I Heart Vintage Buttons

I can't sit still. Even in front of a TV, I can't sit still.
Any time I have to sit still, I have a bag of handwork in front of me.


Sweet Beth sent me tons of beautiful vintage buttons. In my handwork bag, I put in a piece of fabric (a great piece that says, "hope, love, charity, faith"), a needle, thread, and my wonderful bag of buttons. The next time I was forced to sit still, these hearts transpired.

I "heart" the vintage buttons and was drawn to the soothing shades of cream and white. CRAFT TIP: I sewed the buttons on freehand, but if you want to draw a shape on your fabric first, a blue embroidery pen is great. This pen draws in a light blue color, and the ink disappears when touched with water.
I had to show a closeup of this stunning button.

I think I might frame one of these hearts in a shadow box. Do you have any other ideas?

Blessings,
Ele

Fleurs en Bleu

Looking out my farm house kitchen window, this is what I see.

My vintage church studio building surrounded and covered with snow. It is looking pretty lonely as my visits this time of year are few. I am still cleaning, and organizing my house.

It is cold outside, but the sun shines brightly. The air is fresh and crisp. Despite the beauty of winter, it is this time of year that I begin to hold on to the promise of spring blooms. I am well aware of designers who are shouting, "get rid of the silk flowers", but I wonder.....do they live where I live? Do they KNOW that the upper mid west growing season is extremely short? Do they realize that some of us yearn for blooms. Dare I say....even fake? Every year, I promise myself that I will not succumb to traditional FAKE blossomry, but I do. Especially when I came upon this huge bouquet.

My dining room table can seat 12 people, and this bouquet is a grand size. I was also pleased at how well it matched the upholstery on the chairs.

Fleurs en Blue.

Flowers in Blue.

Admiring the blue hydrangea flowers, I realized that I have a blue flower theme in my home.

Blessings, Ele

Valentines, already?

I'm not really trying to push Valentines on you, but as you saw in my last post, I am surrounded by a lot of snow. What does this have to do with Valentines? The snow has reminded me of the glass glitter I used last year when making Valentines (2nd row, 1st pic.). When the sun hits the snow, it glistens just like glass glitter. The snow is really quite beautiful.

1. Valentine Medallion (lrgc), 2. Valentine Key Heart (a), 3. Valentine Girl Tag, 4. Valentine Heart Gold Key (a), 5. Valentine Tussie Mussie Pink Roses, 6. Valentine Glass Glitter Heart, 7. Valentine Tags, 8. Valentine Pink Box, 9. Valentine Heart Gold Key, 10. Valentine Rhinestone Tussie Mussie, 11. Valentine Dress Form Tag, 12. Valentine Key Heart small, 13. Valentine Key Hearts

In many of these creations I have used vintage wallpaper (my favorite kind of paper), and vintage millinery flowers. I have also used various types of keys to go with a "key to my heart" theme. If you haven't used glass glitter before, remember it is REAL glass and will cut, so use it carefully. It is not for little hands.

Happy January,

Ele