My Favorite Things

I don't just love vintage fabrics - I love all things vintage, all things that I can imagine up a good story for!

I found these beautiful wooden shoes with the Dutch children on them in an antique shop in New York. At the time, I didn't have children yet, but I could imagine using these with the troops in the future, putting them out on St. Nicholas Day.

So I bought them, brought them home, and they now hang in my kitchen on the other 364 days of the year.

I'm a Blog Slacker!

I have sat down several times to write & just been sort of stuck! I have had so many projects going on at once and I couldn't seem to find any words to talk about them!

For those of you who know me best - I know you are finding the thought of me without words hard to believe. If I am being honest, I find it a little hard to believe too.

One of the things that has been keeping me the busiest is my Autism bags. I had a special order for one for a co-worker (I work for the Barber National Institute), which quickly and happily led to orders for 7 more just like it!

Here's a few photos of the work in progress!

I was working on four separate bags. They are all in various stages of assembly and two different sizes. You can see the Autism symbol, puzzle pieces, on the ribbon that goes across the front of the bag, and the pocket on the front.
This one is completed and available in my shop.

December 1st

It's here. December is officially here. Which means that Christmas is seriously right around the corner.

Normally my thoughts are completely occupied with what gifts I need to make and buy. I have found that I spend more time worrying about what I need to do instead of enjoying the moment. This year, I hope to be different!

Tell me about a Christmas tradition in your family. Either one from your childhood, or something you do now. I love to hear what others do to make the holidays fun, special things families do together.

Here's one of ours!

Every year on Christmas Eve I help my children make a birthday cake, decorated with red and green. On Christmas morning, we sing Happy Birthday to baby Jesus and eat birthday cake for breakfast!

K is for Calligraphy

Check this out! This is the awesome surprise package I received in the mail from Katy of "K is for Calligraphy".
I had placed an order with Katy several months ago, not even noticing that she was doing two giveaways and was lucky enough to win one of them! The envelope was stuffed full of her beautiful Christmas tags, pinback buttons, magnets, envelope seals GALORE, Halloween goodies to tuck back for next year, and even a special surprise for my son, who Katy had read about here. (He loves the car, Katy!)

If you are looking for tags or seals to make your packages extra special this year, check out Katy's shop - you will find just what you are looking for.

Thank you again, Katy!

Tangled Daisies on Black Friday

We are starting our Black Friday sales a day early!

Any purchase made on November 27-28 will ship for free!

Check out the shop for gifts for those on your list, and maybe for you too!

Open House Update

The Open House was great night!

Lori's home was beautiful, the tree lit all festively, Christmas music played, cookies and coffee smelling and tasting delicious... what better shopping experience could there be? Beats any crowded mall, that's for sure!

Michelle S. was the winner of the gift basket full of goodies - we hope you enjoy!

Thank you to all of you brave ladies who came out in the cold and snowy weather to enjoy the night with us. Of course, being Erie, you are never sure what the weather will bring and it happened to be a fairly yucky night. A few people asked about a possible "snow day" as sort of a part 2, due to the weather. That is in the works and we will keep you posted!

Holiday Open House

I've been spending lots of time this past week planning for the Holiday Open House I am hosting with several creative friends on Friday evening. I am really excited about it! It has been a few years since the last one I did, and that was a lot of fun.

I have a few new items I will be "debuting" at the Open House, and will get added to the shelves of Tangled Daisies after that. One is an awesome keychain wallet. One pocket that snaps closed & hooks right onto your keychain. Perfect for quick trips, or for anyone who hates to carry a purse! The other new items are very cute Christmas tree ornaments made from fun vintage fabrics.

Also hosting the Open House is Lori, the designer behind the beautiful jewelry found at the new shop Jane & Jean. I've seen the inventory she will have on Friday, and I can't wait to see her get some more items in her store!

And then, there is Clarissa. She makes the world's best chocolate chip cookies - just thinking about them coming out of the oven is making me hungry. She will have those and some of her other yummy baked goodness available to sample. Anyone who wants to get a head start on their Christmas cookies can place orders with Clarissa that night.

