rose hip

Wishing you...

a very, very Merry Christmas!...

finally...the winners!

...and here they are:

Megan from left-handed scissors

Heidi from my hiding place in cyberspace

Kirsten from tollipop

and Monique.

Congratulations to all four of you and thank you to all of you who took the time to comment so very sweetly! I bet some of you thought that I would never announce the winners as I did give a week for the giveaway... Well, my last week has been pretty busy and I finally resorted to using the random number generator to pick winners, because every day I kept running out of time to do "the little papers in the bowl"  method to pick winners. So, to make up for the longer duration of this giveaway, I decided to pick four winners instead of two.

I also want to thank you for your most amazing response to my pillowcase-stocked  Etsy shop... Wow! I'm so happy that there is an interest in buying the pillowcases because I love making them; I will therefore keep making more to list them on Etsy.

We are getting to that pre-Christmas crunch time -- I know I've been feeling it this past week, but although it's been a bit frantic at times, I've also had my share of fun crafting at my children's school ... I'll show you what I've been up to with the school kids in my next post -- 'just have to take a few photos...

the crochet-trimmed pillowcase giveaway...

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...is on!! I will be giving away at least two of the pillowcases shown above (perhaps more depending on the response) in a week or so; all you have to do to enter this giveaway is leave a comment telling me which pillowcase is your favorite -- more photos here. (If you have more than one favorite, don't be shy about including them all in your comment!)  Aside from maybe a couple of the styles shown above, I have listed most of them now in my Etsy shop. So, do have fun with it and of course...Good Luck!

plumping and more pillow plumping...

...that's what I've been up to because I'm in the middle of taking pictures of all the crochet-trimmed pillowcases I've made so far. As soon as I'm done, I'll be having a pillowcase giveaway right here (Yay!); I'll also be stocking my Etsy shop with a bunch... this should all be done before the weekend so I hope you come back and visit! 

stitches and submarines...

...oof, I'm finally back... I fully intended to post a good ten days ago, but a few things got me off track. Please indulge me for a moment, and let me explain myself... About two weeks ago, I was in the middle of putting together some furnishings for my friend Molly who owns the shop, Molly's Furniture Salad. She was invited to decorate a room for the "Christmas at Hycroft 2009" event being held Nov. 19-22 in Vancouver. This event is held annually at Hycroft, a turn-of-the-century Vancouver heritage mansion which has been beautifully preserved, and is organized by the University Women's Club of Vancouver as a means to raise money for the its many scholarship and bursary programs and a number of charity and advocacy groups locally, nationally and internationally. The mansion is decked out in Christmas finery, local businesses such as Molly's shop are invited to decorate the different rooms, crafts and artisanal foods are sold, music is played and Santa Claus even visits (more info here). Molly approached me at the beginning of October to help her out with this project by making a few things that would work well in a child's bedroom, i.e., coverlets, pillows, banners, etc...

While I was pretty excited about the project, I didn't do much about it for the first two weeks after she told me... and then it hit me: I definitely needed to get going because of all the other things I had to get done in that time frame and because I was meant to leave for Florida on Nov. 18 to watch my 13-year old daughter play in a soccer tournament. Well, I am a crammer by nature...

About two weeks ago, despite having finished some of the bedding, I started to feel more stressed about it all; our usual chaotic family routine mixed in with a few other things that had to get done (such as my year-end bookkeeping... groan!) probably helped in the matter. I knew I was getting a bit edgy then because I had this dream, well, more like a nightmare: I was stuck in a submarine, many thousand leagues below sea level and the sub was flooding... Oy! And then a week ago, while making my children's sandwiches in my usual comatose 7:15am state (I am NOT a morning person!), I sliced the top of my middle finger with a bread knife so perfectly that I had to get it stitched up by my GP... 

OK, so it was time to shed a few things on my agenda and... simplify. I realized then that I wouldn't be able to make quite as many things for the Hycroft event as I had hoped for with my finger in stitches, so I kept to finishing the most important items and, yes... I canceled my trip to Florida -- only my husband will be accompanying my daughter. Disappointing as the latter was for me as well as my daughter, I just really felt like I needed to slow down and grab some control back in all my chaos.

On the positive side, now that I'll be in town this weekend, I will be able to attend the Hycroft event. If you live in the Vancouver area and have a moment between Thursday and Sunday, I encourage you to attend as well and join in the festivities; if you've never been to Hycroft, it's definitely worth a visit and the fundraising work of this women's group is so very worthwhile given our government's forever shrinking budget for education. I will leave you with a snap of Molly's decorated bedroom which I took this morning while I was helping her out (aren't the bed finished by Molly and that big red cardinal in those beautiful leaded windows simply fabulous!) --

it's 8:10 in the evening...

