New Felted Goodness in the Shop!

It's been a while since I added any new handbags to my shop, but I just added three new bags!

This is the EMILY, a new design. It's a cute navy tote made from a felted wool sweater, and embellished with a felted wool flower that coordinates with the lining. Use it as a handbag, a small market tote or to carry your latest craft project.

This is a red WILLOW handbag. This photo shows the rich, warm colors of the pattern from the original wool sweater.

And finally another WILLOW handbag in warm autumn tones.

These are all available now at Felt Sew Good!

Dinner, Fresh From the Garden

I will admit that our vegetable garden doesn't look so good right now. There are way too many weeds. And too much rain and cool temperatures here in Indiana, have left the tomato plants looking like they do in September - past their prime. But there are lots of ripe tomatoes, peppers, squash and herbs. So I would say that like so many other things in life, it's not the look that counts!

I went out to check the garden before deciding what to cook for dinner, and look at all the goodies I found! So tonight it's going to be fresh tomato sauce with meatballs over pasta, and sauteed zuchinni.

What's growing in your garden?

A Favorite Snack

Don't you just love goldfish crackers?! I sure do!

And this super easy recipe makes these snack favorites into zesty little bites that are even more irresistable to eat.

Seasoned Goldfish Crackers

3 packages (6 ounces each) bite-size cheddar cheese fish crackers
1 envelope ranch salad dressing mix
3 teaspoons dill wed
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2/3 cup vegetable oil

Place the crackers in a large bowl. Whisk together the remaining ingredients; drizzle over the crackers and toss well to coat evenly.

Transfer the coated crackers to a large baking pan. Bake at 250 degrees for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

These are so good you'll want to double the recipe for a party!
Let me know if you try them.

A Garden of Wool Flowers

As you probably can tell from my frequent posts about my flowers and garden, I love flowers! I've been experimenting with some new flower designs using felted, or fulled, wool from repurposed sweaters. I wanted to take advantage of the different colors and textures of my ever growing collection of leftover wool pieces from other projects. I guess you could say I'm recycling my recycled wool!

Well here are the results - a garden of wool flowers, now listed in my Etsy shop.

I've created flowers representing a water lily, a zinnia, a dahlia and a peony. Here are the "details".

An orange zinnia, in merino wool

A spikey purple dahlia

and a soft peach water lily.

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Garden Tour

I always enjoy having a look around this beautiful garden. Avon Gardens is a unique garden center in the Indianapolis area. There are 5 acres of beautiful display gardens to inspire you. (It's also a nursery and retail garden center.)

And the gardens are so pretty, Avon Gardens can even host your wedding, reception or other events.

Enjoy your garden tour!

A Rainy Saturday

It was another rainy Saturday at my house. The day started out partly cloudy with a forecasted chance of rain. Not too bad. But once the rain started it didn't stop until late afternoon.

It rained so hard, it felt like we live in the tropics. This was my soggy view from the screened porch.

It finally stopped raining late in the afternoon, and it wasn't long before the sun started to shine through the clouds.

After it stopped raining, I decided to go check to see if we had any mail and there was a nice surprise in the mail box! A package from Maggie Whitley. And inside the box was this cute Lovely Gus - Nature Clutch.

Maggie has a great Etsy shop and wonderful blog, Gussy has a lot to say. . .

Maggie had a giveaway on her blog, for a gift certificate to her shop, and I won! Here is the original post. She has so many cute things in her shop, it was hard to choose. I chose this clutch and I can't wait to use it! Thanks so much Maggie!

So all in all, not a bad day! Mother Nature watered our lawn and garden for us. I received an adorable new purse, and it ended with a beautiful sunset! Hope your weekend was good, too!

Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek of a project that I am working on.

It is my submission for the winter issue of Sew Somerset magazine, due next week. I've been playing around with some felted wool sweaters, repurposed wool fabric, pieces of suede and some vintage buttons. I hope to share more in an upcoming post.

And as soon as this is shipped off, I'll be back to adding some new items to the shop. I should have a shop update next week!

Bluebird Update

I wanted to share an update on the bluebirds nesting in my garden. The babies hatched last week and Mom and Dad are sure busy feeding them!

This is Mom with a bug, yummm!

Dad is very active in feeding the babies, too.

We had a lot of rain over the weekend, which softened the ground. That has made it easier to find lots of bugs and worms to feed the kids.

They take turns bringing food to the babies, but neither is gone long before I hear the little ones peep, peep, peeping from inside the box.

I can't yet tell how many babies are in there, but each day they seem to make a little more noise when Mom or Dad show up with food. It won't be long before they take off, but it has been a pleasure to watch the pretty little birds!

Etsy Finds - Americana

Happy Birthday America!

In honor of Independence Day, here are a couple of my patriotic favorites from fellow Etsy artists. These were all found using the search word Americana.

A lovely accent for your home, this beautiful Circle of Stars Quilt is from PiecesOfPine.

Safegaurd those special photos in this Vintage Americana Album from Heartspeak.

What could be more American than a pick-up truck! This vintage Buddy L pick-up truck is from ArtsyFartsyFarm.

This red, white and blue Americana Wrap Skirt provides breezy style all summer long. From KatinkaPinka

Place this in your yard, or even use it as a decorative accent in your home. This Primitive Flag Birdhouse is from Birdhouseaccents.


Have a safe and Happy Fourth of July!