Warmest Holiday Wishes from poppies

photo via

Happy

Thanksgiving

Yes, I know that the fowl above is not a turkey.  Of course it is a chicken. I happen to be related to that chicken and her name is Pumpkin, which makes her appearance here on my Thanksgiving greeting very apropos. Now the little girl holding my grandchicken is very special indeed.  That is Bailey, one of the loves of my life, and she has taken over my heart along with the others at the tippy-top of my Thankful List. 

I wish you a Thanksgiving filled with love and laughter with family and friends.  I only hope that I can control myself with the stuffing, or this girl is going to have to find herself some stretch pants.    xoxo

made by heart.

Isn’t that just one of the nicest taglines you’ve ever heard?  I’d like to say I came up with it myself, but I didn’t.  I read it somewhere over the past week and have been trying to steal it  remember where ever since.  By definition, “by heart” means “by committing to memory” – as in “I can still recite by heart the first two stanzas of Paul Revere’s Ride that I learned in sixth grade” (I can). When I heard “made by heart” I thought it was such a sweet and honest depiction of a hand-crafter’s work.

For the last two days I’ve been working on lavender sachets for my Etsy shop.  They’re lovely, the lavender scent is amazing and they’re a nice hostess gift for under $10.  That’s well and good, but do you know why they’re made by heart?

The fabric is from Bella Notte, a US company where artisans craft and custom dye each fabric order using environmentally sustainable practices. When I found these embroidered linen remnants I almost passed out from excitement.  This is my favorite fabric.
 
Each little rectangle of grain sack material was chosen to best complement the color of the sachet, and there was care in placement so the lovely embroidery could best be seen.
 
The thread used for the contrast stitching came on a beautiful old wooden spool.  It was one of hundreds of spools I found in a big box at an estate sale. This dear woman left behind every color in the rainbow and I so wish I could have met her to thank her for this treasure.
 
The vintage button came out of a cigar box full of buttons my sweet friend Terrie gave me the first week I opened poppies.  They are from her late grandmother.

I hope I'm not coming across like I'm tooting my own horn - this is what all hand-crafters do.  And this is how your neighborhood shop owner thinks as well. Soon we will succumb to the whirlwind that is the Holiday season. Wouldn't it do us all good to think locally, consider the source of our gifts, and keep things more simple?

With Honor.

A big group hug to the men and women who are serving our country and to all of those who have served -

Thank you.

Wonder Where the Term "Nose to the Grindstone" Comes From.

Have you noticed I've been uncharacteristically quiet?

All of our staff members were talking about it today while busily sewing vintage grain sack pillows, herbal therapy wraps and eye pillows.

via

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

That just tickles my funny bone. poppies is just me, and I've been sewing so much, I look like this:

via

Yes, those would be spools of seam binding hanging from my ears - very handy while I'm hand dying the gift ribbon! Crazy busy lady, indeed. Somehow I signed myself up for two Holiday craft fairs on the same day. Thanks to a few good friends, I'm covered, but I'm working like mad to build up inventory.  

Yesterday was eye pillow and herbal therapy wrap day

Today I completed five new vintage grain sack pillow covers, but no photos yet. I'll be listing them on the website in the next few days.  

Time to call it a night.  Enjoy the full moon.  ;-)

Boo.

Happy Halloween!

I wanted to thank everyone who played along with our Thirty Days of Pet Costumes on our Facebook page.  Some of your comments were hysterical!  I think it's safe to say that the two favorites were:

Joe the Plumber

and...

Cha cha cha Chia Dog!

Tonight I can't wait to hand out candy at my daughter's house while she and her Ninja and Princess go trick-or-treating.  I think it goes something like "One for you, one for you, and one for me."  I'll be in big trouble if there are any M&M's in sight!

My big question for the evening - will the Grandchickens dress up??

 

Have fun, and be safe!

And what is the link between pet costumes and cottage style living, you ask?

In case you've missed poppies' Facebook page, I've been running a series entitled Thirty Days of Pet Costumes to take us through to Halloween.  I think the silliness started here, about a year ago

and more recently this one struck my funny bone.

While I posted this morning, it dawned on me that some might question why a woman with a cottage style accessories shop would choose this path.  In fact, I said to myself, "Am I off target from my social media plan, displaying a dog in scuba gear instead of the latest grain sack pillow cover?"  Well, after I stopped "laughing my a** off, rolling on the floor", I realized that this is an example of poppies' definition of the cottage style experience - it's simple, relaxed and comfortable, but also unconventional, a little quirky and usually one-of-a-kind. Steadfast rules don't work here. Some days you'll see something wonderful that I've just finished sewing, but it's more likely you'll see a pig in a leotard.  (Actually, there is a pig in a leotard, here).

Today when I came across this photo of two penguins walking down the beach wearing little sweaters, I couldn't be more excited.  They met the criteria:  animals. in costume. adorbs. But then I continued to read the article and learned that these little guys were survivors of the 2011 New Zealand Oil Spill. When they were oil soaked, their sweaters prevented them from preening (and poisoning) themselves, and kept them warm before and after they were cleaned by cleanup workers.

There is a need for more sweaters and a worldwide call to knitters by Skeinz, a New Zealand yarn shop, to make them.  I can't wait to start.  If you knit, or know someone who does who would like to help out, the pattern and delivery instructions are here.

I believe the one in the orange sweater is giving a "high five".  xoxo