and another

since i totallycopped out on making molly's halloween costume this year, i had to make SOMETHING....so i made her udders in which to carry her delicious, delicious candy (or bert).

i bought a $4 fleece baby blanket from kmart for the fabric, winged the pattern and voila! i had four cute little vintage buttons that i used as an accent on the handles, which totally make the entire thing:

and here we are in action at the parade. it was FREEZING and for some reason she wanted to be carried the whole way, but she got lots of "oohs" and "aaaws"! (i was a farmer, in case you can't tell.

o, it's been SO LONG!

i'm actually embarrassed that it's been so ridiculously long since i posted anything. i have been busy (i always say that) the problem is i've been too busy to post!

anyway, here are some of the things i've been working on:

molly's blanket: finally done. it was a debacle. i sewed the layers wrong, ripped it out, the lining fabric caused problems, ripped it out. FINALLY, with a warm middle layer of flannel (courtesy of an old sheet) it was finished.


i quilted random bugs and hearts throughout the entire blanket. it turned out really well. eventually i want to quilt more, but i ran out of red thread on my bobbin and then molly woke up from her nap, so work time was over for me.

another project i did was this yummy scarf. i have a thing for scarves. i grabbed 2 balls of this yarn awhile ago and then sat around wondering what i was going to do with it. when all else fails...knit a scarf!

i usually make absurdly long scarves, but since i knew i didn't have enough yarn for that this time around i decided to wing it. i like how it came out, and it keeps it nice and snug around my neck. (it's actually more neatly done than it looks in the picture.

that's all for this post!!

and this is what i WILL be working on

i just recieved my order from repotdepot and i am sooo excited. i have been browsing their site for years and finally just went ahead and ordered some of that very cute fabric that i'm always drooling over...adn i'm so glad i did. the bees were even on sale! it's going to be a cozy (aka blanket) for molly. i generally am afraid to order fabric on line because i'm convinced that the colors will be completely wrong and/or it will end in disaster...but not this time!

the bee fabric (and ladybug too, mind you) will be the top and the red and white the underside. i figure i'll fill it with some flannel to make it extra cozy (because you all know you like that) and it will be a perfect little snuggle cozy for her. i'm sure she won't be as excited about it as i already am, but hey, at least one of us is all giggly! aw, who am i kidding? she's always giggly.


i can't wait to put it all together. it's going to be very simple because i got just enough fabric to do it (no margin of error here, people) but i'm hoping to do some cute quilting with it to make it a bit more impressive. i'll be sure to post the finished product!

i love fall!

it's by far my favorite time of year. as much as i love the fresh fruit and veggies of the summer (and being able to swim and dig in the garden!), i love it when the trees all decide to change colors and it becomes sweater (and scarf) weather.

so here's what i've been up to:

this is the scarf i mentioned in the last post. it's the first rib i've done and i'm very happy with how it came out. the gradiation in the yarn is very pretty, too, and i'm thinking that it will match my winter coat quite nicely. i know it matches one of my favorite sweaters, so we're all set there, at least!

and this is how i decorated the front door of our house. it makes me happy (and please note the scary black cat...i made him last year and decided that he needed to be by the hitching post with his own little pumpkin this year):
and i just realized that it would have been a much prettier picture had i rolled up the blinds on the front door, but o well, you get the idea.

yes, i'm still around

and i have been making things, i just haven't had the chance to post about them!

my most exciting creation lately is a new hat for molly. i wanted to make her a hat, couldn't really find any patterns that really fit the freakish image in my head, but found some felting yarn on sale and decided what the heck, i'll wing it! and behold, my (and molly's) first felted hat!

considering i made it without any sort of pattern, it turned out pretty much the way i wanted, although it was (initially) much too large. the only thing i used from a pattern was the # of cast on stitches and as soon as i started i realized that there was no way. it worked out for the best though, because then i ended up making it into a ruffled edge instead of frogging it.

i wasn't sure how much it would (or wouldn't) shrink when it felted, so i left it larger than i needed to, but then i just shaped it, let it dry a bit, then cut it and sewed a curvy seam and felted that spot. i must say, felting is sooo cool. i couldn't believe how it changed after just a few minutes in the washer! i'm hooked. and yes, i should have taken before pics, but i was too excited. i'll do it next time, i promise. in the meantime, molly likes her hat very much and (i'm told) it keeps her head nice and warm. and i LOVE the little pointy top. that's just what i wanted.

