7.29.2010

sewing project: embroidered name napkins


Before the sewing room was all packed up, I made personalized, embroidered lunch napkins for my co-workers as going-away gifts, using thrifted cotton and recently found vintage sheets. 


Each name was stitched with a simple running stitch, using lime green floss. 

7.27.2010

thank you!

A salty oat cookie (!) made by the lovely Beth Hempton.

Everything's packed, the movers have come and gone, and we're currently camping out on the floor of our Austin house, getting ready for our drive to DC, which starts early tomorrow morning.

I grew up in New England, so I'm excited to live on the East Coast again for the first time in eight years, but there will definitely be things I'll miss about Texas (including our friends, queso, and the melt-in-your-mouth fresh tortillas from H-E-B). However, one of the things that I will miss most is the Austin crafting community. I've met an incredibly inspiring and supportive group of women here in town, and I'm sad to say good-bye. And so, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who's helped me along the way, answered my crafty business questions, taught me new skills, cheered me on, and made me feel so welcome. 

Thank you to the gals of EtsyAustin. Though I joined this enthusiastic and active street team only weeks before finding out we were moving, I've had so much fun meeting members, attending events, and learning more about running a craft business in Austin.

Thank you to Jennifer Perkins of Naughty Secretary Club, who took me on as an intern, let me help her make lots of cool crafts, passed along oodles of business advice, and shared books and supplies. I had so much fun working behind the scenes at NSC and learned so much about the day-to-day operations of a small craft business.

Thank you to all of my teachers at The Stitch Lab (such an amazing space and resource for crafters!), including Kat McTee and Rachel Hobson who taught me so much about embroidery and challenged me to try out new stitches and techniques.

And finally, thank you to the amazing women behind The WonderCraft (especially Beth H. who made the uh-mazing piece pictured above and wrote the sweetest blog post to go along with it), who have been so supportive of Salty Oat, dispensed great advice, and carried my items in their boutique. I had a blast interning for them (and using their button machine!) and will miss them dearly. (For those of you lucky enough to still be in Austin, I highly recommend you go visit them this weekend at their new location in East Austin!)

I've scheduled a recent craft project post (the first in a while!) to appear on Thursday (we'll be driving somewhere through Tennessee), and when I come back on Tuesday, I'll be blogging from our new apartment in Silver Spring---while hopefully surrounded by our recently delivered furniture. Until then...

7.22.2010

sneak peek

7.20.2010

snapshot from our new city

Shark tail sticking out of the Discovery Channel world headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland--just a few blocks away from our new apartment!

7.15.2010

selection of google reader favorites: rainbow

I'm back from Vermont (where I, among many other things, made an embroidered potholder for my grandmother for her eightieth birthday, stitched up a scarf using pieces of voile from Anna Maria Horner's amazing Little Folks line, and received a lovely new print for our new apartment), but we're now jetting off to DC for the weekend to explore and hopefully find a place to live (!). Crafty updates will have to wait, but in the meantime, here are some colorful, recently starred items from the good ol' Google Reader:



Amazing paintbox floor pillow by Holly at stitch/craft

7.06.2010

giveaway winner!

Names were pulled from an oh-so-lovely pitcher hand painted by Anna Betts.

And the winner of A Rainbow of Stitches is . . . Seaside Siblings! Congratulations, Lou! I'll be e-mailing you shortly for your mailing address. Thank you so much to everyone who entered and for all of your great suggestions about things to check out in the DC area!

I'm off to Vermont today for a week of crafting and family time. I've scheduled a few posts to keep you entertained in my absence, and I'll check back in next week, hopefully with a new project or two to share. Hope you all have a lovely week!

7.01.2010

sewing project: fern-stitch napkins + train tote


For my sister-in-law's June birthday, I sent her a package filled with cupcake-making supplies and some handmade goodies, including a set of four hand-embroidered napkins with a fern-stitch border. (I sold a teal pair in my shop not too long ago.)


I wrapped everything up in a little tote I made a few years ago from some amazing train fabric found in my mom's stash.


The tote was lined with pink polka dot fabric, which was also used for the handles, and I sewed coordinating green buttons at the base of each of the handles.