A Few Favorites of Mine....

My sewing machine is getting tired- so I decided to get out the "good beads" and have a relaxing evening making a few more of my favorite designs. I have to be in the right mind to make these little bird cages. After drilling holes in the bottom, each cage has to be carefully pried open and the vintage glass bird slipped in so the wire goes through the bottom hole- and trying NOT to break off the little tail!

I can never keep these in stock- and I can't take special orders (because you never know if that tail snaps off after working on one forever- then I have to put it all away & start something else!) I just love working with the "good beads". I think tomorrow I'll snap a few picks of my private little stash of vintage glass- I covet the wire embedded birds- Venetian birds from the 40's and 50's. I just found a few more of my little hour glass charms....

...so I'll be making a variation of this design I made last year. About 1 inch tall, the glass timer is filled with real sand and actually turns. I LOVE these!

So, off to my bottle of red, my audio book (because I'm hosting book club Friday & I haven't started the book), and my apothocary jar filled with the "good beads".

Signs of Spring...

Signs of Spring?..... I'm searching! More snow? Ugh!

I can't get enough of robin's egg blue. A few of my favorites to inspire my day! Off to work!

Vintage Venetian Glass Birdcage Necklaces

New in my shop- the limited addition Vintage Venetian Glass Birdcage Necklaces. The little antique glass birds were made in Venice, on the island of Mirano. These same birds were used to make those really expensive Venetian necklaces.

Tucked safely inside a vintage brass "bird cage", each adorned with amazonite, quartz, peridot, and Korean jade. I'll only be making a handful of these- my little stash of birds is running low. (if anyone out there has more to sell let me know!)

More later on my upcoming holiday show schedule. Can you believe the holidays are creeping up! I've been working away trying to make sure I have enough to sell at 4 big shows this season. More later- I hope you like my little love birds!

New Pillows at Buttermilk Hill

Stephanie from Buttermilk Hill posted this picture of my new pillows on her country porch in central Ohio. I know I mentioned this in a previous blog post- you can now buy my pillows at this new site. Featuring "local, handmade, and vintage goods from the back roads of beautiful Ohio", I'm excited to be part of this new venture.

The site is new and she's still stocking the shelves- but I wanted to start spreading the word. Buttermilk Hill offers free domestic shipping, and their country market features Amish quilts and baskets, rag rugs, painted gourds, my pillows, and much more!

I hope you take the time to have a look!

I'm off to enjoy my Indian Summer day !

Bird Love: Flickr Finds

Today I found one of my pillows featured in this lovely collection of bird inspired designs. Yes- I'm a bird nerd- take a look at the Flickr Bird Nerd group for more inspiration! Thanks Lark Crafts for taking the time to put this together.

(click the links below to see more work from these artists- it's worth your time!)

1. lil-sad-owl 2. Little Bird Quilt 3. spring 4. raven quilt 5. Peacock yarn art 6. Traffic Pattern 7. Vintage Fabric Applique Bird Cage Pillow 8. The Cream and Burgundy Flowers Bird on a Wire Clutch 9. black bird mini with frame

"tweet"

I couldn't resist sharing this adorable Etsy Treasury- a collection of bird themed crafts curated by myartstuduio. Titled "Tweet"- one of my Vintage Applique Bird Cage Pillows is included in this cheerful group. This is just a snapshot- you can see the entire list here.

I'm always flattered to be among such talent- thanks myartstudio!

I have some new applique pillow designs to share this week. I'm working on a cat series, some dogs, and smaller house pillows. A LOT going on & and upcoming shows- more tomorrow! Time to get ready for the first day of school. YAAAAY!

new linen pillows....

Summer Market was a great success this past weekend! After a few days off I'm finally getting around to listing new linen pillows in my Etsy shop. I just listed more of my little Linen Applique Bird pillows in new colors. A lot of people bought these for baby nurseries.....

Starry Night- linen applique house pillow has a pretty sprinkling of "stars" in the background.

Lastly, a few applique leaf pillows. All my linen pillows use recycled vintage fabric- mostly 1940's quilt and feed sack prints.

I'm done with 2 fabric birdhouses that have been in the works for awhile- more on that tomorrow!

More of what I'm working on...

Summer craft shows coming soon! Here's a sneak peak at a few new bags-

More linen (of course!) & more birds (of course!). These bags are a little smaller than my usual...

.....trimmed with cotton crocheted lace. All one-of-a-kind using vintage quilt fabrics for the birds....

You can find them in my Etsy shop.

A few more new bags tomorrow~