Valentine's Day Freebie

Remember my "Silk'n roses" garland? Today it was "gossiped" about over at Needlework Craftgossip in relation with Valentine's Day. Thank you Denise Felton for all the kind words!

Valentine's Day is not traditionally celebrated in my part of the world, but that is no reason why I couldn't make a small gift to everyone who celebrates it and also likes silk ribbon embroidery, is it?
This is the pattern of my rose garland heart:

and it is free for you to download and embroider if you'd like. Enjoy!

Let me know if you do embroider it, I would love to see your work.

Happily stitchy days, Everyone!

CD Pincushion

Can you tell how much I miss spring?

I could really, really use some sunshine now...

Have a lovely day, Everyone!

Phone Pouch

Another finish during this weekend is a phone pouch.

This lovely lady, with her pretty hat, reminded me of a small piece of lace I had forgotten about. 

I had tucked it away in my lace drawer, waiting for just the right piece to use it on. Twice :)

Have a beautiful week, Everyone!

Eyeglass Case

Snow has been coming and going and most days have been so cloudy and grey, that I sought refuge from all that in my studio, where I am always free to choose the colors, the flowers, the laces and whatever makes me feel good.

Yesterday I finished this crazy quilted eyeglass case that has been waiting for some time now for me to decide whether I should add more embellishment or not.

In the end I left it as it was, and now that it is finished, I am happy with it. 

How about you? Would you have added more?

Wishing you all a wonderful Sunday,

Something old and something new

"Old" designs, new colors and experimenting different backgrounds.

This pink rose on green background is Sara's favorite :)

And since I mentioned her, here she is, "helping" me out in the studio last week, during school break:

"Mom, isn't life beautiful when we have so much gorgeous lace like this?!"

Again, we had a blast working together!

Have a wonderful weekend, Everyone!

Happy News

You might have noticed by now how much I love  making my pendants. To put it mildly... As simple as they are, I really enjoy assembling these little bouquets, playing with my favorite silks and I find it  soothing and relaxing, so that is a reward in itself. We make a good team, my pendants and I.

And since the word team came up, the good news is, that my dear friend, Lee Albrecht, founder of the Lee Albrecht Embroidery School in Campinas, Sao Paulo, was so kind as to offer to represent my pendants in Brazil. We have had a wonderful cooperation over the last few years, and I am especially grateful to her for all her support and friendship she has shown me, as Lee has not only been by my side in good times but also during some difficult periods in my life... I wish I could be such a great friend as she is, when I grow up.

So these pendants and the ones I have posted here on my blog since December are all flying to Brazil...

Thank you, Lee!

Happy Tuesday, Everyone!

Blues...

Happy ones: roses on a navy blue silk foundation.

The designs are ones I have used before, just wanted to see how a dark(er) background would work.

Not bad. Maybe it is time to stop being afraid of avoiding dark backgrounds :)

Thank you, ladies for taking up on my invitation down memory lane, I really enjoyed reading each and every one of your comments. One of them was sent to me by e-mail, as for some reason Grace of Needles Pins and Dragonflies blog could not leave a comment to my previous post. The story she shared was so sweet and touching, that I asked her permission to share it with you, too:

"My Dear Aunt Lucy taught me to crochet when I was just about 7 or 8 years old.... she was patient and that summer, everyday I would get a small ball of thread...butchers twine really, and crochet my chain. At the end of the day, I would give it to Aunt Lucy and the next day start over again. At the end of the summer I asked her what would we make from the many chains I had given her. She sat me down and told me, that every day she would re-wind the ball for the next day. That what I had learned was to make the perfect chain so that now I could make whatever I wanted. I wasn’t even angry; for she did teach me to make the perfect chain which is the foundation for all that you crochet!" 

Thank you, Gracie, for sharing!

Wishing you all a wonderful week,

Myosotis...

or Forget-me-not, as most of us know this sweet little flower. 

"Nefelejcs" in Hunagrian, "floare de nu mă uita" in Romanian, all with the same meaning: 

forget me not. 

To me they bring back wonderful childhood memories, happy summer vacations spent at my grandparents' mountain cottage in Szekler Land. We used to bring the water up to the cottage, in buckets, from a spring nearby, surrounded by the largest, bluest, most beautiful Forget-me-nots I have ever seen...

Of course, we usually spilled at least half of the water on our way back up, but who cared, we were always up for another trip to the spring, running and laughing and singing our hearts out...

Those were the times... :)

Would you like to share any childhood memories that inspired Your creations? I would love reading about them, so don't be shy, just leave a comment bellow!

Wishing you all a lovely weekend,

Happy New Year!

Can you believe that we are already half way through January? I sure can't... Life has been so busy (in a very, very, very good way) for the last couple of weeks that I simply didn't have the time to take pictures of my finished Christmas ornaments together on our tree. Luckily our tree is still up, and as today I am taking pictures of some pendants I've been working on, I decided to take the opportunity to shoot those ornies, too.

Wishing you all a year filled with love and joy, with good health and lots of creativity!