Friday, June 27th, 2008
A while back I purchased this book to make some clothes for Alice:
I really love it and have made quite a few things for her from it.
Well, the author just came out with another one, which I love even more:
It’s filled with such cute things I could scream. And I LEFT IT AT UWAJIMAYA IN SEATTLE! I can’t believe it - I’m totally insane. So, if any of you crafty people want to buy it for me and mail it to me, I’ll pay you with paypal and swap you something for your trouble. Here’s a link if you want to browse through the glory.
Thursday, June 26th, 2008
We had a lovely time with the starfish and sea anemones, eating chowder and buying sashimi, and generally whooping it up oceanside.
We also stopped in The Dalles, that ubiquitous destination I reached many times virtually in my younger years, often after losing many family members to strange diseases like cholera. It didn’t look quite as I had pictured but there was a nice park.
We had a great time in the water, even though it’s pretty chilly:
The beach is a boy’s paradise. He threw rocks and shells all day, and built forests out of sticks. He also played boat with giant driftwood logs. He took me on a ‘ride.’ Where to? According to him, we visited the ‘lunch museum.’ Have I mentioned he likes food?
I braved the surf with this hot guy and we had a great time (but wow, talk about sore arms).
It was also a great place to wear kids out.
Alice was not too excited about the ocean (she liked the beach fine). One day, as we were walking the path to the beach, we had this conversation:
Alice: Let’s see if the water is more dignified.
Me: Dignified?
Alice: Yeah, not all whooshy and crashy and craziness.
Then later, on another walk to the beach:
Alice: I bet the water is still the same.
Me: I bet it is.
Alice: Yep, because it’s blue. And I bet the waves are still there.
I think she was afraid of this:
We also went to the Seattle zoo (which I highly recommend, it’s one of my favorite zoos). Before we left we were talking about which animals were there. Alice said, “Mama, are there unicorns at this zoo?”
My sewing machine wasn’t out of the shop, unfortunately, so I couldn’t take it along. But when I got home I used my old one to whip up this pear and apple for a crafty fundraiser this fall.
They’re meant to be part of a big group of farmer’s market food for a play kitchen. Alice stuffed them pretty much all by herself and was very pleased.
And because I just can’t help it, a parting shot:
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008
“Mama, it’s snowing!”
This happy announcement greeted me as I woke up this morning. I thought it must just be the chestnut flowers falling.
But:
I have a feeling I won’t be buying a pool pass this year.
We’re heading on vacation to this placid place (which probably won’t be too much warmer).
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
“Maybe when there is a party and we go to it we can both wear them.”
This was my little Alice’s reaction to our new skirts.
Hers turned out much cuter than mine, I think. I had a last minute panic when I cut mine out and added a hefty ’seam allowance.’ The result was that even after I added darts and tried to take it in it’s still about two sizes too big. I really love the fabric though so maybe I’ll play around with it a bit more.
I just had a bit extra after cutting mine out so I made hers with a yoke and a ruffle. I was afraid (again) that it would end up too small but it’s just perfect.
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
We went thrifting this weekend. It wasn’t very productive except that we did find the fisher price super vintage main street. And a bag of cars and wooden people and a phone booth. All for $3. Understandably, I wasn’t the only one pleased. Here’s half of it with it’s new owners.
This guy ends up in the main street jail a lot:
I also have been pretty pleased with JoAnn’s lately. You may remember the cute Alexander Henry fabric I scored a while back. Well, I went there to pick up some navy linen yesterday and found some more of his fabric:
It’s going to be a skirt, hopefully soon, maybe even this afternoon.
In other random news, I bought some colored Popsicle sticks and Alice has been waxing crafty with them and some glue. Here’s a house, with yellow smoke coming out of the chimney.
And for his many fans, a fresh photo:
Monday, May 26th, 2008
Our latest fun ‘project’ has been these little guys:
We found about 10 softball sized clumps of frog eggs in my father-in-laws basement drainage area that turns into a pond for a couple months each year.
