Summer

this year's garden:

L's first sushi:

L's fourth sushi:

swinging:



playing with daddy:

Fiesta colors

Easter Dress

Here's a sneak peak at this little dress I made for L from this simple pattern Whitney sent me from Knitty (it's at the bottom of the page). It turned out really nicely (unlike the sweater vest I made John...), and it came together in just a day. It's the 6 month size, and it's still a little big on her!

Cables!

This Christmas my family played a little game where we all wrote down things we wanted do, people we wanted to be more like, and habits we wanted to break in the new year.

My new thing was learning to cable knit. I've wanted to do it for years, but just hadn't gotten to it. So one day last week I sat down with my book and read about cable knitting. That's it? Really? I put it off all this time, and really that's all.

So cables really aren't very hard. This is going to be a little hat for L (just in time for summer). I just made up a little pattern based on this one, mostly just to give me a project to do cables. I'll show it when it's finished.

Snow Day

The weather was so lovely when we went hiking, and then we had maybe 4 inches of heavenly snow, and then yesterday it was so nice and warm we played out side. Today it's rainy. Whatever - I'm enjoying all of it. Here's our snow day.

Just a quick note to say: Look at this little quilt I made John for Valentine’s Day!

In Like a Lion

Oh, wait. Its still February.

We had a little snow, and lovely icicles last week.
The next day, John brought me some daffodils that were blooming.





And, I put L in the laundry basket while I made dinner.

Wrapping

I've been working hard to get a nice look for my etsy merchandise, and I think some of these ideas have been kind of fun. Here's a look at what I do:

I tie a ribbon around every item. I slide a tag onto the item using a tiny safety pin. Some of my tags have printed logos on them, and others are just plain cardstock with one of my homemade stamps. Then I wrap it all up in tissue paper.



Next, I sew up an envelope, from a paper grocery sack, apply a few stamps, and voila! I'm new to stamping, so I keep getting them crooked or smudgy. Who knew stamps were so tricky?



And, hey, Audrey - you can carve a stamp using lino cutters on a block of rubber, or even a good rubber eraser. You can buy a little kit that comes with all the supplies for pretty cheap at most craft stores.

Craftsy

I'm having so much fun on Etsy.

Etsy emphasizes packaging. They tell you to make your package feel like a present. John printed some stickers for me that I usually put on my packages, but I'm starting to run out. So I thought I would try something new. I almost bought a set of stamps from this great stamp shop on etsy, but then I did that thing I always do, and decided I could just make them myself (sometimes this is a bad habit, because honestly, who has time to do everything, but sometimes it turns out well).

So, here are my little stamps. I'm not very happy with the bird house, but I think the lettering turned out super! I have a big block of stamp rubber left, so I'm hoping to make more. Some little things, maybe a chicken, cat, or houseplant; some product specific things, like a baby sling; and some words, "thanks," "handmade", and "for you."

Any other ideas?


Also, I traded in my sewing machine for this new one. It has a couple of cool features, like a button holer. But most excitingly, it has the hinges on the back, so I can attach it to my mom's old sewing cabinet - which I love. I'm very excited about this.

I tried making some more flip dolls for etsy, as Annaleise and Jennifer suggested. I had a really great idea for them. BUT, I'm having trouble figuring out how to assemble them. I hand stitched the part that flips onto L's doll, and I think it should be all machine sewed for stability. I can't quite figure it out yet, so I'm going to stew on it, and move on to other things.

So, I'm working on a new project, which you can see snippets of here. I think it's going to turn out well, and may also end up on etsy. I'll share it when it's finished.

Christmas

I was a bum this Christmas, and hardly took any pictures - but here's a few to share. Merry Christmas!