Paper Pie

Mandy's Kitchen

These are Mandy's new curtains! I walked into her kitchen the other day and almost squealed I was so pleased with how they came out. Her sister made them for her using Sugar Pop fabric. I think the color is wonderful in her mostly white, vintage-y kitchen. Oh, and check out her back door in the laundry room.

While I was busy snapping away to get these photos, I also could not resist her amazing stove that, "just came with the place."

Wow. Lucky. Mandy and her family bought this house a few years back and have not stopped working on it since. It is beautiful and truly their own haven. Mandy is an incredibly warm and lovely person. I sometimes feel like I've known her forever, when really it's only been a couple of years.

This light fixture also caught my eye; it looks like an elegant icecube. Just the kind of icecube Mandy would slip into your lemonade as she invited you to her backyard oasis to chat about life, work, family and everything else. She's like that.

My Garden

Through the years I've had my share of potted plants and hanging baskets, mostly indoors. I've managed to keep them alive (except for maybe a few) and that's that. They sit in the corner, I water them and our relationship is not much to write about. More recently though, I'd say the last few years, I have really started dreaming about gardens and landscaping. When I go on my walks around the neighborhood, I study each yard I pass noticing every detail. I get super excited seeing other people's gardens on their blogs and websites. It is all so inspiring! And the thought of my family growing its own food satisfies both my resourceful and wanna-be-frugal attitude. But alas, we are renters, and the thought of upping someone else's property value is a little off putting, and who knows if our landlord would let us dig up the yard. So, you see, I was stuck in a real conundrum. Back in May sometime, I watched from my back door as my neighbor planted her tomatoes and peppers. I was struck by an unsettling spat of jealousy. She was so cute in her hat and sandals. She looked so at ease and peaceful, and at the same time brimming with hope and anticipation. I thought to myself: I really need to get some of that. But all of the excuses and reasons not to flooded my head; We rent, I don't know how to garden, and the perenial (yes, pun very much intended) favorite, I don't have time. So I went about my day, admiring her little backyard bliss from the other side of the fence. Fast forward a few weeks and I was sitting out in the backyard playing with Rylie, and Erika, my gardening neighbor, was out in her yard too and we got to chatting. I fully admitted my unabashed and irrational garden jealousy. Always positive and encouraging, she told me that it would be super easy for me to plant a few herbs and a tomato plant in containers and set them on a little area at the back of my yard that gets full sun all day. I said; "Yes, you are right, I really should. I mean, what am I waiting for?" She proceeded to tell me that now is really the perfect time and that she even has a good book that I can borrow to get started. The book is called You Grow Girl. This was all I needed to hear, because somewhere in the back of my mind I had filed that exact book away as the someday-when-I-start-gardening-I-am-going-to-read-that-book book. So that seemed as good a sign as any. For the next week I read through the book and on a warm Tuesday afternoon headed up to my local farmer's market to buy seedlings from the seedlings guy. I bought herbs mostly: rosemary, basil, parsley, sage, dill, lavendar and arugula. The next day, I got up and went to the garden center right when it opened. I got a tomato plant, a hanging basket, Marigold, African Violet, a container, a watering can, potting soil and some fertilizer. I quickly got back home and went to work potting my plants and putting my garden together and here it is:

There are a few other herbs to the left that are out of frame here, but you get the idea. I had most of this stuff just gathering dust in the garage. Yes, my basil plant is in a planter shaped like a Lion's head. I got that many years ago now at the Melrose Trading Post. In fact, we had that little gem in Venice too, see. (Unfortunately, that was one of my plant casualities) Anyways, so far, so good in the garden! Except I quickly found out that delicate greens like arugula do better in fall or early spring when the temperature is not so hot. See it has already bolted. What do I do now? I have no idea . . .