in other news, i recieved an unfinished box for my birthday and knew immediately what i wanted to do with it...this:

the red isn't as bright in real life (it's really an oxblood color), but i painted and antiqued it and it pretty much looks like it's 100 years old. but it's not 100 years old, it's new. you see how that works? clever, eh? i still have no idea what i'm going to put in it (most likely more teensy, relatively useless stuff like everything else i collect) but i really love the way it turned out.

i'm also working on a ribbed scarf which is coming along nicely, but i haven't taken any pictures of that yet. but i will, so come back soon!

ta-da!!!

well, i'm not saying it's completely done, but it's close enough! here is my (practically) finished sunroom/craft room/place of relaxation!

one of the things i'm proudest of is the fact that as far as decorating goes (aside from paint) i spent a grand total of $16, and that's on the little rug by the door. the wardrobe cabinet you see here i got in ct at an estate sale years ago. i painted it white and i'm going to put shelves in it to house my piles of supplies (fabric, paper, scrapping stuff). the rocking chair i stole from parents and painted a pale lavender, and the idea board in the back i made when i worked at longwharf. it's a gorgeous antique looking fabric with pretty blue ribbon....now i've just got to put some ideas on it!

here's a view (complete with directions to flat hill farm...keep going, you're almost there!) of another freebie...this little dresser now houses my yarn stash. absurd, i know, but it's not completely full. yet.

and my awesome desk!! cost=$0. that's right. reclaimed slate countertop and 2 old antique sewing machine bases. how sweet is that? i'm super excited to start using it.

here's molly's station...i got this table at the church yard sale in the spring for $3, and the old map (which yes, does pull down and role up)is on indefinate loan from my mom...she saved it from the trash at school. it has terms like "isthmus" and "strait" clearly identified, along with ridiculously outdated country identifications.

and you may or may not remember how hideously ugly the base of the old chimney was, but i was super clever and used old shutters not only to block it in (the tall ones are hinged and operate as a door) but i can clothespin all of molly's works of art and other pieces of inspiration to them too! it will actually house all our recycling bins once we finish the shelving, which is perfect. out of sight yet incredibly convienient. super score!

anyway, i'm super excited. i've been hanging out there a lot and reading while molly plays. the dog and cats have been having turf wars a bit to see who can lay claim to the sunny spots first, but you know who the winner is? ME, baby, ME!

the on-going sunroom project

well, as promised, here are some more photos of the progress. this is the old door before:


and this is after:
door? what door?

here's the awesome slate and countertop i snagged, too. we know the medium piece of slate will go under the gas stove when that gets moved, but i'm not sure where the larger piece will go. and i'm busily imagining what sort of awesome workbench i can create out of the old labratory countertop. whatever it is, it's going to have to be butch, because that thing is heavy! (it's the long, black piece behind the 2 pieces of slate).

this saturday we're having a work party and a couple of guys are coming over (as well as my mother in law to watch baby girl so i can work too). we're hoping to get the sections of the cieling replaced and put in the new sink cabinet in. (hopefully) we'll also patch the floor and then we'll be ready to paint!!

the slate actually decided my paint color for me...i was wavering between a sagey green and martha stewart "batterbowl green" which is actually a pretty almost robin's egg blue (vintage robin's egg, anyway), but it turns out the blue looks MUCH better than the green, so that made things easier. it will flow better with the kitchen, which is a cobalt blue, too.

aaaand...voila! we have a door!

well, it's offical...we have a door. tuesday was my day off, so my dad (who is feeling better, by the way) came over and we spent the morning finishing the hole for said door and installing it.

the hole for the door actually took more effort to cut than i thought it would...we cut throught the original shingles and then a couple oak beams (which were lovely, i can assure you) with ye olde circ saw and sawzall (i have no idea if that's how you spell it). but we got through, and what a view!

then came the installation...it was a bit of a battle to get it to sit squarely, but we got it and it even opens and closes. i put in the door hardware because when i got home from lunch two little birdies had flown in and trapped themselves...the only way they could have done it was by flying in through the holes for the knob and lock! silly birdies, holes are for hardware!

