terrariums

I've been wanting to do terrariums for a long time. I think ever since that Cookie magazine article came out last Fall. How fun are those ones with the little aliens.

Then I saw some more over here on Flickr and I'm nowhere near done with my fascination. I'm dying to make some like Stephanie's.

I think if these do well my sun room will be overtaken by them.

I started with one arid one that I filled with 2 varieties of cactus and one moist one which has an african violet, a fern and some moss.

kimono top

A kimono for Ms. S that I managed to sew over the past day with the help of not one but, two coordinated naps. This never happens. It came together rather quick except for the binding which I finished by hand sewing it on. I'm waiting for her to wake up so I can try it on (didn't get around to it). I suspect it will be too big (it's size 6-12 M) which I'd be rather happy about as we all know babies grow.

I've just begun making my own binding and I must say I think I could get addicted to this. I know that has been said before by other crafters and now I understand why. Oh, the possibilities and fun one could have with this gets me going. I didn't even bother to read the directions on the Clover seam binding maker I bought but, I figured it out. Woohoo! Plus, I had this little tool that came from my Great Aunt that helped me push it through. I don't think it's an awl from what I can tell looking at them online but, it worked and so that's cool.

Anyway, I just love kimonos. Little M wore one for his first birthday and it was amazing. It had little toys and tigers on it. Speaking of tigers we went to the zoo today. I have such mixed feeling about zoo's. I feel bad for the animals.

Okay, I'm beat now and I'm going to sit down and knit for most likely two whole minutes before they wake up.


-Yeah, I'm actually finishing this post hours later as I got about 1 second after that last sentence.
- The pattern is from here with a few modifications.
-The fabric I believe is from Timeless Treasures but, I can't find it online right now. It reminds me a little of giant swirly lollipops and also of pinwheels.

clouds

These are the wax paper clouds I mentioned previously. I have them in Little M's room and they look amazing with his wall color. So far, it's the only room we have painted. The color is Benjamin Moore's and it's called Little Falls. Speaking of paint, I changed my mind on the kitchen color and when we finally did decide on a new color it was almost exactly this shade so we switched again and now are going to go with Benjamin Moore's Mount Saint Anne which is a color we have used in the past.

-Hmm, what is wrong with me. Now I'm not sure about this color.

bloomers & a barrette

It's been a week?

So, here are some bloomers in size 6-12 months which the baby will be wearing pretty soon from this Oliver & S pattern. I'm in love with these patterns and I really think they are well written and easy to follow. I do plan on making more bloomers ( I just love them) along with the tea party sundress and maybe the play suit. I can't seem to find any fabric to coordinate with these bloomers at the moment and I'm thinking I should jump ahead and make the clothes in a bigger size anyway for her to wear down the road a bit.

And, here is a barrette I made. She won't be wearing this for quite a while. Her hair is growing a lot these days but, it's still peach fuzz & not enough for barrettes yet. I still couldn't help myself. I'm just so excited to have a little girl to dress up and make things for.

I like making things for Little M too don't get me wrong but, little girls stuff is just so much fun.

Oh, and thank you for all the sweet comment on Scarlet's dress

sewing for s

I made a new dress for Ms. S and I'm pretty excited about it. First off, I didn't use a pattern. I just based it on one of her dresses and made it a little bigger and longer and skipped the pocket. Two things I didn't do perfect were:

1) I put a facing in but, should have sewn the side seams first. I kind of knew that in the back of my mind but it turned out fine anyway because of the way things lined up.
2) My buttonholes will not be winning any beauty contests. I read the directions and practiced a few times and I just wasn't getting it on my new Pfaff. I need to work on figuring this out. Also, it might not be good to be learning new skills on the new machine at 11 PM.

This should fit for a good long while as it's a jumper. I've expressed my feelings about jumpers before. Hmm... sewing without patterns I almost feel a little like a real dressmaker.

P.S.It was a challenge to get a photo of S this morning without her hands in her mouth or the dress. I told her the dress was not for eating
P.P.S That is okay though because she is so darn cute.
P.P.P. S. I made 2 strawberry rhubarb pies (one is more like a tart) and Mick made jam (but it didn't turn out quite right so now it's strawberry sauce & we will be trying jam again soon) and I finally picked the paint color for the kitchen and Mick started to paint so that' something. We also did a bunch of other stuff including our first trip to the town pool (what fun!)

-Yeah, I just noticed that the nesting dolls are not facing up and I should of cut the other way. I still think it's cute though.

the storm

We had a very crazy storm on Tuesday night that came and left very quickly but took our power away for 2 days. Many still do not have power and some got it back and then lost it again. There are trees down all over. Trees on cars, trees on houses. We are all fine (thank goodness) and our garden amazingly was not damaged. I hated to throw all the food away especially since we did a trip to Whole Foods and I had made homemade pesto and some other things.

I learned the hard way how hard it is to knit by candlelight and have spent so much time knitting and un-knitting a mitten the past few days. I mean so much time it's ridiculous. I've also been sewing clouds with wax paper on and off for a few weeks now. I can't get a decent photo but I'll try again.

Every day we go strawberry picking sometimes twice a day. There are that many. I'm hoping to make jam and pies this weekend. I also want to paint the kitchen. I tend to start out very ambitious on Friday's.

Here are some zucchini blossoms and a chive blossom. I thought they were awful pretty and so much nicer then the piles of unfinished sewing and knitting projects laying around.

fly away

A new pillow. I'm making more in my head. Hopefully they will be realized soon. So easy. Now I can cover all those pillows I don't like. I'm very excited about this. Why did I not do this years ago?




New bird brooches. A bit smaller in scale then the ones I usually make.

scarlet models for mama

This is the result of what you saw on the needles yesterday.
Scarlet is an excellent model.
I went up to the craft room a few times to sew and then came right back down. I need an AC up there badly. I think my Mom has one.

some booty

This past week saw a flurry of activity in the craft room but, then the heat wave struck this weekend and blah! the craft room is in the attic and man is it hot up there even with the attic fan. The heat just wants to knock you down, doesn't it?It sort of makes you go at a slower pace even when you are trying to move fast and get stuff done. I don't like an idle moment. I suppose I am a little crazy.

Slow times are for trying out new booty designs..new colors, yarns, a few design changes, tweaks, monograms maybe... messing stuff up a bit.

I think my readers most likely are thinking I'm losing my mind saying stuff like messing stuff up a bit and titling my post...some booty but hey it's 95% with a bunch of humidity so there. Guess what... I'm going break the rules and not re-shoot this blurry photo too. I dare you to do it. What do you say?

the strawberries are here

fairy tale baby

Scarlet had her 4 month check up today. All is good with our little girl. 13 1/2 pounds and almost 25" long. She's doing all she is supposed to be. I'm partial to the laughing. I'd have to say that and all the smiles are my favorite of her skills.
She found her thumb recently as you can see.

Here she is wearing a Hansel and Gretel onesie with a bonnet that was mine as a baby.

This is last Friday during a relatively quiet hour with the kids outside. Little M was 'mowing' the lawn. At least that is what he thinks he was doing. It did really need to be done.

hullabaloo

There is a lot of crazy going on around here lately. Teething, potty-training. Fun stuff but, actually it's going rather well considering. Sometimes amongst all the hullabaloo...all the ideas, never-ending projects...all the stuff you want to make for your babies, for your business etc. you just got to go and do something frivolous and make a coffee cup cozy.



Now, I just need to get myself to the coffee shop alone for 20 minutes (maybe I could push it to 45?) and sit back and relax...