Sweet Bee's

Wishing for a Tropical Vacation

2011-06-23T12:51:00.000-07:00

With all the heat here this week I am wishing for a warm tropical vacation with lots of water to swim in. I may live in Washington State but I am on the desert side and boy can it get hot and dry over here. Since it has been hot it also means that it has been sunny and I was finally able to take pictures of this towel that I finished last month.

I bought this pattern back in February when I got my new tablecloth. The sheet had two different flamingo patterns two deer patterns and some cute guest towel patterns with towels saying this if for you. ~~I have not been able to identity them so any help would be great.~~ Thank you bookwormbethie it is a Vogart 207 Sixteen novelty designs for guest towels, scarfs, blouses, etc. I had to squint to see it on the website because I had missed it before. Now I wish I had the envelope to go with it but the patterns are the important part.

I also finished my napkins all four of them. They turned out pretty nice I just wish I could photograph orange better than I did. I decided not to fill in the blue or white flowers because each time I tried it seemed to make the napkin look very heavy. Thank you again all for your suggestions.

I have been in the house quite a bit lately embroidering and I am getting anxious to get outside and be in the sun but it has also been so hot that you melt. Maybe for some of you the 90's is not to hot but for here and this early in the summer it is quite hot and we do not have much shade at our house go going outside it like walking under a heat lamp. So tonight I plan to go bike riding with some friends at 7pm in hopes that it will be cool enough. Wish me luck and hope I do not get heat stroke. How do you beat the heat this time of year.

~B

No more needle point.... for now.

2011-06-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

I finally gave up on my adventures in needlepoint. I just can not get into it right now. I am pretty sure it is because it limits what stitches I can do and what colors because it is painted on the canvas. I decided to take a long break from it and do some embroidery since it has been awhile since I did a project just for the fun of it and not to give as a gift or make for others to give.

I was having so much fun that I stayed up late and finally made myself go to bed around 1:30 am because I needed to work the next day. Now all I want is it to be lunch time so I can finish and start on the next napkin. I am still unsure on the blue and white flowers. I think I should fill them in but then I like that it is simple. The bottom heart will be all filled in pink on the outside and red in the center. I will have to decided once the heart is finished. Any suggestions?
~Bekah

Edited to add this is a Vogart 261 pattern from my collection.

Featured Member stitchnmomma

2011-05-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

This week's Featured Member is stitchnmomma

Q. Tell us a bit about yourself and your shop.

A. I’m a proud mom of a future U.S. Army soldier and 3 furbabies. I work full-time by day in the Operations Dept. of a franchise office for a national pizza chain and almost full-time by night and weekends as a stitchaholic. My Etsy shop started as a way to sell my original design patterns and other cross stitched goodies in the hopes of building a nestegg to one day move to Italy. I try to keep a variety of patterns as well as finished items (magnets, buttons, wall art, etc.). I have a personal business philosophy that I won’t sell a pattern until I’ve stitched it myself to make sure it looks just right. It takes longer for new patterns to be available, but at the end of the day, I’m happy with my decision.

A. What or Who inspires you?

Q. I’m inspired by many things, people and places. Sometimes it’s a quote I’ll see, others it may be a piece of artwork or something from nature and sometimes it’s just a color combination. As an example I recently went to the M.C. Esher exhibit at my local art museum and came home and immediately started sketching some ideas I have. Unfortunately the ideas always outweigh the time available to design and stitch them.. I also love bright, bold colors and try to incorporate those into my works as often as I can.

Q. When you're not doing things for your shop can we find you around the internet?

A. I have a poorly neglected blog and I’m on Facebook and twitter which is also neglected since my son set my Facebook account to auto-tweet for me.

Q. What tool could you not live without?

A. I would have to say my colored pencils. It may sound a little crazy, but I use them to sketch out new designs with the colors I’m thinking of, and “color in” my patterns as I’m doing them. I typically have 5+ projects going at one time and it makes it so easy to put one down for weeks (or sometimes months) and know right where to start stitching when I pick it back up.

Q. How did you learn to stitch?

A. My mom taught me how to needlepoint when I was 6-years-old. My first piece was a boldly colored geometric pattern that my dad and I designed on canvas with markers. I did that for about 10 years and then around age 16 I saw a cross stitch kit of an oriental fan that I fell in love with and taught myself how to do it. I’ve belonged to a few needlework guilds over the years and have taken classes in many other techniques (hardanger, couching, peyote beading, etc.) but always come back to cross stitch. It’s truly my passion and a day without stitching just doesn’t feel right.

~Bekah

Adventures in Needlepoint

2011-05-11T09:09:00.000-07:00

After my last post you saw how many needlework things I have now. The items that enticed me the most were the needlepoint canvas. Some are stamped, some are hand-painted, and some are half-way finished but .... none and I repeat none of them have instructions! I have no idea how to needlepoint it has eluded me for years.

So of course getting into my head that I must needlepoint before I can knit another sock or embroidery another item. I went on a quest....a quest to find a needlepoint kit! (ta tah dah can you hear the trumpets blaring? Oh wait that is just Brian practicing in the next room) Little did I know that this would be the hardest quest of my life!

We went into town on a Sunday and I went to Michaels they have needlepoint supplies and had kits before.. I searched all over I found the floss but did not find one kit not even a cross-stitch kit. I asked for help and they brought me over to the latch hook rug kits. I looked at the person and said where are the needlepoint kits and he said these are the needlepoint kits. I looked at him again and said these are latch hook rug kits totally different and walked away disappointed and to continue my quest.

I then went to Craft Warehouse surely just by the name they should have kits but alas they did not. I asked there and they at least knew what I was talking about but they do not carry the kits because they do not sell. I am starting to think they do not sell because you do not CARRY THEM! Ok ok I was getting a bit testy by then.

I talked Brian in to going to one more store JoAnn's Fabrics they surely carry kits. They do not carry needlepoint kits only Cross-Stitch and of the Cross-Stitch they only had three! What is happening here? I thought embroidery and cross-stitch were still popular. I guess I am totally wrong and not trendy anymore.

Then I thought hey Hobby Lobby has to have them how could I have forgotten about them. So we drove over there and they are not open on Sunday! What a store not open on a Sunday! Nice for the workers but sad for me who only goes into town once a week on Sunday for Church.

I would have to wait until Wednesday to continue my quest. I hitched a ride with Brian to his Big Band Rehearsal and stole the car. I headed straight to Hobby Lobby and went down the aisle where they have the kits. As I was looking I was only seeing cross-stitch kits and getting really disappointed. As I moved down the aisle it switched to stamped linens for embroidery and cross-stitch that was kind of nice I thought but still no needlepoint kit in site. Then by a freak chance at the end of the aisle on way bottom was one needlepoint kit. Did you hear me one kit not one kind just one single solitary kit! I just about jumped for joy and nearly ran to the checkout. The lady asked me if I found everything alright and I said yes! You are the only ones to have a needlepoint kit in town. She smiled at me a little weird thinking that maybe I was to excited for this item but she sold it to me anyway.

Here is the kit! I will give you updates as to my progress. So far it is mounted on stretch bars and I plan to start tonight! Are you finding it harder to find supplies?

What does it takes to make me happy.

2011-04-20T16:45:00.000-07:00

On my way home today I saw some kids playing in the dirt and they looked so happy. I remember those days when all it took was dirt pile, my barbie doll, my brother's metal tonka trucks and a hose with water. Oh good times.

That got me thinking, what does it take to make me happy now? Lucky for you all I have the answer. Besides the usual. My hubby, cat and family. I think I have narrowed it down to 3 or 4 things.

1) The angry birds hat I made my brother, and my brother because he is as fun to be with as he was when we were kids.

2) Making handmade socks for family members. This is the latest pair for my Mom.

3) Yarn my Mom saw and had to buy me from her friend who raises alpacas.

4) Last but certainly not least.....embroidery, cross stitch, needlepoint and knitting supplies from my Grandmother-in-Law. Man I do not even know where to begin. At first I was on cloud nine then on day three of organizing I thought I was in hell and now I am back to cloud nine. I now officially have all the DMC Floss colors except 28 of the colors. Yes, I do plan to get the last 28 might as well it will be under $10. This picture does not even represent my own supplies.

I do have a question for all of you how do you organize your floss? By color or number? I have 6 boxes of my own and now I have added 6 more boxes from Granny. I organized by color and she organized by number. I am confused! The floss in the baggies are perle cotton, rayon, rayon mix, hand painted, metallic, ribbon and wool.

The box in the back is full of needlepoint hand painted canvas and some half finished work and some I have no idea what to do with. I will be researching needlepoint.

I did not take any pictures of the knitting supplies because they are not to organized yet. She also gave me her Bernina sewing machine. I see I will need to start reading up on lots of things and do not even know where to start. Needlework? Knitting? Sewing? Going Crazy? I am thinking the latter. What do you all think?

~Bekah

Scavenged Yarn

2011-03-25T22:02:00.000-07:00

I was teaching my friend to knit over a year ago and she decided she wanted to make this scarf. She bought the yarn and needles and gave up on it. for some reason. I really can not remember why. Since then I have been badgering her to give me the yarn so I could make the scarf for her. On New Years Eve this year when we went to see them in Seattle she finally gave in. I have so excited I finished this about a month ago and just now got around to downloading the pictures. It was fun and she only gets to keep it because it is blue and I really detest blue. (long story why but it has to do with private school and blue uniforms. blah! and of course all the blue socks I knit last year) It was an interesting project and making all the points stick out was fun.

Have a wonderful weekend.

~Bekah

Spring Flower and a Christmas Apron.

2011-02-25T19:22:00.000-08:00

Several weeks ago I got in another button making mode and stitched up some cute spring flowers. They are smaller than my normal buttons they are just barely 1". It was fun to see how many flowers would fit. I used pima perle cotton for all of the colors. I love making buttons because they are so instant gratification and fun to look at.

I had mentioned a week or so ago when I was out at the antique store that I found an apron pattern and I planned to make an apron. I did finish it and I made it reversible. I do know it is a Christmas one. In my defense I bought this fabric over 2 years ago and I had to use it up before another Christmas came and went and went unused.

