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I had no idea how much more i could love my daughter's smile until this happened!
My only hope is that her school picture gets taken before the "grown up tooth" has a chance to fill that delightful hole.
We are off to see Ratatoullie today with 6 kids, wish me luck!
Have a relaxing and creative weekend my friends.
two beautifully packaged items from the swap.
I had high hopes when i signed up for Kelly's favorite things swap. One of my favorite things to do is to click on all the links people have on their blog of the things they love.
Well i was not disappointed when i received my swap package from marta. she has a wonderful blog that is a daily read for me now. i love her sense of style and design. she is also a details girl and if you know anything about me, you know i am crazy for the details myself. First of all the package was coordinated in the colors red + brown. ok why have i never used these two colors together? can you say gorgeous, i mean look at them! not only the packaging but the gifties were color coordinated too. Oh marta, we are cut from the same cloth.
Inside carefully wrapped were:
graduated size star cookie cutters as marta loves to bake cookies. she also included a yummy sugar cookie recipe.
a beautiful brown box to keep treasures in. she love to collect and have a space for special things. she thought maybe i did too. oh you were sooo right!
yummy smelling shower gel. what girl doesn't love yummy smelling shower gel?
tea lights to light the dark spaces and to remind me to let the light out within me. such a sweet sentiment.
a wonderful journal with a super cool pen (yes i have true love for cool pens) because she loves to write and thought i might need a place to write about the things i love.
i am so delighted to have had you for a partner marta. thank you so much!
When it came to landscaping our backyard I left everything up to my husband. He is really into that kind of thing and I am REALLY not. I had two requests though. One was to plant a lemon tree so I could have fresh lemons thoughout the year (remember we live in So CAL) and to plant gardenias. Well, unfortunatly due to unusually cold temperatures this winter we lost the lemon tree. It was only a year old and just didn't make it. This summer however, I am reaping the benefits of gardenias everyday.
They smell so good! Along with jasmine, they are right outside my kitchen window and the smell in the morning and evening is heavenly.
Happy wednesday and thank you for all your kind words about sewing and my "cube". You guys are the best!
My first "real" job out of college was at a marketing company. They purposefully hired young green kids. The reason for this is that one of the owners of the company was a cocaine snorting, wife beating, slave driving maniac. His wife and he owned the company and there was never a dull moment. Chair throwing, shouting matches oh and did i mention he was having an affair with another female employ at the time. oh and that he once made us work for a month straight with no days off. (yes we called the labor board) Yes this part of my life could be made into a really good mini series for Lifetime. My whole point to telling you this story is that after that job i decided i would never let my job be my life again. So I have gone from job to job not ever letting myself move in, if you will.
Until now. I love my job. I love my boss. I love my company. So I decided to move in and I love how my "cube" came out. I work in a creative environment so i thought it was high time i got my create on. Excuse the quality of the pics. We all know about workplace lighting right?
Taking the embroidery hoop + fabric trend to work with me.
My birthday present to myself. Guiette house model.
My son was pretty bummed when he realized I was taking this to work with me and it was not for parking his cars and fire engines in.
A Sally Shim masterpiece to make my cube more colorful.
Finally some artwork, photography and a lamp to brighten up my flourescent space.
Thanks for coming to work with me.
My goal this summer has been to teach myself how to sew. So far it is going pretty well. I have purchased every recent sewing book i can get my hands on. So if you are not one who has given in to the machine yet and want to learn, here is my own book review and a few of my humble projects. Books are reviewed in the order i purchased them.
In Stitches - Amy Butler-This was the first book i bought, great book but far to advanced for a beginner. Definitely something you should have once you get the basics down.
Sew Easy - Linda Lee- A compact kit book with a cute pink cover. This book has a short (read non extensive) guide book and idea cards. The information in the book was short and sweet. Not enough explanation for me and i found the diagrams confusing. The projects on the cards were not really my style.
Simple Sewing - Lotta Jansdotter-Unless you have been under a rock you have heard about this book. Finally a light went on for me. This book has projects that are not overwhelming for a beginner like me and does a great job of explaining each step of the project's process. I also like how she rates the difficulty of each project so you know what you are in for. This book is a must have in my opinion.
Simple Sewing with a French Twist - Celine Dupuy- The book is two-fold. Although i felt like the projects in this book are a little out of my league, the introduction section of the book has an extensive amount of information on the basics of sewing. Lots of detailed instructions with great diagrams. This book really helped me get a grip on seeing the basic in action.
Bend the Rules Sewing - Amy Karol - I got this book last week. Hooray for Amy. This book is like having your best friend who sews really well at your house. I like Amy's honesty, yes you will screw up and have to start over but it is ok. She also says to just get in there and try and I think this is what i needed to hear. The sewing knowledge and information she provides are invaluable. I am a little intimidated by the project but with Amy's book in your corner, you sewing confidence is sure to grow. I will be carrying this book around with me for a while. A must have in my opinion.
Now for the humble projects:
a tote bag with crazy short handles.
Yeah, the handles aren't even attached here but are too short for me. Speaking of handles, does anyone have a source for those leather handles that can be sewn onto bags and totes that you see so often in Japanese craft books? I can only find fake leather with metal rings .
A pillow for my daughter's newly redecorated room.
Simple but a step in the right directions. So far the things that are causing me the most grief are slip stitch and cutting my fabric straight. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for letting me babble. Oh by the way, should i change the name of my blog to scissors paper glue and a little bit of thread???
Since tomorrow is the last day to sign up for Kelly's Favorite Things swap. I thought i would do a post of a few of my favorite things in my home.
First are these beautiful patchwork pillows made by Manda of Treefall Design. She does such amazing work and i am in love with my new yellow cushions.
I am also in love with the crepe paper pom poms from the Martha Stewart craft collect. I know everyone and their sister has been talking about these but they really ARE pretty. The best part is they are so easy to make. I just love instant gratification. I can't help but think my daughter must love falling asleep every night under these big poufs!
Then of course my most favorite thing of all.
These two. Whose mommy was tickling them right before the picture was taken, hence the almost painful glee on their faces.
Here is my latest humble attempt at trying something new. Felting. It is actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Although i don't recommend doing it while watching TV. Ouch, learned that the hard way! My love of felting began when i bought this japanese craft book.
I studied and studied until i thought i had the basics down. Experimented and had some success. (and some failure.) Failure as in, the duck's head look disfigured failure. Not for the faint at heart i tell you. Felting is really addicting. I will be trying some more complicated projects in the future. For now here are some pictures.
Some success: A cute bird
I do believe I will be making some Christmas ornaments along this same vein.
More success: Leaves + Balls
I will hand stitch some veins in the leaves to make them pop a little more. As for the balls, I think I want to make a bowl full of them. They are so fun to look at!
What are you all working on?
Thanks for all the fun comments on my last post. It was interesting to see what you all do in a day. It was kind of like being a fly on the wall. One that you don't want to hit with a fly swapper. Have a great day and as always, thanks for keeping me company here.
What are you doing today? Planning trips or planning crafts? Enjoying the sun or wishing it was there? See you tomorrow.