This week's Cleveland Handmade giveaway

Every week Cleveland Handmade has a giveaway to spotlight one of their members and thank all their wonderful supporters and customers. It's a great opportunity to win some lovely items and check out the high-quality handmade art in their member shops. Entry is easy - full rules at the Cleveand Handmade web site.

This week's item is a lovely pair of silver and brass hoop earrings from Jewelry by Francine.

Cookie-baking marathon

Spent this weekend (all weekend!) baking Christmas cookies. I got a recipe for lime cookies from my sister - she made them last year but somehow I missed out on the taste testing. Anyway, I made them this year and they are YUMMY. This is my new favorite Christmas cookie recipe: Lime Snowflakes & Ornaments.

Holiday Tradition: Men in Tights

Image Source

I saw our local ballet company's performance of The Nutcracker for the first time about 13 years ago and have been going to performances every year since then. I love the grand old theaters, the music and seeing all the little girls dressed up for the occasion. For a long time it was a solo tradition, but over the past few years it's evolved to include my Mom, my sister and my niece. Last Christmas we tried adding my Little Guy and my nephew to the mix, but at five years old they just weren't that impressed. They agreed the fight between the Nutcracker and the Mouse King was pretty cool, but neither of them could understand why the characters didn't talk. So we're back to our "girls' day out" today. Bring on the men in tights!

Memories and Giveaways

Remember the Hallmark commercial from a few years ago with the woman going through the box of ornaments in the attic and remembering when she got each one? That's me. Every year when we get out the boxes of ornaments, there are always those special few I've had for years that have to go on the tree first. For the past two years, I've been trying to explain to the Little Guy WHY they're special to me.



This ornament was tied to a present on my first Christmas. (I won't tell you how old that makes it!) My Mom passed it along to me when I moved into my first apartment. It's been the first one to grace the tree every year since then.


These two were made by my Grammy. When I was little, her whole tree was covered with beautiful ornaments she made herself - snowmen and Santas, beaded ornaments, crocheted snowflakes. She passed away three years ago and the cousins divided up all the ornaments so we'd each have a few that she made.



Snoopy was a gift from my Dad when I was 9. He loved watching the Peanuts specials with us; Woodstock was his favorite. This is our third Christms without Dad. I'm not sure it's getting easier yet, but the ornament always makes me smile.


And full circle from my first ornament to the ones that commemorate the year the Little Guy was born. The teddy is a "Baby's 1st Christmas" ornament; the angel was a gift from a friend.

How about you? Tell me about your favorite ornament in the comments. I'll pick one commenter at random on December 15. The winner will receive a Luscious Lips Gift Set from my shop. Let's hear those stories!

UPDATE: And the winner (chosen by highly scientific random drawing) is... Vintage aka Vinty. Congratulations!

Cleveland Handmade Weekly Giveaway: Cranberry Bracelet

Cleveland Handmade is hosting a giveaway to thank all our wonderful supporters and customers, as well as give you the opportunity to check out the high-quality handmade art in member shops.



This beautiful red and purple glass bead crochet bracelet from Leah Ana Designs closes with a sterling silver clasp. The crochet design allows it to stretch slightly from 7 to 8.5 inches.

WIN Cleveland Handmade: Lucky Wishbone Earrings from La Petite Fleur

Cleveland Handmade is hosting a giveaway to thank all our wonderful supporters and customers, as well as give you the opportunity to check out the high-quality handmade art in member shops.



These simple Lucky Wishbone earrings from La Petite Fleur are hand forged from 16-gauge* sterling silver wire into delicate thin blades in the front. Light texture is evidence of their handmade nature. The earrings are tumbled to a high polish. Wishbones gracefully hang just a hair shy of 1-5/8 inches from top to bottom in the front. The backs are a bit shorter. These elegant earrings are sure to become a favorite.

"So I Was Having a Headache..."

Isn't that a great name for an Etsy Treasury? There are lots of great ideas here for cold and flu season, including my Lavender Eye Mask. Thanks for the love, NottyPooch!.

Maybe I should have a "Plan B"

So I'm planning to make Thanksgiving dinner this year for the Big Guy, the Little Guy and my Mom. It's not like I haven't done it before but it's been...a while. Like at least ten years. And both my Mom and my sister have set a pretty high family standard, turkey-dinner wise. Think I could get away with this as a decoy if the turkey is a disaster?

