Russian Treasures
I posted a few days ago about the Russian flag quilts I made for my friend’s daughters. When we first started chatting about these quilts months and months ago we made a deal. I would make the quilts for the girls and in return Josie would bring me some amazing Russian treasures. I gave her a short list of things I’d like (you’d think I could have brought home all the treasures I wanted when I lived there. But I didn’t.) I am thrilled that she was willing to bring them for me.
This is a green amber pendant necklace. I love green amber, it is just so pretty and when the light hits it you can see so many different colors embedded inside. I brought home a small necklace and bracelet, which I still wear. But I love how big and chunky this one is. The picture just can’t do it justice.
These two drawings are done in ink, probably with a ballpoint pen. I brought one home for my sister and I have always wished that I had one for myself. And now I have two. And I don’t know why, but I kind of really like them clipped up in my old pants hanger.
This is probably my favorite thing. And I am so glad that she was able to sneak it through customs. (Russia isn’t too keen on letting their antiques leave the country.) It is an Agfa Anastigmat Jgestar camera and from what I can find it was manufactured in Germany in 1933.
Wow. I know. It’s a 35mm camera, but I have absolutely zero idea how to use it. I need to do a lot more research to figure out what I need to know so I can try and take some pictures. But for now I just know that it is awesome.
I love how this last picture turned out! Josie brought me a few big families of blank Russian Matryoshka dolls. I am not exactly sure what I am going to do with them. But I love this contrast between the blank dolls and my collection of washi tape in every color. I have several painted sets that I brought home with me from Russia. I know there is no way I can make these more beautiful than those. I may be a lot of things, but a painter is not one of them. One day I’ll take pictures of those and show them to you. They are absolutely amazing works of art. And I will set these blank one’s out on my desk and I’m sure inspiration will strike. Eventually.
So what is your all time favorite souvenir? Or what is the one that got away and you still regret not buying it. Mine is some gorgeous marionette puppets that I saw in Prague. They were so incredible and I am still kicking myself for not bringing one (or six) home.
Blythe Church
Tucked away somewhere in Halifax is Blythe Church. And in that little tucked away place of hers she makes some amazing things. I first came across Blythe’s work on flickr in a routine typewriter search. (Because typewriter searches are part of the routine here.) And then I just couldn’t get enough of what she does.
[ Trio of felt camera’s ]
She starts with wool felt and then hand dyes it for each project. And then with her trusty needle and thread she starts building things. And I’m not talking she makes fried eggs from felt. Though there is nothing wrong with fried eggs from felt. But Blythe is recreating vintage bits of technology, toys, and household items in fabric. And I love pretty much everything about it.
I LOVE this sewing machine! This is in fact, her sewing machine which she recreated out of felt. I would love to have one of these sitting on a corner of my desk. It’s just so so cute!
[ Felt robot in her etsy shop ]
[A little monster made from repurposed clothing and scarves. ]
Aren’t those fantastic! Her little monsters are all just adorable (more here). And I just can’t get enough of her work. Her flickr photostream is full of these beauties, all handmade by her. And not only monsters, she has made some amazing little felt toys. A.MAZE.ING.
[ Wagonfull of colored felt blocks, each block is removable! ]
[ One of the toys Blythe made for Christmas last year to put under an all felt Christmas tree. ]
[ A felt raygun in her etsy shop ]
Of course that’s not all of them, there is an etch-a-sketch, a little xylophone, mini oven with a tray of cookies inside, a guitar, retro nintendo game with controllers, changeable felt screens and a zapper gun.
This Smith Corona is what first caught my eye. How sweet is that! It almost looks like LOVE. Look at those little keys, all hand embroidered. For a close up of those little guys click here.
I could fill up a whole blog with her beautiful photos, but thankfully she’s already done that over on her blog. Her work has been featured in galleries in Halifax and Toronto. She’s got an adorable website, a fantastically inspiring flickr photostream and she does custom orders as well. Contact her (here is her etsy shop) and I’m sure that she can make whatever you’d care to dream up. She made the Guggenheim Museum! I’m absolutely sure that Blythe Church can make anything.
***All images by Blythe Church and are used with permission***
Looking Ahead
Last week Elsie posted about a new blog project. She’s calling it 4 Simple Goals and I decided to play along too. The whole idea behind it is to choose a few simple things that will make me happier every day, and then complete them before the end of the year. The point is to choose things that I can’t/wouldn’t move off of my to-do list without a little push, but not to choose something that is too hard or unreachable. Which means that cutting sugar out of my diet (again, for the umpteen millionth time) is not going to make the list. Here are my four, well, the first four.
