself.  I made coasters with a pad for a pitcher:

I bought two strips of the squared Malka fabric at my LQS, cut them apart, trimmed them with Kona white, cut them at 5 inches, lined them with 2 pieces of batting, backed with another square, flipped them inside out and quilted them on the lines already on the fabric.  Cool and easy!

Then.......I've still been doing envelope art too.  Thankfully, I had lots in reserve to send to my friends because this was a busy sewing week.  These have already been delivered though so I thought you might enjoy them too:

And lastly, let me show you a picture of our lilac bush.  It's finally blooming in all it's glory:

Now......if Flickr would come up with "smell-a-Flickr" we'd be all set!  Have a great week, my friends!

Swap stuff and more mail art!

First for the swap stuff.  I got the most darling pouch from the Little Pouch Swap.  My partner was, Laura VanVleet and she nailed me to a "T".



Isn't that just the coolest?  I love flying geese, rainbow anything and hand stitching!  And the yellow dots are a real plus!  Thank you, Laura.  I love it!

Then, I got my 1st pick from the Little Quilt sew, vote swap group.  This one is so precious and truly reminds me of summer (although my hubby is highly allergic to bee stings):



I'm thrilled to say that I finished Ladies #47 and #48 this past week and they are either on their way to their owners, or waiting for a special presentation day, so can't be shown yet, unfortunately.  Perhaps next time.  Remember too, that we are still missing Lady #39 (who's birthday is in May and she was a gift), and Lady #45, who has a far-far way to travel.  Hopefully, one of these days we can catch up!  This coming week, I will be working on ladies #49 and #50, making a swap gift, and maybe working on a shower present for a friend.  Sometimes, there's not enough hours in the day!  Good thing that I keep my pens and envelopes handy for times like when my floor has been scrubbed (like just about 30 minutes ago) and needs to dry so I have something to work on.  lol  I still am enamored with the envelope art.......click on each to see it bigger:





















So there!  Now you've seen just about everything I did all week.  All except for the ladies.  lol  If you want to see the envelopes Annie mailed to me, check out her blog on my sidebar "freezeframe".  We've been having such fun!

Have a great week my friends and stay creative!

Mail Art #1

Dontcha think that sometimes it's just fun to look without reading a thing?  Does that ever appeal to you?  If so, today's your day!  (And Happy Mother's Day on top of it!)  Remember just one thing.......all these envelopes have either already been sent through the mail, or will be soon.  Enjoy!



























See........I told you I was busy!  I hope you enjoyed seeing these.  (You and all the postal workers ...... some all over the world......who saw all my fun envelopes in person.)  There are more to come!  I have a stack all ready to mail yet.    Before I make more though, I'll be working on ladies #47 and #48.....YEAH!!!!!  I hope you will have as much fun as me this week!!!

Have I inspired you to entertain your post office?  Hope so!  Until next time..........

Paper or Scissors?

Such a clever title for today's post!  Sometimes I really amaze myself!!  lol  Actually, I should have said, "Scissors or Paper" because today will be all about sewing.  Next time though, I will have a slew of mail art to show you!  (You thought I sewed fast?  Hello!  You ain't seen nothin'!  Some of these envelopes go lickity split and lately I've been making about 4-5 a day!)  BUT, enough of that for now.  Today is about sewing so let me introduce you to Lady #46 - Jan #2...........(not to be confused with Jan #1 who was Lady #37.)  Believe it or not, I do remember ALL my special ladies by name!!!!

And here is the original photo she sent me.  She was kind enough to let me show you:  

Check out those cool purple glasses and hoop earrings.  I just had to give her hoops on her portrait too!

Just to let you know that I'm ready for Lady 47 anytime, so whenever you are wanting yourself in fabric, please let me know!  I'll give up whatever I am doing for "Ladies".......I LOVE making them!!