...and Halloween is in full swing! 'So fortunate to have Marie-Antoinette join our entourage tonight (as you can see, she's still very much at a happy point in her life...). 'Hope you're all having a very

Happy Halloween!

trim trials...

...as you can see, I've been trying different crochet trims on my pillowcases... While I've come across many beautiful trim patterns in my collection of crochet books, a lot of them tend to be a little too labor-intensive for what I'm looking for; I've therefore simplified a few or used only a few rows of these longer, more intricate patterns. I'll be putting together a juicier post shortly showing you my pillowcases in more detail... (Hmmm... perhaps it's time for a pillowcase giveaway?!)  I've just been rather busy lately with household fall chores like this one, my all-time favorite: putting away the kids' summer clothing and replacing it with their fall/winter wardrobe...Ugh! with four kids, this one seems to take forever! 'Talk to you soon...

embellish!...

...as you can see, I've been working on some crochet-trimmed pillowcases and having a ton of fun with colors!... I will be bringing these to the lovely local shop, Molly's Furniture Salad, which stocks my wares. Because I had so much fun with these, I've started working on a new batch to fill my very sad and empty Etsy shop...

A word about the flowers in the vase... they are mostly zinnias with a few stray roses, all from my garden where flowers are still blooming because we are having the most gorgeous autumn in Vancouver! I absolutely adore zinnias -- they are the ultimate "happy flower "as far as I'm concerned; they sprout easily from seed, and when placed in a sunny spot, they just keep growing very happily and produce the most perfect little flowers in wonderful shades of pink, orange, yellows, cream, etc... Pure happiness. What is there not to adore?

Back on the subject of crochet... I finally got my hands on a book I've been dying to get: Crochet Adorned, by Linda Permann, who pens one of my favorite blogs, Lindamade... and, oh boy, this book does not disappoint!! Gorgeous to look at -- the photos are absolutely stunning -- this book starts with crochet basics (great if you've been dying to learn how to crochet!) and moves to give how-to instructions for a very yummy and contemporary assortment of wardrobe embellishment, fashion accessories and even a few home decorating projects. I've show you some of my favorite picks below... OK, how adorable is the jacket with the scallop trim!! This book really brings out why I love crochet so much: by learning just a few basic stitches, you can make quick small-scaled projects with so many possible looks -- from lacework to flowers to geometric shapes, etc... -- which can be completely stand-alone, like the sweet earrings shown below, or used to zing up any items that you sew up or have that are already sewn... How fun!

...Looking at the photos in this post, I think I'm still stuck in summer mode despite it being October (Yikes!)... What do you think?!

furry and woolly...

...no, not a cuddly stuffie...

...but a round pillow made with fake fur, wool felted from old sweaters and some nice ticking fabric for the back... The seeds for this pillow idea have been tossing in my head for a while now, so I had to go ahead and try my hand at making one -- more details here. What do you think?...a bit tyrolean, a bit bohemian... definitely very soft! I'm thinking of making more of these in the very near future and stocking my Etsy shop with a few... But first, I have a few other things I have to start working on -- 'show you soon...

on their way...

...all the fabric bundles have been sent and I know some have arrived, such as at these lovely places: Jikke's handmade, Erica's Essential Suchness, Erleperle and Inside the Paper Box... Thank you so much to all of you who purchased one -- I hope you join the Flickr pools I set up for both bundles (in my right sidebar) so we all get to see what you make out of them... I can't make any more of these exact same bundles because I've run out of some of the prints -- however, at some point in the future, I might replace the prints I ran out of with new prints and make more strawberry and blueberry bundles, albeit slightly different. I have to tell you that I had so much fun putting together these bundles, that I would love to make it into a regular feature on my blog (along with a bundle giveaway for each new bundle... of course!). I'm already thinking of a more fall-like collection of fabrics to usher in the new season... Hmmmm...

But before, as promised, I'd like to post a little quickie tutorial on how to put together a patchwork coverlet backed by chenille. I also got recently sidetracked by a little woolly and furry project which I'd like to show you (almost done!)... I've been away from blogging in the last week or so, because transitioning to back-to-school mode is always a bit all-consuming around here, especially with child no.1 starting high school this year (Yikes!)... I hope your back-to-school week went smoothly!

With the children at school now and the fabric bundles on their way, I'm so ready to cloister myself with my fabric, sewing machine and, most importantly, with all those ideas bubbling in my brain and...create! Ah, fall... what better season is there to create!

I'll be back as soon as I have a creation to show you -- should be soon!...

Congrats to the winners!...

the lucky bowl...

...toss, pick, toss, pick, toss, pick...

...and the winners are:

Congratulations to the lucky winners: Maureen, Mia and Angela!...

...and thank you to all of you who commented in such a very generous way!...I'm WOWED again! If any of you are still interested in either of the bundles which contain just under 6 yds (5.5 m) of fabric, I have listed a few on Etsy here. While I will list more bundles, the numbers will be limited simply because I will quickly run out of some of the prints in the bundles (particularly the vintage ones).

