My Buggy Swap to Vicky

Thought I'd share the buggy summer swap that I sent to Vicky Weaver at Vicky's Art. This swap was hosted by Wendy at Ravenwoods Whimzies. We needed to include in our swap at least one stitched item and of course one bug item. So the first thing I had to do was to figure out what bug I was going to do. I changed my mind so many times...going from a butterfly to a dragonfly and then finally settling on the ladybug. It's so much easier for me to create and allow the juices to flow when I am doing a theme. So searched for a ladybug saying that could go on a wood sign. Found one I loved and made the sign....easy part done. So now came the harder part...to find a pattern for something stitched. I remembered seeing this pattern in Create and Decorate design by Patti Cargill of Primitive Treasures on Raspberry Lane. I had bought the little ladybug buttons awhile back intending to make these last year but never got around to them. So read through the directions and set to work. So as the sunflowers with the ladybugs were coming together, I decided that I loved the pattern so much, and it really was pretty easy to work with, that I would apply it in a different manner. I had purchased these rusty bed springs a few years back...(are you seeing a theme here?) that I hadn't used. So thought I would attach one to the rusty bedspring add some cheesecloth and a coffee stained hangtag. Our strawberries were also in the process of bearing giving me a huge bowlful of fruit each day, so making strawberry jam to add to the swap was logical....noting says summer time like homemade strawberry jam. And of course after working with all the canning jars and lids, I remembered I had used jar lids, so though why not paint a sweet little ladybug on one and make it a magnet. You can see the magnet in the top picture. This was a fun swap and Vicky is an awesome swap partner. Thanks again Wendy for hosting this swap.