Who doesn't love getting packages?

I know I sure do.

My mom sent me packages all through college and sends them now, even though I live Ontario.

I've been working very hard in my class, so it's nice to get a few surprises :)

A few weeks ago, I mentioned to my grandma (that's my mom's mom) that I'd like to learn embroidery. I know a little bit about needlepoint/cross stitch after a few projects I worked on when I was young.

(What really inspired me were the new Martha Stewart embroidery kits. If  you haven't seen them, you can check some of them out here; they also carry them at Michael's.)

So she sent me

This amazing book! Really, it's amazing. It's an older copy, but I'm sure the book is still made.

And now I can try to teach myself to crochet too! I've always wanted to learn, but it's way harder than knitting (for me at least)

She also sent me these pillowcases. They have an iron-on Scandinavian-esque design...

And a bag of miscellaneous embroidery thread...

And another Scandinavian design on a flyer.

Now I just have to go out and buy an embroidery needle and a hoop! I'm really excited to get working on this.

If you haven't figured this out by now, I'm Scandinavian: part Norwegian and part Icelandic. That's why I'm so drawn to Scandinavian design.

With a little googling last night, I found this book:

There are a lot of great crafts in this book. And at $16, I think it's a steal. I'm going to have to pick it up over the weekend.

My mom also sent me a quilter's bundle of nautical fabric:

The bf and I are both sailors (it's actually how we met) and we love anything to do with sailing and the ocean.

Each piece is a 1/3 of a yard

I have no clue what I'm going to do with it yet... Any ideas?

And lastly, a gift for Freyja...

It's a pretty special day tomorrow... Freyja's first birthday!

Doesn't she look excited?

And her first Easter is just around the corner too... It's going to be a very busy weekend!

My Latest Inspiration: William Morris

I love the Arts and Craft movement...

And that's led to my love of William Morris works...

Don't know who William Morris is? Check him out here.

I actually discovered him through tonicliving.com and these wonderful fabrics:

Source

Source

Unfortunately, they've been out of stock but I plan on ordering some ASAP when they have it in.

But for now, I'm working on doing a set of William Morris Replica squares... I'm thinking of doing 9 squares ultimately, but here's the one I finished today:

The Original

The Replica

It looks way more washed out than in person, but what do you think?

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Crossing things off the "craft list"

This weekend was sort of a continuation of my Friday... so I ended up getting a number of things done:

1) Rabbit and chick cut outs (posted here):

They were easy to start, not so easy to finish. Used double tack adhesive paper for the first time and it went okay, but I have little pieces of paper stuck everywhere. Some of them turned out a little "busy," but they didn't have a great selection of paper at Michaels.

2) Pike Place Market blueprint painting (posted here):

I started this one on Saturday and finished it up (FINALLY) this morning. I wasn't entirely sure how it would turn out, but the more and more I painted, the more I was liking how I would turn out. I do need to get some painter's tape to clean up the lines on the top and bottom, but it's basically ready to be hung up!

And my favorite part? The fact that they have large areas dedicated to pickles and doughnuts.

I also want to get the map done as well before I hang this one up, so it might be awhile before I actually show these bad boys on the wall. But I'm excited anyway.

And on Saturday, the bf and I took Freyja to small dog play time at a local doggie daycare. She's okay with other dogs; not aggressive or anything, mostly just terrified. But that's why she needs to do something like this occasionally.

At first she was stuck to one of us like glue...

But eventually (and hesitantly), she made a few new friends :)

Hopefully, your weekends were as productive :)

I'm feeling crafty.

On Fridays, I tend to feel like I want to do something crafty. Maybe it's because the house is all clean.

It's almost Easter (hey, lent has started), so I started looking for some Easter themed decorations to make. I settled on this project from Martha Stewart for today:

I'm still mid-project and don't have everything I need to finish it up, but here's a sneak peak:

I'm hoping to make a Michael's run tonight to get the necessary supplies to finish it up.

