Celebrating BFF's!

Have you ever had a friend....that no matter how long you haven't seen her....the minute you get together...it is like you saw each other yesterday?

How about a friend that listens to all your griping and then makes you feel great!

Or what about that friend that never tells your secrets?

Let's celebrate BFF's! 

I had a blast decorating this clear frame...from Deflecto.

First I dolled up this old fashioned photo...on a free photo editing app.

I added text "Best Friends Forever", a Polaroid looking border and a title "Betty & Lizzy 1945".

This frame is clear and it unscrews so you can add a photo...then it screws back securely. Very chic!

I then wrapped one side and the bottom area with bakers twine...in 2 different shade of pink.

I tied up a bow....and inserted this little chenille stem heart. 

You just take half of a chenille bump stem...these are at hobby lobby.

and fold both ends inward to make a heart shape.

You can insert the hearts into the bakers twine.

(If you want to...you can twist the ends of the chenille stem or glue with a drop of glue from a hot glue gun.) 

It is an easy way to dress up this frame for Valentine's day.

This would make a great gift for your BFF.

Take a photo of you and your BFF and make it black and white with the photo editor.

You can even add overlays to make the photo look old.

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Xylophone freebie for alphabet series

Here is today's freebie!

It is "X is for xylophone"

Remember ...these would be sweet to stitch up in a kids quilt or on lil pillows.  For earlier letters in this series...go back to my past Friday posts. Fun to color as well. Copy and save.

  

Next week will be: "Y is for ____"

Be the first to guess the correct answer to what "Y" could stand for ....and you will get a sweet prize.  

Just make your guess in the comment section of this blog post. Be the first one to guess to get the prize.

One guess per person to make it fair! 

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Here is a Party animal!

Are you gearing up for the Superbowl?

I'm from Washington....so of course I hope Seattle wins!

Let the party begin!!  Can't wait!

If you are not into the Superbowl...I suggest stitchin....like stitchin up these cuties.

Sometimes I embroider while sports are on in my house...makes me feel like I am doing something productive while watching.

Plus I tend to snack less when I am stitchin.

Have a great Superbowl weekend!

Valentine ornaments & heartfelt sign

I love this time of year.....

The beautiful colors...hearts....candy....cards...stuffed animals...

make the gloomy gray weather go away!

I just completed a couple Valentine goodies....

Valentine ornaments and banner pattern #350

These chenille stem ornaments have a vintage flair...plus they are fun, easy, and quick to make. All the artwork for 8 different designs are included! Make them in star or heart shapes.

Banner sayings included are: Be my Valentine, Love conquers all, Love goes where it is sent, Tokens of affection, Sweets for the sweet, Truly madly deeply, I love you, and Happy Valentine's day.

Finished star design measures: 6" x 6", not including hanger.

Finished Heart design measures: 3 1/2" x 3 1/2", not including hanger.

These are sooooo easy...

Cut, glue, and glitter basically.

The artwork is included...and could be used as tags too.

The collage sheet can be printed over and over and over.

This pattern is in my etsy shop.

It is also on patternmart

Plus it is on my website too!

I also Have a brand new sign...."I Love us"

Great for anyone....married, dating, families....etc.

Share your statement with the world...and your loved one!
I created the background design from a repeating pattern I drew. I then added a sweet transparent heart and this lovely quote.
This is so fabulous amongst your Valentine decor and bedroom decor! 
It fits in a 8 x 10 frame or a document frame. U print...no shipping. 

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Take a break today...atleast for a few minutes....you deserve it!

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Live simply, Love greatly

Love....a prim and simple sentiment....

Above is My new pattern: Live simply, Love greatly #349

Raggedy Ann is sweetly revealing her Love.  Such a charming embroidery project....so quick, easy and fun to do.  Finish the embroidery in a simple hoop.
This makes a great gift and is so 
lovely in your home decor.

Available on etsy

and my patternmart

For the printed and mailed pattern go to my website.

Hope you are enjoying your day.

I plan to work on a few things in my studio....the weather here in Washington is pretty darned nice....we seem to get less and less bad weather as the years go by.

As a child....we always had lots of snow...every winter.

Now we get a dusting or an inch or two...nothing big...then it melts.

Maybe Spring is coming...crossing fingers!

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Pretty color palettes

I love working with color palettes.

Here I took a watercolor painting I did ...years ago....and extracted some colors out of it....using Adobe Illustrator.

These colors can then be used in other projects. 

It is great when you really like a set of colors from something.

Here is an old valentine...scanned in and some of my favorite colors extracted out.

I like doing this since I usually get bogged down with the same color choices all the time.

I tend to use the same over and over ....when there are tons of colors out there.

