An Apron For A Bracelet

A couple of months ago, my bloggy friend Patty from My Life Under the Bus and The Junquerie on Etsy, asked me if I would make her a custom apron.  After explaining what she wanted and agreeing on a price, I told her I would be happy to make one.  Not long after that she asked me if I would be interested in a trade.  She had made a bracelet that I just fell in love with and she would trade the bracelet for the apron.  Well, I jumped at that suggestion!  Who wouldn't want this bracelet?

I waited for Patty to send the fabric and I just couldn't believe what came in that package.  I couldn't believe how wonderfully decorated the envelopes were.  I felt special before I even opened it up!  There were two envelopes.  One contained the fabric and the other was full of goodies I wasn't expecting.

There were the sweetest paper dolls and these wonderful teacup prints 'wrapped' in toile.

Don't you love this wrapping?  I was just in awe of it.  It is a page from a book and Patty did a tutorial on book paper that you can see here and here and here.

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These little note cards were in there!

And then of course there was THE bracelet!  This bracelet won a Facebook contest and you can have one of your very own because there is one in Patty's Etsy shop, The Junquerie!  My photos don't do it justice.  Trust me when I say it is simply beautiful.

Patty wanted a full apron that she could wear to do craft shows.  She wanted the skirt to be ruffles and she wanted pockets on the inside so she could use them for money at the show.  Isn't that just a great idea?    This is what I came up with.

I also made her a lavender sachet to let her know how special she is to me.

Patty was one of my very first blog followers and has been a constant source of encouragement and support.  I was happy to make her an apron and even more happy to have one of her original bracelets.

Thank you Patty for everything!

Tickle Me Tuesday ~ Giveaways

Do you love a good giveaway?  I do too.  So today for Tickle Me Tuesday I'm going to point you to a few of the ones I have entered.  I hope they tickle you too!

From Kluless, this sweet Sweetcushion made from a sugar bowl that Kathy found.  It would be right at home in my sewing room!

From My Life Under the Bus, Patty is giving away this beautiful bead she made.  It's just stunning!

Maureen Cracknell Handmade is giving away this fun pillow.  It's fresh and fun and irresistible!

What is tickling your fancy this week?  Join Sarah at Yes Teacher and show us.  And if you have entered any giveaways, share with us in the comments!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!!!

Friday's Fabulous Finds ~ The Junquerie

Today's fabulous find is a new jewelry shop on Etsy.  The Junquerie opened a few short weeks ago by none other than Patty of My Life Under The Bus.  If you have been reading my blog for any length of time, you know I refer to Patty and her blog pretty regularly.  We've not only become friends in the blogosphere, we are also Scrabble opponents on Facebook!  Her sense of humor keeps me smiling and her jewelry leaves me drooling.  Here is what Patty has to say.

What do you want people to know about you?
 I am the stay at home mom to four rambuncious boys.   I have been creating for as long as I can remember. I adore romantic sentimental Victorian jewelry, charm bracelets, colored pearls, birds, vintage hearts, padlocks and lockets. 

When did you start making jewelry?
I was an only child growing up and my mother worked so most of my free time was either reading or crafting something. We didn't have a lot of money so I got used to being creative. I think this is where my love of painting everything in sight comes from. Things instantly become new when you paint them ( or at least new to me!) I've been playing with jewelry on and off since I was 16 and discovered you could buy ear wires at the craft store! You'd think it wouldn't take 30 years for me to do something with it!

Who or what inspires you?
I have discovered I am a very visual person - I LOVE all of the Stampington publications - doesn't have to be about jewelry - a color or an image will do it. I have I don't know how many books on all different types of craft some of my favorites are:

Charmed Bracelets - Tracey Zabar
Rejuvenated Jewels - Amy Hanna
Enchanted Adornments - Cynthia Thornton
Pretty Little Things - Sally Jean Alexander
Semiprecious Salvage - Stephanie Lee
Bent, Bound and Stitched - Giuseppina Cirincione
Collage Lost and Found - Giuseppina Cirincione
Custom Cool Jewelry - Melinda Barta
Beyond the Bead - Margot Potter
Delight in the Details - Lisa M. Pace
and anything by Sherri Haab - too many to list here

Amy Hanna was a big inspiration for me. I found her through one of the Stampington magazines ( I think it was Belle Armoire) and discovered the idea of altered art jewelry. It was like a light went on and put together my love of jewelry and my love of vintage. I haven't shared alot of those type of pieces yet - they are still my babies and I'm not ready to let them go. I would like to expand my offerings in the coming year to include some vintage mix pieces. 
There are so many talented and giving jewelry artists I would have a hard time picking just one though. So much encouragement and team spirit amongst everyone on line - blogging has been such a blessing for this! I have also been entering and hosting creative challenges and find myself absolutely addicted to them!

