the third woodlanders desktop calendar...

Did you know that mossy doesn't just mean that green stuff that grows on things? Another meaning for mossy is old, outdated, or...antiquated. Go figure! This Antiquated Mossy Stone may be a little out of date, but he'll still help you keep track of the dates in March. Promise!

Just download and add to you desktop. (It's even green, because...can you believe that St. Patrick's Day is just a couple weeks away?)

Download March's 1280x1024
Download March's 1440x900

and the winner is...

This week has been so much fun! Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaways. I'll have you know that I was rooting for each and every person...but Random.org chose...



Nappy Miss Sew 'N Sew! Congratulations! Send your name and address to molliejohanson [at] gmail [dot] com and I'll send your prize pack out right away!

Have a lovely weekend, all! I'll have a new March calendar desktop tomorrow...It's a little on the mossy side...

one more de-stash giveaway...

Sharing my extra stuff has been soooo much fun! This is the last giveaway this week, and this one is mainly items that never sold from my shop. A tote bag, buttons, stationery, prints of patterns and printables...and some extra goodies! (The value of these is at least $30...maybe more)

So, just leave a comment with your name and a Wild Olive character or character set (for example, Sarcastic Squash or the Homework Helpers). I'll choose a winner Saturday morning!

canvas and calico portfolio case...

As promised, here's the companion to those recycled file folders!



This is a cloth portfolio to hold those file folders together. It's really easy to make and is a fun little organizational project. It's also a nice space for adding embroidery. (Which I haven't done yet, but will as soon as I decide what I want to add...)



You'll need: canvas, calico fabric, felt, buttons, thread.



Cut your canvas. Mine is about 21.5" wide, 13.25" high. This is approximate, as this is a flexible project that you can make your own. Fold and pin the edges in and hand hem with a running stitch. Leave one short end un-hemmed until the next step.



From the felt (I used wool blend), cut a section of rough scallops. Pin and stitch this along with your last short end of hem.



Next you'll sew on the buttons, but you need to figure out where to place them. To do this, set your folders (or whatever you'll be placing inside the portfolio) in the middle of the canvas. Loosely wrap the canvas around them, and see where the felt overlaps. Sew your buttons so that they will line up with the felt when closed.



Carefully cut button holes into the felt.



Now, cut your calico fabric. Mine is 9.5" wide, and 26" high. With the canvas open, wrong side up, lay the calico strip, wrong side up, perpendicular to the canvas.

Sew the pieces together with a row of running stitch that is a little shorter than the calico. My stitching is about 1" from the edge of the canvas. Do this at the top and bottom.



It's finished! To use, place your folders in the center of the portfolio. Wrap the calico around the folders, then wrap the canvas and button.



If you make one of these, I'd love to see it! Please add photos to the Wild Olive Flickr group, or leave a comment with a link back!

the second de-stash winner...

Oh, my! I have loved reading about the supplies that you love and the ones you have too much of! When I was little, I remember going to my aunt's house, and she had a sewing room. Well, really it was a fabric room. No kidding, the space was full. Talk about a stash!

I will say, between my mom and I, we have more felt than we could ever use. (But can I part with it? Only a little.)



Now, the winner of the second giveaway...is Louise! (mama to three silly birds) Congrats, Louise! Send your mailing address to molliejohanson [at] gmail [dot] com, and I'll mail prizes out at the end of the week!

By the way, I'm embarrassed to say that I mistyped yesterday's winner. It was RubyJunes, not RubyJones. Oops! Be sure to check out her adorable blog.

More fun stuff coming later today!

the first de-stash winner...and the next giveaway...

Wow! I'm really amazed at how many people entered the first de-stash giveaway! Thank you! After removing the duplicate comments, there were 62 entries. Now...drumroll please...




Counting from the top down to comment #22, RubyJones is the winner! She chose fabric as her fave supply. Yeah, I think there are a lot of us who find joy in fabric...

RubyJones, send your mailing address to molliejohanson [at] gmail [dot] com, and I'll mail prizes out at the end of the week!

Well, that was the first bundle of goodies, and based on the response to it, I've been going through more things to plus these up. Ready for the next giveaway?

Enter for the second bundle by commenting here with your name, and a supply that you have so much of that you'll never use it all. Winner to be chosen tomorrow!

And don't miss the fun recycled file folder tutorial below!

recycled file folders...

Late the other night, I got to thinking about things to make from my collection of recycled boxes that I've collected. It seemed like a good time to de-stash those a bit too. They are super easy, and they'll go with a bigger project that I'll share tomorrow!