I planted this African Violet in a terra cotta pot that I slathered up with yogurt and then put soil all over the outside. The theory is, and I learned this from that fabulous book, that if you keep the pot in a shady spot with lots of mositure it will grow a beautiful moss patina in a few months time. I really hope that works out.

Another science experiment that I have going is something that I remember my mom doing when we were kids. I am on my third try with soaking these avocado seeds in a sunny window to see if they will sprout. Part of the problem may be that there is NO SUN! June gloom, remember when I mentioned that phenomenon before? Alas, we'll see if we can't get a tree going one of these days.

Let's see, what else... Oh yes, here is the beautiful hanging basket I bought at the garden center. It does wonders for the overall pleasantness of the backyard.

I also spruced up the succulents in the front. They were started from cuttings bought at a yard sale several years ago now. I love them because they are virtually maintenance free, I do want to replant them in the near future though. I feel like they would really thrive in bigger pots, they've outgrown these digs (yep!)

Oh, and all of the plant attention prompted me to help out my indoor plants too. Here they are looking better than they have in months (years, really.)

I do have a confession though; I could never do this all myself. My gardening is made loads easier because I have a very diligent and eager little helper.

How does your garden grow? Indoor? outdoor? in the ground, in containers? Do you love it?or find it frustrating? I would love to know. I'm kind of garden obsessed right now...

New Curtains

A long time ago, I want to say it was last summer, our standard rental apartment mini blind fell out of our front window. Yep, it just fell right down and try as we might we could not get it to go back without driling new holes and it all seemed a lot of work for something that we didn't like in the first place. So we went without a window covering for many many months. At Christmas, we thought we would put our tree there to lend some privacy. Christmas came and went and we were back to feeling exposed. That was until one fateful morning walk! A few weeks ago I was walking home from my eye doctor appointment and I happened to notice the curtains hanging in the window of a house I had passed by many many times. I really noticed these curtains because before then, all of this house's windows had been completely bare, and being the voyeur that I am, I would always peek in to see the details of their interior design (do you ever do that? I do it all the time, that's one of the many reasons I love to stroll the neighborhood - because I am nosey.) Anyhow, they suddenly had curtains! And I noticed them! And I had to get my own for my bare window that was broadcasting my furniture arrangement, wall colors, and art choices to all of the other neighborhood voyeurs. So, I first thought about going straight to Target to BUY curtains because I wanted it done that day. But, luckily, I came to my senses and realized; hey, I've got all I need right here, why not make them? So, I did, and here is the result:

I love them! They are fun and light and match the overall vibe of our apartment very well. I used unbleached muslin for the base fabric and used an assortment of vintage, modern and my own fabrics for the circles. I also added a little running stitch along the bottom. And look what else:

Tulips on the dining table to match!

The Family Creative Workshop

Last weekend, we were in our neighborhood thrift shop picking out treasures. After convincing Ryan that, yes, we did need a miniature root beer mug and a cute, Made in Japan ladel, I dropped all of that stuff and went slack-jawed when I saw these on the bookshelf.

What? Craft and creativity books published in 1974?
Yes please, how much?
$10 for all of them?
Sold.

Let's start with the covers, shall we? The big, bold color photography drew me right in. But listen to some of the topics covered: hooked rugs, baby foods, ant farms, hibachi, canoeing, dried flowers, cheeses and churning, and the list goes on and on. Every time I look at them I get all giddy with a rush of craft aspirations. Could I really cut an old pickle jar to create canisters for beans, grains and spices? Is there a way that I could turn the garage into a workshop and get a welding gun? But I actually think I could start with the familiar and that would keep me occupied for several months, if not years. And I don't even have the complete set of books. Viva the 70s!

Another Giveaway

::GIVEAWAY CLOSED - Congratulations to Dinkwerks Quilts with comment #6.

