story: handmade

1. lost at sea, 2. Lace stories front side, 3. a page of her story, 4. Handmade Gift Bags from Vintage Children's Books, 5. Red Riding Hood Papercut :), 6. PB050047

A few handmade finds that tell stories. I really encourage you to click through to each of these. Some of them have delightful stories that go with them, and some are part of collections that tell a story. So lovely!

make a story board...

On Monday, at the end of my story, I mentioned that your life's story isn't just the things that happen to you; it is also the things that you life is actually about. Sometimes the things that make up what your life is about are big things, and sometimes not. But I believe that every day, we can choose to add good things to our stories.

And so I came up with an idea for something to help with this.



A story board. The idea is that every day or every few days, you can write something on this board to remind you that it will be part of the good story that your life is writing. Maybe it's volunteering somewhere, or taking extra time with your kids, or making a project that will remind you of your story.



I was affirmed in this thought this morning when I read a new Donald Miller post about writing a summation of the story you're living. He said that doing so will "give you a greater clarity about what you are supposed to do today, this week, this month and this year." Yep, it's about every day life.



Want to make one? You'll need a white board or chalk board (which I think would be cuter than the white board...but I used what I had on hand), some paint and a paint brush, ribbon, and a drill.



Measure and mark where the holes will go, and carefully drill.



Paint something that will remind you of your story. Add some extra embellishment too.



Once the paint has dried, tie on some ribbon to hang your story board.



Now, hang it up someplace where you'll remember how important each day, each diaper change, each meal cooked, each stitch taken, really is.

story: items

I've been finding a few fun "story" things on Etsy! A necklace (I REALLY love this), some blocks, and a print...

sewing in your dna...

Today I have another guest blogger...my friend Catherine! We met a few years ago while working part-time at a local library, and we each discovered a crafting buddy. Without further ado, Catherine's story:



Some things catch our imagination even as we are very young. Growing up, I wasn’t able to see my grandma much but I loved to hear stories about her and I had the same first name as her, spelled the same way too — Catherine. One Christmas, at the tender age of five, she sent me some small doll quilts, patches sewn together into bigger squares and backed. These grabbed me as odd right away. Mom told me they were handmade and that boggled my mind. My mom, who had done a lot of sewing at one point, had sworn off it for life and nothing in our house was handmade. My tiny quilts were handmade but yet they looked like everything else. My grandmother was a very neat sewer and the tiny quilts were well done.

The doll quilts quickly morphed into my favorite play. Forget dolls! I would sit on my bed with a long narrow book in hand (I believe it had quilt squares on the cover) and on top of the book, I’d place one doll quilt with the book holding it flat and pretend I was sewing. I remember playing this with friends and of course, they loved it too! We would both sit on the edge of the bed and place imaginary stitches and talk.



That’s about all the sewing I did till I was about thirteen or so and a lovely woman by the name of Elizabeth got a group of teenage girls together over to her house for tea and she taught us all how to cross stitch. My first motto was “One is Closest to God in the Garden” with small garden done underneath the words. I loved that pattern and I still do. That’s when I learned that all the X’s must be crossed the same direction and to my horror, had to redo half as a result!





And that’s really the beginning of my stitching adventures. I’ve always been captivated by sewing- I couldn’t tell you why, it’s just always been there. Maybe it’s something that comes to us in our DNA, from the ones who loved it before us. I’m very happy embroidering (hand towels are an especial fav) and I’m still mastering all sorts of mad skills on the sewing machine. Sewing brings the power to mend and that’s such a marvelous thing. Which reminds me…I’ve got to darn the duvet cover where the cat, in a happy moment of glorious play, ripped his claws through…it’s just so wonderful to mend rather than throw away.

Thank you, Catherine, for sharing your story. You can read more of Catherine's writings on her blog, Restless Violet.

it's your turn...

A few posts down, I gave you an opportunity to ask me some questions. I'm working on answering those, and you can still ask more, if you'd like.