Hmmm not sure that helps my cause it makes me look like a procrastinator. Here it is anyway, as you can probably tell the waist band is wonky around the pleats and my arms barely reach the pockets. If I ever get around to making another one I will make the pockets further up and hopefully do better on the waist band.

Other Side

So what kinds of things do you put off until the last minute?

~B

Introducing Carmen Banana!

2011-02-18T18:11:00.000-08:00

Well I would like to introduce to you our new addition to the family. Her name is Carmen Banana. She is Mr. B.A. Foster's new girlfriend. Please pardon her indecent picture she does not have any clothes yet.

I bought her kit over a year ago and I am just now getting around to making her. She turned out better than Mr. Foster did, I think that is because I knit a lot better than I did when I made him. Oh well the girl is suppose to look better than her man anyway right?

Since it would not be a post without some embroidery. Here are more DOW patterns from my new patterns. This is the set that made me buy the Aunt Ellen's patterns otherwise I would have left them there. *I have found out these are Vintage Aunt Martha patterns.*

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I am spending it at a basketball game, meeting some old friends for lunch and a birthday party for my nephew. I think I might need a weekend from my weekend.

~B

Antique Stores and New Patterns!

2011-02-13T14:08:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Brian and I decided to go to some some pawn shops and antique stores for fun and to also look for an amp for his guitar. We went to a few good pawn stores and did not find any good amps for a decent price, but at the antique stores I found a few good things.

This awesome although to small tablecloth, I still love it anyway. Vogart embroidery patterns for a buck a piece I did not have these yet and also Aunt Ellen's embroidery patterns. From what I have been able to research they are affiliated with WorkBasket. I also found an apron pattern from the 60's as a replacement for one that got destroyed in our basement flood a couple of years ago. I will be posting an apron this week that I made with this pattern

I kick myself for not buying this hat! It has peacock feathers on the top and a wing on the side. I fell in love with it but decided to pass now I kick myself and need to go back. Maybe next time we are in town.

In the Aunt Ellen's patterns are these cute Patchwork Cat DOW patterns I thought you all would get a kick out of. I can just picture them black with hot pink flowers. Now sure why I want to embroider them this way but I do. ~~I am missing Tuesday if anyone has it please share.~~ Tuesday's pattern can be found here and here. Enjoy!

~B

New Hair and Some Embroidery

2011-02-04T09:36:00.000-08:00

I have been playing around with the idea of dying my hair a wonderful red for some time and last night it was now or never. It is a L'oreal Dark Auburn and I am in love with it.

I was hesitant only because the last time I dyed my hair red I was 17 or 18 and my friend Gary and I shared a bottle and we both of kind had that red clown look. You know the one where people shy away from you thinking you are a crazy escape clown from the freak circus. This time luckily was different and it is a lot darker than I thought it would be but still good. Here is my original color.

Brian actually likes it and he helped me dye the back of my hair, which was surprising because whenever I keep my original brown he can not wait for me to go back to blonde they way he married me. As the years have progress my hair keeps getting darker and the blonde is to harder to keep up on and very damaging to my already fine limp hair. What do you all think?

Here is some embroidery that I said I would share with you. It is a Vogart 678 Happy Fruits. I used the Aunt Martha towels I found at Hobby Lobby. (Yes we finally got a Hobby Lobby here in December!) These are wonderful towels to embroidery on and have a fun vintage look with stripes down the side. I highly recommend them.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.
~B

The Sun was Shining Today!

2011-02-02T20:17:00.000-08:00

The sun finally came out to stay for a few hours today and that enabled me to take some pictures of my current completed embroidery projects . As you can see it is still pretty dark but at least you can see the stitching.

A Flickr Group New Embroidery with Vintage Patterns has been doing some stitch-a-longs for Days of the Week patterns. They started with Wednesday so I am a bit behind. I do hope to catch up because it has been kind of fun to use some of my vintage patterns.

If you want to stitch this transfer up here it is. It is Vogart 709 Pattern.

Is it the Weekend Yet?

2011-01-28T15:25:00.000-08:00

Here I am at working waiting for the last hour of the day to end. I know I should be working but if I have to do one more date change I will bleed from my eyeballs. So I thought I would show you I finished another pair of socks and this time they are actually for me. I did not get a chance to take pictures of them before I wore them, then inadvertently threw them in the dryer and tah-dah nice tight form fitting felted socks. Sure I meant to do that?!

I have been embroidering up a storm the last two weeks and I hope to show you pictures soon if the weather lets in some sunshine so you can see them better. I have vowed this year to get my embroidery pattern organized and to stitch more of them. I am doing pretty well so far hopefully I can keep it up. What have you all been up to this year?

~B

Fun with Alpaca

2010-12-04T19:03:00.000-08:00

I have wanted to try a few new different types of yarn other than the usual wool and cotton I have been using lately.

When I had birthday money to spend in September I bought some wonderful Alpaca for a hat for myself and some Alpaca silk blend for a scarf for my friend. The hat is a wonderful cable pattern I especially like the view from the top it looks like a star. I finished this last week just in time for our very early snow. It was so nice to have a warm hat to wear in the morning. Now all that wonderful snow is melting and I am wishing it would snow again so I can continue to wear my hat without looking out of season.

The scarf for my friend was a scarf pattern she picked out from Knitting New Scarves.

It was a bit of a challenge because it was a wedge and had to work short rows that I am not familiar with and she wanted it a bit longer and I had to do math (not my strong suit). I do think it turned out alright and she loved it so that is all that matters.

What kind of things are you working during all this cold weather?
~B

Sock Knitting.... and other updates

2010-12-01T15:18:00.000-08:00

Back in January I said that by the end of the year I would make 22 pairs of socks or die trying. The time has come and my last birthday is is coming up at the end of December. Did I make it? Do I still have the use of my fingers? Was I crazy to try and attempt it? Will I ever do it again?

I am sitting here typing so I did not die and since I am also able to type I do still have the use of my fingers. Am I crazy well that is still to be determined even though my hubby says I was crazy a long time ago. I will never do that again! I promise you that. If I do something similar it will be for just one side of the family at a time not both sides. I did finish although a few people in the 3 months of hell did get their socks a week late they were still happy to get them later. It was the most terrible thing I could think of to go to a birthday party without a present and just a card and a promise to give them their gift next week. The other sad part is our back-up hard drive crashed and burned and I lost over half of the pictures of the socks so I only have a handful of pictures to show for all my hard work. It is done and not need to dwell on it.

My next obsession has been Doctor Who. Our friends told us to start watching the new series and man I am hooked! I have started to watch all of the old ones one by one and reading about the ones that the episodes were lost. I have gone nuts for a Sci-Fi show and I never go nuts over Sci-Fi shows I really could take them or leave them but something about this show makes me crazy for it.

So crazy that when a friend asked me to make him a Doctor Who Scarf I quickly said yes without realizing it is a huge scarf and so crazy big it is not even funny. Luckily he asked for a Season 14 scarf and that is the shortest scarf there is. I was able to finish it is in 16 days I was quite surprised but once I got started I had to finish it was lots of fun with all of the color changes. To give you an idea how big this scarf is he is 6'1".

Now before I made this scarf for a friend I asked Brian 3 separate times if he wanted a scarf he defiantly said no three times. With that I felt confident to start making a scarf for our friend and as I progressed Brian kept looking longingly at the scarf and saying how cool the scarf was how he would like one and why was I not making him one.

I was like really you told me no three times... He sheepishly said no I never said that and he knows I was right. I told him I already promised this one so he would get the next one. So after I finished the first scarf at the end of September I went right in to work on this scarf. This scarf took a bit longer because I actually started on it and figured out I would not have enough yarn so I had to order more which would not be a problem except that two colors were discontinued. I am like really I have already started and knit a huge chunk. To make this long story a bit shorter I had to pull out all that I started because I needed to get a different color for the tan and then I went about to start again. This one is a Season 12 the original scarf and longer than Season 14. Brian is 6'4" so you can see how much longer it is. The real crazy thing is that I plan to make two more. One for our Friends Wife (my best friend) and myself.

See me being crazy is still to be decided. That is just a small amount of what I have been up to since my break. I will write a bit more once I get the pictures uploaded. Oh I also got a new scanner so I should have more patterns to scan soon.

What have you been up to this fall?
~B

Taking a Break....

2010-08-23T12:49:00.000-07:00

I know that is seems obvious that I am taking a break from blogging already but I thought I would make it official. Life has started to get so busy I barely have time to stay at home and enjoy all my hobbies much less blog about them. I will be back in early November. Please check back hopefully there will be lots to share by then.

~B

Summer Fun!

2010-07-21T08:34:00.001-07:00

Summer is always a time to feel free and have fun so after wanting my nose pierced for over 10 years I finally did it. I got it done 3 weeks ago and I still like it. Sorry for the funky shot it is really hard to take a picture of your own nose.

What do you think?

~Bekah

P.S. Thank you all for your kind words about Copper they mean a lot.

Saying Goodbye....

2010-07-19T17:00:00.001-07:00

I do not talk much about personal things on my blog. I normally just post my embroidery or knitting like lately.

One of the main my crafting tools is my Pup Copper. She is a wonderful Bassett Hound that used to sit in my lap while I embroidered and as she got older sat under my feet so I could rub her belly as I embroidered or knitted and feed her apples or carrots. Always whining after I stopped or slump over so if I moved she would know about it and ask for more food. She is always so much fun.

After 12 long wonderful years of having her in our life we have had to say goodbye. She has gotten sicker the last year and we had to make that one horrible decision that you hope you never have to make and she is no longer with us. I will miss my best crafting buddy in the world.

Thank you all for letting me share a bit about her.

~Bekah

The WorkBasket November and December 1954

2010-06-10T21:36:00.000-07:00

Time sure has flown by. With school coming to an end my life got so busy I did not have time to load any patterns up so today you get the last two in the WorkBasket 1954 doll series. November is South Seas Boy and December is the Eskimo Boy. My favorite is the South Seas one it reminds me of watching Elvis movies when I was little.
Now that school is over and end of year concerts and lock-ins are over I can blog to my hearts content or until we head out on a camping trip.

Enjoy
~B

The Workbasket September 1957 - Lapland Boy

2010-05-07T10:07:00.000-07:00

Lapland Boy is the tenth doll in the twelve doll series for The Workbasket 1954. According to the little story he is trying to catch Reindeer. How cool is that. Poor guy does not have a name.

