paper to fabric

I really had a lot of fun yesterday playing with a pile of paper. After I had made the little tree card I decided to turn him into the embroidery above. In the Spring I went to this second hand sale that had a bunch of old metal embroidery hoops (probably close to 30) I only bought 4 of them and now I am regretting not buying all, they are so pretty…what was I thinking? It is like the opposite of buyers remorse…”leaving behind remorse?”.
I am getting pretty excited for a vacation we have coming up very soon! We are taking a roas trip to South Carolina to visit my parents. I plan to visit Georgia as well…does anyone have any advice on places we should try and see/do on our trip south? We have a few goodies planned so far, but I’d love to hear from locals.

July Shop Update

The July shop update is up!

woodland

Today I have spun a skein of yarn, made some little woodland cards, and finished a giant mushroom that has been sitting around without a face for a couple of months. My husband came home from Dallas last night and it has lifted my spirits tremendously. He compared our relationship last night to the giants in MirrorMask. Where the women looks as though she would fly off and the man like he would be pulled down to the ground, but as long as they are together they float along….aww I love that. Sorry for the romantic nonsense, but that’s how we roll.
I am aiming for a shop update tomorrow, I know its been awhile. :)

homes

A truly less than exciting day around the Kenney house. The kids are thoroughly entertained with their cousins here, I however spent much of my day cleaning, sorting supplies in the studio, and then sewing up some small hanging houses (like this). I had some other photos (like the awesome package Miss Emily sent me just because she is sweet like that) But it has been a dark rainy day, so the photos are kind of bad. It is much cooler though, and that has been a pleasant change. Ho Hum..now I am debating whether to start reading a new book, or sew a little longer…Hurry home Thomas I am lonesome without you!

Summertime

Today I filled up water balloons for all the boys. There have been elaborate blanket forts, video game playing, pizza and iced tea-so much iced tea! So getting them outside to run around for awhile is always a good thing.

I will leave you with a list of movies I am excited to see ;) (sort of a list for my self, but you might like some too!)
Ponyo-What a perfect, absolutely perfect way to finish off the last month in Summer!!
Paperheart- Oh Michael Cera, you can do no wrong!
Year One-again Michael Cera
Sunshine Cleaning-I loved Amy Adams in Junebug, this looks great and by the same folks who did Little Miss Sunshine which I loved.
The Time Travelers Wife- I loved this book, and my sister and I already are making plans to see the movie.
500 Days Of Summer- mostly because of Zooey Deschanel.
Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince- We saw te trailer for this on another movie we watched recently, and Tom and I were were both all *gasp* over it haha.
Gigantic-I blogged about this before..
And of course the new Tim Burton Alice In Wonderland, and I am sure there are others…but this is quite a list as is. :)

Pretty Thrift

This morning my sister came over to spend some time with me (ahem, really its because we have some good thrift shops around here, but I think she likes me too). It was nice because it has actually been awhile since we thrift shopped and we both got some good stuff. #1 I bought all 4 rolls of that amazing wrapping paper you see above. Seriously, how could I leave a roll behind, it is like it was made for me! They were .99 a roll and made by Hallmark, so good. I can’t wait for the next birthday so I can use it. #2 This beautiful set of pillowcases, which will be going on our bed. I love them, and only paid $1.49 for the pair.

My sister also brought over my nephews which will be staying with us for an extended weekend. My kids of course were so excited. I got them all silly string + water balloons to egg on the excitement. We were going to head to the lake today but it rained. Instead we took umbrellas out to a local park and walked through the woods looking for frogs (we saw 3). It was really nice and the rain helped cool things off a little.

ETA–I almost forgot about the audio book giveaway. Only 32 people entered, so chances were good for all of you!