Shopping with friends, yummy baked goods, Christmas music... it should be a great night!

Rainy Day

It is a really gray & rainy day. I've been busying myself with a little sewing, adding to my shop, and some window shopping on Etsy. I do that WAY too much, but if I wasn't constantly finding such great shops, I would be able to walk away!

I typed "Rainy Day" into the search engine on Etsy, and here are a couple of the fun things I found.

This sweet little print is called "Rainy Day" by Tummy Mountain. This shop is full of happy children, enjoying being kids, and doing things that we would not dream of like playing in the rain and dancing with bunnies.
How beautiful is this yarn? It is called Planet Earth by Rainy Days Wooly Dogs. It is hand spun and hand dyed! I love the soft swirl of the colors all blended together. I am finding myself wanting to buy it, and all I know how to do with it is tie it in knots. They would be REALLY pretty knots though!

Fairy Goodness

I found the shop Fairynana when I was looking for Halloween costumes for my daughter last month. Her dresses are so incredibly gorgeous I had to share the goodness with you! Every one of her custom made dresses is overflowing with fluffiness, flowers, and sparkles. It was a challenge to pick just a few to show you!

What baby girl wouldn't look sooooo sweet in this little dress?

And what little girl wouldn't feel like a princess in this one?

And why, oh why, can't I have ANY reason to wear this?

According to her shop profile, this talented lady not only creates these beautiful dresses to sell for others to wear & enjoy, but also donates them to Make-a-Wish kids. Check out her shop. You will fall in love with Fairynana!

Sticks and Stars

The weather has been SOOO nice this week. (For those not in the area - we are not shocked by snow at any point in the year). The kids have had a great time playing in the leaves - which they pretend is water - and take turns "rescuing" each other from the perils of drowning in the lawn.

My little man and I went for a walk yesterday before lunch. He kept picking up the sticks that had fallen with the leaves and handing them to me to hold for him. My mind thought of the cute stars I have seen made of bundles of twigs tied together. These were a little bigger, which made me wonder if I could make them into a star shaped wreath for the front door. As I was contemplating the best way to tie them together, I looked down at my crafty little guy, who had a much bigger plan for his sticks:


Leaf poker. Who needs stars anyway?

Blue Skies and Christmas Trees

Anyone who knows me knows that blue skies make me really, really happy. The sun is out there in full force today. (YAY!) If it wasn't for the bright orange leaves on the tree I can see from the window by my sewing table, I would be able to convince myself that it was summer.

And I am making bags with Christmas trees on them. It isn't matching up with my view from the window at all! It is hard for me to comprehend how close Christmas is getting when it is so sunny out there.

I'm sure the forecast would tell me this won't last for long, so I will just let myself be in denial for the day, and tell myself that Christmas is months away and I am just being super prepared.

PS - watch the shop - I'll be posting the Holiday bags soon. I would love to hear any thoughts on the fabrics I made the tree appliques from.

And the winner is...

Congrats to Mary Jenkins, the winner of my first giveaway!

Check back for the next contest, coming later in the week.

Wallet Giveaway

Leave a comment for me on my last post (Vintage = Memories) as your entry.

Any comment: about something hanging in your closet that you can't part with. That you were the one who purchased her dress on Saturday. That I am way too sentimental. (that may have been suggested as a possibility before!)

Anyway!

Share some thoughts. I will randomly choose a winner on November 1st. Make sure that you leave a way for me to get in touch with you. The winner will choose any wallet that is available in my etsy shop, Tangled Daisies.

Vintage = memories

I finally figured it out. Why anything vintage, antique, or just plain old is so appealing to me. It has meaning. It has life. It has history. It is someone's story.

This past weekend, my daughter's school hosted a rummage sale as a fundraiser and I spent quite a bit of time helping with the event.

Friday morning, a sweet elderly woman came in and asked if I could help her unload her car. We chatted as we made several trips from her car to the gym. She had done some serious housecleaning and was parting with several items that meant a lot to her. She talked about some of them as she set them on the table.