~B

Granny Square Rings

2010-04-29T17:21:00.000-07:00

These were kind of fun to make. I was inspired by kootoyoo when I saw her ring on feeling stitchy when she was showing us her favorite embroidery book. I tried to get it out of my head because I did not need another project to obsess about. Since I am the way I am I had to make one I could not shake it.

My first one as you can see on the far right was huge and would not be right and the embroidery floss was a bit wonky. I decided to try to use pearl floss and it worked like a dream. You can also use #10 crochet thread too, it works wonderful. I have tons of that from my Great-Grandma. I used a size 8 crochet hook 1.5mm and size 8 embroider floss. Then I just followed regular granny square instructions.

My second oldest niece has asked for one of her own. She wants it to be red, yellow and green. So I will see what I can come up that does not look like a stop light.

Do you ever get like that and you have to finish something before you can work on anything else?

The Workbasket September 1957 - Miss Portugal "Inez"

2010-04-27T18:48:00.000-07:00

This is a Miss Portugal. She is the ninth doll in the twelve doll series for The Workbasket 1954. Either she is doing martial arts or she is dancing. Her name is Inez.

~B

The Workbasket June 1954 - Miss Norway "Sigrid"

2010-04-20T07:20:00.000-07:00

This is a Miss Norway. She is the eighth doll in the twelve doll series for The Workbasket 1954. I think her hat looks a bit like a chef's hat at first glance. Her name is Sigrid

~B

Last Minute Socks

2010-04-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

I have finished another pair of socks but these almost did not get done. As usual I left them up to the last minute and by Friday of last week I had not even started the socks for my Brother. I was not stressing I still have 4 days to finish the socks. So on Friday I decided to figure out how to make a granny square ring (there will be another post on that next week).

I was having fun enjoying watching movies on Netflix and crocheting when my Brother calls to tell me he moved the party up by one day. What!?! Yes, you heard me he moved the party to Tuesday instead of Wednesday. Did he not realize how important that extra day was, how come having my parents there was so important I need that extra day. Some people are so inconsiderate. Geez!

After a knitting marathon weekend and sore wrists and fingers I finished the socks on Tuesday on my lunch break. Yes, I was running that late. I am not a fast knitter and after last weekend I was kind of wishing I was or at least had superhuman speed so I could knit in seconds. I think that would be pretty cool but then again if I did them so fast I go broke because I could never keep up with yarn purchases. Until then I guess I will just enjoy the process and give myself more time.

What kind of super powers do you wish you had?
~B

Anchors Away!

2010-04-14T16:21:00.000-07:00

Back in August I finished knitting up Mr. Foster all the clothes I have had for him were his pajamas and his robe. I felt so bad that I bought the Monkey Business kit that has three other outfits for him. I have had this kit since early October last year. I finally got around to knitting him is very own sailor outfit I am wishing I had done it earlier. He looks so cute in his hat.

Gilligan!!

Brian is pretty happy since Mr. Foster belongs to him. Now Brian is asking when the other two outfits will get done and when I am going to make him his girlfriend. Yes they had a kit for Carmen Banana a girlfriend for Mr. Foster and I bought it. I will take his other outfits with me when we go camping in May. How appropriate he is in a sailor outfit since we will be going to the beach.

Do you have any other ideas for an outfit for Mr. Foster (B.A. for short)?

The Workbasket June 1954 - Bolivian Girl

2010-04-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

This is a Bolivian Girl. She is the seventh doll in the twelve doll series for The Workbasket 1954. Her shawl is very pretty but her doll is very scary looking.

I find it a bit sad that was not named. Any ideas on a good name for her?

~B

The Workbasket June 1954 - Greek Boy "Vasilios"

2010-04-09T10:35:00.000-07:00

This is Vasilios the Greek Boy. He is the sixth doll in the 12 doll series for The Workbasket 1954. I love the detailing on his jacket.

I thought I had all of the months for 1954 but I am missing May. So if anyone has May 1954 please share it and let me know. I would love to know what that doll is.

Has anyone stitched these up yet?
~B

{Thank you for your patience while I took so long to scan this. I have now scanned all of them so it will not be a future problem.}

TWO PEOPLE!

2010-04-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

This tote has a little story attached to it. Brian love almost any kind of music. He is always listening to it on the computer and I think he has a bit of ADD sometimes. He will listen to a song for the first half and then go on to the next. It drives me insane! I have learned to tune it out and but anytime he plays the White Stripes we have to listen to the whole song.

I had never heard of the White Stripes until we got married and the first time I heard them Brian is like these are just two people. I was really you are kidding right? He was right of course like always. So for a short period of time he kept telling me these are just two people. So now anytime we hear the White Stripes we both look at each other and shout TWO PEOPLE!! So I decided that I needed to make a tote with two instruments and make them look like the White Stripes instruments. Well as close as I can get.

I really like how the drums turned out. I used gold metallic floss for the cymbals and silver metallic floss for the drum stands and all around the drums. It has been hard to capture the shine of the floss. I will just tell you it looks cool. Well I think so at least.

Now I need to find a cool fabric for the lining. Any suggestions?

~B

The pattern is Sublime Stitching Rock 'n Roll.

The Workbasket April 1954 - Dutch Boy Marcus "Max"

2010-03-30T11:00:00.000-07:00

This is the fourth doll in their 12 doll series. He is very handsome all decked out in blue. I love the windmill in the background. Enjoy.

Please let me know if you stitch him up.

~B

The Workbasket March 1954 - Miss India

2010-03-25T08:24:00.000-07:00

This is the third doll in their 12 doll series. She is very pretty in her sari I am beginning to think they love french knots. I do to so it is all not that bad. Enjoy.

Please let me know if you stitch her up.

Socks Galore

2010-03-23T08:32:00.000-07:00

{First let me say I know it is Tuesday but my scanner really bit the dust today. So I will scan something at work and post it tomorrow.}

I told you awhile back that I was planning on making socks for my entire family that would turn out to be 22 pairs of socks and most of them need to be done before August. So far I am trucking along just fine because it has only been one birthday a month. I am enjoying and hating it at times. The good still outweighs the bad.

The ones orange ones were the first ones I made in January for my niece that turned 16. The ones still on the needles were done in February for my niece that turned 14. I just did not get a chance to take a picture of the finished product.

The next pair were I a bright purple pair for my nephew in February that turned 12. I was finishing them on the way to the party and did not get a chance to take a picture. Yes bright purple for a boy. He is autistic and loves purple he says it is his power color. I am not sure what that means but at least he likes them and wears them a lot.

The green ones for my nephew that turned 13. He wears a camo jacket all the time so I thought these would go well with it until I hit the middle of the ball and this blue yarn appeared. Trust me I did not see any blue on the outside of that skein. It still looks manly and nice.

The last pair are the purple ones for my Mother-in-Law she got them on Saturday. Her actual birthday is St. Patrick's Day but I thought I would make a pair her favorite color instead of green.

That is five pairs down 17 pairs to go. I am exhausted and my fingers hurt but I still want to make more so that is a good sign. Off to knit a pair pants for Mr. Foster I have already finished his sailor hat.

What do you do that stresses you out but you still love?

Fun New Project!

2010-03-18T08:04:00.000-07:00

About two months ago I got it into my head that I wanted a wrist cuff with embroidery on it. I have seen several on-line and thought hey I could make that. So went about making several terrible ones and to small and to big and so on.

The first successful one was the first one in this picture. It was made of felt and backed with cotton flower fabric. After wearing the felt one for awhile it started to get all fuzzy and worn looking. I decided I needed a different medium.

The second one is the one I made for Drewzel. It was embroidered on cotton and backed with cotton fabric and I put some padding it it to make it a little stiffer. I really like how it turned out and I even found a snap kit so it would snap close instead of the buttons I did on my original one. The third one I am not that crazy about it but it has grown on me a bit. I do really love the fabric on the back so I wear it inside out. The fabric is vintage 1970's fabric I bought on eBay about 6 years ago. I originally made a skirt with it and wore that skirt out. I still have some remnants left so it was perfect for this project. What do you think?

~B

The Workbasket February 1954 - Miss Mexico "Margarita"

2010-03-16T12:53:00.000-07:00

This is the second doll in their 12 doll series. She looks so sweet in her shawl and the flower in her hair. I do find it a bit disturbing that the bull has already been stabbed and in this picture.

Please let me know if you stitch her up.

Work Basket January 1954 - Miss USA

2010-03-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

This is a series they did in 1954 they had 12 international children they featured throughout the year. The first one being Miss U.S.A. She looks so cute walking her dog him her shawl and mini heels. I hope you stitch her up.

I will be posting as many as I have in the next few weeks. I am having a blast going through all the Work Basket Magazines and seeing all the projects and fun advertisements. Now if only I could send away for their $1 patterns I would be set for life.

Sneak Peak for Steph

2010-03-04T08:23:00.000-08:00

I shipped off Steph's package yesterday here is a just sneak peak at a little something that is on its way to her. I hope you enjoy all of the goodies Steph.

The Workbasket March 1951 - Patrick

2010-03-03T10:42:00.000-08:00

I apologize for not posting yesterday my scanner at home is not working. I am not quite sure what happened but this just maybe the excuse I need to get a new printer and scanner. I swear it broke on its own.

A while ago I won an auction for a lot of 100 Workbasket magazines they range from 1951-1962. I have not had a chance to look through them all and decide what to share there are so many ideas in them. I thought this one would be fun because it is March and St. Patrick's Day is coming up. I know you are eager to embroider Patrick. I know I am. He looks so dapper in his suit and hat. If you embroider him let me know. I would love to see him all stitched up.

Feeling Stitchy Button Swap

2010-02-28T14:43:00.000-08:00

The feeling stitchy button swap is on its way. I have been so excited to embroider buttons and to come up with new ones to make. I spent most of Saturday thinking of new buttons and embroidering a few.
Here are a few of them that I am not sure if I will swapping so I thought I could show them off.

My favorites I came up with are are the VW Bus and the Lava Lamp. I also made of few of my old standbys that I list in my etsy shop the mushrooms, turtles and aliens.

