Dreamland

Valentine giveaway.

I have been thinking (since last summer) of adding some one-of-a-kind pieces to my etsy shop...a little art, a little sewing, a little paper piecing.  I hope to get at least a few items into my shop before the end of the month.  You can start me in the right direction by entering a giveaway for a print of the above! 

To enter, leave a comment on today's post with your answer to the following question:  What is your favorite one-of-a-kind item you have purchased?  It may be something you bought at an art fair years ago, or something you ordered from etsy last month.  I'd love to hear what makes your heart sing!

Comments will close on Valentine's Day and I will announce a winner on Monday.  Good luck!
 

Eye candy for anyone who loves sewing, fabric, Japanese design, photo styling, or pattern.  The methods in this book inspired my bedside organizer (5th photo down).

I have been making my own patterns about as long as I've been sewing.  I would pay a lot for a photo of my 11-year old self in the kelly green terrycloth short-sleeve-on-one-side/off-the-shoulder-on-the-other top I made to wear to the roller rink.  The designs in this book are just a titch more sophisticated. 

This suits my list-making mojo to a t.   

I am enjoying looking through this journal by Sabrina Ward Harrison.  (If you can't get to Italy, this is one tiny tidbit to tide you over.)  Some other journal-related books worth looking up at the library:  anything by Keri Smith, The Decorated Page by Gwen Diehn, and Keeping a Nature Journal, which prompted me to get a nature journal started at our weekend place in northern Minnesota.

 
Have toyed with the idea of a mother-daughter book club for a few years already.  (I did read Book by Book and now I see there is a website as well.)  My own daughter is just too busy during the school year (theater, choir, homework) ... so I've lit on the notion of a summer book club.  (And I have to skip the "daughter" part since she has always had boy-friends too.)  Now's the time to do a little research and let the idea blossom in my head.

New items in my shop.

I'm so excited about the new items I listed in my etsy shop yesterday:  more wedding stamps, more everyday stamps, and some brand spanking new gift tag stamps.  Here's a peek:

These are available personalized, in super-crisp red rubber mounted on a wood block.

Have a relaxing weekend!
  

Continued from yesterday:  Could I possibly resist a book called Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey?  She wrote a grown-up version first, and I tried one terribly delicious sounding recipe (Rich Risotto Rice Pudding) which failed miserably (Rich Risotto Rice Soup).  And yet when I saw this new book with treats for kids, I ignored that memory and plunked my twenty bucks on the counter.  In my defense, the book itself is a treat -- the page edges are scalloped and have sweet fabric-like motifs on them.  I'll keep you posted on the actual recipes.

I checked this out of the library after trying some recipes from Diane Phillips' You've Got it Made (yum, yum).  I'm a little bit obsessed with the idea that I could spend two Sunday afternoons a month cooking, and then not stress out during the week when our schedule fills up, you know the drill.  Fix Freeze Feast has so many yummy-sounding recipes that I'm planning on just buying myself a copy.  (I like checking cookbooks out from the library first; I try a few recipes and if they work, then I know it's a cookbook worth owning.  More on that tomorrow.)

I don't make many wee stuffed things (like dolls or rabbits), but I saw the little stuffed houses on page 86 and I was hooked.  All three of this author's books are beautifully photographed, so worth a peek even if sewing isn't your bag.