Fun Finishes, Fabulous Finds and Fantastic Friends!

I finished Isabella Johnstone last Thursday night!  I was a little late coming to the Isabella party; I think my invite got lost in the mail.  But, I am all for crashing a party every now and again and thought I should crash Isabella's, for sure!  

Since doing a crash is always easier with a partner, Yuko and I decided to do it together.

Truth is, Isabella didn't seem to mind a couple of late comers to her party.  Next time, I hope I get invited earlier.  Really, I'm pretty fun at a party ~
lampshades notwithstanding!

you may click to inspect :-)

Ignore the date - the camera got all screwed up.....

Isabella Johnstone

Stitching and Antique Needlework Quarterly

Vol 59

Summer 2010 

36 count fabric, DMC floss

I stitched her on 36 count fabric using one thread which created a bit of a dilemma.... it's hard to blend threads when you only use one.  I tried using one color for the bottom of the X and the other color for the top stitch but I didn't love how that looked so I just picked the dominate color and went for it.  I love how it turned out and I've already dropped her off to be framed.  Picked a fun frame and can't WAIT to get it back.  I hope it looks as good as I envision.    Here's another shot, just because...

Check out my newest collection:

Shoe Pincushions!!!

I found the boy's shoe at the Ann Arbor Antique Market last fall when Sheila and I hiked out there one day.  The little one in the middle I found at a little antique store, again, shopping with Sheila.  The "buckle" on the front says "U.S. Capital". 

 The other woman's shoe on the left, Sheila found at an estate sale last weekend.  The shoe is textured, and the buckle says "Statue of Liberty" and of course has the statue on it.  I just love these and now that I have three - I have a collection!

Aren't those heels cute?  High heels and pointed toe shoes - what's not to love?

                                                              Last weekend I visited Janice and Bob at their cute store in Marine City.  

They own a wonderful antique/prim shop AND she has a great blog!

Prims by the Water Blog

She has great merchandise and tells great stories; top by and visit, sign up to follow her, too - she'll have a giveaway when she reaches 50 followers!!

Anyway, while I was there, I found two things I couldn't leave without.

The first is another flower frog.  This is a big one!   Here it is on my table being used in a most unusual way - it's holding flowers!  Flower frogs actually make a lovely flower arrangement and not just a place to hold your treasured scissors! 

I took this pic, with some of the flowers removed so you could see the inside of the vase with the frog. 

The other thing I found, that I didn't even know I was looking for, was this awesome lamb cake mold.  Thanks Bob!

It's made of cast iron, it's heavy and I think it's so cute.  Now my cast iron bunny bank (she was featured in my pic of Marianne Wenn a few posts back) has a friend.  So CUTE!

No - I won't be using it to make a cake.  I can barely handle a cake in a normal cake pan, much less something like this.  This little lamb is purely decorative!

My last pic of the day is this little piece I stitched but have yet to "finish" (a terrifying thought for me).  This is a pattern by Shakespeare's Peddler called 

"Count Your Blessings"

It is a traveling pattern and one which called to me.  

It's stitched on a scrap piece of 36 count (I think) mottled fabric (a story for another day....) with threads from stash.

This has been a trying year and this is a sweet way to remember that no matter how

difficult a time we may be having, there are still blessings to be found.  

Granted, sometimes you have to look really hard to find them, and sometimes they're hiding under a gigantic boulder, but they are there.

If you would like the opportunity to stitch this, please just let me know in a comment.    If you don't say anything about wanting to stitch it, I'll assume you're not interested.  All that's asked is that once you receive it, you stitch it in a reasonable amount of time, sign your name to the chart and then send the pattern on to the next person.

I'll pick a name next Friday.  Who knows, maybe I'll have something fun to show you after the first antique market of the season by then!

Thanks so much for stopping by and for all the comments you so graciously leave for me.  You are the best and I so appreciate your time!

Ooooh, and thanks and welcome to my new followers!  I can't believe I've got more than 400 chocolate loving, Fantastic Friends!  I think this calls for a follower giveaway, don't you?  I'll have to think about that a little bit (let's just hope the thinking doesn't hurt too much) but rest assured, the giveaway will involve chocolate from our local chocolatier.  

YUM!!!!

Peace,

Terri