Congrats to Kim and Katie! I have sent your email addresses to the publisher who will be contacting you to get your mailing address. I will actually be having more giveaways like this in the future as well!

smaller + smaller

These are for a show next month in NYC (not quite finished but you get the idea). I’ll have all the details very soon. Remember this little guy….Plus Thomas and I will be heading to New York for the show and I will have a small table of goods for sale there as well. See how my desk is a bit messy/worked on in the photo, yeah its about 100 times more mess currently.
I’ve been swamped all day tying up loose ends with the actual projects for the book. I had to catalog, wrap, and prepare them all for shipping, and of course make sure they were all finished. It has been a long hot day! Not to mention there is something I am dying to make and just haven’t had any time to sit down and try it, why is it those creative urges seem to happen when we committed to other thing? Maybe its just a grass is greener type of procrastination… :)

For Deno…

Deno is an amazing tattoo/graffiti artist from Spain. My husband has been working with him on Wednesdays in DC, and the plush above are based off his art. These were gifts I made for him (Tom brought them into to him today, so I can post about it :) He had asked if I could make one of his skulls into plush, and well I couldn’t stop there. Tom and I both have tattoo apts with him coming up, and we are pretty excited. You can see more photos over at his Flickr account
as well.

Summertime

+Hexes-seriously they never get old!
+the lake-breezy and picnic tables in the shade, too good
+carnivals and fireworks
+picnics, our picnic basket is getting used almost daily
+outdoor music
I’m loving Summer so far, there is always so much to do, and so many free things. Read your local paper for music events, outdoor movies, etc. Check out your local parks, lakes, and rivers. Visit the library and sign up for the kid’s Summer reading programs, Drag out the sprinkler, or fill some water balloons. The next time it rains-go for a walk. Look up Letterboxes and your area and go explore. Pack a picnic lunch and go eat outside somewhere-anywhere. :) :)

Thanks for everyone who signed up for the next fabric swap, I am going to send out an email to everyone with more info, and I closed all the comments for now.

Fabric Swap round 2

Okay here are the details for fabric swap round 2, Things are a little different mostly because it cost a lot in postage to ship back, and a few return addresses were hard to read, hopefully the changes will take care of all that.
#1 If you want to take part you will need to send
-(20) 6×6 fabric squares (all the same fabric)
-(20) 6×6 fabric squares (all the same fabric
In total you will be sending 40 6×6 squares of fabric, 20 of each design. Please stick to cotton quilting type fabrics. Try to send fabric that is not easily found, vintage is good too.
-Self addressed stamped envelope (if your overseas we can work something else out) Almost all the USA envelopes cost $2.42 to ship back.
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#2 All fabric squares must be sent by Monday June 29th. I want to receive and ship back all the packages before my trip to South Carolina.
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I’m not going to limit the number of people that sign up for the swap. If you want to sign up just leave a comment and include your email address. I will close comments tomorrow and then when I sort the fabrics I will divide them into groups of 20 like the last swap.

Giveaway!

The lovely publishers of the book Prayers For Sale are going to send two of my blog readers a copy of the audio book (cd). I will use the random number generator on Friday the 26th to choose the two winners. The audio books will be shipped directly from the publisher as well. They sent me a copy to check out, and there is nothing I love more then listening to a good book while I sew, and…there are quilts, and talk about quilting which I loved. Here is a bit about the book from the publisher’s website:
Hennie Comfort is eighty-six and has lived in the mountains of Middle Swan, Colorado since before it was Colorado. Nit Spindle is just seventeen and newly married. She and her husband have just moved to the high country in search of work. It’s 1936 and the depression has ravaged the country and Nit and her husband have suffered greatly. Hennie notices the young woman loitering near the old sign outside of her house that promises “Prayers For Sale”. Hennie doesn’t sell prayers, never has, but there’s something about the young woman that she’s drawn to. The harsh conditions of life that each have endured create an instant bond and an unlikely friendship is formed, one in which the deepest of hardships are shared and the darkest of secrets are confessed.

Sandra Dallas has created an unforgettable tale of a friendship between two women, one with surprising twists and turns, and one that is ultimately a revelation of the finest parts of the human spirit.
So leave a comment before Friday and you will be entered into the drawing for a chance to win a copy of the audio book.

Father’s Day/Tom’s Bday

Yesterday was such a fun day, it was calling for rain all day long-and we didn’t end up getting a single drop! We did Father’s Day in the morning with vegan blueberry donut holes + presents…Then we took Thomas to the Christmas Museum and I highly recommend checking it out off season. We were the only people there and could walk as slowly as we wanted and look at all the displays very carefully. This was such a contrast from our previous visit (the Day after Thanksgiving where we had people all around pushing us to go faster + faster) Then we made a few stops, had a picnic lunch and then off to the Railroad Museum. Tom is into the history of the Pennsylvania railroad so it was a lot of fun. The parking lot was crowded because the actually running railroad across the street had Thomas The Train there for the day, but the museum wasn’t bad. Then we stopped for dinner out on the drive back, then home for b-day gifts and vegan cheesecake. The drive to Lancaster county is really nice too Lincoln Highway, which of course isn’t really a highway in the normal sense of the word. It is a slower back road with lots to see along the way (Hubcap City anyone?) It is always a favorite of mine to drive and takes you through Gettysburg, New Oxford, York, etc.