Are you in the swap? What have you come up with? I am always amazed by what everyone comes up with.
Close-up of the buttons.

~B

My Mom's Embroidery

2010-02-24T13:01:00.000-08:00

Garden Girl Mother and Daughter Woman and Bird Little Girl with Doll

My Mom embroidered these for me from a kit in the 70's when she was stuck home with my brother and I the first time we had chicken pox. I had chicken pox first, then my brother got them then my Mom got them for the third time. On another note my brother and I also had chicken pox a second time in 1990. This time he gave them to me. I still think it was revenge but I overlooked it this time.

I have had these girls hanging in my room since I can remember and when my parent moved into their new home about 4 years ago my Mom gave them to me. I was pretty excited. I also got 4 little boys that used to be my brothers. He did not want them at least not right then, if he ever does I will give them to him I guess. You remember he gave me chicken pox for revenge so I deserve them right? I totally agree thank you for your support.

They are all done in crewel work I think. It is all wool floss and so cute. The amazing thing is in the back of them are the pattern. You know what that means? I will be sharing some of them soon. I scanned one this morning before I left for work but forgot to send it to myself so check back later on tonight and I will have it posted to this entry.

Did anyone else's Mom or Dad make something similar? I would love to see it.

~B

Edited to add the scan of the pattern with diagram.

Also Rectangle is right my Mom did say it was like a tupperware party but for needlework. I completely forgot about that. To bad they do not have those things now. I would totally go to those.

Is it Spring Already?

2010-02-18T16:32:00.000-08:00

I am starting to wonder if it is spring already. Here it is the middle of February and my tulips are starting to peak their lovely heads up and my grass is getting greener by the minute. I even have my doors open because it is 50 degrees out today.

You all have me to thank for it because while I was embroidering this sweet butterfly I kept wishing for spring. I am so glad I have those kinds of powers now to embroider something and wish to win the lottery. Well...I can prend can't I?

This was a pattern I shared back in January it is from Vogart 692. It is done a hankerchief that I plan to keep for my self. It matches my gawdy purse so well.

I did do something really stupid when transfering this pattern that I plan to tell you all about. I had read in one of my vintage magazines that when transfering flowers with lazy daisies to just put a dot at the top and bottom of the petal and then the line will not show (are you seeing where I might be going?). So I was like hey that is a good idea and this one has lots of lazy daisies and what could be a better plan. Right? Wrong!! I dotted all the tops and bottoms of the petals and was so proud of my cleverness. I even transferred the pattern, of course still not seeing the problem. (How thick can I get?) I sit down to pick out my colors still nothing and then I go to make the first stitch and I am like hey both wings are all dots. I had no idea where which flower started and which one ended. I ended up having had to keep the pattern with me at all times in order to look at it and then start stitching. So needless to say it is a good idea but not then the whole pattern uses lazy daisies.

Well there you have it just one of the stupid things I do on any given day. Hope it amused you as much as it amused Brian. So now that I have shared you do too.

~B

Transfer and 100th Post Winner!

2010-02-17T13:28:00.000-08:00

This sweet smelling puppy is from Vogart 625. I am missing about half of these patterns I keep hoping to find the rest but I have been unsuccessful. I am inspired by this pattern today because I need to give my pup a bath I just wish she sat so still for her like this little sweetie. I will end up taking a bath with my pup. I call her a pup but she is a 12 year old Bassett Hound not a pup anymore but she is still my baby and do not want her to get old.

Congratulations to Drewzel on being the 100th post random winner. Please email me at bekahv@gmail.com with your address, your wrist size (I will be blogging about this adventure soon), and your favorite color.

Granny Squares and Pin Curls

2010-02-11T16:10:00.000-08:00

My Mom went to Idaho with some school friends and came back with this wonderful wrapping paper. It has 3 sheets of hexagon granny squares (can a hexagon be a square?). I am in love with it but not quite sure what to do with it. One option is to buy a corkboad and cover it with the paper to use as decoration in my crafty corner. The other option is to let is sit on the the roll just to look at and never use. I have a hard time doing that, I want to use everything life is to short.

{To be entered into my give-a-way: comment on this post to give me an idea what to do with with my new paper. You have until Tuesday February 16, 2010 at 5:00 pm PT to enter. You will win some vintage patterns and some other stitchy goodies to be determined. It is open to everyone, I will ship internationally. You can get extra entries if you put this on your blog. Just send me an email bekahv{at}gmail.com and let me know where you posted it.}

Pin Curls - Have you done them?? I had not until Monday night. I am not sure what got into my head but I decided I was tired of my long straight hair and I did not want to cut it all off so I looked up ways to add curl that would stay. I have stick straight fine hair all terrible things to have if you want curly hair.

I used this tutorial, it worked very well. A little to well to be exact, on Tuesday morning it was super curly (think Shirley Temple and poodle combined) and I used to much product so it was gummy and gross. Then on Tuesday night I washed my hair and set it again. This time new hair product (Fiber Gum Putty) and larger pin curls, it worked better, but still to curly. This bring us to last night and this morning. Better it is lighter and curly but no so curly it makes me look like a poodle. I like it and it is less work than hot rollers and it stays in all day. I mean all day no hair spray. This might be the start of a beautiful friendship. The picture is after an 8 hour work day and it is raining outside too. I am impressed.

Now to figure out how to style it so far the curls are great but the crown needs a bit of body. Any ideas? Should I get more layers ad bangs? hmmm to many choices.

{Do do not forget to post your suggestions for the paper to be entered into the give-a-way. Have a wonderful night.}

Peaceful Day

2010-02-09T08:50:00.000-08:00

This transfer seems so peaceful to be the guy in the boat floating on the lake. This transfer was so big I had to piece it together so I apologize for any wonky bits that to not connect up. I tried my best.

I just realized that yesterdays post was my 100th post I will be doing a give-a-way soon keep yours eyes peeled for it.

~B

Dog Gone Weekend

2010-02-08T17:59:00.000-08:00

I had a very fun weekend. On Friday I was a band widow again so I contacted my sister-in-law and asked if my niece could come over to bake doggie treats with me. She is a fanatic about dogs. She reads all the books she can on dogs and let me tell you if you say the wrong thing about a dog you will get corrected. It is so funny. Since she got a new dog this winter she has been dying to make treats for her so we decided since we have so many dogs in our family we should make them all some treats.

We made 5 sheets of doggie treats and our poor copper hardly got any, since there were 6 other dogs that we were making treats for. So far all of the dogs have gone crazy for the treats. It is a recipe from The Professional Pastry Chef. I love this book but all the recipes make hug portions and sometime I do not feel like doing math just to bake so it comes out only about twice a year but now I think we might bring it out more so we can bake some doggy cookies as we kept calling them.

I still think she just comes over to play Animal Crossing.

How was everyone's weekend? What did you do?

~B

Feeling Stitchy Button Swap

2010-02-07T00:38:00.000-08:00

Feeling Stitchy is having a first every swap and it is a Button Swap.

Go check it out and sign-up I know I will be.

New Knitting Bag and Other Goodies

2010-02-05T00:48:00.000-08:00

I have ordered the most awesome knitting bag ever and to top it off I can now carry my embroidery hoop and projects with me all the time. My old purse was getting worn out and I could not put embroidery projects in it. I was pretty excited to see how much I could shove in my new bag it also has body strap so I can just sling it around and off I go hands free. The purse is a namaste bag and they also have the most wonderful project bags too.

As you can see I have already put two of them to good use. I am thinking of buying another set of these. They are a tight weave and so far the embroidery needles do not even fall out of it. That is a super plus.

Now I just have to plop my purse on the couch and I am ready for any project I feel like. I really like that.

Lately I have been in a Jane Austen mood I have in the last week and a half I have read Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion as well as watch the movies on Netflix watch instantly. I have newly discovered North and South (not the civil war one) and Wives and Daughters I now have to buy these movies. Stupid Netflix I never get any sleep now and it makes me wish I had an XBox in our bedroom so I could watch their movies in there. Oh well I am getting lots of projects done.

What do you watch while you stitch? I am always curious what other watch or do while they stitch.

~B

Workbasket: Dutch Boy and Girl

2010-02-02T08:12:00.000-08:00

Happy Ground Hog day everyone. I really did try to find a ground hog transfer but I do not have one. I do hope you will enjoy this little Dutch Boy and Girl better.

I think it would be so cute just all done in blue. My Mother in Law and one of my Sister in Laws love these patterns I do see a set of them in their future for Christmas.

Enjoy.
~B

Boring Day Continued

2010-01-27T08:37:00.000-08:00

Even though Mondays are usual busy at work I was still able to squeeze in some embroidery time at lunch and finish. I had originally hoped to finish this at home over the weekend but it turns out I left two of my key flosses at work so I was not able to finish.

What is actually funny is I seem to have lost them and they were not left at work. Go figure where they might be. I have looked everywhere. I just imagine that some bored person found my floss and decided to take up embroidery and now they are not so bored anymore. Well, in my world that is how it would happen. Needless to say I had to rip out some stitching and start over. Oh well I think it turned pretty good except the pants. I did not realize until I looked at it on the computer that the white does not show up that well. I will have to re-think them.

I still think they are so cute kissing. You can see the full towel here. I do apologize for the dark pictures it has been raining I was not sure how long I would have to wait for some sunshine.

Hope you all have a wonderful day.
~B

Boy or Girl??

2010-01-26T12:11:00.000-08:00

I believe this pattern is a workbasket but is was just loose along with the braids that you can attach. I assume so this can be a little boy or girl whatever you would like. I think it would be very cute both with braids or without. It is also has a cute cat and puppy that seem to follow the same style.

I am not sure what to actually use these on but might be fun to try.

Hope you enjoy it. Have a wonderful Day.

Boring Day at Work

2010-01-22T17:00:00.000-08:00

I started a new job in September. It has been nice not to have to worry about tax season but on the down side I get a little bored and to many of my favorite websites are forbidden. I can do other things. I finished my first pair of socks for my Niece she turns 17 this week. So after I finished them I thought I would take a break from knitting to embroider it was fun.

