stitch swap update

Something crazy has happened. The Stitch Swap became much bigger than I was anticipating. At the time I'm writing this (Tuesday night), there are nearly 270 people signed up. Umm...what?!?

It makes me so happy that so many of you are wanting to stitch something up for someone you don't know. Of course, there is the excitement of receiving embroidered happy mail, so I can't blame you!

I'll leave the sign up page open until 6PM CST tonight, then it's closing. UPDATE: Sign ups are now closed. You'll find full details about the swap on the original post.

Needless to say, with so many people participating, it could take a while to get the emails out with your swap partner. So, if you are signed up, please be patient with me. I hope to have all emails sent by the end of the day on Saturday, which is a bit later than I originally planned.

In the mean time, I've set up a Flickr group for the Stitch Swap! Add your photos of work in progress, finished pieces ready to mail, or your package when it arrives! Just be sure to keep sensitive information out of the photos.

And, if you're participating, why not grab the badge below to show off that you're in the swap? It links to the page I've set up for all of the Stitch Swap essentials.

Okay, folks...let the stitching begin! Oh, and happy Leap Day!

new items coming very soon

I've been working on some new items, and I'm happy to say that they'll be available for purchase tonight! Watch for an update by 11PM, when in the shop you will find the Soda Shop embroidery pattern (a Pattern of the Month Club selection, seen above)...



Little Owls printable lists...




Little Owls printable meal planner...




and Little Owls mini embroidery pattern! The orange one is my absolute favorite of the collection!

ps: thank you all who were praying for my eye procedure! all went well, and I felt so cared for!

dyeing my own felt

I use a lot of felt, and I really, really prefer it to be wool or wool blend. This presents two problems for me. 1) Although it comes in amazing colors, it can be expensive and I have to order it special. 2) Locally, I can find it at a much better price, but in very limited colors. What to do?

It was time to try and dye my own.

Drink mix dying works best with natural fibers, and wouldn't you know? Wool is a natural fiber! And, I can buy white wool blend at Joann Fabric and Craft for $8.99 per yard. With a 40% off coupon, I'm quite content with the price!

The first batch I tried, I decided to just wing it, and I ended up with dyed hands and coloring that wasn't rinsing clear. Then I did a quick search (why didn't I do this first?), and found an excellent set of instructions for dyeing yarn. After another round, I knew that I would be doing this a lot more often!



I was working with small-ish pieces of felt...about 1/4 yard. For that, I mixed about 2 cups of water with one packet of drink mix. You want enough liquid to fully cover your felt when you're dyeing it. More drink mix will add more color.



Place the felt into a microwavable dish, and pour the liquid over it. A larger dish might have been better, but this one was handy...



Microwave on high for about two minutes. At this point, the liquid in the dish should be pretty much clear when you lift the felt out a bit. If not, microwave for another minute.

Let the dish cool down a bit so that the wet wool isn't too hot. When it's cooled down, run it under water to rinse any extra dye out, although, there shouldn't be too much color coming out at this point.



Gently squeeze the extra water out, and you'll have some very wet felt.



Here are the other colors I made while they were still wet. The pink one was done with two packets of fruit punch mix, and I like the little bit deeper color. This is also the one that messed up to start with.

I popped each of these onto a hanger to dry out, and here's what I have now:





The color isn't completely even, which I assume comes from the way the pieces were folded in the dish when I was dyeing them. But I'm actually really happy with that...it's got a mottled look that I love!

With a quick iron, they're are all set for my next felt project, which I have planned, but not quite started. In the meantime, I think I need to head to the store for some more colors of drink mix!

we're praying

This past Wednesday was the start of the season we call Lent. It's a time of preparing our hearts for Easter, and it's a good time to make a change in your life. As Ann Voskamp put it, "Lent isn’t about forfeiting as much as it’s about formation." This Lent season (and hopefully the days, weeks and months following), I want to spend more time in prayer, and I'd like to invite you to be a part of it.

Sundays on Wild Olive will (at least until Easter) be prayer posts. Please feel free to leave a comment with any prayer requests you have, and if I have any, I'll post them here as well.

And then we'll pray.

I'll be praying for each comment that comes through, and I hope you'll do the same. This is a opportunity for joining together and presenting our requests, our hopes, our praises, even our confessions before God.

Request #1: I've been dealing with a minor eye issue, and tomorrow afternoon it's being corrected. I'm thankful to have it fixed, but nervous about the procedure. Please pray for me to remain calm.

