February 2010 – Page 2 – Jennifer Michie

February 11, 2010 / 0 Comments

I Wanna Hold Your Hand!

Aren’t these Valentine’s from Martha Stewart adorable? They made me think of being little when my art teacher would have us make all kinds of things out of our hands; turkeys for Thanksgiving and Rudolphs for Christmas. This is a cute carry on from that. You would even make them more grown-up looking by adding on jewels for rings and bracelets if you were giving them to grown-up girlfriends.

Another sweet idea I saw were these Valentine’s matchboxes on Inchmark. They are too cute and if you combined them with the new lace paper cutters from Martha you could really dress these up, by cutting out trim in a Valentine’s themed craft paper and wrapping them around your matchbox “gift” boxes.

Speaking of Valentine’s gifts, one of the little projects I mentioned I was working on, I finished yesterday morning. It has taken me a bit of time to complete, I have had to steal away time when my Valentine hasn’t been around. I am going to tie it to his Valentine’s surprises! Shhh! Its a secret!

To make your own Valentine Hand Cards click here:

To make your own Valentine’s matchboxes click here:

February 10, 2010 / 0 Comments

I Missed It!

Oh, yet again the gorgeous and creative Jennifer Murphy did a Holiday update and I missed my chance to get a little Valentine person.

Her work is sweet and whimsical, and would easily pass as a vintage piece. The animals have such kind faces, each with their own personality, they are a treasure to behold. I just wanted to share a few pics from her upload to bring a little sunshine into your day; if it is like mine, it is a extremely cold day, although the sun is sprinkling through the patches of clouds and giving the morning a warm glow.

We are getting ready for SNOW, it is supposed to come this weekend, so we might be frosted in for Valentine’s Day…. The Eastern Seaboard blizzard is heading our way, Brrrrr! If, looking at these little figures doesn’t make you feel warm and cozy inside, I don’t know what will?

To visit her adorable Blog and links to her website please click here:

February 8, 2010 / 0 Comments

A Shopping Weekend

This weekend, I never stopped. I must have walked 50 miles! I went into London on Saturday to run a few errands and pick-up some items for projects I am working on at the moment, as well as some other bits & bobs and a few gifts.

It was sooo cold and I headed out early arriving before any shops had opened. So I marched to Starbucks and five minutes later armed with a hot chocolate and my Ipod filling my ears with Django Reinhardt (it is really amusing to watch the world go by, to certain tunes playing in your head as you walk along!) I headed down to one of my favorite haunts: Marylebone High Street.

Daunt Books’ (always an early opener) door was cheerily propped open and I had a wander around. I love the smell of this store and their beautiful built in cases. It is such a pleasure to linger within those walls. Next, another early opener, V V Rouleaux to get some ribbon for a Valentine’s gift I am working on.

After that I headed to Cath Kidston for a new ironing board cover and a Birthday gift and to Rococo’s for some Valentine’s Chocolates (Shhh! they are a surprise!). After that, I cut through the Cabbages & Frocks Market and headed back into town.

I met a friend for lunch and after dining, I headed into Liberty’s on a haberdashery mission, alas, no luck! So, off to Anthropologie to pick up another little gift.

Next, it was off to Covent Garden to get my watch fixed, but Fossil had closed, hmmm! I was not happy! But, I went into Paperchase and got some adorable back to school surprises for someone special and a Valentine’s Card for my sweetie!

So my Shopping List was almost fulfilled, I still have a few things left to get:

Cath Kidston-birthday gift and ironing board cover

Anthropologie

Air-Erasable Fabric Pen

Chocolates
New watch battery

Valentine’s Card

Back to School surprise

Fabric-for new cushions

Turquoise thread

Yesterday, was spent at the NEC marching along the aisles of the Spring Fair on a buying trip. It was tiring, but a lot was accomplished! So, today I am just going to put my feet up and rest! I am pooped and you must be too after reading about my crazy adventures!

(Since I stupidly forgot to bring my lovely camera along, all images are copyright to : V V Rouleaux, Rococo Chocolates, Cath Kidston, Belle & Boo and Anthropologie)

February 7, 2010 / 0 Comments

Pear Shaped Zen

While doing a little research for some vintage chocolate moulds, I came across a site that lead me to a Reuters article from September 2009. The article was about a Chinese farmer who has spent the last 6 years perfecting his idea.

