fantastic felt food...

The other day I was on Flickr (yikes, how this eats up my time!), and I saw this photo (which was on its way to being good enough to eat!). I wasted no time, but went to the linked Etsy shop: Bugga Bugs. There I found over a dozen PDF patterns to make my own handmade felt food.

And this is where I started to get overwhelmed. Because every single pattern is so, so cute. Because the level of detail is perfect. Because each piece of food looks like I could handle making it. And because I know that between myself and my siblings, we would love to have all of this fantastic felt food.

I'm already seeing birthday and Christmas gift possibilities for baby sister (and even a brother or two). So now the question is, what to get and make first? The ice cream grabbed my attention in the first place, but the doughnuts also look yummy. But then there's the camping set (with potato chips that I just adore!), and the cupcakes (they come out of the baking cups!). But really, if I were going to make some felt food for myself, I would have to go for the Chinese take-out (who could resist?).

Wool felt often causes me to drool, but in this form, you will too! Check out Bugga Bugs!

stitchy gifts...

I've been itching to show off my latest projects, but decided to play it safe since they were gifts. But yesterday was my sister's birthday and so secrecy is no longer needed. In fact, I even made her take the pictures!

The top piece is a combination of BadBird's free gnome pattern, with some text that Anna fell in love with from a shirt she saw on Etsy. It's all glued into the hoop so she can hang it as it is.



This second part of her gift is a camera bag (the source of nylon cord frustration...I will likely replace with cotton soon). I know, you're thinking, obviously...there's a camera, and it's on a bag. But really, it's meant to hold her camera and keep it safe so she can put it in a tote bag/purse, and not have to carry a whole big case around always. The happy little camera on there seemed appropriate...



Happy Birthday, Anna!

heed my words...

When you wait until the last minute to finish up a gift for a very important sister, you can expect to make concessions on how said gift is made. One concession you should never make is to use rayon/nylon cording instead of cotton. Never. Ever. I swear, it is the devil's craft supply.

soon to bee in the shop...

After a weekend of intermittent internet service (grrr), and a morning on the phone with the DSL folks (grrrr), plus a camera card reader that just wouldn't read the card (grrrrr), I finally got this picture of my Beaming Bee embroidery uploaded.

Typically, I don't do fill stitches, but I thought I might try it out for this little guy. I sort of have mixed feelings. The textures that it gives are nice, but it makes this area of the stitching very stiff. Plus the fabric I've been using stretches a bit, so there's some pucker around the edge of the bee. So, I don't know. What do you think?

Regardless of how this version of the bee came out, patterns for this, as well as the coordinating hive, honey jar and smoker and a few extras, will be added to the shop by tomorrow.

And...a huge thank you to Tiffany for nominating me for the Pimpstich blogroll! (Thanks to the talented ladies at Pimpstitch too!)

this would've been perfect...

What? Two posts in one day?

This is just to say that I found the perfect gift for my sister's birthday. If only I wasn't almost finished with what I've been making her. See, Anna just got this great new camera (an early birthday gift), and she isn't using it nearly as much as she should. And I think that if she had one of these fantastic camera straps by Shealynn, she might just forget about her studies, and do something really great, like take more pictures. (My friend tells me I would be the worst life coach ever!)

Anyway, these straps are easily removable, washable, and downright wonderful to look at. Perhaps this will need to be Anna's Christmas gift...(Anna, don't look!)...everyone else, check them out!

busy as a bee...

Bees are known for staying busy. What I wonder though, is do they do their work with a good attitude? I mean, are they always beaming, as this little bee embroidery will be? Because, when things are busy for me, I sometimes get a bit cranky and start to resent some of the things I'm doing. I'd like to believe that bees have their days too...

I'm pleased to say, however, that this work in progress is making me happy. And it's not the only work I've been progressing on lately. It's just that this is the only one I can show right now. My sister has a 21st birthday coming up...and she would be certain to find the Flickr pics...

musical stitches...

I enjoy the music of Architecture in Helsinki (in small doses...they have a bold sound), but I've just become a bigger fan. Check out this music video...it'll have you in stitches! (Via smartypants)

68...

Finally! Pictures of Sunday's goodies! These are only a few of the things we had, but trust me, everything tasted great. Since it was my grandparents anniversary, we had many of the things that they had for their wedding 68 years earlier. Chicken salad. Little dark bread sandwiches. Peach ice cream.





But this is my favorite. The cake I made was very basic, but the topper is priceless. Who could resist their grandmother's anything from her 1940 wedding?

just a little behind...

So, I had fully intended to post some pics of the finished cake balls/truffle cakes, as well as other goodies. In fact, I was going to post them yesterday. But the day got away from me. And then today, again, the day got away from me. Tomorrow, for sure, I'll get to the pictures.

For now, enjoy this short video that my brother made today:

truffle cakes...

Bakerella calls them cake balls, but we decided that they are just too tasty and too fabulous to be called that. We're going with truffle cakes. Gracie helped me with as much of the project as she could, but in the end, her biggest contribution was eating. I won't lie, this was a time-consuming treat, but well worth it!