Request #2: Saturday we are having a "Countdown to Easter" gathering at church. Please pray that families will come and be blessed!

snapshot saturday

Only a few more days to go with a Month of Craft Photos! This has been such a fun photo challenge for me...but that's no surprise, right?

weekend links

If you haven't had a chance to check out all that my sponsors have to offer, may I suggest a few links for you to check out this weekend? These are some favorites from them that I think you will really enjoy...

Victoria of Bramble Bird is taking an embroidery course, and I'm rather jealous...just look at that crewel work!

I've never had bubble tea, but Lauren of The Perfect Pair makes it sound easy to make...I just need to get over my fear of tapioca!

30 Days of Lists is a really fun journaling project from Kam and Amy...I've done it, and it was easy and creative!

Liesi from Too Crewel won my heart with this Michigan embroidered pillow...I'm an Illinois girl, but I do love state tributes!

Daphne from The Imperfectionary makes lots of fun things, and her teacup pincushion is so sweet...see what else she has in store!

Be prepared to start a new addiction when you see the hand spun threads from Liz at Dragonflylotus Designs...I've begun to hoard it!

Katie from The Life Adventures of Mrs. C has done a lovely job of incorporating embroidery into scrapbooking...be sure to check out the little flags she used too!

There's lots to see and read in Ali's post at Cook, Quilt, Love, but I just had to show off the truffle she's been stitching...so cute!

I also enjoyed Ren's lists, the vintage valentines on Anita's blog, and comic books from Annie's students.

march sponsorship available

Another month will soon be over (this makes me sad), but a new month will soon be here with lots of good things (this makes me happy)! New months mean a fresh opportunity for you to sponsor Wild Olive and the craftiness that happens here. Find my traffic stats and ad rates here. If you have questions or want to join me as a sponsor, email molliejohanson {at} gmail {dot} com.

printable: pages for your recipe binder

As someone who makes and sells a lot of recipe card PDFs, I have a shameful secret. My recipes are not organized. Many reside in the overstuffed binder you see here, and some are who knows where. Pinterest has helped me a good deal when it comes to online recipes, but those that are on paper are a bit of a mess.

I've just never taken the time to transfer everything over, but at least now the cover looks pretty:



Last fall I made a new meal planning kit called Not-So-Square Meals, and recently someone came to me with some ideas for companion pages. The cover that is now in my binder is one of those pages, as well as a page for short recipes, and a page that could be used as an index.



The short recipe page holds three recipes, so you don't waste a whole sheet with one recipe that only needs a brief description. The index has two columns so that you type the category on the top line (for example, casseroles), then list all your recipes within that category underneath. So handy for menu planning!

When Lori suggested these pages, I knew that they needed to go into the already existing PDF that I sell, but I wanted to make sure that those who already purchased it could have access to these pages. And guess what? You now have access to these extra pages too!

Download the Not-So-Square Extras

Whether you have the full PDF kit or not, I think these could make a nice addition to your recipe binder, and I hope you find them helpful!

the first wild olive stitch swap

Last week I asked if anyone would be interested in participating in a little embroidery swap, and to be honest, I was overwhelmed (and so very happy) at the response! Thank you! But whether you've already expressed an interest, or if this is the first you're hearing about it, I'd like to officially invite you to be a part of the first ever Wild Olive swap!

We'll each be creating a small piece of embroidery, and mailing it off so we can each receive a bit of hand-stitched happy mail! It seems to me that no matter how much technology we have, receiving a little package in the mail from a real person somewhere in the world is still magical.

This is going to be a swap of embroidery in a 4" hoop. I find this to be a cute size, very manageable and inexpensive to mail. You could complete a piece in an afternoon at this size, or take more time and make it more complex. This is up to you. And you can embroider anything you want, although, it might be nice to take into consideration what the recipient might like (to this end, I'll be gathering some info in the sign up that will help with this!).



Also, Wednesdays in March, I'll be sharing posts related to the swap, including some pattern links, finishing techniques, and some extras. I'm really looking forward to it!

I want this to be fairly simple and straightforward, and easy for anyone to join in, so with that in mind, here are the guidelines:

• Finished embroidery should be in a 4" hoop, prepared for hanging.

• This swap is open to all, so you should be prepared to mail your embroidery internationally.

• You are welcome to include a little something extra, but it is not required. Please spend no more than a few dollars.

• All pieces should be mailed by March 31, 2012.

Instead of partnering people up, this is going to be a circular swap, meaning Stitcher A sends to Stitcher B, who sends to Stitcher C, who sends to Stitcher A (but with more than 3 people, I'm guessing!). Make sense?

