painted canyons, heritage sewing, mail art & mother’s day gifting!

april 2019



dearies,

the dearie family just returned from a whirlwind family vacation visiting the red rocks and painted canyons of the southwest united states. for the past eight days we toured the grand canyon, lake powell/glen canyon, bryce canyon and zion national parks. mr. dearie was able to visit monument valley, arizona and finally tick mark it off his travel bucket list. for me, i think the horseback trail ride through bryce canyon (below) was a big highlight.

a dear friend i've been fortunate to know for nearly three decades, recently emailed me after reading about my d.i.y. bed adventure and he shared the following:

"one nice memory from my childhood is the embroidered linens. we didn't have much, so we had to take care of it. every saturday, all hands were on deck to clean everything. with eight children, we had a large supply of linens to change each week. all six girls were required to know how to sew, since we often couldn't buy things and so had to make them ourselves. much like girls used to make samplers, like it or not, my sisters practiced stitches by embroidering the hems on flat sheets and pillow cases." 

actively expanding and practicing my embroidery handiwork has been on my to-do list for the past two years. i delighted in my friends'childhood memory, because, in hindsight, going to town on our own bed linens was actually the perfect medium in which to improve my heritage sewing skills. an older white flannel pillowcase that had lost its fuzzy surface years ago from love and service served as my jumping off point. even though i received two excellent embroidery books for christmas, my embroidery-focused board on pinterest also helped generate initial inspiration. as you can see, i've stitched up an english garden floral along the outer edge of this pillowcase, and i am excited to see how it continues to evolve on our other bed linens as my stitches improve.

like my expanding embroidery skills, my mail art prowess has grown over the last 6-8 months, too. i find paper cutting, pasting, painting and collage-making a more immediate artistic expression as well as being very relaxing. right now a small group of friends are enjoying the resulting spoils. would you like to receive fun mail art? email your mailing address and i would be delighted to add you to my list. the only obstacle i've discovered is i get so wrapped up in creating the ideal mailing envelope that i have forgotten more than once to add my return address! 

mother's day is just around the corner on sunday, may 12th and my darling dearie oddment collection offers many lovely ways for you to show you love and are thinking of your mother, or that special mother-like-figure in your life. order by wednesday, may 8th, to guarantee holiday delivery within the u.s.a. and remember, complimentary usps priority mail shipping with signature confirmation is included on all u.s.a. orders!

until my next missive...

xoxo,

darling