happy halloween...

I hope you have been having a wonderful Halloween! Enjoy a few pics from the fun we've been having yesterday and today, and you'll find me, in my Fantastic Mr. Fox costume, down at the bottom...

You ignored the mess in the background while looking at those, right? Good. Just to summarize, our immediate family did a little party with treats and games, and yes, the mom and dad did demonstrate how to bob for apples!

I had so much fun making and wearing this! It's all hand-stitched, and I'll treasure it. Silly, I know!



Happy Halloween!

the eleventh woodlanders desktop calendar...

Just so ya know...

The new desktop calendar wallpaper for November is now available in the sidebar! This happens to be my favorite because a) it has a birch log, b) the birch log is impertinent, and c) November is my birthday month!

just say trick-or-treat...

Tomorrow is the last day of Caregiver Kits and the count just hit 24. I think we're going to reach the goal of 25. No, I KNOW we're going to!

But just to make sure, how about a little trick-or-treat fun? Place an order from the shop by midnight CST on Halloween, and I'll give you extra goodies with your order! They'll be a surprise but you'll like 'em.

All you have to do is say "Trick-or-Treat!" with your order!

(and don't miss Michelle's giveaway below!)

giveaway from scissor quirk...

We're at the end of our giveaways for the month...I can't believe how fast it has gone by! But before I share this last prize you could win, I had better announce the winner of Kara's PDF class. And the winner is...

Jill Scripps!

Jill, send me an email (molliejohanson at gmail dot com), and I'll have Kara get in touch with you so you can choose your class! Congrats, dear!

Now, onto something stitchy, and Scissor Quirky, and Bubbly Shnooky. Michelle Clement is an animator and illustrator (which means that I instantly respect and adore her!), and she shares all kinds of other creative things on her blog Scissor Quirk. Sometimes I forget that she has this super cute shop called Bubbly Shnooks, which is silly, because it's super cute.

From Michelle's shop, she is giving away two PDF embroidery patterns, which I know you'll love! You can definitely see her style shine in these, so take a look...





The winner will receive both of these (and all of the designs they include), and will, without a doubt, have a ton of fun stitching them up! To enter:

1. Visit Michelle's shop and blog, then come back and tell us what your favorite thing was that you saw.

2. Follow the Scissor Quirk blog for an extra entry (leave a separate comment).

3. Blog, Tweet or Facebook about the giveaway for an extra entry (leave a separate comment).

The giveaway will be open through Sunday night at Midnight CST, and I'll announce the random winner on Monday (November 1! Yikes!).

beret stripes...

Yesterday, I stopped at my local Anthropologie. You know, just to drool for a while. While I was there, I found a granny stripe beret for just $10! But I didn't get it. It wasn't quite slouchy enough.

Instead, I did a search on Etsy and found these:

(from BessetteArt)

(from MEIRAHbynatahein)

(from Lmferg1)

None are quite what I was thinking of though, so I may need to consider making one. I found this pattern, but I'm not sure. Anyone have a nice slouchy granny stripe beret pattern? Perhaps I'm asking for too many specifics...

Happy Thursday, friends! I hope you're wearing stripes today!

a different plan...

I had fully intended to have the last part of the soft Caregiver Kit to share today, because, well, there are just a few days left to have shop profits go towards making the Kits for World Vision. But things took longer today than I planned. The soft Caregiver Kit will come soon though.

Instead I'll show you what I bought for making my Halloween costume. Some lovely felt (even though it isn't wool) to make...er, I can't tell you just yet. But here are some hints: one of my favorite authors created this character, it's not human, and I'll end up being a male for the second year in a row.

Can you guess? It's going to be fantastic!

giveaway from i just might explode...

With each giveaway this month, I find myself wanting to enter for these lovely things that my sponsors are sharing. Is that bad?



Today, Kara from I Just Might Explode is offering up one of her PDF classes for you! Each of the classes that she has done (so far) run as regular classes for a set amount of time, but at the end she offers them as PDFs so you don't miss out. Nice, huh?

The classes focus on art journaling, but that's just a part of it. There are prompts and photography ideas and embellishment techniques and the list goes on. See the list of choices and their descriptions at Kara's shop, The Sequined Shoe, but for now, take a look at some more pretty things from the classes:





To enter:

1. Visit Kara's shop and blog, then come back and tell us what your favorite thing was that you saw.

2. Follow Kara's blog for an extra entry (leave a separate comment).

3. Blog, Tweet or Facebook about the giveaway for an extra entry (leave a separate comment).

The giveaway will be open through Thursday night at Midnight CST, and I'll announce the random winner on Friday (when we'll have our last giveaway of the month!).

the winner I almost forgot to announce...

Hey all! Just a quick note to let you all know that Lee won Jessica's giveaway for a little monster! Congrats, Lee!

a peek at the week...

I'm terrible about secrets, but I have to say there have been, and there will continue to be, lots of fun going on behind the scenes around here! And more plans and ideas keep coming...I'm so excited!

