Pillow Talk

My embroidery machine is my friend when it comes to gift giving.  Before  I bought it I would look in boutiques and be drawn to pillows with embroidery on them, or monograms. That got me started with wanting a embroidery machine of my own.  Here are a few pillows that I would like to share that I have made up for gifts.

The Gone Haunting Pillow is something that I put together for a service auction that we had at our church. It was a fun activity where people made things to auction off, or they auctioned off a service that they could give. I really do enjoy making things, but when I give them as gifts I despise being around when the gift is open because I get embarrassed. I worry if my friends will like it or think it is dumb. This was  hard for me to have it auctioned in front of me. It turned out alright and it was well received but it was horribly frightening to me. I bought the spiderweb download at urbanthreads.com . The fonts are things that I design on my ART program.

The next pillow, the Sensiba, was for part of a wedding gift. I knew the couples parents well, but didn't know them, so I thought I would try something personalized. It took about an hour to just stitch out the monogram alone, not including the name underneath. I think it came out nice though and I hope they like it. 

I love pinterest. It helps me when I am trying to figure out what to do for my friends when their birthdays come up. Sierra was having a birthday and so I went to her pinterest board and I found something on there that I thought I could duplicate. Here is my attempt to mimic a RELAX pillow that she had pinned. 

I have a whole board on my pinterest about pillows I love. The board is called pillow talk. If you want to check it out click on the red P on the side bar. For my next pillow project I want to try something more on the feminine side, a little ruffle or retro. I have some vintage handkerchiefs that I would like to find a fun design for. Any ideas?

Home Sweet Home Pillows

When I was first considering buying an embroidery machine I wasn't sure that there were  enough embroidery designers out there that had updated designs. As I did my research I was pleasantly surprised by the fresh downloads available. meringuedesigns.net was one of the companies out there that dazzled me with its modern touch. I bought this wonderful home sweet home design from them a while back and I have loved making these pillows.

This one I made for my daughter in law Jacque. She shares my love for all things red and aqua. 

This is another pillow that came to life in my sewing room. I have made others for gifts for family and friends. I even made one for a white elephant gift exchange at Christmas time. You can see why I love meringue designs. You should click on their link above and see what fun things they help you make. I would like to see some of your creations, e-mail them to me, that would be great.

My Valentine Decorations

I know it is a little late to share Valentine decor, since most of  you will be taking yours down today, but I just wanted to share some of  the things I had displayed this year.

I really love my embroidery machine. There are so many fun things you can make with them. I love this design on my pillow I made, my little love birds.

We made these little wooden stands at a Super Saturday at our church. I  will do a tutorial of them soon. I was teaching another class at the time so  my friend Staci put these together for me. I need more, so when I make them I will share it with you. My friend Marcia sent me that puppy card last year. It was a must keep for my holiday decor. I just love it. The blocks were a fun find in the Target dollar bins one year. I love a good bargain. Those poor blocks keep getting switched around to say all kinds of things this  year. Little hands keep spelling a certain not so Valentiney word. Good thing I checked before this pic was taken.

This board was my attempt at decoupage. I found out it was harder than I thought. Don't look too close. I just had a board on hand, and left over doo dahs from my scrap booking phase and I put this together.

I found this door at a Good Will store for $35. I was with my daughter at the time and we were fighting over it. I won. It hangs in my courtyard by my front door. I tried to decoupage again. This attempt was a little more successful. I sprinkled some glittery stones on them before they dried. I waited a few hours, (maybe not, I am not that patient while crafting), and then hot glued them onto a ribbon.. 

My Be Mine blocks came from a party I went to last year. My friend Sierra won them. She knew I liked them, and she liked the prize I won, so we switched. Friends are good. I found this white metal tree at a store called Real Deals. I like to decorate it for different holidays. Some day I would like to find little frames and decoupage pics of my family in them. The little keys were found in the $1 bins at Micheal's. I couldn't pass them up. Too cute!

I made this Be Mine banner on my embroidery machine. I have been getting into the banner mode lately. This one looks a little vintage to me. It was tough to take this photo because my dog kept wanting to get in the shot. She can be pretty sneaky at times. I am sure you will see her in some other post. I also made that love pillow on the table. I love decorating for the seasons.

I have been married for 33 years to my Mark. That may seem like forever to some, but to me, it is just a beginning. I made this little pillow for fun. It is nice to have some things personalized.  I love my husband. On the Friday before Valentines Day  he took me out to dinner. While we were driving there, he turned to me and asked, "Why aren't you wearing any earrings"?  I reminded him that my ears closed up about 6 years ago. I noticed the panic in his eyes, and I asked him if he got me earrings for Valentines day- which he did. That night after dinner we went to the mall and got my ears pierced again. That was a fun night.