With Doll My Heart

For the month of February, Ashley from Penelope's Eclectic Closet has a wonderful line of limited edition dolls available which will benefit charity. She's here to tell you all about it!

When Stella was born, she had a small hole in her heart. The tiniest imperfection in an otherwise perfect newborn. We feel so fortunate! Her issue was minor. Just a tiny heart murmur needing a couple cardiologist appointments (At Primary Children’s hospital) during the first year of her life to monitor it. In Nov 2013 we got awesome news that her hole had closed and she was good as new! This isn’t even something that would affect her during the rest of her life. We’re so lucky and so grateful for the health of our kids! 

February is National Heart Month, and Penelope’s Eclectic Closet will be celebrating by offering one limited-edition doll every day for the 28 days in February. These Heart dolls have the same charm as Penelope’s Eco Friendlies (dolls made from scraps of Penelope Original Dresses to keep extra bits and pieces out of landfills) but have a sweet little heart sewn to their chest! I'll be donating 20% of the proceeds from sales of these dolls to the wonderful folks at Primary Children's Hospital! 

Find Penelope's Eclectic Closet on Storenvy, Facebook, Twitter & Instagram, or contact via email.

If you are interested in donating directly to Primary Children's Hospital, read more about it here.  

Collection of Collections Week 4

Its the end of our first month of Storenvy collection round up. I'm having a fun time creating the collections as well as viewing them. You may notice that this is a dreamy week.
I made the following two collections:

Sweet Dreams 

featuring jessicaNdesigns, Pelhuaz by Red, Twisted Thread And Hook, and more

Hip Hippos

featuring Squshies, Adorebynat, Unique Creations by Tracy, Milo & Ben and more

My favorite collections from this week are:

Dream Sweet Little One by Amanda C

featuring The Papery Nook, Take the Cannoli, candy kirby designs, and more

Man-Up by Kelly K

featuring After Hours Agenda, Month of Mae, Mystic Eye Creations and more

Wood you believe by Kodeekins

featuring [blank]shoppe, Mystic Eye Creations, GipsonWands, and more

Angels came to me in my dream by Magda M

featuring Landon's Toy Box, A Single Dream, Heritage Heartcraft, Lady Lack's Designs, and more

Which collection do you like best?
If you've made or been featured in a Storenvy collection recently, share the link in the comments for a chance to be featured next week!

Pad Thai recipe

GipsonWands has crafted another tasty recipe to share!

If you are a long time reader then you will know that Violet’sBuds and I like Asian inspired meals. We used to frequent a chain restaurant where I would almost always get the Pad Thai. I love the dish so much I started to wonder if I could make something similar at home. For this recipe I used leftover rotisserie chicken but it isn’t necessary if you prefer a more vegetarian meal.

Wordless Wednesday Week 4

Here we are, already at the end of January. It makes me wonder if 2014 will goes by as fast as 2013. At least this year I will have a daily photo record of my year! The prompts for the Creative Daily photo challenge for Feb have already been posted here.

"bold"

"funny"

"seriously?!" could you see a more pathetic face?

"books" in my new basket from Twisted Thread and Hook

sometimes part of the "creative process" is heading outdoors

sending "sunshine" to a friend in the form of beads

"random" sewing on a card

Will you be joining the photo challenge in February?

Homemade Puffy Paint

My daughter loves to paint. She has her own sets of brushes and paints of all types, but I wanted to try something new. Using the recipe posted on Play at Home Mom we mixed up a batch of puff paint.

• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp salt
• food coloring or powdered paint

This was a great activity to involve my almost- 4 year old. She helped me gather the ingredients and I let her measure and stir them. Once she had the first 3 ingredients mixed, I let her divide the mix into the cups of a muffin tin.

Featured Shop of the Week- Shantara's Soaps

Meet this week's featured shop, Shantara's Soaps, and the talented owner/creator Anita.