Here is a picture my daughter took.

It has some lovely colors!!

I took out lots of colors for this one!

I have used these colors for many illustrator projects.

This would also be handy when painting too....not knowing what colors I would like....I could refer to this!

It is fun to just take any photo I have....that may have some great color...and getting this color group.

On adobe illustrator, there is this tool that is called an ink dropper.

You can fill a rectangle with the ink dropper tool....by having the ink dropper tool over any color in the photo you want.  It is like basically selecting colors...with just a click of the mouse.

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Notice colors around you.

What colors do you use in projects?

What colors do you decorate with?

Sometimes going through old magazines...ripping out pics you like then noticing the colors....gives you great insight.

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I took this on a country drive last summer....I have spring fever bad!

I am thankful our winter has been pretty good though.

I am really looking forward to those signs of spring!

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Don't quit your day dream!

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Wastebasket freebie & friends photo

Here is today's freebie!

It is "W is for wastebasket"

I know it was a hard one to guess....I warned you!

Remember ...these would be sweet to stitch up in a kids quilt or on lil pillows.  For earlier letters in this series...go back to my past Friday posts. Fun to color as well. Copy and save.

  

Next week will be: "X is for ____"

Be the first to guess the correct answer to what "X" could stand for ....and you will get a sweet prize.  

Ya gotta get the X....there isn't many options on x!

Just make your guess in the comment section of this blog post. Be the first one to guess to get the prize.

One guess per person to make it fair! 

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When I was antique shopping last weekend...I got a bag of photos for....$1.00....

Then I found out that everything in that booth was 75% off...

so....I got a bunch of photos for 25 cents!!!

I was in heaven!

I love a great deal like that.

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So I took a photo of these friends....altered the borders and framed it.....added fun text and I think it turned out soooo adorable.

I have not idea what town they are in...but it sure looks boring.

But their friendship looks amazing.

I think Bonnie and Clyde would have robbed a grocery store here.

Everytime I am in a small tiny town....driving through.....

I thank my lucky stars to come from a larger city....Like Spokane Washington. (2nd largest city in Washington state, behind Seattle).

I know farm and country gals wouldn't trade their towns and lifestyle for the city...they love their life.....

to each his own.

Have a fabulous, Amazing and terrific weekend!!

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My Valentine floral surface pattern design

I have been working hard on learning adobe illustrator...getting all the techniques down.

It is very fun and exciting when a pattern design is put together....feels like a miracle.

 

One of the funnest parts is changing up the colors.....I really love that part.

Can you believe that this is the same pattern design....the color changes make everyone unique.

It is amazing to me how different they can be.

The backgrounds can be changed as well as the elements.

Basically I drew some hearts, flowers, and a stem with hearts.  I added some dots and leaves too.

I would never have thought to put some of these colors in these spots...but the program allows random changes and then you can save them.

This one reminds me of St. Patricks day.

I love this black one...it reminds me of what a little Swiss girls dress might have on it.

Beautiful pinks....love this one....so soft.

Hot pink!  

Lavender and yellow....amazing.

I saved a lot more color combos....just showing these ones.

I will keep working on design...there is much more to learn.....but I have the basics down for sure.

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From drawings to finished products

 

I wanted to show you a little bit about my process for designing today.

Maybe it will inspire you to design too!

Above is a drawing I made into my sketch book.

I used a stabilo pencil....in black.  It doesn't erase...but the feeling of drawing with one is amazing.

They are at Art stores.

The shading is awesome.

So then I painted the bunny on a small block of wood that my husband cut out for me.

I sanded it and then layered papers and paint.

After the painting was done...I scanned it into my computer.

I took these high resolution images and used Adobe illustrator to make these cool Happy Birthday tags. So now I can use my artwork for embroidery, selling prints of the painting, and selling the tags in a digital download sheet!

I like to get a lot out of art. 

Above is my "Sweets for the sweet" pattern.....which came from a drawing....a simple drawing on an ATC card.  I also watercolored the sketch.  So now this image is in my embroidery pattern and can be made into tags or prints.

Here is my "Boo door hanger" pattern....it first was a black and white drawing on an ATC card....I painted it and scanned it for more uses....but I decided to enlarge it and make it into this very popular pattern design. 

My Bee kind pillow....this design was a small sketch....I chose embroidery floss colors, stitched it up, aged it and gave it depth and then made it into this sweet pillow.  

Here I took a sketch from a drawing book...cleaned it up...redrew it.....and embroidered it up.

I made this Patriotic pillow last summer....so bright and fun.

Sometimes simple drawings can become a lovely embroidery.

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Imagination

 is more important 

than knowledge

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