Vintage Darlings ~ a tale of textile confections

My swap partner, Jodie, sent me a snippet roll filled with decadent details.

It was wrapped in the chenille piece shown.  I gasped out loud when I opened it. Yes, I did.

The spool it was wrapped on was adorned with a rose know and rhinestone.

I love the ethereal quality of the images she used.  Dreamy and darling.

Each image is also stuffed which gives it dimension like a soft little doll.

I have always been inspired by Jodie's creations.  She is not only a sweetheart but also amazing I tell you!!

A strip of silky soft tan velvet is the base for the images.  Decadent!

I loved how she stitched a garden of vintage buttons below the little girl.

I loved that she stamped some fabric pieces too.

Snips of crochet, vintage buttons and beading.

A darling little girl with her kitten.  I love, love this one.

At the bottom, she added a lovely hardware frame with Mon Amie stamped inside.

Thank you mon amie!!

I dearly love the snippet roll you made and will treasure it always!!

When I opened Beth's snippet roll I gasped again!

I have always admired Beth's stitching talents.  She is a sweetheart and amazing too!!

The fabric base she used is a swiss dot with delicate lace on top of it.

A gorgeous mother of pearl buckle adorns the top.

I love that Beth used a snip of a real vintage photo and tucked some millinery underneath it.

Next is a lovely rose button, teeny frozen charlotte, heart charm and heart locket.

It reminds me of collected items you might find in my daughter's purse when she was little.

Next, a little cutie (don't you just love that precious smile?!), "believe" on twill and a crochet bloom with a vintage button.

Another darling image pinned to the lace with a sweet flower button.

A fun engraving of a little girl graces in the inside of a scroll frame.

Then, Beth sewed a lovely trail of mother of pearl buttons.

Thank you Beth!!  I dearly love the snippet roll and treasures you sent!!

                 Friendship is the golden thread that ties the heart of all the world ~ John Evelyn

Thank you for visiting! ~ xo Heidi

Vintage Darlings snippet roll swap

Inspired by the lovely snippet rolls I have seen, I have wanted to create one for a while.  

I asked a group of sewing friends if they knew of others who might want to do the same.

We decided to use a theme called "Vintage Darlings" with images of children from days past.

It has been a fun swap!

This is the snippet roll I made for Jodie of Everything Vintage.  

We are both textile junkies, ha!  I wanted to add a few elements with texture and patina ~ the perfection in imperfection.

A mother of pearl buckle serves as a hanger when the snippet is not wrapped on the spool.

Bits of crochet and lace became the frame to this darling image.

I like saving my nest of thread snips to add texture to future projects.

One great thing about snippet rolls is that you can use little bits of lace and trim from leftover projects.

Some pieces are just too pretty to toss!

I added some vintage millinery and beading.

I am not sure what this metal adornment is from.  It was in my magpie stash of hardware.  It became the rosette to the strands of froth at the bottom.

The little petticoat at the bottom was made from an old pillowcase remnant and a snippet from a tattered dress.  A little prairie couture, haha.

For Beth at Gathering Dust, I added an ornate silver buckle for her snippet roll holder.

I sewed some beads to a bridal lace piece and added a charm with strands of pretty.

Some dreamy mother of pearl buttons become part of the frame around this sweet image.

A bit of netted lace and millinery adorns the bottom.

A little beading with layered velvet and lace.

There is something so charming about vintage millinery.

The faded colors, the delicate texture - pure yumminess.

For Beth's petticoat, I added a bit of the tattered dress, tulle, frothy strands and velvet buds.

The sweet ladies who participated in this swap are:

Beth

Cerri

Gypsy

Jodie

Laurie

Marian

Patty

Tabitha

Tamantha

Terri

I also created a Flickr group for our swap here.

Thank you to all of the talented ladies participated in this swap!

It was fun!!

I will be posting the snippet rolls I received from Jodie and Beth soon!

Thank you for visiting ~ xo Heidi

Vintage ephemera ATC swap

 Kimberly at ArtJoyStuff hosted a vintage ephemera ATC swap.

Given my love of vintage paper, I happily signed up for it!

We were asked to submit three ATC's using vintage ephemera.

In return, I received wonderful, tiny pieces of art.

The first is from Maggie Raguse.

I love the darling image she used.  My favorite element is the paper rosette - beautiful!

Next, was a sewing inspired ATC by Sherry.

Sewing is one of my loves so I was very tickled to receive this one.

Sherry even used a sheet of vintage sewing instructions to make the envelope.

