The Covering of God's Word

 This Easter, my granddaughter is receiving her very first Bible.

I cannot even put into words the joy that fills my heart...
so, it's my hands that have found an outlet,
 in the making of a little book cover for her precious treasure.

Of course, the child will need two new Bibles...

one for at home...

and one for at Gramma's house!

I can hardly wait for those lovely summer days

spent in The Garden,

the very place where it all began,

delighting in,

and under,

 The Covering of God's Word...

 together.

Made in Canada!

It all started when my oldest son said that he would like a home-made Christmas gift this year.

One thing led to another and before I knew it,

ALL the boys in the family had a new pair of Christmas pajama pants, 

each wrapped and laid under the tree!

On Christmas morning,
when Makenna saw that all the boys had been given a pair,

she put in her request as well.

It didn't take long...
and soon she had her very own girl version!

Even wee Greyson got in on the act!

After all the activities of the Christmas season were done,

on December 28th, Scott and I were finally able to sit down,

put up our feet and... relax!

He in his Made in Canada, pajama pants,

me in my Made in China, Hello Kitty thermal socks. 

Looks like we are all set to ring in the New Year!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Summer Inspired Cuffs

Coming soon to The Boutique... 

Summer Inspired Cuffs!

These particular ones were actually made as a gift for a friend that has two young daughters.

What a lovely, soft, feminine, comfortable accessory to wear to a garden tea party... or, just because!

The backing is made from a 100% Cotton fabric that is so soft on the skin and the closure is also a 100% Cotton elastic that loops over the button. 

Ssshh... it's a gift!

With a few decorating magazines tucked into the back pocket, along with a Tim Horton's gift card, I'm hoping this gift will be a lovely surprise for a certain special birthday girl!

Everything Old... Is New Again!

I love to be inspired...

And this week I was inspired by my friend Linda's daughter Gina.

You can check out her blog here to see what I mean!

I had an old sweater that I had in a bag
ready to send to The Salvation Army,

I thought that it would be a good item to try my hand at
making into something new.

I started by cutting it in half.

I rearranged the buttons and then cut off the excess, 

with the idea in mind of making a skirt for Makenna.
I sewed up the front, added an elasticized waist band and turned up the hem.

I rearranged the top portion as well and then cut off and reworked the sleeves.

And here is the end result.

I had a little left over and so made her some ankle warmer leggings to match.

It was so much fun and only took an hour.

I'm definitely going to be doing this again soon!

Thanks Gina!

Four Sheets to the Wind!

Well, this was certainly a fun little project - it's amazing what you can make with a bed sheet!  I borrowed the pattern from my friend Linda and traced it onto wax paper before cutting it out.  My granddaughter has a little pair of matching capri's coming soon that will go nicely with her new summer top - which can also be worn by itself as a dress.

Cotton always feels so cool and refreshingly comfortable when the weather turns warm and I am so convinced of using bed sheets that I've stocked up and am starting to put together a few patterns for myself in the way of casual summer wear.

I made my first ever 'Yo Yo' on this project.  They seem to be all over everything in the stores this season... instead of paying store prices for the embellishment's, I'm thinking of turning plain T-shirts into more updated versions by adding a few Yo Yo's cut out of small fabric pieces already available in my fabric bin.

Crayon Roll Up

It's my granddaughter's birthday!  I've been wanting to make her a Crayon Roll-Up for ages now and so I thought that this would the perfect time.

This Peachy Pink colour seems to be really in this Spring and a few of the clothing gift items that she will be given has this colour running through them, as well as the five petal flowers that her gramma has been drawing since she was a little girl.

I went Vintage Shopping the other day and found some lovely material that matched her outfits to perfection!  The outer material is so soft and has a lighter pink, five petal flower running through it.

When folded out, the striped cotton material enhances the straight lines of the crayons and the little flower pockets soften the look.  In between each crayon space, I placed the tiniest little five, petal flower bead, making the stitching look like long flower stems.

I'm really delighted with how it turned out.  If I had a little more time, I would also make a carry bag to place the Crayon Roll-Up in, along with her colouring books... sigh... that will have to be another project, for another day!

