Dainty Pinkybird Needlebook

Dainty Pinkybird Needlebook
Originally uploaded by misseskwittys.

Not too much going on today--kinda boring really. I DID pack up all those little birdies and sent them flying off to their new home in Finland this morning. My hub and I like to get out the maps and look up the places where things are going--we are a little strange that way! We also like to look up words in the dictionary and try to come up with perfect sentences to use the words in or perfect examples of the word. :-D Words like ironic, superfluous, omnipotent..... We are such geeks! LOL The rest of the day was filled up with household chores and errands. That is the price I have to pay for slacking off all weekend! Well worth it! It is nice to have everyone home again, all safe and sound. Ahhhhh.

Here is a picture of my latest little needlebook- it has been listed in my Etsy shop if you are interested in having a cutey little needlebook of your very own!! Swing on by and have a little poke around the shop--c'mon! you know you want to! LOL

Oh, I did just find out that I won a little contest that The Souls Chamber had in her blog--the prize is one of her beautiful little collages. Yeah!! The funny thing is that I had just found her blog, saw about the contest and signed up and won, all on the same day! How Cool is THAT! Anyways, stop by and give her a visit.

Flock of Birdies

Flock of Birdies
Originally uploaded by misseskwittys.

I have the house all to myself this weekend-- a rarity to be sure! Just me and the cats. It's weird! The hub went on an ice fishing weekend with the guys, Linds went out of town with her cousin, and Joe is spending the weekend with a friend. I made a big batch of homemade turkey & wild rice soup for the guys to take ice fishing--and saved a few bowls of it for myself, so I haven't even had to cook! Yeah! I really love my family and feel totally blessed to be a part of this happy and vibrant family---but thank you Lord for a little peace and quiet once in a while! LOL

I got a request for a custom order of the little felt birds that I make. This gal wants a bunch of them so she can make them into a mobile for her child's room--which is a wonderful idea, don't you think! Well, because I have so much uninterupted time on my hands this weekend, I was able to get all those little guys you see in the picture cut out, sewn up, and finished! Yeah! I think they turned out pretty sweet. I originally told her that I would just put some fabric combos together for her to choose from, but now she can actually choose from completed birds instead. Yeah!

Well, I think I'm gonna go and make some popcorn and cocoa and watch a movie! Bye for now. :-D

Fresh Pear Bagkeeper

Fresh Pear Bagkeeper
Originally uploaded by misseskwittys.

Here's my latest creation---a bagkeeper with a vintagey pear embroidery all done up in yellows, blues, and white! So fresh and pretty. It can be found in my Etsy shop--stop on by! Have you been noticing a lot of pears lately? I happened to peek in on a Treasury List on Etsy that featured pears--man, I really hadn't realized how attractive they are until then!! Here are a few to illustrate my point: My friend Alisa from Treasurefield did a really cute painting of a pear in a chair (Love it Alisa!). AND check out this very cute pear pendant by BlockPartyPress. AND how about this absolutely adorable little felt pear pin by Smeeta!! Way cute!!

Here's a pic of our old girl Purdy--she is just about 21 years old! She's pretty gorgeous for her age, I must say! She was my hub's cat from back in his bachelor days. Now she has just started doing the most amazing thing---she now goes to the bathroom on the toilet! Yup! No one has taught her to do this, she just all of a sudden decided that all that litterbox stuff is just too much work, LOL! I almost died laughing when I walked in on her in the bathroom and she just turned her head around and looked at me with this "Do You Mind?!!" look on her face! ROFLMAO

A Bunch of Love!

Lilac Valentine
Originally uploaded by misseskwittys.

Do you like the lilac colored valentine here? Or would you rather see one in blue? or maybe red? Well, I have them! LOL I just finished 4 new valentines today for a very dear customer---just thought I would show them off before they get mailed off to their new home.

This very same dear customer recently sent me a note in the cutest stationary that I've ever seen---I had to beg her to tell me where she got it! Check it out here at Chronicle's Bookstore. I think it will cause a little heart flutter in every woman who sews!!

Today is my sweetheart hubby's birthday--now he is as old as me--a fact that I had to point out to him several times today, followed by a totally undignified "ha ha"! Happy Birthday Honey!! I love ya!

Well, I got about 6 new needlebooks 3/4 of the way done--just sitting down on my cutting table waiting for the finishing touches. So, if you have been waiting for me to list any more of them, they should be done soon. I also have a couple new embroideries done and sitting down on my ironing board, just waiting to be made into new bagkeepers. I have a pretty yellow pear one and a juicy red apple one. WIP's or UFO's or whatever you want to call them, LOL. I hope to get to them this weekend. My hubby and 2 of my brothers are going to go on a weekend ice fishing trip, so I will have the whole weekend to sew, uninterupted, if I feel like it. Yeah!! Thanks for stopping by! Bye.

A Good Day

It was a good day. I got up early --well, I guess 5:27 is pretty early! The coffee wasn't even done yet (we have the automatic coffeepot set to make the coffee at 5:30). I had checked my Etsy shop before I went to bed last night and saw that I had sold a few things that I needed to get packaged up and mailed out this morning. I enjoy sending stuff out. Really. I hand make little boxes for the items and make a pretty little stamped hang tag to match the box, I even like to stamp the address label to match the tag! It's a fun way to start the day and get in a crafty mood. I had one of my favorite customers request a custom order for 4 more of the felty, old fashion hearts, so I got started on those too! The kids had the day off of school today (semester change), so Linds and I went shopping. Not the rush and get the needed stuff shopping, but the leisurely, "hey, look at this!" kind. It's nice to spend time with Linds like that, just the 2 of us. She is 13 now, and busy with friends and school and all that. Then we stopped at the video store and got the movie "RV" with Robin Williams--have you seen that? We went home and made cocoa and popcorn and watched it---and laughed! Man, that is a funny, silly movie! Go rent it! Oh, and Daisy watched with us too, after all, she is one of the girls too! There you have it, a simple yet lovely day--which I need to end now, after all, I've been up since 5:27!! Good night.

