{where words once were}

While giving our Mormor tree a much needed drink of water today, I saw that the fabric hearts I hung had changed colour in the sun. The papers on which we wrote messages to Mormor were still safe in their pockets, but, magically, the ink had vanished.

Surely, when words disappear from our world, they appear in the next.

I like to imagine that as each letter I wrote faded over the summer, bleached by the Texas sun, the message grew clearer and darker and more defined somewhere else, somewhere Mormor is able to read it.

(Read about the meaning of our hearts here, and see how to make your own hearts here)

Red Red Completely Red, Junior.

Though Tilly looks beautiful in pink, I have to say, I like her in little red hearts the best.

Tilly's Mobile

The mobile is complete! And, I managed to stay within the limits of my challenge to myself: don't buy any new materials to make it, and don't unpack any more boxes to find supplies.

Here is what I ended up using:

• 6 pipe cleaners
• 1 long piece of recycled ribbon from a Christmas present from my Mum
• fishing wire
• 7 felted balls
• 1 small square of white felt
• stuffing
• some of that string/ribbon you can buy that has pink pompoms attached

The hardest thing, really, was making the hoop. I started off with just basic wire, trying to wind it around bowls and jugs to make a circle, but it was much too flimsy and kept slipping off whatever I was winding it around. So, pipe-cleaners to the rescue! Much sturdier, and I was able to create a circle from three of them without wrapping them around anything. Then I used three more to wrap tightly around the first three, making the whole thing a lot stronger.

The pipe-cleaners looked okay on their own, but a bit too homemade... more like something Tilly herself will be making in a few years! So I tried wrapping them with wool, first, but it was taking forever! So, I thought, what is wider than wool? And luckily the ribbon basket was right there on the shelf! Almost all of the ribbon I have comes from being wrapped around presents from my Mum... this beauty was nice and long, and so I simply wrapped, and then glued the end down.

The fishing wire was pretty simple... it fitted through the eye of a larger needle, and then I sewed the felt goodies in place, taking care to have it all balance. And the heart was just a free-hand cut shape... I'm sure if you're looking for a pattern, there are plenty of good heart templates online. The pompoms were just cut off the string they came on, and sewn to the heart. Easy!

Isn't there just something about felt that makes a place feel like home?

The Red Leaf Heart

Today was one of those beautiful, find-any-reason-to-be-outside kinds of days. I didn't feel like reading, I didn't feel like writing, and Bella wanted to sit in the bushes and chew on her own leg instead of playing fetch. But I still wanted to be outside.

What happened was the great de-leafing of the funny bush in our garden that grows mostly green leaves, but with a few bright bright red leaves as well.

I made a little collection of the reddest leaves, and managed to happily amuse myself for quite a long time, arranging them into a little heart.

Of course, once she spotted the camera, Bella trotted over, and decided that she needed to be the centre of attention!

And, as a little update, I'm very proud to say I'm now in my third trimester! New cravings include: tortilla chips and salsa that's rather spicier than I usually like, strawberries, raspberry and yoghurt homemade smoothies, and banana splits. So, I've got a feeling Tilly's going to like fruit!

Family Heart

A couple of days ago, Justin was offered a new position with his company, one that will require rather a lot of travelling. And so, as a little present for him (and fun project for me!), I thought I'd make him a little something that might make the travelling a little easier.

The inspiration comes from Handmade Home again, and is what Amanda calls the "Family Heart". The idea is that when one in the family has to go away, whether for a sleepover or a business trip, they can take the heart with them and feel a bit more connected.

My heart is made out of my favourite spotty red batik fabric, with a little patch of soft flannel sewn on for the pocket. And inside the pocket is a little note.

It's the first few lines of E. E. Cumming's poem, "i carry your heart with me" which I thought fitted extremely well. (Although I did add in grammar and capital letters... sorry, E. E.!)

And it sits inside my big branchy heart over the fireplace, ready to be given to Justin tonight, when he gets home from accepting the job!

P.S. My sewing machine skills are improving no end! I can sew curves now without stopping to adjust every two seconds! Yay!

Things I Heart Wednesday

I'm sort of loving these red red doggie rainboots... but don't they look like they're just made out of cut up juggling balls?

Bella would have these off (and chewed to pieces) in about three seconds flat!

I've been making a lot of soup for lunch lately, and the best is definitely cabbage soup, made from my friend Loreal's recipe, with chicken and sausage.

Yes, even my husband, the Texan, likes it!

He says the cabbage soaks up all the chicken flavour... so it doesn't really count as cabbage!

Pair it with buttery white bread... mmmm.

And, I'm enjoying the work of Sebastian Schonheit, a funky designer who takes knitting to the next level! Those needles must be, what, six feet long?

Nap time!

Happy happy happy

xo

Things I Heart Monday

Happy Labor Day to you! Wasn't it lovely to sleep late on a Monday?

I'm really hearting waking up slowly with a nice cuppa hot choccie... with about half a pint of cream mixed in. (Shhhhh!)

I'm also hearting this awesome little yarn shop I found just across town in College Station, The Hook and Needle. They have the most beautiful colours of yarn, and I came away with these four lovelies:

They are supposed to be for making Christmas gifts, but they look so pretty piled up up my desk, it'll be hard to unravel them!

And when I got home, I found that the Hook and Needles ladies had stuffed my bag with extra goodies! Colouring pens? Yes, please! I'm thinking about taking a sweater-making class with them in a few weeks which sounds hard, but very interesting.

And lastly, I'm hearting trading. I'd never traded with another shop before, but the lovely Punkscrapper contacted me and asked if I'd be open to it. Yes, yes, completely yes! I've put together a little package of prints for her, plus my first ever listing, Mr. Embroidered Cardinal...

...and a little painting of a barn that I made after falling in love with Georgia O'Keefe's watercolours. Both are things I was sure would sell, but they never really even got looked at, so I'm very happy they've found a home at last!

In return, I'm getting lots of awesome felty fun, like this sweet like branch-like coffee cozy! Yay for trading!

I hope you've all got lots of be happy about, too!

xo

Things I Heart Tuesday

Some days are just made for hearting.

Don't you agree, Beaver?

Today, I got a job two minutes from my house, doing what I love: reading, writing, and correcting people's grammar!

Hopefully, it won't be anything like this:

Today, I got the most beautiful birthday card in the post from my Mum, by the super cool artist David Kessler.

Today, Justin's coming home for lunch, and I've got us some sushi as a surprise. His favourite, with eel, and my favourite, with avocado and crab. Yum!

Hope you're all having a great day, too!

Things I Heart Tuesday

I tried my hand at inventing a knitting pattern today, and came up with a rather deformed, but pretty recognisable heart! I couldn't really find a pattern for knitted hearts anywhere online, and my goal was to work it out and put the pattern up for others to use, but I think it still needs a bit of work before people would want to! But, hey, it's got personality. :)

So, here are three things I heart:

Mrs. Beaver, willing model and great company-keeper while I knit!

Rusty things in general... I love that aged metal orangey-brown colour

Reading! And writing! And books! And bookshops! And stacking my books... these really should never have been unpacked, but I couldn't bear to not see them for three months!

Oh, and I just got to 50 hearts! I heart being hearted. Number 50 was OliviaClara, and as a thank you, I'll post a link to her shop!