Please email me your mailing address and I will get your copy to you right away!
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Look what came in the mail a few days ago:

Issue #2 of the Craftsanity Magazine! I have long been a fan of the Craftsanity Podcast, I used to cue it up and listen on my headphones while I was working away in my cubicle. Craftsanity creator, Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood, writes, broadcasts and crafts from Grand Rapids, MI which is about 40 minutes from my hometown of Muskegon, MI. So, I've always had a fondness. Jennifer is a journalist by trade and it is very apparent in her excellent writing and interviewing skills. Plus, she is funny, warm, curious, honest and open. She asks great questions and her podcasts are detailed and meaninful. All in all a very good listen and a great way to lift your spirits and get inspired. One word of caution: they are highly addictive! I have listened to most all of the 123 episodes that she has put out so far, some of them twice! It is also pretty neat to hear the voices of the crafters and bloggers that I admire most. To hear instead of just read, ya know?

The magazine is jam packed with projects and, just like the podcast, it is super interesting and irresistable. Here are a few of my favorites from this issue:

I love these cute Bunny and Chick Egg Cozies by Ana Paula Rimoli. This project has me thinking about crochet again. Remember last time?

I love the book review section. I am somewhat of a craft book collector, rather than a craft book user (there I said it.) Admitting my habit does not change the fact that I really want to go and get this one. Liesl has a fabric line with Moda as well, have you seen City Weekend?

Basketweaving? Don't mind if I do. I would love to try my hand at this one, it is so adorable. There is something so charming about a bike with a handwoven basket. I need more of that in my life I think. I can't wait until Rylie is big enough for a bike seat. Actually, I can wait. She is already growing so fast.

This little tutorial about curling kid's hair with rags is really interesting. I love the long ringlets it creates, but also love the look of an updo tied with rags. Rylie has a little bald head that I can not stop kissing. However, my own hair has sort of taken on a life of its own and I would love to try this out. Little curly low pigtails on each side, uh huh.

These flowers made with a fork are sweet and might be great in this vase of mine. I feel a little spring spruce up coming on!

Have I mentioned that I have two copies sitting here beside me? One for you and one for me. All you have to do is leave me a comment telling me your favorite thing about spring and on Monday March 21 I will randomly pick a winner. Good Luck! Which reminds me . . . Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Legwarmies

I started these legwarmies a while back when it rained and rained for days on end. I know it was a while ago because I knit the majority while Rylie sleepily nursed. Nowadays, I would not get away with knitting while nursing. She would definitely be grabbing my yarn and needles the whole time! I do remember looking down a few times to see her gently holding my yarn as I knit away and my heart would melt into a giant puddle of raindow kisses.

The legwarmies are from this pattern and I have lots of the Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino that it recommends, which knits like a dream. They are so cute and so soft, I would love to knit Rylie a set of these in every color. And I just might do that considering they help keep her legs warm while she is scooting around the floor these days. I can easily pull them down from her knees so she can get the extra traction as she is learning to crawl.

Plus, they look darn cute with her cloth diapers. I have been asked a lot about how it is going with the diapers and here is an update:

We love cloth diapers. It has taken us a little trial and error to find the process that works best for us, but now we feel like seasoned pros. At first, it was a bit of an adjustment because the cloth diaper feels much more wet to Rylie than her disposable diapers. So we had to get used to changing her more often. Which I am all for. I would hate for her to sit in a wet diaper too long and get a rash. Because she is able to feel when she is wet there is a chance that she will be ready to use the potty earlier and leave those diapers behind altogether. That would be awesome! Nowadays, she wets way more than she used to in terms of volume. This is completely logical considering her bladder is now bigger than it used to be and can hold more. So if she wakes in the night, I will change her diaper. But just in case she doesn't wake, we have been putting two of the microfiber inserts into her diaper cover instead of one. This gives her extra back up absorbency. Rylie is not keen on being disturbed during the night.

And since she is growing so quickly these days, we have gone up one size on her diaper's adjustable snaps. This is precisely the reason that the one size adjustable diaper was so important to us. We did not want to have to buy a whole batch of new diapers every time Rylie outgrew the last one.

