Busy

Hello!
Not much stitching happening here. I have so much going on, including planning Brenda's birthday party next month.
But, I made a little progress on Miles.

Oi! Nao tenho bordado muito por aqui. Tenho tanta coisa acontecendo, inclusive planejando a festa de aniversario da Brenda no mes que vem.
Mas, eu fiz um pouco de progresso no Miles.

Some weeks ago I was able to get these. I always wanted some.

Algumas semanas atras eu consegui isso. Eu sempre quiz algumas.

Mason blue jars! These are the new limited edition. I'm so happy!
Had to cut some flowers. Nothing like daisies and lavender.

Mason Jars azuis. Essas sao da nova edicao limidata. Estou tao feliz!
Tinha que colher algumas flores. Nada como margaridas e lavanda.

And look what I got for mothers day!

E olha o que eu ganhei no dia das maes!

Lovely pink tulips.

Lindas tulipas cor de rosa.

And Little Red Riding Hood fabric !!! I am completely in love with it!

E pano da Chapeuzinho Vermelho!!! Estou completamente apaixonada por eles!

I also got Lavender Grace by Willow tree.  I love lavender and I love this figurine.
I need to start sewing for Brenda's birthday and making her gift. The time is flying!

Recently I made this casserole carrier for the Girls camp auction at church.

Eu tambem ganhei essa menina com lavanda da Willow Tree. Eu amo lavanda e amo esses bibelos.
Eu preciso comecar a costurar para o aniversario da Brenda a fazer o presente dela.O tempo esta voando!
Recentemente eu fiz essa bolsa de carregar travessa para o leilao do acampamento das mocas da igreja.

I am also making some small changes on Brenda's room. I got the cherry tree wall sticker on e-bay.

Eu tambem estou fazendo pequenas mudancas no quarto da Brenda. Eu comprei a cerejeira  adesivo para parede no e-bay.

I am making a new pillow and a magnet board. All this to give the "big girl" look.
Well, I have to go now, but need to post one more picture.

Estou fazendo uma nova almofada e um quadro magnetico. Tudo isso para parecer um quarto de menina crescida. Bom, tenho que ir agora, mas preciso postar  mais uma foto.

My Mother's Day Flan! My favorite Brazilian dessert.
Have a great weekend!

Meu pudim do dia das maes! Minha sobremesa Brasileira favorita.
Tenha um bom fim de semana!

Ana Paula

Update

Hi! Today I have some new things to show since my last post.
The first one...Wow! I can't believe I won Carol's egg ornament !
Look at all the goodies she sent me.

Oi! Hoje eu tenho algumas coisas novas para mostrar desde o meu ultimo post.
A primeira coisa...Uau! Eu nao acredito que ganhei o ornamento de ovo da Carol!
Olhem todos os outros mimos que ela me mandou.

The ornament is sooo pretty, I was amazed to see how small her stitching is.
O ornamento e muito lindo, e eu fiquei admirada em ver como os bordados  dela tem pontos pequenos.

This is the sweetest little thing. And the bead border is tiny.
Isso e a coisinha mais doce. E a beirada com contas e minuscula.

It lives in my cubby shelf now. Thanks, Carol!
Ele  mora na minha prateleira cubby agora.  Obrigada, Carol!

I am always late with my stitching. But I guess the important thing is to finish.
Eu estou sempre atrasada em meus bordados. Mas acho que a coisa importante e terminar.

I just love this little guy from Lizzie Kate. I am stitching just the months I like the most. This one is my favorite.
Eu amo esse carinha da Lizzie Kate. Eu estou bordando apenas os meses que eu gosto mais. Este e meu favorito.

I have done some sewing too.
Eu costurei um pouco tambem.

This is an apron I made for a school fundraiser. It's really a set of mother and daughter matching aprons. The camera added me 20 pounds, so no picture of the mother apron.

Este e um avental que eu fiz para uma rifa da escola. Na realidade e um conjunto de aventais para mae e filha. A camera me aumentou uns 10 kilos, entao nao vou por a foto do avental da mae.

I just finished this dress for Brenda, using a fabric I got in Brazil last summer.
Eu acabei de fazer esse vestido para a Brenda usando  um tecido que comprei no Brasil no verao passado.

I have so many projects to make...never ends.
Eu tenho tantos projetos pra fazer...nunca acaba.

I am stitching this now. Miles from Lizzie Kate's Pair O' Pilgrims. After him will come Priscilla.
I need to have them ready for Thanksgiving.
Eu estou bordando isso agora. Miles da Lizzie Kate. Depois dele vou bordar a Priscilla.
Eu preciso te-los prontos para Acao de Gracas.

And I am doing tons of other little things. Like making some small changes around here.
E eu estou fazendo um monte de outras coisinhas. Como fazendo pequenas mudancas por aqui.

This is how the wall over the computer desk looks like now. Got to love Pinterest and all the inspiration there!
Isso e como a parede sobre a escrivaninha do computador esta agora. Voce tem que amar o Pinterest e toda a inspiracao que tem la!

Well, I need to go now, lots of cleaning and sewing waiting for me.
Bom, tenho que ir agora, tenho um monte de limpeza e costura esperando por mim.

Have a wonderful day!

Ana Paula.

Easter Bunting

Hello!
I am all ready for Easter, at least the decorations are ready.
I finally made  my version of Nana Company's Spring banner. Well, I think mine is more a mix of Amy's from Nana Company and Sandra's from Cherry Heart.
I used Amy's pattern for the ticker tape applique that you can get at her blog, but changed the style of the banners to be more like Sandra's.