Lastly, I received a french inspired ATC from Liz.

I love the charming graphics and tiny rosette.

Thank you ladies for your wonderful, tiny works of {heART}!

Kimberly is a sweetheart of a hostess.

She sent each of us this beautiful tag with charms.

Thank you Kimberly for hosting a fun swap!

Here is one of the ATC's I had submitted. 

Unfortunately, I did not snap pics of the other two.

I enjoyed working with vintage wallpaper and ephemera bits.

Here is a shot from the "Constance" vintage adornment class I taught.

Sorry the pic is so grainy - it was a quick iPhone pic

One of my favorite parts of teaching is to see how different elements inspire people differently.

Everyone had a great time creating their own works of art.

Thank you Laurie and Brandy for hosting a fun event!

Thank you for stopping by!

Happy creating ~ Heidi

Valentine Tussie Mussies!

Happy Valentine's Day friends!

Cheryl was hosting a valentine tussie mussie swap and I couldn't resist participating!

When I received Molly's cone, I was blown away with vintage sweetness!!

I love the music sheet paper and her gorgeous ribbon work.

She even tucked a sweet glittered valentine card inside.

The brooch and beaded velvet leaves make little heart go pitter pat.

But wait, there is more!!

Look how she spoiled me - gaaah!!

Everything was so thoughtful and treasured.

Thank you Molly for the gorgeous cone and sweet gifts!!

One of my very favorite things she sent was this toast stamp.

This has been on my wish list of frivolous things a girl would love to have.

I can't wait to make "french" toast - j'adore!!

Cheryl was so kind and sweet to give us a love letter mail bag.

Isn't it gorgeous?!!

I love the idea of having a pretty bag to tuck sweet love letters in.

Here is the cone I made that was given to Kelly Gibbs Lamb.

A peek at the millinery blooms and tulle

Vintage flocked wallpaper yumminess!

Sweet treasures for Kelly!

Dyed crinkled crepe paper

Has anyone ever seen little baskets made out of cards and yarn?

I came across a stack of these and thought they were just darling.

Thank you for stopping by ~ get out there and spread some love today sugahs!

xo's ~ heidi

Apron Adoration

One of the things I love the most about the holidays is making gifts and decorations.

Ornaments and gifts made by my children, family and friends are among the things that make the season magical.

When my friend, Cheryl of Nouveaux Portmanteau, asked me to join her holiday apron swap (here) I thought it was a fun way to celebrate the season with handmade treasures.

None of us knew which apron we would receive.  They were all so darling - I would be smitten with any one of them!

When the apron box arrived, I had sugarplums dancing in my head, lol!

Cheryl had beautifully packaged everything and included a gorgeous tote bag which she had made for each of us.  I was so delighted to receive Cheryl's apron (which I am completely smitten with!!) and package of vintage and handmade goodies!!  She had included wonderful vintage ephemera, a brass stencil "H", vintage ornaments and cookie cutters and a soldered ornament made by her.

Cheryl had used the most gorgeous fabric and trims - some were even dyed to match.

Whether I am serving cocktails or cookies - Cheryl, your apron makes me feel like a vintage princess!

Golly gee, piles of satin and lace - heaven!

Here is a closer look at the rosette on the pocket of Cheryl's apron.

So pretty and frothy!!

In the midst of holiday mayhem, I forgot to take pics of the apron I made (ack!).

This is a pic I borrowed from Cheryl.

(photo by Cheryl)

Please stop by Cheryl's blog to see pics of the other beautiful aprons.

Thank you again Cheryl - I had such fun with this swap!!

I would be delighted to know your favorite handmade gift your either gave or received. 

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season!  xo's ~ Heidi

Fairytale Cottage Condos

One of the swaps for the Once Upon A Dream art event was a fairy house.

Inspired by a bird house I found, I decided a fairy cottage condo would be fun to work on.

Of course, it would be a cottage made of bits and bobs found along a fairy path.

The first cottage condo was made using vintage ledger paper, crepe paper and vintage millinery.

I loved the sparkly knobs too!

Each cottage condo had an address (number) cut from the bottom of a book page.

I did not get a close pic of the numbers.

The second cottage condo was adorned with vintage lace, ribbons, vintage button and a splash of rhinestone.

Fairies like things that sparkle you know.

The third fairy cottage condo was covered with a dictionary page, German dresden scrap, hand tatted lace and a sparkly bauble.

I had such a wonderful time with my fairy friends!

I can wait to show you more pics of our fairytale weekend!

xo's ~ Heidi