Magpie Tendancies

Mission 1 accomplished! I managed to list some new things in The Goodness Shop!

To honor my magpie tendencies, I've put together some Goodness Magpie Boxes:



Inside each box is a collection of goodies to Feather Your Nest!



Including vintage game pieces, bits of fabric, wooden spools and other notions. Soon I'll have button packs to offer as well! I have many fun vintage buttons to share.

Also new in the shop . . .



New vintage hankie lots, vintage dolls and a sweet vintage baby book



Vintage gloves, invitations, some wonderful British pop-up books and new Goodness Paper Packs!

To everyone who has supported The Goodness Shop - THANK YOU! I love hunting for and sharing treasures with you. Now off to do some Etsy shopping myself!

Cheers!
Rebecca

Land of the Misfit Toys

I'm in a rut. I don't know what it is. I'm not one who flourishes in the summer like some people do. I hate the heat. I hate to sweat. We live in the city where summer is oppressive rather than care free. It's just not my season and I can't seem to focus. My DH is having a hard time, too. He told me he's either having a midlife crises or going through puberty again. Whatever it is, he's driving me nuts. Thank goodness we have a vacation at the end of the month to look forward to. I think we both need a break.

To break out of my rut I'm again (or still) cleaning out the craft room. I feel like I just move stuff from one side to the other but at least I'm doing something about it. During the process I noticed how unfocused I really am with the abundance of half done projects fondly known as UFOs.



So welcome to my Land of the Misfit Toys. You'll notice my dolly still has no face nor does my monkey. The pink dog needs eyes and a tail and that brown lump* will eventually be a rabbit (though the stuffing shows through the stitches a bit too much for my liking) and that's a pink panda there on the right. Seriously, I need to just finish them! I don't see why I'm having such a hard time. I also have two crocheted baby sweaters that only need to have buttons sewn to them. That would take 20 minutes. Like I said, NO FOCUS.

So starting tomorrow I'm kicking it in gear. No more excuses. If I didn't have to go to the office for work I'd be starting today. You'll be seeing a lot more things up in the shop and I'll also be putting together another tiara bag of goodies for a giveaway. I might even try EBay again just to get rid of some things. I really wish I could have a big yard sale but I don't think that flies in Queens. :)

So again, send me some energy, motivation and focus. I need it! I do have some really find thrifty finds from the weekend to share and hopefully, some completed toys, later in the week. Thanks for sticking by me when I'm not feeling so creative. I promise you, Fall will be different.

heartfelt . . . Rebecca

* my husband saw the brown lump and said "what's with the Hershey's Kiss Kid? Where are you going with this?" NICE

Tea Time

When I visited my mother a few weeks ago she surprised me on Sunday morning with a lovely tea:



The table cloth, placemats, mis-matched china and glass creamer are all thrifted. Where do you think I get it from? :)



She baked assorted muffins, I think the chocolate macadamia nut were my favorite, and had toast with butter and jam. It reminded me of our trip last September to T Party. Sadly, Susan has had to close the shop and I've very glad I got the chance to visit!

Mom kept our tea warm with a tea cozy I gave her for mother's day:



You may have guessed that I purchased the gorgeous cozy from The Queen. I have one my self and they really keep your tea pot hot! I believe she uses wool blankets to insulate them. Her Majesty is quite the crafty lady!

I'll be back soon with a sweet project I'm working on and some thrifty fun.

hugs
Rebecca

A Small Acomplishment

When you look around your house, do you see unfinished projects? I see MOUNTAINS of them. I love starting things, it's the follow through that gets me. Several times a year I decide I'm going to finish up these projects or scrap them. I have yet to pick up a knitting project that is half done and finish it. I really need to work on that. I did manage to accomplish one small project that's been on my to do list for some time now.

A while back I thrifted this super cute Collie planter:



Seen here with a Lenox turkey candle holder and a Mikasa First Birthday sippee Cup, my sweet collie planter has been waiting patiently to be repurposed.



He is now a lovely pin cushion and I heart him even more. I used some thrifted velvet to make the cushion and just popped it in there. I didn't need to glue it or anything. This is my first Collie item and I couldn't be happier.