This is a vintage pattern from workbasket. I have been dying to stitch up. It is a cute series.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
~B

Vogart 725 - Tea Time

2010-01-21T01:49:00.000-08:00

I think this is a lovely pattern. I have all 9 designs including the cute little tea cup that goes with this design. They are all in excellent condition.

I do wish I had the patience for cross-stitch I would wip these little guys up, but I do not. I will have to rely on one of you out there to stitch up this design. If you do let me know. I would love to see.

~B

Fun with Knitting

2010-01-13T19:00:00.000-08:00

I had a pretty fun day on Sunday. My niece (Lizzie age 8) came over because she wanted to learn to knit. She wants to make clothes for her stuffed dogs and her real dog so she can open a shop when she gets older and move to Beverly Hills because you know people here love their dogs more than here (at least that is what she told me).

It all started late last year when I knitted a dog sweater for her stuffed dog Lou. He got a rip on his back so I packed him up to come to Aunt Bekah's emergency room and when he was returned he had a nice green sweater on with his name embroidered on it. She loved it and then wanted me to make one for each of her stuffed dogs. I said I can teach you and she has hounded me ever since. I think it also has to do with she wanted to come over to eat snacks and play animal crossing (such an addicting game).

I also finished a project that took me way to long I told Sew~Amy in August I would make her a knitted VW Bus just like mine or at least so it could match her VW Bus. If you do not know about Amy go check out her blog she is the VW queen. I finally mailed it last week and she received it yesterday. I did a much better job the second time around her bus looks so much better than mine.

I think I have set an unattainable goal for myself but we will see if I can do it. I plan on making 22 pairs of knitted socks one for every family member for their birthdays this year. I have one due in a week and another one due in February. The killer will be May where there are 4 birthdays, June 3 birthdays and July with 5 birthdays. All the other ones will be fine I just have to see it I can actually survive those three months.

This sock is for my niece that is turning 17 next week. I originally bought this yarn for myself because I love orange and bright colors but it just called her name. I might have enough left over to make ankle socks for myself as well but that will have to wait until my birthday in September.

I hope I survive this.

~B

Vogart 692

2010-01-12T10:48:00.000-08:00

I am wishing for spring right now this freezing weather and dark mornings is wearing on me, I miss the color. I would be happy if it would at least snow and stick at least then the whit wouldbe pretty.

I am thinking of stitching this one up in bright colors. To brighten the dull winter.

It is Vogart 692 enjoy.

~B

Vogart 691 - Little Susan

2010-01-07T23:08:00.000-08:00

I am not starting the New Year off right. I am late on my pattern for this week. I promise to be better.

These little girls were my Great Grandma's favorite. When I first learned to embroider I made her a set of these tied them up with a ribbon and when she died a few years later at 96 she still had them wrapped in the ribbon I gave them to her with. That is what she did with things she liked she never used them. She still had the poncho in the box with tag attached she made me make her to be like Martha Stewart. She could not read and since she taught me to crochet and I could read I had to make her one. Man I miss her.

My Grandma was a hoot at 90 she said she would not go to a senior center for bingo because it was for old people and she was not old. She would have been 100 this year.

Hope you all are having a good New Year so far.
~B

Christmas and Beef Bourguignon

2009-12-27T21:09:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. I had a nice weekend visiting family and seeing how much older all my nieces and nephews are getting. It is so hard to believe they were just little things when I got married and they were in my wedding or they were in diapers. Now all but three are taller than me and the last three are gaining. I will again be the shortest one in family by next year.

Two of my nephews where quite excited this year to bend down and give me a hug and rest their arms on my head and pretend they could not see me because I was sooo short. Granted they both did this on their own without each other because one is from my family the other from Brian's family. I thought that was pretty funny. I did get my revenge I made sure and kiss them both he he. I think that will be always be my ultimate Aunt revenge.

I did get a wonderful gift from Brian. He normally does a theme for my gifts one year was traveling and he got me a cookbook from around the world and a Japanese block print calendar and learn Japanese on CD (I am still working on that.) This year was cooking (he really likes it when I cook if you could not tell) he got me the Julie/Julia movie and Julia's Kitchen Wisdom. If you have seen the movie you will know that Julie in the movie loves Beef Bourguignon not just any Beef Bourguignon it is Julia's Beef Bourguignon. So of course after watching the movie this weekend I was compelled to make Julia's Beef Bourguignon.

After starting at 1:30 p.m. today and eating at 5:30 p.m. it was so freakin' fantastic it was worth the wait. I know buttermilk biscuits are not french but they just seemed like the right thing to make. I know I will make this again just on a I want to cook weekends. I find it relaxing to have a meal that takes so long to cook. The smell wafting through the house just makes you feel all homey and makes you want to watch an old movie while you wait for the food to be ready. At least that is what is does for me.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and if you do not celebrate Christmas I hope you had a good Holiday and had plenty of family time.

~B

Coats & Clark Book No. 180

2009-12-16T13:07:00.000-08:00

This from the Coats & Clark Book No. 180. It is a very simple patter but would look great with bright colors.

Enjoy it.

~B

Tea Towel Tour V

2009-12-13T23:32:00.000-08:00

The tea towel has been going on since September this year. I was not able to actually participate this go around because I knew I would be to busy.

I did instead agree to be a group leader. It was fun as always and the gallery is fantastic. My group was winding down and I was a bit sad that I did no participate in the swap, well sulky is more like it. A couple of days ago I got the best package in the mail. The ladies in my swap all decided to send a towel around for me. They are fantastic!! I thought I would share their lovely embroidery. Did you by any chance notice they all have bees in the theme. It really is the best!

I only know two people that did the embroidery so far. I do hope they will let me know which ones they did so that way I can give them credit.

Hope you are all enjoying your last week before Christmas.

Sunshine

2009-12-08T07:36:00.000-08:00

This is what I am wishing was out right now the SUN! It has been a cold 12 degrees here with a wind so it is even colder. I hope in your neck of the woods it is nice.

Enjoy the Vintage Aunt Martha pattern.

~B

Vogart 141

2009-12-01T19:59:00.000-08:00

This is a Vogart 141 pattern. I like the little daisy flowers. I also have the heart apron pattern and the regular apron pattern. I really should make these some time to use around the holidays.

Hope you all had a wonderful Turkey Day.

~B

Clark's Book No. 180

2009-11-25T08:36:00.000-08:00

This is a sweet pattern by Coats and Clark Book No. 180. I just love embroidering flowers. I am also providing the pages that tell you how to embroider it. I just love following old patterns it makes me think outside of the box on stitches that I might not have used before.

Have fun and Happy Thanksgiving.
~B

Transfer Tuesday

2009-11-20T00:25:00.000-08:00

These two are ones I hope to actually embroider in the near future. They are from Coats & Clark's Book No. 143-6. I really like all the details on the flower just trying to figure out the best transfer method so I do not blur all my lines together.

My favorite method is the sulky transfer pen but it is a bit thick. I do also like the pencil but my hand always hurts after using the pencil and that is a lot of transferring.

Does anyone else have a better method?

Sorry this is late I had lots of problems trying to post this. I lost it 3 times and finally gave up and decided to give it one last shot. Crossing my fingers.

Transfer Tuesday???

2009-11-12T08:19:00.000-08:00

I know it is not Tuesday sorry about that. I caught a cold and have been out of sorts for the last couple of days and today as well. I had cold medicine I walk around in a cloud. For a belated Veterans Day pattern enjoy the cross stitch pattern.

This comes from Coats & Clark's Book No. 129.

~B

Transfer Tuesday

2009-11-03T17:11:00.000-08:00

Tuesday is not over yet better late than never right? This girl is a favorite of mine. She reminds me of that scene in Fiddler on the roof when the Russians put bottles on their heads and dance. I love that scene. I hope you have a good what is left of Tuesday.

~B

Who Said Disney on Ice is Just for Kids??

2009-11-02T14:35:00.000-08:00

I would have never said that ..... actually I did. when I agreeded to go with Brian's family this weekend. I said we are going to be the only ones without children and I was right.

We still had a blast look at the cool tulip hat and some flashy glasses I bought. They have three different light speeds. I wore them for part of the show but they just kept steaming up so I could not wear them the entire time. I did wear them on the way home and while at home hence the picture taken in my PJs. (the peace sign I have no idea why I do it, it is just my signature in all my pictures since I was 8)

The ice skaters were amazing. I love watching ice skating and ballet (can not wait for the Olympics). Brian and I hope to maybe actually go to see Nutcracker in Seattle this Holiday season we will see it all depends if I can get time off. I started a new job and it is pretty much just me covering everything in the office so we will see how that all works out.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

~B

Transfer Tuesday

2009-10-27T00:14:00.000-07:00

Here is a favorite Workbasket, Days of the Week Bears. They are all so cute in the way they are dressed up and doing all shorts of cute things. I just adore cartoon bears, there is just somethign about a cute cuddly thing that in real life could kill you I guess. The full set can be found here.

I am really not sure on the year of any of my workbasket patterns. Last year I won a box of Workbasket patterns on ebay that weighted 8.5 lbs 8.5lbs!! I was shocked when it arrived and at how heavy and full the box was.

I do get a bit overwhelmed when I go through my pattterns and see how many I own and I wonder if I will ever get a chance to actually embroider them all or will someone end up buying them at a yard sale after I pass away and use them for her collection.

I have given some away on this blog and I probably will give some more away in the near future as a way to ease my mind so keep checking back.

I have several vintage cross stitch patterns please let me know if you are interested in having them posted on a Tuesday.
Have a good day.
~B

P.S. It was brought to my attention that people were not able to download my transfer last week. I have since changed my permissions and it should not be a problem now. Happy Stitching!

Tuesday Transfer Day

2009-10-20T17:03:00.000-07:00

I have really missed sharing vintage transfers ever since the Vogart scare of 2008. Most of my vintage patterns had been Vogart so it really had diminished my fun of sharing those patterns with everyone. I have since bought lots of Workbasket patterns and other non-Vogart ones. My plan is to share one pattern a week here on Tuesdays I hope you will come by to see them. I will also be throwing in an occasional Vogart pattern.
This week it does happens to be Vogart pattern 707 I have shared it before but hope you will still like it. This one is is one of my favorites because of the roses and the little birdy trying to play that violin. Bless its soul it will never work.

