SHOW-ing

Good morning all...

So...I found a way to mount my painted pins...
Meet Mr. and Mrs. Fox...they live deep in the Forest by the stream...they politely stood for me whilst I painted their portraits...thank you freindly foxes!

Have a great day...
hugs
Char.x

future threads

HELLO Friday!!!!
So...we survived March Break, the Flu...colds and finally we have the most beautiful day outside today...
The girls and I are about to go on a nature trail hike as it's so gorgeous...I'll take the camera with me.

I'm working on some "sweet sleep pillows" for our Mamas and Chicks Show in April....but I also want to make them multicultural...so I have Spanish,Italian,French,Danish and english so far...I have another portrait commission to work on which I'll show you soon...

I'm sorry if I haven't been by your World. I will make more time in the near future...this week was all about our girls.

I have a HUGE Thank you to go out to our new Sponsor...Jess Bradley !!! You can read an interview she did with us HERE to find out a little more about her and her awesome work. We'll be hosting a follow-up interview with her very soon to find out what she's up to right now.

Have a great weekend....I'll be back on Monday with our Monday's Mentions and to show pictures from our Nature walk.

healthy HUGS
Char.x

Show and Tell x4

I was just over at *Cart before the Horse* and there's a game which I thought would be fun to play on this rainy day...

if you'd like to play::

OK, here's the game-

In your picture files, go to the 4th album, then go to the 4th picture. Show and tell.

 Then go down 4 more albums, go to the 4th picture, and show and tell.

Do this 4 times (if you can) to get a total of 4 pictures.

Ready, get set, go!

a painting for Beth I made at Christmas...

a lavender pillow of Love...which I made and gave to little Finn.

a little girl's bedroom mural...wow, time passes, this was painted almost 4 years ago.

little Miss A hanging in our family room...at just 3 months old...

That was FUN!

If you want to play too,

just leave a link to your

Show and Tell

in the comments.

Char,ON

WHEN I have time...

this is what I dream of learning...learning to know more than 3 embroidery stitches...you could call this one of my "goals"...I know it's not a biggie..and believe me, I have tried on numerous occasions. I'm sure if you were to check my Library records,you would see this book and others on embroidery having been checked out more than 5 times...

Anyway...here's a sneak peak into this wonderful book by Eaglemoss Publications.

Embroidery reminds me of painting...but with threads...I am a very touchy feely textile person...and love the feel of fabrics which have been worked on...

this book illustrates each stitch so well...that I'm sure I could learn a couple of new stitches. Somebody drew these illustrations...I'm sure they were able to Ebroider too!

I'm facinated by these knots...they look like they would last a life-time.

Look at this, you can make a ruffle with thread which hasn't been cut...love this.

These are some of my absolute favourites.

Look how beautiful and simple these Japanese stiches are...do think they really used them for "Darning"? Not so sure...

Good enough to EAT!!!

Smocking...but in this book they show smocking pillows and dresses...a labour of love...definitely.

Another Book which I picked up was this one :

It`s by Katie Cole...I have been searching for something like this. Being a stay at home Mum with limited funds...we have to re-use and re-cycle clothes to the best we can.

I know Little Miss A and Little Miss J would love some new clothes...so lets get creative!

Here are a few pages of inspiration from the book.

So many of us throw away, or donate clothes even if they`re in good shape...we're just board of them.

Look at how fun you can make a plain old T-Shirt...

Hearts and frills...every girls dreams...

Petals of spring...brighten up those dull clothes...don't throw them out!

This is what I have so far...an Easter Dress...

A pair of old jeans...a frilly top which shrunk and never looked right on me...

An old pair of plaid shorts...I loved them SO much that I wore out the back-end...

The perfect top which already had..."I Love YOU forever" in print on it...just perfect.

It's the start of many...gotta get creative with what we have.

Do you re-cycle and re-use your clothes?

Hope you're enjoying your Wednesday.

Char,ON

thread races

keeping the girls busy this morning...teaching a 3 and 5 year old how to sew...

but first...they have to learn also how to place the embroidery thread on the little paper spools.

lots of hand eye coordination...and...look at how many they have to do!

Thank you ALL for your well wishes, prayers and thoughts with regards to my Dad...I had a tough day yesterday...but your comments helped SO much.

I am blessed I have good friends and family around...and SO fortunate I have made some very wonderful friends through this Blogging World.

Thanks for being there.

What are you keeping busy with today?

I have to start those 2 paintings which have been put to the side for these past couple of days...and then have a hip-hop dance class to go to this evening. (haha...yeah...I just see it as a 45 minute work out),

I'll give you an update of how things are later.

HUGS.

Char,ON

Home sweet home...

This is what I made this morning for our Blog... and my Blueshinebaby Etsy Store.

Today I taught my girls how to sew...Ashley is 4 and will be turning 5 in a few months has been asking if one day could I show her.

SO...I took a trip to our local craft store and picked up colours which the girls both loved and a couple of embroidery hoops for them and one little one for me.

Our youngest, Jordan, kept looping the thread around the hoop...so I spent the majority of time back-tracking through the linen with her needle(she's only little-I kept telling myself)

Ashley seemed to get the hang of it...and said she loved sewing. It's so up her alley...something she can concentrate on for more than an hour, and MUCH healthier than TV.

Until I have my studio back up and working...which may be a while taking into consideration the last time I looked at my husbands renovations downstairs... lol....I will be sewing and sketching...

Have a wonderful day and to all my fellow Canadians...a wonderful Family Day tomorrow!

Until then...

Charlotte, Ontario