Number 1: Finish this room. I’ve been saying this for a full year. I need to clean up the piles and stacks of stuff, donate what I’m not going to use/don’t love and clean off my desk so I can work in here every day. Number one part two: Work in here every day. Though I can hardly call it “work”… I should say play in here everyday. (I know this pic looks nice and clean, but you should see what is cropped out! I’ll post some before pics when this is done.)
Number 2: Sew something for myself. Something like a jacket, or a dress. Something that fits well and that I want to wear outside of my closet. Heck, I want to make something I’ll wear all the time. I have dozens of patterns I’ve picked up at thrift stores, some new one’s, some vintage. But I am afraid to try any of them. Making dresses for Creamie is easy, making quilts is easy. Putting in zippers and fitting darts to my body is harder. I have yet to be successful in either area. But I really want to make something for me to wear.
[ image by Timothy Haugen of Fantastic Toys. ]
Number 3: Handmade Christmas. I have already accomplished one of my goals from the beginning of the year, because I started thinking about Christmas presents in July. (Yay, cross that off the list!) I have already started making some of them. My plan is to make ALL of them. Myself. I have everything planned out, and was able to find most of my supplies in my stash or from the thrift store. Now it’s just a matter of building/making/sewing/finishing them all. I’m going to be busy. Well, busier. I also want all of the gifts to be done by Thanksgiving so I can focus on other Christmasy things in December.
[ The Cranberry Cherry Galette I made (and consumed) at the beginning of August. ]
Number 4: Make really good pie. I’ve made four pies in the past month. I love making pie. It’s easy, it’s delicious, it’s impressive and it makes me happy. My mother is an expert pie maker and I want to be like her. By the end of the year I want to have mastered every aspect of pie making. I’ve got the eating part down pretty good. Which is why I can’t stay off sugar, but that is another post.
My list is in order of what I want to accomplish first. As soon as I finish one of these projects I’ll post about it, and then add another to the list. I want to finish cleaning up and organizing my room in the next few weeks. (Also, I need a better name for it. It’s not really a “studio”, I don’t like the term “crafty area”… It’s just a room of my own.) And then I’ll make myself a jacket, or a dress or something. I won’t be able to post all of my Christmasy things until after the big day, but there will be a lot of behind-the-blog work going on until then. For number four I’ll post some of the pies I make. Probably not all of them, this isn’t going to turn into a foodie/pie blog. But I will occasionally post pies that turn out better than I expected, or are consumed faster than anticipated. I am excited to get started! I’m going to spend today’s naptime digging through old supplies and cleaning things out in my room. And then maybe I’ll make a pie.
A Little Featherweight
I came across this AMAZING giveaway a few days ago. Seriously, it’s amazing. Raven at Oversewn is holding a raffle to win this little Singer Featherweight sewing machine. I know! I am dying! If you donate a couple of bucks to the Santa Barbara Birth Center (read full details here) you will be entered to win this little beauty. Seriously Amazing? Yes. I donated some money to help women who are trying to help other women, and I have a shot at this!
[ Image from Raven at Oversewn. And yes, she’s giving away a sewing machine! A cute one! ]
And besides the machine, she is giving away lots of other prizes too. Yards and yards of prizes. I am dying! Go check it out, and donate your lunch money for a good cause. Her raffle is open until the end of August.
Summer Fun
We took Creamie to a splash pad a few nights ago. I am convinced that they are a gillion times better than a swimming pool. She can play in the water by herself, and I don’t have to worry about her drowning, or drinking the chlorine laden, often peed in pool water. She can walk around where she wants to and be totally independent in a much larger area than the shallow end provides. This particular splash pad also has a 6 foot wide river. But it’s only 6 inches deep. Brilliant I tell you!
She had so much fun splashing in the water and watching the other kids.
Deep in concentration. This splashing is serious business.
But the very best part about the splash pad/kiddie river is I as a parent can play with her without feeling socially obligated to shave my legs and wear a swimming suit. See, everyone wins.
Have a good weekend!
PS- I went thrifting yesterday, it being Friday the 13th I was sure something lucky would happen. And I was correct. I found 3 lids to go with some pieces in my new Pyrex collection for $.25 each. Now how lucky is that!
More Russian Flags
This week has been a Russian flag factory over here. This quilt from two weeks ago is finished. I had to do some unpicking and restitching, but isn’t that always how it goes. I added the borders to it Wednesday night. And even though it doesn’t have a stitch of pink, I really like how it turned out.
Oh, and then I made one more. My friend Josie has two daughters, ages 8 and 16 and they will both be getting cuddly Russian quilts to remember the years they have lived in Moscow. (They just moved to Amsterdam after 8 years in the Mother Country.) I wasn’t thrilled about the borders when I first put them on, but I love how they look in these pictures. Of course, I see a few other mistakes (which I wont’ tell you about and no one else will ever know!) but overall I really like my finished product!