But today I have some questions for you! You can answer them here in a comment, or you could answer them on your own blog and then leave a link to your post in the comments. Answer one, answer them all...it's up to you, but I do want to hear from you!

On Making:

What do you enjoy making the most, and why?

How did you learn the skills needed for making this?

In what ways do you use your making?

On Favorites:

What is your favorite handmade thing that you own, or have owned, and why?

What was your favorite story growing up, and why?

On Stories:

What story (true or fiction) have you heard that has impacted your life the most?

When you look at your life, what kind of story is it? What kind do you want it to be?

What are you doing to make your story the best it can be?

And the big question...

What's your story?

a word about sponsorship...

A quick break from Story Week (sort of!). I've thought about adding sponsorship to my blog for a few months now, and was never sure about it. But recently, I've had a thought...

What if ad spots were open only to blogs? Not shops, but blogs where people share their everyday lives. Their stories. Yes, sometimes those blogs also relate to shops, and that's okay, because it means that it's part of someone's life. But I'd like to be able to help people spread the word about the things that are important to them...

To that end, I'm offering ad spots at a reasonable, non-shop price...to blogs only. If you would like to consider having your blog sponsor Wild Olive, send an email to molliejohanson {at} gmail {dot} com. I'll send you the stats, ad size, and pricing info.

Thanks for your consideration! (More Story Week goodness will be coming a little later on!)

video: girl on the wall

Liz sent me the link to this amazing video. Watch it. It's a truly beautiful look at how a tapestry led to the telling of one woman's story.

a warm fuzzy story...

I'm so excited to have a guest blogger today! Many of you may be familiar with the lovely stitching of Kristi, AKA Stitchy Stitcherson. I asked Kristi to share a story. And if you thought her stitching was amazing, wait until you read her story...



Embroidery gives me warm fuzzies.

I should rephrase that by saying that needlework, in all its forms, gives me warms fuzzies. I am particularly enchanted by cross stitch and embroidery.

My love affair with needlework began many years ago when I was a newlywed. I worked days, my husband worked nights, and I needed a way to fill the lonely evenings. In middle school, a friend had showed me the basics of cross stitch, but at the age of thirteen I was neither impressed nor interested. But as I perused the craft aisle at WalMart in search of a new craft, I found a small cross stitch kit that looked promising. Relying on my limited knowledge and the kit’s instructions, I managed to complete the small project and was quite proud of my work—mistakes and all.



I started to stitch whenever I had a free moment. Cross stitch was more than a hobby for me, it was a passion. I subscribed to cross stitch magazines, read cross stitch message boards, and searched the web for pictures of completed pieces. I always loved seeing what other people were stitching. I became a regular at my local needlework shop, and soon the owner knew me by my first name. Cross stitch made me happy.

Even after the birth of my first child, cross stitch was a large part of my life. Naptime was stitch time. Though I had less time for my craft, I still loved it with every fiber of my being.



Then something happened that changed me: my husband walked out on me and our baby. Alone with a five-month-old and scared out of my mind, I no longer had the passion to stitch. In fact, I hated it. I hated everything that had been part of my old life (with the exception of friends and family, of course), and I took the framed pieces I had lovingly stitched off the wall and hid them. I wanted nothing to do with the old me and the way things had used to be.

Well, fast-forward three years, and I was happily remarried with a four-month-old baby. I started to miss some of the things I had enjoyed in the past, especially needlework. I tried to cross stitch, but not only was it hard to find the time to do it, but it was a bit tedious. I craved something I could do quickly and for short periods of time. This was about the same time I discovered the wonderful world of Flickr, where I was introduced to something new: embroidery. Pictures of embroidered goodness abounded! Vintage patterns of dancing veggies, hip new patterns of dachshunds and gnomes…I was in love! I did a Google search of embroidery and realized that it was something I could do—in fact, it looked easy! And thanks to my years of cross stitching, I had built of a large supply of needles & floss. I was ready to give embroidery a try.





