the seventh woodlanders desktop...

Tomorrow is July 1st! And I'm embarrassed to say, I never even got my family's computer desktop changed from May to June. Apparently this was a busy month that went by faster than usual.

Typically the beginning of July is filled with lots of celebrating at our house. My mom's birthday is the 2nd, my dad's is the 8th, and then there's that little Independence Day thing in there too. This year probably won't be too big, but sparklers have been bought...

Anyway, all of this is just to say that the new July desktop calendar, featuring Diminutive Feather, is ready to download. You'll find it in the sidebar.

More fun coming soon!

knitting with pins...

My 5-year-old sister loves to make things, but she sometimes gets confused about the names of the different techniques. For example, she regularly calls embroidery "knitting". I constantly correct this, but at some point, I may give up and start selling "knitting" patterns for use with fabric, floss and a needle.

Grace's latest adventure in "knitting" involved my pin cushion and a variety of pins and needles. It came out looking like this:



She told me she couldn't leave it until she had finished "knitting" her project.

I love this girl!

this spud's for you...

Someone my dad works with gave this to him today. He saved it so that I could photograph it before he ate it. Have you had an Idaho Spud bar before? (Kara? do you have any insights into these?) I know that it contains no potato, but the idea of it being like a potato was enough to make me think, "ewwww". Perhaps I missed out on this treat, but I'm ok with that...

lightning bugs...

These days, I hear people mention fireflies, and of course, they are so magical. But I always remember referring to them as lightning bugs. And I remember how amazed I was when I found out that they are not found in many parts of the world. They have always been part of summer, and spotting the first lightning bug of the year, or even the night is such fun!

So...yesterday, I bought some of this:



And I used it to stitch these:



(They are made with a french knot for the head, and detached chain/lazy daisies for the wings. Then I satin stitched the body freehand with the glow floss, and at the same time I was stitching this, I was attaching the felt piece to a bobby pin. Easy peasy!)



Now I can have glowy lightning bugs in my hair! I've made two so far, but I think I need more...

pages from my sketch book...

It feels a bit like it should be later in the day than it is. You know those days? Anyway, in the midst of a rather slow moving day, I did get a few sketches in.



This is something that I sketched up for you. Well, for all my blog readers, actually. I love when ideas come up and you know that they will happen very soon...



And this...well, this could take a while. Can you see what it is? Check it out on Flickr to see it larger. This one excites me...and overwhelms me a little too.

These are just a few pages of things that are in my book of things that may come to be. There are so many thoughts and ideas that could be, but only so much time. Hmm...I need to work on that...

stripes and florals and drawers and nanny mcphee...

How'd ya like that title? It very accurately sums up what I have to say.

First, the photo. This is me yesterday, just before running out the door to see a movie with the family. (It was Thursday, which meant that I was wearing stripes. I do that.)

The movie was, as you may have guessed, Nanny McPhee Returns. We were invited to a special premier showing last night. It was soooo good! I never saw the first one, but now I'll be going back to watch it.

The story was excellent, and yes, I laughed and cried. But the thing that stood out to me again and again was that it was visually stunning. Lots of florals, lovely collections on the walls, and the wall of drawers in the shop? I want to create something similar. (Where? How? I don't know. Yet.)

So, my official review of this movie is...go see it. If you can take some kids with, great. But if only for the visual inspiration, this movie is very worth it.

dying for some man-o-mango-berry...

This is my favorite flavor of Kool-Aid. Ever. But sadly, it was only available for a limited time, and that was a while back. I happened upon some at a $1 Store (for something like, 10 packs for $1), and bought a ton of it. I still have some left, but of course, it's not quite the same after many years. The other day I thought I would try something else with it, in an effort to preserve at least the memory of this oh so yummy beverage.

Dying with Kool-Aid is something that I've heard of, but most people will tell you that it only works on protein fibers. But why not try it on cotton? As my mom reminded me, if you spill red Kool-Aid on your shirt, it's gonna stay there for a while.



So I pulled out some skeins of white embroidery floss (and pearl cotton). At this point, the photos start getting a little rough. The downside of cloudy days and working in my kitchen. Forgive me...



I mixed one packet of Kool-Aid with two cups of very hot water. Once it was as dissolved as it was gonna get (remember...this is old Kool-Aid), I added some white vinegar to help set it. Maybe 1/4 cup? I didn't officially measure. And I'm not sure how much this helps, but it works for coloring eggs, right?