Now Why Didn't I Think of That?

Chalkboard tablecloths - what a cool idea! This would make sitting at the kids' table a lot more fun. And there are grownup uses for it, too. Like this, courtesy of Unclutterer.com:



Or this, from Elsie Marley's blog:

Bustin' Makes Me Feel Good!

Happy Halloween!

Cleveland Handmade giveaway: spiral mug from SheaClay Pottery

Isn't this a gorgeous mug? It's from SheaClay Pottery and it's the current giveaway item from Cleveland Handmade. Handcrafted on the potter’s wheel, this stoneware cup measures 4″ H x 5-1/4″ W and holds 12 ounces of your fave concoction. It is dishwasher- and microwave-safe, as well as lead-free. Visit Cleveland Handmade and enter for this giveaway by noon on November 4. And while you're there, check out lots of other talented Cleveland crafters!

Featured in an Etsy treasury

My lavender eye mask is featured in an Etsy treasury by Unique Beads and More. This is the first treasury I've been included in and I'm ridiculously excited about it. There are some lovely items in this one - don't the slippers look cozy?

Cleveland Handmade custom necklace giveaway

Cleveland Handmade is hosting a giveaway. They're giving you the chance to win a custom stamped and domed sterling silver charm necklace generously donated by Cleveland Handmade member Lori Paximadis, aka virtuallori.



The necklace is lovely - a stamped silver pendant that can be customized with any name(s) or word(s) in all lowercase up to 14 letters around the lower edge of the circle. You can add dots or dashes between names, too. The disk is 1 inch (2.5 cm) round before doming; the final diameter is approximately 7/8 inch (2.25 cm). A gray patina is applied, and the pendant is rough sanded for a natural but refined look.

Visit Cleveland Handmade to enter; check here for full contest rules. Entries accepted until noon on Wednesday, October 28. Happy browsing!

New Halloween Decor

I've been in the mood for a Halloween sewing project and this pattern caught my eye. I've only done paper piecing once before and had a few false starts (the fact that I started at 11pm didn't help!) but once I got the hang of it the pillow top went together pretty quickly. The individual pumpkins would look nice on either end of a Halloween table runner, too. Maybe next year!

More items for the shop - lovely lavender eye masks

A few more items ready to be added to my Etsy shop. These are also lavender eye masks, minus the removable fleecy cover of the previous version. All the same good-smelling stress and headache relief benefits, outfitted in lovely cotton prints.



There's a teal-green swirl version, a colorful batik, light blue stars, a feathery sortof print, blue and turquois fern print, and a funky dotted batik.

New for the shop: Lavender Eye Mask

Putting the finishing touches on some new Lavender Eye Masks for the shop. These have a super-soft, zip-off fleece cover that can be washed, and they're filled with flax seed and organic lavender buds. They smell wonderful and they're great for headaches. I keep one stored in the freezer and use it when I'm feeling a little under the weather or just need a little extra help unwinding at the end of the day. I gave one to my mother to try and she's already given hers away and ordered two more for friends. She's my best sales rep! :o)

Like Father, Like Son

We visited a local greenhouse over the weekend to check out their Fall Festival. The Big Guy and the Little Guy had lots of fun with the Halloween displays...

Little Red Riding Hood

The Little Guy pointed out the other day that his daddy and I both have cozy bathrobes but he does not, and he asked me to make him one. How can you turn down a request like that? :o) So off we went to Joann's, sale flyer in hand, to pick out a pattern and fabric. This went together pretty quickly and I'm really happy with the end result. But even more important, the Little Guy loves it. He's showed it to everyone who's visited our house in the past few days, and models it every chance he gets.

Experimenting with product photos

So I'm discovering that getting good photos of products for my Etsy shop is harder than MAKING products for my Etsy shop. This is the third or fourth attempt and I'm getting closer to what I want. Natural light is definitely best, different color backgrounds make the shop more interesting to look at and I like the little touch of nature in this one.

I'm having withdrawal...

