Lilac Saloon

Tree Stump Trivet

I saw this little tutorial in the "felt crafts" section on Martha Stewart's website.  It looks really simple to make but so awesome.  I want to make some as coasters!

4 Stories: Childhood Games

Giant Spiderweb

I had one cousin who was the same age as me and lived only a couple of blocks away, so we would always get to play at each others houses.  To our disappointment, my little brother would always have to tag along.  He was 4 years younger and so he desperately wanted to be included just as much as we desperately wanted him to go away.  This lead to us playing all sorts of tricks on him - normally just hiding from him and then jumping out to scare him.  But one day, we got ahold of a big skein of white yarn and decided to create a giant human spiderweb.  My cousin and I went into his bedroom and closed the door and proceeded to dart back and forth, weaving in and out of things across the room to create an intricate web of doom.  We made sure to use ALL the yarn.  We then placed fake spiders all over the web and invited little brother inside.

 

Radio Show

I had a little radio/tape player in my room when I was a kid and I remember learning that I could "record" my OWN VOICE when pushing down that red record button.  My little brother and I were playing in his room (I was 7, he was 3) and I had the tape recorder set up and ready for an important event.  One of my mom's tapes was in the player and it was playing soft and beautiful piano music (George Winston - December) which I randomly interrupted with my own voice as if it was a radio show.  At 7, I never realized I was permanently ruining my mothers tape.  I just thought it was so cool that I could turn this boring music tape into a show with interviews and my own singing voice interrupting parts of the songs.  Yeahhh.  I said things like "Brian!  Say something!  Brian comeonnnn say something!  Anything!!" and then three or 4 seconds of music would go by and then you'd hear Brian yell "POOOP!!".  We ruined the entire tape with our antics and when I'd realized (and when mom realized) what we had done I felt so guilty that I hid the tape for so so long.  I swear... I still have it somewhere and would LOVE to hear it now!!  Priceless!!

 

 Ace of Base Diva

As a child, I definitely was a "leader" when playing games with others.  I found this to be especially evident in my memories with my friend Amanda.  She would come over for sleepovers all the time and one of our favorite things to do was to "dress up" in "dance" outfits and choreograph performances to our favorite Ace of Base songs.  When there were guy parts in the song, we'd include my brother.  Our dance outfits were tights + bathing suits.  Yes!!  I would always be the "lead singer" and she'd be the backup singers.  We would dance and lip-sync to the songs and perform them for my mom, usually in the kitchen where we could slide around in our tights better for the dramatic slide across the floor moves.  I grew out of the childhood diva phase but I never grew out of my love for dancing ridiculously to Ace of Base!!

Writing Club

In elementary school one year, I used to go over to my friend Alysha's house after school every day until my Mom got out of work.  We were both very creative and loved to write stories.  We decided to start our own writing club.  We'd have a certain amount of time to write a story and then we'd bring it to the club and share it.  Our stories were to be kept in our Trapper Keepers, the official folder of the writing club.  We would sit together with our Trapper Keepers in our laps, stacked with lined paper and freshly sharpened pencils, and write.  Our stories were elaborate plots with unique characters and packed with childhood imagination...and to our surprise they were never published into real books!!  I don't think kids do this stuff anymore now that they have cell phones and video games.  That is sad isn't it??

..................

To read more stories, head over to Freckled Nest!
Every week a new writing topic is posted and anyone can join in! 

I Made Some Too!

I've been seeing these fabric pumpkins all over the blogs lately!  I thought they looked so cute and so fun to make so I made some the other night.  I love them and think you should make some too!  The great tutorial that I used was put together by Danielle and shown step-by-step on her blog.

Holiday Baking

As soon as it starts to get colder outside, I automatically feel like baking.  This year, I'll actually be able to spend the holidays with family (it has been years!) so I am sure I'll be baking all sorts of things to bring and share.  I'm gathering inspiration and I thought I'd share some of my findings!

Candy Apples

Chocolate Glazed Peanut Butter Fudge

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes

Chocolate and Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies

Don't those all look amazing??  My absolute favorite holiday treat is actually pretty hard to find decent photos or consistent recipes of online.  They are Italian Knot Cookies (lemon flavored) and are so so addicting!  I'll definitely be making those at the very least :)

 

Happy Friday

Just popping in to say "Happy Friday"!  If you like the photo above, try using it as computer desktop wallpaper!  Click on the image to grab it in it's full size.  It's pretty large but it's square so I like to use it centered and then choose a nice color to compliment it for the rest of the background.

