Look At What I Found In My Backyard

Anyone know what this is? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?



It's leaves on my peony bush! I discovered them the other day and was soooo excited. I really thought it was dead. I know they hibernate (or whatever) for a bit over the winter but there really were no signs of life going on at all and I was about ready to write it off until I saw the leaves.

I just checked my blog and found that my peony had buds on it on April 23rd of last year so it is running a little behind this Spring. I'm glad it finally came out of its coma.

Not a lot of crafting going on at my house. I'm still having fun on Facebook. But my foot surgery has been scheduled for May 15th (FINALLY) and there's a two to six month recovery period so I have a feeling, I will have crafts coming out my ass in the near future. A few ideas for things to make have been bouncing around in my head for awhile now. I just need to log off of Facebook long enough to actually do them.

One more thing: Mollie over at Wild Olive is sharing a cute Earth Day embroidery pattern.

Get Out Your Needles

Thank you, guys, so much for all the nice comments about my ornaments and the birthday wishes too!

I recently found this scrap of paper with "yoonie at home" written on it in a pile of stuff on my bedroom floor. I knew it was a blog I had visited before but hadn't yet gone back there again so I'm glad there was a link on Craft to the tutorial to make this felt peony hair clip. My hair isn't long enough for barrettes anymore (was it ever?) (not really except I did wear headbands in 10th grade during my preppie phase) but I know I can do something with this peony once I make it, even if I just sit and stare at it.

Check out the links to some Halloween cross stitch and embroidery freebies at Starlight Free Pattern Directory, including a cute witch and a vampire, on a lovely blog called Quixotic Pixels, and a skull and crossbones at Knitting-and.com

And, don't forget all the other embroidery patterns at knitting-and.com. The one to embroider and applique some tea towels with a sunbonnet ladies of the week design is new to me.

Over at Ohdeedoh, you can find a free Amy Butler sewing pattern for a Cuddle Kitty (it's so cute!) [link via One Pretty Thing].

Want an awesome Obama button for your blog? Go to Happy Zombie and pick up two of them.

There's a vintage chicken scratch booklet posted on Susie Can Stitch (with more photos on her Flickr).

Have a great weekend! (I think I'm going to hit Michael's again to use up some more of that gift card. Woo hoo!)

Peonies

Last week, my mom took me to have some bloodwork done (I'm still not driving) and afterwards, we went to Trader Joe's. I don't know if Thursday is the day they get flowers in but they had some really gorgeous ones and it seemed like everybody was buying a bunch or two. We got some peonies, which were tightly closed up into small balls. Within an hour of being put into some water, one of mine looked like this. I want to know how they keep them from opening at the store. And, unlike the peonies from my yard, they have the best scent. I swear I could smell them from across the room. What incredible flowers.

peony
Originally uploaded by PipStitch

Wanna See My Dead Peony

My peonies are not dead as in "I killed them" but I should have taken some pictures a few days ago. I waited too long and now they're on their way out. Maybe if you squint a little, you can imagine how pretty they were last week.

Peony

Peony bud
Originally uploaded by PipStitch

I found a second bud on the peony bush yesterday.

I've been approving comments and then not responding to them. How rude, I know. I promise I will catch up with them and my email later today.

Last Year's Peonies

I was looking for a picture of something else and found this one of my dog Maggie and some peonies from last year.

Actually, there are five pictures of Maggie with peonies but I'll spare you from having to look at all of them.

Kreinik has just added three free cross stitch charts to their site: Happy Fourth of July (I had seen this some place else and forgot to print it out before the link stopped working), Uncle Sam (whose beard is all French knots -- yikes!) and Star Catcher.

I got these links from a newsletter but Kreinik has a ton of freebies on their site, and not just for cross stitch but for other crafts too (needlepoint, plastic canvas, quilting, cardmaking, etc.).

By the way, Kreinik and the company that makes Tokens and Trifles is having an ornament contest. I love the look of Tokens and Trifles sewing cards, especially the rectangle. I've seen some lovely needlebooks made from that shape. (Check out their free charts for ideas.) I haven't stitched up any yet but they're on my to-do list.

Peonies

Here's my peony from the other day (my mom got rid of hers but mine is still looking good) And here's the new one



And, now look at this freaking adorable pig collage [link via Vintage Transfer Finds]

I Am No Longer Peony Challenged

Peony 1
Originally uploaded by PipStitch

There is a peony bush in my backyard that is full of lush green leaves but there won't be any flowers this year. I've been seeing pictures of peonies on different blogs and I was getting jealous but I finally got a peony of my own today. My mom bought five of them at a local market and I claimed one.

I think I forgot to link to a tutorial for making embroidered buttons the other day. I really need to give this a try. This how-to is by Amy of Ibby Bee Quilts. I was just looking at her embroidery posts. I love the flowers she put on her daughter's shirt. Amy shared some information and some tips for embroidering clothes on Feeling Stitchy. I tend to buy white shirts, mainly because if I wore them to work and a child got paint or marker on me, I could bleach the stain to remove it. I should add some embroidery to one of my shirts and see how it goes.

Janet of Primrose Design recently asked on her blog for help with answers to questions she had gotten about embroidering on t-shirts. There are some good suggestions in the comments including one from elizabethdee to use Sulky Solvy Stabilizer. You can put your embroidery transfer right on it plus it dissolves in water when you're all finished. I also like the idea of embroidering the design on to fabric and then blanket stitching it on to the shirt.

Somewhere I have a clip art graphic of a peony. Maybe I could use that for my pattern...