You probably have everything you need on hand: Cereal boxes or cardboard packaging of a similar size, masking tape (an excellent use for colored masking tape, if you feel so inclined!), felt, fabric, eyelet (optional, but cute!), stapler, needle/thread.



Open a cereal box flat, and cut off the flaps. Next, cut the front and back so that you have one-half of a thin side panel also attached. It will have about .75" past the fold. (this will be helpful for if you want to place a large stack of papers in your folder.



Stack the front and back so they are printed side to printed side, and tape one edge. Open it up and tape the inside. You might want to reinforce it with an extra layer.



Now, add tabs. I made some with felt and sewed them on like this.



This one is muslin, and I just stapled it.



Or, you can add a tab of eyelet. So cute! Again, this is stapled. This is also a mini folder that I made from a box of crackers. You can make these any size that you have packaging!

I don't plan on putting these into file drawers, but rather as a means to tidy up papers. Tomorrow, I'll show you how to make a way cute portfolio to hold them all together!

the printmaking winner...

Alright! I've closed the comments on the printmaking post, because...we have a winner!



Counting from the top down, comment number 10 is Holly, who is currently making a quilted potholder. Congrats, Holly! I hope that this little print encourages you to Make. Do. Create.

And don't miss the first de-stash giveaway below! I'll be back tomorrow with the first part of a fun new project!

let the de-stashing begin...

I feel like I should start by saying, "Thank You!"

You see, I have an office/workspace that is full. Very full. I have the tendency to collect things, and think that I will always find a use for things. The truth is, you can only use so much, and a time comes when you just need to part with some of the extra that has accumulated. But it's not easy.

When I realized that others might enjoy some of these extras, it became an inspiration to go through my stash. Now, believe me, I have a loooong way to go. But things have been started, and will continue. Yay!

So, this week, you can enter to win a small bundle of supplies, extra prints, and perhaps some surprises. I'm keeping the packets small so that postage isn't too high, and so that no one is overwhelmed with little items. These are a grab bag, after all, so you never know what fun may come your way.

Each giveaway will last one day. The winner will be chosen with the random number generator, and you can only win one prize this week.

Ready? Enter the first de-stash giveaway with your name and what your favorite supply is. Go!

(There's still a little more time on the print giveaway from yesterday...see below. I'll choose a winner tonight!)

oh the fun of printmaking...

So, I mentioned that I got a bit of printmaking going. I think that I like it more every time I try it. I used foam produce trays again, because they are fast, easy and cheap. On the back of each piece, I added a little masking tape handle for pulling them up off of the paper.



I've found that acrylic paint works remarkably well, and is much less expensive that block printing ink. Plus it comes in so many pretty colors!



Doing this printing also gave me the excuse to use some manuscript paper, which I'm in love with. (Especially because this particular stack has been around a while and the edges are yellowing!) When I went to grab a few more sheets, I spotted a stack of sentence strip. (Can you tell I was raiding the home school supplies here?)





White is nice, but how about those colors!?

Make. Do. Create.

Who wants one of these little prints? Let's call this the first giveaway of the week. Leave a comment with your name and something that you are currently making, doing or creating. I'll choose a winner tomorrow!

the week ahead...

Happy Sunday!

I've been thinking about things for this week, and I'm loving the things that I'll be sharing here.



Above is a peek at an idea that I had late last night, and will be trying out. It will involve some sewing. By hand, of course. And a companion project has been on my mind, using recycled cereal boxes. Fun!

And then today, I did some printing with foam plates, and will do more with other colors. The good light has gone now, so pictures will have to follow for this.

Oh, and I've been compiling items for a de-stash giveaway. Or two or three. This week. Check back for these, because you never know when they'll pop up...

Lastly, I've been talking with Alison at The Sampler, and will soon be blogging weekly over at their blog. This means that I probably will take one day off here, but we'll see...

I gotta tell ya...sometimes Sunday afternoons are not my favorite thing, but when it looks like a good blog week, it's a whole other story. Man, I'm looking forward to this week!

embroidered trunk...

You may remember that a week or so ago, I mentioned a project involving a trunk. This is it! Not working on an actual one, but rather, an embroidered one.

I had hoped to have this pattern all stitched and done by last Monday's shop update. Alas, it took longer than I wanted. But it's done now, and in the shop! There is a lot of tiny stitching on this, but it was entirely worth it. I love those little labels!



And I feel a little silly with this. When I embroider on felt or canvas, I like to stitch through paper, instead of trying to transfer/trace. Only recently did I make the switch to using tracing paper to stitch through. And Hello! It makes it sooo much easier to remove the paper when I'm done. Why did it take me so long to figure that out?

fabric for spring...

