Kleas

A Little Angel Swap

Margaret of We Bloom Here hosted a swap of little angels and has connected bloggers from all over the world.  You can see all the beautiful hand created angels right here.

Here is what I made for my partners (most of whom live in Australia).

It's funny how these little angels all started out to be the same, but as I individually hand-stitched each one, they seemed to take on their own personalities.  I guess this is just how it is when creating a doll.

Each one is stitched from white wool and vintage trim embellishments and beads.  Each is holding something unique in their hand or arms: a cluster of bells, a mother-of-pearl star, a vintage stamen bundle and an acorn bird nest with eggs.

I've already received two lovely angels and will be sure to post them once they all arrive.

(Thank you Margaret!)

playing...

It was Leslie who got me thinking about printing on fabric.  I couldn't resist signing up for her swap, so began playing.

First I went to the kitchen to see how different utensils worked for stamping.  It was fun to make patterns with the variety of tools, but I found it too challenging to get good results with the ink.  

Next I played with stamps, some commercial, some i carved myself.  I also experimented with squares of foam.

Wanting to test a stencil, i worked with some fancy lace paper.

Pretty, but was not sure how to line up the edges to cover an entire fat quarter.

More playing then I finally came up with a pattern that I liked.

For the swap fabrics, I used four different colors of paint (Martha Stewart satin) on a 100% Organic white cotton.  I chose four stamps and did a repeat design covering the entire piece of fabric.

After heat setting them with a hot iron, they were ready to go.

These are all on their way to Australia.

happy friday

I've been absent from this space while (among many other things) I really, truly get the basement ready for the contractors.  They are coming on Monday and I am both anxious to finish clearing the room but am also excited to begin moving forward to have a space to claim as my own.

I still manage to do handwork in my quiet moments.  I made more birds. 

 
 
These two are such characters.

 
Out of hemp cord I crocheted little nests...each one holds a tiny needle-felted egg.

 
One went to Morgan who sent me this delightful needle-felted owl that came with his own little birch wood perch. 

 
The other went to Alison of Rumpelfeltskin, who sent me this lovely wool felt bird with heart shaped wings.  Just look at how perfect her stitches are...and I love the cinnamon stick branch.

 
These were all made for Margaret's bird swap that she organized last month.  More birds here.

Back to the basement...wish me luck.

somewhere....

My partner received my pincushion for the swap in the mail yesterday...whew... it arrived safely.  I was a little worried because this was truly a labor of love, and should it get lost, I would never be able to replace it. 

Some of you guessed it!  Anna, Tam.me and Tai were right on with the yellow brick road.

 
The Wizard of Oz is Ruth's favorite movie and I saw she had another Oz themed pincushion in her collection, so I thought I'd try a different interpretation.

 
I built up Emerald City out of eight individual felt cones, and added an "emerald" bead to the top of each one. Next I stitched "there's no place like home" around the sides in red (Ruby like) sparkle floss...very tricky stuff to work with.

 

 

From there the rainbow...it took me four tries, but I finally got it to work.
 
I like to make themed pins for my pincushions (like in some of these), that way the pincushion can be some what interactive.

 
These characters can make their way down the yellow brick road.

 
This is one monster sized pincushion...good thing Ruthie is a quilter.

 
My pincushion from Julia arrived yesterday too.  I just can't get over how adorable and clever her hamburger is...it looks good enough to eat!! (And that's exactly what my boys pretended to do all afternoon).

 
Happy Friday everyone!!  xx

brooch giveaway Monday

 
Regina is hosting a brooch swap and also invited all swappers to jointly hold a brooch giveaway on their blogs today.  I made more than five so decided I would give one away today too.  I used new and vintage materials to create a landscape that I stitched different designs over.  In the one above, I added three vintage pearls attached to fabric covered floral wire.  The fabrics are a nice mix of linen, cotton, wool and burlap.  I just love the textural feel of all of these together.  This brooch is sewn entirely by hand and would look so pretty on your coat or lapel.   

For some reason I'm feeling in a very spring-like mood (can't imagine why after another 15 inches of snow yesterday...) so if you're interested in a chance to win this brooch, just tell me the name of your favorite flower in the comments below and I will draw a name on Friday.

To see who else is participating in the brooch giveaway today, see Regina's blog for the links. 

