in the meantime

 

 Mister and I are off for an L.A. visit to celebrate wee birthdays, research car shopping and visit a smidge. In the meantime, I leave you with a mini work in progress. I hope to get the goodness up in the shop soon. Happy weekend!

rainbows in progress

A couple of weeks ago, the mister & I headed down to Los Angeles to celebrate little Pip's one year birthday. The theme was rainbows and me being auntie jek, a request for a happy birthday garland and itty bitty favors was granted.  Here's a wee peek at the favors-in-progress...

more work in progress fun!

skate on over to Craftzine.com to check out my newest project to wrangle your wips...chalkboard hangers! and now i must get back to writing an article that is now...ahem...overdue. sigh.

Exhausted!

Ellen was a blast! We got in and proceeded to dance until the cows came home. I even won a t-shirt I rock so much. Along with all that dancing, not to mention the couple of miles we walked to go to Bob's, I have been stitching, stuffing and crafting up a storm. I am exhausted! Seriously! It's also a lovely gray day which makes me want to bake and be lazy. I want to read magazines and fluffy chick lit and watch cheesy movie after movie. I have even already taken care of three loads of laundry, some general straightening and have rewritten two pages of my paper. Phew! I think I deserve a mini break. What shall I do? Read, watch or bake? How about all three? here's a sneak-a-roo at what I have been stitch, stitch, stitching...

My crafty mojo is back!

Back in February I started a new swap-group. Don't misunderstand my motives, I adore Coloriffic but it just got so HUGE! There are over a thousand members, not everyone swaps I know but I just craved something small, something creative, something entirely handmade so five things was born. With five things, the responsibility of a swap doesn't solely rest on my shoulders. Other people can create their own themes and you can play as often or not as you like. What I like most is the small circle of crafters and the beautiful packages full of handmade love. The other part I am really digging is how I sign up for a swap and then blank on what I am going to make. How many needlebooks does one person need? Or eyeglass cozies...tissue holders? I've had to really put my thinking cap on and with the most recent group, I came up with something that I find so delightful I am making more for the shop.

Mothy lavender sachets. Or maybe an odonate or two. I have so many tiny pieces of vintage scraps that I need to use and they look so pretty with the flaxen weave of linen or almost linen that I can't help myself. Perhaps I will bundle them up and sell them in packs of two or three. The wee pillows are about four inches square and backed by the accent fabric in the front. The green print you see is vintage, the black is not but it feels that way to me. I am so happy I have my crafting mojo back. I was a-wanderin' for awhile. It was too hot to bake, too hot to craft and too hot to play hopscotch. I even ran out of Sweet Valley High books to reread...thank you for that crafty mojo. Phew! I was worried.

Have you seen the quirky, cute, fantastic dolls that Hillary of Wee Wonderfuls is making? They make me smile so much it hurts. I get a deep happy sadness when I see them because they remind me of all the dollies my Mamos used to make and sell. I wish I had at least one of them still. Mine was named Angela and she had black pigtails made of yarn, an impish Little Audry-like embroidered smile and the cutest little calico dress with puffy sleeves and sash. I feel so lucky to be able to participate in this crazy, colorful, crafty world of blogs. So very lucky. All the sharing...it's a good, good, thing!

My quilting man

Here it is, THEE work in progress! The quilt that took over the living room. We had to move the sofa to get the floor space our place is that small. In this picture Mr. A-go-go is getting ready to pin all the pieces together. The quilt top, the batting and the back. You may think "Wait a minute, shouldn't the top be facing the other way?" and you would be correct if we were making a simple quilt. We, of course are not. We are making a quilted duvet cover. This way we can use the quilt as a summer blanket and then stuff it with a comforter for when it gets cold! Ingenious I tell ya! Many months ago Mr. A-go-go brought home a giant roll of quilt batting that he rescued from the trash pile at work. We're talking GIANT, as tall as me almost and just about as thick. We were afraid to open the tube and imagined it growing to crazy porportions like the blob or something but we seemed to manage okay. The batting is usable but sadly it is polyester and not cotton. Being the "use what you have" people we are and being that it was free and would maybe end up in a landfill, we used it. There is plenty left over Susan and Cathy if you want some but remember it isn't cotton. It is about 3/4 of an inch thick and 4-5 feet wide. If any other of you local ladies would like some, lemme know so we can schedule a pick up or somethin'! He has already started machine quilting the thing and I can't can't can't wait for it to be done! What I really love is how some of the fabrics came from swaps and two are vintage pieces from dresses I've worn. Now, I want to make a quilt. This time I won't ask the guy for help and just start cutting all by myself.

Today is school and errand running. I need to pick up a few supplies and such. Tomorrow I am hitting the post office and helping the Stchay-shee gal with a robot party for the boy and Friday it is lunch with Cat and Saturday we're going downtown to the Cherry Blossom Festival and then on Sunday I may venture forth with camera in hand to photograph a guerrilla pillow fight. Happy Wednesday folks!