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per tradition, now that it's december 1st i dug out my two christmas cd's. one is a mix my sister made years ago it features some of our family's favorites (frank sinatra, the waitresses, bad religion, the roches, etc) the other is my roches christmas album. i love this time of year and try to revel in the holiday magic instead of being stressed.
last night night i finally completed the embroidery piece i've been working on and started a new one. my goal for the next few weeks is to work on a project a night.
wish me luck.
last night night i finally completed the embroidery piece i've been working on and started a new one. my goal for the next few weeks is to work on a project a night.
wish me luck.
sunday, my friend robin and i took the corgi's to the patchwork craft fair at the long beach marine stadium. there were some great booths set up, including two of my friends (lexi lee's little bit and courtney's c salt). i only made one purchase, some gift tags from rock, scissors, paper.
{lexi's booth}
{robin with fraiser and darcy (and my shadow)}
{lexi's booth}
{robin with fraiser and darcy (and my shadow)}
i hope everyone had a lovely thanksgiving. my sister and her boyfriend flew to kansas city to spend thanksgiving with his family, which meant that i stayed the weekend in la pet sitting. my thanksgiving eve was very frustrating, i went to 3 grocery stores to find all the ingredients for the 2 dishes i was making, after a few tears of frustration and a glass of wine i relaxed and went to be early. the next morning i made a last minute run to find some brioche and spent the rest of my morning cooking and sewing.
the two dishes i made were artichoke dip for an appetizer and roasted-parsnip bread pudding for a side dish (i got the recipe from martha stewart's thanksgiving issue). 
{preparing} 
{fresh from the oven}
while the dishes baked i found time to whip up a birthday present for my best friend laura. i made her a camera cozy (a tutorial from sew mama sew), and a small carrying case for the gorilla pod (a flexible tripod) i bought her. 
i tried to be very productive this weekend and get my "craft closet" neat and organized in preparation for holiday gift making. i decided to make a wall organizer from lotta jansdotter's simple sewing using some canvas ikea fabric i've had for a year. the whole thing only took a few hours, the most tedious part being all the ironing. all in all i'm pleased, the only departure i made from the pattern is using "O" rings to hang the organizer instead of making a rod pocket.
{image from the book}
{making all the pockets}
{hanging in my closet}
{a peek into my closet, the top shelf and bottom are cut off}
i'm almost finished with the embroidery piece i started last week, so far i'm very pleased with how it's turning out, and the clarity of the transfer i'm using.
and in keeping with the bird theme, a picture of two of the eggs toulouse has laid in the last two weeks. it's so strange waking up to uncover her and finding an egg at the bottom of her cage.
{image from the book}
{making all the pockets}
{hanging in my closet}
{a peek into my closet, the top shelf and bottom are cut off}
i'm almost finished with the embroidery piece i started last week, so far i'm very pleased with how it's turning out, and the clarity of the transfer i'm using.
and in keeping with the bird theme, a picture of two of the eggs toulouse has laid in the last two weeks. it's so strange waking up to uncover her and finding an egg at the bottom of her cage.
i've been taking care of my parent's corgis for the last week while they've been in New York. while i do love buster and peaches, they are more of a handful than i realized and i happily return them to my parents today. here are some pictures of the pups at my work.
{the happy boy}
{sleeping beauty}
{the happy boy}
{sleeping beauty}
i really want this ring!
{notice the 'alexis' in the top right corner?}
check out the other very cool jewelry at heist jewelry's etsy shop.
{notice the 'alexis' in the top right corner?}
check out the other very cool jewelry at heist jewelry's etsy shop.
i should also mention that i'm participating in sew liberated's holiday tradition exchange. i'm really excited to prepare and send out my package (and to receive mine)! i'm also following sew, mama, sew's handmade holidays but i can't figure out how to add the button to my page, so i'll just post this.
the mad rush to create and, in a few cases, to buy christmas presents. not to mention the few birthdays that fall between now and then. i'm thinking this christmas will highlight all of my favorite "craft" activities (knitting, sewing, and embroidering). this weekend while watching the puppies at my parent's house i started a few gifts.
{embroidery transfer for future pillows, gift for the grandmas}
{embroidery transfer for future pillows, gift for the grandmas}
the embroidery transfers are by lace tales, i purchased them earlier this year at the quilt show i went to with my aunt jamie. the iron on transfers turned out very clear and are pretty easy to follow so far. i hope to have the one i'm currently working on done before the end of the week and the "home sweet home" ones done by the middle of next week. my fingers are going to hurt!
this weekend was fantastic, everything went perfectly.
my friends laura and chris came down from san francisco and stayed with me for the weekend, friday night we walked to warren and laura leigh's for a halloween party.
my friends laura and chris came down from san francisco and stayed with me for the weekend, friday night we walked to warren and laura leigh's for a halloween party.
{my watermelon turned out great, a lot of people got that i was baby and were impressed that it also functioned as a purse, my friend laura was a "deviled egg"}
{warren and laura leigh as a dragon and dragon slayer}
{brian and robin}
halloween night we all went to the prospector for the show. my friends in the commotions were the b52's and the valley arena were the misfits.
