happy birthday opal & jasper!

today we are off to a birthday party...
ms. opal turns 6 and mr. jasper turns 3.

i am pretty excited about this party as from what i understand there will be pony rides and a petting zoo. lucky little munchkins!

i am stuck on what to get mr. jasper. partly because he is a boy (which i never was) but mostly because he is 3. nothing like leaving it to the last minute...

for ms. opal i designed a cupcake library bag (she likes strawberry shortcake so i am hoping cupcakes are right up her alley as well)

and a last minute add-on is a little button flower pin (thank you artsy-crafty babe) i want a reason to make more and more of these!

macbook air screen protector

after this past trip i came to the conclusion that the little foam like insert that comes with your macbook air separating the screen from the keyboard has just about had it. in an effort to keep my screen scratch free i decided to make a replacement (this is all my husband- you see, if it was me i would have tossed it with the rest of the packaging which came with the computer) and then had a screen full of scratches by now.


i used a purple 100% wool felt. (it is much softer than the acrylic). just for fun i embroidered the bunny- and yes it is wearing sylvia’s teal mother’s day scarf.

today i feel like...

after a long flight and a bad nights rest... today i feel like a very tired ms. opal.

wagamama @ bournemouth

bournemouth durley chine

beach huts & boats

dorset piddle brewery

from the back of a beer mat:



piddle 1. spend time in trifling
activities such as drinking
beer 2. (as adj. piddling)
pathetically trifling or
drinking more beer. 3. (as
adj. piddled) end of
activities have drunk too
much beer. 4. (pro noun
piddle) river or stream in
dorset




anthony had his piddle and i had a yogi from ye olde george inn in christchurch.

yummm...

beautiful bournemouth spring flowers

design?

what i am working on...






candy- baby pullover with key hole neckline, cap sleeve and bow tie front closure.





sunflower- green raglan sleeve sweater with a crochet petal collar .

custom made anniversary bag

have you seen one of these little pieces of handiness? it is a bias tape maker by dritz (mine is a single fold 1/2 in.)

imagine the possibilities!

i just took some medium weight white cotton fabric for this project. then cut it in a 1 in. strip to the length i needed, pulled it through and ironed. done.

in my stash i have small stamp letters. and off i went..

the bag is made of 3 pieces of felt- two sides and an oval bottom. before sewing them together i sewed the tape into place, hemmed the top and then put the pieces together. i used a simple raffia cord to tie the bag with wooden beads on the ends so they would not pull through.


happy anniversary to us.

anthony click here!

my new may wreath

happy me

my new book- full of knitting pattern happiness.

i put off buying this book with the thought that amazon(dot)com would get add it to their inventory- alas, i gave up waiting and ordered mine from the knitting garden in massachusetts. while it did take longer to get it than i would have liked it certainly beat amazon. while i feel a little sadness that amazon let me down- it was quickly replaced by ... well..... happy. happy. joy. joy.

thank you kim hargreaves.

jolly 'ol santa claus

look what i found of my grandmothers. it is a "santa claus series no 2" postcard. can you even think about sending an international postcard for 2 cents? mind blowing.

below is the original, scanned and card stalk printed from original & scanned and photo printed from original.

i love u santa- enjoying your champagne with your cigar.
you are the man..

gifties

nice gifts from nice people...

1. a coin purse from swff logistic committee chair.
2. yves delorme scented drawer flowers from bex.

socks

i am in the mood for socks
these are some of my favorites (all from the fabulous sock shop sock dreams)



The above in order are: 1st b.ella missy; 2nd heather lace; 3rd cotton lace; 4th chevrons

I heart...

oliver peoples harlot sunglasses..


my new best friend

of course, anthony thinks they look like
sylvia weinstock's signature glasses.
i am ok with this because her
cakes are the bomb.........

happy mother’s day weekend (part 3)

this is a lace pattern scarf done in multiples of 17 stitches in her favorite color- turquoise. since summertime is almost here and chilly desert nights in new mexico are upon us - i knit to 34 stitches; you can increase the width for a warmer cold weather option should your mother live in a colder climate.



mods:
length extended!





i could not help myself but to include a matching tweet dinner plate from anthropologie made by fredflare.com

happy mother's day!

happy mother's day weekend (part 2)

did you know that in england mother's day (mothering sunday) is celebrated on the 4th sunday in lent.

this was march second this year. we always struggle to get a card that early and i promise myself that i will buy one when they come on sale here in the states and keep it for the following year... now if i have done this i certainly would not know where to find it (or them!)

these were sent to her on time- one of the internet's greatest offerings to the world- a global marketplace full of vendors willing to overnight packages....

ahh wonderful isn't it?

happy mother's day!

happy mother's day weekend (part 1)

happy mother's day weekend to all of you mothers out there...
(especially you mom)
no one could ever wear glasses as cool as yours and look so stylish in them.

oh yeah, and thanks for the curly hair.....

mini bag

today has been a “keep busy day”. sometimes the smallest things find their way into your possessions that are content to wait until you are inspired enough to find a purpose for them. a friend of mine came to visit earlier this year and she was looking throughout our texas hill country antique shops for the perfect tins to sit on the dining tables in her restaurant to hold small packages of sugars and sweetener- such a great idea!

we had fun poking about but my find was a bag of vintage sewing ric rac and other notions. today i paired them with their fabric color soul mates and started sewing away…

besides... who does not need another handbag...

jam'in

yesterday i was thinking about my father-in-law. he and i share a common love for rhubarb. this inspired me to plant some on my boston deck some time ago. it should have occurred to me that a deck in boston is really not the best place to grow… well, anything. needless to say my attempt at container gardening failed (along with the tomatoes)… what was i thinking…

yesterday i came across a recipe from pastry chef elizabeth belkind, grace restaurant, los angeles, for her strawberry-rhubarb jam.

it is a beautifully simple recipe. she is known for her jelly doughnuts- i might try and tackle them this weekend using her jam- we’ll see though, after conquering rhubarb at last i would hate to ruin the high.

the raconteurs @ stubbs

the raconteurs played 2 night sold out shows at stubb’s last week. we chose saturday over the friday night show. not sure if this was wise…

first of all the downtown area was closed to traffic for the austin 30th annual old pecan street festival this made parking a joke but not impossible. as it turned out we arrived just as they were going on stage.

but second, the band was not really in love with the audience. you could tell, almost as if they were on stage for themselves- playing to only them.

but one has to overlook both minor disappointments when you heard them play. the piano ending to you don’t understand me… very mind-blowing.

as part of the audience, i loved them.




........and when it was over i could only wish i could make it all happen again....