With the garden in full swing and a dozen other things going on over the summer, I haven't had a chance to do much sewing lately. We had a rainy Saturday and I was looking for a quick and easy project to get back in the groove. I found this apron panel in the bottom of my stash. I've had it so long I honestly can't remember where or when I bought it. I ironed it off, cut it out and had a finished apron in less than an hour. I even made it double sided (the other side is a fall print) instead of just hemming the edges to give it a little more heft. I'm thinking it will make a nice pre-Thanksgiving gift for my sister. Shhh, don't tell her!

Leaves & Stitches Etsy Shop is open!

After months of planning, experimenting and testing various recipes, my Etsy shop is officially open for business! I've listed several all-natural bath salts, lip scrubs and lip balms in various fragrances/flavors, with more to come. I have so many ideas for products, I'm not sure where to begin. My craft room smells like half a dozen essential oils and I keep finding lavender buds in the darnedest places...

Check out the shop and let me know what you think. Questions, suggestions or custom orders are always welcome!

Wardrobe Refashion - 1st official project

I joined Wardrobe Refashion for a two-month stint at the beginning of this month but, aside from some embarassingly easy too-short-pants to shorts conversions for the Little Guy, hadn't had a chance to work on any projects. This is my first "official" refashion, beginning with this bag. I loved the fabric and the idea of a hands-free, cross body bag when I bought it, but discovered the bag's structure is just not functional on a very short, busty person. I never used it and had tossed it in the Goodwill donations pile before Wardrobe Refashion.



I dug it back out this weekend and took the bag apart to see if there was enough fabric to create a new bag. Here's the destruction in progress. Round bottom of bag and long strap have been removed, and lining has been separated from all the bag pieces. I was pleasantly surprised to find this left a nice, square shape that could be converted into a decent-sized box bottom tote.



Adding low-loft batting to the lining layer for added strength and structure; one long, wide strap converted into two short, narrow straps...



And the finished product, a much more usable tote bag with a funky button closure.

Happy Independence Day!

I love small-town celebrations. Today started with parades, complete with antique cars, firetrucks, Boy Scout troops, gymnasts, Shriners in little cars, clowns, a high school marching band, local politicians and Uncle Sam.

Today was also the second day of the craft show with Mom. Yesterday was a slow day but more people came by the booth today. Mom sold several baskets and my “sore muscle soaking salts” have been popular. Mom enjoys craft shows as much for the opportunity to visit as she does actually selling her baskets. She still lives in the same small town I grew up in and I think she knew 75% of the people who’ve stopped by her booth. We took turns watching the booth and taking breaks to have homemade ice cream and watch the entertainment (clog dancers, country music and the local dance studio troupe), and we bumped into Abraham Lincoln and President McKinley at the barbequed chicken stand this afternoon.


We finished off our 4th of July with fireworks. This is the first time we've taken the Little Guy to see them. He's six but still really sensitive to loud noises, so we wanted to find someplace where we could see them clearly but still be far enough away to make the noise a little more manageable. He absolutely loved them, and it was so much fun to listen to him ooooh and aaaaah over every one.

Headed to a craft show this weekend

I got a last-minute call to help my Mom display her hand-woven baskets at a craft show this weekend and decided to make up some extra bath salts, lip balms and scrubs to have in her booth. I’d already planned to take some vacation time this week which should have given me plenty of time to make up some products…except the containers I ordered were delayed and didn’t come in until yesterday afternoon…and the show started this morning at 11am. I started mixing bath salts at 3:00 yesterday afternoon and finished labeling the last batch at 1am. When I finally crawled into bed the Big Guy told me I smelled like an herb shop. Here’s hoping Mom and I have a good show! And if we don’t, I officially have enough items to start setting up my Etsy shop.


Here's Mom with her beautiful baskets. The crafty gene runs in the family!

Adventures in beading

For my birthday this year, the Big Guy went together with a few friends to get me a larger bead loom. I have one my Dad made me a few years ago that’s large enough for necklaces (like this one) or small wall hangings, but I’ve wanted to try some larger pieces. This loom can be used as a traditional bead loom or with a double warp like a tapestry loom, which will be nice for larger pieces because it will make them stronger. It took be a full day to figure out the double warp but I finally have it strung and am working on a little test piece. Now I just need to decide on a pattern for my first real project.

