Happpiness Is…
Happiness is…
[pretty garlands and candy in every single color- image from Amy Atlas]
[ coloring on the floor. in a dress. with curly hair – image via weheartit ]
[ 100 dresses, all lined up in the closet – image via weheart it ]
[ charley harper tea cups. actually anything charley harper –image by opticallyactive on flickr ]
[ pink hair and stars in your eyes- image via weheartit ]
[ finding pictures on the hard drive that you had forgotten about. i love her. ]
happy wednesday. I’m going to try and recover from tuesday. and monday.
Time
Time is an interesting thing. Just when you think you’ve got it under control, and you understand how it works it changes on you. I’m at a crossroads with that fickle creature time.
[ image by charlotte.morrall on flickr ]
Why is that some moments seem to last an eternity, while others slip by so fast you miss them completely. How do days turn into months and years without you ever realizing it. How did they slip by so quickly when those days seemed like they would never end? Why do some hours of the day disappear in a blink while others drag on and on.
[ image from etsy shop TheNebulousKingdom ]
I don’t know the answer to any of these questions. But it seems that right now I am like the girl in the picture. Watching time swing this way and that before me, just wondering when I’ll find it. Maybe tomorrow. Yes, maybe tomorrow.
Sewiversary Giveaway Winner
The winner of the Sewiversary Giveaway is…..
Megs who said : My mom used to always make my sisters and me Easter dresses with fun hair accessories to match! I enjoy sewing, but am by no means a super-sewer. However, I am gearing up to make a million fun throw pillows for my house. Know where I can get some great, cute fabric?!?
Yay! Thank you all for entering. I didn’t get to respond to every comment, but I sure read them all and loved heraing all of your favorites and I got some great ideas for new projects. Happy Monday everyone!
My Quilt is Finally Finished!
First of all, don’t forget to enter my sewiversary giveaway. It’s open until Saturday night. Click on the button right there at the top of the sidebar, or go here. OK, on to new stuff.
I think this may be my longest sewing work in progress to date. Which isn’t saying much because I haven’t really been sewing that long. My cute mother in law gave me these fat quarters last June and before June was over I had the quilt top done. I’ve had the backing since last July, sewn together and ready to go. And then this sat in my closet for months. Months!!! A few weeks ago my friend Danielle posted some pictures of some of the quilts she’s been working on. (She has a long arm machine at her house (jealous) and is quite the pro. Like seriously.) The pattern she’d been working on was a beautiful feathery thing and I just love how those quilts turned out. (see here) Anyway, I decided right then that I was going to send her my quilt and she was going to finish it. And so I did. And she did. And it is beautiful.
[ Don’t mind the wind….. it was super windy when I took pictures! ]
I finished putting the binding on this week and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out! I just love it! It’s the perfect summer weight quilt and I think it is going to get a lot of use these next few months. And did I mention how fast she had that thing cranked out and back in the mail? It was fast. Like, two days fast. I know, she’s amazing. I’m not sure what all of these fabrics are, I know some of them are from moda’s Sweet line, but I’m not sure about them all.
The pattern is the Turning Twenty by Tricia Cribbs and it couldn’t be easier. All it uses is fat quarters, and there is very little waste involved. Which I like. Sometimes I think I should have been born 150 years ago because I agonize about throwing away tiny little scrap and bits of thread even. Issues. I know.
I bound it with a very cute stripe and the back is that little pink floral. Today after it got washed it spent the day hanging out on the floor in the living room. Creamie loved it, she kept pointing out all the birds and circles (polka dots) and the flowers and stripes. It was adorable. And I am just so glad that it is finished. Thank you so much Sew+Tell, go look at everyone’s stuff, it’s a great way to start the weekend. I’m going to celebrate my weekend by participating in the Race For The Cure with my mother and sisters in law. Creamie is coming with us and it’s going to be a blast. A total girls party for a great cause. Happy Weekending!
I want to ride a bicycle….
I don’t know why exactly but yesterday I got an itch. But it was the good kind. You know the kind that puts something in your mind and then you can’t get it out and so you spend like six two hours looking for pretty bicycle pictures. Here are a few of my favorites:
Very cute little bowls I found on etsy [ image ]
I kind of want to be her when I grow up. [ image via weheartit ]
I want to send notes to my friends on these. [ image ]
Eeek! Love this one. [ image via weheartit ]
So after spending several hours looking for pretty bicycles I have decided that there is a decidedly large dearth in the tandem bicycle photo pool.
[ image by ruth_elizabeth on flickr ]
After browsing a million photos (not really) I found this cute vintagey purple one (and I usually am not drawn to purple at all) and this really pretty embroidered one and that was pretty much it outside of wedding invitations. (I mean, I found others too, but they just aren’t as many pretty one’s as the single bikes..) I know, it’s a total shocker to me too. So I am hatching an idea to put an end to this tragic dearth of pretty tandem bicycle pictures. (I know I know. If I compare this problem to other problems in the world it seems ridiculous. Everyone deserves to see something pretty and inspirational everyday. And we all need to do our part to bring something pretty to this world. And I plan to do mine.) I hope that my plan is done and ready to make it’s worldwide debut in a few weeks. In the meantime, let’s all do our part to make this world a little better place. Deal?
