When Leprachaun's Attack (and a little giveaway)

Well, there really is nothing better on old St. Patrick's Day to wake up at the crack of dawn to a little Leprechaun mischief. I don't know how the little bugger gets in but he seems to manage every year. His name is Lep by the way and yes we are on a first name basis.


So the house was turned upside down, toilet paper strewn about, fruit was found in children's shoes, coins and candy were scattered about. Just another ordinary St. Pat's day, umm...and no we are not Irish. We're just extremely lucky to have been adopted by our very own Leprechaun. Yea lucky...Ahh...I almost forgot the classic Leprechaun signature graffiti on every writable surface. Yes that's right, mirrors, windows, the garage door and oh yes, even the minivan. I'm now the proud driver of the St Patrick's mobile. Woohoo!
So thank you Lep for all you do. St. Patrick's Day wouldn't be the same without you.

And on we go adding a new character to the walls of our lovely tp'd home. Sam I Am recently arrived bearing what else but green eggs and ham. This fantastic mini was my February Children's Literature Swap with Jill. This cute little guy and his accompanying ham were not in the house an hour before one of the kids ran by and claimed it for his own. Well, he really loves it so, how I'll get it back I'll never know. I think he can have it, I think he can, he really loves that Sam I am.

Alright, your safe, the rhyming is over.
Back to business as usual....This little quilt is currently winging its way (probably stuck in Canadian customs) to Jill as I type. So of course its only a sneak peak but I'll give you a hint, its based on a children's book and its not the Three Little Pigs.....anyone want to take a guess? C'mon you know you want to.


Alright, how about this? The first one to guess correctly (by oh let's say 10AM Sunday March 22) gets a little surprise in the mail. Go on, it'll be good, little but good. Thinking caps on...children's literature...good luck! :)
edited to add: Alright I think this is a tough one so, one more clue...the author uses bits of torn papers to create their illustrations. And just in case your not up on your kiddie literature these days, leave me a comment telling me about your latest project and if no one guesses the correct title I'll draw a random number by the usual super secret method. Good luck!

How To Make a Mobile

...in 57 simple steps

Step 1 Stalk your partner's blog/flickr. (Excellent practice for the doll quilt swap stalking that I'm currently participating in.)

Step 2 Sleep on all those ideas running around your brain, hoping all the while that your subconscious mind will pare them down and spit out the best and brightest.

Step 3 Be severely disappointed in your subconcious for slacking off last night.

Step 4 Begin feverishly doodling, something...anything.

Step 5 Find a super cool preschool craft on line and immediately know what to make.

Step 6 Produce varying degrees and large quantities of successful cloud elements for your mobile.

Step 7 Realize that they are all too heavy to suspend in mid air and run to the craft store for the perfect weight ribbon.

Step 8 Be told by your all knowing ten year old that there's no way that ribbon will work.

Step 9 Be stubborn.

Step 10 Let ribbon dry over night and wave successful ribbon like cloud in ten year old's face. Ha!


Step 11 Totally change the original idea and actually use a few of the original cloud elements along with the new and improved ones.

Step 12 Gather branches from the yard in sub zero temperatures.

Step 13 Spend way to much time balancing all the new elements and last minute whims.
Step 14 Make all family members acknowledge that not only is this thing actually balanced, but the ribbon clouds worked and look, look at the super cute birds. Aren't they fun?!

Step 15 Figure out how you could possibly send this through the postal system without it becoming one giant ball of ribbon and string.

Step 16 Family members breathe collective sigh of relief that super cool mobile has left the premises and mommy no longer wanders around covered in yarn and glue.

If you still need a little mobile inspiration for that subconscious mind of yours, you can check out all the other really cool mobiles at Elsie Marley's Mobile Swap 2009.

A Little Doll Quilt Inspiration

1. DSCN1715.JPG, 2. Great Grandma's Pink Dresden Baby Quilt, 3. Quick!, 4. "Roses by the Dozen" by Raewyn Khosla, 5. "In a Quilter's Garden II" by Karen Krueger, 6. vintage loot, 7. Alphabet Quilt, finished, 8. hooked house for Jill Berry, 9. Playing With More Chairs, 10. 4W Quilt for Kromama, 11. gift, 12. patchwork heart, 13. cosmetic bag "orange bird" - detail, 14. detail-profil, 15. village, 16. little fabric houses

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Doll Quilt Swap 6

An open letter to my super secret Doll Quilt Swap6 partner.