The one that hit me the most was a cream colored dress and jacket. It has a pattern of branches, leaves and acorns woven into the fabric. She had it carefully wrapped in plastic, protecting it. She looked at it one last time before she left the gym, sort of smoothed it, and told me that it was the dress that she had worn to her daughter's wedding, which was clearly at least 30 years before.

And that was when it clicked. That dress was not just a dress. It held very important memories to her. She kept it tucked in her closet for years because it wasn't just a dress, it was a moment in time.

Did she look at and see her daughter getting ready before the ceremony? Could she picture her husband, whom she told me had passed away a few years before, dressed in a suit, ready to walk his daughter down the isle? It brought some sort of pictures to her mind, emotions to her heart.

And that is it. I love the stories in the "old" things that have stuck around for us to run across today. I don't always get to know the stories that go with them, but I can't help but wonder what those stories might be and make some up on my own.

October Showers Bring...

Kittens apparently!



I caught a flash of this tiny little lady as I pulled out of my driveway last Wednesday morning. Just a quick blur of orange fur. She was hanging out by my front porch when we got home. And hiding under my car when we went to leave a few hours later. That was the moment I was smitten. By the time I got home with my wonderful sister-in-law's kitty house (as my Troops have named the carrier), the poor baby was soaked from the rain & looking completely pathetic huddled under a bush.

So, I introduce you all to the newest addition to our family. This is Squeek, named by the Troops for her tiny little meow. She weighed all of 1.1 pounds when we took her to the vet the day after we found her. Squeek is tough - she seems to handle being told "Kitty, Get it!" when my 2 year old decides it is time to play with her. And she has yet to get really upset when my 5 year old gets so excited she can't keep her hands off of her. She will fit right in!

Yay for October showers!

PS - sorry for the not so great photo - camera phone!

An Official Etsy Addict

My shop is part of sort of an online "mall" full of only handmade items (and some supplies and vintage goodness) called Etsy. If you have never checked it out, you are missing out of an amazing shopping experience.

What is there to love about Etsy?

One-of-a-kind options it offers.
You are purchasing items that have actually been made by a person, not mass produced.
If you can't find exactly what you are looking for, you can request it, and SOMEONE will be able to create it just for you.
There are so many wonderful and talented artisans that you never would have found without a site like Etsy.


This shop, Dudadaze, is one of my many favorites.

I love the whimsical characters Diane Duda creates. The fun of being a little girl, carefree and happy, shines through her work.



This print, "She Believed in Spontaneous Dancing", is my absolute favorite her shop. It makes me think of my daughter, who can't stop herself from dancing when the mood strikes her. I ordered this one for myself - and every time I see it it makes me smile!




And this adorable print makes me think of my niece. When she learned how to do headstands, she just had to do them everywhere!





The joys of childhood- carefree dancing, and seeing the world the way you want to, so vividly portrayed in Diane's beautiful work!

New Tangled Daisies Goodness!

I have been trying for a while now to come up with a wallet design that I liked. Something that was smallish, so you could carry it easily in a pocket if you didn't want to bring your whole bag with you. But also something that could hold all the cards you use most and some cash. Something that would close securely, but without the bulk of a zipper.

After several attempts (None of which I have anymore, or thought to photograph, which is kind of a bummer, because a couple were pretty comical!) I had a design I liked.

(Drumroll....)









Perfect size. Snap closure to keep it slim. Two pockets inside:




Once I am happy with something I have made I have to put it to the test: Showing it to super awesome friends who provide me with honest thoughts on whatever it is i am throwing at them with the words "what do you think?"

The first wallet was actually stolen from me immediately. (Thanks Lori!) And the next two I gave immediately because their responses were so genuinely excited. (Thanks Claire and Carlie!). So I have to say, I was pretty happy in the end, and think they were worth the tragic results it took to get to the end product!

Why the Happy Dance?

A friend recently asked me what it was I liked so much about working with "found" fabrics. Why these finds would make me do little happy dances in thrift shops. What it was that made them my favorite things to work with.

