tiny guy

while tyler has been going from penn state to alabama this weekend, I've been trying to keep busy. I made a little tester of a lamb stuffed animal, to test out how it works. I did it the size of the template without enlarging it, so I got a little mini lamb in the process. It is incredibly hard to turn right side out those little legs. I messed up on the ears, so it looks more like a llama. And look at those gams! So it is a little wonky, but that's what happens when you work 200% smaller than you should. I'll probably make it two more times (at real size) before I am expected to teach others how to do it. it seems fitting that I made it with some fabric that I got from the Martha Stewart craft cast-off-bin this summer.

the lamb without a face

AHHHH!

So lamb 2.0 was enlarged to close to the final size ( i thought). He still turned out a little tiny, but better. I used some fun heavier weight fabric that I got at an estate sale. The instructions are unclear on sewing the head part, and this time I sewed the headpiece to far forward... so the lil guy doesn't really have a face. But that's why I was planning on doing it at least 2 times.

purples

I have been on a purple kick for awhile now. I ordered some wool felt because tyler wanted to make some more orcas. And I just can't buy that fake felt stuff, 100% wool just has a richer texture and color.

4th time's a charm

I finally got the last lamb done yesterday. Instead of using a heavier weight fabric like I did for the last two, I used a vintage cotton, maybe it was even at one time a sheet, I'm not sure. But I love the fabric and this one turned out good, no major mistakes. I might be sending her off to a new home...so I probably ruined the surprise, but oh well.

tab

At last week's estate sale, I saw these ledgers in the basement on a shelf of old tools. The man of the house was a salesman for coca cola at some point, and I am in love with anything graph paper. The different soda was coca-cola, dr. pepper, sprite, tab, orange, grape, and root beer. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this, but I had to have it. It reminded me of my college freshman days when we would get tab and go to a cabin in sundance. We thought we were being sooo crazy. Like Tab was dr. pepper's evil and slightly more caffinated cousin.

buttons and notions

Pins and paper clips that are circle shaped(!): the packaging got me on these.

Old shell buttons

metal button/clasps-I've never seen these before!

old wooden buttons

The sewing and notions section of estate sales are my favorite, you can find some really fun things. I got lots of buttons, and these are a couple of my favorites. I have gotten so many buttons now that I am halfway through a second jar! I love to buy ziploc bags full of buttons, and find some real unique in there. I have been able to get tons of real mother of pearl buttons, I love how heavy they feel.

Bicycles with wings

I got some fabric this weekend. I love the illustrations with flourishes (from the 50s or 60s?) and the way it is screenprinted. The one fabric is more of a true gray than the picture shows, but both of the reds match perfectly, and I think that this would make a great quilt, just using these two fabrics.

bins of happiness.

Check out a new blog by the Craft department at Martha Stewart. I was so privileged to work with all these amazing artists, and seeing this blog is bittersweet, it makes me really miss the days when my job everyday was to work with them. They were so inspiring, and it helped me to make the leap to try and be an artist of my own.

Bowl-a-rama

this bowling bag has decades of dirt and scuffs on it. Big enough for two balls though!

it came with bowling shoes and a bunch of printouts and old score sheets

after a little TLC

I picked up this old bowling bag, in a basement and kinda in rough shape, really dirty. It had a patina of dirt all over. It's zipper is broken, but I loved the shape of it, perfect carry-all size. After a good horse hair brush and some saddle soap, it cleaned up really nice. I'm throwing away the shoes though.

Doesn't it seem like everyone has a grandma who was a bowler? I know I did.

typin'

hey lil' idaho license plate peeking out from the back. Good old 1A, miss you!

I love old typewriters. This one was hiding in a closet, and I just had to have it. The color is dreamy, and it has my favorite part about old typewriters, a really large period key. It's tiny, and it works great. It just need a new ribbon. Which I don't really know if I can get, but if not, then it will be a great shelf companion to our Christmas present baby blue typewriter from my brother. I've just been typing on it, and kinda driving tyler crazy when he's trying to watch tv. After producing a paragraph of faint text, I was hooked! I love typing on old typewriters and hearing the ding at the end of the line.

I don't know what year it's from, but most of the stuff in this house was from the 60's or so, I think it must be around that time maybe.

Vintage ornaments

When at estate sales, I usually just glance at the usual pile of Christmas ornaments, just see if there is anything interesting. I look for cool homemade ornaments like the ones I have been inspired by: Styrofoam balls stuck with pins and beads and hundreds of sequins. This one is similar to it, using velvet ribbon, other trims and pearl pins. I have made some of my own, one time taking the entire BYU vs Utah football game to make one with hundreds of pins and sequins because it took my mind off being nervous.

missing the west...

I got some metal trays from a couple estate sales recently. Lots of old homes have these trays on their walls, these were found in a home with a lot of US and presidential collectibles. They were in the house for decades. Haven't decided what I'm going to do with these, as with most of the stuff I buy. It will be interesting how much of my estate sale purchases will incorporated into the decor of our next (and hopefully long-term) place.

our next state of residence!

I liked the flowers on this one. I thought they were a dark brown, but it cleaned up nice!

there are always skiiers on idaho and utah, some sort of cowboy.

this one is my favorite! Tyler got the guy to give it to us for cheap!