Kleas

end of blue june

There is no lack of inspiration in the craft blogging community to get me motivated on a project.  So when I learned about Project Spectrum...why not?  Here are my completed blue projects for June:

This is also my entry for Boogaj's June/July Pincushion Challenge.  It was another first for me, and a lot of fun to make.  I love anything I can stitch by hand.

And I was motivated to knit a little pillow for Peanut for story-time.  A sweet soft place for him to rest while we read together.  And now Itty likes to join in too.

And just in case I had nothing else blue going on I signed up for the postcard swap.

One of these is on it's way to Boston, the other to New Zealand.

And finally, a photograph of blue salvia from my garden, that perhaps looks like it belongs in next months project spectrum.  See more project spectrum photos here.

Fun in the mail

There is so much to share since I was out of town all last week.  I'll have to start with today's mail that brought some wonderful surprises!!  All the way from Japan, Heather sent this lovely little crocheted mouse for the softies swap.   

This is about the cutest little creature I have ever seen.  We named him "Itty" because he's so small he fits in the palm of my hand.  I can only imagine what size needle Heather had to use to make him.  She included this beautiful little hand made picnic blanket (I just LOVE the fabric!!), and the darling cheese pincushion.  As you can see, Itty is quite tired from his travels and is having a little break before he snacks on his cheese.  Heather also included these darling stickers and this stationary set.

What a wonderful surprise!!!  Thank you so much Heather!! 

Also in my mailbox this morning were my fabulous ATC's and mail art envelope from Amy's ATC swap.  I am just over-joyed with the beautiful ATC's I received to add to my collection. 

 

What a bunch of talented artists!!  The mail art envelope (so fun to see sitting in my mailbox!) is by Hanna, and from left to right Thumbelina by Pepper, The Red Shoes by Ellia and Jack in the Beanstalk by Holly (LOVE that she created an envelope out of "sky" paper).  Thanks to all these creative women for such a wonderful gift of art.  Most of all, thank you Amy for once again organizing such a great swap.

Finally, I owe a HUGE thank you to this talented woman!!  Jen never ceases to amaze me with her generosity.  Home from Boston late Tuesday night I found a box had arrived from Jen.  I waited to open it the next morning as I know how much Peanut enjoys to open packages.  And to his joy it was a birthday gift for him!!  First, there was this beautiful card that she made:

Jen knows that we speak Spanish and also understands my love of trees.  Inside was this cute pouch with the adorable Peanut on it:

And in the bag this adorable shirt that Peanut couldn't wait to put on.

That sweet guitar is made from several layers of stitched on fabric.  Peanut took to strumming the stitched strings immediately and was so excited playing his shirt guitar, that I took a moment to cut him one out of cardboard:

Jen is my first swap and blog friend and I am so grateful to have made this connection.  She is an amazingly talented woman and has such a big heart.  When I was feeling a bit down and neglectful of my son because my job demanded that I travel so much recently, she sent me a mother's day gift and reminded me that even in my absence, I can be a good mother.  I see she has been spreading more goodness around the blog community.  If you haven't seen her shop yet, check it out.  I just LOVE this piece.  Thank you Jen for your generosity and for always making me smile.  More on Jen later.

beautiful yarn

Last week I received two amazing yarn swap packages.  Oh what a delight!!  I love yarn!!  And I can't wait to get started on a project with these beautiful fibers.  The first came from my One Skein Secret Pal who is doing a great job of hiding her identity.  One thing I did learn, however, is she lives in Texas.  And she has great taste in yarn.

The colors are just lovely!  Beautiful hand dyed wool.  Oh decisions, decisions...what to knit with this. I also learned my secret pal is very creative.  She included these handmade stitch markers which I am just delighted about!  These are my first, and I almost hate to admit it, but I used to use scraps of paper with a hole punched through with my needle as stitch markers.  But now, I'll be knitting in style.

Shanna's package was also wonderful to open.  This swap was for a magic yarn ball that I learned about on whip up.  It was so fun to make one of these for my swap partner, but it was even more fun to get Shanna's.  It's so full of surprises, I couldn't wait to start knitting.  And the yarn she sent is wonderful to work with.

Look at the lovely hand made pin on the side.  And she also included this gorgeous sewing case that she made, that now hold the little scissors,  the seam ripper and the ruler you can see in the ball of yarn.  Shanna has a darling free pattern for a knit baby hat on her site that I may have to try out with my new yarn.

little lambkin

It's another first for me.  I joined this swap ages ago, thinking I'd have plenty of time to figure out how to make a softie.  I did make this one a while back, but it was sort of free style. The reality is, I don't have much experience sewing with a machine, so had to find something I could sew by hand.  I'm so grateful to Turkey Feathers for her little lambkin pattern.  It was a perfect project for a first try.  Very easy to piece together, and fun to sew.  He is now on his way to Norway.

carved stamps and swaps

Thanks to Moki and her carved stamp recipe cards swap, I tried something new today.  Here is my first attempt at carving my own stamps.  This was such a fun project, I'm sure this won't be the last time I try it. 

As a first timer in this craft I only have two bits of wisdom to share.  The first is I suggest you learn how to carve stamps from Moki's tutorial.  She explains how to do this so well!!  The second bit of advice is don't try something with a lot of curves for your very first attempt.  My little wooly lamb was just so difficult to cut, since I was not yet accustomed to working with the carving tools.   Although it is pretty rough, I choose to stamp with the lamb anyway.  They are now on their way to Moki.  Check out Amy's beautiful recipe cards.  She is an amazing stamp carver.

In other paper crafting news, my gift tags from Tammie's swap arrived today.  What a wonderful collection of cards to choose from.  I may never be able to use them, and could end up just saving them to look at they're so beautiful.

One final note.  Amy turned me on to yet another ATC swap.  I'm definately hooked on making and collecting these miniature pieces of artwork.  You have until the 30th to sign up, so if you haven't already (Jen)...there is still time.

meet Tiny and HFD

Every once and a while Peanut likes to sit on my lap as I look through some of my favorite sites.  He loves all the wonderful creatures we see as much as I do, and lovingly screams "bebe" when he sees them.  So for his second birthday I did not need to think twice before buying one of Camilla's beautiful characters.

Meet Tiny.

She arrived last week and has made one little boy verrrry happy.

Don't be jealous Morran.

Love at first sight!!

And to all you great dad's, I wish you a very Happy Father's Day!!

This is my gift for my dear husband.  I can't resist Linda's lovely pottery and now we each have our own special cup to drink our tea from.

 

red

I was so inspired by this peony, I wanted to share some of my own.

blue

A plate from Seville, Spain.  And a vase made by a dear friend in Wisconsin.

gray

Part of our everyday ritual includes a walk around the lake near our house.  It was exceptionally beautiful today.  Does this qualify as gray?  Even though it sparkles with the morning sun, it has a slate appearance to me. 

I'm really enjoying this color week and seeing everyones photographs.  Thank you all for sharing.

brown

I'm one of those moms who lets her child run through puddles.