Liquid Paper

raw materials

The countdown has begun. Today I received my packet of materials from dawbis for The Paper Quilt Project. Ack! That means I have 14 days to create my square. I probably won't get to it this weekend because I've also got a Valentine post card swap and two special orders to make. How is it that I ended up triple booked on projects? Fortunately, the freezing temperatures outside and having a cold are both good incentives for me to stay home and get things done. Although... I hear that the falls are frozen now and I'd love to go take some photos. I promise to bundle up really well and I'll only dart out of the car for a quick snap or two.

Have a great weekend + stay warm!

under construction

Yesterday was all about construction and today will be all about figuring out how to send these things in the mail so that they arrive uncrushed. Here are a few photos of the process... (I apologize for the poor lighting in these photos, it was dark all day yesterday. )

This time I decided to cut out the window as a square and then go back and add the little trim for the panes -- gluing it to the inside. Much easier than cutting out four tiny panes for each window.

Making the curling paper smoke for each tiny chimney.

A scattering of little floors.

Phew! Now I'm moving on to elf-making and hopefully a not too long list of Christmas gifts to make. Right.

giving thanks

Popping in to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I'm thankful for my health, my family, and for a surprise package that arrived recently. Our friend Dee from Houston sent Mark and I a little housewarming gift. For me she included these two amazing trims which she found in her mother's sewing box. She thinks that her mother bought them when she was in Germany. Thank you so much Dee, they're lovely.

ornament idea #3

I think I can safely promise (fingers crossed) that this is my last trial ornament idea before I make my final decision. I really wanted to do something with paper and a little house was exactly the cozy ornament idea I'd imagined. I'm afraid that the window came out a bit wonky on this one, but I can fix that if I decide to make more.

Anyway, what I really wanted to see with this idea was curling paper smoke coming out of a tiny paper chimney. I can imagine a whole tree full of these little houses or a fireplace mantle with an entire paper village covering it. Oh, and there's colorful holiday paper lining the floor of the house too -- although you can't see it very well in these shots.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! How are you coming with your ornament ideas?

♥ little bird

The newest addition to my stidio:

Made by stephanie of little birds.

heaven, i'm in heaven

I have had a very, very good mail week. So many photos to share and show... let's just jump right in shall we? First up is this adorable tote that I ordered from Autum (a.k.a. creative little daisy). Her etsy shop is called Daisy Bags and you must go check out her work. Oh, and tucked inside was a surprise matching wristlet and key chain! Thank you again Autum - I love them! I haven't been able to bring myself to use it yet so it's hanging in my studio until I'm ready to break it in.

Next up are two photos of all the wonderful fabric I received from my swap with Melisssa (a.k.a. all buttoned up). I love, love, love everything so much! Check out the fabric with the little houses, and I got pom pon trim too! Everything she picked out for me is perfect - I'm so inspired now to make some little totes with this stuff. I really needed this package. Thank you so much!

From a swap with Claudia I received a bundle full of this wonderful fabric from Brazil. I love all of the prints, so perfect and delicate and pretty! And check out the trims she sent me too - I will definitely have to start adding more trimmings to my upcoming projects so watch for them! Thank you again Claudia. ♥

And last but definitely not least there's this lovely print from Dawbis, someone whose artwork I've admired for a while now. The title of this is dreaming of you and me in the clouds and when she put prints of it up for sale I jumped at the chance to buy one!

show & tell

I received this beautiful bag as a part of a trade I did with Alison of 6.5st. So... I had to do a bit of show and tell. The combination of fabrics, yarn and embroidery is perfect. And the color palette is just well, to me it looks like cotton candy.

Thank you again Alison - I ♥ everything!

To see the all of the goodies that came inside the bag, click here.

Thanks x 5

I've been so busy that I haven't had time to tell you about the wonderful things that arrived in my mailbox. I took a picture of them all together:

(I do this with my Christmas gifts too - I like to arrange everything together and just look at it. hee)

1. This adorable tote is from Alexia of Saki Designs. I so did not deserve such a wonderful gift! I bought some Christmas fabric from her (which I will show later when I use it) and she got so busy that she forgot to send the fabric. I completely forgot about it and when she remembered and sent it she included this bag - can you believe it? Thank you so much Alexia - I love it!

2. This tote is from Nordic Section. Her shop sold out twice before I finally nabbed this! I adore the colors, sheep print fabric and the pom pom trim. The lining is an aqua and white stripe cotton fabric. If you get the chance to order something from her shop I highly recommend it!

3. No post about mail would be complete without Jess Hutch's Fun Toys For You To Knit And Enjoy would it? I love the toys and the instructions look do-able once I find a knitting mentor. Just to help me with any tricky parts. :D

4. Three Green Apples asked me if I would swap some of my vintage fabric with her. We arranged a little swap for just a few small pieces and look what I got! I love the colors and patterns. Plus, they're the perfect size to make puppy pouches. Thank you Rina!

5. I'll bet everyone knows what these are... Hillary's Patchwork Set cards are even more beautiful in person. I keep looking at them and finding more little surprises each time. I can't wait to for her robot cards to come back from the printer - I hope she saves me a set!

I am so thankful to have found this amazing little community that inspires me to do the things that I love to do. Thank you for all the lovely mail and thank you for coming to visit my site! ♥

Thanks Carly

♥ This is what I received from my swap with Carly of moopy & me:

She makes these fabulous kittens and now this one is mine. The fabric is this big mod print and in my favorite colors! Check out her tags: the Nest Studio paper tag and the fabric one. Very sweet!

She also sent me some amazing (and tasty) goodies that are no more. She introduced me to Tim Tams (a chocolately cookie/candy/biscut) - if I could get my hands on those here, I would be seriously addicted. Yes people, they are that good.

Thank you so much Carly!

Thanks Amy

My swap package from Amy of amyville arrived this week and she made me this amazingly tiny sushi - three of each! She even put them on pins especially for me.

She also sent me this cute stuffed owl, one of her adorable sushi stitch markers, a little amyville pin and this lovely "deco dot II" fabric by Alexander Henry.

Want to see more of Amy's creations? You can visit her shop amyville to see her selection of all things sushi and lots more eye candy.