Finished pics of these, an anniversary cake and the breads I've been making tomorrow! And thanks to my sister Anna for taking these shots (although it felt like being at a real photo shoot with the flash going off so much!).

on the wall...

My Recyclers are all "framed" in embroidery hoops and up on my office wall. I love how they look and will most likely add more things like this in with prints. A couple things inspire this: Purl's Swatch Portraits and Neawear's Wall Wear. (I especially adore the chains holding some of the pieces.) I'll still be adding art prints and photography (I even have a new print that is waiting to be framed...too cute!), but the round pieces will help mix it up a bit.

Now I'm on the lookout for old, interesting embroidery hoops. I have one metal hoop that came from my grandmother's stash, but I think more are needed. Now, off to Ebay...

two words...

Pop Deluxe.

quick...

This Sunday, my grandparents will celebrate their 68th wedding anniversary. Wow! I almost have a hard time even imagining what that would be like. Anyway, to celebrate, we aren't doing anything too big, but we will be having similar foods to what they had at their wedding: chicken salad, little sandwiches, peach ice cream.

Since today was nice and cool-ish, it seemed the perfect time to turn the oven on again. (We try to avoid running air conditioning, therefore, the oven is also avoided at all costs!) I made this rhubarb quick bread (and nearly burned it!) as the first bread for those little sandwiches. My only trouble is that it is for Sunday, and I can't start eating it now! It smelled so good while baking...

Tomorrow, banana bread and pineapple bread. Yum!

embroidery patterns...

The time is finally here! I'm so excited to announce that I'm now offering embroidery patterns of my illustration doodles in the Wild Olive shop! Just a couple to start with, but more are on their way.

The patterns are simple and are PDF files that can be printed and traced by a window with a regular pencil, or with transfer paper/pen/pencil. The nice part is, they can be used over and over, you could enlarge or reduce them on a copier, and they don't require shipping!

These have been so fun to make (the patterns and the stitched pieces), and so share the love and the excitement...

Until the end of August, I'm offering one of the patterns as a free download. September 1 this will go in the shop, but for now, you can download I've Got A Notion embroidery patterns for free.

Update! Now available in the shop.

If you make something using this pattern, I'd love to see it! Send a picture, or on Flickr, tag it "wildolive".

Happy Stitching!

the stuff of fairy tales...

Lots going on here, and so I can't go on...but here is something new I've been working on. It's a Printable Book Lover's Kit featuring a new set of illustrator doodles..."The Stuff of Fairy Tales!" It's the inanimate objects that add so much to our favorite stories.

Perhaps more later...

stop needling me...

This is what I've been up to today. A bit of embroidery, and then, a needle case! I just sort of put it together in my head and then went for it. There are a few things that make it wonky, but it will serve its purpose. Plus I got to use some very old snaps that I discovered in a lovely old sewing basket that came from my aunt's house. I think I may need to show off some of the other goodies in there...





In unrelated news, tomorrow I will be without internet for a good part of the day. The good thing about this is that I should end up with faster service. The downside for me is that I am addicted to the internet. Wish me luck as I go without my fix tomorrow!

in the works...

The doodling has been excessive around here. When I have a lot to do on the computer, and especially when it's hot, I find that I want to spend my extra time off of the computer. So doodling up new ideas is a fun way to "work" without it feeling like work. Plus it helps that it can be done poolside.

The doodles above are now almost finished in their final form. The swan in the middle and the peas towards the back aren't part of the final group, but can you tell what all of these have in common and will be?



And then, Christmas is less than five months off, so I've been working on ideas for Christmas doodles and items to go with them. Kind of weird thinking cold and snow and Christmas in July and August, but I need to be ready.

Now, to get things going on the computer and more...

oh my...

So far this year I've had a printable every month, just as planned. I'm kinda proud of being able to keep this up and not let a month go (although, I'm thinking of letting up of the monthly buttons in the shop). August is no different. And so today I give you a page of printable mini-lists featuring Surprised Seashell. She's just shocked at the number of things that need to be done!

These lists are similar to what is included in my Printable Planner Pages file at Etsy, but those allow you type in your list before printing. These are the old-fashioned, hand written kind. But they are cute and small for you to cut apart and slip in a pocket! Download your lists here.

UPDATE: For some reason, my server has chosen to not let my links find the file for this. If you're interested, and can't use the link, email me and I'll send you the PDF!

audio patch...

Updating old clothes with new embroidery... I wanted to add some of my designs to clothing types of things, but nothing too permanent. Plus I like stitching on the linen-like fabric that I stole from my mom's stash. So I came up with this patch, that can be pinned onto anything, but removed before laundering.

Antique Audio's Rueful Record is my first patch, but certainly not the last. I got to thinking as I was making this...Rueful Record is sad, because vinyl just isn't as popular (oh to be an mp3 file!). He doesn't get to make a sound when made of thread and fabric. And yet, he does. Every time I pull the thread through the taut weave of the cloth, it makes a sound. A lovely sound that I can't even describe. But if you've every embroidered in this manner, you know what I mean. I love that sound. And for this patch, at least, it's the voice of Rueful Record.



All this embroidery is part of a secret project I'm working on. Keep watching for updates!