Today, two-and-a-half years after my discovery, I am hooked on embroidery. I love being able to take something as simple as a needle and thread and turn them into something both useful and aesthetically pleasing. I love to think of my great-grandmother adorning aprons with flowers made of floss as I stitch a sugar skull on muslin with glow-in-the-dark floss.





I also love the people I’ve met through embroidery. I love how cool and kind and generous people are when it comes to this craft. The support and encouragement I receive and witness online is amazing. People who love this craft are something special. We are all different, but we have one thread that connects us all: our love of the needle. And that definitely gives me warm fuzzies!

Thank you soooo much for sharing, Kristi! You can find more of Kristi's stitching (and her story!) on her blog or on flickr.

story: quilts

I've been finding some lovely examples of using the idea of "Story" in things people are making, and will be sharing them throughout the week. Here's the first: Quilts.



1. How To Pet A Pig Quilt, 2. Story Quilt, 3. The Creation Story Quilt

questions...

I've shared the basics. Now, if you'd like to know more about me and my story, feel free to ask! I'll answer any and all questions (you know, within reason...be polite!) at the end of Story Week.

Ask away!

my story...

Every day, I tell a little bit of my own story on this blog. You may not realize that an embroidery of a mushroom with a face is part of my story. Hey, I may not realize that a link to something pretty is part of my story. But each little thing is a part of something bigger. Since those little bits are spread out, and since you certainly don't get to see the whole picture, today, I'm telling my story.

I am Mollie. I am 30 years old.

I am adopted into God's family. I follow His Son, Jesus Christ, who died and rose so my sins could be forgiven. The Holy Spirit dwells in me, and my faith affects every aspect of my life.

I am adopted by my earthly parents. All of my brothers and sisters are also adopted. We are all very close, even though we are not close in age. When people ask me how many brothers and sisters I have, I sometimes hesitate. Currently I have 2 sisters and 3 brothers. For a while, I had 4 brothers. James went to live with his birth father when he was 2. I miss him very much.

I was home schooled, and I loved it. I still love that my family chooses home education. I'd like to think that we are not a typical home school family, but I could be wrong about that. I help when I can, and lately have been teaching my youngest siblings phonics.

I have no children, I am not married and I'm not dating anyone. I live with my family. This is not how I expected life at 30 to be, but I'm content with my life right now. That said, I would love to meet someone, get married, and start a family.

I am passionate about many things. Topping the list are: my faith, life, making things and helping others.

I love kids. I especially love working in children's ministry. When I work with kids at my church, I get to teach them about the most important thing in life, and I get to do it creatively. I'm known for doing craft projects that create an opportunity to talk more about faith. These days, the highlight of my Sunday morning is worshiping with the 2- to 5-year-olds.

I am incredibly okay with not leaving the house. In fact, sometimes I'm a little too okay with it. Thankfully, I have a sister who makes me go out and do things sometimes.

I don't spend all of my time blogging and making crafty things. Sometimes, I actually do freelance graphic design. All of the things that I do tend to work together nicely with a flexible schedule.

I like to think of myself as a positive person. Of course, I have my moments, but for the most part, I see the good in people.

I make things because that keeps me going. The process of making is the most important to me, but of course, I hope for a good final product too. If at all possible, I hope that my art, my craft, my making, will do good.

This is a brief look at my story so far. A summary of the big stuff. These are things about me. But you know what? Your life's story isn't just the stuff about you. It isn't only the things that happen to you. It's also the things that you convey with your life. Ultimately, I want my story, every day, to be one of encouragement, hope and faith.

the story you tell...

The idea of telling your story isn't a new one, but it is one that I've heard a lot about lately. Elsie and Rachel are teaching a class on this topic. Donald Miller recently wrote about it. The idea of story keeps coming up, and I couldn't let it go.

