Catching Up With Links

A few stray links that I forgot to post earlier this year. 

Tipnut shared another set of vintage embroidery patterns back in May.  (Am I on top of things or what?)  This one is kitchen themed so there's a pitcher, glasses, bowls, a frying pan, measuring cups, a cute cookie jar, a jam jar and more. 

Kel over at Kincavel Krosses has a cross stitch design of two super cute foxes called Fergie and Fergus.  I REALLY have to stitch this one.  Thank you, Lady Kel, for all your great freebies!!

There's a cute owl cross stitch chart from LucyKate Crafts [link via My Owl Barn] and a fox one too.  I saw a book called Countryside Softies in Michael's the other day and thought the cover seemed familiar, like I should know who made the fox on it.  Turned out it was by Amy Adams who is the crafty blogger behind LucyKate Crafts.  Congrats on your book, Amy!  And, no, I did not buy it since I'm broke again.

Talking about being broke reminds me that I finally paid a visit to Needlepoints Ltd (an actual Local Needlework Shop, woo hoo) in back in July.  I had been meaning to go there since 1957.  Or maybe it was 1997.  Whatever.  It's been a long time.  I think they have every make and model of floss you ever heard of.  I drooled a lot while I was there.  And, they didn't even ask me to leave!  I liked it so much, I went back another time.  Really I went twice because I forgot the list of floss that I wanted to get the first time.  Since I wasn't broke either time, I got two Little House Needleworks charts and the floss for Wipe Your Paws from Glory Bee, a chart I have had forever. 

Speaking of My Owl Barn, look to your left and you will see a widget for the Owl Lover 2013 calendar.  Go make yourself one.  It's free!

It's Owl Calendar Time

Get your printer fired up because it's time to make your 2012 owl calendar.

 

(Click me)

Thank you, My Owl Barn!!

Random Photo Thursday

The other night, I finished the Halloween embroidery for the September Stitch-A-Long on Feeling Stitchy.  I'd love to show you a picture of it but I can't download any photos right now because my computer has stopped working.  I can turn it on but then it tells me my registry is corrupt and that it hates me.  From what I've learned through Google, it can be fixed but that will involve making a slave of my hard drive (or something like that) so I don't lose any files, and I know that should be left to the professionals, so hopefully I can find one of them to fix it soon.  I'm using my sister's computer (thank you, Susan!) and it's been loads of fun trying to remember passwords so I can log into Facebook and Blogger and AOL.  Does anyone know why my Gmail user name is my AOL email address?  Shouldn't it just be my name?  I'm confused.  Anyway, since I can't show you my SAL embroidery, (which I will soon be turning into a pillow), please enjoy a picture that shows you how many emails I had a week ago.  Either I'm really popular or just really bad about answering my email.


And look at this cute ghost garland from Ginger & George.  I need to make one of those!

The Most Amazing Unexpected Thing Just Happened

So, I'm sitting at my computer reading the latest newsletter from Bunny Hill Designs and my sister wanders in and looks at the gift tags on my monitor (linked in the newsletter) and says "How cute!" And, I say how there are tons of free printable gift tags out there and that it's too bad I don't have any presents to give, and she says "Why don't you print them out and make a garland?"

Oh. My. God.

My sister does not craft. She once made a Christmas ornament when she was in Blue Birds in first grade but that was back in the 70's. She enjoys reading mysteries, doing puzzles and eating salami but she does not sew or embroider or paint or cook or collage or whittle or knit toilet paper cozies from cat hair so I was shocked and appalled and stunned and amazed at what she said.

I really should add that she was a graphic artist at her last job, so it's not that she isn't creative. It's just that she doesn't, you know, make stuff.

The gift tags are on the free page at Bunny Tales.

Tree Cones And A Felt Bear

I love trees made out of pretty paper and here are some from Kind Over Matter. And, the trunks are toilet paper rolls.

And, look at this cute little felt Valentine bear. I love his glasses.