I've caught the fabric design bug again, and have been working on some new designs. They use some of the illustrations that I recently created. I don't have a definite plan yet for any of these, but since they whatever I choose will likely be available for sale, I'd love to hear what you think. (You can see how they look in repeat here...scroll down)

Which do you like?

Are coordinating fabrics needed?

What would you change?

How would you use any of these?

I also set up a design for Solar System fabric, but I'm not sure that I like how the colors would probably come out. (Spoonflower can't print all colors) You can see the design here. We'll see...

At any rate, I find that I do love making these patterns. Maybe these repeating patterns could be used for other things too....hmm...

a good mail day...

I'm a happy girl.

First, this came today.



This is my Solar System Set print, but I had it printed 16x20 on canvas. It is WAY cool. I'm really impressed, especially because it was free. A company that I use for printing had a special offer which allowed me to get it printed up. So fantastic.

Then this came.



What is this, you ask? It's a paper punch that punches the holes needed to attach Legos to paper. LEGOS! To paper! Maybe this doesn't seem that exciting to you, but I'm going crazy here. (oh, and it came super fast from this shop in Japan!)



And going back a few days, check out this sweet Cakey! This arrived last week, and I didn't get a chance to blog about it. I won this from Darling Jenny, and it is too cute. It came in the little bag you see, and there were all kinds of extra goodies as well. Thanks, Jenny!

Speaking of mail...I keep thinking that I need to de-stash a bit, and do some giveaways with the things I find. Now I just need to do it...

a bit of vintage...

We have a fair number of old quilts around here, and each are treasured. But when I rediscovered this one, I was especially delighted. It used to be at the foot of my parents' bed, but has been put away for a long time. When it came out (for a sleepover needing extra blankets), I snatched it up.

This was made in 1976 as a wedding gift for my parents, by the ladies at the church we went to ages ago. Some of the scraps were from my mom's old clothes, but most were simply extra fabrics that they women brought together for this. It's wonderful.



There are lots of different fabrics to look over...some of them more worn than others.





And I love the stitching around the edge.



Yay for finds like this! I think I'll be hanging onto this for a long time...

life's highlights...

On Sunday, my mom bought these flowers. Not very romantic, buying yourself flowers, but they were on sale. And we like having fresh flowers around when we can.



Over the weekend, I finished stitching this up. It was a gift for my brother's birthday. He's a big Toy Story fan, and he liked it. Even at 16. He's also excited about Toy Story 3 coming out...



Yesterday I ate some Razzles. And then nearly choked on the gum. Lovely.

Also, I've been trying to stretch myself more with photo editing, and trying out my new Adobe CS3 software. I'd like to find a style to my photography and editing, but right now, it's feeling a little all over the place.

Oh, and those flowers? This morning our cat knocked them off of the mantle. And sent a large vase shattering all over the living room.

Can't wait to show you something that I rediscovered at our house...it's soooo sweet!

the honest ones...

George Washington. Abe Lincoln. If there's such a thing as honest presidents, these are them. To honor these great leaders, I've set up a little embroidery pattern. It's free, and you can download yours by clicking on the image above, which will take you to Flickr.

Now, I think that's enough for political statements...

(but I do think that this may be the start of a series of patterns...each with a different virtue...what do you think?)

twas the night before hearts day...

...and I'm home, settling in to work on some stitching, finally finishing this hat, and perhaps making a couple of these. I hope your tomorrow is LOVEly!

a preview of things to come...

On Monday, I'll be updating the shop. Lots of fun things, so take a look!

Collage Sheet



Hit the road with the Road Trippers, in this set of characters that are traveling the States!



Embroidery Patterns



If I get busy stitching, there will be a mini pattern that kinda goes with this too. You can see a tiny glimpse of what it will look like here!



Springy! Lots of fun new life, planting, and growing!



(One extra bit of embroidery news: The Baker's Best (Tool) Friends are being bundled into one set now, with a few changes!)

Printables



The Solar System Set includes all 8 planets (plus Pluto, and some extras!)...they are certainly the most educational of my illustrations...which is why there are printable cards for flash cards or games.



And printable artwork! I actually sent this off to make a 16x20 canvas version for myself, but in the shop you'll be able get the file to print your own artwork.

May I just say that I love making all of these things? I do. This is all such fun, and I can't wait to get started on the next batch of new things! The preview of the preview is that there will be some new Teeny Tinies...26 of them!