Eu estou pronta para a Pascoa, pelo menos a decoracao esta pronta.
Finalmente eu fiz minha versao da Spring Banner da Nana company.
Bom, eu acho que a minha e mais uma mistura das da Amy do blog Nana Company e da Sandra do blog Cherry Heart.
Eu usei os ricos para as aplicacoes estilo ticker tape da Amy, que estao no blog dela , mas mudei as bandeirolas para o estilo mais como as da Sandra do blog Cherry Heart. Os links est~ao na parte em Ingles.

Another change I made was to add a tulip, so I could have five different designs.
Outra modificacao que fiz foi adicionar uma tulipa, para ter cinco motivos diferentes.

Look how messy! Had to tie all the loose ends.  I made two bunnies and three chicks to be able to get favorites.
Olha que bagunca! Tive que amarrar todas as pontas de linha. Eu fiz tres coelhinhos e dois pintinhos para poder conseguir meus preferidos.

And here is the finished bunting (or banner).
I am very happy with how it come out, and it is a lovely addition to my Easter decor.
E aqui esta a banner terminada.
Eu estou muito feliz com o resultado e 'e uma linda adicao para minha decoracao de Pascoa.

Now, my cubby shelf all decorated for Easter. I was able to fill up all the twenty cubbies!
E agora minha prateleira cubby toda enfeitada para a Pascoa. Eu consegui encher todos os vinte espacos!

And one last thing. My fabric carrots I made following the tutorial from Clare's Craft Room.
E uma ultima coisa. Minhas cenouras de pano feitas seguindo o tutorial do blog Clare's Craft Room.

 

Happy Easter!

Feliz Pascoa!

Ana Paula.

A Robin

Hello!
I have a small finish to show.

The light is bad, and I wish I had stitched it on darker blue fabric, the white branches would show better... This is a pattern from Christiane Dahlbeck.
I made several changes, because of the aida fabric. The design has half stitches that would only work on linen. Very different half stitches. Well, I will have to live with it.

I wanted to use a small frame for this design. Could not find anything that worked at Michael's.
But I found this  laser cut frame at the wood aisle. I think it was about two dollars, no more than that. I spray painted white,  and because it is a flat frame, I had to do a little trick to finish the ornament.
I wish I had pictures.
I got a piece of white cardboard just a bit bigger than the frame opening and put it on the back of the stitched piece, folding the edges of the fabric to the back of the cardboard and gluing it with Tacky Glue.
After that,  I put a thin line of glue around the back of the opening of the frame and carefully pressed  the stitched piece against it.
To finish the back I glued white felt on the back of the cardboard.
The finished ornament has to lay on something to stand, but you can make a stand to the back using cardboard, or even glue a ribbon to hang.
I hope my directions are clear enough.
I just love this little frame, is so delicate! I think I will have more finishes like this.
It was the first robin I ever stitched, and I want to stitch some more. I love robins, never saw a real one, but I think they are just adorable, specially the European one.
The robin on The Secret Garden movie (I love it!) and Beatrix Potter's robin on her Peter Rabbit story
are my favorites.
Since I only have sparrows here in my courtyard, I got the robin figurine on the picture above at a gift shop in San Diego. He is darling!
Anyways, that was my first robin cross stitch, and the first ornament for my cubby shelf from my previous post.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Ana Paula.

Thrift Store Treasures

Hello!
I love thrift stores! It's so exciting to look around and find something that you love!
I go often to Salvation Army, both for donating stuff and to shop.
Other day, we decided to go to Goodwill, and it was such a good idea.
I really love this cubby shelf from Pottery Barn. It looks so pretty on this picture.

And guess what? I was lucky to find this very similar shelf at Goodwill !!!

Close enough, even with only 20 cubbies. Just $15.00.
I am planning to use it to display cross stitch ornaments and seasonal trinkets, like at the banner on the  Little House Needleworks website.

Looks lovely with Diane's ornaments, don't you think?

And I found more...

I know...this looks so ugly! But I see potential here. My husband can't understand why:)

Much better without  the junk inside.

I also found this, that will be used for a project soon.

My last treasure is this unused muffin pan, with some scratches, but very good quality.
It was a great shopping day!
Now I need to work on some new cross stitch ornaments... have to find the time!
And one last thing:  a picture of  my lovely tulips.

Have a wonderful day!

Ana Paula.

Sewing and Valentine's Day

Hello! I hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day! We had a great day yesterday with lots of flowers! I just love these red tulips!

And look at the gorgeous pink roses my husband gave me.

Talking about Valentines, a while ago I made this table runner to donate to The Children's Tumor Foundation .

I had a hard time working with the batting. I will never get that stuff again. I am so used with cotton batting, that's the way to go.
I need to make a Valentine table runner for my side board. I had no time this year.
Right now, I am sewing some new clothes for Brenda. She is growing like a weed (a very cute weed), and outgrowing all her church dresses.
I have a big problem finding nice and affordable clothes for her now. Clothing people have no idea how a girl 8 and up should dress. Not like a teenager! And most of the teen stuff is not good anyways.
I will be making her a couple of new dresses and blouses, but for now I made some new skirts.

They are all very simple. This one has two layers.

And these two are made of very light corduroy.

This is the last one. Pink corduroy.

Some of the fabric I had for a while. I am working hard to use my fabric and declutter my place.
Now I have some Spring /Summer skirts to make.

Have a great weekend!

Ana Paula.