allsorts

Making happy

Elizabeth of Creative Breathing has the most generous soul. She embroidered this fantastic apron with my pretty maids designs for her granddaughter, and lately she's been holding a "block party" ~ a fun swap of squares embellished with vintage paper goodies. I haven't had the chance to even start to make mine for her yet, but she sent me this bit of adorableness recently and I had to share.

She certainly has that making people happy thing down pretty well. Thanks again, Elizabeth!

Just finished up a couple of time-intensive publishing projects, so I hope to get myself into a more frequent blogging schedule now. Lots of ideas bubbling!

Cheers,

Jenny

Two little dolls

When Jade sent me this photo a couple of days ago, I have to admit that I was overcome with emotion. This is Xolchi, pronounced Sol-chee, a little girl at the Casa Bernanke orphanage in Nicaragua posing with her new doll, the little doll I stitched and sent in to Craft Hope. The expression on her face is worth everything to me.

I feel so blessed to have been a part of this project. Three cheers to everyone who contributed, many many thanks to Jade for organizing the whole thing, and especially thank you to Erin for taking the dolls down to Nicaragua. You guys are my heroes. See many more heart-warming photos here.

Cheers,

Jenny

Mini mushie from my little mochi

Myra of my little mochi created a great tutorial for making these adorable felt mushrooms. You can find it on the Etsy Storque page. 

I'm still in doll-making mode, but will probably be stitching up my own little shrooms very soon.

Polka dots... who could resist?

Cheers,

Jenny

Seeds of hope, one stitch at a time

Just read on Loobylu about Craft Hope, which has begun its second project, collecting handmade dolls to send to the children at the Casa Bernabe Orphanage in Nicaragua. What a worthwhile and wonderful endeavor!

I've got a pile of new books with adorable doll patterns in them, and this is just the impetus I need to stitch one up! Maybe I could use one of the many free online patterns gathered at One Crafty Place just for this project. OR.... I could design my own pattern! I've made some dolls from scratch with no pattern, but never actually created a proper reusable doll pattern. That sounds kind of fun!

There's a Craft Hope flickr pool where you can see the dolls that have already been completed as well as previous projects, or you can even join the Craft Hope group on facebook if you like. If you're interested in participating you can sign up at Craft Hope. They will need the dolls by June 13th, so I'd better start stitching!

Cheers,

Jenny

Who me?

Yes me! I actually won a giveaway! It was this adorable little owlet from Laurie. Isn't he a hoot? (sorry) I feel so lucky. He arrived a few days ago and has settled in nicely with the other inhabitants of the studio. Isn't he the cutest?

And while the camera was out, I finally snapped a photo of this charming miss...

She arrived all the way from Australia last year when I was feeling particularly down, and really cheered me up. I owe a huge overdue thankyou to Kirsty of Kootoyoo for sending me such a treasure. When I get my act together I'd like to participate in my creative space some more.

I'm super happy there are such thoughtful, generous people out in blogland!

Cheers,

Jenny

Yay Mimi... yay me!

Couldn't resist this darling pincushion from Mimi Kirchner!

I love her blog, too.

Cheers,

Jenny

Speaking of garlands

I can't take credit for this fantastic garland made by Elizabeth, except that she used my patterns for the scotty dog, felt peppermint stars and holiday dangles. Don't they make a cute combination? I would have never thought to do that. I'm blown away by her incredible knack for putting things together, and also for figuring out how to make things just by looking at a photograph. For example, in this photo of her craft shelves, you can see that she's made her own versions of Peek-a-boo the baby monster, Lulu the sock monkey and a couple of dollypops. I burst out laughing when I spotted them! How clever is that?

And she makes her own adorable original lovelies, just look at this sweet pincushion she created! I really love it.

She is truly a generous and talented artist. And if you knew her full story, you'd be even more amazed!

Thanks Elizabeth, I see the world as a much happier place through your eyes.

Cheers,

Jenny

Happy thoughts

Isn't this adorableness itself? It is one of the sweet dresses made by Kathleen, who hosts bi-weekly giveaways of her darling creations on her blog Grosgrain. I think this is fantastic, what a truly generous thing to do! Just look at how cute this is...

I thought it would be nice to share a happy image and link since things have not been so happy here these days. My mom is not faring well at all. She's in ICU after undergoing emergency surgery last Thursday, and her chances for recovery are very slim. She is heavily sedated to try to allow her body to heal so at least she is not in pain or suffering. It has been tough going from day to day.

Thank you all again for your thoughts and prayers, they are very much felt and appreciated.

Jenny

Prezzies - part I

Oops, didn't mean to disappear there. Lots happening in the mean time. My birthday was lovely, thanks for the birthday wishes!! I'll get to the birthday gift from Ro in the next post, first I want to show you what my friend Vicky gave me!

Along with a yummy lunch at S & D Oyster Bar, she gave me a cheery gift bag (red with aqua ribbon of course) with two packages of wonderful Nelson Line papers inside. I already have ideas for how to use it! Best of all was this vintage Little Lulu book! I have vague memories of seeing these cartoons somewhere ages ago, you know how you feel you've seen things years ago through a child's eyes?

Lulu is a character...

with her own way...

of seeing things...

Her spunky personality really reminds me of Olivia, and I'm sure she's a distant cousin of Eloise!

Thanks Vicky!!!

Jenny

On my desk and on my mind

I dropped the ball a couple of weeks in there and didn't post anything for On My Desk Wednesdays. Blame the huge mess on my work table, that's where I would normally set up a photo shoot, but it has secret projects and stuff all over it. So the end of my computer desk will have to suffice. Again.

The print is from Loobylu! I was quick off the mark when Claire listed her first Gocco prints in her Etsy shop, and luckily I snagged one. It is even more adorable in person! I'm still mulling over where to hang it and framing style. I truly love it. Thanks Claire! Other items on my desk include Cath Kidston stationery and a jellyroll of reproduction feedsack fabric. I love to buy those jellyrolls, but then I never actually make them into anything. I love charm sets, too but those usually end up in something or other.

And speaking of Etsy, I established my own little emporium, Allsorts Workshop! No fanfares yet, there's nothing in it at the moment. I'm still mulling over several possible categories of items to offer. Currently I think it will be patterns, prints and projects, mainly because I like how those words sound together. That's what the secret project on my worktable (and the blue crinkle paper) is all about. I'm doing lots of mulling. Stay tuned!

Cheers,

Jenny