February's Post

I told myself if I was going to start blogging again, I HAD to finish at least one new project a month. I also decided I HAD to follow through with the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long (aka TUSAL) and post a pic of my orts jar every time there was a full moon.  So here's a photo of my orts jar.

Want more info on the 2015 TUSAL? Click here and Sharon will explain it.  By the way, the date for the TUSAL was February 18 so I'm late but at least I did it this month!

On to the project I finished this month.  Since this is February, I wanted to make something for Valentine's Day. I thought I had a small stash of vintage Valentine cards in a box under my bed so I decided I'd make a heart-shaped holder for them. Something I could hang from a door knob.  And, I wanted it large enough for this big card.

By the way, those are the only two cards I found in the box under my bed.  I really thought I had a few more.

The heart-shaped card holder I wanted to make is here at Plum Pudding.  It was posted on that blog SEVEN years ago  and I linked to it on this blog SIX years ago.  Wow, how time flies!

So here is my card holder.  It's made out of craft felt and a few odd buttons I had in my jar.  Oh and a piece of some pretty red ribbon.  I knew hoarding ribbon would make sense some day.

The funny thing is I made it large enough so the big Valentine card would fit but when I put the card in the heart, it kept flopping over. I still like my card holder though. Except the purple flower bugged me, which is why it's kind of hidden behind the other ones.  And, not clear in the photo.

The scalloped edge on the pocket is crooked -- I think I subconsciously have something against straight lines because I can never cut them -- and FYI, I have the dullest scissors in the world.

One more shot of my card holder in action:

So, we have a TUSAL pic and a project I started and finished in the same week. Pigs must be flying.

Edited to add:  I did have three vintage Valentine's card at one time.  I posted about them here.  The
big one is from 1946.

Make These For Valentine's Day

I love these felt roses from Spending Less Living More.  They were linked on this post of crafty Valentine ideas from Craft Gossip.

I also love these Valentine marshmallows from The Decorated Cookie.  They were linked here on Craft Gossip.

And, nothing to do with Valentine's Day but also on Craft Gossip is Denise's latest free embroidery pattern round-up.

I love Craft Gossip.

Make A Cute Valentine Pillow

I love this cute little love heart pillow from Lynn B [link via Craft Gossip].

File Under Hearts

I started blogging so I could keep track of all the projects I wanted to make someday. Here's one for a wire heart tutorial from The Prairie Girl that I love because it involves vintage buttons. And it's a heart. And it's pretty.

And, here's one for making a small felt heart pouch (good for stashing a piece of candy) from Woolnest.

I'm labeling these Valentine's Day so I can find them again.

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.

Happy Day After Valentine's Day!! Plus A TUSAL Report

Since it's now the day after Valentine's Day, I'd figure I'd show the little heart I made awhile ago specifically for the holiday. Oh, wait. I'm now remembering that it's supposed to be for next year. Yeah, that's right. I made it for 2011. Am I ahead of the game or what?

I love my little felt heart. :)

You can find the tutorial here on The Creative Place. I'm pretty sure I found this project linked on One Pretty Thing.

I've also started a felt heart garland weeks ago but put it aside after I ran out of the red floss (DMC 498) I was using and three different Michael's didn't have any in stock. I finally found some the other day at Tall Mouse, which I think is a store that's only in Southern California but it's similar to Michael's except they sell drool-worthy fabric as well.

My other recent finishes will have to wait until I track back to the sites the patterns were on, so how about a TUSAL Report for February? (The new moon was yesterday). These are my collected thread ends for 2010 so far.


If you'd like to join the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long, go to the sign-up page on Dragon My Needle and sign up. Then post a picture of your TUSAL jar on the day of the New Moon each month.

There's a little Shih Tzu who keeps coming in here and staring at me as I'm typing this. I think she wants a snack so I'm gonna go take care of that. (She's 16 so she pretty much gets what she wants these days.) Have a great Monday!

A Warm And Fuzzy Valentine's Day To You!

Back in 1991, I wanted to send out announcements to family and friends to let them know my family had a new Shih Tzu puppy named Samantha. I found these cute Puppy Love cards, which I thought were perfect. (I can't remember why I punched holes in this one -- I guess I wanted to hang it up somewhere.)

I added some pictures of Sammi inside the card. (I was quite the crafter back then, wasn't I?)

Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!

Some Projects For Valentine's Day

I was hoping to have something to show today for Finished for Friday but I don't. (Hopefully, I will have a few things to show off next week.) I'm not even done with wearing that stupid Frankenstein shoe on my foot. The infection in my toe is gone but my doctor still wants me keep it on for now.