I live on a small farm in the heart of the Virginia Countryside. I have been making goats milk soaps for about 7 years now. I got started when we had a lot of milk from our goats and needed to find an outlet for it to pay the feed bill. Soap was the perfect product. We combine our milk with wonderful oils, local ingredients, great scents and essential oils, plus herbs, spices, and other fun things, to make a product that people love. My daughter helps out a lot and we have a permanent booth in the Lynchburg Community Market Heritage Crafters Gallery in Lynchburg, Virginia. We also do a number of festivals and craft shows each year and are slowly increasing our online presence.

Collection of Collections Week 3

We've made it to week 3 of our Storenvy collection round up. I'm having a fun time creating the collections as well as viewing them. This week I made the following two collections:

Sushi Me

featuring Poppy's Garden Gate, EeeBeeDee, Umecrafts, & more

Are you Red-y?

featuring A Single Dream, Origami Delights, Mohu, Lily & Bo, & more

My favorite collections from this week are:

Inspiration -station by Kelly

featuring jessicaNdesigns, Mystigail Adornments, Take the Cannoli & more

Red Apple by Alicia

featuring TwoTone Press, The Eclectic Print, Uber Tiny & more

Tea Time by Kodeekins

featuring Scrawny Girl, Squshies, Feathered Arrow Press & more

Have you made a Storenvy collection recently? Post the link in comments for a chance to be featured next week!

Wordless Wednesday Week 3

We're already 3 weeks into the new year and the #CreativeDaily photo challenge hosted by Lu & Ed. I've been trying to keep up with the FMSphotoaday prompts for January too, but don't make it every day. Here's the round up of photos from the last week.

"shiny"

"workspace"

"storage"

I am a hand-stitching "machine"

"spots"

"stripes"

"your face"

"sun"

"tiny"

Have you joined a photo challenge?

Treat Cozy Pattern

Our tutorial this week comes to us from Pink Snail Boutique. Read below to find out how to crochet a Cold Hand Treat Cozy, or download the pattern for free on Ravelry or Crafsty.
Please note, Violet's Buds has special permission from Pink Snail Boutique and owner Lisa to post the pattern and photos below.

 

Cold Hand Cozy Pattern for your Popsicle, Otter Pop, GoGurt frozen treats

Materials:
Yarn: Cotton ( Sugar n Cream)
Hook: I
Darning needle: for weaving ends

Sizing: 2” x 5” depending on your gauge
Gauge: 7sc =  2”

Featured Shop of the Week- Squshies

I love this week's featured shop! Squshies creates amazing felt animals and hoop art. I adore Beauregard the Hippo, one of her shop mascots. My husband surprised me with a Beauregard ornament for Christmas, so he joined Gabos and Oliver on our tree (see pics below). Danielle is the creator/owner of Squshies and I'm happy to feature her work this week!

Making felt animals started out as a fun thing to do in between job searches. I had been looking for a job for more than 6 months. I finally found a job, shortly after I started to make Squshies, but it made me miserable and it wasn't even a good job.

Otis the Cake Troll

Within about 2 months, my husband encouraged me to pursue the Squshies more seriously. My husband and I have both always wanted to something creative career wise and I have always been intrigued by the idea of working for myself. Now I finally had the support, the opportunity and the idea to pursue.

Collection of Collections Week 2

I was ambitious this past week and made 4 Storenvy collections. Here's a round up of my curated collections, plus several of my favorites.

Oh, Just Shoot Me featuring Stay Gold Media,
Mystigail Adornments & more

May the Force be with You featuring
Little House of Crafting, Lily & Bo, Scrawny Girl & more

Get Inspired featuring Studio1241,
Pelhuaz by Red, Little Green Guy, Krmbal & more

Get Organized! featuring Twisted Thread & Hook, Lu & Ed, Ni-Chern Designs, Unique Creations by Tracy & more

My favorite Storenvy collections this week are-

Narwhals need love too featuring
Milo & Ben, Mohu, Sugar Crumbs & more

Let the Sun Shine featuring
Jamie Bender Photography, Kiser Krafts, & more

My Dreams of Potter featuring
GipsonWands, Landon's Toy Box, From Home, Squshies & more

Twitterpated featuring
A Single Dream, Zeeuh, Lu & Ed, Mohu & more

Which collection is your favorite? If you have a collection that you are featured in or curated, share the link below for a chance to be featured next week!