In Love with Needlework

I've become this *HUGE* fan of all things resale. Thanks to my new favourite website, Oodles and Oodles, i am learning lots about vintage treasures. Resale shopping is quite possibly becoming an addiction, as now i can think of 5 places off the top of my head that i can go for a quick gift for anyone: man, woman, child and whatever items purchased would be completely more charming than some of the junk we are importing and selling now.

Yesterday was a great day in that a dear friend and i were able to meet up and have coffee and a lovely breakfast sans our six year olds AND if that wasn't enough, we still had time left over to dabble in the fine art of Chit Chatty Treasure Hunting. :o) We made some great finds and thankfully with my WW meeting in the same area, i was able to revisit today after much consideration of these items.

Namely my finds were needlework. I love needlework! My mom cultivated my talent for needlework from an early age--it all began with a few pieces of yarn and an old cloth diaper that i am quite certain was worn by yours truly at some point in my babyhood and "Wah-lah" (okay, i beg your pardon you'll excuse my French) i had a stitched my heart's crush onto the fabric. Yes, i am sure that someday when my child is older, my mom will show her the beloved diaper that i stitched Rick Springfield's name into. I've been dabbling in cross stitch and now knitting and crocheting ever since and it was just this past summer when my WW leader and friend shared her linen collection with me. I tell you...this lady has got one mean collection! Handiwork i haven't seen on extravagant pieces from overseas or from anyone who works for Martha Stewart! :o) Handiwork that makes the embroidered item from a Husqvarna look sub par! :O)

Since then, i have vowed to try to own a little slice of handmade samplers. This summer, i found a great sampler of the ABC's together with a handmade design of a bag of Goldmedal flour and various cooking utensils (i'll have to pull that out of storage and display it again, now that we aren't moving just yet. I'll take a picture when i do.) It was my first find. Since i've collected a few handmade towels and pillowcases and hankies.

I was completely taken with these samplers...

I mean really, who could resist these fabulous bananas???


And aren't the peas are absolutely adorable?!?

I just love all the veggies...

but in particular it was the corn that made me catch my breath.

Yesterday's finds were enough to complete my "Made by someone other than me" collection. I've decided that i really need to try my hand at some embroidery, because although the pieces i've found are charming, what i love the most is displaying something i or my daughter or someone in my family has crafted.

Although, of course, i realise that there will be things that i will simply just not be able to do now or possibly ever (especially if i am to be blessed with having more children.) :o) So i had to get this too:

Soon it will be Spring here and the Daffodil Festival will commence! Maybe it's this doily i find charming now because it inspires my daydreaming of someday when we find our dream home south of here where the Daffodil parade will run right through our neighborhood. Hey, maybe my daughter might be a Daffodil Princess or Queen someday. Then it would be even more special. Never the less, because of this picture:

My Lil' Cookie Monster at 4 months discovering her first daffodil.

any daffodils will hold a special place in my heart always. I tell you, they are a sure fire way to get a baby to stop squirming during a nappy change!

I also couldn't help picking up this little guy for my hubbie for St. Valentine's Day...

Gosh, can you believe it is almost St. Valentine's Day?