Wednesday, August 26, 2009

My Creative Space


My "baby" is two years old and I'm finally quilting his "baby" quilt. Where did the time go?

For more creative spaces head on over to Kirsty's.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Fancy Tiger and the Avett Brothers

There were two things that really were at the top of my list for amazing experiences. One, was obviously the concert seeing the Avett Brothers. Wow, are they good in concert! They not only sounded good but were really fun to watch. It was so warm and we were so close we could see the sweat dripping from their fingers as they played. I know nice picture, huh? But it felt pretty amazing to be right up there. Really I think they may be my favorite band and when I hear songs like this it makes me want to see them all over again.

One of the other great experiences was an amazing fabric shop we found while touring around Denver. Living in a more rural area with not a lot of selection means I get most of my fabric online. Buying online is just not the same experience as touching and seeing all the fabulous fabrics in person. The store was beautiful, really beautifully laid out with an amazing selection of fabrics and patterns. It may be a good thing I don't live too close, that could be a very bad thing. But I am planning on going to it again next week when I just happen to be in Denver for a wedding. I'm planning on taking my mother so she can check out how fantastic it is, and as a bonus I get to go again! So if you ever happen to be in Denver please do yourself a favor and go check out Fancy Tiger! It's well worth the trip! And if you happen to be half way around the world never fear they even have an Etsy shop.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Trip

I'm back from a wonderful, amazing, glorious, fill in the blank, weekend with my awesome husband. It was so nice to have long lengths of time that we could talk or not talk and just enjoy each others presence. Some serious date nights are now being reintroduced into this house!

It was so fun I'm going to have to take three or so posts to talk about everything because I just can't resist all the great things we experienced and found in the great city of Denver.
For now I'll start with our first full day of exploring the downtown city area. Lanford Monroe "Ghost Orchard"

We went to the Denver Art Museum which we had never been to and was thoroughly amazed at the incredible talent that exists and also the realization that I just don't get modern art (can I say that?) I get it mentally but emotionally I was enthralled by the old. But that's probably my inner history degree speaking.
I'm even posting a picture of my silly self by some art sculpture, figured I had to come out of the blog closet some time. :)It was a great day exploring, walking and seeing the variety of different people that live in the city. Of course we probably could have been in the middle of nowhere and been happy as clams.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Going on a Jet Plane....

Okay, not really, but it feels that exciting. My husband and I are going for a weekend getaway for the first time in five years! It is much needed and much anticipated! We're going to go to a bookstore and browse the aisles without herding children, sit and talk and the highlight is seeing the Avett Brothers live. They're one of our favorite bands and it's going to be awesome to see them live.


Can you tell I'm excited? On a related note I have been talking about trying to learn the guitar and my sweet husband brought me home my very own guitar last night. It's nothing fancy but it will do the trick till I learn what the heck I'm doing. So thoughtful. The presents just because are the best!
Happy Weekend!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

My Creative Space

I have finally had enough of watching my son's pants continually sag as he runs around due to his lack of bottom. And as I was perusing Etsy looking for some cute car ribbon to make him a belt I decided I couldn't wait that long and decided to make due with what I had. I used some cotton webbing as the foundation and folded some Japanese rocket fabric to match, a few D-rings later and a completed belt to keep a skinny kids pants up! An added bonus is I will no longer have to watch him run around with one hand on his bottom trying to keep his pants from falling around his ankles. Now that's what I call success.

Please head onto Kirsty's for some fabulous creative spaces.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Pillow Case Remix


There are advantages to being one child down. I do get a little more time to finish some projects that aren't a priority but would be nice to do. Today's project consisted of making a bag out of a vintage pillowcase to hold all of my plastic bags that I reuse. A simple tube with elastic on the bottom and a hook on the top. I love simple projects that help me feel more organized. That's a win win in my book.

First Day of School

The oldest had her first day of kindergarten yesterday! She had been getting a little nervous the days leading up to Monday but once it finally came she was all ready. I on the other hand thought I had everything under control until the moment I had to say goodbye. Then it took all my effort, and a lot of lip biting, to make it to the car in time before the sobbing began. I'll miss seeing her all day and it's bittersweet to see her head off on her own. And I know I'll be saying the same thing in twelve years when she's going out into the world. (Sigh)
But she had a great time and my husband is a teacher at the school so it can't get much better than that. For my husband he's excited for all the extra time he gets to have with her and I can't deny her some quality time with her dad.
In anticipation of her first day I literally sewed up a storm. Seriously, my sewing room is piled with dangerous piles of fabrics and strewn pins.
I made her a skirt using this great Japanese fabric I ordered from Mountain of the Dragon on Etsy. One panel has cute animal school kids playing on a playground and the other side of the skirt are the kids sitting in school houses. Too cute.I then decided I didn't like any of the backpacks I found at the big stores. Especially since I'm not so fond of Hannah Montana and the like for a kindergartner. So I used Amy Butler's messenger bag pattern and cut down the size by about three inches so it wouldn't be ginormous. I'm hoping this bag will get her through more than a couple years of school.And finally after attempting to find the perfect lunch bag I gave up and made one. Unfortunately, since I can sew that's usually my fall back position. Can't find one I like, fine I'll sew it! Which, usually means a fair amount of stress at times. But I used the pattern from Sewing Green and it was so easy and cute I want to make a lot more.
Thanks for reading my ramblings. All in all it was a good day yesterday and I miss her terribly but I have two little ones to keep me company and we're keeping busy!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Shop Update

Thank you all for your lovely comments about the market. I had a great time and it was definitely worth it. I have a few more in the next coming weeks and it's nice to not be as stressed about the whole thing now that I have one under my belt.
I finally got my camera out today and listed a whole bunch of things in my shop. There's a lot of different things I've been working on and it's nice to see the whole thing come together.Again, thanks for making my day! My oldest goes to kindergarten on Monday and I've been frantically sewing her special things for her big day! I think I've been immersing myself in sewing as a denial method. Monday's going to be rough...

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

My Creative Space

I had my first market last night and since a lot of you have seen my in progress items I thought I'd give a glimpse of the final product.
I'll be posting more pictures tomorrow. It was a lovely time and I'm glad I forced myself to do it!
For other truly fabulous creative spaces head on over to Kirsty's.

Sweetness


A tiny hand tucked just right...

Sunday, August 2, 2009

More Market Bags

I've finally gotten on a roll and have been sewing up a storm this past week. It's been exciting to see everything come together and I'm starting to feel a little less nervous about the whole thing. Of course I did put all of my items in a pile tonight and felt a tad underwhelmed by it's height. I think it would've helped if all the items I'm sewing weren't flat. I'm sure once I get there and have it spread out and displayed it will look a lot fuller. That's what I keep telling myself anyway.

I had some leftover burlap from the coffee bags I've been making and I made this little burlap purse using one of Jessica's fabrics from How About Orange for the lining. I love that fabric! So bright and cheerful.
I also am hoping this market bag doesn't sell because I love the coffee bean on the front! I'm looking forward to sewing for myself after this is all over!