Found! Doodle Embroidery by tefi

A couple of years ago I bought Doodle Stitching by Aimee Ray. The images inspired me to doodle my own artwork, which I did while I was pregs with Ian - now 2 years old as of yesterday. Tempus fugit! Please ignore the fact that the cloud (below) looks like it's giving my house the finger. Or that those giant flowers look like they belong in a remake of Day of the Triffids.

Labor Day Weekend

What a blast of a weekend. Most of it was spent with my 7-month old Ian, my baby daddy Jason, my dog Oliver, and my home sweet home. Oh, and lots of thrift store/estate sale shoppin'! Pictured below are some of my finds. Not pictured is some super ugly kitschy cool deer fabric and three card table covers hand-embroidered with the symbols: heart, club, diamond, clover. Gorgeous!

Yellow shadowbox I snagged from Goodwill for $2.99 and the wire shelf from an estate sale for $20. And notice the supercool frame to the right. My new necklace display! I painted it avocado green and did a super secret something to it, then covered it in woodgrain fabric.

Three funky composer busts (Mozart, Beethoven, Bach) also from Goodwill, 59 cents each. These guys were screamin' for a new coat of paint.

Close-up of my music dudes. Another Goodwill snag - antique Danish cups. Used for...? I got two plus one saucer with a minor chip. Total: $1.77.

Close-up of my new Danish cup. Toby came from an estate sale. He keeps Oliver company during the day. Found this at a thrift store near my office. I wanted the frame so now I'm selling this handmade vintage cross-stitch in my Etsy shop.

Tefi Loves: Feeling Stitchy

Oh my. I am in love. Just came across a bright new blog called Feeling Stitchy. Perusing the photographs and blog posts allows me to imagine a world where I have the time and energy to use all of the floss, muslin, hoops and needles in my studio to stitch up a storm. In fact, while on maternity leave I was able to complete two embroidery projects of freeform trees + houses for Ian's nursery, but haven't gotten around to framing or photographing them. Shame on me! Stay tuned; I just might get it together some day. In the meantime, check out Feeling Stitchy and enjoy the pretty, pretty colors and shapes. Blog: http://www.feelingstitchy.com/ Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/54791047@N00/

Modest Ambition

Here's the latest Etsy Dallas spotlight written by yours truly:

Ever since Anne of Modest Ambition joined Etsy Dallas back on Valentine's Day (oh so sweet!), I've admired her warm and colorful crocheted designs. Her shawls, hats, and bookmarks remind me of the classic and charming items I drool over during my weekly visits to Anthropologie.

The beauty of her items is that you don't have to wait for a cold autumn breeze to come your way to enjoy them. Mark your favorite Jane Austen passage with one of Anne's bookmarks, throw one of her capelets on top of a summer dress, or simply plan ahead for the approaching cool months with her cute Little Red Riding Hood cap. Either way, you're sure to feel pretty in a Modest Ambition creation.

Book Nerd

Yesterday I spent the day with Brenda of B.Liscious fame who helped me (finally!) figure out what was wrong with my sewing machine, after stuffing our faces at Amado's breakfast bar, of course. In her words, "When in doubt, check the bobbin." So we did. Again and again. And again. We were about to give up when she saw a diagram about 3/4 of the way in the manual and I swear I saw the lightbulb go off over her head. The problem: Jumbled up stitches known as "bird's nesting." The solution: Turning a screw a tiny bitty bit clockwise. That was it. So after a satisfied afternoon of of Singles and smoothies, I drove back home and got straight on the computer to order some sewing books (okay, after a 3-hour nap). Here's what I got: Bend-the-Rules Sewing by Amy Karol 30 Colorful Quilt & Patchwork Projects by Denyse Schmidt In Stitches by Amy Butler Simple Sewing by Lotta Jansdotter Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson Pretty Little Patchwork by Larks Books (comp.) Sweet Needle Felts by Jenn Docherty Sew & Stow by Betty Oppenheimer I can't wait to get started!

