welcome home and happy birthday, Hobyn

Did I tell you? My dear bestie and her family have now moved back stateside. Yay! Their years in Rio were lovely but there's no place like home. And now it's her birthday. So I thought a couple of mementos from her time in the warm southern climes of Brazil would be appropriate!

First I put together a photo book of our time together in Rio. I love making iPhoto books. I spend way, way too much time arranging everything just so. (If you'd like to see more about the trip, go here, here and here.)

Then with the help of my intrepid brother-in-law, Robby, I was able to make the Brazilian coins I brought home from my trip into this charm bracelet.

Sometimes it's a little unfair how pretty coins from other countries are. I especially like the two-tone gold/silver ones.

This bracelet looks a lot like the one I made myself when I was a young teen. And that is because this one is made from the same silver necklace that I frankensteined to make my own coin bracelet some thirty years ago. *coughhoardercough*

Just goes to show you, pack ratting pays off. I think that double chain makes a cracking charm bracelet! And goodness knows the silver finish has proven impervious to the passage of time. (And I still have enough for at least two more bracelets!)

After my failed first two attempts at drilling tiny holes in the coins myself (I don't know why it was so hard for me, this tutorial makes it look like a piece of cake), I handed that job over to a professional. Thanks, Robby! Once that was done, the rest was easy. Harvested jump rings and put the lobster clasp on and finished. I love the cheerful clinky clink sound it makes on your wrist.

I also threw in these pattern weights for her that I've been meaning to make for months. Pretty easy to make. The tutorial is here.

Basically you hot glue two 3/4" oversized zinc washers from the hardware store together and then wrap them tightly with ribbon to make it purty. If you hate to pin patterns you need to make yourself some of these. So that's everyone. I still need to finish my own set. I have been known to anchor my patterns with scissors, rulers, jars, coffee cup, and anything else within arm's reach on my craft table. These will be really handy. And less sloshy.

And lastly, her birthday card. A September birthday deserves a warm, orangey autumnal card. (It's also pumpkin spice flavored.) It is made from paper, wool felt, ribbon, and those tiny pom poms you can get en multicolored masse at the craft store. I never thought I'd have a use for tiny, pale orange pom poms but I did. Hoard, people.

curated felt color collection/felt & floss color guides for Turtle Dove

Once again, Benzie Design has come through with a bundle of felts and floss that you can purchase if you want to make Turtle Dove ornaments that look like my samples in the picture above!

This Benzie felt collection includes:
1) Peacock
2) Aqua
3) Swan
4) Magenta
5) Burgundy
6) Orange
7) Mustard
8) Ochre
9) Silver
10) Graphite

It's an easy and quick way to get the matching wool blend felts and flosses for my pattern. I highly recommend Renae's shop. I've always received the best customer service and lovely wool-blend felts!

The photo above shows the pretty felts alongside the matching floss bundle. You will need the matching flosses in order to sew your pattern pieces together, so purchasing the floss add-on is handy. PLEASE NOTE: You will also need to purchase contrasting colors of floss for the decorative embroidery from your local craft store.

Blue/orange Turtle Dove felt colors:
Body: Swan (optional: I used Peacock for the body back)
Wing: Orange
Wing inset and beak: Burgundy
Eye detail: Magenta

Blue/orange Turtle Dove decorative embroidery colors:
DMC Blanc (white) or B5200 (snow white)
DMC 310 (black)
DMC 3844 (dk bright turquoise)
DMC 3804 (dk cyclamen pink)
DMC 947* (burnt orange)

Grey/mustard Turtle Dove felt colors:
Body: Silver (optional: I used Graphite for the body back)
Wing and eye detail: Mustard
Wing inset and beak: Graphite

Grey/mustard Turtle Dove decorative embroidery colors:
DMC Blanc (white) or B5200 (snow white)
DMC 310 (black)
DMC 3799 (v dk pewter gray)
DMC 3852* (v dk straw)
DMC 947* (burnt orange)
DMC 666 (bright red)

*These colors are included already in the floss bundle

You can purchase the curated wool-blend felts only OR you can purchase the felts bundled with the matching floss. The pull down menu includes options to purchase the Partridge & Pear felt/floss collection as well, and that list will grow as I release new patterns in the series. Pretty awesome!

you'll be gladder without your bladder

Gladder. That's not a word but it's funny. I quite enjoyed making these cards for Chelsea and Mattheus. It was a nice break from Christmas ornaments. My niece Chelsea has recently parted ways with her recalcitrant gall bladder...

(if you didn't know, this is really and factually what a sick gall bladder looks like)

 ...and neighbor Mattheus had a birthday.

Both cards are 4.25 x 5.5 inches folded (that way you can get two cards from one 8.5 x 11 sheet of card stock, so I prefer this size). You can see I was feelin' the black/chartreuse/green/orange color palette. The paper eight and the gall bladder were drawn and cut from card stock and then enhanced with colored pencils and punches. I used foam pop dots to elevate them on the black card stock and then added white gel pen details. Taped an iTunes gift card inside and voila!

FYI: If you are wondering about a felt color collection for Turtle Dove, Renae at Benzie Design is working one up as we speak! Great choice if you would like to make some Turtle Dove ornaments that are the same colors as mine. The felt bundle (with matching floss) will be available in her shop soon. I'll post about it!