I also decided to so something I'm very excited about: I set up Flickr pools for each of the bundles (on my right sidebar), so I invite all of you who purchase a bundle to show us what you make with it... 'Can't wait to have a peek at your creations! I will also be shortly posting a quickie tutorial on how to sew together the patchwork tops and back them by cotton chenille to make comfy coverlets...

Thank you so much again for your amazing participation!!

speechless in San Francisco...

...two weekends ago, we drove down to Seattle to watch our daughter Stefania and her soccer team play against a local Washington state team and, while we fully intended to drive down to the Oregon coast for a few days, we decided to extend our little holiday and kept driving south to finally end up in California -- to be more exact, in the Napa Valley and San Francisco area (what a beautiful corner of the world!...) We were so close to California when in Southern Oregon and we were having such a good time, that we simply couldn't resist stepping into California for a bit... After two long days of driving (long, that is, when there are four children in the car with you!...), we finally made it back home from San Francisco late last night.

I was only able to check my blog at the beginning of the road trip, so when I got to San Francisco and was able to access my blog again, I was left absolutely speechless and tickled pink by all your comments on my giveaway post!! I am so happy that so many of you joined in... and the best part for me: there are so many new blogs for me to look up now!... Because of  your great response, I've decided to add another berry bundle to the draw (3 instead of 2) to improve your odds of winning. So, give me a day or two for post-holiday regrouping and I'll be back with the berry bundle winners...

Ooooo... I can't wait!

berry bundle giveaway...

"very blueberry"  bundle

"strawberry picnic"  bundle

...yup, it's giveaway time again!... I will be giving away two berry fabric bundles -- all you have to do is simply leave a comment here as to which one of the two bundles above, "very blueberry" or "strawberry picnic", you prefer... There is more than enough fabric in each bundle to make these berry patchwork tops; most of the pieces are fat quarters (approx.) and there are even a few half-yard pieces in the strawberry bundle. Each berry bundle collection is made up a lovely mixture of both new and vintage fabric and has about the same amount of fabric: just short of 6 yards. I've uploaded more photos of both patchwork tops here to help you decide. I will be away for the next few days so I will pick winners in about a week's time (next Saturday). I will stock my Etsy shop with more of these yummy berry bundles after the draw. So, do have a good week and do join in on the fun!

resurfacing...

...quite literally -- after coming back from a very scruffy but fun camping trip a few days ago, I holed myself up in my basement work space to sort through and organize a huge mountain of fabric (quite literally!) that has been growing on the floor for a while now... half way into it, I realized that, short of getting rid of a ton of fabric, extra shelving was needed -- so be it,... new shelves were bought, installed and quickly filled... and my work space is becoming a much happier place!

Since my last post, I've also been putting together fabric packets for my two berry patchwork tops (sneak peek above)... I thought this would be my fabric packet giveaway post until I realized that I had to replace one of the prints used in the blueberry patchwork because I didn't quite have as much as I thought I did!... Once I've done that and taken some photos of the "edited" blueberry top so that I can show you, I'll be ready to roll with my giveaway which should be my next post... Yay!... I can't wait -- hope to "see you" there!

summer berries...

...do you find yourself thinking of summer in terms of the different berry seasons... you know,... red strawberries in the garden tip you off that summer is finally here; the greens of the garden might still be fresh and spring-like (and for the most part pest-free!), but the days are definitely getting warmer and the prospect of all of those summer days ahead is so very exciting! When raspberries ripen, mid-summer is here and the days are as long and hot as can be and the living is glorious if you're lucky enough to be by water!... Ready-to-pick blackberries and blueberries tell us that summer is in its last chapter... always bittersweet... summer is resplendent in its maturity as its greens, reds and purples are deep and rich, but the shorter days make our thoughts skip ahead more and more towards September...

For a few days in the last couple of weeks, I found refuge from our unusually hot Vancouver summer in my cool basement amongst my many piles of fabric and came across two berry prints that I've had stashed for quite a while now: the red strawberry print and the blueberry print you can see in the mosaic above. (I've always thought of the red fabric as my strawberry print although my daughter recently pointed out that there are also raspberries scattered here and there in the pattern which I've never actually noticed before... Hmmm, it must be those big daisy-like flowers that made me only think of strawberries!)

In an effort to use up fabric that I've had lying around forever, I decided to compose patchwork tops around each of these two berry prints and came up with what you see above (more here...) I'm off this week on a camping holiday and when I'm back in 10 days or so, I will make bundles of enough of the 20 or so prints to make each of the patchworks (mostly as fat quarters) and offer them as blog giveaways and perhaps even stock my Etsy shop with a few of them... 'Hope to see you then and have a good blueberry and blackberry season!