I found the Kind Over Matter blog via the Crafters Medley: 27 Neat-O Projects To Make post over on Tip Nut.

Super Cute Printables From Orange You Lucky

Look what I found in my draft posts pile. Since I made this list, Helen has posted three cute "Property Of" labels. I just want to stick her printables all over my walls!

Illustrator Helen Dardik shared another super cute book plate at Orange You Lucky back in May. That got me thinking about her other printables so I'm linking to all of them to make it easier to find them.

May 2010 book plate [link via How About Orange]

Xmas 2009 holiday labels

Back to school labels

June 2009 book plates

March 2009 book plates

Of Course I'm Out Of Toner

I'm linking to the free artwork at Feed Your Soul because I want to print out a few of them but my printer is currently out of toner so I have to wait until we get some more and I need a reminder or else I'll forget all about it.

I also want to print out the adorable free 2010 calendar at Non dairy Diary

File this under Christmas: Over at What Katie Does is a link to a set of holiday patterns that you could use for embroidery or to stitch cards, like Katie did.

I did a little blog house cleaning last night and was reminded of two Stitch-A-Longs that I never finished in 2008 so I've sent emails to the bloggers in charge and asked to join them again. For both SAL's, you x-stitch an ornament according to the monthly theme, although I believe you can pretty much use any design you want. One is the Bride's Tree SAL (I completed three ornaments for that one) and the other is the Christmas Ornament SAL (I finished four of those). And since I already did January, February, March and an August ornament, I can start two Aprils now and have them all done before May hits. I hope.

By the way, I began a cute little reindeer cross stitch right before Xmas and I had just about finished with his head when I realized my count was really off. I tried removing the incorrect stitches, and since they were done in a deep red floss, they left marks on my Aida I decided I would stitch a background to cover them up. Then I got bored ripping out my mistakes so I just started the whole thing again. And when I finished cross stitching little Blitzen, I decided to add a background. Because I'm nuts. I'm still working on that as of today. I only went three X's out from the edge of the reindeer but it's taking me forever to get it done. Then again, I do have until next December to turn him into an ornament.

Mollie at Wild Olive has posted a cute embroidery freebie for January, the Perplexed Stump. And January's free pattern at Bad Birds is up too (it's squirrels).

I love that Blogger's Spellchecker tells me that bloggers is misspelled. They suggest I use loggers or floggers. It considers blogger a real word. Just don't make it plural.

Links to...Some Stuff

Here's a post I started the other night and forgot all about.

After I hit the lottery, I will be hiring someone just to come up with creative and entertaining post titles.

Over at Retro Mama, there's a pattern for a felt partridge ornament that I just love. I'm probably not going to have time to make one of these but if I do, I will make a mama partridge and a baby one. And call them Shirley and Keith.

Kandra of Sibling Craftery is sharing the cutest robot Christmas elves embroidery patterns. I'm not a super huge fan of robots (sorry, Kandra) but I do love these. If I ever finish the ornaments from the freebies at Wild Olive, I'll start on these robots. Or maybe I should just make things when I feel like it all through the year and if they're done in time for a holiday, fine. If not, just save them for next year.

Now let me add a few more things.

Remember those paper chains we used to make in school for the holidays? I'm sure kids still are still doing that nowadays too. I always want to...ahem, whip one up every year but never get around to it. Well, thanks to this nifty printable holiday paper over at Whip Up, I started one last night. I didn't finish it because my bottle of Elmer's is pretty dried up but I'll get it done this week.

I also plan to do something with some of the Holiday 2009 papers from A Print A Day. Look for a post about my efforts in about 11 months. :P

If I had kids, I would totally make these felt embroidered handprint ornaments for their grandparents. Thanks to The Empty Bobbin for the great idea!

Guess what? I just popped over to Craft Gossip to see what Denise had posted lately on Needlework News and found something I must cross stitch right this very minute so I am out of here. If you're still looking for holiday projects, be sure to check out Craft Gossip and also One Pretty Thing.

