a room with a view :: a tutorial

I am so proud to show off to you what I was able to make from all the goodies my friend Gina sent me. It seems odd to say friend, because we've never met, or even spoken, but we have communicated by e-mail. First on Etsy, as she bought this poster you see below. {Doesn't it look gorgeous on the mantle? The red in the stone is picked up by the reddish coral of the poster.} I know that she must have a cozy home. And she told me a story about how her children were proud that these were their very own house rules and I just might have gotten a tear in my eye. Or two. Wow, they liked it!

I've had fun communicating with a few other blog-gy gals, too, and I am a happy person because of this. I want you to know that I try to visit the blogs of my followers and commenters, too!

This is what I will get to see each time I walk into my craft room! You'll remember the goody package Gina sent me, well these projects are all a result of that happy mail. Lucky me!

Here's a closer view:

It has been years since I did any type of hand stitching and I have to tell you, I absolutely loved it. I used to cross-stitch years ago and I think that I will have to do more projects like this bird. 

I did a chain stitch, a running stitch, french knots, a satin stitch and a back stitch. I won't show you the back because I carried my thread far too far. You really talented needle crafters would just shake your head at my lack of expertise! The bird is my take on the Indigo Bunting that my mother-in-law and I love so much!

Gordon enjoyed having me sit with him while I stitched and we drank our weekend morning coffee in the Sun Room. He did say this though, "You know you're getting old when you start sewing." I let it slide. He doesn't really think I'm old, even though I'm 7 years older than him. Most people think we're the same age. So there, Mr. Smarty Pants!

And now for an even closer view:

This hoop {above} has one of my book page flowers, a vintage paper doily from Gina she found in the original box dated 1942, scallop trim I cut from felt, a flower topped stick pin from Gina and an "m" I cut out of Amy Butler fabric, also from Gina. I backed the "m" with more felt as I didn't have any Wonder Under to fuse it to the hoop fabric and it needed some stability. 

This flower was made using my variation of this tutorial. My sewing machine is not cooperating with me lately, so I used my low-melt hot glue gun to make this sweet thing. I was afraid the hot glue gun would melt the felt {it's the 4/$1 Hobby Lobby stuff, not the good wool stuff.} 

I'll just tell you now, if you have daughters and they see this flower...they WILL want one. Now. If they could reach it on my craft toom wall, they would have taken it down and fought over who got to put it in their room!

Here's another view of the Life is Great hoop and the "m" hoop.

I just cannot get over how adorable, and creative, this Life is Great hoop is! I told Gina that I think she should have her very own Etsy shop. Don't you?

If you'd like to see a few steps on how I made the flower hoop, here it goes! First, cut out your circles.

Then, I folded my template in half and cut the felt circles in half, instead of eyeballing it. I "felt" {hardy har, I'm so funny!} it would be more accurate this way.

I used a green background to look like leaves because I wasn't sure if I had enough pink felt semi-circles. In the end I had plenty...but I love the way it turned out after all!

To make the top 3 layers of poofy, dimensional petals, I first applied some glue to the middle of my semi-circle. 

                             

Then I smooshed it together {yeah, I know...me and my technical terms}. I then placed glue on the back side of the dimensional petal and placed it on the fabric and petal-embellished hoop. The smooshed up felt will be on the back side glued down. The smooth side will be face up.

See those poofy, dimensional petals below? That's what we just made. And the clear glass pebble, that I use to make necklaces, is just to cover the middle spot where the top row of petals meet in the middle. You could use a button, a rhinestone, or...

For the "m", I found a font I liked, enlarged it to the size I needed, printed it, trimmed it out and then...

...turned it and the fabric over to trace around it so that I could cut the fabric "m" out.

For added stability, I used a running stitch with 3 strands of embroidery floss to attach the "m" to the green felt. Then, using the sharp end of the needle, I purposefully frayed the edges of the fabric to give it a more imperfect, shabby look. My next step was to trim the "m" out of the felt. I did not go between the legs of the letter "m" rather I just cut straight across the bottom. 

                            

If you'd like to see it again, here's another view.

Thank you, Gina, for helping me in my scrap room makeover. It's already a happier place!