Grey Moggie Press

the human janome project

Bad picture. Good machine. (Eric, who works in a genetics lab, begged that i use the title of this blog post the first time I mentioned my sewing machine on the blog. You’re welcome, honey.) So I have a sewing machine. It arrived in my house about 2 months ago and for 2 months I have been completely intimidated by this wonderful machine. I signed up for Leigh Ann’s pin cushion swap to get over my fear. Last week, I spent a random day at home with no internet and no new dvds from netflix. So I broke out the sewing machine user’s manual. I used Leigh Ann’s tutorial (on my iPhone) and made a pincushion. Yay me! And thanks to my friend, Steph, who helped me wade through the manual.

my funny valentines 2010

For a little Valentine cheer this year I participated in Carina’s Valentine Swap (she’s the brain behind Crow & Canary). I got partnered up with the cutest ladies, Diana and Meagan. Diana sent a cute cupid and doily adorned Valentine from one of her favorite etsy shops. I have a total doily crush lately. I’m waiting a week or two to see if it’s the real thing before I go out and buy hundreds of paper doilies from the craft store, but I’m soooo impatient. I’ll probably end up caving in a few days and buying a bunch of doilies only to realize I don’t know what to do with all of them. So if you have craft ideas involving doilies, send them on over!

Before her valentine arrived, I had checked out Diana’s etsy shop and fell in love with her sweet photo postcards. She sent this perfect telephone postcard along with her valentine. And then I went ahead and chose a few to purchase from her shop. I love having sweet notecards on hand – it makes sending mail so much more fun.

Meagan’s valentine arrived a couple days later. I was floored. She stitched a dictionary definition of Valentine onto a pretty piece of fabric. I love that she used neutral and blue shades and not typical Valentine red and pink. Yay for pretty embroidery.

I’ve done a lot of great swaps lately. If you are looking for a reason to craft and a way to receive a few inspiring crafts from others, I highly recommend getting in on a swap. Or find a friend who wants to do an alphabet swap with you :)

craft swap success

I was so thrilled when I found out that Chelle Lynn was going to be my swap partner in Katie's (Skunkboy Creatures) craft swap a couple weeks ago. I saw her etsy shop and wanted everything in it! I knew she'd send something wonderful.

I sent along the book from a few posts back and a few letterpress gift tags (I couldn't let a chance to share some letterpress pass me by). In return I got the cutest piece of artwork from Chelle Lynn. I absolutely love it! Thank you!