Random Happenings

Today has been a kind of bummer for us. Casey was supposed to arrive home today from Officer training and have a week off. Due to some typical military miscommunications, he cannot come until Monday. A few tears and a few hundred dollars (to get his ticket changed) later, the day turned out to be one with lots to be thankful for after all. I got the above bouquet at our new Blazer's Street Market for only $1.99. It's an indoor market with LOTS of fruits, veggies and the like. And it's only a few blocks away! I picked the fancy colors for the girls and the dye the put on the stems turns the water purple. Extra cool :)

I sat down to draw and color with the girls some more and when I asked Natalie what I should draw, she said, "Granny in her tree house!" (We have a big loft with and full bath the my Mom stays in when she's here. It has a wall of windows, through which all you see is green, so that's why it's dubbed her tree house.) I gave her this when it was done and she says it's suitable for framing :) Only a mother, right? (Any tips on how to take better photos of artwork? Or should I scan it?)

An added blessing today, my girls were very calm and self-contained. While mom and I ate salmon burgers and artichoke, the girls arranged my quilt squares. They love to do this and I love that they love it.

This is not a picture of my family ;) it's a GREAT book we checked out from the library recently. I have long been a Marc Brown fan (of Arthur fame) and his illustrations here are as great as the story. Great, great, great, we love it :)

Still Kickin'

Even though we've been passing around a cold this week, I have managed some sewing.

I got fresh inspiration to work on this quilt some more. These double hourglass blocks are somewhat time-consuming, so I drew up a little something of what it would look like if I throw in some regular hourglass blocks, as well as some white space.

I think it's going to look beautiful and I'm glad I decided against hundreds of little double hourglasses!

On another note, Natalie got a new car seat last week and it is PINK. Very pink. Layla was lamenting that her car seat isn't pink so I let her pick out some fabric to gussy up her car seat. This is the result. I know the pillow is a little small and the cupcakes are upside down (oops) but it really makes her happy and that was the goal :)

This is Natalie's Patty doll. (Told you her car seat is super pink!) She's a Groovy Girl, you may have heard of those, and she's a favorite. However, Natalie wants me to make her some more clothes. (The outfits for these dolls run about $10 apiece!) Simplicity used to produce patterns for dolls called Dizzie Dolls, which are the same size and shape, but they are long out of print. I need one!! Not for the dolls, just the one with all the clothes on it. SO, this may be a long shot, but they are few and far between on Ebay and I have not gotten lucky enough to win one, so if any of you lurkers ;) have one, I would love to buy it from you!!! Please, please, please!!

It would make Patty oh, so happy :)

drawing

I sat down to draw and color with the girls yesterday. Before long, I had this little cutie :)

Then Natalie wanted me to make her wearing her birthday dress and Layla wanted one wearing her "bakey suit" and then I had to make a Kelby character too. Ya know, writing a children's book is on my list of things to do before I die ;)

Some more practicing with my new camera. On a side note, this kid eats A LOT. Is it a boy thing?

How could I resist getting a picture of this saggy tooshie??

And playing with natural light. Not bad!

Oh, come on, I have a compass!

This is a little baby toy I made for a baby boy shower yesterday. I have seen a few little toys like this around and since I have lots of little ribbon pieces left over from ribbon tag blankies, it was a perfect gift idea. I also sewed a layer of a Zip-loc bag into it so it makes a nice crinkly sound, cause babies love that, ya know :) Oh, and guess what? I did NOT have a circle-cutting tool to draw a circle. Which brings me to my next photos :)
Mom and I asked my MIL to come and babysit so we could go to just one day of the Denver Sew Expo on Friday. Boy did we have fun! And without kids! It was like a day off! Anyway, I bought the pattern for the quilt above. It is SO beautiful and all the little dresden pieces actually pop off the quilt a little bit. (We saw a LOT of three dementional quilting, actually.) So, a guy, (the designer's hubby) gave us a little demo of the dresden plates and tried to convince me I needed both a dresden template and a circle cutter. I need neither, I said, I have a compass, I can make a circle!
Here it is in yet another color combo. I just love it and hope to make one for each of my girls' beds when we move. You can see the rest of her things here. Very cool designs.

a new necklace

I've been seeing these around and was itching to make one. I WAS going to use Amy Butler's free pattern. I had the beads bought and everything, but I was torn on the fabric because she said to cut bias strips, which uses much more fabric, and I didn't want to part with anything that big. BUT, then I ran across this post and was so thrilled for the easier version! Bias strips? Why?? Leave it to you-know-who to make things more complicated than they need to be. Ahem. Just sayin'.

I really love the finished product. It's perfect for what was left of my Heather Bailey fabric and I think I'll wear it a lot and probably make another one. And some for gifts. (I took lots of pics of myself wearing this necklace and found it difficult to take a non-risque-looking one, so just know that wan't my intention :)

I've been playing...with my new camera!!! That's right, I bought a Nikon D50 from my friend Angela and I love it so much already! I knew there would be a big difference, but I was still surprised at how much better pictures it takes than my little point and shoot.

Trying Something New

I'm just playing with putting bigger pictures on Blogger. So far, so good!

mail call!

My girls have been very into the mail concept lately. Every hour, someone is asking for an envelope to put their latest coloring page in to mail to Gramma, or Hannah, or Granny (who is actually in the same house.) I thought a fabric mailbox would be fun and since I've seen a felt one at Anthrolpologie, I thought finding a tutorial online would be no problem. Not so. No tutorial. So, I went with my ambition and made one anyway! With no pattern! And it turned out sooo super cute and they really love it! They played with it all day, which makes me heart happy :)