A Pink Spring
Yesterday was May Day. And it felt very much like Spring. We woke up to rain and cold and wind. Then it turned to snow and more wind and cold. But after a few hours the sun came out and it was pleasant springy weather (as long as you were still wearing your jacket). Of course, let’s not forget that Winter is my favorite season. Ah winter, I miss you already. I love waking up to snow any day of the year. (See this list for all my wintery love posts.) I made this page last night for my Art Journal class, which I am absolutely LOVING. (See all my pages here .)
Don’t forget to enter my Sewiversary Giveaway . My cute sister heidikins gave me this awesome bracelet last week. I bet she didn’t know that the day she gave it to me was the real Sewiversary. And that there wasn’t a better thing she could have possibly given me. She’s kind of awesome like that. Jewelry + Sew-iness + Pink = LOVE. It’s turning out to be a very pink inspired spring at my house. More on that tomorrow.
Sewiversary + Giveaway
GIVEAWAY CLOSED: CONGRATS MEGS!
Four years ago this week I graduated from college. My mother in law and sweet husband teamed up and got me a sewing machine. While i was going to school full time I was also working full time. And so was Scott. I started work at 5 in the morning and worked till 1. Then I came home and ate a quick lunch and went to class from 2 till 6 ish. Then I came home and did my homework and went to bed.
[What a difference our new camera makes! This look like we are cutouts stuck on a backdrop!]
We were busy people and the day I graduated I didn’t even know that I wanted to sew. Well, I did. And I do. Of course I didn’t really start sewing for real for almost three more years. And now the sewing machine lives on the dining room table for 80% of the year. And we are all OK with that. These next pics are a few of my very favorite things I’ve made in the past year(ish). (There is a giveaway in here. I promise.)
The pillows and cushions on our outdoor storage bench/summer reading spot.
My bedroom duvet, shams and headboard. Still looking for the perfect fabric for a bedskirt and some throw pillows. And the walls aren’t really this green.
Creamie’s little black dress. Well, my mom found the onesie and I just made her a little chiffony skirt trimmed with ribbon for a wedding. She was adorable with little tiny ballet slipper socks
Creamie’s Blessing dress. I made this out of batiste. My grandma who died a few months before I got pregnant with Creamie used to make gorgeous lace trimmed hankies out of batiste. I made this dress just as she would have, with all the seams inside covered with bias tape and everything finished by hand. You can’t see it, but there are tiny little pintucks on the bodice and little pearl buttons. This dress deserves it’s own post. My cousin took the photo.
Three little polka dot dresses for my sister’s wedding. (One polka dot dress clearly missing…)
Halloween Costume for Creamie. Twink and Rainbow, it doesn’t get better than that.
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[A bunch of Christmas presents that were awesome and which I have no pictures of.]
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Charlotte the adorable pachyderm made from a thrifted felted cardigan
Creamie’s Easter dress made from some thrifted sheets.
All that and it’s not even the half of it. Those are just the things I have semi-decent pictures of. I’ve made dozens (literally) of baby blankets and little girl skirts and aprons as well as a few little stegasaurus’s and baby toys. I love the creative outlet that sewing has given me. And I am particularly thankful to Amy at Sew+Tell for the virtual deadline each Friday to finish a project. It has helped me more than anything to push myself to finish. And I LOVE it. I’ve met so many talented people through Sew+Tell and seen so many great projects. And I don’t know that I can ever go back to life without Sew+Tell. Anyway, to celebrate my Sewiversary (a holiday I kind of just made up) I am having a giveaway!!!
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You knew if you held out through all my reminiscing something good would come of it, right?
First up is two fat quarters printed with images from vintage 1950’s children’s patterns. My mom had some dresses when she was a little girl that looked just like these!
And then you’ll win a hand drawn original black and white sewing machine (5×7) to hang in your office/bedroom/crafty space/dining room/front hall/laundry room/kitchen. Where ever it is you need a little reminder to make stuff everyday. Plus a cute little pink pair of thread snippers and the cutest little needle book I’ve ever seen (which now that I look at the picture needs some more pressing. I’ll press it before I mail it. Deal? It is made from this free tutorial and I whipped this little book up this afternoon and it literally only took 30 minutes. I’m making one for me next!
See I told you it was the cutest thing ever. The little stamp + the little envelope = LOVE
So to win my Sewiversary giveaway (fat quarters, scissors, needle book and original sewing machine drawing) all you have to do is tell me your favorite thing you have sewn, or someone has sewn for you, or favorite thing you’ve seen that was sewn for someone else, or something you would love to sew for yourself or someone else. Good luck! I’ll leave this open until next Saturday night (May 8, 2010) at midnight and my friends at Random Numbers Anonymous will pick a winner on Sunday. Happy Sewiversary to me! (And you too.) GIVEAWAY CLOSED
Ten Minutes Ago
[ original listing image removed, updated photo 6.14.09 ]
Ten minutes ago, I saw you.
I looked up when you came through the door (up in an ebay search)
My head started reeling you gave me the feeling the room had no ceiling or floor.
