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i've taken the plunge. i keep telling myself i can always change it to make it better (that perfectionism preventing me from sallying forth), but really, there's little to risk! oh, and i'm open to feedback, as long as it is positive.

west coast rosie cozy crafty pod

one of my primary motivations in going to this lecture was to give susan some buttons that i knew she would appreciate a thousand times more than i. it was lovely to hear the experience of these women, and they were all extremely, incredibly gracious. i felt surprisingly shy when i approached them after the talk with more button gifts - attached to a homemade card. especially because my only pink vintage buttons for alicia were an incomplete card, and diane promised to visit my blog. so kind. she is absolutely a god(dess)-send in crafty portland.

marc was working, so i had colden with me, and it was kind of challenging to be aware of how much noise was too much. i asked the woman facilitating to let me know if we were getting too disruptive, but she was so nice as well! i think she let us slide quite a few times. we were lucky enough to get a little play in with another babe - and we shared a little handmade love too.

here's a snapshot of the event from someone who was paying a bit more attention: wendy at build/make/craft/bake (and i only found this post courtesy of diane - again, such a blessing!).

i also made it out to the skating with scissors event that wendy mentions and talked with a lot of lovely crafters. many of whom i met at crafty wonderland earlier this month. i'd like to feature some of their work on here too... maybe a sidebar to come? hmmm.

p.s. sadly, i didn't make it into oct.'s crafty wonderland show, but i'm hopeful for the future.

not-so-secret summer saling

i've just signed up for vintageswaps, and thought i'd better share here, just in case any of my vast audience of immediate family and longtime friends are interested. all you have to do to participate is e-mail heather {at} shivayanaturals.com with the following info:

Name

Mailing Address

email

blog/website (if you don't have one, no worries :))

Craft of choice (sewing, needlepoint, knitting, quilting, etc.)

If you are willing to ship internationally

i'm excited! i also have to confess that i've been finding some fabulous finds this summer, including the above linens and buttons and tins and more! i intend to share them by and by, especially if they make their way into, or onto? projects. for instance, buttons can be seen on byhandathome, gracing fingerless mitts and arm warmers. and all of my embroidery hoops have been coming from the estate sales. today i scored a whole slew of them for a dollar, and came away with a pretty little box i intended to put my needles in. however, colden fell for it too, so we may have to share. he liked the idea of putting needles in there, of course.

for the love of handwork

september is a wonderful month, isn't it? so many celebrations! this project was for one of my greatest handwork teachers thus far. i worked alongside her as an assistant and learned lots of essentials i didn't know before. pattern-reading, altering, creating, lots of handsewing stitches, how to really crochet shapes and hats, and how to teach these things too!

in other words, a tall order. she is expecting a baby girl (any day now they say), and red is her favorite color. this luxuriously soft cashmere sweater was destined for baby-wear, and i sewed the sleeves into pants in short order. i've kinda got that process down, but the sweater jacket was a little more challenging. i added some flowery vintage trim (25 cents at an estate sale) to cover my rough edges, and some sparkly buttons (also estate vintage) that looked similar to other things on ms. gloriana's wishlist.

i think it will probably fit a lot better at a year and a half than 0-3 m., but isn't it sweet? i intended to make a hat too, but ran out of time. i've had a lot of crafty deadlines lately, including an application for crafty wonderland (due today!), which we attended for the first(!) time on sunday. i can't believe i'd never gone. it was spectacular!!! and i'd love to share more about that too - but for now, i'll leave a little link to the things i submitted as part of my app, here at: byhandathome.com if you see something you like, let me know. i'm working on re-tooling my etsy shop and getting some things up there too. i'm happy to make things specifically to your liking, especially if you are a dear friend, which you probably are if you're reading this! and thank you for doing so, i appreciate it!