Another Sewing Project

I made this purse for me. I lined it with batting and interfacing to add some weight to it. I also put in a piece of cardboard to make the base more ridged. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.
This is another zippered pouch that I made. This time I lined it with a water resistant material. I found a great tutorial here. I read it once and thought the directions were very confusing but when I actually sat down and did it with the pieces in front of me it was quite simple and I'm not that much of an experienced seamstress. I want to make a couple more larger ones to hold all our sunscreen and wet bathing suits when we go to the beach this summer.

Gift That Keeps on Giving

This is an orchid that I got from a very good, longtime friend many years ago. She gave it to me in full bloom on my birthday. It has faithfully bloomed around my birthday every year since then. So my birthday must be coming soon...
I've had this orchid for probably at least five years. How do I take care of it? The answer is I don't. I put it in an old jar with some water in the bottom and some stones for decoration. The pot that it is in is an orchid pot that has slits in it. I heard from somewhere that the roots like humidity but don't like to be wet so I came up with this idea. The roots hang in the air above the water but don't sit in the water. It is in a room that has indirect sunlight and is relatively warm. Once a year I clean the rocks, and the jar with a little bleach and water. I also cut off any dead roots at that time. And that's it.

Confetti Walls

This is our playroom that is in our basement. I fell in love with this confetti idea that I got from this book. It was a lot of work but turned out really cute.

Fabric Eggs

I made these from my many fabric scraps after I saw this tutorial. Super cute and very easy!!

Hurry Spring!!

I got these at my favorite local nursery. They have the cutest little collection of succulents and cacti. I got my sister a trio for a house warming gift recently and had to get myself some. While at the nursery I saw their rows and rows of annuals and perenials in their huge greenhouse. How I can't wait for the gardening season to get here. Hurry spring!!!

Another One

I can feel my OCD kicking in...

Matching Accessories

These are the accessories that I made to go along with the spring purse. They are, from top to bottom, a tissue holder, a change pouch and a larger pouch. The pouches were easier to make than I thought they would be. I might get addicted to making these. I love pouches for organizing so I'll be making plenty of these for myself. I'm sure before I know it my pouches will have pouches...

Spring Gift

I made this purse for a friend who has a spring birthday. I hope she will like it. I was so inspired by all the pretty spring fabrics at the fabric store. I had to restrain myself. I did buy some fabric to make myself one, just one!!

More Stamps

I decided to make this stamp last weekend. Above is the sketch that I worked from along with the final product. We had a children's birthday party to go to and I had to buy a gift bag and card (I didn't have any bags to recycle and we didn't have time for Nora to make a card). Well I ended up spending almost as much on the packaging as I did on the gift. I'm going to plan ahead and make a bunch of cards with this stamp instead of spending almost 5 dollars (?!?!?!) on a card next time...

Woody and Batman

Jack loves drawing little guys. This is Woody (from Toy Story) on the left and Batman on the right. Jack told me he was Batman because of his ears and the little bumps he has on his arms (which I never noticed until he pointed them out).

Jack

This is Jack's preschool picture. It is so him...

When Nora asked him why he was holding an apple he shrugged and said, "They told me to."

Somebody Needs a Haircut!!

Yikes, talk about bed head!

Stamps

I did linoleum block prints when I was in high school and always enjoyed it. So when I came across this stamp making tutorial I thought I would try it for myself. Here is my first attempt. It's a lot of fun and I will definitely be trying this again. Above is the finished stamp and the cutters I used.
This is the sketch I worked from along with the first two attempts.

Brooklyn

Pen and Ink sketch.

Watercolor and Ink

Signs of Spring...

I took this last week and was feeling excited that spring might be just around the corner. It's one of my daffodils that I planted last fall. Now it's covered in a foot of snow...

Loon Mountain, Lincoln, NH

Nora, Jack and their friend sledding at Loon.
Nora climbing the snow pile outside the condo we stayed at.
Loon Mountain is in the background.

Jack and me on the train that brings skiers back and forth. It's and old fashioned steam engine that uses firewood for fuel. I think the kids thought it was the best part of the trip!