Girl With A Kitten Purse Update

I didn't have alot of time to work on this over the weekend. Some of you may remember that DH and I remodeled our Living Room in the Spring. We decided to put it on hold for the Summer (actually, he decided that and I went along with it) and now we're getting back to it. I spent the weekend painting the ceiling so we can hang the new ceiling fan. I did get to work on this for about 1 1/2 hours last night:



It's actually almost complete. It needs my little cat and maybe a few old buttons. I also have some new glass butterfly beads and I think one of those might work nicely on it.

Another thing I did this weekend, this is very exciting, at least for me! I rented a display case at an unique gift shop up in the next town, Richmond Illinois. This is a beautiful shop with fine antiques and collectibles and beautiful work done by unique local artists. It's rather ironic how this happened. I went to a few antique shops here in town on Friday looking for more old lace. I only found a little bit:



So I decide to go up to Richmond on Sat. to see if I could find a bit more. It's only 15 minutes down the road from me. Richmond has alot of nice little specialty shops and antique shops, reminds me alot of Galena Illinois but on a much smaller scale.

Anyway, I had one of my purses with me when I went into this shop and the owner commented on it. We started talking and she was so taken with my work that she invited me to either rent a space or bring a few things in on consignment. After talking to DH about it, we decided we would rent a space and see how things go.

So, I put a bunch of my items on the "inactive" list over at Etsy and spent a few hours yesterday afternoon setting up my display at the real brick & morter store!! It was a little last minute so I didn't have time to really set it up the way I want it but it's a good start and it's a busy store so I'm hoping my things do well there. I'll probably rotate items with the holidays and seasons. It's a lighted case and that really shows off the sparkle and dimension of my crazyquilts and it's a locked case which makes me feel much more comfortable about leaving my things there.

So if any of my readers live in northeastern Illinois or southeastern Wisconsin, and want to see my work in person, you can find them at:

Auntie Libby's Cottage
10331 N. Main St.
Richmond, Illinois 60071
Booth #20

Also, if you're interested in the vintage handpainted lace appliques, they're available over at my Etsy shop!

We Have A Winner!!!

Oh, so many of you guessed correctly!

I checked the times on both Thursdays post and Fridays post and the winner is, Julia who posted Friday morning at 9:57!

Yes, it's a frame for a special button:



My mother in law gave me that button a few years ago and I've been saving it for something special for myself. It has a high shank on it and I didn't want to flop around too much or get lost in all the other do-dads.

I went through my stash, looking for something that would help frame it or make it stand out. I found some of these little crocheted things:



My mom said that there popular to make back in the 40's and 50's. They're little plastic or bone rings and women used to crochet around them and use them for light pulls and curtain tie-backs. Ok.

Anyway, I must have gotten some in some bag of stuff that I bought from a flea market one time and it occured to me when I saw them that I could handpaint them and then bead around them. So that's what I did! And my idea worked as you can see. It makes the button stand up and stand out!

So Julia who posted at 9:57 am on Friday morning, please email me with your address and I'll mail out your button frame. You can find my email link on my main Kitty & Me Designs website:

And if anyone else would like one, I did a few extras and you can find them here.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to post their guesses! I had a great time reading them all. This was so much fun, I'm now thinking of something I can do for another contest!

Contest - One More Day

Oh, I can't believe how close some of you are! I really want someone to win one of these!!! It's so simple, when you find out what it's for, you're going to want to bonk your head on your monitor!!!



Look at it closely. I'll give you another hint, it is a sort of frame. It's for showcasing something very special such as in "old" or "vintage".

Ok, I'll give you all until tomorrow (Saturday) and then I'll reveal what it is. Please ladies, it's so easy! Think about the things we love to add to crazyquilts!!!

A quick note on the Etsy front, things seem to be calming down there a bit so I've been able to list my peacocks and a few other things. It's still a little slow at times but everything seems to be functioning now. If you're looking for some Mill Hill beads, vintage lace or my peacocks, click here.

And keep posting those guesses!!!! I had a ball reading them all!

Girl With A Kitten Purse and Contest!

I did a bit more stitching on this last night, not alot though. I spent some time making the pink circle of beads that you see to the right:



While working on it, I had a really cool idea for a contest here!

So here's the deal, the first person to correctly guess what that is (not what it used to be but what it is now) and post their guess in the comment section here, will win one. If you live outside the US, don't be afraid to post your guess because I will ship internationally.

I'll give you a hint, something special goes in the center!

Peacock Cushions

Well, I was finally able to list the lace in my Etsy shop! I also added a few needlework and craft books



but by the time I got to adding these, the site slowed way down and I gave up for the moment!





I finished these over the weekend. Thought they would make pretty little cushions for sitting on a bed, chair or shelf. They're about 7 1/2 inches square. I still want to do a Winter themed peacock block but haven't been able to come up with the right combination of fabrics. I want to do the peacock in white so I have to be sure that it will show up well.

Speaking of Etsy, the new version will be great as soon as it speeds up a bit. It's very professional looking and rather elegant. There are some nice options for sellers although the shipping thing is kind of making me crazy. I don't care for what they've done with that but I'll figure it out in time. The photos are larger and you know what that means? I have to start getting better at taking pictures! Ha, ha, ha! Overall, I think in another day or two, it'll be really nice!

I have more things to add including this little pack of Mill Hill seed beads"



I'll get some more things listed as soon I can. Seems first thing in the morning is a good time to do that.

I didn't stitch at all last night, so I don't have an update on my Girl With A Kitten purse. I'd like to work on that some more later and I have another idea I'd like to try out. If it works, I'll share photos here.

I'd like to take a moment to say thank you to everyone who commented on the cushion I made for my mom for Christmas. It's always so nice to hear that my readers enjoy my eye candy! I really love blogging and sharing photos of my stitching. I hope that I've given you some cool ideas for your projects! Thank you everyone!