Wednesday, June 29

Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt update

Now that I have my laptop back and a new cable for my camera I figured it was time to let you have a sneak peak of the Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt. 

Lots of cutting

Bold colors

It's coming together

Tuesday, June 28

From the back seat

Good morning my dears,

I know I have been scarce lately and I'm going to be scarce a little bit longer. So many things are going on right now in our lives that I'm having a hard time keeping up. Despite my efforts to keep up blogging has been taking the back seat.  I have a whole line up of projects to show you but no time to make it happen. I've decided it would be best to just regroup and be back in few days.

To keep you entertained I may just repost a couple of older projects that deserve a second look. If any of you is interested in guest posting in the mean time, just email me. 

Thank you for your patience!! I'll be back soon.

Thursday, June 23

Trading posts - Stars and stripes

Amie (Kitty Cats and Airplanes) and I had a playdate this past weekend. After a little shopping, we got the acrylic paints and brushes out and set out to paint out hears out. The theme was July 4th. We painted side by side with the same colors but came up with completely different interpretations.

Nothing says 4th of July quite like the flag and the anthem. Stars and Stripes especially to me, since I was born on the other side of the big pond.
In my head the same verses were dancing as I painted
 
"’Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave."
I ended up adding the words to the painting itself

My hubby, who was in the Army when we met, absolutlely loves it

I also love Amie's take on the flag... What do you think ??


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Monday, June 20

Fun beads for fun earrings

This past Saturday Amie (Kitty Cats and Airplanes) and I met for shopping and crafting. I love our play dates. We exchange ideas and we feed on each other's creativity. And of course we have so much fun!

I'm afraid there was way too much temptation at the craft store this time around, especially in the clearance section. We both an unreasonable undisclosed amount of discounted beads. I just fell head over heels for these fun bubble beads. 

 

They remind me of a traditional French candy called berlingot. Ahhh memories !!

Source  
Unfortunately there were only 3. But hey that's enough to make really fun earrings right?


 I gave the third one to Amie: I'm sure she'll make something stunning out  of it and I can't wait to see it.

PS: Still no camera cable for my Nikon. I dug up my old Fuji camera to snap these

More flowers experiments

More flowers This batch is about 2" in diameter. A bit of cotton, a bit of satin, a mix of petal shapes. I think I will mount these into brooches rather than barrettes. 






This one is my favorite

It looks really great on my summer Layla purse



Sunday, June 19

What I have been up to - Week 25

Nothing too exciting to report this week on the work side of things. The week was busy, no time out, but the good kind of busy, not crazy. I wish it was always like this. 

My hubby and I decided we needed to exercise more and after shopping around we found the right bikes. We've been taking a couple of rides this week with Bug in a trailer behind her Dad. She loves it ! We're not being too ambitious for now since I'm out of shape and we are just going to build up slowly to get to a proper exercise schedule. This morning we biked the long way to the local farmer's market, where we found some great fresh fruit. The trailer has a handy storage compartment where we were able to put the loot for the way home. I really need to make a little basket to hang on the handlebar though, just to have a drink handy when riding. Going on my to-do list for this week,

It was also Bug's last week of school. 

I made some fabric flower clips, barrettes and brooches for everyone at school. It was a big hit 

We had a meeting with the whole educational team to decide about her kindergarten placement. The final word is she will attend a regular school, a block away from home with additional support to help her catch up in the areas she is still behind. We are not 100% convinced this is the best solution for Bug considering her troubles staying focussed even for simple tasks but we will give this a shot. If things are not going well for Bug after the first 5-6 weeks of school, we will reconsider our options. One thing is certain: she will be very disappointed she won't get to ride the bus to school this year since we are less then a mile away. This will also make things more "interesting" for us, since it may also mean that we have to change daycare. The home daycare Bug has been going to since she was a baby may not be able to handle the drop off and pickup. I'm worried about all those changes throwing her out of balance. 

The studio has been a bit deserted. I've been too busy enjoying the back deck before it gets too hot and steamy like Maryland summers can be. I did start working on the "Hungry Caterpillar" quilt unfortunately, I managed to misplace the USB cable for my camera so no new pictures just yet. Ooops. I asked the hubby to get me an extra cable in case it's really really lost. And it won't hurt to have a spare. 


Yesterday Amie (Kitty Cats and Airplanes) and I met again for shopping and crafting. We had a great time! We started with a little raid at the local Goodwill store followed by a quick stop at Hobby Lobby. We did really good until we checked the clearance section. Lots and lots of pretty beads. Looks like jewelry making will be on the crafting menu in the coming weeks. I actually made some earrings today. Same problem as the quilt pictures.. stuck in the camera until I find the cable or acquire a new one.