needless to say, i'm very excited by the new addition. it looks like it's original to the house and is in the perfect spot to be a new entry. now just replace the siding, work on the interior, fix the ceiling, patch the floor, paint....

yet another card

adrian's birthday was last week, and since he loves comic books like a true geek, we got him a girft certificate to his favorite comic book store. and since his card HAD to go with the theme, this is what i came up with:

i downloaded the collage of images from a random site on line and then got a comic book font and personalized it. it was a hit.

stalled, but still working

after some computer issues (and a new computer, incidentally) i'm finally getting around to posting the photos of the work in progress that is our sunroom. unfortunately after all my excitement of getting things moving, my father seriously messed up his back and things have screeched to a halt. very disappointing. but this is the progress we have made thus far:

behold, the hole in the wall!!!

and here's the outside, where we've stripped off the siding in anticipation of our new door.

this was a very cool find...the bottom half of the wall was apparently part of an old barn door (you can even see where the hinges used to be). it was obviously once upon a time red, but it's faded to a very cool pink. i think i'm going to try to use it as a project board or something over my desk.

we changed our plans and decided to use an existing beam for part of the framing of the door, so we had to cut a teensy bit more, and look what we found then!

it's part of the old door hardware! i'm not sure exactly how this hardware was supposed to function on the door (the little dot in the middle is the old keyhole which someone put a blob of plaster in...i will be digging that out) but we couldn't have cut it more perfectly if we tried! we just barely missed cutting the metal bits, and i was very excited when that popped out of the wall. i think i'm going to put it in a black shadowbox frame and just hang it as is...talk about found art!

so that's where we stand at the moment. i haven't had to much time to work on too many crafts lately...i sold my gypsy necklace on etsy, which is very exciting, and i worked some more on baby girl's blanket and then realized i had messed up the pattern so ripped everything out again. boo. but i've gotten a couple more rows done the right way and am back on track.

ttfn!

what the hell, blogger?

i don't know why, but lately when i've been viewing my blog a large portion of my entries (especially at the end of paragraphs) have been disappearing. if i highlight where i know the text is it shows up (at least for a little while) but then as soon as i scroll down is disappears again!!!

i'm very frustrated by blogger right now. and i was going to post a lovely update on the sunroom and other projects, but i decided not to to spite my face.

garden update

since i wrote in an earlier post about my garden, i thought i'd put in an update as well. despite the off and on torrential downpours battling against the ridiculously hot and humid days that are in the 90's, the garden is flourishing! as you can see, my herb garden has really taken off. the mint has grown especially well, and i must say that i've used the oregano much more than i expected (the mint is destined to be dried and used for tea this winter...but that doesn't stop me from adding it to lemonade now)!

i spent a lot of time this spring cleaning out the area by our driveway where we usually get perrineal wildflowers, and to be honest i was afraid i did a little too good of a job and that the flowers weren't going to come back. well, no worries! the flowers are blooming now in a mass of pink, white, purple flowersand orange lilies!

and you may or may not remember my orphan flower project: i grabbed a half dead hanging plant and some other rejects from the compost pile at work and decided to give them a second chance at life. was it worth it? i certainly think they're thriving (and not bad for a completely free flower display!) but i'll let you decide:

berry picking...does it get better than this?

this morning molly and i went blueberry picking...i'd forgotten how much fun it is! molly loved it, of course...i mean, what could be better than walking along and popping fresh blueberries into your mouth? but the bushes were just dripping with berries, and they were nice and sweet with just a little bit of tartness to them. just the way i like them! i'm not sure what i'll make with them yet (if they even make it that far and don't wind up in our bellies before i get a chance!) but either way, blueberry season is the best. we will definately have to go back before it's gone!

behold: the quest for the perfect berry...

yes! success!!

the fruits of our labors:

can you guess which container is mine and which is molly's?

well, i was feeling quite creative yesterday and i whipped up a new necklace. i call it my "chunky funky gypsy button necklace" and i (after much thought...but i'm going to make myself one this afternoon) posted it on etsy. now i have a whopping 3 items in my shop now. can you even imagine?


