Summer

Summer is seriously getting in the way of my crafting.



How can I complain though, with kids this cute?



I have, however, managed to get a few pretty necklaces finished and listed in my Etsy shop.

And a few more reminders of summer for those in the southern hemisphere.



These pictures were all taken in my backyard, where landscaping is, obviously, not a high priority.

Firsts

I'm about to start on a project that is a first for me. I'm delving a bit deeper into this world of quiting and am going to play with applique.

I'm not feeling nearly as confident as I usually am when trying something new. Usually I've ready a million and four books on the subject before I try something different. But this time I haven't read any books on the subject. Not one. Kinda scary.

I'm only working from a little snippet of information gleaned from this post on MiMi's blog that has been stuck in my brain ever since I first read it.

So here goes nothin'...

Also on the subject of "firsts":
It seems my homeschooled children have been deprived of the cafeteria lunch tray experience. We were at Target, checking out the summer clearance, and the kids went nutso over these trays. When were were paying, Mason even took it upon himself to explain to the cashier that these were trays just like the ones the kids who go to public school use for lunch. And then he mentioned something about "mystery meat". Silly guy!

Meet Felix

Felix is a doll that came to be about 7 or 8 years ago. He spent the first year or so as a blank body. But when Mason got to be around a year old I thought it was time he have a little boy doll. So Felix got finished.

Here he is wearing a pair of pants he's borrowed from a doll named Jo-Jo (who has taken to calling himself "fartin' Martin" lately and no longer wears this style of clothing). Felix is a bit of a nudist, usually. He had his own clothes at one point but we gave up on finding them.


He's had a rough life. Flannel, while soft, does not make for strong skin. Felix has had run-ins with markers and lived to tell the tale. Lately he's begun hanging around with fartin' Martin, who leads a much wilder life than dolls with flannel skin should emulate. But he thinks Martin is cool and he tries to keep up.

Recently Felix found himself with a 4" gash that went from the front of his middle to the back. The poor guy was near death. I managed to close the wound and he recovered.



Immediately following his release from the hospital Felix returned to living life to the hilt. To celebrate his recovery he went out and got a tattoo! Can you believe it?! Who knew Felix was so into the tropical look? I had no idea. And it does hide his scar nicely.

We're so glad Felix is doing so well. But we do hope he settles down just a little.

On another note, I've added lots and lots of new earrings to my Etsy shop!

I can't believe it's been a week!

Has it really been that long since I've posted?

I've had my nose to the grindstone this past week, working on a quilt. And it's finished! Christiana and her mama came by for a visit today so she got to take it home with her. That little babe is such a beauty!

Here are some pictures of the embroidery:





And just click here for a view of the back of the quilt, if that's your sort of thing (it's totally my thing...love the backs!).

It's been a long, long (fun!) day so a short post. Sorry to be so short after such a lapse. I'll be back with more tomorrow.

Revisiting the A-line skirt tutorial

I took new pictures and redid the A-line skirt tutorial. (link in sidebar as well) All the blurry pictures have been replaced with clear and neatly captioned photos. Yay!

(Tiarnna, time for you to get busy making skirts!!)

And here's me (fresh from a mile and a half walk, so be kind) in my new skirt.

And this picture is the perfect segue for mentioning why my crafting has slowed down lately. You see, I've been dieting. I started six weeks ago and have lost 27 pounds so far. I just made a page at SparkPeople.com. If you use their site to track as well you can find my page here if you want to be SparkPeople-friends. :-)

As of the beginning of June, I've been exercising. I've been walking after dinner. Often with the kids. And often with a stop at the playground-which just happens to be exactly 3/4 of a mile from our house.

My old routine was snuggling up next to my hubby to do some crafting while he watched tv. Yes, I watched some tv, too. But I mostly listened. But this new routine of walking all over creation has put a serious crimp in my crafting schedule.