Sibling Craftery Giveaway

It's giveaway time over at Sibling Craftery and the prizes are pretty fabulous. To celebrate their one year blog anniversary, Kandra is giving away embroidery floss, fabric scraps, two tea towels to stitch, and a copy of Embroidered Effects by Jenny Hart. You can read all the details on how to enter here.

And be sure to check out Kandra's latest Homemade & Heartfelt embroidery freebie and printable gift tags. They're really sweet.

I Once Shellacked A Butternut Squash

Ok, I've never shellacked a butternut squash. I was just stuck for a title.

As usual, I'm behind with my blog reading and with answering email but I've completed 157 quizzes on Facebook. Go, me! Seriously, I am truly addicted to them. And, you can call me by my nickname from now on. That would be Junior Braniac, thank you very much.

It's been awhile since I posted some links to free patterns and tutorials so here ya go!

Over at Orange You Lucky, you'll find some really cute cat book labels to print out.

If you missed "The Party's Over" embroidery freebie from Pimp Stitch last year, you have another chance to download it at Craft now. I love this one.

Molly is sharing a vintage DOW transfer pattern with cute kitties at Molly's Place.

There's a cross stitch chart and also an embroidery pattern of a chicken on the French blog, Cachounette.

On Martha Stewart's site is a project for embroidering t-shirts but you could use the templates for any kind of embroidery. They include an elephant, a giraffe, a dragonfly, a firetruck, and a tractor that I believe is really a skip loader. (I think heads are going to roll over this!)

Want to make an adorable little felt coin purse with a cupcake on it and Johnny Depp inside? Ok, he isn't really in the purse but there is blanket stitching involved. And, also a zipper which freaks me out a tad. Thanks to paper-and-string for the tutorial and to Craft for the link.

Also via Craft is a felt bunny card how-to from One Crafty Mumma.

And, at Wild Olive, Mollie is posting some sweet embroidery patterns (think pirates, cowboys, mushrooms and a tree stump).

I'm hoping to have something finished and ready to share by Friday. Have a great week!

There's A Marshmallow On Your Tablecloth

Any idea what this is?



Before I tell you what it is, I have a few things to share. Warning: Make sure you have some time to spend on these blogs before you click any of the following links.

The coloring page I used for a pattern for the embroidery in my blog header can be found here on Non dairy Diary. Delphine has since moved her blog to a new location. Every year, she shares a small calendar to download (plus a bunch of other cool stuff on her blog) and the one for 2009 has cute bunnies on it.

Thanks to Google News, I ended up at One Red Robin where you will find an embroidery pattern for the Little Mushroom Girl and her Bunny. And, check out the Ruby Doll too.

I MUST LEARN TO SEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jhoanna of One Red Robin has another site that's also worth exploring: Softie Making. There's a link on Softie Making to Cherry Mix which is where I found a pattern for a marshmallow and made one last night.

Here is my marshmallow posing on an old tablecloth.




It's ok if you don't think he looks very marshmallow-ish. Perhaps he's an anthropomorphic albino Tootsie Roll. I didn't quite follow the directions -- you're supposed to sew the seams together and then turn it inside out but my my hand stitching is uneven and messy, so I just blanket stitched the whole thing since it's my favorite stitch.


I was thinking I might need to make him a little marshmallow girlfriend next.

Finished For Friday -- An Answer For Mary

MaryBT commented: "Woman! It's been 10 days since you promised to make something! What gives?"

How creepy. It totally sounds like she is keeping track of my lack of craft projects by marking off the days on her calendar....hey! That reminds me! I did make a calendar the other day. Over at Knick Knacks & Ric Rac are calendar pages you can download and print out, and then add your own artwork at the top. I would love to have some of Hannah's artwork but since I can't, I just used a photo of my dog planters because it makes me happy. Yes, dog planters work better than Zoloft. (By the way, so do Weezer videos.)