We just got home from a morning at the lake with my sister, so I need to get some work done. Then I will be back tonight with a giveaway as promised and info on the fabric swap. Since I am doing it a little differently everyone who wants to take part should be able to.

busy party people

Tomorrow is not only Father’s Day but also Tom’s birthday! We have a double dose of partying planned for the day. The kids combined their money to buy something they found at a local flea market for him. Then they made wrapping paper and a book too. I helped with the book interviewing each boy with questions about their dad…things like “what is Dad’s favorite thing to do?” It was so fun to record their answers. I interviewed them each separately, and then helped them make a book using drawings they made of him and the interview.

Earlier this week we made paper chains while watching Netflix, and then hid them in a big box until Tom was safely off to work today. Now they are hanging all about to bring on the festivities. And I currently have a vegan pumpkin cheesecake in the oven, since it is one of Tom’s favorites. I doubt I will be online tomorrow, but back Monday and hope to update fabric swap #2 info and I have a audio book giveaway (as in the actually book on CD’s) to do as well.

I hope all the Papas have a fabulous Father’s Day. We visited Tom’s Dad this morning with brownies and homemade cards, and my Dad’s gift was of course already mailed, but I will be seeing my Dad soon because we are going to South Carolina-but that is a whole post on its own, so I will wait. Anyhow Happy Father’s Day! (early ;)

i love books

One of our favorite things to do in the Summer when its too hot, or rainy is to browse the used bookstore. We can easily spend a couple hours there looking for treasure. I found this book for $2.49 and was immediately drawn to the cover. I thought it would probably be crummy inside, but it’s not…it’s great! The title is Mother Goose Riddle Rhymes by Joseph Low and was published in 1953. The book is a big collection of rhymes made with illustrations with a guide at the back and the actually written rhymes. The colors are just so lovely.

The Fabric Swap

The first fabric swap is officially finished! Sorry for the poor photos, it was all done at night. The sorting of the fabric was way more time consuming then I imagined it would be. I also was extra careful to make sure no one would receive the fabric they sent in (fingers crossed that there are no mess ups) Everyone should be receiving 40 new squares of 6×6 fabric very soon.
It was so much fun to receive the packages in the mail, and I am going to do a #2 (dont worry I still have the names from people who didn’t make it into swap #1) I just need to figure out a few details first and then I will post about it. :)

heads up to Dallas TX

Just wanted to give a heads up to any Dallas TX people that Tom is coming there to tattoo at the end of the month. He will be working the Masters Of Tattooing convention show, more info on that here. The show is June 26th-28th Fri-Sun. I uploaded a few more photos on Flickr. Oh and these tattoos are not on me, I just uploaded them off our computer to show you some of his work. He used to have a Flickr but he was bad about updating it, so he deleted it. Also because I get emails asking where he works…He currently tattoos in Frederick MD at Classic Electric Tattoo and in Washington DC at Tattoo Paradise.
**ETA anyone have any great vegan eats I should tell Tom about?

buns

Yesterday the kids and I made some buns. The recipe worked well for shaping and dough was quick to rise….but the buns themselves left much to be desired. They were fun to decorate, and shape and all that…but eating pretty “eh”. A few bites and that’s all (which is for the best do you see all the icing the kids used?) I did use all whole wheat flour because that is all I had on hand, but still a fun thing to entertain the kids for a couple hours anyway. Today there are orders to ship, vet appointment for the new kitten, and other slightly boring errands. Oh and in fabric swap news, I will be checking my post office box one last time today for the last 2 packages, if they still have not arrived I’m going to go ahead and resend tomorrow morning (using my fabric to fill in the gaps). I will post a few photos of the sorting process as well.

