An Old Bear

                  I haven't completed any projects this week so I thought I'd show you an old one.

I made this bear for my mother quite a few years ago and I just noticed it again recently. The quilt is something that she and my grandmother made together many, many years ago.

At some point in time it became the dog bed.??? How does a beautiful quilt get chosen as the dog bed? Maybe it was ruined by something else before that.  I got my hands on it long after the dogs enjoyed it and decided to make something from the not too horribly ruined sections of the quilt. I found a pattern for a bear and carefully cut out matching flowers to make his tummy.

Then I found two more for his back. For the rest I just used the white quilted parts that had no flowers on them.

Then I embroidered around every seam using different stitches.

Do you ever look at something you made in the past and wonder how you ever had the patience to take that project on? That is what I wonder about this one. I'm so glad that I did take the time to make him.

Just Playing

I haven't had much creating time in the last few weeks due to unpacking and stuff. I did manage finally to carve out a little creating space in the center of the garage. Not quite the shabby chic studio of my dreams (just shabby, so far) but it is a space to work and where I don't have to clean up every time I work on something. Sometimes I start a collage and have to walk away and think about what I am going to do next with it and I like that I can just walk up to it and start again without having to pull out everything.

This collage is a real mix of things. A little bit of background from Mary's Collage Club , a free download from Hope Wallace Karney and some pictures from magazines. I made her skirt from a stack of sweaters in a J. Crew catalog.

I also played with my fashion magazines in a journal I started last year.

Yesterday I stopped at an estate sale and found this scrapbook.

I paid more than I wanted to but I couldn't leave it there. It is filled with plans for someone's dream house. There are papers inside from the 40s, 50s and early 60s. The creator cut out pictures and glued them in her scrapbook.

She even picked out her choices for a vanity.

Most of the book has unfinished pages and there is an unglued stack of floor plans inside.

There are some really cute advertisements in it too.

This next one is hilarious!

I love that this woman made a book to keep her house dreams in. I wonder what her name was. I couldn't put the book down once I saw it and I really tried to talk myself out of it but I couldn't. I want to work in her scrapbook and continue to glue the pictures that were tucked in the book.

Also, Mary Green is hosting a Vintage Gluebook Page Swap.  Check it out and join in. I can't wait to work on it!

Embroidery

I love to embroider! It's so relaxing to sit and stitch away. I have several projects in the works but until today, haven't finished one since before Christmas. This sampler is from Rebecca Ringquist.

This is her Cake sampler. I certainly had to have it since I live for cake! This pink was from an original batch of samplers. I saw she still has pink but it appears to be a darker shade.

                                                   Here is a link to her Etsy store.

Next on my to-do list (embroidery list... there are so many lists) is this stitch sampler which is Rebecca's original sampler. I started it first but put it down to work on the cake sampler.

She has a gorgeous new Paisley sampler too.

Now I need to decide what to do with my cake sampler. Should I frame it or make a pillow? Are there other things to do with them? Let me know if you have other suggestions.

My Handyman Special

   I'm a homeowner!  Isn't it great?  As you can see it needs some TLC!

I know it's a little run down looking but I think I can make it beautiful. I'll have to work on it in my spare time. I can't really afford to hire a contractor.

It must be around eighty years old now but I don't know exactly when it was built.

Luckily some of the trim pieces are still here even though they aren't attached any longer. I'll need to replace some of the windows. I'm a little concerned about the insulation too!

The house was unoccupied for many years and I think some birds or mice vandals ruined one of the columns in this room.   

 The couch was a house warming present from my sister. I'll probably keep it in storage till I finish renovations. I think I'll need an electrician to update the wiring of the house. It just doesn't look safe to me.

Obviously I'll need to paint!

I'll plant some flowers near the front door.

My mom brought me a plant.

When the renovations are done, I'll get some nice chairs for the front porch and I'll sit and relax with some lemonade.

August Collage Challenge

I'm so happy to work on another collage challenge from Mary Green at Greenpaper. I love doing these challenges! In case you aren't familiar with this challenge, Mary provides three images for you to use. You must use a part of each image in your art. I put my collage in my gluebook which is getting too fat to work in. I have a new book but since I am still unpacking, I didn't find it until after I had already glued my images into this old one. I keep gravitating to floral images and have a hard time going out of my box and using something else. Oh well, I really thought the roses went well with the woman (la femme) so flowers it was. I liked this background which I thought matched her lace and used another light blue background to bring out the sky.

If you would like to try the challenge for yourself or just want to see what everyone else did with the same images, click here.

Thanks, Mary, for another fun challenge!