Sneak a peek at it on my desktop!

Have a great weekend!!

Wallflowers for Jennifer: Complete!

I'm really excited to finally be able to share these with you!

I've been working back and forth with Jennifer to create these custom Wallflowers for her home in the Netherlands.  She wants to fill a wall next to her piano with something that will help absorb some of the sound.  Wool felt Wallflowers are the gorgeous solution!

I had such a blast making and photographing these.  It has made my day to see them all together, finished and hanging up!!

If you're interested in a custom set of Wallflowers, send me an email!

Wallflowers for Jennifer

Thanks to Jennifer and her request for extra extra large custom Wallflowers, I've pushed their size to the max!!  I think this is as big as I can go with this design.  I'm afraid they'll start to lose their sturdiness if they are any bigger.  So these flowers are the official "Extra Extra Large" size and are around 18 inches wide!  These three flowers are for her set of 7.

Imagine the possibilities with these in your home!!  Where would you put Wallflowers?  I'd love to hear suggestions - I bet you have a new idea I hadn't thought of!!

Estherville Craft Show

On Saturday I set up shop at the Estherville Craft Show!  I shared a table with my new friend Kim who makes jellies and scarves and candy - oh my!  She invited me to share a table with her and it was a really great time!  Here are a few photos from the event.

Evan looks cute behind that table of pretty things - doesn't he?

I've never done a craft show before.  Actually, it's the first time I've had my products outside of my home!  It was a good exercise to take them all out of their environment and put them all together in one spot.  It was an interesting challenge to figure out how to display them so that they each shine.

That typewriter is from 1913!!  OMG - right?  I rescued that thing from the attic of my landlord's warehouse.  It was a dark and dusty adventure but well worth it.  It is a perfect display case for the flower magnets!

I had a crazy idea.  I called Kim and said "Do you think they'll care if I bring a door?  Yeah, like, an actual door."  She said do it, so I did it!  We pulled this door off of a little "garage" shed thing in our yard.  We didn't think our landlord would mind :)... and also... we pulled the door knob off and painted it RED.  Much improved, in my opinion :).

I met a lot of very nice people and hopefully will run into them again while I'm out and about in Estherville!  That is the best part about living in a small town.  Warm, friendly people!  I'm feeling more at home here every day.  

Special thanks to Kim for inviting me to the show, sharing your table, buying a set of magnets, making amazing scotch-a-roos and to Josh for hauling that door full of nails to and from my house!!!  :)

 

The Sketchbook Project

I decided it would be fun to take part in The Sketchbook Project: 2011, created by Art House Co-Op (read about it here if you don't know what it is!).  I ordered my sketch book in red and with the theme "Sleepless".  You must choose from a list of themes when you order and that one sounded the most inspirational to me.  I'm interpreting Sleepless by creating tireless repeated patterns throughout my book.  They have been really fun to do.  I thought I'd share my progress with you so far.

 

Some are more successful than others but that's okay!  When you sit in front of a blank page, pen in hand, without a plan...both good and bad things happen.  For me, the goal is not to be brilliant in my execution of the book but rather to enjoy the process.  

You still have until October 31st if you want to participate!!  Hop on over and sign up and if you do...please share your progress with us!  See more sketchbook progress on flickr in the sketchbook project group!

Etsy Favorite: Stephanie Ryan Art

I'm back with another Etsy Favorite!  This one is seriously good - I need piles of money so I can unload it on her shop and buy it all for myself!!  Anyone have a spare pile of money for this cause?

Anyway - for real though - Stephanie Ryan caught my attention when we were both featured in a Treasury together.  I'm always attracted to florals and this girl CAN DO FLORALS!  Her work can be described as soft, beautiful, magical and feminine.  I see her work looking great as fabrics and I told her that I believe her prints are destined for greatness in fabric form!!

Here are my favorite favorites from her shop:

You're in love now too, right?

Good!  Stephanie also has a blog so be sure to add it to your list of blogs to read!

Thank you for inspiring us, Stephanie!  I am your new number one fan :)

 

Start of Something Big

Literally, I'm starting to make something really BIG!