Then in went the floss. Of course, it started soaking up the Kool-Aid, and the color, immediately. I didn't bundle my floss, but just left it in the skein form. I think this would have been fine, but curious people at my house (MOM!!!!) wanted to stir the mixture. We encountered some tangling...but not too much.

I'm not sure that it made a difference, but I let it sit for a while. Then I took the floss out, rinsed it with a bit of cool water, and squeezed extra liquid out. Here's what it looked like:



Well, it wasn't blurry in real life, but apparently I was having a bad photo day, even in good light. Some color came off on the paper towel, so this was not totally set.



After untangling, I knotted them up, and tossed them in a mesh bag for delicates, and put them in the dryer on a nice hot setting. They came out looking great!

I still don't know how color safe they are, but I'm not too worried. I rarely stitch things that get washed, and so I'll just be sure to use these only for things that I don't need to consider that. Besides, the point of this was to have something that used my favorite flavor.

Now I'm thinking that I should stitch something up that honors this sugary treat of childhood...

july sponsorship...

June is nearly over, but that means that July is nearly here! If you are interested in having your blog sponsor Wild Olive, I'd love to have you!

In addition to having your ad in my sidebar, I also do blog feature posts and/or offer the chance for a special guest post...just for you!

Find more info here, or email me (molliejohanson [at] gmail.com)

the sixth woodlanders embroidery pattern...

Every time I think that I need to take a few days off from blogging, things come up and I am back at it. In this case, I realized that I had STILL not shared this month's Woodlanders embroidery pattern with you yet. How terrible of me!

I've not stitched it yet, but you can. Maybe take it with you while you head to your own Hospitable Cabin...

Download here, or in the sidebar!

and the winners are...

Yay! Katie chose winners for her giveaway! From Katie:

I've been completely overwhelmed by the response to my Green Bean giveaway. Thank you so much for all your kind comments - I really wish I could give everyone the prize. But there can only be 3 winners, and in keeping with my preference for paper over screen, I put all your names in my summer hat this morning....

Then I closed my eyes, fished around and pulled out the 3 lucky winners!



Thank you so much to everyone who entered. Katrina, Songbird and Kirby, expect an email from me very soon :)

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Thanks again, Katie! Find more from this delightful lady at her blog, shop, or website.

taking a weekend...

OK...so I kept the blog pretty much going this week, but I'm going to zone out for a few days. Monday morning or late, late Sunday, I'll at least pop in with the winner of Katie's giveaway.

I just need to get my head back into this...

we did more than just survive...

Our week of Egypt VBS (or as we called it, "Family Bible Adventure") is over. When you get through something like this, it's easy to think, "we survived!" But the reality here is that my family and all of the people to helped and supported the project did more than just survive. We succeeded! We had fun! And we're already looking forward to next year!

My sister took TONS of photos, and I was usually so caught up in things that I forgot. But I did make sure that I got at least one each day for my Year in Pictures project. Here's one last look at the week:


Ready for families to show up...


Tired, but dressed up feet...


Over 50 costumes...


Snake races...


Anna and Me, all dressed up!

a guest post and giveaway from katie...

Katie from Green Bean Studio (one of my wonderful sponsors!) offered to write a guest post, and she's even got a fantastic giveaway! So without further ado, here's Katie!



I like blogging, I really do. But there's only so much you can achieve with it because its screen-based, not printed on carefully chosen paper and bound into something beautiful you can hold in your hand. You guessed it, I'm a bibliophile at heart, and so its hardly surprising that in April this year I decided to start publishing a monthly zine that extends all the best things about my blog onto paper.



The Green Bean has been a roaring success both in terms of my own enjoyment and popularity, to the extent that I'm offering subscriptions at a nice discount from the full price (plus if you subscribe by the end of June you can claim an extra 20% everything else in my etsy shop for a whole year!).

In celebration of sponsoring Wild Olive, I'd love to give away some of my zines to you, Mollie's readers. I've got 3 bundles of issues 1 and 2 to send to loving new homes; if you'd like to win them please leave a comment with some means of contacting you and Mollie/I will draw the winners on Sunday, June 20.

--
Thanks, Katie! And good luck, readers!

UPDATE: Winners have been chosen, and will be announced soon!

a few egypt pics...

My sister took these (and about 340 more!) last night:









We're having a blast!

this week...

I look calm and serene in this (what you see of me), but I'm going a little nuts. Egypt starts tonight, and ahhhh! Things are going well, but are very busy. That said, the blog may be a little lean this week.

even at 30...

...I still find joy in capsule machine toys.

drawing up stitches...