Time for me to get outside and shovel.....

new stone collection

 
Yesterday I received the last of the five stones from my partners for GardenMama's Artful Stone swap.  These stones are as varied and beautiful as each of the women I swapped with.  It was so fun to get happy mail in my box!  And the weight of each package let me know it was a stone that had arrived.  Thank you to all of the women I swapped with!  I will cherish these beauties in my new stone collection.

painted gnome by Angela

felted heart by Rae

painted owl by Andrea

painted flower by Nicole

silk covered by Maribeth

if at first you don't succeed

In my last post I was feeling the frustration of trying a new craft and failing at it.  After hours of crocheting/ripping/crocheting again, with no result, I had had enough.  I walked away from the project for a day or so but eventually found my way back to the hook and needle and just began to play.  I had no pattern, but just started working the stitches I could do and before I knew it I had covered a stone.  It got easier and more fun as I went...as long as I kept track of my counts I could repeat my stitches and eventually create a small piece.  I love how they turned out.

 
No two were stitched the same, I don't think I could have done so if I tried.   I used a different color of vintage crochet yarn for each and the back of each stone has it's own unique pattern.  Some have a star shape, others were stitched over completely and on one I made a heart .   No picture though...guess I was too eager to get the already late swap into the mail.

I added the word PEACE to each stone...it's one of my favorite words.  Ever since I was a child I can remember the effect of holding a cold stone in my hand...waiting until it was warmed by the heat of my palm...energy passing from me to the stone and back again...and how that brought me such comfort and peace. 

failed. miserably.

 
I joined Gardenmamas artful stone swap with the idea it would give me the motivation to try out Margie's crocheted pattern for covering stones found at the Purl Bee.  After all...who hasn't seen all the beautiful stones she has transformed?  Gorgeous, right?  And impossible to get as they sell out so quickly from her etsy shop.  Well, it seemed easy enough.  I know some basic crochet stitches.  I was ready to learn...but for some reason I could not get it right.  I tried and tried and tried and each time resulted in something completely different than the previous one.  I know this comes from being too distracted and unable to focus on the pattern as it's pretty basic and straightforward.  But I'll have to save that tutorial for another time.  The swap is meant to be mailed out today.  I'll have to go for plan B.  Hope I get it right this time.

pincushion swap

I have Dorie to blame thank for my getting involved in another swap I had no business signing up for.  But I truly do love making pincushions and it has been a while...so, this time I made one for the Scrappy Pincushion Swap on Flickr (check out all the beautiful creations that have been posted there).

I went with a design I used to make a while back (three years ago already?!!), using felt flower shapes I punch from wool with a sizzix paddle punch. 

 
My idea was to make an English garden by covering a bed of leaves with flowers...as you can see, this is one big pincushion.

It looks pretty boring with just the leaves showing.

 
But once you add the flower pins, the garden really comes to life.

 
Here's a side view so you can see all the flowers are pins.

 
If it's not used as a pincushion, it would be a nice thing for idle hands to play around with.  There are so many different possibilities of how to design the garden.

 
I received my pincushion in the mail last week from Solidia.  She is a master sewer, and I couldn't be more thrilled with this beautiful pincushion she made for me.  I just love the fabrics she chose, the colors and of course adding that sparkly brooch to the center gives this piece a bit of glamour too. 

 
 

end of february post

Squeezing in a last minute post to say good-bye to February.  It was a busy month for me, so little posting went on here. 

It started out to be such a cold month.  That made our outdoor play time very short, if at all. 

 
Nicer weather and now healthy boys really have me looking forward to spring.

The kids at the preschool are feeling it too.  I love this winter garden some of the kids made with blocks from our large puzzles.

Nice even rows of plantings, each got a turn to "water" with our special watering can. 

The preschool kept me very busy this month.  We start registration for fall in February and we were booked meeting parents, talking about our program and showing off our school.  We are so pleased that we already have a full house for September.  For our second year of being open, we're pretty thrilled about that.  The hard part is we had too many sign up, and I hate to turn anyone away.

I made some new friends this month after joining in with Bethany's swap idea.

I made these sweet felt hearts for Bethany, Regina, Norma, Adaiha, Rae, Jolene, Lucia and Missy. 

They were the perfect little stitching project while watching the Olympics.

I also jumped in Nicole's card swap making more heart cards.  This time I needle felted a mix of wool, hand dyed mohair locks, sari silk threads and angelina into a scrap of burlap.  I think they turned out quite pretty.

And a close up that shows off all the pretty fibers.

 

These I swapped with Amy, Kerry (my real life neighbor!), Lisa, Stephanie, Pennie, Tonya, Stacey, Nicole, Nicola, and another Amy.  As you can imagine, my mailbox was over-flowing with love this month.  Thanks to all for the wonderful handmade cards!

It's almost March and I just can't wait for it to get here.  First I get to see my dear friend Sarah who is probably on her way here right now...and then the fabulous Sonya with be flying in to do an exhibit at (one of my favorite places) the Textile Center.  (Congratulations Sonya!!).

So, good-bye February...you were sweet but oh-so-cold!