Boutique, London & Stuff

All of the Giveaway items were boxed and mailed last Wednesday, and I understand they're beginning to arrive.  Whew!  That was a lot more work than I had planned for, but it was all fun!  :-)

Happily, the Boutique is over, too.  That wasted took up most of my Saturday last week, and the turnout was dismal.  However, I did sell 3 aprons, 4 owls & some other little things.  The remaining items will probably end up as Christmas presents, LOL. 

First of all, look at these mittens I made with the DARLING free pattern that Dawn Edmondson of The Feathered Nest offers on her blog.  You can check out the tutorial here.   Dawn is published frequently in the Somerset publications, and her blog is a rich source of ideas and inspiration!


 




Of course, I did them a bit differently.  I used the same cotton batting, but concentrated most (but not all) of the glitter along the top edge.  I didn't gather the mittens before decorating; I just combined that step with the trim used around the wrist and then secured the trim and cinching with a stitch or two. 

Left are the silver or white-glittered mittens.  I sold a few of these, but was glad that I've got leftovers for our tree and to tie on gifts.

 I also made some sachets.  This idea I "borrowed" from some magazine I saw a couple weeks ago at Barnes & Noble.  DH & I have a weekly "coffee date" there, reading magazines & browsing books.  Since I usually have my sketchbook with me, I drew a rough (VERY rough, LOL) idea and put my own spin on these sachets.

 

Dried lavender (from our garden) was used to fill some muslin bags, which I had left over from a purchase a couple years ago from San Francisco Herb Company.  Then I enlarged and printed out vintage lady heads from my files, and glued them onto cardstock.  In turn, the heads were glued on to the filled muslin bags and decorated with bits and bobs of vintage lace (including a scrap of metallic lace I used for Marie Antoinette), modern trims and laces, buttons, feathers, stick-on "rhinestones", etc.  It was FUN!!

 And then I wanted to show you my favorite apron that I made before the boutique.  The  

skirt portion is red ticking.  The pocket is made from one of four embroidered, oversized "puzzle pieces" that Pat sent me from the Pieces of Friendship Swap earlier this year.

 Isn't that goose just too cute???

 And speaking of TOO CUTE ....

 Here is London at age 3 months with a stuffed musical seahorse.  She LOVES that thing!  Below she's contentedly being loved by her Daddy (my son Shane).  I believe these pictures were taken on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

 

 
I need to get my sewing machine serviced; it started doing some wacky stuff, and it's been awhile since I've paid any attention to it.   That means it's time to turn my attention to other creative endeavors.  My goal is to crazy-piece a valance for my bathroom window for our CQ International group (more about that in an upcoming post) and also to piece six 6" wool blocks for a round robin I've just joined.   By the end of December.   We'll see.  Take care and stay warm!

 Hugs,