Summer Sweet Inspirations

I have a small collection of very inspiring Japanese cookbooks. I cannot read them of course, but the photos, the food…it is always so inspiring. Goma cookbooks are my absolute favorite and if you ever want to just buy one I say pick this one. I am going to list the ISBN #’s below going by photo..
1. ISBN 4-05-402533-1
2. ISBN 978-4-06-213840-6
3. ISBN 978-4-592-73244-0
4. ISBN 4-05-402533-1
Thanks for all the kind comments about the house photos. As for the refrigerator the story is this. When we bought our home it did not have a fridge or stove. We decided to buy a beautiful old refrigerator that worked for it. I think we paid around $50 for it and were quite excited. Then we started hearing lots about how old refrigerators use so much energy to run, and we decided to buy a new more energy efficient fridge instead. Now we had this beautiful old (super heavy) fridge and no use for it. Tom gutted it himself using the internet for guidance (but it might be safer to hire someone) and we kept the shelves and drawers to help with storage.

Back to the cookbooks I think the kids and I need to make some of those awesome roll/buns. Anyone have a great recipe for yeast buns that would come out all golden brown like that?

This Old House

Today Katie took me and the youngest out to a charming farm in Virginia. They had all these fun things for kids to do (pan for treasure, pillow bounce, etc.) She packed us a picnic lunch and afterward we stopped at a super cute general store and got ice cream (red velvet ice cream!) Unfortunately I forgot my camera…so your just gonna have to take my word for it. Thanks again Katie for showing us such a good time. I have a lovely Summer cold and I think it is making me quite forgetful + run down.

So instead I offer you some old photos from my computer. These are somewhere over 6 months old or so. They are from when we still had the coffee-brown bedroom so that gives you a hint there. I am moving old photos over to our external hard drive and figured old photos are better then no photos. Maybe soon I’ll take some updated shots so you can compare. I know I never even posted finished photos of our bedroom, man I need to do that. I’ll add it to the list ;)

the woods

There really is still lots of “making” going on about our house, I just can’t show you any of it yet. In the meantime here are some of the wild mushrooms we found on our last romp in the woods….

Luray VA

Spent the day in Luray VA, exploring hedge mazes and the caverns. The caverns are just amazing, and the perfect way to stay cool on a rainy day…

school’s out!

Today was the last (and very short) day of school for the kids. Shaving cream fights in the school parking lot, a snack-food lunch, party poppers + water balloons tonight. Don’t you remember how awesome + exciting it felt for Summer to finally be here? Tomorrow Tom is off and we have some surprise plans in store for the kids. Then its a weekend filled with friends and family…Summer is going to be so good! How do you plan to celebrate?

Miss Biscuit

Please meet Miss Biscuit, the newest member of the Kenney family. That’s right, she is a girl…suddenly I am not so out numbered. A stray cat had 3 kittens under a friend’s porch, and once they were eating kitten chow, this little lady came home with us. She is totally spunky and unafraid. Our friends had actually nicknamed her Bruno (ha, my sister used to call me this when we were little) I was pretty concerned about how The Muffin Man would act. He loves other dogs, but has never been around other small animals. He has really surprised me and has been so awesome.

We have had her for a week now. She doesn’t run and hide but jumps all over Muffin, cuddles on our necks to try and sleep, and is all around quite the cutie. Muffin just always wants to smell her, lick her, and whines when he can’t find her. For now we still do not leave them alone together when we leave the house, but it is going well.

photos

an evening at the lake

Yesterday Katie and L came over for the day. We stayed home till the early evening and then Katie drove us all to the lake. There was so much blooming mountain laurel in the woods on the ride, I wish I would have gotten a photo of it. The kids played in the water and sand for a few hours while we sewed hexes. Then as soon as the sun set behind the mountain the whole area cooled quickly. We had a picnic dinner and then bundled in blankets and walked to the amphitheater to see a movie about insects. We didn’t get back to my house till after ten o’clock. This is what Summer is all about!

Upcoming Show

Products Of Our Environment
art from recycled materials
June 6th-June 21st
opening reception Sat June 6th 4-8pm
curated by Bil Betsovic
Monkeyhouse Toys & Art Gallery
1618 1/2 Silver Lake Bl.
LA, CA

rain-rain

I am really ready for a sunny day! I feel like it has been so cold and rainy for the past two weeks. We had a little sun, but not much, and not enough. I have eaten soup for lunch for the past two days, and since when does hot soup sound good in June? The weather certainly is chilly.

