Quality Scrapbooking

I just received the new Spring/ Summer Creative Memories Catalogue. Although their items are considered by some to be pricey, they are the best quality supplies on the market, by far. The paper is thick, their alphabet letters don't tear when you unstick them form their sheet and their adhesive squares are invisible when used with vellum paper accents. They also have a great fresh modern style, wonderful color palettes and all of their supplies are photo safe !

On page 32 of the catalogue, they give an excellent example of what makes a 'safe' scrapbook when it comes to your photos, papers, and even the journaling. 

There are so many family photo albums at my parents' home and at my grandparents' that have photos and memorabilia that is faded and stained and no longer sticking to the album page. Photo albums and the memories and souvenirs that they hold, and especially the time

 taken to put them together, is something that should be treasured for years and years to come - so choosing good photo safe supplies is essential! 

Soft Baby Blocks

On a recent trip to Sao Paulo, I bought the latest edition (Spring 2008) of "Quilts and more". This is a very modern look and style of the age-old craft of quilting. This is where I got the idea to make these adorable cubes!

A large part of my inspiration for the projects I do is my 7 month old son. My most recent creation for him is a set of blocks made from swatches of fabric previously used in other projects. These are super easy to make! Just cut 6 3" x 3" squares in 6 different fabrics to make one cube. With right side together, sew 4 squares together, in a row and then sew the last two sides to make the sides of the cube. Sew a square to the bottom; then one to the top leaving a small opening to eventually turn to the right side and stuff. Then just finish stitching by hand. My son loves these! - they are easy for him to pick up (although he is not ready to stack them yet), he can easily put them is his mouth (Very Important at this stage), and they are easy to wash (also highly essential!).

allpeoplequilt.com

Valentine's Day Card

Here is a quick little project I did for my Grandmother ! It comes from one of my favourite series of embroidery books "Carnet de Point de Croix".

I like simple quick projects that you can do in a day, that way it doesn't drag on and on! I did this while watching tv, within a couple of hours.

Let someone know you are thinking of them today! Happy Valentine's Day!

Linen Cross Stitch

I love embroidery and have so from a young age. When I was about 8 or 9 I embroidered a hand towel for the first time. It was a printed design, and because I was too lazy to separate my threads, the finished product was quite horrendous! When I was about 10 or 11 years old, my mother taught me counter-cross stitch and I loved it! I loved that you didn't need to have the printed design underneath which gave for a much nicer finished product. Ever since then I have been cross stitching on towels, bibs, cards and even samplers for framing. I have always cross stitched on aida cloth which has little squares nicely marked in the weave to help you count. Well, my husband's aunt who is quite skilled in cross stitch embroidery stitches only on linen. She's been trying to get me to 'convert' for the passed few years but I have been quite reluctant.

For my birthday, my husband gave me a beautiful embroidery box with an area to put an embroidered design in the cover. The linen cloth and thread were even included in the box to add this personal and finished touch to the embroidery box. So, with this gift and after seeing my aunt over the holidays, I was finally motivated and ready to give linen a try! And I agree that the finished product is even prettier and more refined that the aida cloth, but I admitt that it is quite a challenge to do! It is great for small motifs, but I think I still need some practice before I attempt to do a large design or sampler on linen!

Inspiring Books

On a recent trip to France, I went a little crazy at fnac! After my husband and my son, books are my next love in life! and I can never have too many!! Although here in Brazil, there is a lot of cross stitch embroidery, I find that the designs and patterns are very tacky and lack in elegance and refinement. French embroidery designs are to me, the best out there. There is a real research in the design, style, and sense of colour and shading. After being disappointed with the designs I found here I decided to really stock up while I was in France. Here are a handful of the books I found...

 

Bibs !

When you have a baby, there are a million products out there for sale that are truly 'unnecessary' and others that are real lifesavers! A bib is one of those things that you can't have enough of. When I first started preparing for baby's arrival I bought some clothes, sheets, towels, toys and bibs. I made an inventory of the clothes I had and their size. I sent it to my sister-in-law to get feedback on whether I had enough onesies and sweaters. When she saw that I had 4 marked for the number of bibs she told be to get a lot more, because four would never suffice! And she was right! I ended up making a 'ton' of bibs, all with ties instead of velcro so that when my son tugs on it, it stays around his neck. These are easy to make with towel fabric and bias tape. If the fabric is thin, you can double it. Just cut out the form of a bib in the fabric and sew bias tape around the bid; remember to leave enough extra bias at each end so that you have enough to tie it.

I used this template.