This is my favorite rose and I do hope you enjoy it. If you stitch it up let me know, I love to see how other choose their colors.

Come back next Tuesday for a new transfer.

~B

What a Weekend!

2009-10-19T00:04:00.000-07:00

Friday night I worked on the the Robot Devil shirt for Brian. He was pretty excited the whole night since every time I lifted the hoop to tie off the backside and switch threads he would peek over and smile like a kid on Christmas waiting to open presents. So I ended up staying up until 2:30 am to get it finished. So he could wear it the next day.

It was not one of my brightest moments since I had to get up at 6am to get ready to go shopping with my Mom. We had planned a shopping trip to spend some of my birthday money. It was a fun and busy day even though I was still dead tired. I did get some great deal and lots of pretty clothes and jewlery. It was almost like going back to school shopping having trying on clothes and asking my Mom what she thinks. Funny how it is the little things that make you feel young again. I think I need more those feelings. Because most of the time I feel a bit old.

While I was in town I muster up the energy to go to Joanns and spend a gift certificate my work gave me for my birthday. I was able to get 30 new skeins of floss and 4 new boxes for my floss. The hinges on one of my boxes broke and I was just going to buy two boxes one as a replacement and one to hold extra but they were buy one get one so of course I had to get four. I still have $6 left. I guess I could always get more floss. I only have 2 full boxes of DMC floss and one full of silk floss and one with hand dyed floss I am not sure if that is enough.

I think I need to get cracking on a new project and stop hording floss. What are you all working on? Any ideas I am at a loss at what to do next. All of my patterns are starting to look the same the more I look through them.

I will take pictures of the Robot Devil shirt once it is out of the laundry tomorrow. He wore it right away and I did not get a chance to take a picture of it. Brian now has plans for a Zoidberg t-Shirt. What have I started??

~B

My Place to Relax

2009-10-16T19:09:00.000-07:00

Since the weather is dipping down at night in the 30's we have re-arranged our living room so we can use the fireplace at night to be nice and cozy. Nothing is better than watching movies by firelight.

When we moved I was able to finally moved my craft light somewhere so it would not be in the way. I am at peace with my living room arrangement. Trust me it has been a struggle it is strange shaped room. I am actually standing in a door way taking this picture. It is nice and cozy yet roomy. So this is where I embroider and knit, while I watch movies LIKE KUNG FU PANDA. Oh sorry I love that movie I have watched it I swear like 15 times. Although I have not watched it as much as I have watched Pride and Prejudice. I like watching movies I have seen before because they are comforting and I do not have to really pay attention. Any movie suggestions?

Recently I went to see Whip it and now I am hooked on Roller Derby stuff. I remember seeing Laverne and Shirley when they had to be in a Roller Derby and I have loved it sense then but it went away and now it has been revived so much that I rented Roller Girls season 1 on netflix. That is what made me make a shirt for myself with this Roller Gal on it. I think her name should be Deadly Daisy I have no idea why I just do. So when the other discs come I will wear my t-shirt while I watch it. The funny thing is that Brian is actually into the series as much as I am. I think that is why I love him to much he is just as silly as me.

So my review of my craft stand. I love it! It makes embroidering on T-Shirts so much easier because I can use both hand to help with the stretchy material. I have not been a fan of interfacing like others are. I think it is user error on my part but I like to go naked.

Now that I said it makes doing T-Shirts easier Brian already has two in mind and wants to me to start ASAP. So I am off to start a Robot Devil T-Shirt that is way over due. I made a Bender one awhile back you can see it here and after I made it I promised him a Robot Devil so you can see it has been awhile.

Have a nice weekend everyone.
~B

A little bit of embroidery

2009-10-06T17:41:00.000-07:00

I have not been embroidering for awhile. We have been so busy going here and there I have not had time to pick out all my colors and prepare them to be toted around. So for the last 3 weeks in my time at home I have been embroidering this pattern from Coats and Clark Book No. 143 I actually decided to use the colors they suggested. In retrospect I would probably not use that much green it seems to overwhelm the piece.

The deer was my favorite not to favorite part because I decided to tackle the long and short stitch. I did not succeed. It is very lumpy and wonky in lots of parts, but I am working on it. If you have any tips please do share I can use all the help you can spare.

One another note, my birthday was last month (we will not discuss age) it was fun and Brian was so sweet he bought me a universal craft stand. I put it together but I have not used it much. I think I will like it for doing french knots and other difficult stiches because it will keep my hands free. Right now I see the only problem is I tend to move my hoop as I stitch and that might be difficult with the stand. I do like that is it short and very compact we have a small house so space is a premium. I plan to play around with it this week and I will let you know what I think later on.

Does anyone else have a stand, if so any tips?

Knitted Goodness

2009-08-11T16:42:00.000-07:00

I have had a lot of road trips this summer and with most of them being camping I decided I would take knitting instead of my embroidery. I tend to lose those small embroidery needles and then I would probably step on them in the car. I do that in the house and that is bad enough.

The Monkey is Mr. B.A. Foster. (B.A. stands for Ben Anise) B.A. is a bit of a character always trying something. First of all he thought he should drive when we went to Portland and we had to tell him no. Then he thought he should have our lunch.

We finally got him to sit in the backseat and leave us alone while we ate. Cheeky little monkey.

After we bought our Bug I was looking on etsy for anything VW bugish and I found this lovely pattern. It has a bus, bug and scooter. I did make the bus for my T. He loves it and it sits on top of his computer desk.

What have you done this summer and what have you made?

~Bekah

New Project

2009-07-16T18:08:00.000-07:00

I have wanted a VW Bug since my parents got rid of theirs in the 80's. I was so excited when T and I decided to start looking for one. We found this one a 1968 VW Beetle. We were hoping to find a 1975 since that is the we both were born but all those were either just shells or junk. Oh well, we might have to try and get a 1975 VW Bus instead.

This one does looks terrible but the engine is pretty sound. Although, we did have a fun time getting it home. We were about half an hour from the place we bought it and an hour from home when the fuel line came loose. That was fun here it is 9:30 at night on the side of the freeway trying to get it to start. I was pretty glad T was able to fix it enough I could coast to the next exit and get to the gas station. We temporarily fixed it enough to get home. I was glad since I was driving it. I think I also forgot to mention that the breaks were iffy so ... well that is a longer story. The point is it is home and ready for us to work on it. Next time we are towing.

We plan on doing the interior first and hopefully get it painted in the spring or summer next year. I am so excited I can barely stand it.

Hope you all are having a great summer.

~Bekah

What a Weekend!

2009-06-09T09:46:00.000-07:00

We had quite a weekend first on Saturday I was scrambling to finish two birthday presents for a double birthday party on Sunday. (Yes I always leave things to the last minute I work better under pressure, or that is my excuse.) I was finishing embroidering an apron for my niece and I only had 7 french knots left when we heard a huge zap then the power went out and flicked back on and went out again. I could not believe it. It was about 8:00 pm. We had a little light but not enough to see the faint line that I had ironed on. So I could not finish the embroidery or sew on the ribbon. Did I mention the party was on Sunday. I was a bit concerned that I would not get the apron done or the hankies that I was making for my FIL since I had not even printed out the pattern.

We of course made the best of the time we played Yahtzee by candlelight. It was fun and I won two out of three so it was a good night. By the time we started the third game the power came back on and we turned off the lights and finished the game. It was lots of fun. I think we should play more games by candlelight.

On Saturday morning I woke up early and was able to get the apron finished, ribbon sewn on, print and embroider the hankies, wash and starch them. I was glad the party was later in the afternoon. I was so tired that I went to bed early but then we were awakened at around 1:30 am to a huge downpour. I mean like as if a sprinkler was broken and shooting water everywhere. That is quite unusual for this side of Washington. We are on the desert side sagebrush and everything. I do miss living on the other side of the mountains but do not miss the Seattle traffic.

Am I the only one that waits until the last minute?

***Then yesterday as I was getting ready to post this our Internet and cable went out. Man when it rains it pours. he he. Oh well all is well today. Have a good one everyone.

Summer Thunder Storms

2009-06-04T21:37:00.000-07:00

I love summer thunder storms! I could sit here all night and watch the lightening and listen to the thunder. I wish I could capture this with my camera and show you, instead I will show you what I have been up.

Last year I spent most of it not embroidering but collecting things to embroider on and embroidery patterns. So this year I decided I really should use all those patterns and materials. I have this bee fabric that was just dieing to be a lining for a tote bag and it also gave me a chance to use one of my vintage patterns.

This pattern is a Vogart 293. This was the first Vogart pattern I ever bought I just loved all the bees. I hope you will enjoy this pattern.

What have you been up to?

~Bekah

Spring is Here

2009-03-28T11:43:00.000-07:00

Spring is finally here in my neck of the woods. The evenings are still cold but the days are beautiful and warm. I tend to get a bit of spring fever this time of year and can not concentrate on anything all I want to do it be outside and camping. In an effort to calm my self I am been embroidering a lot.

This is from a Design 7228 pattern. I used a varigated red floss and lined the tote with some apple fabric. I am not sure what I will do with it yet keep it for myself or give it to my sister-in-law she is an elementary school music teacher and loves all the apple stuff. Still deciding....

Hope you all are enjoying the spring weather (if you have it).
~Bekah

Random Things

2009-01-23T23:28:00.000-08:00

I was tagged by SewSugarySweet on flickr. Here are 16 random things about myself.

1. My Mom calls me Sis

2. My Dad calls me Kid

3. My Husband calls me Bee

4. My name is Rebekah

5. I do not make the bed everyday (for that matter I really do not make it until all the covers are tangled at the bottom of the bed)

6. I drink milk with my pizza

7. I like ketchup on my tacos

8. I have 3 nephews

9. I have 4 nieces (one of them is in the picture above with me)

10. I look like a midget with my husband's family and average height with my family.

11. I love old movies and musicals

12. I am learning to speak Japanese for fun

13. I love to bake and make-up my own recipes

14. I have a 10yr old bassett hound

15. Fall is my favorite time of year

16. I love ice cream (especially my home made ice cream)

So consider yourself tagged! Let me know if you decide to do it.

Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow

2008-12-13T09:02:00.000-08:00

It is suppose to snow this weekend so I thought I would help it along with sharing my Snowmen patterns. They are all from workbasket patterns. Enjoy and have a wonderful weekend.