I haven’t taken many photos-again too rainy for all that. So here ya go—grilled peaches (stuffed with brown sugar, cinnamon, and earth balance) it is like peach cobbler on the grill. rubber band balls–homemade flag banners–and sweeping off wet leaves so I can take a seat. I know I’ve been neglecting the blog a bit this week, but I have been extra busy. My final manuscript is due very soon, and all my projects for the book have to be shipped before the end of the month for technical editing (and it is A LOT of projects). Tomorrow I am taking the day off (in the 80’s and sunny!)

heads up..

Just a heads up that Threadless is having another big $5 t-shirt sale. If you use the link here from my blog I get street team points (so thank you!) I love the $5 sales…just got the kids some new shirts for summer! The sale goes on until June 8th…

small

Sorry for the grubby close up of my hands, but that’s reality. Can you see all the pinpricks? sewer hands! There is some marker on there too, and I totally always have dirt under my nails..but I wanted to show how really small this face was. I have been keeping myself super busy, and sometimes with some very tiny things. It is all stuff I am working on for a group show for charity. I’m pretty excited to be a part of the project and as always will tell you more when it gets closer. Just a little sneak peek for now.

I am super behind on email (hopefully I’ll fix that soon) and as of today’s post office run I am still waiting for 2 packages with the fabric swap. I am going to sit down and go through all the packages to see which two I am missing. It is going be time consuming though, so if for any reason you haven’t sent yours yet if you could just email me that would save a whole lot of matching up names/emails/packages and all. I’ll post all the other final sneak peeks tomorrow too!

go-nuts

Today Tom had off, so our day was a busy one. We took the kids to see Up, and oh my goodness we loved it. The story is so good made me cry so many times. We made homemade donuts too using the recipe found here. I didn’t care for the chocolate, but the glaze was awesome. We used whole wheat flour and I thought you couldn’t even really tell, and they are baked not fried. Okay I am off to drink some tea with the Mister and enjoy this breezy evening.

grow

We finally made some garden markers for our little seedlings. We just used pieces from a pair of broken blinds that I have been saving just for this project. B drew them all, and wrote the names on the back of each so there would be no confusion between green beans and cucumbers ;)

Soon it will be time to dig out the good old rubber snakes from last year to keep our garden safe. We didn’t fence the patch this year, just did a slightly raised bed and it will be interesting to see how that goes.

strawberry feilds forever

Today was strawberry picking at Baugher’s Orchard. Heather and Katie came over and we headed over to pick a peck or two. Then Heather headed home to start making more strawberry jam (a tasty new hobby of hers) and Katie and I sewed hexes, made strawberry shortcake, drank iced coffees, and watched The Office….I know we are so predictable, right?

may flowers

It is so hard to believe it is almost June. May has totally been a flower filled month around here. I hope your not sick of all my flora/fauna photos. They are fun to photograph. I finally remembered to photograph my finished crochet pillow. In case you missed it before it is from Rose Hip, and her wonderful instructions found here. I started it while my Mom was visiting while she worked on one for herself. See Mom I did finally finish it! :)

I’ve been busy plotting Summer plans, finishing up the book, and working on stuff for various shows. We were late planting our garden and are finally starting to see little seedlings emerge. I keep wondering if it is too late to start watermelon + pumpkins seeds…and I think I am going to just try and see what happens. I finally have Moon + Star watermelon seeds and I’ll be pretty sad if I don’t try and at least grow one this summer.

Oh..and today’s fabric swap peeks..I recounted all the envelopes and I am actually waiting on four swap packages. I will see what comes in the post office box today!
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I love spring….dinners

Had dinner at Sean and Amanda’s last night, and I brought the salad. She made stuffed shells with spinach and whole wheat bread, yum! We also swapped some plants, so I’ve got plenty to plant out this morning. Tom is off so we are out the door, but first a few more fabric peeks..
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sharing

I have become very interested in the idea of growing plants from cuttings, and love this method of sharing. Here are a few of my clematis that I am trying to propagate. I love idea of seed sharing too..so nice.

Here is a picture B drew of me last night. He said I am shocked by the worm in the apple and the apple is shocked that I am about to eat him. He also said I am dressed in a princess dress covered in polka dots. I love that.