Recently I was thinking about how it might be interesting to create some illustrations that look like they have been embroidered. Different from a pattern...more like a full color illustration of a completed embroidery. It would be different from my usual style, and more complicated. But it could be a nice blend of two things I love.

And then last night I got an email from someone looking to have a tattoo designed. A tattoo that looks like it was embroidered. Interesting...

So I started sketching what stitches might look like.

make an embellished frame...

Before I get to this little project I have to share, I want to say a huge thank you! I nearly didn't do my Beyond Fabric & Floss class, because I wasn't sure that anyone would really be interested. The response in the first 24 hours has been as much as I expected for the whole class. So...wow! And...Thank you!

Now, a quick way to use some embroidery...



From the moment that I stitched up the gnome from In the Backyard, I knew what I would do with him. He was begging to be added to a picture frame, and today I finally did just that.

This is a super simple way to add a bit of handmade stitchiness to a wooden frame. Mine came from IKEA, and it's nice and flat. Perfect for adding embellishment!



I started with my completed embroidery, and trimmed around it. I left plenty extra fabric to be safe. I also cut out a piece of coordinating felt, and some Pellon Wonder Under.



Following the Wonder Under instructions, I fused my embroidery to the felt.



Then I trimmed closer to the embroidery. You could probably skip the fusing part, and just sew these pieces together, but I think that the Wonder Under (or something similar) adds a teeny bit of sturdiness.



Next I figured out where I wanted my gnome.



Add some craft glue. I was conservative with how much I put on, because I didn't want it out too far...better to add more than to try and wipe it off and have your frame all gooped up!



Stick down the gnome, and done! I can entirely see myself adding little stitched up characters to all the frames in the house!

beyond fabric and floss class registration...

Registration is now open for The Embroidery Project: Beyond Fabric & Floss! Starting on July 12, this online class will feature five weeks of stitching on and with non-traditional embroidery materials (and some familiar supplies as well).

The class includes 15 projects, 15 techniques, a few embroidery pattern pages from me, a few embroidery patterns from some guests, thoughts from some very talented embroiderers, a few bonuses, and a final project to get you embroidering on all kinds of fun things! More detailed info here.

Sign up via Paypal below, or in my shop. Class sign-in information will be emailed within 24 hours.

The Embroidery Project: Beyond Fabric & Floss: $35

BONUS!
This class is being sponsored by DMC and their blog, DMC-Threads. As a bonus, the first four people to sign up will receive an embroidery starter kit! I'll update here when these kits are officially taken... ***UPDATE*** The kits are gone! Wow, you guys are fast!!



This is going to be a great time, and if you like stitching, I hope you'll join!

preparing for egypt...

Sometimes I mention that a regular part of my life is working with kids and families at my church. And in fact, my whole family does this (my dad is the children's pastor). But I don't always show the things I/we do to prepare for all that goes on. Today, I have a little behind the scenes of things that are coming together for next week.

Starting on Monday, our church will be presenting Group's Egypt: Joseph's Journey from Prison to Palace. It's a Vacation Bible School, but we are doing it in the evenings so that families can participate together. It has been a lot of work, but we're getting close and I think it will be fantastic! Hopefully I'll have pictures next week of the final product, but here's where we're at right now.



I've always been fascinated by ancient Egypt, so hieroglyphics are familiar. But when it came down to actually writing them...



I resorted to a projector. This large poster (still waiting to be actually painted) will go on the wall of the hieroglyphic shop in our marketplace.



A full-sized sarcophagus lid that people can decorate in the embalmers shop. I'm so thankful that my dad is handling this one!





There are at least 20 projects that families can choose from in our marketplace, but these pieces of cardboard and yarn are for one of my favorites.



A paddle doll! I love that this was a real thing that Egyptians had. And it's kinda cute too. (Remember Plank from Ed, Edd, & Eddy?)



We've been making tons of costumes, but no pictures of those right now. Actually, most have been simple. We took large pieces of extremely inexpensive white fabric, cut a next hole in the center, left the sides open, and added a sash. Then we cut Egyptian collars out of felt. They work really well! I get a fancy costume because...my mom is being sweet! (Can't wait to show you...as soon as it gets made!)

There are so many things filling these bags, not even counting the packets of family activities, and games, and set pieces, and...

It goes on! I do want to say, if anyone is planning on doing an Egyptian type of event for kids/families, or even this particular VBS, and you have questions about the extra things we're doing, let me know! We had to find some lower-cost items, and I'm happy to share ideas!

Have a wonderful rest of the day folks! (And remember, tomorrow...Beyond Fabric & Floss registration at NOON CST!)