Fairy Garden

Hello!

Long time since my last post.  Time goes fast.
I am working on some things that hopefully I will share soon.
Today I will share the fairy garden we made last weekend.

We started with an old barbecue grill that we "rescued" from the alley behind our apartment. We had a fairy garden before, but it never worked out very well. I think this time, we got it!

A cute fairy house. I love it!

A ladybug tire swing for fairies, the cutest thing.

A welcome sign.

And a  birdhouse. We got all pieces at Joann's. We put the house over a base of little rocks, so it will get less moisture from the dirt. The rocks are from Ikea.

One of the problems we had before with fairy gardens, was  the plants growing too fast. This time, we chose succulents. I think with these kind of plants, we will be able to control and keep the garden easier. I still want to plant something behind the house, not sure what.

We are very happy with our little garden. Hopefully the donkey's tail and the green pearls will grow well and fall on the sides.

Now we are just waiting for a little fairy to move in :)

Have a wonderful day!

Ana Paula.

A Little English Cottage.

Hello! Hope you are all enjoying Spring!
We had a lovely Easter, but I was so busy that I forgot to take pictures.
But I took these ones of the resurrection garden we made this year.

This weekend I made a project that was on the planning for a long time.

A little English Cottage. Many years ago in Brazil, I had a magazine with the directions to make a tea cozy shaped like one of these charming little houses. I always wanted to make one, so I finally made a small version of it. I looked of lots of pictures of embroidery cottages, and this is what I came up with.
Now that I put the Easter decorations away, my cubby shelf is so empty. It's not easy to always  keep all the twenty 5x5 slots filled with seasonal items. I am always looking for cute little things that fit. The Cottage was made to fit. Perfect!

This was my second try. I really wanted hollyhocks by the door, but it did not worked out...I was not able to make them small enough. So, I decided for the climbing roses. Most of  the flowers are french knots, only the daisies are daisy stitch. I used wool felt for the roof, windows and door. For the back of the cottage I used a green print fabric.

I sew a little triangle on the two bottom corners, so it could stand. Sorry about the blurry picture.

The chimney is just a folded ribbon. The cottage measures 5x4 without the chimney.

 

I did the embroidery mostly at night watching TV. I think it was a good practice, since I am planning some bigger embroidery projects for the near future, and it was a long time since I had done any of this kind of embroidery.

I am very pleased with the result, it feels good when you make something that you wanted for so long, and it turns out just the way you imagined.

 

Have a good week, and may all your stitching dreams come true :) !

Ana Paula.

Daffodils

I finally have a finish!

This is a very small and simple finish, but I always loved this pattern.

It comes from one of my old cross stitch magazines from Brazil, and I believe it was originally from The Cross Stitcher, but I am not sure.

I love the bit of ribbon embroidery mixed with the cross stitch.
I had finished the stitching a while back but could not decide how to finish it. Seems like an eternity since I finished a cross stitch project.
Organizing my stitching stuff other day, I found the little hanger my friend Jodie gave me a couple of years ago, and here you go,I made a tiny mini quilt!
I know, the polka dot fabric was not being nice to me...one of those days. The dots are wonky, but I like it anyways.  And with the cold we are having here in Southern California, daffodils make you think of Spring.  I am starting to work on my little garden already.

Have a wonderful day!

Ana Paula.

Moda Hometown Table Runner and Pillows

Hello!
Several months ago a friend gave me a "jelly roll", one of those cool rolls of precut stripes from Moda Fabrics. They come on so many pretty prints! Mine was Hometown by Sweetwater.
I finally decided what to do  with it.  Well, part of it, the blue and red stripes.  It's amazing how a jelly roll goes a long way.
First, I made a table runner using this tutorial again.  I followed the same tutorial to make a Christmas table runner last year. Now I have a table runner to use all year long on my Ikea trunk that I use as a coffee table.  I store extra blankets inside.

This was back in March.  Since I had more fabric in the same colorway, I made some pillows.

A brick pattern.

 A rail fence

I don't know how to call this one. The ric-rac pillow? It is smaller, the fabric was almost gone!