For those who asked for peeks on the fabric swap I have come up with a terrific compromise…click any the links below to see peeks, and if you want to be surprise, you don’t have to click :)
I have a million things to get done this afternoon so these are only a few of the fabrics, but I will post more tomorrow..
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quilts

My Memorial Day probably wasn’t typical. Tom worked, so Katie come over to spend the morning/early afternoon with me. We worked on paper piecing and watched episodes of The Office. The kids still had all their friends over, so we only saw them for breakfast + lunch ;) The last quilt square up there is my first attempt at string quilt using paper piecing. It was interesting and I will try it again for sure, but I was silly and taped some of the paper together (what was I thinking?!?) and so removing the paper from the back proved to be a bit difficult. Luckily a friend mentioned soaking the whole thing in water so that helped.

After she left I took the kids and met my sister at a park near her house so we did make it outside for a bit of the day. We did have the more typical Memorial picnic type celebration on Saturday night. Tom came home early and we spent the evening out doors. The kids roasted marshmallows, there were bubbles, and then fire flies to chase when it got dark. The fire flies were tiny this year, must be babies? I didn’t bring out my camera but they were really cute.

I can’t believe school is almost over for the kids. Just one full week of school left after this one, then Summer is here! We’ve been marking up our calendar with trips, and things we plan to do. My most favorite thing about Summer is not needing to worry about school schedules.

Fabric Swap News-I am going to go check the post office box today, I needed 5 more packages and I know 1 is being shipped out today, so I should have them all by the end of this week and will have them sorted and mailed before next week begins. Does everyone want peeks of the fabric, or you would rather it be a surprise? I had planned to post peeks, but it has been so fun opening each package not knowing what the fabric would be that I thought maybe some of you would rather be surprised too.

Sunday

Its been a busy day of running about. This morning we picked up a little friend and then more bubbles and a sprinkler. Then we headed to Chuck E Cheese where I lost a little piece of my soul to boredom, haha. The kid’s loved it of course. I brought knitting with me, but ran out of yarn before we left. We were killing some time till we met up with my sister to pick up yet another friend.

Then there was much time spent outside. I got to mess with plants while the kids had fun with the bubbles + sprinkler. Never underestimate the awesome power of a $2.99 sprinkler.

As for the photos #1 is a crocheted mini blanket I bought a few years ago, and #2 is a present I made for someone…well, part of their gift any way.

In fabric swap news I am just waiting for 5 packages and I will post a peek of the fabric received thus far this week. Alright, now that the kids are back inside, dried, and throughally entertained with their friends I am sneaking up to the studio to work on some plush.

the flowers

So many of the flowers are opening/appearing now. I have my first rose!

donut fabric

Just a quick post to let you all know that my donut fabric is nominated for fabric of the week over at Spoonflower. You can vote for your favorite fabric here. The fabric with the most votes will be for sale for one week in the Spoonflower shop. So if you like the donuts and would like a chance to buy some, please consider voting!

recycled trees

I am taking part in a group show that involves making art from reclaimed/recycled materials. I thought it was appropriate to make some trees out of “some trees”. I created these fellas with cereal boxes and the green is from velveteen ribbon that had been previously used to wrap a present.

I’ve been very busy lately with so many things coming up. I have received a few emails though asking if I was doing any shows this summer. I actually have not applied to any shows, just because I wanted to not feel stressed with the book writing. I do plan to apply to Crafty Bastards (aps are open now) and if I am accepted that will be the first show I do this year! I have certainly missed the excitement that comes with show prep, but it has also been a very welcomed break. I will be attended a few group art shows this summer though–and I will have some more info on those when they get closer!

food stuff

I am currently loving…
+ the weather-sunny, breezy, t-shirt weather in the sun and sweater weather in the shade…perfect.
+ fruit, fruit, and more fruit. My lunch yesterday involved peaches, and today grilled pineapple.
+ the way the sun is still shining when we sit down to eat dinner.
+ strawberry shortcake-for breakfast. I mean consider this…homemade unsweetened biscuit, with sliced strawberries and fat-free coolwhip?, I am quite sure a donut would be worse. Oh and if you are vegan try Richwhip (I can’t thank Kittee enough for posting about it) I keep the small cartons in my freezer and thaw in the morning if I want to make some whipped cream for Tom.
+ the promise of friends coming to visit for afternoons of hand stitching + coffee.
+ the farmer’s markets + plant sales!