And Freyja?

She's got nothing better to do, so she's napping...

And snoring away...

Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

A new project, perhaps?

Since we live in an apartment and won't be here (hopefully) for much longer, I've been looking for ways to make the place a little more our own. There are so many things I would change, but since we rent, we can't do that. Our apartment has a lot of (tacky) built in pieces of furniture and we don't have any more room, so furniture is out of the question. All I can really do is find smaller items that fit in with what we already have.

Well, I was up early this morning and was just surfing the internet when I came across this:

Source

Not everything in the picture is my style, but I loved the idea of framing old blueprints. But after a little time on eBay, they aren't easy to find and you aren't likely to find a specific building. I turned to google and the only Seattle area blueprint I could find online was this one of Pike Place Market from 1921:

Source

It's not exactly what I was thinking, but it is a well-known landmark. And it's just a picture on the internet, not a print I can just order.

Then I got thinking... I'm an okay painter, why not buy a canvas and do my own? 

So... that's what I'm going to do.

And during my search, I found this cool vintage Seattle map showing parks and playgrounds from 1909 (once again, just a photo, not a print):

Source

I LOVE this one. So I'm going to try to do this one for sure. 

Canvases are on sale for 50% off at Michael's, as are some of the their paints, so I think I'm going to be making a run tonight... I'm really excited [ and a little nervous : / ] to see how this is going to turn out...

I'll keep you updated.

Oh how I miss sewing projects...

Completed family tree quilt

Before I struck out on my own (well, maybe not my own, but moved out and went to college), I was known for various other craft skills besides knitting... For my senior culminating project (which I think my mom explains pretty well here), I even sewed a full sized quilt with an appliquéd tree to represent my own family tree I had been researching and photos that had been taken throughout my life.

But after that project and god only knows how many hours, I'd never wanted to see a sewing machine or an unsewn, unfinished piece of fabric again...

That was over four years ago; now I find myself itching to make things... Nothing as complicated as that quilt (it makes me want to run my fingers under the needle of a sewing machine just thinking about it), but I'd just like to be able to do some of the things I want to do with a sewing machine:

1) Our basement apartment is essentially a bachelor pad... Other than the fact that there is a basket full of yarn and knitting supplies, I'm not really sure you would know a female lives here. When I moved out here, I essentially did so in 4 suitcases and have had my mother mail me other things as I need them; there wasn't any room for anything decorative.

2) Although I've never been much of a decorator like my mom, let alone a seasonal one, I've had the itch lately to do something to spruce the place up for fall... I also have to consider that thanksgiving, the Canadian one, is quickly approaching; yet by the looks of things here, you'd never know it. And Christmas... it takes time to prepare and make things for a holiday that big.

Freyja, getting ready for winter

3) I'd like to make some stuff for my cute little pup. No, not clothes. When it comes to animals wearing clothes, I believe they should only be worn when necessary for warmth. But I found this cute pattern for a dog    bed that would be easy to make it the perfect size for her. My dog is a snuggler, but I can't snuggle all of the time and it would be nice if she had a little place of her own that fits her well and isn't covered in atrocious fabric or insanely overpriced.

4) I hate hand sewing. It doesn't matter if it's joining seams on a knitting project or repairing or hemming a piece of clothing, I hate it. On knitting projects, it's not that it takes a lot of time and patience, I just don't think I'm that good at it. My seams end up bulky and don't really stretch, no matter what stitch I use. In a conversation with my grandma last winter, she suggested just using a machine. That's fine by me. As far as repairing and hemming things goes, My hand stitching looks atrocious. I know sewing by hand is a past time and an art form, but I think god endowed us with the knowledge to invent sewing machines for a reason.

Really, there are probably a billion other reasons an sewing machine would be practical... And maybe, at the same time, I am turning into my mother (one of the craftiest people I know); but I don't really think that's a bad thing at all.

And although this project (pictured left) is a no-sew project, I'm pretty excited to try this one out :)