I made the backs using a red Moda Marbles fabric I had at home.

Sorry about the bad picture. This was before making the last pillow.
I am not a quilter, I don't have a fancy sewing machine, but I really enjoyed making these projects! Now I still have yellow and grey fabric from the same jelly roll, and I am thinking... soon I will post new stuff.
I have been lazy on my blogging. 

So, let me share some pretty Spring flowers I got recently.

My husband gave me red roses.

I have been cutting lavender from the garden.

Smells so pretty!

And a dear friend of mine gave me these beauties!
Anyways, I am working on a couple of new things, and hope to post again soon.

Have a great day !

Ana Paula.

Easter, Hope, and Neurofibromatosis

Hello! I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.
We had a great time,  just the three of us. The Easter bunny made his visit and gave Brenda candies, coins, a book, and nail polish.
My decor was nearly the same from last year,with very little changes.
While Spring cleaning,  I found an old Easter basket that I made for Brenda when she was almost two years old.
The cute flower buttons were recycled from one of Brenda's baby dresses. I added a bit of felt, ric-rac,  and hand embroidery.  Here are some pictures I took just before Easter.

And here is baby Brenda with the basket in 2006. She got a delicious Brazilian Easter egg that year :)  How I miss the Easter eggs from my country!

I just love these pictures! But that was a difficult Spring for our family.  It was when Brenda broke her leg for the first time.  She had just started walking some months before.  We knew very little about her condition that time,  and were even accused of child abuse.  It was very scary.
Anyways, back to this year.  We had a delicious Easter dinner and appetizers.
Brenda and Daddy made Deviled Egg Chicks from Family Fun and Pinterest .
The green plate was my birthday gift, a set of two.

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For dessert I made Brazilian  Pineapple and Cream . So good!

Springtime is so special.  A time of growth and renewal, and Easter is a time of hope and faith for Christians.  We are very different from the Spring of 2006.
It has been quite a ride for us since we found out about Brenda's Neurofibromatosis.
We are more mature now, and have learned a lot about NF.  Our faith has improved over the years.  We have found great doctors and some amazing families that live with NF like us.  It give us hope and support.  Brenda is doing very well.  She is a sweet little girl that has great faith in Jesus Christ, and we are very proud of her.

We are on Spring break this week with lots to do. We are doing Spring cleaning, gardening, a play date,  and going to the movies to see Mirror, Mirror.  I have some projects to share,  but it will be for another post.
Have a wonderful day!

Ana Paula.

Crochet and Lady Bugs

Hello!
I am really interested in crochet lately.   Probably is because I see so much pretty stuff some talented ladies make all over blog land.
The problem is that I never learned to crochet...but I am trying to fix that :)  It will take some work!
My Mom and aunt both know how to crochet, but I never had the desire myself when I lived in  Brazil.   Now, miles and miles away from them, I will have to learn it on my own.   I did some things on the past, like this Crochet Fabric Basket , but I never went further.  I dream on making Granny Squares and Crochet Snowflakes...  The good thing is that with so many crochet  tutorials and out there, if I persevere, I  may learn something.
Anyways, months ago I  saw some gorgeous  Crochet Stool Covers.
I decided to give it a try. First one for Brenda's room. I choose an Ikea Marius and yarn in pastel colors.

It was surprisingly fast to make.
I liked it so much, that  decided to make another one.  I got a bar stool at Target, to add an extra seat to the kitchen.
Here is when I started.

I am very happy with both of the finished stools.  They look so bright and pretty.  Now, I just need to keep challenging myself and carry on.  Should I try a granny square now ?

With the arriving of Spring, many lovely things happen.
Look what Brenda brought home last week.

As every little girl, she loves lady bugs. She takes very good care of them.

Now they live happily in our garden.

I just love Spring. Beautiful gardens and some lovely holidays.  We had a little Saint Patrick's dinner and cake. Grandma and Grandpa joined us .  Brenda told some Irish jokes and we watched Darby O' Gill and the little people. We had sparkling lemonade to drink and mostly green food.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great week.

Ana Paula.