Upcoming Show

Stitch Wars
Bear and Bird Boutique + Gallery
on exhibit July 18th-August 29th
4566 North University Drive.
Lauderhill FL


A group art exhibit featuring amazing handmade goods inspired by the most fabulous space fantasy ever made. My piece is frozen Luke when he is stuffed inside the belly of a Tauntaun to keep him warm.

Tauntaun

Here is my piece for the Stitch Wars show that is coming up this summer. It is not huge, but it is big enough to make it difficult to get a good photo. Too bad my sister doesn’t live closer ;) Anyhow it is from the scene where Han cuts open the dead Tauntaun and pushed Luke into the opening to keep him warm. It is not completely finished but you get the idea.
The Tauntaun’s stomach opens with a zipper so you can use your own lightsaber to pretend to cut him open, awww heartwarming! Haha..The last photo really cracks me up with little fetal position frozen Luke in the background.

Sunday Sunday

On Sunday Thomas, the kids, and I drove to Baltimore. We picked up some picnic food and headed to the park for a kickball game that The Tattoo Museum puts on every year. Its the 10th year, but the first time I have ever gone. It was pretty chilly, but good sweatshirt weather. There wasn’t any rain either, but the field was pretty muddy. It was a really nice day spent outside. We didn’t end up getting back home till the sun was almost set, so we had an amazing sunset view as we made our way back into Pennsylvania.

you get the random pics

My camera has spent much of the day buried under some “to do” pile of fabric or another. So here are some recent photos I had already on my computer. Paddington Bear in progress (and a poorly photo), and Clue (oh look another poorly lit photo)

I picked up Clue a few weeks ago at a thrift shop. It is original Clue and the previous owner took perfect care of it. It even had sharpened pencils inside for note taking. There is a photo of Team Tom + Bean secretly discussing their clues. So far they are undefeated champs. I also tried rollerskating around the kitchen with some new-to-me skates I picked up second hand and oh my, was I awkward. You’d think it would be just like riding a bike, and would all come back to me, but its not. Otherwise I am keeping busy and should soon have some progress photos for you soon.

Upcoming Show

Fiber Arctic
Schmancy
June 12th
1932 Second Ave., Seattle WA 9810

20 fiber artists were asked to create a piece that reflects their feelings on the state of our environment and how that impacts the Arctic. Looks like it going to be an awesome show!

sunny days

Not too many words…I finished the packing up the brooches with the new tree stump stampings. I used a rubber Speedball blank for the carving. You could just use erasers though. So many pretty flowers popping up around the yard! It makes it hard to stay indoors at all.

brown paper

A few weeks ago while thrift shopping with my sister I stumbled upon a box of brown paper. There are easily a thousand or more sheets of thick brown paper in this box. Think brown kraft paper (although in the photo it looks really washed out). It was $3 and I was pretty excited because I never seem to be able to find paper like this unless it is in mixed packs (with other paper I won’t use). So I bought it up and thought I would use it to print my tree stump packaging for the brooches I make. Well it turned out to be just slightly too thick for my printer…so I made this stamp instead.

grilled cheeses

Sorry I have been pretty absent. I have been a busy bee in the studio. I’ll have some photos tomorrow to share, but it’s late and this is all I have for now..a yummy grilled cheese and the first fabric that has arrived for the fabric swap. Isn’t it beautiful! :) My mother the house guest has returned home safely…so it will be back to normal around here, and I should even be back to updating daily!

Mother’s Day 2009

+ blueberry pancakes and Sunday comics
+ treasures hunts with a metal detector
+ giant used book sale with fill a bag for $5
+ wonderful handmade cards
+ gardening, gardening, gardening (I got a new begonia + rose bush)
+ peanut butter fudge boats (think banana split w peanut butter sauce)
+ watching Pan’s Labyrinth again when the kids had gone to bed
This Mother’s Day was even extra special because I got to spend it with my Mom. She heads back to South Carolina on Wednesday morning. We’ve been having such a good time so it will be hard to see her go, but I am sure my Dad is eager to have her back home. :)