InstaFriday

There is something freeing about not caring if the exposure, shutter speed, aperture and lighting are "just right". Sometimes the best pictures are just snapped in that raw moment of fleeting life. Then I take that grainy, imperfect shot and Instagram makes it transform into the way memories look in my mind's eye.

Love.

So, thanks to Jeannett at Life Rearranged, I'm linking up with InstaFriday.

so can you!

Can you say heavy? Gritty WWII novel that I am slowly working my way through. Really good. Would be consuming it much faster if it wasn't for...well...life.

Who knew a little jar of thick gooey dairy goodness could evoke so many squeals of delight.

Ever since we went to England two years ago I have been on the hunt for this over here in the states.

Little giddy dance in the market when I found it!

A little smear on a fresh from the oven cranberry orange scone?

Heaven.

Love this stage. I can see glimpses of the little boy he will become.

Yet still totally surrounded by sweet chubby baby cheeks.

We had an interesting week. (aren't they all?)

Valuable Mommy lesson learned: bathroom breaks for Mom aren't allowed during craft time.

Paper project quickly turns into hair cutting experiment.

There was a massive pile of hair. This is the one we kept for evidence sentiment :)

Happy Friday!

Work in progress...

Okay. So here are my complete 10 blocks I mentioned in my Inspiration Workshop post.

So. Excited.

{Summer Snuggling} Week 1 - Inspiration Workshop

Maggie, the lovely crafter/blogger behind Gussy Sews, came up with a great inspiration workshop for the summer. While I usually don't have trouble finding inspiration and struggle more with inspiration ADD (read: multiple unfinished projects), I thought this might help bring some focus to all those 'great' ideas. I also LOVE seeing what inspires others and what they create with that inspiration.

This week's inspiration is "Handmade".

There is somethings sacred I believe about curling up with two tiny warm, sticky, summer bodies, one leggy, one chubby, underneath a blanket wrought with hard work and love from your own hands. Just as the Lord knit those two together in my womb, now I am able to smell their sweet hair and they lean on my chest, legs wrapped together under a cover of handmade family love. Quilts are so much more than just a piecing together of fabric and thread. They are a piecing together of us.

I recently discovered Film in the Fridge, and she has one of the largest quilt resumes I've seen in a while (not that I have spent that much time looking!) While my own quilt CV is a grand total of...wait for it...(almost) 1, (see inspiration ADD above), I have been seeing so many great modern quilt designs in the blogosphere that I have had a major itch to make one again!

I found this great fabric the other week and wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it.

Now I know! The turquoise, orange, brown, tans and whites in my fabrics are the perfect ingredients in a lightweight quilt destined for summer snuggling. I just started piecing the top the other night after cutting my strips.

I already have about 10 blocks out of the 30 completed already (pics to come)! Here is how it's coming along. Yippee! I am following one of FITF's tutorial's. LOVE the design.

So here's my handmade inspiration photo, from FITF:

photo credit

Head over to the workshop at Gussy Sews to find some of your own inspiration and see what other's have found! (There's a button to the right on my sidebar for more info on how to join the workshop)

A visit with family

We were so happy to have my sister-in-law and her family make the drive from Michigan to spend Memorial weekend with us. What a treat! They have two boys, Ethan and Gabe, who our daughter Alora adores, and a beautiful 8 week old daughter Ayla. Alora was so taken with her saying, "Look how cute she is! She's so tiny!"

Gabe holding his baby sister

We had a great time going to Ikea, taking the train downtown, going to Shedd Aquarium (braving the torrential rain in the process) and just hanging out at home!

Alora loved watching Ayla get her diaper changed

Movie time for the kids!

Fun in the splash pools with Alora and Everett

In preparation for them coming, I just had to make a little something for that baby girl. I can't resist. I made her one of my Eco Cotton Rosette hats and matching booties from this great pattern while she was still a cookin' in her momma. I also made a knit blanket for her out of a lovely grayish-lilac yarn and trimmed with white ribbon when she arrived. I didn't get a picture of these, silly me, but that's okay!

Nevertheless, little ones just beg to be created for and I couldn't help myself. More on that in a minute...

I have been wanting to try out some more applique after my custom Dr. Seuss order.

This is just one of the four pieces, including two bibs and two Ergonomic Burpcloths. They came out so cute!

First I whipped up this little burp cloth duo for a friend who just gave birth to a sweet baby girl, Kennedy.

I fell in love with this fabric line. It's Kate Spain's Central Park for Moda. Love. It was fun to play around with my sewing machine embroidery skills, something I'd never done, and try out some new applique techniques.

So on to the little lovely for our niece.

I picked up some Carters onesies on sale the other day and had a vision in my head. After one "practice" onesie that I had fully embellished and mostly destroyed while playing with my machines embroidery options, I was ready to make the official one. Let me just say that sewing on knit fabric is a WHOLE different ball game. I knew it was going to be different that sewing on my usual woven fabric, so the practice shirt was REALLY helpful.

And here are a few shots of sweet Ayla in her new shirt.

Just looking at her daddy :)

Not a great pic, but those are the EcoCotton booties I made on her cute little feet.