These quilts were inspired by this quilt by Amy Smart. Each of the flags are 3.5 by 5 inches, and set into an 8.25 inch block (finished to 7.75″) There are a lot of polka dots in this quilt, but I don’t think that’s what you first think when you see it. There are seven fabrics of each color (white, blue, red and brown/tan)
I’ve got to do a little work on the backs before they get quilted. The girls friends from school signed the backs before they left Russia, so these are going to be like a big cuddly yearbook, only better. They’ll get all the good memories without the awkward pictures.
So here you go girls! I hope that you enjoy them. I am adding these to Sew+Tell at Amy’s. And I’m going to spend the rest of the weekend cooking something delightful, sewing something fantastic, and organizing my closets. I don’t think there is anyway to go wrong with that. It’s going to be the perfect end to that vacation I’ve been pretending I am on.
PS- Today is Friday the 13th! Which means it’s pretty much my favorite day of the year. I think something lucky is going to happen. I better go to the thrift store and find out. Happy Friday!
Vacation Time
I’m still in vacation mode. And if I was going to get in my car and drive for hours and hours this is where I would go.
[ image from The Baltimore Sun ]
First up would be some thrift stores. I can’t help it. I loves them!
[ image by quietquirk on flickr ]
The Pyrex Museum in Bremerton WA. So so awesome!
[ image by sara_kate on flickr ]
Springfield, MO. But not until the end of October. I really want to visit the going to be new RedVelvet Art store. They are going to have cupcakes! And craftiness!
[ source ]
Amsterdam. My friend just moved here, and I am kind of falling in love. I know. I can’t drive here, I’ll take the boat. Where would you go?
I’m on Vacation
I’m just going to pretend that I really am on vacation. I’m not. I’m at home doing my usual thing. But if I pretend that I am on vacation, or that I am going on vacation tomorrow, then I think I’ll be more productive. I know yesterday I got all excited about beachiness and stripes and pirates, but I think today I want to go somewhere different.
[ image found via weheartit ]
I’ll just tell myself that I’m going to be here. Not too hot, charming, quiet, no throngs of people or people in thongs to get in my way. Just a charming little place with pink roses outside my window. I’ll be back tomorrow.
Nautical Stripes
Nothing says summer quite like crisp blue and white stripes. They are just so oceany. I of course am terrified of the ocean, and most of the creatures that can be found there (sharks, giant squid, creepy things that live in the deep…). But that doesn’t mean that I can’t enjoy my blue and white stripes from the sand. Well since “the sand” is a gillion miles away from my land locked desk, I’ll just enjoy these from here. Here are a few recent etsy favorites.
[ A beardy sailor print from NanLawson ]
[ Stockholm messenger bag from ikabags, also in red and yellow and green ]
[ Vinyl whale decal from SeaLubbers ]
[ Navy Blue Wedges at Dear Golden Vintage ]
[ Handpainted wooden pirate dolls from mooshoopork ]
[ Adorable striped plushie camera from onelatenight ]
[ Hand knit baby booties from pleasantlyplumpknits ]
[ Upcycled T-shirt skirt by SnugglePants ]
All these beachy things are getting me thinking. I need a vacation. Who’s with me?
A New Pyrex Collection
I went thrifting with my cute friend Betsy on Saturday morning. It is so much more fun to go shopping with a friend. And then when you find something great, you get to share the squeeling. Which is also awesome. Here’s (some of) what I found.
First off, let me point out that I have never found pretty Pyrex at this thrift store. And never on a Saturday. The building is huge, the parking lot is always full of cars and the store is full of scavengers (people like me who go like 8 times a week looking for something specific and awesome.) Tucked on a shelf I saw this little cutie, with the lid for $1.50. Sold.
No sooner had I turned around and I saw her little sister for $1.00.
And then this little bowl peeking around a bigger uglier bowl caught my eye. He was $.75. And that makes all three Snowflake Blue Pyrex bowls for a grand total of $3.25. I was a little bit giddy. But that wasn’t all.
This large green one came home with me too. It’s not my favorite color, but it was $1.50. And I would have felt bad about not buying him forever. (That might be a slight exaggeration. Maybe.)
This is my little, but growing, collection of Pyrex. I only paid $5 for these six pieces. I have one more but it is in the fridge full of leftovers. I have posted about Pyrex a few times lately, and I really think it might be my new little crush. It’s pretty, colorful, useful and cheap (you know, compared to Diamonds and Furniture and Typewriters.) I am sure I’ll run out of space before I get tired of collecting it. But I’m just as sure that a lack of space won’t stop me. My little house ran out of space ages ago, but I still seem to find places to put all of the things I love.
pinksuedeshoe 