On March 1, you'll receive an email with the information of the person you'll send to, but not of the person you'll receive from...that'll be a surprise! I'm stitching too, so at least one of you will get something from me!

Sign ups are now closed.

Questions? Ask in the comments, and I'll reply in the comments.

a knitting kick

I don't usually think of myself as a knitter, although, to look at the number of knitting accessories and the stash of yarn I have around here, you'd never guess it. My grandma was quite prolific in her knitting, she taught me much, and then she passed on all of her gear to me. Still, I don't knit very often.

For Christmas, I knit a pair of leg warmers for my sister, and I thought it was going to use up all of my knitting energy for the "season" (I only knit in cold months). Fortunately, the opposite happened. I got on a knitting kick. A friend of mine has also helped this happen, and when she told me about a local yarn sale, that only fueled the fire (see the damage).

Since the middle of January, I have completed the cowl you see above, and the necklace you see below. The cowl pattern is the chunky cowl found on this page, and the necklace was made with a knitting fork, based on this tutorial.




But I've also started on some dish cloths, per my mother's request...



...a pair of leg warmers for myself...



...and a cowl for myself using a different pattern (hoping the leftover yarn from my sister's holds out!).

And then there's all that lovely new yarn I bought just waiting for me to start in on it. Apparently, I'm a knitter.

Do you knit? Do you have any favorite yarns or patterns I should know about?

project: yoyo magnets

We got a new refrigerator at my house, and let me tell you, it was a big deal. I won't go into details, but just know that people keep pushing buttons (thank goodness the water line isn't connected yet!), opening it, touching it, and admiring the lights that fade on when you open it (I admit, this last one is me).

My mom loves it so much that she declared it magnet free because she doesn't want any scratches. I can't blame her, but I can complain, because I like sticking recipes up on the fridge while I'm baking cookies. Not other things...just cookies. So I came up with a solution. Magnets for me, no scratches for my mom.



These easy-to-make magnets are basically a fabric yoyo with a round magnet inside. They are plenty strong, but are completely enclosed by fabric. And they are bright and cute! (By the way, the recipe you see above is super yummy, and probably my favorite cookie!)



Here's what you need:
Fabric scraps
Round magnets
Needle and thread



Cut out a circle that is about 3 times the diameter of your magnet. (I used a small ribbon spool to make my template.)



Fold down the edge of the circle as you sew around it. Use a loose running stitch. Shorter stitches will make the yoyo more bunchy in the middle, while longer stitches make it lie flatter.



Before you tighten the yoyo, drop a magnet into the center.



Cinch in it, and knot it off. Done! Now, make a bunch of them, because they are fast, and fun!




Oooh...look at that shiny new fridge!

These came out a little different than I originally imagined because my magnets are thicker than what I expected to buy. But you get what you can get. Flatter magnets would help make the yoyos closer in shape to the traditional kind used in quilting. I'll probably see if I can get my hands on more magnets and make another round of them. You can't have too many of these, can you?

snapshot saturday

A few of my favorites from this week's photos. I still haven't missed a day! Yay!

happy mail and an idea

Through the wonders of Twitter, I had a little conversation with Chrissy about embroidery floss. You might guess that I'm always up for a good conversation about embroidery floss. We chatted a bit about the good sales at JoAnn, and how she misses them. You see, Chrissy lives in Germany, and such simple supplies cost a great deal more there than they do here in the United States.

My favorite part about this is that Chrissy used to live very close to me, and we never actually met in person. Now that she's so very far away, we decided to do a little swap. So, I mailed her some colors of floss and other embroidery supplies that she wanted, and she mailed me these fun little goodies from Germany. Happy mail days are the best, wouldn't you agree?

This got me thinking...

I've never done a swap here on Wild Olive, but I think it could be fun. Something embroidery related, because we like that sort of thing around here. Something small and easy to make and mail. So here's my question:

Would you be interested in participating in a Wild Olive swap?

Leave your reply here, and if a group of you are up for making something for someone else in the group, I'll fix it and post about it soon.

And thank you to Chrissy for the sweet little package, and for inspiring the possibility of more happy mail being sent out into the world!

UPDATE: Wow! I'm so happy to say that we will officially be going forward with the embroidery swap! Thank you so much for the lovely response! I'll be posting full details and a real sign-up next week, and we'll make it a March swap. Yay!

Also, I'm thrilled with how many of you have left comments for the first time! Welcome, and I look forward to getting to know you more!