You can't tell yet from the photos, but I'm working on a custom Wallflowers order for Jennifer in the Netherlands!  She contacted me about creating a large set of large wallflowers for the wall next to her piano.  They will help to absorb some of the noise in a room that would otherwise cause echoing.

We're doing a set of 7 flowers that are 10, 14 and 18 inches in three different colors.  I'm really excited about how this project is going to turn out and can not wait to share the final design with you!  It's going to be dramatic, soft and beautiful.

If you're interested in ordering your own custom Wallflowers, send me an email!  
I still have some sets left in the shop, too!

Sashiko

I'm really in love with the look of Sashiko, Japanese embroidery.  I'm always drawn to things that are the perfect balance of simplicity and complexity.  The stitches in Sashiko are simple, but the patterns can become quite intricate and technique involved.  I'm definitely going to be trying it out soon!

Here's some great inspiration:

by littlelixie on flickr:

by aya*studio on flickr:

by shio-nex on flickr:

by bunnieprops on flickr:  (jealous of this kit!!)

 

The Purl Bee has done an amazing tutorial as well!!

She discusses materials as well as important technique details that aren't necessarily the same as normal embroidery.  I learned a lot by reading her tutorial and I recommend it!  She also sells supplies!

I smell a Christmas present!  ;)

Stitch In Progress

Tons of teeny tiny running stitches in pink, red and orange on natural linen.  Almost done!

He Lives On

He may be gone but he is not forgotten.  Sarah Burton grabbed the McQueen brand by the horns - and his strong vision lives on through her.  Not only was I not disappointed, I was oohing, ahhing and gasping at the Spring 2011 collection of very earthy inspired otherworldly design.

 

{photo credits go to style.com}

Little Green Clock

While sorting through the clocks and watch parts for Metal Octopus, we came across THE most adorable clock in the entire world.  Actually, until this point, I did not know that a clock could ever be described as adorable.  Now I am sure that it can...

CUTE!!!!  Right?

It's so amazing.  Should I sell it?  I'm not sure I want to part with it.  It's sitting on my desk right now and even though it doesn't work...I still look up at it just to admire it.  I just realized that I should have put something next to it so you could see how small it is.  The round face part is about the size of an Oreo cookie, if that helps.

It is a gift from the 1970's - to me!

October Sun

The past few evenings as I'm working in my sewing room, I notice that the sun is setting just right so that light comes streaming in through one of my windows.  It looks so gorgeous since it's also filtered by a group of trees before it enters my windows.  I couldn't help but leave the studio for a bit this evening and take some photos of the gorgeous October sun.

 

Autumn is my favorite season, hands down.  Is there anything better than crispy leaves, apple cider, pumpkins, warm sweaters and the golden glow of the October sun?

Home Sweet Sneak Peek

I'm doing a collection of "Home Sweet Home" embroideries for the shop and I thought I'd give you another little sneak peek at one!  Cute right?  That sea-foam swiss dot fabric was one of my favorite finds when we were garage sale-ing in Alpena, Michigan this summer!

Brand Inspiration

I'm beginning to put a lot more focus into solidifying my branding.  I know that Lilac Saloon needs to be better defined and I'm on a mission to make that happen!  Pulling together a board of things I absolutely adore...is the perfect start.  Then to find a connective thread and interpret it all in my own way.

I hope to be making some changes to Lilac Saloon and bringing in fresh new ideas that will start to feel as if they're coming from a stronger concept.  The shop is so mish-mash for me right now and I'm putting all my energy into brainstorming a collection for Lilac Saloon that tell you the story of what it is really all about.  That's my goal.

Wish me luck.  :)

Flooded

When it rains in Estherville, our river very easily floods up and over it's banks.  It floods the park, almost floods the pool, creeps up to people's driveways and even floods the tennis courts and playground!  The last time this happened, it was so hot out that the water dried up within a day or two.  This time, the water is up to the road and has been that way for over a week now!

Wendy's Vows in Progress

I'm working on a custom order.  I've been putting in long 11 or 12 hour days on it actually!  A lovely girl named Wendy wanted to have her wedding vows hand embroidered to give as a gift to her parents, as a sign of promise to them.  They also have theirs hand embroidered.

Here's a sneak peek.  I'm actually MUCH farther along now.  These photos were taken three days ago.