Do you have a favorite piece?
I do have a favorite piece - it's not that fancy but has one of my favorite symbols which is a bird and it's made of mother of pearl and aquamarine and wire wrapping and it just looks like me.

Patty's favorite piece is not available in her shop

What do you like to do when you are not creating?
I love to decorate my house and enjoy renovating when we have funds to do it. My husband is a carpenter so half the time things are ripped apart and we live with them for a few years until it gets put back together!

I love reading - historical fiction, Jane Austen ( I could see the Kiera Knightly version of the movie 800 times and still palpitate over Mr. Darcy walking through that damn field) , Philippa Gregory, Patricia Cornwell ( Love a little science and murder mystery) - oh and a total Harry Potter geek.

I love slice of life movies - A Christmas Story is one of my favorite movies. Radio Days, Biloxi Blues and any of the PBS reenactments of Novels like Little Dorrit will make me pretty happy.

...and whilst I am movie watching, decorating or reading, a good coffee and some dark chocolate wouldn't hurt either!

Where can we find you?

 Etsy shop, The Junquerie

 Blog, My Life Under The Bus

 Facebook fan page

Check out Patty's sites...I promise you won't be disappointed!

What are your plans for the last weekend before Christmas?

Inspiration Challenge Reveal Week 11/7

Patty, at My Life Under the Bus, gave us a photo and color palette for inspiration to create whatever we wanted to.  Here is this week's inspiration

I immediately thought of a vintage hankie I had but what was I going to do with it?  I love batiks and found one with practically all the colors in it and it was a perfect backdrop for the hankie.  After much thought about what to make, I finally decided on another bag.  I used vintage buttons and put one on each corner of the hankie and a few in the empty spaces.  I made a braid for the handle and I'm really happy with how it turned out, although I would make it longer next time.  The lining I made was the wrong size, so I will finish that part later.  This was another good learning experience for me and I'm honestly loving these challenges!!

Go here to see the other inspired creations. 



What has inspired you lately?

A Steampunk Family

It was a last minute decision to go to my daughter's last week on Halloween to see her family dressed up.  Erin had been working on costumes since May and I just couldn't not see them!  The handwork and details are stunning.   

I had a wonderful few days with them and I'm having such a hard time getting back in the swing of things.  It doesn't help that this time change throws me off!  By seven o'clock, it feels like it's bed time and I'm not motivated to do anything! 

If I do nothing else this week, I plan to work on the next challenge from My Life Under The Bus.  If you want to see the inspiration photo and color palette, go here and jump on board!  Hope to see you on the ride!

Have a teriffic Tuesday!!!

The Deer And The Fabric

Michael was on his way home last night when out of nowhere a deer appeared.  There was no time to react and he hit it doing 50 mph.  The damage could have been far worse and I'm just thankful he wasn't hurt. 

On a brighter note, I found the fabric I'm going to use for this weeks challenge

 from My Life Under The Bus.  I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet and time is running out!!!

It's not too late to join in the challenge!  Go here to see the inspiration photo and color palette.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!!!

Inspiration Challenge Reveal

I was so excited when Patty at My Life Under The Bus started this challenge.  She gave us this picture and color palette as inspiration to create anything we wanted to! 

I was looking at the picture and took a cue from Patty and wrote down my first thoughts.

Spring

English Garden

Flowers

Sunshine

Strolling

Frames

Victorian

Next, looking at the color palette, I saw fall or autumn more than spring!  Oh no!  Since I had no idea what I was going to make, I started pulling fabric from my stash that worked with the palette.  That's when I found this

It had all the colors plus the flowers and I knew it was the one!  After pulling other fabric to go with it I had to decide what to make.  This is when I realized something new about my creative process.  I tend to use fabric that tells me what it wants to be!   Sometimes I buy it with a particular project in mind but I also buy fabric that I fall in love with.  It will tell me later what it will be!  If you sew, please tell me you know what I'm talking about!!  Anyway, this fabric was saying apron and tote bag.  After going back and forth for half a day, I settled on apron.  I hope you like it!

The upper left corner on the pocket is waiting for a butterfly charm!  The ones I have are too small and the wrong color!  I'm very pleased with how this apron turned out.  Once again I've proved to myself that I CAN be creative given a little inspiration!  Thanks Patty!!!

I think you can find others who completed the challenge on  My Life Under The Bus.