{the commotions}
{the crowd was really into the valley arena as the misfits}
{twice during their set, warren (the lead singer) said "nobody puts baby in a corner"}
happy halloween!
sadly, my first pumpkin rotted, so this is take two. i used my lino cutters to etch out the owl and moon. this halloween should be fun, i have a costume i'm excited about and my best friend will be in town.
i'll be back monday with pictures and stories!
sadly, my first pumpkin rotted, so this is take two. i used my lino cutters to etch out the owl and moon. this halloween should be fun, i have a costume i'm excited about and my best friend will be in town.
i'll be back monday with pictures and stories!
i think this falls into the "treat" category. in a wave of inspiration (perhaps because i now have a designated space to sew and a closet devoted to all the accoutrements that go with it) i decided to make emilee a trick-or-treat bag for halloween. i found the template for the cat on martha stewart's website, cut it out of some black felt, embroidered some fabric i already had, and sewed it up. this project took me 3 nights (maybe 5hrs total) and i'm pretty happy with how it turned out. there are some things i would change or add, but for a last minute project i think this worked out fine.
{complete!}
time to put it in the mail. now i just need to finish my costume, i can't wait to share pictures!
this is cracks me up every time i see it...
this year my new haircut has inspired my halloween costume, i'm going to be "baby" from dirty dancing. to create the look i decided to create a felt watermelon to carry around, and i made a pocket so i can use it as a purse.
{my inspiration}
{drafting a pattern, this first pattern turned out too boxy}
{sewing together the pieces}
{almost done! i'll need to buy more ric-rac}
i still need a dress and shoes, but i'm really happy with my felt watermelon so far... nobody is going to put me in a corner!
things have more or less settled at my new place and i wanted to post some pictures...
{the area under the arch is my new sewing area}
{my little room, it has just enough space for all my things}
{little toulouse is still adjusting}
i'm still working on my giant craft/storage closet, i'll post pictures when it's complete.
friday night my friend Laura Leigh invited a small group of us over to carve pumpkins, it was a warm evening and i got to take advantage of my new living situation and walk the few blocks to my friend's house (though it was a bit cumbersome with the pumpkin). Laura's boyfriend Warren made us pumpkin zitti and roasted our pumpkin seeds when we were done carving. it was such a fun evening watching scary movies and eating pumpkin seeds, i loved carving so much i bought another pumpkin over the weekend.
{carving away, Warren was also our photographer}
{i did end up with some pumpkin in my hair}
{Priscilla's pumpkin}
{Laura's pumkin, isn't that mouse adorable?}
{my pumpkin; it's a vampire leaning down to bite a womans neck... yes, i have read twilight too many times}
{carving away, Warren was also our photographer}
{i did end up with some pumpkin in my hair}
{Priscilla's pumpkin}
{Laura's pumkin, isn't that mouse adorable?}
{my pumpkin; it's a vampire leaning down to bite a womans neck... yes, i have read twilight too many times}
it's that time of year again, when i go through my yarn stash and think of projects and start making a list of gifts to make. in addition, this year i want to make some stockings for for my new roomie, myself, toulouse, maybe the corgi puppies, and various decorations. this means that i need to get started yesterday...
these days i find the fun gifts to make or give are for my cousin's kids and little emilee. today i was reading one of my favorite blogs maya*made (her own work is gorgeous and she has an adorable etsy shop) and she posted about a lovely online shop called wild apples. wild apples sells hand-crafted wooden toys and they remind me of some to the toys we had growing up. i'm thinking, in addition to what i'm already planning on making the kids, these would fun to give. there is a part of me that knows the kids would probably prefer barbie's or lego's, but these are really special!
mom and dad have been out of town so i've been in charge of the corgans, and they are a handful! they are also super cute and very mischievous. thursday night we stayed in Long Beach and friday we went down to my parents for the weekend.
{puppies at the office}
{creating a cage cover for toulouse]
{almost complete, i didn't have enough muslin to make a lining}
{when they weren't wrestling the puppies were sleeping}
{reading on the couch}
{next project: mermaid dish towel}
this weekend i went with my mom to look at a corgi puppy. my mom had recently been in contact with the breeder we bought our beloved corgi zipper from and saturday we drove out to san bernadino to look at two puppies. though we intended to purchase just the female, after much talking and playing and cuddling, my mom bought both the sister and the brother. they are quite adorable and very cute together, i think they're names will be zoe and buster, but that may change...
{already very comfortable with dad}
{precious!}
{the boy is the one whose face you can see, the girl has the white collar}
{already very comfortable with dad}
{precious!}
the prospect of moving has stalled all my crafting endevours, that said, i think i'll be buying this stamp set from yellow owl workshop once i've moved and money isn't so tight...
i cut 6" off my hair and added some bangs.
i'm thinking dirty dancing meets flashdance...
{goodbye locks}
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