A very early morning

Okay, I'm confessing: I got up very early to watch The Royal Wedding. And it was lovely. I know that with so much strife, tragedy and distress around the world, it doesn't seem quite right to pay so much attention to this event. But maybe that's the exact right reason to make it a big deal. It's wonderful and a bit awe-inspiring to see that beauty, pageantry and tradition are still alive and well in the world. It's a feel-good distraction, something we can all use now and then. 

All the best,

Judy Ann

P.S. Wouldn't you love to be able to create gorgeous lace like that which adorns Kate's dress? I'll have to do some research!

Images of Easter

What a wonderful Easter weekend we had! The weather turned out unexpectedly warm making for a relaxed and fun Sunday brunch. My niece, Courtney, made what she called "tie-dyed" cupcakes. Have a look!

She divided and dyed the batter, then put a spoonful of each colour into each cupcake. Here's a close-up, a little blurry, but you get the idea:

My sister, Irene, made sweet mini cupcakes, as yummy as they were pretty.

My sister, Linda, made a beautiful oatmeal cake. She somehow managed to coat the whole thing in irresistible pecan-coconut-butter frosting. Mm-m! As you can see by the knife in the photo, we wasted no time cutting into it.

And now you know why I had to go for not just one, but two walks today.

Hope you had a lovely weekend too!

Judy Ann

Crafty kids!

I spent today at a local school showing my books and crafts to over 130 enthusiastic and wonderfully creative students. The best part of each presentation was making a craft with the kids. One boy excitedly told me that he would be leaving for Florida this evening. He held up his craft and said he would be taking it with him, "to remind me of my friends at school while I'm away." What a sweetie!

All the best,

Judy Ann

Funny Bunny!

Here's a charming Easter greeting card you can make. I folded a sheet of cardstock in half the long way, then used other colours for the bunny and his bowtie. I glued on jumbo wooden sticks to make extra-long ears, and roly eyes for a comic touch. Add whiskers and other details with markers or crayons. You can write your "Hoppy Easter" message inside!

Enjoy,

Judy Ann  

Scrappy cards

Here's a fun way to use up some of your quilt fabric scraps. I simply machine stitched the fabric on card stock, then trimmed off the extra bits with my rotary cutter. Fast and fun!

Have a good weekend,

Judy Ann

Mm-m, linen!

I recently made this travel sewing kit out of linen. Ever since I visited Sweden last Spring, I've been enchanted with the natural, earthy qualities of this fabric. I have a small but growing collection of linens and linen/cotton blends that I dip into now and then, and delight over often. You can find the pattern for the sewing kit in a lovely book called I Love Patchwork by Rashida Coleman-Hale.

It's a windy, cool day in Southwestern Ontario, perfect for sewing. But aren't most days?

Enjoy,

Judy Ann

Welcome!

For many months now I have been looking forward to starting this blog. But now here I am, ready to write my first post, and I don't know where to start! Ah, well. I hope you'll stop by here often for ideas, news, views and lots of photos. Let the fun begin!

All the best,

Judy Ann