~Bekah

He's making a list....

2008-12-08T18:59:00.000-08:00

Checking it twice gonna find out who is naughty and nice ... This song has been in my head all day!! I even started singing it at the top of my lungs today when I came home (trust me not a pretty sound). Copper thought it was fun and was wanting to play so that was fun. I found these three santa patterns I hope you enjoy them. Hopefully this will help get the songs out of my head.

~Bekah

Dishcloths Galore!

2008-12-07T20:24:00.000-08:00

This summer I was on a knitted dishcloth kick. I could not make enough of these little guys. I even joined a couple of swaps just to get more. They are a little like chips you can not just have one. I made a lot more than I have taken pictures of. I gave them all away to family and now they want more. They can not seem to get enough of them either. My favorite one is the penguin one.

It is an inside joke with T and I. Whenever we see a penguin he has to say look honey a penguin. When we lived over in Seattle and he was working out at Microsoft he traveled a lot and I was home alone a lot. I wrote a short story about a penguin and his adventures. (Do not ask about the story it was rotten but kept me occupied. I did not know about embroidery then so I was bored a lot). We had only been married a year and he thought I must love penguins so he was getting me penguin stuff and showing me penguin stuff all the time. I finally told him I do not like penguins that much and we laughed so hard it was so funny. So now he is like look honey a penguin. I do like penguins more now than then.

So what kinds of things can you not get enough of?

~Bekah

Tea Towel Tour - IIII

2008-12-06T09:56:00.000-08:00

My group is finished. I asked for a 50's diner theme. They all did a wonderful job. It will be so much fun wearing this while I bake this Christmas.

If you would like a close-up look of the apron you can check them out on flickr. You should look make your way over to the gallery these ladies have all done a wonderful job.

Have a wonderful weekend.
~Bekah

Violent Produce

2008-12-04T12:21:00.000-08:00

1. kitchen calamities apple orange, 2. kitchen calamities banana, 3. kitchen calamities onions, 4. kitchen calamities tomato, 5. Kitchen Calamities Towel Series, 6. TeaTowelMurder2

I was looking around for inspiration for Christmas presents when I happened to come upon these guys. Oh my goodness I could not keep from laughing. I knew that produce went bad but this bad. It is so opposite all the happy fruit we see maybe this is what goes on in the underbelly of produce.

If I could draw well I would make myself a little series of these guys. Thanks for the great laugh Kristen Mary and Snarkypants.

~Bekah

Where have I been?

2008-12-02T08:24:00.000-08:00

It has been a long time since I have blogged and so much has happened. The Tea Towel Tour 4 is done the picture above is what I did on others towels and I will post my apron later this week. The gals did an outstanding job.

I have been embroidering lots of custom Christmas items for my shop. It has been a lot of fun. I plan on posting the patterns I used for the items this week. You might have noticed that my vintage embroidery blog is gone. It turns out that Vogart is under copyright so I had to take down all of my vogart patterns and then I only had 4 patterns on the blog so it seemed useless to keep a blog for those. Since, I have bought a huge box of workbasket patterns and will be posting a new pattern once a week on this blog. I hope you will all enjoy them.

I have been knitting a lot lately. I think it is the cold weather and the warm feel of the wool on my hands that keeps me knitting. I actually finished my first sock this last weekend. I was so excited that the whole way home after Thanksgiving I talked about my knitted sock and all the new socks I planned to make. I bored T to death but then again I have to hear about music stuff and all the new computer games so I am sure it was fair right? Well in my head it is fair and I am always right. hehe.

Here is where I get a little personal so stop reading if you like.
T and I have been trying to have kids for the last 10 years and have done several rounds of fertility treaments and they were unsuccessful. Since the hormones and stuff made me a crazy girl with mood swings all the time we stopped and decided to just try and if it happened it happened.

Then I turned 32 last year and I was like hey I am getting older and we either need to start treatments again or decide to adopt. So we decided to do one more round of fertility treatments and I went to our women's health clinic to see the fertility Dr. and he decided to do a surgery where they go up inside with a camera and see if my tubes are open and look around the uterus. Well it turns out I have the worst body parts ever and he punctured my uterus. They quickly scheduled another surgery two weeks later and the same thing happened. This time they were able to get the camera in and take out a tissue sample. They found out that I have uterine cancer.

The cancer is slow moving and totally contained in the uterus. That is a good thing. I am on medication that is suppose to help breakup the tissue inside. The Dr. knows I still want to have children so we are going this alternative route instead of the normal hysterectomy. The down side is that this medicine makes me so tired and gives me the worst cramps in all my life. On the upside we caught it early and I still might be able to have children. In six month (April) I will go back in to have a tissue sample taken to see if it is working.

I still plan to blog just not as often and I am still a crafting fool.

To leave on a better note here are some alien buttons I made. T loves aliens and big foot so he loves these buttons. Now just to figure out a big foot pattern. If you have one let me know.

Tea Towel Tour 4 - International

2008-08-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

The 4th round of the Tea Towel Tour is beginning today. This time we are including 15 international residents and 15 domestic. Go sign-up right now you know you want to!!

Long time...

2008-07-31T22:33:00.000-07:00

Wow where has the summer gone? The last few weeks have been very productive since I have been home from work recovering from a minor surgery and loving every minute of it. Come on all day to craft and not have to go to work and wishing I was home crafting.

I kind of wish now I finished my degree to be a teacher then I could be home all summer with T and craft all summer long. I guess it is never to late just have to decide if I want to go back to school. I did not enjoy it the first time but then again being a payroll clerk is very boring the same thing every week. Ok Ok enough of the boring stuff I know why you all come here to see what I have been working on. That is why I visit most of your blogs.

I did finish those embroidery buttons for Average Jane from the giveaway last month. Then I went on an embroidery button kick and made some mushrooms and some turtles. Embroidery buttons are so fun to make because they are fast and cute. I use the buttons kits you can buy at almost any craft store.

After the button frenzy I knit a beanie for my nephew. This was my first hat and color changes. I feel like I am actually getting the hang of this knitting thing. I have been enjoying it so much lately that I have been neglecting my other crafts.

I sometimes wish I could devote all my time to one craft but I tend to be obsessed then get burnt out and move on to the next one then get burnt out on that one and move on, then the cycle starts all over. I enjoy it all just wish I could devote all my time to one to get better at it.

I did get have a few questions on the pincushions and thought I would answer then here.
Are they are not heavy?
-No they are just filled with poly fiber fill.
Are those fabric covered buttons?
-Nope, I used regular buttons that I bought at Wal-Mart
Could you strap them to your wrist?
-Yes, I might steal that idea.
I hope these answer your questions if you need more clarification let me know.

What kind of projects have you all been doing this summer?
~Bekah

The winner is....

2008-07-07T00:57:00.000-07:00

Average Jane Crafter congratulations. Please contact me with your address so I can send your package at the end of the week.

Because I can not post without a picture above is what I was doing this weekend. I was on a bit of a pincushion kick.
~Bekah

Who Are These Kids?

2008-06-27T18:12:00.000-07:00

This is T and I, today is our 10th wedding anniversary. I can not even begin to describe how it feels to me married for 10 years a whole decade. We had only know each other less than six months and were actually engaged longer than we were dating. It all happened so fast and so has the last 10 years. He is the love of my life and my best friend. I love you T! (I know you read my blog)

So in honor of of this day I will be doing a giveaway. I will be giving away some of my vintage patterns and some embroidered button (I have not taken pictures of them yet) The only thing you have to do to enter is tell me your most romantic story. It does not even have to be your own. You have until the 5pm on July 5th to enter.
~B

Homemade Ice Cream

2008-06-08T21:37:00.000-07:00

As a kid the start of Summer always started fresh cherries and homemade ice cream. When I grew up and moved away from home the first thing I had to buy was an ice cream maker. Every year my brother and I come up with new flavors and have a great time comparing notes on new ice cream flavors. Some years we even come up with the same ideas since we are a bit alike.

I do not think I could imagine a summer without the sound of a whirring ice cream maker on the porch and the slight taste of salt on the first scoop of ice cream and scraping the ice hard ice cream stuck on the bottom of the bucket. OOOhhh that sure brings me back. Seeing my mom mixing the sugar and eggs until they were frothy and then adding the milk and half & half. Dad would then put the ice cream mixture in the mixer and start the motor and 45 min to an hour later we were in ice cream heaven on a hot summer night.

Soon after I got married I found out that not every family makes ice cream all summer long. What, how could that be possible? So since then it has been my main job to make ice cream for his family every summer. One summer (2 years ago) I made 10 batches for T's family reunion and boy was I ever tired since I also made all the baked goods for breakfast and snacks, and decorated the sheet cake. That was my burn out summer and I have only made a few batches each summer but this year I think will be the year of wonderful ice cream. Wonder why? I will tell you why.

Friday at work we were closing early and I hear the door open and I was no I want to close early you can come back later and I turn around and there is my Father-in-Law and said he said hey do you still want that ice cream maker. I said you are not teasing me right? He said no you can have it if you want and I said yes of course would there be any other answer. T's parents have a Simac Ice Cream Maker. It is a self-contained maker, they bought it 20 years ago and have maybe used it 5 times. I have drooled over it for well almost the whole time we have been married so about 10 years. They have always been a bit out of my price range that I am willing to spend on a ice cream maker. After all the excitement, I quickly left and went out to thier house my FIL loaded up the machine I chatted for half and hour and then went to the store to buy all the ingredients. I have since made 3 batches of ice cream. Vanilla, Raspberry and Strawberry which I had one scoop of each and boxed up and took it over to my in-laws tonight for a thank you. So this summer will be my ice cream summer. I have wanted to experiment with new flavors and this is the perfect way. So be ready for my successes and all my flops.

P.S. It makes wonderful frozen daiquiri. (drinking as I type)

The Cloud Has Lifted!

2008-05-20T15:58:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for your great ideas on how to get out of my creative drought and it has worked. I feel more like myself again. It all started with embroidery buttons. I really do love making these little guys. Then after that I got two of my towels from my tea towel tour. That was a lot of fun and my favorite one was the turtle.