The best answer I can come up with is that I see the life in inanimate objects. I see old run down buildings or homes that you know were once beautiful. I imagine what it once looked like, what the people who used it once upon a time looked like, what sort of things went on in it, and compare it to the neglect it is facing now. I love the history it holds, the stories of the people and events that once took place there, and value the life it once held in its walls. I can sort of sense the sadness of it now. Not the sadness of the situation, but of the building itself.

Yes, I know. A little crazy. But that is me!

I feel the same way about textiles. That they, especially the vintage things I find, hold a story. About the people who wore them. About the person who bought yards of fabric intended for something that was never made. About the person who spent hours lovingly hand stitching table linens.

I love to take those things, those forgotten things that once meant something to someone, and make them new again.

That's what brings out the happy dance in me!

Fabulous Polyester Goodness!

My absolute favorite places to shop for fabric to make my bags from are thrift shops. I love finding things that someone has grown tired of, and making them into something brand new and fun. The patterns you find in clothing are so different and have so much more variety than those I am able to find in any fabric store.

The best part about thrift store fabric shopping is that you never know what you are going to run across. There is no ad to tell you what is there that week. You may find fairly new clothing to work with, or, if you are lucky, items that are fabulously, fantastically out of date!

Last week I came across this:


Four yards of uncut plaid polyester goodness! It still had the tag on it from when it was cut off the bolt! Yes, I have to admit that I did a mini happy dance, which I am pretty sure no one was lucky enough to see. And, because I am me, a bunch of questions ran through my head, as they always do.

-What in the world was someone originally going to make with this? (I was hoping NOT something to wear! This stuff is all kinds of itchy!)
-Where has it been sitting since it was purchased and not used? It has obviously been hanging out somewhere for quite a while.
-And, most importantly, what kinds of craziness am I going to make out of it?

It didn't take me long to get it washed and start cutting. I have two bags that are ready to be photographed and listed in my shop. One of those bags has been bedecked with flower appliques from a previous polyester find. You will have to be the judge if I went to far with the pattern combinations!

T-shirts Make the Funnest Bags!

Who doesn't love a great t-shirt?

You know, the ones with fun graphics, or funny phrases, or a favorite band.

I love to admire them. I even love to shop for them. But not so much to wear them.

What I love the most is to find potential hidden in some of the great, but forgotten t-shirts I have come across.

For example...

Both of these were great shirts - a favorite band, and a great graphic. But, in my mind at least, they are both WAY better now that they have been dismantled and have had some new fabric added to them. They have been reassembled into great bags that you can carry with you anytime!

The Beginning of Craftiness

I was trying to remember my first "crafty projects."

I tried counted cross stitch. My mom taught me how to follow the patterns. I may still have some of the hankies that I did.

The first sewing that I ever did was on my mom's machine. I very clearly remember that she let me use it, taught me how to run the fabric through, and keep my fingers out of the way! But I can't think of one single thing I may have made!

Before I had a sewing machine of my own, I fell in love with quilts. I completely hand-sewed a baby quilt. My thought was that it didn't matter how long it took me to finish, because we were not having a little one any time soon. It turned out shockingly well, especially since I was self taught and hadn't even bothered to read any sort of how-to info. (It might have been a good idea to at least know to wash the fabric first!)

A few years ago I found a tutorial for how to make an easy tote bag on-line and I was hooked. So many more fabrics can be used for bags. I spent hours in the fabric stores. I made more bags that I could possibly use myself, so I gave them to friends.

And my sewing "hobby" has just spiraled out of control from there!

My first post EVER!

Hello!

Thanks for stopping by!

I suppose I should introduce myself to those of you who may have stumbled your way here, as opposed to those of you who know me already.

I am Lisa, and I am a fabric addict. There. It is out in the open. I feel better.

I love shopping for fabric at stores. I love looking at fabric in clothing and linens, both new and old. And I LOVE chopping it up and putting it back together and making something brand new out of it. I love the thought that I have made something that is one of a kind, that no one else has. I rarely use patterns, so I am never sure what the end product is going to look like, but that is half the fun!