More herb harvesting

I had enough lavender from my garden this year to dry seven bundles, plus oregano and thyme grown from starts my mother gave me last year. I spent this morning stripping leaves and buds off the stems and bottling them up. This is the first year I’ve harvested my cooking herbs and got enough of each for a nice-sized bottle of each. I love having herbs from my garden instead of buying them from the grocery store. Peppermint will be next, but it’s not quite ready to pick yet.

Dragonfly wall hanging

I’ve been working on this stained-glass style, quilted wall hanging (from this pattern) whenever I have a few spare minutes over the past several weeks. I’m really happy with how it turned out and the colors are a perfect match for my craft room walls. I hung it up and realized that, in spite of all the years of crafting, it’s the first thing I’ve displayed in my craft room that I actually made myself. I either give things away as gifts or hang up things I’ve bought from other crafters. It’s so nice to show off my own work for a change!

Sweet grass braids

This is sweet grass. A friend who’s Native American uses it for smudging in traditional ceremonies, but she wasn’t having any luck growing it in her garden. She gave me a little pot a few years ago to see if I could get it to grow. It seems to like my herb garden and spreads a little more every year. I can cut it back several times in early summer before the weather turns hot and dry, and it will come back thicker every time. I braid it when it’s fresh and let it dry for a few days, then send a batch of braids back to my friend. It has a wonderful, distinctive sweet smell when it’s cut. My craft room always smells so good when I’m drying a fresh batch!

Lavender harvesting

I’ve been watching the lavender for the past several days, waiting for just the right time to begin picking. This is the first batch hanging up to dry. I’ll probably have 3-4 more batches by the time I’m done, depending on how quickly it begins to bloom. Once it’s dry, I’ll strip the buds off the stems and use them for bath salts and eye pillows. I never have enough for all the crafting I do but it’s nice to keep my homegrown lavender for gifts for family and friends.

Creativity on Parade

"Parade the Circle" is a free community arts parade held in our city every year. It's sponsored by the art museum and includes guest artists, local artists, area families, schools and community groups. Everyone makes their own costumes and floats based on an annual theme. We hadn't been to the parade in years but decided this summer we really wanted to take the Little Guy. It's a wonderful, kid-friendly event and he just loved the stilt-dancers and music.


This phoenix costume was amazing, and she was surrounded by a group of little kids dressed as flames.


I love watching the giant puppets. Most of them have long robes that completely cover the puppetmasters, and they have to move slowly so the wind doesn't topple them. They look like they're gliding along the street.


These were my favorite puppets. Their expressions were so serene - they reminded me of colorful spirits out for a stroll among the rest of us.

Bath salts, lip balms and herb stuff - Oh, my!

For my sister's birthday this spring I gave her homemade bath salts, lip balm and some other herb-y goodness. She liked them so much she asked me to make up gifts for her kids' teachers. Here's the result - citrus bath salts, a grapefruit body scrub, an old-fashioned French clay and lavender powder puff, beeswax lip balm and lip exfoliating scrub. I really like how they they turned out, including the labels for everything. I found some fancy canning jars for the larger items that made it easy to put laminated labels on top, between the ring and the lid.

A Little Nostalgia

I've designed a couple small quilted wall hangings based on Celtic knot designs and want to do more. For some reason, the idea of creating a complex image from a single continuous line just fascinates me. I was flipping through my design inspiration files and ran across some photos that reminded me a lot of Spirograph designs. Remember Spirograph? I had one when I was a kid and loved drawing with it. I started checking Toys 'R' Us, Amazon.com and a couple other toy sites and realized they don't make the original Spirograph anymore. So, off to eBay and the start of a small-scale obsessive attempt to buy one for a reasonable price. After being beaten out at the last possible second on four different auctions, I finally won one. It's complete with all the original pieces - even the colored ballpoint pens and the little pushpins that hold the wheels in place. I can't wait to play with it!

Seed Starting, Round 2

We have a second crop of sprouts AND I figured out a cheap light system. I found several tutorials online for how to build an adjustable system with fluorescent shop lights suspended from chain, but I didn't need anything that big and I didn't want to invest in a huge set of lights, lumber, chain and various other bits and pieces to build a set. My seed flat is 22" long. I found two 24" under cabinet lights at Walmart that already had grow bulbs in them, and used a cheap 24" wire shelf to make an overhead holder for them. For now, the bulbs are hanging from long metal ties about 1-1/2" above the plants. As the plants get taller, I can shorten the ties. And when they outgrow that, I'll just have to prop up the ends of the shelf on something. Took me 5 minutes to assemble and cost less than $20, and it will be easy to store for next year. Works for me!

