Does anyone remember the Disney movie The Sword in the Stone? That was such a cute movie! There is one scene where Merlin is packing so he can move in with young Arthur and mentor him. Merlin sings a spell and all of his belongings begin to march and shrink to fit into his satchel. “Hockety pockety, wickety wock, odds ‘n’ ends and bric-a-brac.” Something cute like that anyway!

I have been very, very busy working on creating some inventory! So far I don’t have much to show. A few needlework projects. One of which is on my desk in these photos. I was having a great sewing session Monday night and decided to take some pictures of the moment to remember it by. The only problem is that two days later I am not in the same frame of mind! LOL! But I do want to remember how I felt and so I will write this post anyway and try to recapture the way the mood.

I mainly wanted to show you my darling new chair that I pulled out of a curbside pile! Yes,I know! Unbelievable! It’s my princess chair and it’s comfy and nice. It will be even more comfy after it gets a new layer of foam and new upholstery. It’s from the forties, I think, and it has a lyre back that you can’t see in the photo. Such graceful lines!

The great yarn caddy on the floor came from the thrift shop a couple of weeks ago as did this pretty blue gingham apron:

It has little black x’s embroidered in some of the white squares. I think this is called “chicken scratch”? Feel free to correct me here. I think it’s so sweet! I also have this great pink gingham and organdy apron from a few months ago:

They inspired some of the handwork on the pillow I am working on. It’s on my desk, but it’s not done yet! However, I did notice that I had all the elements from my sewing set out at the same time. I made this drawstring bag, needlebook and pincushion back in 2001 before I ever saw a single craft on the internet. The embroidery is my paternal grandmother’s work, salvaged from a set of napkins. I’m making a point of them because sometimes I forget that I was doing what I do long before I ever had access to the web. I’m not sure why that’s important, but it is.

Also, I just HAD to share this thrift item with you all. My 1954 Rhinestone Setter! How fab is that! It has the stuff too AND it works! Now I just need to design something that requires rhinestones!

Last of all…I have a domain! www.tender-arts.com!!!!!!!! Don’t bother looking yet- I haven’t even started on building it. So much to do! But it is exciting, for sure. I have started working on a logo. Here it is so far:

This is a photo of my pen and ink sketch, so obviously I have lots more work to do on it yet. What do you think? I like it so far and I think it really captures the aesthetic that I love.

I gotta get going, but thanks for checking in! Hugs to all!