Oh and crossing something off the to do list is great, too.

fondly
R

Head Case

Voodoo??



No, just my method for making yarn hair. :)









I'm still stumped on the face, I feel that's the "make or break" of stuffies. :) Embroidered? Felt? Button eyes? Painted?

Suggestions are warmly welcome.

RR

Swap it

I know that many of my readers are participants in Sweet Goodness Swaps. Lucy, Leigh Ann, Heidi and I have a great time picking out the themes and meeting new friends with each swap. There are always issues but over all, it's a very fun experience. I do enjoy the making part of it as well as the receiving, of course.

The latest swap was Parasols, Pink Lemonade and Polka Dots. I believe this was Heidi's idea and it really sums up a great summer, don't you think? I was lucky to have TWO partners for this swap due to a little mix up.

My first partner was Melissa of Burford Designs. Since I know Melissa received what I sent her I'll show it here:



The straw bag was thrifted recently. It's from The Bahamas and has a cute little wrist strap. The pink floral napkins are from a yard sale and that small parasol was thrifted YEARS ago and recently unearthed in my Mom's garage. I crocheted her a sweet peony corsage that I thought would look so cute tied on a summer picnic basket and made a square pin cushion in yellow and pink, the colors of pink lemonade! I was very happy with the way the pin cushion turned out as it's box shaped and this was my first attempt at a side gusset. I also tossed in a few yards of orange and lemon ribbon and a Martha Stewart Best Wishes Banner which is printed on round circles that reminded me of polka dots.

My other partner was Chrystal. She lives in Canada and does not have a blog at this point. I decided to partner with her when she didn't hear from her partner and didn't want her to be disappointed. Well it turns out her partner was having computer meltdown and did get in touch with Chrystal so we ended up with 2 partners each!

This is what I sent her:



She got the very first Goodness Bag. It has the same lining as the one I made for my sister with the polka dots and the bird. This one is also made from the now defunct Lily Elite Cotton but is knit instead of crocheted. The handles are macrame squares that Mandi thrifted for me. The flower is made from a scrap of material Vallen sent me like forever ago and I used this Martha pattern to make it. I added the button and a pin back to make it a brooch. I also sent her two thrifted necklaces and a Faith Austin hankie in fun summer colors, a Best Wishes banner and some of that same lemon and orange ribbon. Oh, and drink umbrellas of course!!

Here is a close up of the lining:



I added ribbon around the top of this one and used pink thread for the top stitching. I am loving the bird! I have an idea for another lining with an applique but I need to get to work on knitting/crocheting the outside part first. :)

As a last minute addition to both packages I whipped up some cute beaded bobby pins using this tutorial:



I used some heavy duty bobby pins I picked up at the dollar store (made by Scunci) and some beads that I thrifted. The packaging was scavenged from my myriad of paper crafting supplies. I am so happy with these that I think quite a few people will be getting them as gifts in the coming year. :)

I received my swap from Melissa and I'm sure Chrystal's will be here soon, we decided on a later send out date as we both had other partners, and I'll post about them together.

Oh and remember the Sweet Goodness Swap before this one? Springtime in Paris? Well my friend Dita really wanted to join the swap but missed the deadline so we decided to do a one on one swap using the same theme. Of course I forgot to take pictures of what I gave her, but here was the wonderful package she made for me!



In the back is a binder with a sweet crocheted cover. Dita is the original Queen of Crochet! It's a project book with sections in it for me to store all those great projects I print from the Internet. :) Dita is also a great thrifter and included the French postcard on an easel, an adorable change purse that we decided MUST be French and that awesome Fleur di lis pin! She also tucked in some lovely silver "R" seals and a set of stamps that I cannot wait to use! Stamping is next on my "learn more about" to do list. :)

And last but not least:



A Christmas Marie Claire Idees! Dita picked it up without realizing it was in French and passed it on to me. She was happy with how thrilled I was! I have always wanted to look at one and it is some serious eye candy!

