crocus and a march fabric postcard

 

 

a purple spring crocus peeping out of a small rock wall in the garden. 

i love my crocus. they are a welcome sight in early spring and i am finding that they have begun to multiply themselves nicely. i have many colors including white, purple orange and yellow.

did you know that they are part of the iris family? and that there are about 80 species? this group of plants  can tolerate the earliest spring temperatures and even snow due to a special natural "waxy  cuticle".  to read lots more about these early spring beauties follow the link that i provided to "The Plant Encyclopedia". LOTS of great info~!!~

 

the green leaves that you can see to the right of the crocus is a tulip coming up. i wonder what color it will be?

 

i have been out of town just about every other day since my last post. around here that means a minimum of an hour drive in one direction. almost two hours if i go north and almost three if i go east. over the past few weeks i've been in every direction (more than once) and it makes for long days. i'm not as resilient as i used to be and so my blog is neglected as i regain my energy and try to catch up on other stuff. dang the laundry and dishes and vaccuming anyway~!

i have things to share and posts within my brain but just can't summon the time and energy to make it happen. i hope to get better about this but am not sure just how to go about doing that. do i need a special blogging calendar, am i unorganized? lazy? or just plain crazy?

if you have ideas to share with me in regards to being a more regular blogger? i sure could use them~! in the meantime, i'll just appreciate a dose of understanding from you.

 

the good news is that since it's something that i have had to do for all of my adult years i have gotten smart about using the driving time to stitch so i manage to keep a few hand projects moving along.

 

today i'll show you the finished postcard that i made my wonderful daughter for march.  

 

 

i went with a green on green color scheme and lots of stitched texture for this card. see that tiny little shamrock within the glass bubble? i've had that since i was in early elementary school. it was on a chain at one time and i frequently wore it as a necklace when i was young but unfortunately i don't remember where it came from. anyway it's been hanging out in my jewelry box for quite some time so i decided that it must have been waiting for just this occasion to be seen regularly again. on the back there were tiny letters engraved into it spelling out various phrases such as mazel tov, good luck, etc. 

i also tossed in a few beads (the largest wooden green one from a trip to Honduras), sequins and even a couple of washers that i stitched around. 

this card ended up being extra bulky so i mailed it in a padded envelope. normally i mail them in a 4 inch x 6 inch clear plastic sleeve.

 

i'm well on my way to getting april's card completed as this Slow Sunday Stitching shot shows. this is a detail of an edge stitch that i am embroidering (a taylor's buttonhole stitch) onto a leaf. the fabric is a leaf printed batik that i fussy cut. i want the leaf to remain (mostly) unattached . . . sort of an experiment but it seems to be going well. i like the way that the edge of the leaf is beginning to curl a bit . . . it seems more natural to me that way. i have to say though that frequently i have an idea of where i'm going visually and as i sew it changes so be prepared for a possible different outcome once finished. that is one of the joys of slow stitching for me: lots of time to consider and work and 'intuit' just what the piece is whispering into my heart.

 

i recently mailed a birthday postcard to my MIL. i'll show that one to you in the next post.

 

i am also currently working on a small doll sized random sampler and have just a bit of applique (more slow stitching) to finish up and then the hand quilting will begin (more slow stitching~!). LOVE that slow stitching~! for a really good summing up on more of the benefits of slow stitching as well as a linky show and tell, visit Kathy at Kathy's Quilts.

 

can you believe that i'm still mending socks~!?

they make a great take-along project on those trips that i  mentioned. you'd think i'd have every sock in the house mended by now but nope, not quite. partly because it's, yep, you guessed it, slow stitching, but i have to admit to actually seeking out socks to mend . . . a stitch in time, saves nine and all that. and yes, i'm still loving doing it. one can only imagine that there is something seriously wrong with me in that respect.

are there other closet sock darners out there? maybe a secret sock stitching society/club/guild or something?   hhhmmmmm . . .

 

 

 recent gifts include:

• getting outside with my camera for a fun spring floral photo shoot around the yard/garden
• the taste of sweet juicy california strawberries
• discovering how much i like the taste of fresh grated ginger in my breakfast smoothies
• opening up the windows on a particularly warm spring day for fresh breezes through the house.

 

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