Thanks to Mary's comments, not only was I creeped out, but I was inspired to finish an embroidery that I had started last September. It was going to be a header for my blog but it was put aside because I found something else fun to stitch. But it's done now and it's up there and it's my Finish for Friday.

EDITED TO ADD: Well, I hate my header. The picture is too big and I hate the border and you can't see the wonky stitching very well and why does the orange floss look like it's glowing? I wanted to post something for Finished for Friday so I am leaving it for now. I am off to eat a burrito and then I will play around with the photo until I get it right. I'll also link to the coloring page that I used for a pattern. (Once I find it again!) Sorry for the half-assed post today.

Check out Lit and Laundry for links to other Friday Finishers.

Some Links For Wednesday

Here are the latest round of links I had saved. This may be it for awhile.

I forget how I ended up there but I'm glad I found Our Sustainable Shire because there's a Dachshund embroidery pattern there. You can see how it looks all stitched up and on an apron here.

You have to check out these cute pouches over at Martha MacGyver. They're made from a napkin and some cording. Get part one of the tutorial here and part two here.

I linked to this fun owl card back in the day when my blog was lonely and no one was reading it but me so you may have missed it at the time. And, if you haven't been to Mmmcrafts before, be sure take a look at all the tutorials there -- look at the cute tooth fairy pillow!

Over at Incy Wincy Stitches, are a few small patterns you can use to make embroidered buttons, including an owl, a bird, a robot and a cupcake.

There's a free embroidery block of the month going on at Gail Pan Designs. Every month through September, Gail will post another pattern, and if you stitch all nine of them, you will eventually be able to make a quilt with your blocks. Details on the BOM and the first pattern called "Love" is here. (Thanks to Loralyn for the link!) Gail also posted a Christmas stitchery pattern that I just love so be sure to check that out too. Maybe if I start stitching that tonight, it will be done in time for the holidays.

Kandra and Renee over at Sibling Craftery (formerly known as Sublime Sisters) are sharing embroidery designs for Valentine's Day and the kitchen.

Once again, I am amazed at all the creative and generous bloggers who share their patterns and projects. Thank you so much, everybody!

Insert Scream Here

So, yesterday, I called the only phone number listed on the webpage for the local DMV office, hoping to speak with a live person who could help me either make an appointment to take the written test or to confirm the seventeen appointments I had already set up thanks to my seventeen attempts at using their lame automated online system. (Why, yes. I do have a huge N stamped on my forehead for naive. How did you know?)

Let's just say they use an automated phone system and it's just as lame as the online one.

I may call back tomorrow just to give goofy answers to the male voice. When he says "Enter your zip code," I will say "I'll have the filet of sole." And, when he asks how many items I need to process, I will say "666...Damien!"

Moving on to happier things...

Arizona is looking for free embroidery patterns for princess-y things like a crown or a magic wand for a quilt. I'm sure I've come across patterns she could use but can't remember where I saw them. If you know where she can find some, please leave her some comments on her blog, The Craftivist. Thanks!

Look at these cute stickers you can print out from Lotta Bruhn [link via Craft]. And, if you have some time, wander around Lotta's blog for a bit and check out her amazing artwork.

Andrea Zuill has posted her January embroidery freebie over at Bad Birds. I really like this one. Ok, I like them all.

Over at Canadian Living, you can find directions on making "cute bears to sew from felt." I may never get around to making these but I get giddy when I see anything made of felt and must link to the pattern. [Link via How About Orange]

This French site has a bunch of cross stitch charts for bookmarks with a variety of designs. Click each bookmark for a copy of the pattern. (Thanks to Diane on one of my Yahoo lists for that link.)

I mentioned the Whirl Into Winter Quilt Blog Giveaway the other day but forgot to add that Jenna from CorgiPants is one of the participating bloggers. If you win her giveaway, you get to choose your prize: either her Pillowcase Pinnie Apron pattern or her Black Forest Scoodie pattern. Enter by January 14th.