So thanks Dita! You know I love it. :)

I'm still working on my doll, she has hair now but no face. And I'm hoping to clean a bit of my house today before the dust bunnies organize a coup. I have a few more things to add to the shop but since sales are down I think I'll wait it out a bit. But when I do list them I'll be having a give away here to drum up some visits so stay tuned!

ciao
r

Body of Work

There is a serious epidemic of The Lazies here at Casa de Goodness. Seriously, I have been on the couch so much that it's starting to lean on one end. Sigh . . . I need to break the cycle! I'm trying to be more "up" today and have plans to do all the laundry and clean the kitchen at the very least. A big migraine over the weekend kept me from my chores as well.

I did manage to start on my doll pattern:



This is my first body prototype. Eh . . . I don't love it but it has some good qualities. I like the arms but does the head seem to small? And what about her legs? I do like that she's a bit wonky, it adds character I suppose. I will make her into a doll and see how it goes. She is big, I thought it would be easier to shrink the pattern later. Suggestions are welcome!!

I'd also like to get on to making some animals. My Mom handed me this when I visited last week:



She thrifted what she thought was a huge bag of buttons but they turned out to be eyes! And a few noses. :) These are just the loose ones, I have loads still in the packages, too. I think they are older, the prices are like 15 cents. I love those big pink ones! Oh whatever shall I use them on . . .

Speaking of thrifting, I don't have much to share. Mostly I've found fabric and pillow cases to use for fabric:



I love how these all go together so well. I've also found some utilitarian things like a lovely terry duvet, a new bathroom rug and a bed skirt. Not very exciting to blog about, however.

Well my dear friends, please send me some energy vibes to fight off The Lazies. I'll be back later this week to share some swap goodness and perhaps have a giveaway . . .

Fondly,
Rebecca

Heat of the Moment

I am so hot lately. I guess I got used to the central AC at my parents and now it's back to window units and sweating lol. I'm trying not to let that keep me from being productive. As always, my to do list is long.

I was able to list several new things in The Shop.



Vintage petal scarves, embroidered dresser scarves, sequin trim, buttons and more! I have loads more to put up there, too. It's nice to down size my personal collection and very fun to thrift with the shop in mind. I love seeing old things turned into something new. Please click here and see how Vallen used some trim from The Goodness Shop to make a GORGEOUS summery peasant blouse!

Now I haven't just been thrifting, I have created a few things myself. I've done a few swaps and I'm working on a third. I also made this bag for my sister:



My favorite part is the inside:



The bag is crocheted from Lily Cotton Elite which of course they don't make anymore because I like it. Hmpf. The handles are from a bag I thrifted, the pink polka dot lining is thrifted and the little birdie was cut from a thrifted linen calendar tea towel. I just zig zagged him in there. I really love the affect! So now I'm searching for more linen pieces to cut up and use in this way. I've been looking for a bit of a "signature" and this is pretty cute though I'm sure there are loads of people out there doing it. LOL

So now onto the next project . . . . I've got a few things on the burner including a series of posts harkening back to crafting in the 1950s. I won't tell you any more now but I think you'll get a kick out of it! Also planning to attempt my very first pattern for a stuffie or doll. Wish me luck!

cheers
Rebecca

Sorting

My view on vacation:



And my view at home . ..



I'm already hard at work cleaning, ironing and sorting all these wonderful vintage linens for The Goodness Shop. My mother has decided to part with some of her personal collection. Wait until you see! I also found some things to list from our many visits to thrift, antique and junk stores.

Here is one find that I intended to list in the shop but the more I handle it the more I love it:



It's a sweet vintage crocheted baby blanket. I love the design!



I believe it was made from a wool yarn and it shrunk up a bit when washed to give it that tightly knit look.

My favorite part is the way the maker put it together:



The back is lined with a silky material and then hand tied to the top like a quilt! What a great idea. It makes a hand crocheted baby blanket even more special. I love this! The blanket was steal, only $3.50 and I'll be keeping it. :) I'm sure you are surprised.

Check the shop this week for updates and I'll be back to share a wonderful swap I received from my dear from Dita!

Hugs,
RR