Do you Polka ...

dot? I love things with polka dots and recently found Julie over at On the Dot Creations.
I want to share with you all a place to go see some amazing stuff on Etsy. Of course you could just go browse Etsy but Julie finds the most amazing things and showcases them beautifully on her blog. What a treasure.
You can sign up for her newsletter and/or add her to your feeds.
You won't be disappointed.
Every week she highlights different shops and it's fun to see what's out there.
Every time I browse through Etsy, I'm blown away by the talent that's out there.
It's so inspiring,
refreshing,
and fun,
so go take a peek!

PS. Loved reading the comments on the Ebelskivers. It's the cookware you didn't know you needed!

Sweethearts

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Bear. These two chums brought lots of smiles to our home. I used Jelly Bum's bear pattern but changed it a little bit. I found some strong magnets and glued them to the inside of the embroidered nose so they can nuzzle noses. I put them in my Etsy store as a made-to-order. I still have lots of yarn leftover and wonder how far it will go.

Speaking of how far things will go, another sweetheart, my daughter, has an obsession with wheelchairs. Yes, you read correctly, wheelchairs. She has asked Santa for the last two years to bring one. He did not. One year he did bring her crutches (which weren't needed by the way) but they were on her list. She wanted them so badly. But a wheelchair? I usually have to steer her away from those Little Rascal carts in the stores. "No, Ella, you cannot sit in that chair!" Well, this last Monday and Tuesday she didn't have school and I found her in her room drawing this picture on her easel.

Nine different designs! Do you think she may be destined for a health related career? or rather some type of engineer? This child cracks me up. This is definitely one of those memories I need to document. That's why you are reading about it here.
You should see her notebook from today. She was home recovering from a case of the stomach bug. Her entire day was spent planning, drawing, and coloring her dream room while watching HGTV. I bet she's spent nine hours on this room. I'll share later. I have to sneak the notebook and snap some pictures of it. I guess it's fun dreaming.

May your dreams be sweet tonight!

Family Time

I added a few items to my Etsy boutique today. I cranked out a bunch of albums this last weekend and I have a custom order for four more but this one is a bit different. This special order is from a coworker who lost a son a couple years ago. She wants to give her children a photo album made from clothing that her son wore so she gave me some jeans and a few flannel shirts to use. I'm thinking denim albums with pockets from the shirts sewn onto the front and back or something along those lines. What a treasured gift to give. I admire her courage and strength.

Yesterday my kids and I hung out together since it was a day off for us. They played so well together, I wish it was like that all the time. They are five years apart which gives one the advantage of manipulation and one the advantage of naiveness due to age and sometimes it makes me want to pull my hair out. But we actually had a good day together. I took them to Hotel for Dogs and we absolutely loved it. Lots of belly laughs. The Animal Humane Society was just a couple blocks away from the theater and we went there after the show. But we were greeted with a closed sign due to the holiday. Not that we would have made a purchase but we really wanted to see the dogs. I think there might be a waggly tail in our near future (after the spring thaw though). We ended the night with some sledding and Mickey D's (Subway for me ;)

This evening I'm going to watch the recorded Inaugural after I put the kids to bed and continue knitting on a Valentine's project.

An African Safari

It was quite an adventure a couple of weeks before Christmas. I was knitting away creating these fun little finger puppets for an Etsy customer frantically trying to get them to her in time for Christmas. The pattern is from Raynor at Jellybums or you can find her patterns in her store. What darling little toys she's created and she was so kind to help me out when I needed it. She actually referred the customer to me to knit them and I really didn't think they would take me as long as they did. But lesson learned, now I know.

I'm curious and want to knit up a couple other patterns of Jellybums as a stuffed toy rather than a finger puppet and I have plans to knit the puppy dog to include in a Woolie Wrap quilt I'm making.

I haven't yet talked much of my Etsy store. Since I opened it I've sold almost everything. I was quite shocked at how quickly it went which made for a crazy December. I'm looking forward to adding more goodies and I have a "boy" quilt in the works.

This is a picture of the quilt I made and have sold. I learned that it was going to be a gift to a sister who is having a baby girl. I love to learn about the receiver of the items.
I have to give credit to Betz White whose book Warm Fuzzies got me thrifting for wool sweaters and going head over heels working with this stuff. I love, love, love it. (I contacted her to make sure my ideas were original enough so I wouldn't be infringing upon her designs for those of you wondering. She was cool with it.)

When creating quilts like this you end up with a ton of scraps and I am having a hard time letting go of even the tiniest scraps. They're in a bin for the "just in case" projects. It's been fun to create the "byproducts" of the quilts; felted photo albums, coffee cozies, and right now I'm working on some coasters. I have so many ideas but not enough time to execute. You all know how that is.

Take care

Scandinavian Ornament

Whew! What a week. Add busy to an already busy time and you've got one crazy momma here.

I had a little elf working hard in her shop and she created these darling Scandinavian ornaments and sent them to me. I'm putting them in the shop so if you are looking for a last-minute gift or just something special for you or your tree I have 18 of them available. They should be up by later this afternoon.

That little elf is my other extremely talented Grandmother-in-law. I am going to showcase her work sometime soon on this blog. Most of my Christmas decorations I own were made by her. She is amazing!

PS. I have some knitting projects to post soon!

*Annie

In Honor of my Grandmother

I’m not sure where my desire to create with my hands came from but I have a hunch that my grandma had a big influence on me. My grandmother, who is 88 years old and still married to my grandpa who is 91 years old living on a farm in central Minnesota, is an artist at heart. When I was a young girl I would spend part of my summer vacation at my grandparent’s home and Grandma would always have some type of crafty project for me among other things to keep me entertained. I loved spending every minute there and have many memories I can draw upon when I need to reconnect with things that matter most in life. She was skilled at gardening, baking, crafting and had great intentions of opening a store to sell her handiwork. In fact, the store was going to be right there on the farm. Grandpa had even converted part of the garage into her shop. But unfortunately an accident prevented her from fulfilling her dream when she fell and broke her hip.
In 1991, she published a memoir titled “My Yesterday’s” and gave a copy to her children and grandchildren. I really need to reread it because she writes so eloquently. (I wish I would have inherited that trait) Towards the back of the book Grandma put together a list from A to Z about memorable things in her life and I read this:

C :: Crafts
My first try at doing craft work was to work with ceramics. I enjoyed doing ceramics but it eventually became too costly so I discontinued. I took lessons in rosemaling, a Swedish form of folk art, and painted the immigrant trunk which was in the attic of our house. I then had lessons in painting with acrylics. Other crafts I enjoy are counted cross-stitch, wood working, making dolls and sewing of any kind. I have also made quilts for each one in the family.

Children, grandchildren and great grandchildren have received her quilts. This is the quilt I received from her when I was little. She uniquely made it mine. I remember the time when she asked me to sign my name and then proceeded to outline my hands. She included that in the quilt. There is also a piece of my mother's wedding dress embroidered on the quilt. Look closely at the dollar bill. I wonder how I managed to keep that intact.

This is one of the more recent quilts she made for my niece when she graduated high school.

So it is in honor of my grandmother that I open my Etsy shop. I wish she had a computer so I could show her the impact of those summer vacations I spent with her at the farm.

Stop by for a visit!

:: Annie :: Knitted Fresh Daily