But think about it. We hear a lot of stories every day. Some are true and some are false. Some are good and some are bad. All have the ability to affect our lives in some way.

This week I'll be sharing more of my story. And I'll be encouraging you to share yours. You'll have the opportunity to ask me questions, and I'll ask some of you too. We'll also hear a story or two from some friends. Speaking of friends, the photos above are by my sister...She is quite good at telling a story in a photo.

Are you ready? Welcome to Story Week.

the lipstick follow-up...

To tell you the truth, when I mentioned that lipstick from crayons tutorial, I wasn't thinking that I'd actually do it. I mean, come on. The idea is a little weird. But with the encouragement of your comments, I gave it a try.

Here's how this went down.

I used three colors of crayons. I did not expect them to be this bright. Instead of regular baby oil, I used baby oil gel, which seemed to work just as well. The baby oil smell is not especially a favorite of mine though. My beeswax was from a candle making kit, and was easy to break into pieces, making it melt faster.



Everything went just as the tutorial said it would. But...

The texture of this is a little strange. The top pic is me being silly, and it smooths out more than that. But it's definitely more waxy than regular lipstick. I can feel it all on my lips (of course, I'm not a big lipstick fan anyway...I'm more of a gloss kinda gal).

But this was a lot of fun to do! My little sister was extremely interested in it. And it didn't cost much. Or really, anything...I had this stuff around.

I've considered adding a feature to the blog where I try out unusual DIYs from around the internet and do a review of they went. What do you think?

recipes that you might not want to share...

Every so often, I like to share with you the yummy things that I've made. Maybe pass along a favorite recipe. After all...



Truer friend there cannot be than one who shares a Recipe

I love old books and pamphlets like this. I love 'em! They are full of the kinds of things that people just don't do anymore. Perhaps for good reason. Take a good look at some of the things on the cover of this little booklet from Hoffman House. You can view the images larger by clicking on them.

Please tell me that you would never serve a mound of potato salad with hot dogs at each end of the platter.



And call me crazy, but I don't think that a ring of bologna with potato salad in the center is very appetizing either. Although that type on the left page is pretty awesome.



The best is the back. In the back you see potato salad that has been formed in an angel food cake pan. A lovely display, especially with rolls of meat around it! And in the front? That would be a lime jello salad that includes radishes and potato salad "mixin". OOooooohhhh! Yum!

ummm: making lipstick

Yeah, so I'm not so sure about making lipstick out of crayons. It sounds like something you try as a kid. And yet, I'm intrigued...

it was a good idea...

So, I don't think that I ever showed these buttons that I made for the Feeling Stitchy button swap. If I did, forgive me. Anyway, making these was such fun, that I figured I should do more of this.

Which reminded me that I have a wonderful button maker. But not the kind of buttons that you sew on...no, I have a pinback button maker. And I have lots of supplies. So why not use that to make some fabric covered pinback buttons?!?



Today I pulled out my supplies and the button maker pieces, and made these! I really like how they look. Well...from the front.



Uh, yeah, so the fabric doesn't get caught in the metal parts as well as paper does. I tried to make sure that it would, but on all three tries, at least part of it was loose. Grr. Does anyone have any tips or ideas to make this work better? My machine is a badge-a-minit 1-1/4", with a hand held press.

new stuff winners...

Hey there! Just a quick update to let you know who won the new stuff giveaway! I picked two winners using Random.org, and they are...

SaraChung! and Maureen!

Yaaaaayyyy! So, ladies, I think I have your email addresses, so I'll contact you. But if you don't hear from me right away, drop me an email (molliejohanson {at} gmail {dot} com). Congrats!

getting ready to update the shop...

I REALLY need to get away from this computer. My back is telling me to. But...I've been working on new things and they are about ready to be shared. Tonight I'll be updating my shop with some fun new things!



Office Workers! These supplies and tools are hard workers, and should never be taken for granted. I've honored them with their own digital collage sheet, and an embroidery pattern.