We brought them home - little clear, round sacks with pin-head sized black dots in the center. They turned into little black wiggly things and grew and grew (eating who knows what in the pond water). Four weeks or so later and they’re growing their legs (I made a tiny red arrow to point one out):
I was changing out their old water for some fresh pond water and took advantage of them all being in a mason jar to snap these pictures.
We got ten eggs, nine hatched. I have them in an enormous Costco animal cookie container, but I think we need to pass some of them on. One’s going to a friend today, but if some of you local girls want to bring one home just email me. They’re pretty low maintenance. I get them fresh pond (or stream) water once a week. That’s it. When you’re done watching them grow you can let them go in one of the many local ponds. That’s the kind of pet I like….
We went out to the garage today to root through some boxes for the next ’stage’ of books for the kids (and found some gems I had forgotten all about). While I was out their I came across a tin full of little cloth pigs. I remember buying these on clearance at some craft store when I was around 11 or 12. I didn’t remember I had a crafty side back then but I took these little pigs home, decided they were French, and clothed them accordingly.
It was great fun to look them over. Each outfit is different, all hand sewn from felt or a little plaid cotton. We spent our summers back then at a little cabin out in the woods, and my supplies were very limited. But I’m very pleased with the re-discovery of my little French cochons.
Some details that made me particular laugh - suspenders, a beret, and a pocket handkerchief.
Saturday, May 24th, 2008
I finally finished a project I’ve been planning now for a long time. It’s a simple dress for little girls designed to breeze through the year. My model is wearing the spring version (I know, I know, it’s my son poor chap. What can I say? I didn’t have an infant girl handy….). For spring the dress and a pair of leggings, or a short sleeve shirt under the dress. For summer sub in a diaper cover for the leggings. Fall just needs a long sleeve onesie and leggings or tights. And for winter the shirt, the dress, and leggings or jeans. One dress, all year.
Is it just me, or is it pretty obvious he’s a boy? I think I’ll have to borrow someone’s daughter for some new pictures.
For the baby size I made it short enough to allow uninhibited crawling once they hit that age. But this size would fit probably 3-12 months.
Friday, May 23rd, 2008
May 13 was my birthday! I got mostly money, and bought something delightful with it. But you’ll have to wait a bit longer to find out what.
We got over our sickies and I made this little number for Alice:
I found this snappy floral fabric and coordinating dots at JoAnn’s. Believe it or not it was Alexander Henry!
I’m done with a sweet little swing jacket for Alice - it just needs the button attached. In the works are some matching mother-daughter spring and summer skirts, now that warm weather is finally coming our way. Also a blanket just for boys.
And we had a fun fabric party at my house a few weeks back:
The girls who run this etsy shop had their fabric out for sale and show and tell. They also make super cute bags. It was a fun chatty time and they gave me a yard of this fabric as a thank-you for hosting.
Other family news: My almost-seven-month-old dynamite is crawling and just pulled himself up last week. Yikes!
A Clive quote: I told him, “Clive, we’re going to Spokane today.” His reaction? “Is there food there?”
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
My two babies have been doing mainly this (and other, grosser things) for the last few days:
So I haven’t been doing much crafting. Or sleeping for that matter.
Fortunately the youngest isn’t flu sick, just teething. But cheerful, as always:
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
What’s this, you say? Oh, just a piece of cloth with one edge serged. A piece of cloth with ONE EDGE SERGED!
This came in the mail two days ago:
It’s an older Pfaff Hobbylock 776 that I got on Ebay for $40 plus shipping. I need to purchase a manual because it doesn’t have one, but I did get it to work and serged my first seam, huzzah! I’m so excited, since I’ve been wanting one for a long time. It will be very handy for making things from these:
On a side note, the youngest work-in-progress will be six months in about a week. He loves tasting water at dinner, I think it makes him feel involved. He makes *the* worst faces, but always grunts for more.
