Flea Market Beads

I mentioned yesterday that Scott and I were going to Grayslake Flea Market and Antique show.  I really enjoy that one because it's all indoors!  Many of my favorite sellers weren't there which surprises me.  We've been going to this flea market for years and years and December has always been a "productive" treasure hunting month.

Anyway, onto my treasure.  Now I usually don't find cool beads at the flea markets.  Vintage hankies, vintage lace, vintage jewelry pieces, old cook books yes, but not beads.  I think I hit the mother load yesterday!  LOL!!!

These are all all vintage glass rice beads from Japan.  They were still on the original strings and had the old paper "made in Japan" tags on them.  Check out all the colors!  And they were not all from the same vendor!

These are all vintage glass seed beads and vintage glass pearls.  Again, still on the strings with the "made in Japan" paper tags on them:

Those aqua blue ones on the right are absolutely gorgeous!

There was a new vendor there who had some strings of crystals so of course, I had to have a few of those too:

I usually find tons of pretty vintage handkerchiefs at Grayslake Flea Market but yesterday, not too many.  I only found this pretty one with pansies on it:

In other news, thank you to everyone who left me comments regarding my cat dolls.  I will definitely plan on a series of the taller cats for 2012.  I personally like the little ones but the taller cats definitely give me more room for stitching!  LOL!!!

After our trip to the flea market, we stopped at Kohls.  I needed a new pair of shoes.  After that Bubba wanted a Christmas tree so we stopped for one of those.  I could have lived without it but we haven't had a tree in 3 years so I conceded.  We decorated it last night so I'll take a photo of that later today.  It is pretty and does smell good so I guess I can live with it in my living room for 3 weeks.

Finally for today, here's an update on my Pink Valentine Pillow:

I can stitch on this for about an hour before I get ready to go into town.  I think I'll use a few of my new vintage beads on it!

Pink Valentine Pillow

Well it doesn't look like I've done much stitching on this but it does take time to sew all those beads and sequins on!

When I finish adding beads to the last seam, I'll start adding some larger embellishments.  This definitely needs flowers!

We're going to the Flea Market and Antique Show in Grayslake Illinois today.  Maybe I'll have some goodies to share later!

Back to my cat dolls, Sandie told me that she likes the taller cat doll:

I'm open minded so I'm thinking of doing a series of these in 2012.  What do ya'll think?  Does anyone else like this taller version of my Crazy Quilt cat dolls?  Let me know please!

Crazy Quilt Cat Dolls List Complete

This is the original, the very first, Crazy Quilt Cat Doll that I designed for Pat Winter's Comfort Doll Project:

As you can see, he's a little goofy looking.  Too tall.  So I shortened my pattern to the size that I use today.

I've completed my list of all the cat dolls that I've made over the years and I've dated them so if you have one of my cats, you can now find out when he was made.  Also, if you have one of my cat dolls and you don't see him on the list, please email a photo to me and I will gladly date him and add him to the list.

Starting in 2012, I will be dating and numbering my cat dolls and of course, I will continue to add them to the list.  The newest cats will always be at the top of the page.  Enjoy my Collectible Crazy Quilt Cat Dolls page.

Rose Garden Cat Doll

I've been asked many times, how I manage to get so much stitching and finishing done.  I've told my story before but I'll post it again.  I have ADD with high anxiety and I've found that keeping my hands busy helps to manage my nervousness.  When the hands are occupied, the mind is occupied!

Yes, my house is always clean, my laundry always caught up, I do make healthy meals and I bake.  I have time with my husband and I help my parents out.  All in all, I guess I'm just one of those people who gets stuff done.

So with that said, my Rose Garden Cat Doll is my latest finish:

And here are closeups of the seam treatments from this project:

I keep an ongoing photo gallery of my Crazy Quilt Seam Embroidery so if anyone needs some inspiration, it can be found on a page at the top of my blog.  The newest photos are always at the top of  the page.

Back to my cat dolls, photos of all the Crazy Quilt Cat Dolls that I've made are now available to see on the Collectable Cat Dolls page, also found at the top of my blog.  Again, the newest photos will always be at the top of the page.  Now that I have all the photos available, I'll go back and date them.  I hope to get that taken care of over the weekend.

I've decided, since I've made so many of these little kitties, and because I have several ladies who like to collect a few of them, that it would be fun to start dating and numbering them.  Starting in 2012, all of my cat dolls will be dated and numbered on the back.

If you own one or more of my cat dolls, check that page again in a few days to date your doll.

Finally for today, I've started on a new project:

I thought I'd better start making a few Valentine's Day projects.  I know, it's not even Christmas yet but since I like to make things for my Boutique, I have to start long before an upcoming holiday!  Anyway, this will be another pillow.  I sewed a few Valentine pillow projects up the other day so I have a nice little pile of things all ready to stitch on!  And I must tell you, I just love Valentine's Day!  The soft pastel colors, the little hearts and cupids and the pretty flowers are quite soothing on the eye!

Crazy Quilt Pillows

I am absolutely thrilled with how these turned out:

I finished these pillows with lots of lace and extra buttons.  They're so pretty!  And both are now available in my boutique as well as my Etsy shop.

I started adding my cat dolls to my "Collectible Cats" page.  I still have to pull some of them off of Flickr.  Once I have them all posted, I'll start adding the dates as to when I made them.