Mrs. Little goes to Market

Mrs. Little goes to Market
Originally uploaded by misseskwittys.

Hello Readers. As many of you know, I enjoy working with retro fabrics, particularly the styles from the 30's and 40's--the repro feedsack fabrics. I'm always on the hunt for them. We live in a medium size city (around 85,000 ppl) and there are only 3 quilt shops in town and a Hancock Fabrics for me to find fabric. So far, I have bought some retro fabric in ALL the lines that they carry (which isn't much) LOL!! Thank God for the internet!! Yeah!

I signed up to do the Fabric Shop Hop last year, which is where you sign up and then are given a listing of all the participating shops and you just go and check them all out! Fun. You also get the scoop on special sales and a chance to win bigger prizes for completing the hop. This is a good way to find shops that carry what you are looking for. I found my favorite online fabric shop that way---Wish Upon a Quilt. A nice little shop, with good prices, and they run some good sales too! I urge you to check it out. There is also the ReproDepot--another great find if you like the repro styles.

So, any shops you would like to share? Where do you find those little treasures that make you smile?

Old Fashioned Valentine close-up

Close up shot of the Valentine
Originally uploaded by misseskwittys.

Hello Readers. I made an old fashioned Valentine. I haven't made something like this for a good many years. It is very victorian feeling, which is not my usual style, but it is a style that I enjoy. I got a sheet of vintage images printed out on fabric from Leslie at Alpha Stamps (a great shop, btw, you should really stop by and check it out!), and I just got the urge to make something pretty and pink! I think it turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself *lol*. I have it listed in my Etsy shop if anyone is interested.

I'm teetering on the brink of switching over to the new layout on this blogger--it has all the cool features that are supposed to make editting so much easier. BUT I just read that it will erase all the changes that I've already made to my blog. That is such a drag! So, I'm still debating on whether or not I want to go and switch and then try and re-submit all the sidebar goodies.....hmmm... Has anyone else done this yet? I would appreciate a little discussion on this issue, if you would care to share your thoughts. Pretty Please??

Cherry-OH Wristlet

Cherry-OH Wristlet
Originally uploaded by misseskwittys.

Hello Readers. A gray and dreary day here in MN--perfect for staying inside and crafting and playing on the computer!

I took a little time off from the crafting, just a little "after Christmas veg out"! LOL But, I had a fun swap with Curious Zoo (who I met through Flickr) and she sent me this beautiful cherries fabric and a bunch of other goodies in return for some of my handcrafted items. The fabric was just what I needed to incite me to go and do a little new crafting. I have made a couple new little wristlets, including the cherries one pictured here. There is also one I call "Groovy Chick" which features a funky retro mod floral fabric or two and a little chick applique. I really like them both!! You can check them out (and even purchase them if they strike your fancy--you know my prices are very reasonable!) in my Etsy shop. I made a little cherries card wallet to match the wristlet and that is being offered as a package deal with the wristlet. I also made a little padded pouch with the cherries fabric (see, told you--it incited me to action!) which would be perfect for an MP3, cellphone, camera, sunglasses, etc...).

Well, I need to go visit some of my favorite blogs and see what they have been up to---thanks for stopping by!

Here's My Heart Bunny Pull Toy

Here's My Heart Bunny Pull Toy
Originally uploaded by misseskwittys.

Hello Readers! It is way past my bedtime right now but I wanted to show you all my new little bunny pull toy that I just got posted in my Etsy shop tonight--isn't he a sweety? He's all hand stitched, he has a lovely wooden decoupaged valentine, and he stands on a wooden base that has a pretty vintagey floral paper applied and I added little wooden wheels and a ribbon to pull it along! Yeah! If you would like to see larger pictures and shots from different angles, please HOP on over to my ETSY shop and have a look around. Thanks for stopping by and have a great night!

Happy New Year and I've been Tagged!

Hello Readers. I'm back, after a rather long break! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas this year. I made it through, lol! Just kidding, it was wonderful and I am very blessed.

I just got over a terrible little bout with an eye infection! Man, don't get one of those if you can help it! I had one eye that was all swollen and very painful, and I couldn't see out of it at all. I seem to be on the mend finally. Today is the first day in a week that I can see out of it decently and it feels good to be able to get back on the computer and visit all my favorite sites and blogs again. I've missed you all!

I see that my friend Joni, in her very cool blog "My Piece of Heaven", has tagged me with a 6 weird things thingee. Here are the details:

The Rules:Each player of this game starts with "6 weird things about you". Each person who gets tagged needs to write a blog post of their own 6 weird things as well as clearly state this rule. After you state your 6 weird things, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you're tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog for information as to what it means.

So, I have to pick 6 things out of the seemingly limitless weird things about myself, lol.

1) I didn't learn to drive until I was 31.

2) I listen to really loud music and sing loudly when I craft (that way the crafting just flows without too much thinking on my part!)

3) I moved around so much when I was a kid that I never spent more than 5 months at any one school until I got into the 9th grade.

4) I was holding my Mom in my arms when she died.

5) 9 times out of 10 I can tell who is on the phone when it rings.

6) I make really, really good soup which I am pretty famous for around here...and my brother, Will, will always show up at my house after I make some--even though no one told him!! We have a psychic soup connection! lol

There, that's that. Now you know all my secrets. Now, who will I tag with this....hmmm......