Ten minutes ago, I met you, and we (I) murmured our (my) how do you dos.
I wanted to ring out the bells and fling out my arms and sing out the news.
I have found her, she’s an angel, with the dust of the stars in her eyes. (on her keys.)
We are dancing, we are flying, and she’s taking me back to the skies! (But not really)
In the arms of my love, I’m flying, over mountain and meadow and glen.
And I like it so well that for all I can tell I may never come down again.
I may never come down to earth again.
*Ten Minutes Ago, from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella.
Washi Tape
A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had fallen in Love, right? Well, I still am in love. Perhaps even more so than I was then. For my Easter basket this year I ordered a bunch of Japanese Washi tape from this shop. And they are way better than eggs. I’ll take tape every single year! And they are here and they are to die for pretty. Look, even the packaging was cute!
When they first arrived I didn’t exactly know what I was going to do with them. You know, beside keep them and love them and use them every chance I get. So, when you’ve got something wonderful that is screaming for customized storage, but inspiration has yet to strike, what do you do? Put it in a bucket. It works every time.
And then inspiration hit! And it kind of hurt, not gonna lie. We built some shelves to hold all my pretty things in my crafty room a few weeks ago and with the few scraps of wood we had left I dreamed up the solution to the bucket of tape. Only, then things didn’t work out quite as planned. (They usually don’t.) After a few weeks, a lot of sanding and re-sanding due to some seriously clumpy paint, a trip to BigLots to buy a curtain rod (and then a trip back to return it because it was bent, and that just won’t do), And then dealing with split wood and filling cracks and then getting so fed up I just left it on the patio for a few days… Finally, last night we hung up this beauty. And I couldn’t love it more.
[ click image to see bigger ]
I LOVE it. I seriously love having all that pretty tape hanging out, and as a plus I have all my rolls of ribbon where I can see them. (And I think I need some more colored ribbon… it looks a little brown and white heavy up on top. And with things like ribbon and tape, more colors is always better. Always.) I had big plans to have a whole tutorial made up with plans and diagrams and everything. But that just didn’t happen. But it was super easy to build (minus all the crazy setbacks we had) and crazy cheap. The curtain rod was $4 and it was the most expensive thing about it. Maybe I’ll do a tutorial soon, looking at how this turned out makes me thing that I should.
[ click image to see bigger, which is not always better, but this time it is ]
But back to gushing about tape… Sigh, isn’t that pretty! I just love looking at these colors all lined up. I love it, do you love it? You do? Good. Well then I have a surprise for you. Maylee from sugarbsupplies where I got my tape is wonderful. We have become friends in the few weeks since I decided I was going to have multicolored tape in my Easter basket and skip the eggs completely. And she is just sweet, and lovely, and generous. OFFER EXPIRED Are you ready for how generous she is? She is giving my readers free shipping! Isn’t that great! Just fill up your cart and any order over $50 she will ship for free! (Offer good through May 29, 2010). Send her a convo with your order and mention code “pink50” to get your deal. OFFER EXPIRED And if you are totally crazy about this tape like I am, she is super great about custom listings. She has dozens of things to choose from, it won’t be hard to find something you love. Go see! I’ll be back tomorrow with a giveaway for a “holiday” that I maybe kind of just made up.
On The Farm
Yesterday afternoon we took Creamie over to our neighbors house to do some visiting. See, they have a little farm. And along with dogs and horses and goats and chickens they also have a new baby calf. He was so cute and even though Creamie was a little apprehensive, she tried really hard to make friends.
This is Charlie. He’s the cutest thing ever.
Seriously, I could die this picture is just so cute!
A quick visit to the chickens. Creamie looks like she is holding her nose, but really she was trying super hard to make herself whistle. Every time she sees a bird she will take her little fingers and squeeze her face up trying to make a whistle come out. (There was a little pigeon just hanging out with the chickens, trying to steal their snacks.) She has yet to be successful, but it is hilarious to see her try.
It was such a great little adventure for her. She was a little nervous about the horses this time, but I can hardly blame her. Their heads are huge. But she loved the baby turkeys and spent 15 minutes trying to do a “gobble” just like her dad. A few weeks ago when we went to go visit we had a little more time (but no camera) and stopped to visit the baby goats and some adorable little chicks that were just a few hours old. I think I’ll start taking Creamie over to visit the animals more often. It was so cute to watch her watch them.
OK, on a totally unrelated note… I am usually not an exercising kind of girl. In fact I pretty much hate things that are sweaty and hot (like running outside) or sweaty and smelly (like working out in a gym– not to mention the germ-o-phobe in me that freaks out about sharing workout equipment). There is a walking group in my neighborhood that I sometimes join purely for social interaction. So with that being said I have no idea what happened yesterday morning. For whatever reason I loaded up Creamie and Otis (our stroller) and away we went just the three of us. And then I walked/ran for ten miles. (Yeah, you heard that right, TEN miles!) And Creamie was a champ through the whole thing (all 2.5 hours of it). And now my feet are sore and I am a teensy bit sun-pinked (not so bad to be sunburned, just a little pink.) Ten miles? What in the world was I thinking?
pinksuedeshoe 