Starting Again, from Seed

Sorry, bad pun. We're giving the seed starting another try. The Little
Guy was not interested in helping, having indulged his need to dig in the dirt and play with peat disks on the first attempt. I was able to salvage the seed starting mix from the peat disks from the first round and just crumbled them up into peat pots for this batch. I definitely like working with peat pots better than the peat disks. The disks were awkward to place seeds in, especially the really tiny seeds, and nearly everything that sprouted ended up with a tap root poking out the side of the disk mesh. At least I learned something new in the first attempt!

This time, I tried all the same herbs plus calendula, violas, zinnias (which I'm hoping will deter the deer from my garden), cherry tomatoes and green peppers. I think I'm going to wait on the lettuce and start it directly in the garden boxes we used last year. Oh, and I have poppies to plant directly in the garden when the time is right.

We cleaned out the garden area last fall and pulled out boatloads of peppermint to make room for a true herb garden. Right now it's empty and sad looking. I can't wait to see it full of herbs and veggies this summer!

Coloring Easter Eggs

We did color traditional Easter eggs but, of course, I can't find those photos. So here's the paper version, made to decorate Easter treat bags for my niece and nephew. Every once in a while, a little coloring book action is good for the soul.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Easter

Here in our little corner of the world, Easter weather is a tricky thing. Some years it's balmy and mild with lots of blooming things, and other years it looks like...this. Good thing the Easter Bunny has a fur coat!

First Attempt At Seed Starting...

...was officially a failure. While the Miracle Grow made for some nice, healthy leaves, every one of the little buggers is growing horizontally due to too little direct light. Yanked 'em all out, recycled the seed starting mix and will have to try again. I still don't have grow lights but don't need to get the seeds started just yet, so I have time to figure something out.

First Signs of Spring

I attended a lecture on seed starting a few weeks ago and, in spite of the overwhelming amount of information about which seeds need to be soaked, which ones like to be covered, which ones don't like to be covered, what soil temperature is best, the dangers of overwatering and underwatering, and the dire predictions of failure without the right lights, I decided to give it a try. Last weekend the Little Guy and I planted lettuce, sage, parsley, cilantro, forget-me-nots and morning glories in peat discs, which are now taking up one entire end of my craft table. As of today, everything has sprouted except the morning glories. I've been using a desk lamp with a CFL bulb for a grow light, and I think I made the fatal light-too-far-from-the-seedlings mistake. All the sprouts are reeeeaaalllllly tall and floppy. Sigh. Oh well. I gave them a dose of Miracle Gro hoping that will toughen them up, and if not, we'll give it another try. Seeds are cheap and I think we started everything too early anyway, considering our last frost date here is late May.

Two Visits from the Tooth Fairy in Two Days

After weeks of bugging the Little Guy to keep wiggling his loose tooth so it would come out, he finally lost the first one yesterday. It was so loose it was leaning sideways and it just popped out without any drama at all. (Very few things happen without any drama with this child!) Since it was painless AND it got him a dollar from the Tooth Fairy, he yanked out its wiggly neighbor at kindergarten today and came home with his little bitty tooth in a ziploc bag.

Tonight when I put him to bed he stuck it in his tooth fairy pillow. He told me he was talking about the tooth fairy with his friends at kindergarten. They decided 1) tooth fairies are girls, 2) they're veeeery tiny, and 3) you don't want to mess with them, 'cause they may be little but they're really strong from lugging around bags full of teeth and gold dollar coins. Now I can't get the image of a mosquito-sized body builder in a tutu and wings lurching through the air with a sack full of loot out of my head!

It's done, it's done!

The "Mother and Child" necklace is finished with just a few days to spare. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, plus I tried a few new ideas on the straps and fringe that will carry over well to another project. Yay!





And the tooth fairy pillow is being called into action for the first time this evening. The Boy lost his first tooth! Big doin's at our house the past few days. :o)