Sharing Sassy Apron Swap Info

I've seen the Sassy Apron Swap button on several blogs but never knew what it was about until now. The sign-ups for the summer swap are open. You have until April 15th to join. Details are here.

Some Links at 3 am

This is such a great idea! It's a cross stitched design but she added some miniature skis and poles, and a ski boot charm. And the snow is pearls. I never think to do anything like that, unless it was already part of the chart.

I'm glad Blogger automatically saves drafts of posts. I wrote that about seven hours ago, got booted off AOL and forgot all about it until just now.

I was going through a list of links to free doll patterns that a nice person shared on the craft forum at Swap-bot. Here's one for a sock monkey elephant. How cute would that be?

By the way, there's a Christmas biscornu swap on Swap-bot.

This site has instructions to make a stitcher's book. It looks pretty involved but I'd like to try one some day.

A Biscornu Fest

I'm not sure what disturbs me more: Mia Doll's short dress and lack of underwear or Crissy Doll's flared pink, blue and yellow striped pants.

I think I need a "I Heart the 70's" label.

I'm fascinated by biscornu (a small pincushion or eight-sided pillow depending on who you ask) every time I see one somewhere on the internet. Last night I just happened to find instructions on how to make one while looking for/at something else, but forgot to save a link to the site. I was just on Swap-bot and saw there's a swap for biscornu, and that a helpful Swap-botter shared a link to Own Two Hands where you can find biscornu making directions, plus links to free patterns.

The swap is for biscornu beginners so I'm considering doing it but still on the fence about it for now. I do have some nice green linen that I could use though. The thing is I don't cross stitch on linen because my eyes are so bad and I can't see if I'm going over one thread or two or sixteen and my X's look all distorted. If only I could win the lottery so I could buy a giant freestanding super strong magnifying glass.

Doesn't biscornu sound like something you make for dinner? "Last night we had beef biscornu with mashed potatoes and peas."

I saw a snowman biscornu on Freebie Gallery last night. The free chart can be found here on Helga Mandl Designs where you can also buy biscornu charts -- there's a link on the home page. There are also links to finishing directions for your biscornu. And, click on the Freebies link on the home page for more cross stitch charts.

Edited To Add: I think I was so upset about Mia not wearing any undies that I forgot to include this link to a bunch of free biscornu patterns.

Clogs were all the rage back then.

My Other New Needlebook

And, here is my other new needlebook. This one is just perfect. It's made of wool, it's got a cute bee button on it and a cute watermelon, and blanket stitching all around. These are a few of my favorite things. I love it. This was made by the lovely and talented Michelle, and you can see a better picture of it on her blog, Tangled Threads. I am jealous of Michelle because she has two donkeys, Mutt and Shaggy.

I have a picture of the inside of the needlebook but that one is too blurry so I'll have to take another one. I was stuck in my bedroom this afternoon with a small dog while the Maytag repairman fixed the freezer (actually, it's a GE fridge), and while she was barking her head off, I was taking pictures of past cross stitch projects and my new needlebooks.

One of My New Needlebooks

I don't know what is up with posting pictures here. I just took these and they look great on my computer screen. You can see the beads and it's very clear. Then I look at them on Blogger and they don't look all that great. And, try clicking the pictures to see them larger and they look all weird.

So, the photos don't do it justice but that is one of the lovely needlebooks I received through a swap at Swap-bot. I love the fabric (you can't really see it but the inside fabric is pretty) and I like the beads in the middle of some of the flowers. Maybe if you put your nose right up to the screen, you can see them. I like that this one has several pages inside. I have some needles that are still in their original packaging, and I was thinking I could organize them by size on each page and get rid of the cardboard & plastic thingy they came in.

I had second thoughts about doing this swap only because I wasn't sure I could make a needlebook that someone else would be happy to get, but I am really glad I joined because I ended up with two great ones.

Finished Needlecases

I finished the two needlecases for the swap. I'll mail them out later today. My felt stash is getting low -- I'm still using stuff I bought to make flannel board stories for my preschool class years ago -- so I was limited in my choice of colors. Some day, I want to make this needlecase out of wool felt. In case you missed me mentioning it before, you can find the pattern here.

Needlebook Swap (What Was I Thinking)

I signed up for another swap on Swap-bot. I'm already nervous about it because I have to make a needlebook for two people (or was it three?) and it freaks me out a little to know that what I make will be for someone else. Someone who will probably look at it, snicker and say "Wow, she really needs to practice that blanket stitch." I'm 99% sure I'll make the needlebooks out of felt. Not sure what I'll be doing with it yet though. I'm going to use the pattern for the Forget-Me-Not needlebook from Pattern Bee. I've already made one for myself and was happy with how it turned out.

Speaking of needlebooks, look at this Hello Kitty one. How cute is that. The strawberry and the crochet cupcake thingy are adorable too. I don't think I've ever been to Little Thing before but she makes some really nice stuff. I love this purse. And there's a tutorial for a Kitty-Heart Felt Keyring. I really like that. Look at the other keyrings she has made.


Janet at Primrose Designs is selling embroidery patterns now. They're all adorable. They aren't iron-ons so you'll have to transfer them on to fabric yourself.

I recently did a horrible job of transferring a n embroidery design onto a linen towel. I ended up with double lines in a couple of places -- I did not secure the pattern to the towel before ironing it -- so I was just going to toss the towel in the trash. But I decided to try washing it. So, a little Spray N Wash, a little bleach, and one wash cycle later, and the entire ironed-on transfer was gone. And now I can try putting the pattern on the towel again. Memo to my idiot self: don't forget the pins next time.

Ok, I am off to stitch up some felt needlebooks.

Postcard Swap

Another swap I'm in is this one. You'll have five partners and send each a postcard with a quote on the back, or a joke, or something about your mom, or the reasons you bought the card. Easy enough. :)


I swap with Swap-bot!

Xmas In July Card Swap

I signed up for a "Christmas in July" blank greeting card swap on Swap-Bot. I always have leftover Xmas cards every year because I always buy new ones every year. Plus I steal cards from my mom, who has an even bigger leftover stash than I do. So this one will be fun.

The second swap I participated in was for greeting cards too. It ended on April 30th and I still haven't received my cards, but maybe they're coming from another country and it will take some time for them to get here. I recently sent a postcard to a woman in Morocco and it took 41 days to get to her.

Here's a cute knitted needlecase that Jox, who sent me some great stuff for the first swap I did, made for another swap.

Needlebook Swap

There's a needlebook swap at Swap-bot. I don't know if it's open to newbies yet -- I've asked and am waiting to hear back. I hope it is so I can join. It's open to new members. On Monday, I'll be sending out the stuff for my first swap. I'm worried I screwed it up but it's just cards, stickers and stationery so it's not that difficult to mess up, is it? Actually, sending a homemade needlebook to a stranger freaks me out way more than that now that I think about it.

Here's a cute version of a needlebook for all you people who know how to do patchwork. [link via Needlebookswap at Swap-bot]