skull embroidery

After a morning of making bows, I decided it was time for something a little different....skulls. For whatever reason I have this infatuation with sugar skulls, and found some great sugar skull and other skull designs over at Urban Threads. So, I did some shopping & embroidered some hankies for my husband. Pictures below.

Urban Threads' Muertos Lite design

Urban Threads' 'Til Death do Us Part design

Urban Threads' Embossed Skull design.

Urban Threads' Anatomical Skull design.

boutique hair bows

I've been on a bog bow making kick lately. Here are a few....

5" layered boutique bow. 1" pink grosgrain with 1" printed Disney Princess sateen ribbon & embellished with flower gem.

 

5" double fold bow. 1 1/2" white on white polka dot organza ribbon

5" layered boutique bow. 1" wide black grosgrain ribbon on 2" wide floral printed sateen ribbon.

 

5" triple fold bow. 2" wide marigold satin ribbon

5" loop bow.  2" wide green polka dot grosgrain ribbon

5" layered boutique bow. blue polka dot grosgrain layered on blue organza loop style base.

4" surrounded boutique bow. pink satin ribbon layered with tri-color 1/2" plaid satin ribbon

4" boutique bow. 3" wide emerald satin ribbon

3" boutique bow. polka dotted pink grosgrain ribbon embellished with pearl button.

korker style bow on head band. turquoise & rainbow korker ribbons layered on turquoise organza base.

3" boutique bow. butterfly printed satin ribbon.

New Embroidered Hand towels!!

Today was quite a dreary rainy day. Perfect for a quick embroidery project. I love crafting that can be completed in one day...I'm such a sucker for instant gratification.

 Anyhow, it occurred to me that I've been monogramming kitchen and bath towels for both work and gifts that I hadn't done any for our bathroom yet.

I had been saving this lovely chocolate and white paisley ribbon which served as the inspiration for the color and embroidery on the hand towels below.

pork roast

Wanted to quickly share my pork roast success. Being a southener, I cook pork often & I especially love to grill pork tenderloin. This was my first time baking a pork roast. I've had it many times, and I dont want to say it was dry or chewy, I wont say who cooked it, ( but Nana won't be reading this anyhow!)
...On to my point. I rubbed it with olive oil, sea salt, parika, cracked red & black pepper, and fresh thyme and oregano(from out back). Baked this bad boy at 300' for 90 minutes.The results were so juicy and tender, Served with extra garlicly smashed potatoes & roasted asparagus. ( Excuse me I think I'm drooling again.)

Birthday Bird

Today I made a birthday present for our cousin Sarah. The big 5! 

I decided to make a dress out of these fun coordinating fabrics of peace signs and smiley faces.

The pillowcase-style dress has ties from bias tape I made from the smiley fabric. Lastly, I embellished the the seam of the two fabrics with rainbow ric rac.

With the left over fabric I made Sarah a little bean-bag birdy, with a great pattern I happened upon by

Pillow & Maxfield. (They have beautiful fabrics & amazing designs, by the way.) Their birdies are stuffed with poly-fil, I used beans for fun. (I made a mini-version for her, but I think I'll make a larger one for my bed with green damask.)

tunic tank

Yesterday I was in a bit of foul mood (I can admit that now!) So I decided to cheer myself up by making myself a new top, from fabric I purchased when shopping with Nana last week.

I adapted the idea from a pillowcase dresses that I typically make for infants and toddlers. For which, I use the basic ideas of a great and thorough pattern from Carolina Fair Designs. (Thanks!)

For this top however, I used 3/4 yard fabric, and serged a seam right sides together, and then double-folded a 1 inch and hemmed the bottom. I then folded it in half and cut out a "J" shape for the armholes. For my top I cut approximately 7" down and 4" in. I made 1/4" double-fold bias tape from remaining fabric to finish the arm holds.Then sewed 3/4" casing at the top & threaded a yard & half satin ribbon through each casing to tie up on one side.

Pink & Bows! It's a girl!

After a long, tough pregnancy, my friend finally had her baby girl,

Gabriella Vera Marianne!

Her mother made most of the nursery bedding. In fact she made 2 sets including bumper bad, bed skirt, curtain, & the whole bit. She's very crafty. And a hoot! We always nearly pee our pants from laughing together on our "sew days." Below are some pictures of some of the things I embroidered for Gabriella.

Monogrammed throw pillow & receiving blanket

Embroidered receiving blankets

Appliqued burp cloths -part 1

Appliqued burp cloths -part 2

Who doesn't love applique though!? So polished & I enjoy that it has more textures than just embroidery. My favorite is the elephant. I machine appliqued this with my jack-of-all-trades, Singer Futura. (love it!) I used, some leftover metallic fabric Nana had stored away from way back when, and then embroidered the little flowers on top...too cute!. Anyhoo....

Congratulations & Welcome baby Gabriella!

Disappearing Banana Bread

This is a very moist flavorful banana bread. I double the batch and make mini loves to share with family & friends. I love all things ginger and cinnamon, so I tend to go heavy with them when I bake this. It'd also be great, to add a handful of chopped nuts. Most importantly, the added bonus is the extra healthful Omega 3's you get from the flax seeds, and Smart Balance Oil. Hope ya'll like it!

I'm not very good with recipes. In fact, I never fall them to a tee, especially with measuring. My friends say that I tend to b.s. my way through things, I prefer to look at as being adaptive or even creative. Either way, the results end up as desired, however communicating the process often is difficult. So bear with me here....

Recipe for Banana Bread:

• 3 over-rippened bananas, mashed
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c.each, plus or minus, of ground almond meal & ground flax seeds (My brother-in-law, Rusty, turned me onto this for part of the flour & I'm addicted! I love the nutty flavor and texture it adds, plus the healthier benefits.)
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil ( I prefer Smart Balance Omega Oil. Click here for coupon.)
• 1/4 c. plus a dash or two extra, organic milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda (or double this amount for baking powder- Thanks to my Dad for this tip! )
• pinch of salt
• dash of vanilla
• pinch of ginger & cinnamon to taste ( I do one part ginger to 3 parts cinnamon)

 Mix all ingredients & pour into greased loaf pan. I sprinkle another dash of cinnamon & Sugar in the Raw on top. Bake at 325' for approximately an hour.