But this is really about this week. So here are some things to look forward to:

-More giveaways...you'll love them!
-The second half of the soft Caregiver Kit project.
-My last minute costume plans...I hope they come together!

And...New stuff for the shop! Coming tonight, around 9pm, I'll be adding two new items:



A mini pattern that let's you vote on what really matters...



and Animal Crackers! They are an embroidery pattern, but come with instructions for making them into the little soft toys shown (plus how to make a little box to keep them in!)

And how about a glimpse at a project that has been happening behind the scenes for a few weeks now...



Tara of Sew Tara approached me with an idea that we could make together. It involved my patterns and her sewing, and lots of fun to be had with you and your kids! Working with Tara has been a delightful experience, and I can't wait to share this collaboration with you...next Monday! For now, I don't want to give away too much, but I will say, you are sure to make a memory with this!

Now, enjoy your Monday, dear friends!

in my bag...

I've never done a what's in my bag kinda thing, so I think it's time. I only switched to this bag recently, which means that it's still rather tidy...



Here's what I've got, left to right:

Receipt
Used Concert Tickets
Keys
Wallet
Keychain (no keys)
Thread Bobbins
Briefcase with iPod
Burt's Bees
Sunglasses in Case
Cell Phone
Paper and Pen

What's in your bag?

saying goodbye (for now)...

I'm not going anywhere, but a few of my pattern sets are. I've decided that some are in need of updates, so over the next few months different sets will go away for a while. The first two sets to disappear will be the Honey Honeys and the Cinema Snackers. They will only be available in the shop until October 31.



Eventually, you'll most likely be able to get them again, but not necessarily in the same format. The pattern sets may look a little different, they may have more motifs included, they might combine with other things, or they may be used in new ways. It's unlikely that they will be completely gone, but it could be a while before they return. So, if you are interested in these sets and need them soon, now's the time to get them!

giveaway from a little gray...

With every giveaway this month, I feel more and more privileged. Truly, I love getting to point you towards these talented ladies, and, AND give you the chance to win some fun stuff!

Today we have something super cute from Jessica of A Little Gray. She's giving away one of these sweet little monsters, who, as she says, want to eat...er...meet you!




Aren't they the cutest? If you win, you can choose which from her shop you want to come to your house! To enter:

1. Visit Jessica's shop and blog, then come back and tell us what your favorite thing was that you saw.

2. Follow A Little Gray's blog for an extra entry (leave a separate comment).

3. Blog, Tweet or Facebook about the giveaway for an extra entry (leave a separate comment).

The giveaway will be open through Sunday night at Midnight CST, and I'll announce the random winner on Monday.

I almost forgot...
The winner of Sew Tara's giveaway was Katie who liked the I <3 T cup cozy. Congrats, Katie! You should find an email in your inbox!

a new space for links...

In the last few weeks, I've shared a few posts containing, primarily, links to fun things I've found. I'll still share things here from time to time, but I wanted a way to do it more often, without filling this blog with link after link.

I considered Twitter, but I've held out this far, so why not continue? Instead, I chose Tumblr. And I called this new space "I saw this and thought of you..." It's simple, but it's just a place for sharing things that I've found and loved. Feel free to follow along...

halloween embroidery...from my dad...

My dad is so very talented in so many ways. He is a huge inspiration to me, and he (without knowing it) intimidates me a little too. Because you can ask him to create something, and with seemingly very little effort, creates good things.

Like when I asked him to draw some designs for embroidering so that I could share them...




He very cleverly made these Halloween patterns for you! You'll notice these are all by hand (I could have outlined them, but I didn't want to take anything away from his style), so you can either choose one line to follow, or stitch the double lines, fill them, you can choose!

Just click on the image to get the full size file at Flickr. And please, only use for your personal projects...Thanks!

Happy Halloween Stitching!

giveaway from sew tara...

It is time for another sponsor giveaway! I may have mentioned that there would be quite a few this month, and there are still at least three more after this. (Tuesdays and Friday are good days to watch for giveaways!)

This time, Sew Tara is giving away one of her super cool, super cute, cup cozies! (You may remember her "Caffeinating...Please Wait" cozy. The poor dear is just catching up after a rush of orders on that!) Recently, Tara started using screen printing along with the embroidery, and I think it's genius!



You can win a cup cozy of YOUR CHOICE! To enter:

1. Visit Tara's shop and blog, then come back and tell us what your favorite thing was that you saw.

2. Follow Sew Tara's blog for an extra entry (leave a separate comment).

3. Blog, Tweet or Facebook about the giveaway for an extra entry (leave a separate comment).

The giveaway will be open through Thursday night at Midnight CST, and I'll announce the random winner on Friday.

a winner of a weekend...

First things first. We have a winner for Katie's set of three stamps! Random.org chose...

