just a taste

I'm digging into my linen stash that I purchased back in spring. While I did make sure to pick up the basic linen (stone) color, I couldn't resist bringing home some wonderful linen in this scrumptious shade of green. After a long winter of staring at "white" (snow), my fabric shopping naturally gravitates to earthy colors which remind me of the warmer days ahead.
 


I've been pairing the linen with these reproduction prints and I'm so loving the results.



Of course this whole post is just a glimpse of things to come, but waiting makes the end so much sweeter.

Maybe I'll be able to sneak some "quiet, yet productive" time in the studio this weekend to get at it. Then again if the weather is nice you are more likely to find me by the water with my toes in the sand.  It is a long weekend after all for us Canucks. Have a wonderful day!

i did it!

I went ahead and finally ordered a pre-sale of copy of Rowling's 7th book in the series Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
 


I was going to order the book store in person, but at $ 38 a copy I opted for online ordering which was almost half price. Since I saved myself some cash I thought I would reward my frugal-ness by picking up a few other books. How exactly does that work I am not sure but it was fun. Soon I shall be the proud owner of...



I can't wait to view the embroidery images in this book. Everything looks so whimsical and upbeat. For more Jenny Hart visit her website.



Denyse, Denyse, Denyse...I've been meaning to order this book for a while now. Even her fabric is wonderful.



I can't say enough about her latest line but you can pick it up at purlsoho. It is so very remiscent of feedsack & vintage prints which I love.



I don't know about you, but I can hardly think of my childhood reading without picturing this book in my mind. We have rented it from the library on occasion, but really this home needs to own a copy. After all we are house of many children, so it is precisely the perfect title for us..."where the wild things are". 

my latest craft book...

I picked up a cute little craft book by Susan Cousineau call Sewing for Tiny Tots on my outing the other day. It is full of very simple designs, lots of fleece & felt, that is sure to encourage my imagination. Here are some creations from her book:







I know what I will be reading over the weekend and it should be lovely. Hope your weekend is full of inspiration as well. 

back at it...

Well I pretty much completed all the little "urgent" projects in my yard for the time being, now it is time to slow down, relax and enjoy the view. We had a great family day outside on Friday in lieu of the impending rain on Father's Day that did arrive, as well make the outdoors very mosquito-y. The hubby had Friday off so we all loaded in the van, grabbed a bite to eat at a local restaurant, headed to a nearby creek for some butterfly chasing and then off to Chapter's for a delightful read & peek at new books. It was a great way to spend the day.
 






Aha! Caught in the act :) We were terribly excited to get this picture, not only because the butterflies held still long enough for photos to be taken, but also to find them in such a delightful state as they re-populate their own species. Nature is incredible.



At the end of the day our pocket book was a wee bit lighter from the good food and books, but some times splurging is an necessity.

long overdue wip's

I finished these up a couple of weeks ago but just didn't get the time to take pictures or yap about them :)

 


The fabric is from this post I was discussing a while back. The pattern is a camisole top from this Japanese craft book that I keep going back to, ahh...so comfortable.



I did end up altering the pattern a wee bit to allow the straps to be tied.  I thought that would be more suitable for girls of differing body types/ages.  Miss A & Miss J were reluctant to model them for me, but in the end I won them over with the flowers.  Girls after my own heart.



 

They are now officially in my etsy shop. You can head over there for some more detailed pictures. Have a wonderful day!

dropping by?

I thought it would be a good idea to visit my own blog. *haha*  Seriously though, I've been on an unplanned extended break as our house guest (read: mum) stayed on with us until yesterday.  She is doing well and is healing up fabulously from surgery. 

The past few days here have been very hot so I've been outside with Mr. hubby getting more yard work done.  Most of my plantings are in and the 3 yards of soil I ordered is now  equally dispersed between garden and grass seed.  The kidlets helped me with some of the planting and they will be happily surprised when things start growing.  I really wish I had some photos to show, but I've been up to my elbows in mud, dirt & more mud.  Not a good idea to touch the camera when messy.  I still have a few more things to do that are immediate, after that I will be back with camera in tow.  Toodles for now...

I joined another swap awhile back, April to be exact.  It was a "softie" swap hosted by littlelovelies.  Today a package arrived in the mail from forloveofvintage, my swap partner.


Her softie is adorable and will be perfect in my bedroom up high away from wee fingers that would love to drag this sweet little angel around the house.

Thank you so much B, you did a great job on it and I love it.   If you haven't received my parcel yet, it should be any day now. 

*****************************************************************

On the home front we have my mum staying with us as she is recovering from gallstone surgery.  She wasn't scheduled to have the surgery until July, but they called her at the end of last week to tell her they had a spot available on Wednesday due to a cancellation.  She jumped at the chance to move it up, less time to think about it I think.   Everything is day surgery now a days, so I picked her up a few hours after her surgery and brought her home.  The boys vacated their bedroom and slept in our room so their grandma could quietly recover.  That is a wee bit of an oxymoron in our home of four children, never the less she was able to get some good rest and is feeling quite well today.  She is a trouper. 

plans change

My plans to have items in my etsy shop are put on hold for the time being due to various
explainable reasons that I have photos of yard work: Mr. hubby worked really long and
hard digging out rock, clay & more rock so that we could plant 14 beautiful cedars. It's
been raining long and hard here for the past couple of weeks and a "dry" day is an outdoor work day for all of us and you guessed it, it was dry all weekend. I walked up the path today and already the cedars are so fragrant. It's a shame I didn't get a photo of them in place, but they look lovely.



sprinkler fun: what happens when you put 4 kids on a 14 foot trampoline on a hot day with a sprinker underneath.



distractions: that come when you need a new ironing board cover and have an excess of vintage sheets on hand that match the color of the room you create in. Funky isn't it?



Finally, I'm not sure that the items I'm working will even get a chance to get into my shop opening as these ones may be spoken for already. But stay tuned as things do have a way of changing quickly around here, like my banner. Another celebration of summer.
Studio time: You never know where you might find me next.