What is his idea? Baby shaped pear Buddhas. Little bites of green, yellow freckled Zen. The pears take 6 months cocooned in their moulds to take on the baby shape that they become. These were just too cute not to share and frankly, I think they might be too cute to eat as well!

You can find the article by clicking on the picture here:

February 5, 2010 / 0 Comments

Chocolate, Hearts & Roses

Look what fell into my hands this morning as I ran to the store to get a pint of milk… Oh happiness is! I have already had a sneak peek flip through of pages filled with pink hearts and a chocolate lover’s heaven.

I am so happy today is Friday, because when I finish all my little jobs today, I am curling up on the couch with this in one hand and a good cup of hot chocolate in the other. Until then, I am using the beautiful cover (I love the meringue hearts!) to spur me on in my projects.

I am just about finished with a small Valentine’s bear order….

February 4, 2010 / 0 Comments

HeartFelt Love

I have had this project on my computer for awhile now. It is a very sweet tutorial from The Purl Bee! This is a wonderful site for all kinds of knitting/crocheting/sewing information, if you haven’t discovered it yet, it is a real treasure!

They also have a beautiful online store and sell really scrumptious fabrics, a few of which I am dying to get my hands on at the moment, but alas, I am trying to be good and have too many other projects on the go.

I am thinking of making up a few of these for friends. Just tying them on to their Valentine’s packages and not only is is something pretty and decorative, it is something to wear as well!

I am a scrap saver and I have a lot of really yummy pastel felt scraps in a big bag, so, I am going to dig through that and make a few of these up! They would also look so pretty just in an antique glass jar or a little crystal bowl just sitting somewhere looking pretty and bringing you a little happiness!

If you want to make them too, you can find the full tutorial by clicking here.

February 2, 2010 / 0 Comments

Groundhog’s Day

Happy Groundhog’s Day! What will Phil say to today? 6 more weeks of winter or is spring time coming our way? We shall just have to wait and see….

*On a side note, for those of you who don’t celebrate this day with Phil, Groundhog day found its origins in the USA with the arrival of German settlers, who thought that groundhogs bore a resemblance to hedgehogs and therefore were wise and intuitive about things. If the sun shone that day and he saw his shadow the groundhog would run back to his cozy little home for 6 more weeks of winter….

In Europe the day was celebrated as the Christian holiday of “Candlemas Day” and there were plenty of rhymes to go along with the day:

If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Come, Winter, have another flight;
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Go Winter, and come not again.

To find out more click on the picture of a cute top-hatted groundhog!

**Update: If we are going by the Old English rhyme above than in my part of Merry Ol’ England today, it seems that Spring is on its way! In saying that, however it is more sleet than rain and there was a dusting of snow on the ground yesterday, so hmmm! And, Phil’s prediction? He said there would be 6 more weeks of winter!

February 1, 2010 / 0 Comments

Heart Day Countdown

There are only 13 more days to go until Valentine’s! YIPPEE! I love celebrating Valentine’s, especially the fun of it when you were little. We made shoebox “mailboxes” and got to decorate them in our classroom. Covering them with Valentine’s colored construction paper and hearts and glitter…

My mom would take us shopping and we got to pick out what box of Valentine’s we wanted to give. One year I picked a box of retro Valentine’s cards to give away. The box was filled with cute cowboys, puppies, girls cooking in the kitchen. I loved the designs. Maybe that really started my love of vintage, I don’t know? But, I have always collected vintage postcards and I have a nice collection of Valentine’s & Christmas ones I dot around the house.

I would work hard one evening writing out my little cards for my classmates and then we had a morning where we all walked around and deposited them in the owner’s mailbox.

Oh! the anticipation of pulling open the wee door to see what awaited us inside. Some people would have cards that held heart shaped lollipops and I savored it as I worked at my little desk, legs swinging underneath. Sucking away until all the white writing came off… Or, I would be munching away on a little box of love hearts, reading the messages on top (because those are the rules) before I popped them in my mouth!

Two Crazy Crafters have been doing a really nice job of putting up all kinds of vintage Valentine’s images and they have a list of projects to create with them as well. So, if you are looking for a little vintage Valentine inspiration, check them out.