Handpicked by Etsy for front page today!

OMG! I was on the front page of Etsy today! I did not know it at the time, but found out 5 hours later.  I  had noticed my Etsy hearts had jumped and wondered why.  Sure enough, after some researching, I had found that I was on the front page earlier this afternoon!  Thank you so much Etsy!!  You made my day! :) I am honored to be part of this collection of beautiful products!  Yippee!  Thank youuu!!!

Quilt Show!

I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Quilt Show in Chicago last weekend. I thought I would share with you these photos of absolutely gorgeous, jaw dropping quilts that were on display.

Can you believe these are all quilts?  Its remarkable what these talented quilters could accomplish with fabric and thread.  It was a privilege to be able to view these beautiful quilts!

til next time ~Jan

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Everyone!  I wish you all a  BEAUTIFUL Easter!  Enjoy the day! :)

~Jan xo

Sunshine Award

I am so honored to receive this Sunshine Award from Michelle!  Thank you so much for thinking of me!  She has a wonderful blog at  By Your Side   

I truly enjoy reading her blog!  You should check it out.  She has such a positive, bubbly attitude!  Much thanks to you, Michelle for sending me this award.

To accept this award, I was to choose 12 other bloggers that I enjoy.  That was hard to do, as there are so many great blogs out there!  But here goes my 12... in no particular order.

1.  Alisa from AlisaBurke.Blogspot.com 
2.  Melynda from FrenchPressKnits.blogspot.com

3. Kelly Rae from KellyRaeRoberts.blogspot.com 

4. Karyn from FrenchCharming.blogspot.com

5. Clair from PepperPi 

6.  Shelagh from AliceinParisLovesArtandTea.blogspot.com

7.  Elaine from ElaineBiss.Blogspot.com
8.  Sally from JammerTailDesigns.blogspot.com 

9.   K from RikRakStudio.blogspot.com 
10.  Kari from YouCanMakeit.blogspot.com

11.  Lupen from Lupeart.blogspot.com

12.  Liz from MadeinLowell.blogspot.com

Thank you all for all of your inspirational blogs!

Here are the rules, so please pass this award along....

The rules for accepting the Sunshine Award are:
- Put the logo on your blog or within your post.
- Pass the award onto 12 bloggers.
- Link the nominees within your post.
- Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
- Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

THANK YOU!!

                           Til next time ...~Jan

Circle of Friends Award

How excited I was to receive this 'Circle of Friends Award' from Pepperpi !  I love her shop and blog! She creates unique stuffed characters that have a personality of their own!  They are so cute!!  PepperPi has been a joy to tweet with on twitter.  I have also enjoyed reading her blog.

The conditions of accepting this wonderful blog award was for me to list 5 things that I like to do.  After creating that list,  I was to pass on this blog award to 5 more bloggers that I would like to learn more about...

Five things I love to do...

 1. I love to spend time with my family.  Time is so precious, and it has it's way of escaping us.   The years have gone by so fast, I do wish it would slow down.  The times that I am the happiest is when we are all together.  My oldest two are away at college, with the youngest in high school.

2. I love to CREATE!!! I live to create! It is my passion!  I always have a few things juggling in my mind about what I want to create next.  It brings such joy to my creative self.  There are so many new things that I want to try.  If only we had more hours to the day!

3. I love to read and browse through  crafty magazines and blogs!  I definitely lose track of time but it is well worth it!  I can't get enough of it! I love being inspired!

4.  I love to get together with my dear friends.  We have such wonderful times together.  I am very blessed to have a few friends that have been a part of me since I was 3 years old!!  What would we do without our girlfriends?

5.  I love my little pooch, Dakota.  She is such a sweet dog.  She is part Shih Tzu and part Brussel Griffon. She is so lovable!  So sweet!  and always by my side! 

This is going to be difficult for me to narrow down to five people that I would like to send this award to, as there are so many wonderful bloggers! 

1. Michelle from ByYourSide2009 

2. Laura from Bright, Bold & Beautiful
3.  Amy from Priddy Creations 

4. Suzannah from  Adventures in dressmaking

5. Leilani from  Studio Gypsy

Please pass the award along, and keep the Circle of Friends going!

Thank you so much, PepperPi, for sending this me 'Circle of Friends Award!  That was so sweet of you!

til next time...Jan 

Mittens out of Old Sweaters!

As I sat down to lunch with a dear childhood friend, Theresa, she couldn't wait to show me her newest creation.  Mittens out of old sweaters!  As I looked at her beautiful 'new' mittens, I knew I wanted to try this myself.  A trip to salvation army was made right after our lunch.  I felt like a little kid again, as I used to spend hours with Theresa, creating whatever held our passion at that moment.  From quilting, knitting, crocheting, making doll clothes, creating doll houses out of cardboard and wall paper, decoupaging with Holly Hobby (remember those? )....the list goes on...  There was never a dull moment!

I bought three wool sweaters from Salvation Army that were suitable for felting.  As soon as I got home, I washed the sweaters in a hot washing machine, and dried it on the hottest cycle in the dryer.  Unfortunately, I have a front load washing machine, so it's not as effective as a top loading machine for machine felting.  Nevertheless, doing the washing and drying process twice was sufficient.

I downloaded the mittens pattern instructions from Studio5 .  This is the pattern I used.  I used gold fleece for the inner lining. 

The mittens are really nice and warm, but they are a little small for me.  It's an ideal size if you have small hands.  I would recommend enlarging the pattern slightly for adult sized mittens.

If you any old sweaters that are no longer being used, why not recycle them into mittens?  You  could even make scarves, hats, or whatever you want! :)

Enjoy!
til next time   ~Jan

♥•♥•♥ HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY ♥•♥•♥

                     

 I wish you all a beautiful Valentine's Day!!!
       

Til next time....~Jan