anyway, the necklace is a bunch of glass beads with some vintage buttons mixed in. it's attatched with a toggle clasp. i like the way it turned out...it's a nice, heavy necklace that feels nice around your (or, in this case, my) neck. and it's got so many different colored beads it goes with everything!

remember me, etsy?

i finally got myself in gear and posted my foam heads sculpture on etsy last night. i finished painting it/them on friday afternoon (while avoiding doing other work that was actually necessary), had a photo shoot while the baby girl was taking a nap and then actually got around to putting the photos up after work.

i'm curious to see the response...i think i priced it a bit high, but as william said, "it's art. people expect to pay a bit more." i may be bringing the price down, but we'll see.

i entitled it "skybluepink" because apparently (just like "toasted cheese") not everyone in the world grew up knowing that that's what you call a pretty sunset sky.

anyway, if you're interested in checking out all the gory details, here you go: skybluepink

2 more signs

these 2 signs were commissioned by my mother in law. she was wandering around in my garden last week with molly and saw one i had done for myself and ordered 2...one for her garden and one for her best friend's.

these actually came out better than my original (and i stole the faux embroidery pattern from kristi ...it was on an embroidery piece she gave me) so i'm pretty happy with them. i aged the mustard colored one a bit but left the cranberry as is (well, i rubbed it with some burnt umber, but no sanding) and gave them to my mother in law today. she seemed very pleased!

let them eat...blackberries!

over the weekend (and despite the bugs) i noticed that our blackberry bushes were producing a huge amount of yumminess so (despite the bugs) we all went outside and picked blackberries! we probably got a couple of pints, if you include all the berries molly ate as soon as i put them in the basket, which is impressive!

we've been eating them for desert for the last few nights and they are delish...i can't wait to go out and pick the rest (despite the bugs).

and you may notice that the berries are resting on some pretty fabric (and here is the crafty portion for today)...that's the $1.50 fabric i picked up for molly's (eventual) dress. it's pink and has little tiny fireflies on it. it's very cute, although it was hard for me to pass up all the adorable flannel. maybe if this dress goes well i can go back and make one for winter!

that's all for today!

today was my parents' anniversary, so i made them a card. i wasn't entirely happy with it, but that was mostly due to my lack of proper supplies. i wasn't happy with the blue paper (clouds would have been much better than...bubbles?) but overall i guess it turned out well enough.

on the front: pastel clouds, cut paper posts, embroidery thread line and paper socks.



the most exciting thing by far this weekend is that my loving husband woke up early and, while his 2 girls were sleeping in, tackled the ridiculousness that was our sunroom.
now, the sunroom at one point was actually a barn type structure attatched to our house. over the years it's been worked on here and there and now it's a pretty nice 3 season room. it is not insulated, however, and at the state it's in right now it needs some pretty significant work. we had been basically ignoring it since we moved in, using it as recycling storage. it was the perfect place to store obnoxiously large cardboard boxes etc that we didn't feel like carting to the recycling center. well, one thing led to another and it sort of got out of control, but william took care of it all this morning, and now we have a lovely (almost) empty room to start remodeling.

this is a shot of the current door, one of the projects at hand. we want to plug that doorway up and put it on the other side of the room so it can be accessed more easily (and maybe eventually become the regular way into the house, if we're good/patient enough) from the driveway. at the moment it's hung badly and not at all weatherproof, so one way or another it's got to go.

the old chimney also has to be pulled down and the ceiling replaced...but maybe i can recycle the bricks to make a pathway to our new door!

we've also been in discussions about what to do about the floor. it's been covered with a number of rather hideous layers of linoleum, and we just assumed that they covered plywood. imagine our suprise (and excitement) when we peeled those layers back and saw this:

the linoleum did not cover plywood, it covered wide plank pine!! obviously it would need to be refinished (badly) but i think we're just going to clean it up and paint it a nice bright white. i'm really excited about it. not only will it save us money (and allow us to spend it in other places) but i love the idea of a painted pine floor. the space is going to be used as a workspace for me, play space for baby girl and a good spot for the animals to congregate that is not under our feet, so something that easy to care for would be perfect. and eventually we can put a rug down and make it even cozier!

i'm really excited about the possibilities for this room...now i just have to figure out what color i want to paint it (obviously, because that's the stage we're at)...martha stewart green? a warm creamy yellow? the possibilities are endless!