Valerie Baber Designs

A Crafty Swap

~ Michelle ~ 2 Comments

Do you remember last year when I had the most beautiful scarf and hand-warmers made for me? I wrote about them here. The weather is getting colder and it’s time to pull them out again!

Here they are:

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   Aren’t they gorgeous? I love them.

Valerie and I were talking during the year after I picked up my beautiful scarf and hand-warmers, and I said I’d like a brooch to match them – black background with white flowers; that I loved her knit brooches. She said she loved my felt ones. We decided we’d do a trade – brooch for brooch.

I sent Valerie a few options, red and white, all red, or all white. She chose the all white option with crystals.

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The crystals aren’t showing up very much in this photo, but one of Valerie’s gorgeous scarves is! She really is so very talented.

Here’s what Valerie made for me.

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I love it! I pinned it on an old fleece jacket I was wearing that day, but I think this needs to go on my dressy black wool coat. It will really stand out then.

Happy creating!

A Few Thoughts From Other Blogs

~ Michelle ~ 10 Comments

This week I want to share a few thoughts I’ve had from reading other blogs.

The first one is from Erin. Do you follow The Sewing and Life Adventures of Emerald Erin? On her June 11th post Erin made an announcement:

“A Special Summer for the Bra-A-Week Challenge!

Hi All! I said earlier this week that I would announce the summer host for the Bra-A-Week Challenge – and here is the announcement!
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I am delighted to announce that the Bra-A-Week Challenge will be hosted by the lovely….

Michelle!
 
 
“Michelle is such a wonderful fellow bra-maker, and I’m sure you’ve all admired her work over the last 21 weeks like I have, and she most generously offered to host the challenge for the months of July and August for me!!”
Thanks, Erin! I’m pretty excited about hosting the challenge, and hoping some of my bra-making friends will join me and sew up a bra or two (or more) along with all the other wonderfully creative sewists who have contributed.  There’s more information on Erin’s blog if you’ve been participating in the challenge already and want to continue. You’ll still send your submissions to Erin. I’ll just be doing the write-up and posting it.
It’s great that the challenge will continue over the summer months!
This next blog comment I want to make really has nothing whatsoever to do with sewing – or does it? My good friend, Valerie over at Intricate Knits has been blogging about and telling me about her favorite author for years now. She just recently posted some scarves she designed that were inspired by Susanna Kearsley’s novel A Desperate Fortune. You can see Valerie’s designs here. After seeing the scarves, and having heard so much about Susanna, I decided I’d get A Desperate Fortune and read it myself.
This photo is from Valerie’s blog and shows a couple of the designs Susanna’s book has inspired. Valerie does such beautiful work. Check out her blog, and if you see something you love, she sells her beautiful creations on Etsy.
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Aren’t these lovely?  This morning as I came into my sewing room, I didn’t even want to sew! I wanted to get back into A Desperate Fortune. So far, I have to say, I can recommend Valerie’s favorite author as well.
Happy creating!

My Gift to Me

~ Michelle ~ 5 Comments

I often get money for occasions, and I don’t mind at all. I usually have a running list in my  head of what I’d like to buy, so gifts of money are always appreciated. This past Christmas was no exception, I was given some money by my father-in-law.

I can’t count the times I’ve used money I’ve been given towards sewing, but this time I decided I’d buy something that would be well-remembered. I knew exactly what I wanted. A very good friend of mine makes the most beautiful scarves and accessories. I’ve loved one of her scarves for years – the RoseOnie Scarf.

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Isn’t this stunning? This image is taken from Valerie’s Etsy store. Oh, I love this scarf and have since she first made it. Valerie says ‘I designed this scarf in memory of my amazing mother. She loved Gardening and Roses. This Rose Garden is for her, for the inspiration she had and continues to impress on my life.’ You can see this scarf along with the many other beautiful accessories Valerie makes here.

I didn’t want to stop with just the scarf though. I wanted a set of her hand warmers to go with it. I thought about the ivory ones, but then thought I also have a black scarf that they could match, so went with black hand warmers with ivory roses.

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Again, this image is taken from Valerie’s Etsy store. I must admit, I felt so pretty wearing these gorgeous custom made-for-me items. This was one of the best gifts I’ve ever gotten! For years to come, I’ll wear these and remember the generosity of my family, and a friendship I’ve been fortunate enough to enjoy since my 20s.

Just a day after I received these from Valerie, I was at a work-related conference, and you know I had my beautiful new scarf and hand warmers on. I had so many comments on how beautiful they are. Thank you, Valerie!

Happy creating!

Beautiful Gifts

~ Michelle

I was out for coffee with a friend from my college days. We’d been roommates before either of us got married. She married her boyfriend – the one she’d been dating while we were living together – I traded up a few years later. My former roomie and I always got along very well and still keep in touch all these years later.

My friend, Valerie, is very creative. And she’s always encouraged me to stay creative. She’ll remind me if I’m not doing something, that creative people need to do something to stay happy. She’s right. She wants me to pick up knitting again. I want to reply, ‘Right or left-handed?’, but usually tell her I’ve fallen in love with bra-making. It takes up all my spare time and a good chunk of my thought process.

Back to knitting, I did learn both ways of knitting. Right-handed knitting is something my Mum taught me. I understand it’s English.

But not everyone in the world is English.  A friend I met from Japan teased me about throwing the yarn when I knit, and she taught me left-handed knitting. It’s a much ‘tighter’ way of knitting. Your hands barely move, just the fingers. And the needles stay relatively motionless – not a lot of up and down movement going on.

I must say I prefer right-handed knitting, even though it does go more slowly because we really do ‘throw’ the yarn around the knitting needle tip, however I’ve done it this way for many years, and it’s what is embedded in my brain.

Valerie is an Artistic Fibre Specialist, and is incredibly talented. I was privileged to be on the receiving end of her talents this week. Valerie brought me a couple of gifts.

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Isn’t this exquisite? I was so impressed with this lovely scarf. Almost made me push my sewing machine aside and take up knitting again. I settled for wearing it the same day I got it.

This is the second lovely gift I received.

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Valerie does incredible work and not just to give away as gifts. She has an Etsy store. You can see more of Valerie’s designs here:

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No time for sewing for me this week. I’m making Anointing Oils for a Ladies’ Retreat, and a Custom Medical ID Bracelet – one of my favorite designs:

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This is a Triple-strand Bracelet made with Gold-filled beads and Swarovski Crystals. It’s a very elegant Medical ID Bracelet – you can see the ID tag hanging in the back.

I have a treat coming later in the week, or early next week. All I can say is it was love at first sight. And I’ll be starting a bra for a friend next week. She only wants something basic, but I’ll still take pictures and post them.

Happy creating!