Baseball! You all have been so sweet as I've been talking about this whole, sports thing this spring. So unlike me. Anyway, to go with this all American sport, there is an embroidery pattern, a digital collage sheet, and something new. A digital kit. This is like the collage sheet, but each element is a separate file. Also, it comes with some digital tags and papers.



And then there's this. Doodles and Dreams. These are different from the style of my other patterns, because they have multiple thin lines...sort of like how you might doodle in a notebook. I sort of want to cover something with these embroidered doodles!

Another something new with these: digital stamps. With the stamp set, each doodle comes in its own file to use in different ways.



I love making new things and I love sharing them! How about a quick giveaway? This will last until I update the shop late tonight. So...leave a comment with your name and your favorite office supply, sport or thing to doodle...and you'll win something fun from my new update!

Comments are closed now...Winners have been chosen!

for the love of scallops...

I'm not sure if I've mentioned it enough here, but I love scallops! Lately I've seen a bunch of them on Etsy, so I thought I'd share a few here...

(click images to view listings)









And while I was browsing things, the other day I found this lovely scalloped paper trim. I got to thinking...I have some vintage ledger paper. And I have a punch similar to that. (Oh Martha Stewart...how I love your designs!) So today I gave it a try:



Ahh...I love those little scallops! (just...not the seafood kind)

tutorial: crocheted flowers

We're approaching the time of year that I don't like to touch yarn (it's a winter craft!), but I may need to make some Mollie Flowers. (Yes! MOLLIE!)

when inspiration fails you...

A few months back, I had an idea. Inspiration Cards. The idea is that they are the size of an index card, and they have little prompts on them to get you thinking. A great idea...in my mind.

So I started working on them. Interestingly enough, when it came right down to making them, I was not so inspired. Er, well, at least not inspired enough. I thought they might make a nice addition to my shop, but after creating just eight designs, I petered out. Well, eight isn't enough for a shop item. But...it IS enough for something fun.

That said, how would you like to download some printable inspiration cards?

Print on cardstock, trim, and then add in your own bits of inspiration! Consider it a modular journal for thoughts, ideas and things you love...

tutorial: embroidered mirror

I really, really like this mirror from So September. I bet I could find a way to make it without using a sewing machine...

stitching over the weekend...

Hello friends!

I'm rather tired today, and thinking about lots of things and wondering what all I'll get done. But I will tell you that I got a few things stitched over the weekend!



This Outta Here Baseball is all finished. Yay!



And I nearly finished this Swingin' Stapler from a new set of office supply patterns...

Plus, I did some work on a super secret summer project. The project is starting to go from paper to real life. I can't wait! And I can't wait to share more...but...not quite yet. (Suspense is fun!)

This week I hope to really got moving on some things because next week I'd like to update my shop with the two patterns above, plus a few other things. Good stuff!

quick baking...

If you like baking, but you don't always have time for complex treats, I HIGHLY recommend this book. I've had it for a while (there is a newer edition that is a little more expensive), and have tried a bunch of the recipes. I love them. Above are some citrus muffins that I whipped up tonight. Yum!

better than transfers...

I know that iron-on transfer patterns are nice and easy, and you don't even need to think about the best way to get your pattern onto your fabric. BUT, to prove that printable PDF patterns are the better choice:



See? When a little person colors all over your printed out pattern, you don't even have to worry! Your pattern isn't ruined...it's just pretty! And then you can print a new one for actual embroidery use...

idea: cupcake decor

I love paper cupcake liners, but this display of them brings the love to a whole new level.

my enemy, the internet...

Ah, the internet...

It's an amazing thing, and it makes our lives so much easier. I love it. But of course, as we all know, it can quickly eat up more time than you expect it to. Lately I've sort of felt a bit like it has also sucked the life out of me. As in, I find myself just clicking the same things, and staring at the screen, and I grow blah.

Not good. So I went outside and took some pictures.









I feel a little better now.