I have also been doing a lot of knitting. I really am getting quite addicted to it. Right now I am mostly making dishcloths because I joined two dishcloth swaps. I know I said I would not do that many swaps this year but they are so much fun and addictive to boot. We are going camping this weekend on the Washington Coast so I knitted myself a Calorimetry from Knitty it is normally always cold and rainy on Memorial Day Weekend in Washington. So I thought this would be the perfect thing to keep my head warm. You know what is turns out it can keep my whole head warm. That baby is big. I will not mind but if I ever do another one I think I will make is smaller.

I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. If you do not celebrate Memorial Day have a good weekend anyway.

~B

New Toys

2008-04-25T21:45:00.000-07:00

I know I said I was in a creative slump and I still kind of am but that never stops me from buying new things. Why is that?
I did figured out why I am in this slump. Work gets stressful beginning January 1st and ends on April 15th with a large party. So when I am stressed I tend to gravitate towards crafts and the creativity starts to flow. Now that April 15th is long gone work is back to normal and there is not as much stress. So now I have do not seem to have a reason to craft.

I have been slumping around since the 16th and now I am ready to get back on the band wagon. I do hop that posting my new toys and what I plan to do might give me the motivation to started.

Last weekend I went to a quilt store that I had not been to before and what do you think I found there? Did you guess? ....... Tea Towels sold by the yard. The woman who owns the store loves to embroider and said these are the best towels in all the world. They have a vintage look and feel to them with a slight yellow hue and hemmed on the sides but not the ends. I bought 1.5 yards so I can make 2 towels. As I was getting ready to buy the towels the biggest rick-rack I have ever seen. I have a sick love affair with rick-rack, I had to buy at least 4 yards.

Thanks to Susie I also bought another new toy. A bias tape maker. Hopefully no more burnt fingers. I really hope it works. Now to just decide where to start.

Have a great weekend everyone.
~B

Creativity Drought

2008-04-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

1. Meadow Butterflies, 2. Crochet ring, 3. Kitchen Kitsch, Lancaster, 4. Elvis, Black and White, 5. Lucy-Pillow,

6. Felt Pincushions, 7. Embroidered ornament, 8. Betty Boop, 9. Jute Purse, 10. Whipped spiderweb, 11. Cherry Blossom Bag,

12. Babbette Blanket 13. Dragon

I have been in a creative slump lately. I have tried and tried to get out of the same old same old. So in an effort to get out of that slump I started going through some of my favorites on Flickr and thought I would share a few of the things that are starting to spark my creative fire. We will just have to see what will blossom.

What do you do when you are in a creative slump?

Congratulations ...

2008-04-09T21:41:00.000-07:00

Kerri! I hope you enjoy the towel and all the other goodies I am collecting and making.

Thank you all for you well wishes and coming out of lurking to post. Now that I know you are all there I hope to hear from you again.

~Bekah
Psst... looks like Kerri is doing a giveaway on her site you better go check it out

1 Year Anniversary - Giveaway

2008-04-04T12:29:00.000-07:00

On Sunday it will be my one year anniversary of my blog so in honor of it, I am doing a giveaway.

Since everyone liked this towel so much I am giving it away along with some vintage patterns and possibly some extra little goodies like embroidered buttons.

So leave me a comment by Midnight, Tuesday, April 8, 2008 and I will enter you in the drawing. I will ship anywhere.

I am off to go camping and I hope to take lots of pictures while I freeze. Have a good weekend everyone.

Hello World....

2008-03-30T08:24:00.000-07:00

I have been so caught up with learning to knit that I have been ignoring embroidery. Feeling bad for all my hoops and floss because they look at me so longingly from across the room that I took pity on them and embroidered something.

Now I am hooked again! It must have been their evil plan all along. I seriously think I am addicted, I might need help. Embroidery is my drug. I sit there and stitch and just relax so much that I have fallen asleep. I normally wake up when I stab my finger *ouch*. I was getting bored a bit with embroidery because I was not challenging myself with new stitches so for my next project I had to do something new.

This one I posted on my vintage blog was just calling to me. I loved watching the Partridge Family re-runs as a kid. Who would not want to be in a family band and travel around on a techno-color bus? I sure did. What did you want to do when you where a kid?
~B

And the Winner is.......

2008-03-29T16:20:00.000-07:00

The very talented Erin - rectangel. Congratulations! I hope you enjoy them.
I wish I could give you all something. I will be doing another give away next week since I will have been blogging for a year next week. So check back.

Since I hate posting without pictures. Here is a towel I made several weeks ago. I had been watching the Music Man and I could not help singing the song 76 trombones led the big parade.

~Bekah

My 50th Blog Post Giveaway

2008-03-26T18:48:00.000-07:00

In honor of my 5oth post and my new ebay win I am giving away some embroidery patterns.

All you need to do it leave me a comment on this post and tell me why you like to embroider by Midnight on Friday, March 28. Then on Saturday I will draw a name ship on Monday.

If you live outside of the US go ahead and comment I will send to you. Please remember to leave your email otherwise I will not be able to get ahold of you.
~Bekah

Tagged.... Now you will know it all

2008-03-16T01:35:00.000-07:00

Tea Towel Tour III

The wonderful g from doe-c-doe tagged me and now you will know things about me you probably did not want to know.

7 random things:

I drink milk with my pizza.
I went to a small Christian school, my graduating class size was ten. (I can always say I was in the top ten of my class)
I do not clean my dishes every night.
When I was younger I desperately wanted to play the guitar and be a folks singer. Turns out I do can not play guitar and I am not that good at singing either.
I make up stupid songs and dance around the house. Just because it make me happy.
I am addicted to podcasts
I watch old movies while I embroider.

I am only tagging a couple of people because of the blogs I read have already been tagged.
Drewzel at Stitchy Britches
Daniel at Priceless Passtimes
~Bekah

Antique Store Find

2008-03-07T19:57:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday I went to the antique store in hopes that the canister set I saw a few weeks ago was still there. I kept kicking myself for not buying it then and thought of all the reasons that I am glad I did not buy it. But..... I kept dreaming how wonderful they would look in my kitchen and all the things I would bake just to use these canisters. So after lots of "I should have bought those" (think of a whiney little girl) T is like go buy them.

So on Sunday off I went to the next town 20 miles (not to far) I went in and it took all my effort not to run to the basement and see if they were still there. Once I finally got finished pretending to look at other things. I went downstairs turned on the light (yes they leave the light off - gotta love small towns). I was the only one down there "hooray" and I made a bee-line straight to the canisters and yes they were still there. I squealed with delight and grabbed them just in case someone was really down there trying to take my find.

I loaded myself up with them and rounded the corner and guess what I saw. A cake saver that matched. Ooo I could not pass this up. Granted I already own four other cake savers. I can not help myslef I just love them. I was quite a site the owner even chuckled at me. Here I was carrying five canisters one large cake server and trying to turn off the light and make it to the front of the store with out dancing for joy. I put then on the counter and said "can I leave these here I still want to look around"?

What for I had no idea but I know I would find something, and I did find something else. A 1966 Better Homes and Garden Pies and Cakes cookbook. So I make my way back up front and it is all I can do to not to jump up and down and giggle. I mean I was in heaven. All these wonderful finds. The lady checks me out and say oh I will just give you the book if you tell me what you will make from it. So I looked at her and with all seriousness I said "I plan to make everything". So I walk out $18 lighter and the happiest girl in all the world.

So tell me what kind of things make you happy?

Cheers

I Gave In

2008-02-29T11:45:00.000-08:00

Yes, you heard me I gave in to the pull of selling things you make in hopes to finance your craft projects. The lure was to much and I did it.

Check it out if you like. I still plan to make more things for swaps and gifts than for the shop.
If you have a shop let me know about it. I always need new things to buy.

Have a great weekend all you crafy gals.
~B

Are You a Social Crafter?

2008-02-26T00:32:00.001-08:00

After a lot of thinking this weekend I began to wonder. Do you have people you get together with and do your crafy things with?

I tend to do all my crafting alone and in the middle of the night. My friends around here are not to keen on any crafty things and the few (very few) do not want to get together. I do wish that there were people close to me that I could share things with and learn things from (not that I do not love you guys). More of a hey I am bored let's make something. I would love to hear what you do.
~B

Acts of Kindness

2008-02-22T10:16:00.000-08:00

I have been awarded the Random Acts of Kindness award by drewzel and floresita. Thanks gals I you are truly the best.
I would like to give this award to two others.
doe-c-doe - She is so sweet to offer her patterns and let us see all her thrifty finds. She is so sweet to answer questions about her projects.
Pinky and Boo - She is always so sweet with comments and is now offering a few patterns on her site as well.

~B

Best Swap Ever!

2008-02-20T15:58:00.000-08:00

I received from my 50's swap partner. Boy did I get spoiled and I am impressed at the quality of her work. She has done an amazing job. I received earrings, necklace, felted bag, and a knitted scarflette. When I got the package I ripped it open and squealed with joy and did my happy dance that all at once made by puppy jump up to see what all the comotion was about. She settled back down after seeing it was just me doign a happy dance again! (just imagine Elaine from Seinfeld and magnify it 100x that is how bad it is). So after all the dancing and squealing. I immediately put everything on and was sitting on the couch just enjoying my new stuff. So far I have to say this has been my best swap every. Thanks Lora.

Hope you all have a great weekend.
~B

50's Swap

2008-02-11T19:55:00.000-08:00

I joined a 50's swap and just sent out. It was fun to try and figure out what to make so I decided I need to make an apron and it had to be reversible and if that was not enough I was going to make a quilted potholder. What!?! you might say. Yes, you read right. I always bite off more than I can chew. I stressed about it and put it off and worried about it but since send outs are tomorrow I decided I need to get this done so all Saturday night I was up until 4:00 am and then sleep for a few hours and managed to finish the potholder binding in the morning. I also made 2 crocheted dishcloths but did not take a picture of them and I sent her the cute elephant onesie for her baby to be. I sure hope she likes it all. I am always so nervous after sending things off in a swap.

Hope you all have a good week.
Cheers
~B

Tea Towel Tour 3

2008-02-09T00:12:00.000-08:00

We are starting a new swap you might want to pop over and see about joining.
Tea Towel Tour 3

~B