Instant Embroidery Bags

Happy 2011! Or is it a bit late for that? Yes, I'm one of those bloggers that have been putting of the first blog post of the year thinking it should be something super deep and meaningful. I'm not so sure this will be one of those posts :)

I have had so much fun embroidering canvas tote bags. I'll be sharing some more designs soon.  A really great project to do if you are looking for some instant gratification. Well you have to stitch it first, which is OK since that is the fun part, right? And then you are done! I have also some white cushion covers waiting to be decorated. Can't wait to get my hands on those!

p.s. just in case you  are curios, the fabric peeking behind the bag is from Marimekko but I can't remember the name of the fabric or the designer. Can anyone help me with that?

Christmas Cards for Inspiration

These cards are from last year. They where so much fun to make! I just love it how the fabrics pop-up in these. I glued the fabric on the cards and add some beads with thread and needle. For more scrap card inspiration here are some nice ones from Rachel from Stitched in Color. 

Blog of the Month - Plain and Joyful living

Plain and Joyful living follows the life of a family who has chosen to live more simple life. In the mist of the holiday season I love to follow Tonya's simple ways to celebrate. You don't need to have a lot of resources to celebrate the holidays. If you do, enjoy using them, if you don't, get creative.

Happy holiday season to you all! 

Yellow Blue and Black Christmas Embroidery

Some less wonky embroidery I have been working on. If you want to learn some new tricks I warmly recommend Mary Corbet's Needle'n thread -website. It has really great video tutorials, short and clear! 

For the Wonky Season

Only 44 days to Christmas. I love Christmas and I love to prepare for it. But like so many of us I sometimes get all stress about it as well. Mostly because I start to reach for perfection. Everything should be handmade, organic, beautiful and delicious. Perfect perfect perfect! And I kind of forget about why I love it. 

I love all the love ones being together, I love the giving and I love the peace and quiet after the laughter and talk. And I even love the darkness that gives the candles a magical glow. I'm from the very north and it gets very dark during Christmas time (except if you from Finland I'm from the shout. Everything is relative;). It is a mystical time for me. 

Yesterday I was doing some embroidery the holidays in mind and it got all wonky and wrong. First came the frustration and little after the realisation: let it be wonky. There is no harm in wonky. Even better, let this be a wonky Christmas! No strive for perfection this year but only love, peace and wonkyness!

Here you can read more about the power of wonky by the talented Tara Swiger. 

Transformation

From this

To this

And this

I like the fabrics more mixed together. What do you think? They are both Kaffe Fasset.

Blog of the Month - A Way to Garden

So many nice blogs out there and I feel like sharing. It is time for blog of the month!


The writer of the blog A Way to Garden, Margaret Roach, describes her blog as: horticultural how-to and “woo-woo.” The blog includes lots and lots of great information about gardening written in a friendly authentic way. It is packed with information and laughter. A wonderful combination, don't you think? I'm only starting to explore all the knowledge it contains and just signed up for her newsletter. I'm very exited to see how following this blog will influence my gardening. 


P.S. Margaret left her job as editorial director of "Martha Stewart Living" at age of 54 to live more creative life. She is publishing a book about her journey in February 2011. Too late for Christmas but my birthday coming up on February the timing might be just perfect for me;)