Then.....this week, I received the QT swap quilt from my partner, Suvarna.  If you'll recall, the theme was blooms and birds (or something like that....I can't remember offhand the official title), but it evolved around flowers and birds.  I made this one for her if you remember:



My partner sent me this beauty:



Aren't those yo-yos just the cutest??  And the extras?  Wow!  I am collecting quite the box of extras lately!  If I live to be 100 (which will NEVER happen), I'll never use all my stuff!!  AND.....my daughter doesn't sew!!!  E-gads!

Lastly, I must show you the pouch I made for my partner in the Pretty Little Pouch swap.  She never commented on the rainbow ones I already showed you so I knew I had to come up with something different.  I think this fit the bill:



And the the other side:



The side:



And bottom......(which I really think turned out cool!)



So there you have it!  Not one envelope in the bunch!  WAIT.............next time you will be bombarded!    I sure hope you're ready!  I'm having such fun!

Have a great weekend, my friends and keep sewing/drawing/printing/cooking or whatever your passion!  Thanks a bunch for visiting me!  I LOVE each and every one of YOU!!!!!

Fun to branch off for a change......

First, let me tell you that my first love is sewing.  I have had it in my blood from little on and will love it always, but sometimes it's fun to branch off for awhile and do something different.  (Not to say that IF I got a "LADY" order tomorrow, that I wouldn't drop all this other stuff like a hot potato and get right to it!!!  I ADORE making you ladies......but it seems I am in a dry spell right now, although Lady #46 is flying off to her owner as I type and you will see her next time.)

Lately, I have had a passion for envelope art.  Years ago when my niece was teaching in Japan and it was the days before e-mail, I wrote to her once a week.  I was working in those days, not sewing much and had all the time in the world, so I would decorate the envelopes just for a little "plus".  Recently, I was reintroduced to envelope art by my friend, Annie.  Her blog is on my sideboard "Freezeframe".  She is quite the artist and dabbles in all sorts of fun things, envelope art being one of them.  It started out small, (I think I showed you a few envelopes last time) but lately I am doing more and more, it seems.  (Nothing like doing stuff in moderation, like my DH always says!!  I do have a bit of ADD I'm thinking, even at this late stage of my life!!!)  So, let's just say, I've been busy.







So then I thought, "Why should she be the only lucky recipient?", so I branched out.  First I sent one to a reader of Annie's blog who lives in the UK.



(Note the $1.10 world stamp inside the sun?  Her address is covered up, but is on the dogs long body.  I figured she wouldn't want the world to know where she lives.)

Then, I had to mail something to my nephew's wife.  (I could have brought it to her tonight when we are having a family get-together, but she is artsy-fartsy herself and I knew would appreciate fun mail):



I wonder if will have arrived by the time we get together today?  I'm sure I'll hear about it!

Hopefully, this stuff doesn't bore you to death because I have about 20 yet to show you.  Some is in transit and some is waiting for the right moment to mail to some lucky person.  BUT, I am having such fun with so little junk sitting about (as per usual in my life.)  I feel so uncluttered right now it's amazing!!!!  ('Course, if I cleaned off the dining room table fabric stash, I might even feel free-er, but I have to be ready for the sewing bug too, you know!!!)  Besides, I did join those two swaps, you know!!

Speaking of swaps, let me show you what I made for the Little Quilt Sew, Vote, Swap.  We just finished round 10 and my quilt was voted #2.  Next week I'll mail it off to it's new owner and get the one that I have coming.  Sooo exciting!  Since I was #2, I should get my first or 2nd pick!  Yeah!  I called my quilt, "The Birds"........for obvious reasons!  Duh!  It's 11x16 inches:



So there!!!  Now for one last thing......and bravo for you, it too is sewing related.   I think I told you that since I finally conquered the zipper thing a month or two back, I joined the Pretty Little Pouch Swap.   I always loved seeing the pretty pouches coming out of that swap and I couldn't wait to see what I could come up with that was never done.  So far, I did two..........(quite typical of my style too, I might add!)



Note that one has all buttons and the other embroidery.  Here are separate photos and one of the inside:







So, that's it, my friends!  My week in a nutshell!  I hope you had as much fun as me!  Until next time....