Best Weekend/Worst Blogger.

Hey, guys!  So, who get's the "World's Worst Blogger" award for the month of May?  ME!!  I've done a pretty cruddy job of keeping up on things lately.  I've been feeling a bit "blah" lately and my poor blog and etsy has suffered for it. Thankfully, I've still being pretty productive with other things though.  New regiment in effect, hoping it'll make a difference around here.  Thanks for sticking with me guys!

Even though it's a bit overdue, I still need to tell you about the Stitching Party with the girls!  It was seriously the best weekend.  I got the opportunity to catch up with old friends and get together with others for the very first time, it was amazing.

To bed super late and up way too early, we headed out for adventures.  The guy to a boring symposium, me to a craft party- yay!  My gal pal, Josci, and I met up with Katy and Maureen of Sew Lovely Embroidery and Lisa of A Cuppa Tea with Me!  It was so great because we've been online stitchy pals forever now but this was the first time we got together.

Can I tell you, Katy and Maureen totally spoiled the heck out of us.  Check out the sweet decorations, it's it darling?!  (I stole this photo from Sew Lovely's flickr, it's chock full of gems like this.)  There was a ton of yummy food, tea, champagne...everything a girl could ask for!

They even gave us the cutest goody bags, I told you- spoiled.  Check out all the cute loot I got:

We stitched, we bitched.  Traded tips and quips.  All in all, we had a great time.  Here's all us girls together.  Yeah, I'm inadvertently giving you guys a glimpse of my bra...leopard nonetheless.  Classy, huh?  Someday I'll get it together.

It was a gorgeous day, the weather alone would have made the weekend fabulous.  Beautiful, isn't it?  I feel so lucky that I got to spend such a lovely day with great people.

Thanks again to Katy and Maureen for hosting a lovely afternoon, you ladies rock my sock's off.  From your patterns to your sweet words of encouragement, you are always amazing! xoxo

So, can you guys see why I had such a great time?  Thought so.  Tons of stitching lately, so lots to come.  Stay tuned.  See you soon :)

Cups and Saucers

You guys know Lisa, right?  Good!  For those you who don't, she's a fellow CA crafty lady who can stitch with the best of them.  When she's not stitching and scootin' around on her bright red Vespa, she's an expert on all things tea.  Talk about a Renaissance woman!

Anyhoo, I wanted to make her a little something, just because she's great.  I started something a long time ago, using the same materials, but Boris had other plans for that.  Grrrr, that cat!  I'd glare at him now, but it's been too long and he's much too cute.  Second time around, even with the same materials, I went in a whole new direction.  And I must say, his destruction was a blessing in disguise, because I think it screams, "LISA!!!"

It's not perfect, but I still loved the results.  Behold, "Cups and Saucers."

I also loved that everything came from my stash.  The vintage flannel I used to make the circles is one of my favorite finds ever.  I wrapped the whole thing with some vintage trim to finish it off, popped in the mail and off it went to Lisa Land!  It has made it to it's forever home and lives on the wall of her crafty room.  Yay!  I can't think of a better place for it.

Want to know a secret?  Each cup has a permanent smile built in!  The way I stitched the ridges on the bottom of the cup inadvertently made them perma-happy.  This is what they look like on the backside.

The piece is mounted on a painter's canvas though, so you can't see 'em.  That's why it's a secret!

Well, that's it for now, my computer time is just about up for the day.  Less computer equals a more productive Jackson.  Besides, all this talk of Lisa and happy cups has me thinking it's time for a spot of tea.  Have a craftastic day!

Picture Perfect.

Perhaps in an attempt to completely negate any effects from the walk I had earlier in the day, I decided to eat the one of the goodies Dillon had surprised me with for Valentine's Day.  It was largest Russian Tea Cake I'd ever seen.  I had my very own Mad Hatter's Tea Party!  Which also happens to be the theme for my dream kitchen.  I can't wait to be able to hang my huge wall hanging in there!

My house normally doesn't look so quaint (and may not again for a long time) so I couldn't resist snapping a picture or two.

I also took the opportunity to get a few shots of the vintage hankies I'm adding to my shop.

This one is my favorite one.  I just love the embroidery, whoever made it was so precise.  It looks so good in fact, it's had to tell which side is the back.  That's how neat the stitches are.

Thanks for looking and have a great evening!