Back at my place, we decided for something out of our regular crafting routine: we painted on the theme of July 4th. We painted side by side with the same colors but came up with completely different interpretations. Can't wait to show the pictures (again, pesky cable issue).

What have you been up to ??


Thursday, June 16

A gift for the teacher(s)

This week it the last week of school for bug. I made a selection of brooches, barrettes and clips for the teams that took care of her: Teacher, aides, speech therapist, occupational therapist, psychologist. They took great care of my baby and helped her so much. We still have a rocky road ahead dealing with her language difficulties but we are on the right path.





Wednesday, June 15

Five for 500 - Kittycats and Airplanes - Winner 2nd redraw

Unfortunately I never heard back from this giveaway's winner or the second pick so I had to pick a new one:


The new winner is Vicki - The green eyed girl




Congratulations !!! Please email me your postal address by Saturday to claim your prize.

Tuesday, June 14

In project - A baby quilt

One of my cousins in France is having a baby at the end of August. She is a great gal and I wanted to make something special for her and her little one. One small problem: the sex of the baby is a surprise. 

It took me a while to figure out what to do. Neutral, fun and sweet. I had that panel in my stash as well as most of the solids. I just added the purple and the orange. I may add a darker blue to the mix still. I'm in the brewing stages but I have to hurry. This has to be finished in 6 weeks when we fly to France (yay!) for a 2-week vacation. I think it's going to be really cute...


Monday, June 13

Deck improvements

This is the final look of our new little piece of heaven. I know a lot of people turn their nose up when it comes to shopping furniture at the big blue and yellow stores but "Yay for the Swedes!" The reclining chair are brilliant. They fold flat, can be used as dining chairs and perfect for lounging.

This outdoor graphic rug had been stowed away in a closet for a couple of years, forgotten. I'm glad I remembered about it. We decided to get the matching foot stools this past weekend and it was just the missing element to make for a perfect place to relax this summer and into the fall. 

Last but not least I took the time to add some ties to the cushions. Call it OCD but I prefer when seat cushions stay put. 

And I also added a loop to hang the cushions when they are not in used. OK I may have a little OCD side, so did the hubby who installed hooks to hangs the cushions.


Vast improvement over the previous situation
right ?


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Sunday, June 12

What I have been up to - Week 24

Not the best week I have to confess. At work, our interim manager has now become permanent. I'm not sure how things are going to work out. This will be a complete change from my previous boss for sure. And I've been stressing out about Bug and her school. The meeting in on Wednesday and I'm not sure we have all the information we need in our hands. 

To complicate things, my health problem are interfering a lot, at work and at home. I've been in a lot of pain most days which is not very conducive to rational thinking. Thankfully my doctor gave me a new prescription that will help me function until the second surgery, next month. It's been working so far. While yesterday afternoon was quite miserable, after 1 pill, the evening was much better and today I've been so far pain free. 

On the plus side of my week, my hubby has been awesome at helping out around so the house is very presentable, all the household chores have been taken care of so I can enjoy a really quiet Sunday. We were going to go to HonFest (a local even in Baltimore, half an hour away) with some friends but they decided to take it easy today and after my rough week, I'm glad to do the same.

 I've actually started on this by enjoying my morning coffee on the back deck. The reclining chairs we bought last weekend are so comfy, especially now that we added footstools!! 


We went to the local farmer's market, got some fresh fruit, veggies and bread and I showed off my fancy market tote - even my hubby said it looks very cool.






Then it was time to retreat inside: It is  hot and humid today with a good chance of thunderstorms in the evening. 

I've only completed very small projects this week : a couple of outfits for Princess Fiona and adding ties on the new chair's seat cushions. Oh and some fabric flowers... but that's always on the menu.

Last but not least, I think the best of my week actually happened late yesterday evening. My blog bestie and I spent over an hour on the phone exchanging ideas and just chatting away. It was like catching up with a long lost friend and it was AWESOME. I just know it's the first of many chats. Love it!! Looking forward to more.

What have you been up to? 

Friday, June 10

Denim upcycled - A tote for the farmer's market

I found some fun fabric at Joan's a couple of weeks ago: apples and oranges. The minute I saw them I knew just that I wanted to make a tote to go to the farmer's market that is held 2 blocks from our house on Sundays from May to October. I needed something sturdy to resist the weight but instead of canvas, used more denim reclaimed from Old jeans. 


It's roomy but low profile with a wide base to tuck in the groceries without piling them too much. I added a big pocket in the front for my cell phone and sunglasses,

 

a strap for closure with a really big button, a padded strap for comfort.



Inside I added a pocket with a snap to tuck in my wallet.


I'm out of Jeans for now but no matter: more upcycling to come

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