Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Dear Secret Partner,

I hope you like the hanging wall quilt I made you for the Urban Home Goods Swap.

You said you liked color,

and Amy Butler fabric.

I spent a lot of time hand embroidering the words...

and had a good time with the free motion quilting.

I really hope you like it!

Love,

Chrissie

I wanted to show y'all what I got from the Urban Home Goods Swap.
My partner was Taffy Jane and she learned how much I love red and aqua and made me this pincushion. Isn't it super cute? She has a really cute etsy shop too.
...and I was lucky enough to receive this apron. It is impeccably made. It fits like a glove!...and best of all, it matches my new kitchen!

What did you say? You didn't know I had a new kitchen? Well, it's not exactly new, but totally repurposed. I'll be back on Monday to show you the pictures.

Have a great weekend!:)

Urban Home Goods Swap

While I was on my blogging hiatus I spent quite a bit of time with my sewing machine. Here is one of the projects I made.

It had been a long time since I had done any on-line swaps, and I've never done any quilting swaps. I was excited to be a part of the Urban Home Goods Swap.

This was a secret swap, but we had access to our partners favorites and what kinds of things they would like. My partner really wanted a round table runner, so that's what I made her. I was really nervous because I could not find any tutorials on-line, so I made up the pattern as I went along. I actually will post a tutorial for it soon.

My favorite part was making the little scalloped edges above.

My partner really likes mushrooms and gnomes, and as soon as I saw the fabric above I had to order a yard of it. It's from here, and this lady is very sweet and super talented.

I ended up quilting it on my machine using a free form loopy.

I don't have a round table but I was kind of sad giving it up!:) It was really fun being challenged with something new.

And since my partner really loves mushrooms I felt compelled to make her this painting. I know it was a quilting swap but I really had fun making it.

Next time I'll show what my partner made me! It was really fun getting a surprize package in the mail. I'd like to do another swap soon.

Fall Swap

Sweet Lori hosted a fall swap and I got my package this week from Kim. It was full of lots of fun fall stuff, including a bag of Halloween M & M's that were eaten before I could get pictures of everything!
She made this little owl pillow. Isn't it cute? I love owls.
I told her I loved acorn decorations and she sent me these three. They look good with my faux pumpkins, right?

She also made me this fall inspired monogram, which I put in front of my white pumpkins.

Autumn themed paper plates and napkins...

An extra large coffee mug and some yummy Autumn spice coffee...:)

And last, but not least, this delicious smelling bath soap. It really smells like pumpkin spice.

Thanks Kim! You spent a lot of time spoiling me!

I forgot to take pictures of what I sent her, but if she blogs about it I'll put a link here.

I hope you guys are all feeling well. I've finally caught the little flu bug that all of my children have had. I'm going back to the couch...Thursday night is my favorite TV night!

xo,

Chrissie

This and That

"The best cut flowers are hand-made"

I love the flowers my kids have been making for me.

Happy Tuesday Friends! How was your Memorial Day?

We spent the day at our neighbors playing, swimming, and eating way too much good food.

The kids were in the pool AAAALLLL day. Love it!

This was a custom piece I just finished for a very loyal customer (and friend). We met at one of my art shows a few years back and she has a little collection of my pieces. Cheri actually wrote all these clever sayings and I just painted them up for her. It'll be on it's way today! I hope you love it!


And speaking of friends, I met Lori through our blogs and I have decided she's got to be one of the nicest people alive. We did a package swap, and she totally spoiled me. I wish I had taken better pictures, but she sent me that beautiful fabric swag, two cupcake kitchen towels (we both love cupcakes), custom made BEACH blocks (cuz we are a beach family!), and those two darling pieces of jewelery that she makes in her etsy shop. (Except my necklace has a "C" on it.) I think the bracelet is my favorite. I have a very small wrist and Lori made small enough to fit me.

Thanks so much Lori, it was fun! If you want to see what I sent her...she'll show you right here.

And last but not least, here is a cute teacher's gift if you're looking for one.

I took popcorn containers from the dollar section at Target, filled them with popcorn, candy, and movie tickets, and made a card out of popcorn scrapbook paper. Easy peasy but I think they're cute.

There are a lot of bloggy parties coming up this week, so I'm off to repurpose, repaint, and recycle. More coming soon!

xo,

Chrissie

The Grace Factory

Good morning! I started this post about 7:45 this morning. We're on Spring Break so my kids were sleeping in. It is now 11:15 and I'm just hitting post. Does it take anyone else 4-5 hours to write one little blog entry?:)
Anyhoo...

Welcome to the Grace Factory...

I've had lots of orders for these initial plaques lately. Yesterday my neighbor walked in and dubbed my kitchen "The Grace Factory". These guys were everywhere! They measure 8 x 8" and include an initial and name of your choice. I sell them off of my website but I listed them in my etsy shop today too.

I also wanted to show you some trades I've received lately.

I emailed both of these ladies because I loved their work. I was hoping maybe they would be up for a trade and I got lucky! You can find Aimee's work here...
And Jennifer's work here...

Ok, I'm off to open up all the windows in my house and bring out the lysol. We just had a throwing up episode. Just when I thought everyone was better!!

Have a wonderful day friends...:)

xo

Chrissie

Some Eye Candy

Happy Tuesday everyone! The weather here is gorgeous and I've got all my doors and windows open enjoying the fresh air!

Last night I painted rocks. Lots and lots of rocks. We had them leftover from a homeschool project last year when I painted animals on the rocks with the kids. I saw them in the garage yesterday and then after the kids went to bed I couldn't stop. Fun!

I think I'll put a coat of varnish on the top and call them worry rocks. You know the ones you put in your pocket and rub when you need a little extra comfort? Or place them in plant containers as a little decoration. I bet one would look really good in my new little house...:)

I also wanted to show you my new earrings. I did a trade with Cristi and she sent me these AND another beautiful pair. She makes really beautiful jewelry. You can see her blog here.

Hope you enjoyed my rock, err, eye candy.

See you soon!