The Color of Roses

All roses symbolize love, but their colors have special meanings.
Use the list below to choose the shade that best matches your feelings.

Red - love, passion, respect, courage

Yellow - joy, friendship, freedom

Pink - happiness, gratitude, appreciation, admiration

Cream - thoughtfulness, charm, graciousness

Orange - admiration, fascination, enthusiasm, desire

White - innocence, purity, secrecy, reverence

I found this information on a bookmark. The rose is from my garden.

For Horse Lovers

Morgan the Horse
This adorable horse plush toy was made from felted, recycled wool sweaters.

His body was once a burgundy and tan striped sweater. His mane and tail were once a tan wool sweater. And his burgundy saddle was once wool sweater ribbing.

See Morgan the Horse, and more felted wool plush toys and accessories,
available in my Etsy shop - FeltSewGood.

Bluebirds in the Garden

A pair of Eastern Bluebirds are building a nest in one of our nesting boxes!

They haven't used the boxes for a couple of years, so it's good to have them back. The nesting box is close to our screened porch so we have a great view of the pretty little birds.

They have a distinctly musical call and it's easy to tell when they are in the yard. When they are out in the sun, their backs are a deep blue, especially the male.

An Abundance of Cilantro

Growing up in the midwest, I didn't even know what cilantro is. Now it is one of my favorite herbs. Cilantro is a cool season herb, best grown from seed. This is our spring patch of the herb growing in the garden.

I have and abundance of ciantro in my garden right now. This is one of my favorite ways to use a lot of it. This is a recipe from Bobby Flay's Bold American Food cookbook for Cilantro Viniagrette. I love it as a fresh tasting salad dressing. It's fabulous on sliced garden tomatoes with fresh mozzarella. It is also wonderful with grilled fish or chicken.

Cilantro Vinaigrette
2 cups (tightly packed) cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon finely chopped red onion
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Combine everything except the olive oil in a blender and puree. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil until emulsified. Season to taste with salt and pepper and pour into a squeeze bottle. May be prepared up to a day ahead and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature to serve.

Try some yourself and let me know what you think!

Custom Order Handbags

Here are some photos of my latest custom order.

My customer gave me the sweater to turn into a handbag. It was a fun project that I'm calling the "Funky Fringe Purse". The original sweater had fringe around the bottom and around the cuffs of the sleeves, but the rest of the sweater was a plain navy blue. At first I wasn't quite sure what I would do with it, but then I realized all I had to do was to turn the sweater upside down!

I put the fringe around the top of the bag and used the sleeve cuffs for some decorative and useful pockets on the outside of the bag.

I was pleased with the results and most importantly so was my customer!

If you are interested in a custom order, check out more examples of my work at my Etsy shop. You can click on "contact FeltSewGood" or "request custom item".

Or have a look at my photostream on Flickr.

A Frog With a Tail

Take a look at this little guy. . . not quite a full fledged frog, he still has his tadpole tail!

He must have just emerged from one of our little garden ponds and hopped across the patio to sit on the edge of this fountain. I hadn't seen one at quite this stage before now, so I wanted to share the photo.

My husband put some big bullfrog tadpoles in our small garden ponds. This is one of the tadpoles in early Spring. You can see a few red leaves just starting to grow on the waterlilly plant, the tadpole is to the upper right of the leaves. We thought it would be fun to see the tadpoles turn to frogs and the frogs will help eat a lot of bugs from the garden and any mosquitos from the pond.

Beautiful Summer Handbags

Every woman loves a pretty summer handbag. Whether it be for a special occasion, to go with a brighter summer wardrobe, or just to add a touch of whimsy to a special outfit, here are three great choices!

Flirty Floral Handbag

Garden Fresh Handbag

Flower Basket Handbag

I made all three of these handbags from felted, recycled wool sweaters. The felting process uses agitation and hot water to turn the wool sweater into a soft, but dense and durable "felted" fabric. Even the flowers and leaves of the removeable flower brooches are made from felted wool sweaters! After felting, the sweater is cut apart and "upcycled" into a handbag or accessory. Each handbag is carefully handmade and one-of-a-kind.

Visit my Etsy shop for prices and more information and photos.