Hello o super secret one! If you have found my blog in a effort to snoop out things I love to use for doll quilt inspiration, you've come to the right place. Have a look around, make yourself at home, check out the blog ramblings and flickr faves. I'm hoping to make this round easy for you! :)

So let's see, let's talk about color. Love color, lots of color...red,yellow, green, aqua...pink as of late, black and white checks are an all time fav. I'm more of a pure color girl too, in case you were wondering just how red we're talking about. I've never been a big fan of the darker more muted country colors (burgundy, slate blue, dusty pink etc.) or the crazy neons either.

Alright, assuming you haven't left yet, let's talk fabric. I think I have some pretty eclectic taste in fabric, love everything from the designer stuff, to Japanese prints, to one of my favorites 30's and 40's repro prints. If you get far enough in reading this blog you will undoubtedly come across several mentions of my favorite craft/thrift store where I spend way too much time stalking vintage fabrics, lace and linens. See? Eclectic, vintage, lace, linen, modern and repro fabrics, love it all.

Still here? Alright then, as far as style goes, I'll leave that up to you. That is after all the point of all this secrecy isn't it? .... a really cool surprise in the mail when all is said and done.

Well, o secret one, I can't wait to see what you come up with (the suspense is killing me) and to find out who you are. For now, thank you for reading this far and I'll leave you to your snooping.

Love, me :)

More Handmade Goodness

Well, in addition to wandering off from the blog for a while, looks like I've neglected to post the swaps I've sent and received. Grab your coffee and get comfy...this could be a long one.

While we were out wandering the country, the Birds of Change Exchange flew into town. I love this idea for a swap organized by Creative Kismet. So perfect for this time of year. At least around these parts we could certainly use a little bit of spring and a lot less snow. Even if those bits of spring happen to arrive in my mailbox, I'll take it. Look at all the sweet little birds that have already found spots to nest in their new home. Good stuff!


Speaking of good stuff, I recieved my super cute little mini quilt in a bag swap from Heather.
Heather and I exchanged bags of fabric months ago and made each other quilt from them. Seems like this swap went on forever ( it had an extended due date because of the holidays) but it was worth the wait. Believe it or not this was Heather's first quilt and I think she did a great job! I know its hard to see in this pic but it really is adorable and already hanging on my wall. Thanks Heather!
Now, I know you've already seen bits of this one, but this is the final shot of the mini I made for Heather. This one was really fun to make and was inspired by some vintage dress patterns and the graphic on the box my new (vintage look) phone came in.

Inspiration really is everywhere. You just have to be willing to see it. :)

And finally for today anyway, here is a sweet paper pieced log cabin I received from Suzee for the February Swap Till You Drop group.
...oh and a sneaky peek at the paper pieced mini I sent to Suzee, winging its way to her as I type.
So tell me, what's inspiring you today?

Seems I've Wandered Off

Alright, so who's tired of looking at that flickr mosaic? Seems I've wandered off in the last few weeks and abandoned this little space. The kids have been home on winter break, Valentine crafting has been finished, a trip to Virginia to visit some of our favorite people(who let all six of us stay in their brand new beautiful home. Thank you Neenee!) and lots of other good stuff in between has all left me without much time to spare.

Unfortunately, all that laundry from Virginia had to come before blogging (people need their clothes you know). We're nearing the end of the mountain of clothes, the family car is finally cleaned out, groceries were bought and school starts up again tomorrow. Almost back to what we call normal in this house.

Ooo! I almost forgot, on the way home we made our first ever trip to IKEA. The kids got bored fairly quickly and went to the playplace for a bit (not something we usually do) and while I was a little worried....they were a little disappointed to see me come to sign them out! Woohoo IKEA!
Great design, low prices and super cool playplace for the kids!

Also, if your wondering why there are no pics of our fun trip, the IKEA haul or my friend's pretty new house....yea, about that....I had the camera with me (new batteries too) and never touched it the entire time. Duh. So sorry...I'll be back tomorrow with an actual picture filled post full of crafty goodness from the "Wandering Days".

Feel the Flickr Love

1. "Keep My Heart Close" Double Sided Collage Pendant, 2. sewing, 3. handmade zakka for baby, 4. Tulipas..., 5. pincushions, 6. Needlework (C365, days 332-5), 7. valentine bird, 8. happy fairies, 9. Pink placemat
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

The temperature has risen above 15 degrees (at least for a moment). The calendar says its almost Valentine's Day and most definitely Groundhog Day. Spring is in the air, feel the warmth of some Flickr love. :)