Oh, Drool!

This past Saturday at the Urban Street Bazaar, I got so many compliments on my Koi sweater. Almost everyone asked me, "Did you make that?" Considering I had a booth selling my handmade goods at a craft show, it's no surprise. However, I did NOT make it, and I'm jealous of whomever did. It's a beautiful light-weight, gray cardigan with colorful bursts of applique all over the place. The sweater also has a nice trim of vintage-style fabric with a green and yellow floral print, along with large green buttons. This pic does not give it justice, but it's the best I can do. Guess where I got it!



I also paired the sweater with a couple of my mismatched fabric bobbies (see above) and BAM! Instant cuteness. I'll be selling more of my fabric and vintage button bobbies this Saturday at the Etsy Dallas Trunk Show. I nearly sold out last weekend and had to madly make more Sunday night, so don't miss out!

And here are a couple more cardigans to drool over, also from you-know-where:

Funny Ha-Ha

Came across a couple funny pics that made my Tuesday a little cheerier:


Crochet Man, found on Crafty Little Owl's blog


My cousin, Jennifer, and me on a catamaran in the San Francisco Bay, August 2007 (How is it that her hair looks so darn good?)

Annie, Get Your Gluegun

I'm madly making fabric buttons and gluing them willy nilly to bobby pins, paper clips, pony tail bands, magnets, and thumbtacks. Just look at the madness below! Tomorrow my mom is going to help me package them nice and pretty for my upcoming OCA show. She's also got a show - a first for her! - at her Nia studio (that's some sort of yoga/tai chi/aerobics workout program) this Saturday and I'm helping her out by making tags for her scarves and business cards for her customers. Tit for tat, and all that.





And check out these great Xmas tree ornaments I made this past weekend while laying around in bed recovering from 2 birthday parties. I used felt, embroidery, sequins, polyfill stuffing, and ribbon. I will make more and debut them for sale at my upcoming Urban Street Bazaar. Yippee!



After taking these shots of my crazy studio, I swivelled around and took these shots of this grand dress and sweater I bought the other day at - where else? - Anthropologie. Now invite me over for an Xmas party already so I can wear it! (I promise to leave the legwarmers at home.)



Then I mosied over to the sunroom and look who I found dying for a T-R-E-A-T. (I think Oliver's learning to spell...)

Watch My Library Grow

Yippe dippy - I finally placed a rather large order for some crafty books I've been craving. I was waiting for the sale prices to go down and they did. Toot, toot!

I got these in an effort to expand my rather limited D.I.Y. knowledge of stitching:





These will teach and inspire me to make felted beads and such with an awesome lot of merino wool that I recently purchased off Etsy from Mary Jane's Attic:





I hope this will help me improve and further my crafty ventures and addictions:



And these are some books I bought with a birthday git card (yeah, I know it was in May) from Timmy Teabag. The illustrations are beautiful and great for inspirations and use in all sorts of design:





Lastly, I want to add this to my collection once the sale price drops a wee bit:

Sublime Stitching

Before I dove headfirst into the jewelry design business, I was a mad stitcher thanks largely in part to two people: my late grandmother who left me all of her sewing goodness, and Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching. I went ka-razy for her patterns when I first spotted her ad at the back of Readymade magazine and began embroidering anything I could find. So imagine my glee when I saw her most recent ad for a new pattern featuring artwork by Kurt Halsey.

Ain't it precious? In addition to Kurt Halsey's pattern from Sublime Stitching, I also bought a Happy Camper pattern, Bon Voyage, and Word Balloons, so my Halsey creatures can speak little words of sweetness and love.

Below is a little slide show of some of my first embroidered pieces with SS patterns. I have a lot more, including Rocket Man place mats complete with alien beings and rocket ships, but have yet to snap pics of them. Beware, these pics below were taken before a) I knew how to use Photoshop, and b) I had any idea how to use a camera.