'Twas The Night Before Christmas...

I was a busy girl right before Christmas... lots of hats and things to crochet!  Even on Christmas Eve, the last hat was being quickly crocheted together!

This one is for Anne...

This one for Nina...

This one for Jude...

This one for Emma.

And it wasn't just for the girl's either -

here is a lovely Bamboo Yarn toque that I made for little Ryan!

 Each one of the little girls -

Isabel,

Olivia,

Malea,

Makenna,

all received little hat's as well -

here they are all ready to be assembled in the production line!

I forgot to take pictures of them all completed, 

but here is the first one as an example of them all -

they sure did look cute all lined up and ready to be wrapped! 

Makenna received a poncho and matching hat.

The beads are ones that she enjoys playing with in my bead box -

and the colour of the yarn reminds me of Christmas Candy!

If Makenna was to receive a poncho and hat,

then her mama was to have one too!

Here she is on Christmas morning...

There were a few other gifts I made, that found themselves all brightly packaged away in Christmas paper before I got a chance to take pictures of them.  I just hope that they will bless those that receive as much as they did me in the making of them!

Leg Warmers!

It's a very snowy day today!

And although I seem to have a little assembly line of hats to complete for Christmas gifts...

it just seemed right to begin a little pair of leg warmers for Makenna.

I think they will look cute when they are done!

I'm also thinking that a pair of Big Girl leg warmers would be a excellent idea too!

Lemon Drops and Hats to Match

I've always wanted to crochet a little dress.  When I was in the 5th grade, my best friend Kelly Cheales and I signed up for a crochet class that was held during the school lunch hour for the Winter months.  I remember it being a really enjoyable time... with the leaves all gone from the trees and the grey skies and dampness always underfoot, it was nice to stay warm and dry inside the brightly lit and vacated classroom (no boys!).  I honestly cannot remember if we were given instruction of any kind as far as crocheting was concerned, my memories really only consist of Kelly and myself...  crocheting!

While I plodded along learning how to create Granny Squares, Kelly had already acquired the skill of basic crochet from her mother and elder sister and had taken on the amazing task of crocheting a little red Christmas dress for her younger sister... I was absolutely in awe as each day that little dress began to take shape.  Somewhere inside myself I had placed the longing to one day be able to crochet a little dress too!

And here I am, only a few weeks shy of turning 50 years old, and the desire of my heart has been met... I've completed a little Lemon Drop Dress for my granddaughter!

I first found the pattern a few weeks ago and while I haphazardly stumbled through trying different ways of altering my stitches to accomodate Makenna's size, I am really pleased with how it turned out.  Learning to read a pattern, especially the floral portion was a real challenge to begin with, but I seemed to somehow catch on and it has built confidence in me to try more complicated and creative patterns.

In this picture you can see the little hat that I made to go with the dress, however... as I began to make hats as Christmas gifts for Malea, Olivia and Isabel, I began to love the design so much that I've decided to make one for Makenna, in addition to the one she will already receive, as I think it also compliments the dress nicely and gives it a very 'mod' look!  (Now there is a term from the 60's!)

What is so great about this little 'mod' hat is that I actually created the pattern myself!  I've never done that before and once again, I am really encouraged to try and do more pattern designing.

Now, if there was only some way to create more Time!

These Flapper Cloche hats and Fingerless Gloves...

 are really catching on this Autumn!

Linda's daughter Gina is presently visiting her family here and has seen the Hat and Glove Set that I had made for her mom's birthday gift and mentioned that she wouldn't mind having a set as well.

I've adorned Gina's hat,
 with a natural looking vintage wooden polished button,

set in the centre of the Floral Accessory.

And both the Cloche Hat and Fingerless Gloves 

have a saucy little taupe and white polka dotted ribbon running through.

I think Gina would look lovely no matter what she chose to wear, but I do hope that she enjoys her new Autumn and Winter accessories... made just in time to be dropped off at her mom's house before she heads back to her own home tomorrow!

Just had to post this picture of Gina with her two children, 

Sam and Lola, 

on Halloween night... 

love the hat!

(and the cheetah and the ladybug!)