tutorial – Page 2 – Jennifer Michie

March 3, 2010 / 0 Comments

Blanket Statement

This morning the sun is shining yet again, the little pot of bulbs by my front door are ready to pop open and a rap at my racing green door was opened to find my jolly postman waiting for me with a parcel in his hands.

What was in my delicious parcel? This:

It was written by the lovely Vicki Haninger, who runs the Turkey Feathers Blog and the Pattern Bee web shop where she sells wonderful vintage and retro embroidery designs.

I have been desiring this little book ever since I saw her cute elephant doll, sweetly dressed for a party with a heart bejeweled crown on her head. But you could not get it in England and I could never find it when I went home to visit. So, thank goodness you can now get it through Amazon UK, that makes me 1 very happy camper!

So, sitting down with a steaming cup of tea, I tore into this package like a child on Christmas morning and I flipped through, oohed and aaghed and then I flipped through again and oohed and aaghed some more.

What a sweet treasure this book is and the other ideas it has already started spawning in my head… it is really adorable!

If you can’t wait to get your hands on your own copy, you can already begin making a project from her book. She offers this darling little lambkin pattern on her website. It looks like something straight out of a vintage shop. I can just see the 1950’s little girl it belonged to in her pink coat and matching bonnet with this little lamb tucked under her arm.

I can’t wait to get started making some of the projects out of here. But, first there are bears and bunnies to be made for RosaBlue, so I am busy happily stitching away!

Click on the Lambkin for a pattern and directions:

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 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.

January 18, 2010 / 0 Comments

Fairy Mushrooms

While doing a little research for vintage cotton-spun mushrooms, I came across this tutorial for paperclay mushrooms on The Fabled Needle Blog. I know it is an older post but they were just too cute not to share with you.

On such a cold drizzley morning here in England this brought me a little sunshine happiness. I can’t wait to try making them myself, the possibilities of their uses are endless.

I am already envisioning plans for these little sparkle layered snow kissed mushrooms sprinkled around my miniature zinc Christmas house in December and maybe worked into a wreath with tiny gnomes for some Christmas kitsch cuteness. Oh, now I am getting carried away…

You will find her tutorial here.

(Mushroom Images from The Fabled Needle Blog, Gnomes from Layer Cake, embellished by Jennifer Michie)

May 20, 2009 / 0 Comments

Teeth & Fairies & Bears, Oh My!

I have been quite the busy bee at the moment working on banners and embellishing bags and items for the fair. June is almost upon us, so I do not have long before everything must be done. One of the projects I have made is a variation on a pattern I found on Martha Stewart. They are these adorable “Tooth Bears”.

The little bear is made out of felt with a pocket in the front to place your little one’s tooth in to await a visit from the Tooth Fairy. Martha embroidered the child’s name on her bears, but I have decided to simply put “tooth” across their little pockets. I have also changed the suggested stitch you were to use and I have slightly varied their faces.

They were a fun project to create; they are all different, each with their own little personality coming through. So, hopefully my little bears will speak to the right person at the fair and they will all go to lovely new homes, as they were made to support a charitable cause.

I have included the link from Martha Stewart where you will be able to find more information to make your own Tooth Bear (with the pattern template) for your little person or a friend.

Martha Stewart Show

Please note this template is copyright to Martha Stewart Living.