Funky Finds Feature

I must apologize, it probably seemed like I fell off the face of the planet. Let see...what have I been up to? My mom and aunt were here for about 2 and 1/2 weeks. My mom brought lots of patterns, fabrics and other cool stuff for me to start new projects. We were crazy busy sightseeing and shopping. We spent a fair amount of time at the brocante sales where we found lots of little treasures, antique laces, ribbons and fabrics...I am soo excited to get started on some new projects. Where to begin?


I was also excited to see that my stuff has been featured on a great blog called Funky Finds
How cool is that! It is a great little site which features various artists and their creations. Check it out!

Pour le bebe

A friend of mine is having a baby girl in May and I wanted to make her something special. I know she is crocheting a blanket in muted lavender colours, so I took my inspiration from that.

So here it is an "all-purpose-carry-all-your-baby-gear" bag. There are four pockets each individually labelled and lots of room for other baby goodies.

I hope she like its!

My New Card

I decided it was about time to create a business card, so here it is. I printed them on my computer and then used some blue thread for the border. What do you think?

May Coloriffice Swaporama

Teal, Emerald Green, Violet & Rusty Orange were the colours for this May's Swap. Since I am going to be pretty busy in May, I decided to finish this one early. The colour combinations were a little difficult to find, but I improvsed a little. Above is a little change purse I made from Ikea fabric to put all of my partners "monnaie".

Below are other various goodies, from pencils to stickers to many other goodies. I hope she enjoys her new treats!

"So Good There Gone" Chocolate Brownies

The easiest chocolate brownies ever. Minimal ingrediants and minimal work but so, so yummy!

What you need:
150g (5 oz) butter, softened
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 cup of flour
150g of melted chocolate
1/2 - 1 cup of walnuts (optional)
1/2 - 1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat your oven to 180c (350F).

Mix butter and sugar in a mixer till the mixture is soft and light.
Add chocolate, eggs and flour and mix.
Spoon mixture into either a square pan or muffin tins.
Bake for approx. 15-20 miutes. Prick with fork while baking. If it comes out clean, remove the brownies from the oven.

To add even more sugar, serve with ice cream.

The Wedding Gift

Finally finished!
Here is a personalized wedding gift I put together for our friends Monique and Peter.
It contains two personalized towels (with patchwork and embroidery - machine washable of course), a very girlie cosmetic bag filled with girlie things (for the honeymoon) a matching hot water bottle and cover, a little bear softie, two lavender tea bags and a candle with a rock base (not made by me). I put them all in a very French market basket and will wrap with brown paper and raffia.

I hope they like it!

The Jenny and Ninni Bags

These two little bags were made for two little girls from Norway. I decided to name the bags after the two girls since they are the first to order them (well...actually their mom ordered them). These can be pre-ordered on my website or on my etsy shop.

Both bags are made from linen and cotton and are both machine washable.

I think they are so yummy!

Mon Petit Messenger Bag - SOLD

Well, I just finished making this little bag and it is already sold. Sooo exciting... my first official sale on Etsy. I am now in full gear, sewing up a storm. My poor machine is really taking a beating (fingers-crossed it doesn't decide to take a French holiday).

happy easter

I wantd to make some little treats for a friend who is having a baby in May so I made a little puffy bunny and bear perfect for easter. Both are made from polar fleece, very soft and cuddly.
Nice little pillows for a baby head.

A Little Lavande

There is soooo much lavender here in the South of France and the smell is absolutely amazing. I bought myself a lavender plant in the summer and dried out the flowers and VIOLA...lavender tea bags. Not to be used for tea of course but these little bags can be put in stinky shoes, underneath pillows, hang in a closet or just out on display to make your room smell like Provence.

Dejeuner for Polly

Polly likes to take her food from her dish and eat it on the rug. I made her a new mat to discourage her from eating her kibble bits on the rug. Seems to be working! See my etsy shop to buy one (of course not this one).

Mouton

This is a little French Knotted Mouton. I made him just cause he is sooo cute (if I do say so myself) Haven't figured out what I am going to do with this little sheep yet. Perhaps a pillow?

I am addicted to these damn swaps. Every month there is a colour theme and you send crafting supplies, something homemade and other little treats all other the world and you recieve something back in return. So far I have recieved stuff from Portugal, Finland, Spain and the US. This months theme was green and blue so this little bag filled with goodies that is on it's way to Hungary.

Dish Towel Cushion

Here is a cushion I made with three different dish towels. I machined and hand-embroidered the detailing on the front. My husband was laughing at me because I was so excited about making the buttons. This was the first time I used the button hole feature on my sewing machine...and I LOVE IT!

Time for lunch.

Here are some photos of a lunch bag I made from an old curtain. It was really easy to make. It took approximately an hour.
See the "how to" video below.

March Swap Sent

This months colours are blue and green, very Cote D'Azur if you ask me. This is a photo of what is in store for my partner. I left some items out the picture for so she can be surprised!

Inspirations:

I bought this magazine and absolutely love it (don't worry mom I bought one for you and it is on its way)!

It's a french magazine that has so many beautiful ideas and projects. I am overwhelmed I want to do all of them but don't know where to start.
Of course the instructions are in French but maybe this is definitely a good way to learn my french.

Polly's New Furniture

Here is Polly with her new bed...as you can she is loving it. She also has a new name tag, which was sewn on to her original collar (very easy to do).

My First "HOW TO" Video

Well, here it is, my first "how to" video on how to make "Mon Petit Sac" (my small bag).
I am new to this whole uploading video stuff so it's a bit rough.
I tried to include as much detail as possible, (it's about 10 min.) but if you don't understand something please feel free to email me and let me know what you think.

There are more videos to come...

Mon Petit Sac

Here are a couple of photos of my latest project. It's a small little linen bag with some patchwork. I have a new machine that can embroider and sew, it wasn't cheap but it is pretty amazing, it has a little computer in it and a robotic arm...(very hi-tech) and I love it. I have been experimenting with different stitches and styles. Oooooh so exciting...

This bag is pretty easy to make and doesn't take very long.

I decided to create a couple of webcasts on how to make some "very french" projects and I am just finishing the first "how to video" on how to make this bag. Once I am done editing, I will post it here and on youtube, for all of you who want to give it a try.

I will eventually try selling a few of these on my etsy store, once I get the account all set up. Things slow moving and I am very excited to see where this leads...