You've most likely heard of EllynAnne Geisel who wrote The Apron Book a couple of years ago. And, if you own a copy of the book, you know it came with an apron pattern. You know, the one I take out every so often and look at, and then tell myself I MUST LEARN TO SEW!! Well, EllynAnne has a new book coming out called The Kitchen Linens Book and guess what's included with that one? A vintage Butterick transfer pattern from the 1940's. Score! How do I know this? Well, EllynAnne is my friend and she told me all about it the other day. Really, she did.

Ok, so she is my Facebook friend, and I have never met her in person or talked to her on the phone or even exchanged an email with her, but she did send out a note about her latest book to her FB friends the other day, including me. According to her publisher's website, The Kitchen Linens Book (with free embroidery pattern!) will be out in March. I'm sure I'll love it as much as I do the one about aprons.

I found a few Valentine's day projects in my recent internet travels that I wanted to share. You still have time to whip one or two out.

First up, is a Conversation Heart Garland at The Cupcake Goddess. A mix of felt hearts, embroidery floss, vintage valentines, fabric yo-yos, buttons and rick rack come together to make a Valentine's Day garland. Oh, and you can use the blanket stitch too, woo hoo. If Johnny Depp was somehow involved as well, I would marry this project since it contains some of my very favorite things.

I love love love the No-sew Valentine Garland from Scraps in Progress. And, look at this super cute Valentine gift bag/card holder over at Plum Pudding.

And, a HUGE thank you to Suzanne for hooking me up with some embroidery floss so I can now get that Obama pattern done. Woo hoo!! Then I have to come up with a plan for finishing it. One that does not involve me adding a felt back and stuffing it, and it then becoming my 753rd ornament.

Vintage Thingies Thursday -- Valentines

For Vintage Thingies Thursday, I thought I'd share some valentines. (My scanning techniques still need some work.)

This card cost me a dollar at the local antique store. I had discovered a box of valentines in one of the booths, and went through them, hoping to find some with puppies or dogs. This little lion king is not a puppy but I thought he was really cute and had to get him. His happy face reminds me of some of the bears from vintage embroidery transfers.
On the back, it has "from Charles Millslagle James." I wonder if the person who received this card from Charles thought it was as adorable as I do. I guess it could also be from a trio of brothers, but then the middle one's name would be Millslagle and what kind of parent would do that to their son?

I had to get this one because of the three doggies. It also came from the same shop as the lion king and was left unsigned. The little hearts around the middle dog (let's call him Millslagle for now) are glittered and the larger hearts have glitter borders. And, unlike the glitter of today, none of it is flaking off.

This large card was part of a lot of ephemera that I picked up on eBay a few years ago. I specifically bid on the auction just to win this one. The puppies ears are made of felt and the card doesn't open, but there's a piece of heavy paper on the back that I thought might have functioned as a stand at one time. I played around with it and figured out how it works.

Here it is standing up. In small print on the back is "A Hallmark Card" and also "Hall Brothers, Inc." with a copyright of 1946. You can see how big the card is compared to the lion king next to it.

Thanks for looking at my vintage valentines! (I wish I had more to show.) You can find out who else is joining in on the Vintage Thingies fun over at Colorado Lady.

P.S. This week, both Suzanne and Elizabeth are sharing vintage valentines too, so go check them out!

A Few Vintage Valentines Links

There's a vintage Valentine card giveaway going on at The Crafty Crow. And, since it's Monday, there are two other giveaways going on. Go check them out.

For more Valentine fun, visit Two Crazy Crafters where Lindsey will be posting a vintage card every day until February 14th.

And, if you like vintage Valentine postcards, check out the free graphics at SilverCollectBlog.

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!

Candy Heart Maker

Just in time for Valentine's Day -- make your own candy hearts!

The Panda Dog Link Still Works

How cute is this? You can find the original chart here. I really like Kathy's (the stitcher) version. It was done for this New Year's Day SAL contest. You can see all the entries here. You were supposed to start stitching on January 1st so it's too late to enter now but the blogger has a Yahoo group and will be having more SAL contests in the future.

It's a heart, it's made of felt, and it's a needlecase you can make: a Heart Felt Needlecase. I love it. Update: You can find the pattern and tutorial here.

It's linked in the side bar but in case you haven't clicked the link yet, all of you dog people should check out the photos on Riviera Dogs.

I saw Emily did that four things meme on The Floss Box. I had posted it some time ago on my old blog so I went back to look for my answers and found a link to Keith's Colouring Book instead. Back in June 2003, I thought it was great because of the Nancy Drew coloring pages but now I look at the index of them and all I can think is EMBROIDERY PATTERNS!!

Yay! The instructions and images to make the toppers on the cupcakes on the cover of current issue of Country Living are at the magazine's website.

There are some great vintage Valentine postcard images on SilverCollect Blog and for other holidays too. Garden Fairy also has free vintage graphics to use for scrapbooking or card making (or whatever you want to do with them).

One more thing from my old blog: a dog that looks like a panda.