Her daddy sure is good at getting her to smile!

You may see some more applique items end up in the shop at a later date, but I did get this cute little ruffle onesie listed if you just have to have one!

I also have a new project started that I've been wanting to do for quite a while. More on that tomorrow!

Cleaning house...blog style

As I attempted to revisit blogging today, I was bombarded by way too much clutter on my page and just felt overwhelmed and under-inspired.

Funny that the house full of clutter surrounding my desk chair and computer screen was so much less disturbing...but I digress...

The lovely ladies behind The Ivy Twines just had a post about blog design. You can check out it out here. Thanks to their introduction, in steps from stage right - Makin' Cute Blogs - what a revelation. This site is fantastic. There are so many free background sites out there, and good ones, but Carolynn from MCB has these awesome tutorials for doing it yourself.

First she sent me to ColourLover. Don't even get me started on how cool this is. And free. (Did I mention it is SO cool?) I could play on this for hours and even my three year old would love it.

Spiffed up and streamlined things nicely and with a few more color and font tweeks, as well as a new header, things are looking much cleaner.

The other places worth a look are http://pixlr.com (like a free photoshop and no software downloads) and Pugly Pixel (lovely blog bling clip art).

Here's what I've been up to in the studio:

Kids are in bed, J is out of town on business, time to hit the sewing machine...

Spring line...might just make it out by summer.

Since we are already in the midst of spring, I thought maybe I should start working on a spring line. Late? I know. Such is life right now. I have had a few patterns steeping in the back of my mind for a while now just waiting for the right time (aka: finding time to knit) to make their lovely appearance.

Just because it is spring doesn't mean the sun received the message. Here in Chicagoland, the clouds have been predominating and the weather is "brisk" to say the least. This time of year still calls for some layers of warmth. (Sidenote: one of my favorite books from childhood is "How the Sun was Brought Back to the Sky." I now read it to A and she loves it. Seriously, check it out.)

The two I have started are both in my favorite organic cotton. Awesome fiber.

The first piece is this adorable cable hat. I wanted to evoke the feeling of warmer weather on the horizon though, and this lovely robin's egg blue just speaks to new life. Appropriate both for the season and this upcoming Easter which is all about rebirth and new life. Here's my little E modeling it for me.

We are all abustle with birthday preparations as E turn's one tomorrow! Hard to believe. All the emotions of that day come flooding back as if it were today rather than months ago. What a joyful moment in our families lives. He opened our hearts to a lot more love, a boy's world, and the sweet, silly, loud, BUSY life that he's given us. He made A a big sister and she has blossomed and grown so much this last year. Her tenderness toward him still touches me and teaches me every day.

J's parents are coming in for the weekend to celebrate Easter and E's birthday together, which is such a treat. We will have a little party on Friday with some close friends and then head to the city on Saturday. A has been asking to go to the "Dinosaur Museum" since we moved here and so we are planning on it, finally!

My second new piece in the spring/summer line is this silky, feminine seed scarf that drapes so beautifully.

Light and airy enough for warm days as well as cool and is that perfect finishing touch. I love it paired with a neutral top to transform your whole look into something fresh. Nothing like a great accessory to take something you've had in your closet for years to a whole new level.

As you can see it is still on the needles and has just a bit left to go. I am planning on a pared down version for girls as well as the women's scarf. This vibrant teal was just what I needed on a rainy, gloomy day to evoke the colors of coming warmer months.

Stayed tuned for more to come. When? No idea...

A little something new

In the midst of unpacking from our trip to Chicago as well as getting organized to pack up for our move, what am I doing? Crafting new items for the shop. Was this on my "to do" list? Certainly not. After a stressful few weeks though, I just needed a little "me time" to create. I have had the supplies and plans for these for months now, but just hadn't set aside the time to come up with the design.

First off is a fabric covered mini 3-ring binder. It seems in this tech-age, everything we do is on our smart phone. There is something about the tactile experience of writing something down that imprints the information on my brain better than any touch screen ever could. On any given day my mind is a whirl of things I need to get done, ideas for new projects, funny things my daughter just came up with, food I need to buy at the store, meal plans for the week, milestones my 9 mo. old son just reached, and so much more. Tuck this little binder wherever you need it most: your purse, laptop bag, car, diaper bag, anywhere! And the best part? It's filled with lined notebook paper you can refill to your heart's content.

Along the same lines, but on a smaller scale are the new notepad trios, decked out in cute cardstock. These two trios have a "Little Birdie" theme, one in dots and stripes and the other in a cute floral. I am a little crazy for things that COORDINATE (chalk it up to a mom that dressed all three of us kids to match). There is something about it that feels pulled together and organized. What a great little pad to stash in your purse or better yet, give this trio as a gift to that friend of yours that needs to know you're thinking of her. It seems I always am in need of little "somethings" to give to a girlfriend, hostess, teacher, or neighbor who has helped me out in some way or another. These should do the trick!

I'm sure there will be many more of these to come, but you'll just have to wait until we move and I get settled in my new craft room! I can already see in my mind's eye all the delights that will come out of that space.