flickr favorites...

...for this week are centered around my longing for the end of winter. And for some odd reason white picket fences make me think Spring. 

 

1. ♥, 2. just another morning, 3. the American Dream, 4. Northern California

It's not like you take your fence down for winter...maybe it's because where I live, you can't see the fence in the winter- it's either buried under the drifts or blends in with the snow.

look, look...

...what I won and received from this SewMamaSew! giveaway! It's a fabulous fat quarter pack picked out by designer Amanda Soule @ SouleMama.

Isn't each and every piece gorgeous?! I swear the prettier the fabric, the harder it is to cut into it. I know for sure that I want to make the Crazy Nine-Patch Lattice Quilt pattern by Oh, Fransson! and maybe this is the fabric. But, I'll probably change my mind a thousand times before I make my first cut... 

...and before I start something new, I really need to first finish some of my crochet projects like this afghan

and my own version of this vintage potholder

valentine...

...for Grandma. Not sure which grandmother, but either mine or one of husband's grandmas. This is my 'prototype' for the others:

 

Using this Purl Bee post as inspiration, I started with a piece of white card stock. The black & white pockets are made out of the inside linings of envelopes I have been accumulating from statements, solicitations, etc. trimmed with black washi tape [purchased from Tinted Mint ].  Both the pockets and the card stock are hole-punched around the outside [somewhat evenly :D] and to hold it all together I crocheted around the edge with red crochet thread (size 3). I added a little tag to the front pocket, created a Happy Valentines Day tag [seen in back pocket], and stuffed the heart with a vintage hankie and a heart pin I crocheted with red/white bakers twine using the same pattern I used here. I hope Grandma likes it!

flickr favorites...

1. Snow squiggles, 2. CrystalPalace-Squiggle-9210, 3. River squiggles, 4. More Tree Squiggles

I discovered the wonderful blog Artmind today and love her idea of sharing Flickr favorites as seen on her post here. So, I decided to create my own mosaic... can you guess what my search term was?

vintage find...

I found this beautiful Smith-Corona typewriter today! It's a mid-century, teal blue, and portable Corsair Deluxe with a matching hard cover.

 

And you'll never guess where I found it... in my own hallway closet! How could I forget about this gem and leave it sitting in a pile of spare blankets? Well, I barely knew it was there, in my defense :)  My eldest brought it home after spending an afternoon with his great-grandmother and said 'Punkin gave me this typewriter to give to you' and then he stuck it in the closet. Which is where it has remained, forgotten for the last 6 months. I came across a random blog post where a typewriter was mentioned and I thought 'I'd like to have a typewriter for crafts' and then it hit me- 'I HAVE a typewriter!' As soon as I had five minutes of free time after work, I was digging it out.

I wasn't sure what I would find when I took the cover off but was pleasantly surprised to see everything intact. I crossed my mental fingers when I pushed the first key- hoping that there would be ink on the ribbon- but it looks like I will need to go on the hunt for new ribbons...

 

Oh well, another great vintage item found and it didn't cost me a thing!

etsy treasury...

LOVE this treasury! The colors, the mood. I found it because the kind curator selected one of my items as an alternate. 

 

You can find the treasury here.

blog banner...

...updated! Using my trusty GIMP and basic info from Design Mom, I was able to make a real, (but not real professional :D) blog header.

A special 'Thanks!' to my friend, Amy @ Ponder and Stitch (you really must check out her beautiful blog and cuffs), for the tips and ideas on how to make the appearance of my blog better!! 

The weekend was pretty uneventful, consisting mainly of watching old movies on TCM (think Wuthering Heights and Five Came Back) with my husband and transferring what seemed like thousands of pictures from the hard drive of my Mac to an external hard drive (fun, fun!). Oh, I did get new pictures uploaded to Etsy for some of my current listings... now if I could just get to my new listings that I already have pictures for! 

Please let me know what you think about my new banner... and have a great week!