Sublime Stitching is holding a Micro Monogram Stitcher's Challenge. To enter, stitch up a teeny tiny monogrammed pillow and submit it to their Customer Gallery, and you could win a boxed set of the first four issues of Craft magazine. You have until January 20, 2009. (OMG, it's 2009!)

Do Ya Think They're Really Cute?

It's raining free gift tags all over the place, people! Fire up those printers!

There are some really cute ones from Inside A Black Apple [via Craft].

At knick knacks & ric rac, you'll find some really cute ones.

And, the Sublime Stitching blog has some really cute ones too. (Thanks, Jessica, for the heads-up!)

I'm hoping Santa will bring me some new adjectives for Christmas.

A Link To Some Vintage Images

Karen is an artist who creates altered books and collage art. She has a collection of public domain images and shares them on her Karen's Whimsy website. There are vintage images of animals, holidays, flowers. angels, fashion -- lots of great stuff! [Link via Altered Art Junkies]

More Printable Gift Tags

Sublime Sisters has a set of printable Christmas tags that are really cute.

And, over at Bella Dia is a huge list of links to free gift tags. Score!

Edited To Add: Sublime Sisters is now Sibling Craftery and the Christmas tags are now here.

Finished For Friday -- I Got Nothing But Links

Be sure to check the previous post for a link to Loralynn's Thanksgiving giveaway (apron alert!) and see the pretty biscornu she sent me.

Since today is Friday, I hope you'll participate in Finished for Friday over at Lit and Laundry and share any projects you've been able to complete this week. Sadly, the only thing I've finished this week was my bag of candy corn.

But I do have some links to share.

Check out these cute bookplates with vintage animal designs from Sweet Jessie [link via One Pretty Thing].

Not sure how I missed it but a couple of weeks ago Tip Nut had a list of twenty free softie patterns and tutorials, including this alpaca stuffie from The Shishi Girl.

Zakka Life is sharing her Cute as a Button ornament and boy, is it ever so cute!

There's a new cross stitch freebie called Jingle Sparkle Joy at Midsummer Night Musings that I just love and hope to start this week.

You have to see the super cute Tree Family embroidery pattern at Nini Makes. Joanie is also having a giveaway for some cool stash so go leave her some comments before November 17th.

I'm going to catch on some blog reading this weekend so have a good one!

(Did you notice I used cute four times in this post? I'm shooting for five next time.)

Printable Gift Tags And Labels

I was going through my list of saved links and found a couple of blogs with gift tags you can download and print.

The mailing label printables at Elliphantom Knits are a super adorable octopus and an elephant. They make me want to mail some packages right now!

Last year at Angry Chicken, you could find gift tags for your holiday presents. My favorite is still "I made this, just so you know. So don't say anything mean about it." (I should use one that now!)

It seems like everybody is linking to the Four Seasons Gift Tags from Fog And Thistle. (I saw it at One Pretty Thing first.)

Not only did LollyChops share her bird tags for the holidays, she also explains how you can attach the tag to her gifts in a jar, and includes the recipe.

And, Handmade Holidays also has some gift tags you can download and print for gifts this year.

A Quickie

My plan was to post one link -- ONE LINK -- and then get up from my chair and walk away from the computer. But then I clicked a link to a blog where there are zillions of links to tutorials and other fun stuff and now I bet I'll be online for the next six hours.

First off, the link I was going to put up is for The Apron Queen's Kick The Bucket Apron Giveaway. You create a Bucket List on your blog and then link it to her blog (and on her blog via Mr. Linky) and you'll be entered in a giveaway for a vintage apron. Since the Apron Queen will be picking winners on Fridays for a couple weeks, you have more than one chance to win.

I just made an executive decision: I am not going back to lovestodream and checking out all the links tonight. For now, I am just going to click one . . . here's a cute owl envelope you can print out. I'll save the rest of the links for when I have more time to spend clicking