The most notable change in our regimen of late is the handling of number twos. Since Rylie began eating solids about a month ago, the number twos have changed - big time. We are no longer able to just throw those dirties into the laundry, now the poo needs to be removed from the diaper and flushed down the toilet. This whole process has become loads (hee hee) easier after we purchased this diaper sprayer which has proven to be a game changer. It is super simple to install and it allows us to easily rinse the diaper contents into the toilet. No mess—no worries, and I assure you, it is not as gross as it sounds.

Not quite up for the challenge of traveling with cloth diapers, we used Nature Babycare disposables and wipes when we went to Michigan this past January. They worked well and held up to Rylie's epic dirty diaper that she had on take off during our flight back to LA.

A Ball For Baby

I've been keeping myself busy around here with a little bit of crafting now and then. I made the ball above from the For Kicks Patchwork Ball pattern in this book. I used my leftover fabric from the bunting for my baby shower. It is all from the Meadowsweet collection by Sandi Henderson. I love the cheeriness of the prints and palette together.

The ball was a little tricky, and in the interest of full disclosure, my photos are helping it look more round than it really is. When I use fiberfill, I know enough to use small amounts at a time, but I have difficulty shaping things how I want them. It is also a challenge to figure out how much to use on a given a project. Too little, and your project is wimpy, too much and it becomes impossible to stitch closed. Fiberfill rant aside, I do love the way this ball looks and I love that it is handmade by mama with lovely soft cotton prints and not plastic.

So Little Lady, my darling, please come out and play with your new ball now!

Sugar Top

Slowly, but surely, working on the quilt top.

Once this sweet quilt top is complete I will need to find someone to do some long arm machine quilting on it to finish it off. Maybe, here?

Pretty soon you will be able to make your own Sugar Pop Quilt, it will be available on the Moda website as a free download. (So definitely practice your sweet stitches.) I'll let you now when the project sheet is up and ready for download. To keep yourself busy while you wait, you could join the SugarPoppers on Flickr so that you can add your quilt photo when you are done!

Crochet Weekend

I have been busy this weekend working on a new crochet project. It has been slow going and I am a bit down about the whole thing and feeling sorry for myself. I know. I'm such a bummer. Since there's not much progress to show you, let's just look at the beautiful yarn and think of all its wonderful potential. I need to come back to this project with a fresh perspective and rested eyes.

Baby Alpaca

Cashmerino

My progress. Trust me, it wasn't for lack of enthusiasm. But that yarn sure is pretty, huh?

Getting Prepared

So, I've decided that I really need to get down to business on my baby crafting since it is all of a sudden July now! I've had a yard of my Western fabric in upholstery weight just waiting for me to turn it into a diaper bag.

I want a bag that is simple and non-fussy, something with a long strap to be worn like a messenger bag so that I can move around more freely. My instincts tell me that is going to be important. So I decided on the Diaper Bag pattern from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing for Baby. You may remember when I made the most adorable dress from the same book.

This bag worked up really quick and it was really easy to make. I love the book because Lotta writes super straightforward instructions and the projects are simple, but still unique and special. I love my bag! It has two pockets in the front for all manner of baby accessories (of which there are many.) The bag itself is big enough to hold tons of stuff. That is all anyone ever tells you about going out and about with baby; bring lots of stuff! But the bag is not over-sized either, which I appreciate. Ryan even digs it and since the pattern is pretty gender neutral he can sport that thing around town while maintaining a bit of his dignity.

To see what crafters are making from Lotta'a fabulous book, check out the group over on Flickr. There are other great patterns out there for diaper bags too. I looked at a really beautiful, grown up one in this book, and the adorable one in Handmade Beginnings. There is even a felted diaper bag in this one that I was thinking about knitting, but ultimately decided on the one above and it is perfect! Now, I'll just have to wait and see if its function matches its form.