Abby! Congratulations! Please send me an email (molliejohanson[at]gmail[dot]com), with your mailing info, and I'll pass that on to Katie. (by the way, she's having a sale...check it out on her blog!)

Now, how about a little recap of my weekend?



Friday night was Sufjan's concert at the Chicago Theater. Wow. Really amazing, beautiful, intense, and a whole host of emotions. It was long, but it could have gone on all night. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to bring my camera in. Grr. It did force me to be in the moment, and it was a lovely moment.

Coming off of the concert, I was tired, but inspired. Some new ideas came about, and I made a list of what the important things that I need and want to jump into. Expect to see a little Advent printable and some combination embroidery/sewing patterns coming soon!



Sunday was church and singing with the little kids and technical difficulties. Then heading to Joann's where I picked up a few supplies for new things that are in the works. Including wool felt to go with those animal cracker illustrations I shared a week or so ago.

And as I've already mentioned, my weekend sale stunned me. The number of kits doubled in 3 days. Yes! It's a great way to start the week!

a weekend of thanks...

On Friday, I decided to run a little weekend sale in my shop. I sent it out to my Mailing A-List, and posted it on Facebook. The reason is that the Caregiver Kit count was moving very slowly, and I really do hope that we reach the goal by the end of the month.

But I wasn't sure what the response would be. And I prayed. I asked God to make the sale a success so that more kits could be made. I was hoping that at the end of today, we would be at 10, maybe 11.

God did good things, and so did a lot of people! As of right now, we're at 14 Caregiver Kits! Wowow! Thank you so much to everyone who has made a purchase this weekend! I'm amazed and humbled and grateful.

But I don't want to tell you about this sale and not offer it to you, lovely readers! Here's the scoop:

I'm extending my Buy One Get One sale until NOON CST tomorrow (Monday the 18th). Buy any item (even the choose 3 packs!), and get one free. Don't place the free item(s) in your cart...just list them in the message to seller.

Thank you, thank you!

giveaway from green bean studio...

This is a really good Friday, let me tell you! Tonight I'm heading into Chicago to see Sufjan Stevens in concert (yay!), and right now, I'm sharing another sponsor giveaway with you!

Katie from Green Bean Studio has quickly become a wonderful blog friend, and we're even collaborating on an upcoming issue of her zine. Last Christmas I ooh'd and ahh'd over some stamped items I saw in her Flickr stream, and was completely delighted that she had designed the stamps herself.





This year, she is selling the stamps themselves in her shop. They are extremely versatile, and so very pretty. AND, she's giving away a set of three small stamps to one lucky reader!



To enter:

1. Visit Katies's shop and blog, then come back and tell us what your favorite thing was that you saw.

2. Follow Green Bean Studio's blog for an extra entry (leave a separate comment).

3. Blog, Tweet or Facebook about the giveaway for an extra entry (leave a separate comment).

The giveaway will be open through Sunday night at Midnight CST, and I'll announce the random winner on Monday.

mommy holly winner...

Hey all! I'm here to announce the winner of the Mommy Holly giveaway! Ready? The winner is...

Andrea! (who said her favorite item from Mommy Holly's shop was the Nest Tags)

So, Andrea, send me an email (molliejohanson[at]gmail.com), and I'll get you in contact with Holly, so you can get your $15 Store Credit! Congratulations!

AND, AND AND...

A little later today, I have a giveaway on Mommy Holly's blog for some Halloween goodies!

i saw these and thought of you...

Technically, I thought of me too. They all seem very do-able, and I even made a wreath like the one above tonight (well, at least I attempted it)! I'll show you soon, but for now, you can check out these lovely links:

Paper Leaves Fall Wreath from Alisa Burke.

Polaroid Magnet Frames from paper n stitch.

Mini Pom Pom Topiary from Domestifluff.

sashiko stripes...

I've really been drawn to sashiko lately. This can probably be attributed to my love of the running stitch, Japanese things, and of course, stripes. I have this book of examples (no instruction) of the simple, yet complex embroidery style, but haven't tried any. Yet.



1. hand stitching, 2. sasiko-blog, 3. Sashiko stitched handle tote bag, 4. Untitled, 5. face bookmarks, 6. sashiko

There are all kinds of wonderful images of sashiko online, and these are just the more stripey ones. And there are some really cool patterns available, plus the oh so lovely thread (which looks a bit like crochet thread?).

This is definitely on my list of things to try, and soon. You know, because I need to add to my overflowing baskets and boxes and bags and bins of craft supplies. But it's just so beautiful!

help the andersons and elsa...

Just a quick note to tell you about a bit of fund raising going on over at The Anderson Crew. They are in the process of adopting a little girl, but it is expensive. Really expensive. Still, they are trusting that God will help them work that part out.

So, there are five really amazing packs of goodies (each has $350-500 in items!), and you can enter to win one AND help them out by making a donation. You'll find gift certificates from me in three of the packs, but you won't even notice them when you look at all the fantastically lovely items that people have donated.