Tag Archives: floral print fabric

“Petite Treasures”

Look what Gina found in the garden? A little nest was resting on the ground; it had fallen from its perch in a nearby tree. Gina and I will put it back safe and sound so that mama bird can continue on with her role as mother-to-be.

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Gina’s new dress is made with a cotton Japanese floral print in the yummiest of color palettes: pinks, blues, and yellows. The hemline is prettied up with a border of ivory French cotton scalloped lace. An ivory satin ribbon ties around the waistline.

The capelet and beret are made with sky blue Peruvian Highland wool yarn. The capelet is knit in a lace pattern to give it a delicate look. It can be worn with the opening in the front or back. Tiny pink roses are embroidered all the way around the hemline. The beret is embellished with a handmade matching ivory satin ribbon bow and an embroidered pink rose. I think the beret looks cute when worn at a jaunty angle.

The tiny nest is filled with two sky blue eggs and coordinating blossoms. (Gina insisted on adding her magic touch to the nest.) The contents are kept in place with hot glue. Clear jewelry elastic loops are tied to each side of the nest to act as handles.

Hand dyed pastel pink cotton Lycra® tights and a beaded bracelet (with a very cute bird charm) complete this ensemble.

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“Petite Treasures” will be available tonight (May 11, 2016) at 7:00 pm CST, cindyricedesigns.com.

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“Natural Beauty” for Gracie

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I finished this ensemble for Gracie last week, and have been much too busy to show you, sorry. We helped my daughter pack up her dorm room this past Friday (I don’t know how everything fit in our car!!!) and brought her home for the summer. It goes without saying how nice it is to have her back! I think she is a little bored right now though. Her high school friends haven’t returned home, and her summer class at the community college hasn’t started, so not much to do but relax.

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Here’s my beautiful Gracie modeling her new dress/cardigan ensemble. The dress is made with a Japanese rose print in a very pretty, and unusual color palette. The roses are in a deep terracotta-ish red, peachy melon, and cool pink. There are some muted pastel yellow and peach bell-shaped blossoms scattered amongst the roses. The greenery is in a muted mint green and turquoise. The flora is outlined with a green-ish gray. It is very colorful, but sophisticated.

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I made Gracie’s dress with my newly drafted bodice that has a wider neckline. Doesn’t this style look pretty on her? The hemline is fancied up with ivory French cotton lace. Matching ivory English nylon Cluny lace is used for the waistline sash.

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Gracie’s short sleeved cardigan is made with summery cotton/Modal yarn in natural. The nine color embroidery design is all free form, no planning; I simply stitched, adding motifs here and there until the composition was completed. It coordinates perfectly with the dress fabric.

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Gracies slouchy crocheted cap is made with matching bamboo thread. A handmade bow that matches the waistline sash decorates the band.

A matching crocheted drawstring bag is a nostalgic touch. A pearl looped tassel hangs from the bottom of the bag. The bag opens and closes as Gracie finds little treasures to add to it.

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The colorful and unique bracelet decorates Gracie’s wrist. The bracelet is made with a coordinating resin rose, green heart, and links of silver-toned branches. It closes with a handmade wire hook.

Underneath are a pair of coordinating cotton Lycra® tights.

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“Natural Beauty” will be available tonight at 7:00 pm CST, cindyricedesigns.com.

I hope you all are having a beautiful day! Thanks for stopping by, my friends!

A Shivery Hello

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Hi all. I hope you are enjoying the weekend. Right now I’m sitting in front of a cozy fire. I don’t want to get up to do anything, so it’s a great time to write to you all. Outside it is raining quite heavily, and it’s not a warm rain, I might add. Our wind chill is 29°F (-2°C) degrees on this April 29th! Ugh! I’m dreaming of last weekend and earlier in the week when it was beautiful.

I find that I sleep better at night when I’ve been out for a walk (probably because it wears me out-ha), so I’ve been trying to walk daily. I took some photos last weekend and earlier in the week of how things are looking here in northern Illinois. I want to share them with you.

I often walk down this country road; it’s very peaceful and quiet. This crabapple in front of a little farmhouse was very colorful; I had to capture it with my phone.

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This is just a fraction of violets that covered a huge expanse of someone’s front lawn. They don’t last long though. When I walked past today, the flowers were almost all gone. I do love violets though. Even the heart-shaped leaves are pretty.

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Back at our house we had tulip quadruplets in bloom.

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The brilliant red violet lilacs have started blooming.

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Gina found this nest which fell out of one of the tiny lilac bushes. She inspected it, and will be putting it securely back for mama robin to return to.

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We have carpets of lilac phlox blooming around our property.

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Our apple tree is in bloom now, too. I brought some branches inside last week, when they were beginning to bud, and they bloomed inside.

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The daffodils looked pretty for a couple of weeks around Easter time. Now, this is how they are looking. I kind of like how they all dried up and seem to be stuck in this state.

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I couldn’t resist showing you this next photo of our backyard. I know dandelions are weeds, but sometimes I find them kind of cheerful.

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Back in the studio today, my sweet Alice wanted to say hello. Alice is painted by Nelly Valentino. I think I only had to wait a year for her to arrive, she arrived last June. Don’t you love her brown eyes!

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Also, today I rinsed and preshrunk this bunch of fabric. There are a couple here that I will be using next. Even though it’s an extra step I like to preshrink all fabrics and cotton laces because I often dampen when ironing and I don’t want some things shrinking more than others do.

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