Sunday, August 31, 2008

mad dash of sewing


Lena's bag, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

The day before we left for our beach trip, I felt a strong urge to create something just for Lena for the trip. I ended up drawing up this pattern, made a quick "draft", then grabbed two of my favorite fat quarters and this was the outcome!! I made 4 pencil pockets on the inside for her Ferby pencils and a larger pocket for her small notebook. My favorite detail was the ladybug linen ribbon and wooden button on the front. (Click on the picture to take you to my flickr page to see a closeup of the front in my photostream!)

Saturday, August 30, 2008

my breakfast and a happy 10!


week's worth of breakfasts, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

So Leslie . . . why are you posting a picture of your morning breakfast on your blog . . .?
Well . . . because for a whole week my husband has cooked breakfast for everyone on our vacation . . . because he's awesome! It is well worth noting!!!

Happy 10 honey!

Yesterday after a day on the beach, he had all three kids in the outside shower cleaning off all the sand caked onto their skin. I happened to peek over the stall and saw three naked bottoms ~ so cute ~ and said, "Look at what we have to show for our 10 years together!"

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Our morning outing . . .


Bodie lighthouse, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

Bodie Island Lighthouse ~ pronounced Body ~ this is where we spent our morning. It was very quiet and peaceful . . .

. . . lighthouse outing


jonmichael playing, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

. . . more on Bodie's Lighthouse


lighthouse stairs, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

This is as far as they allow the public to go. I loved the lines and the contrast of the black iron stairs with the painted brick walls.

knitting on the road


knitting on the road, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

Elise's purple sweater is almost finished!! I just need to add the buttons! With the leftover skein, I decided to make her a coordinating scarf to wear with it ~ made an easy road trip project.

size 6 needles; rowan cashsoft
the pattern:
cast on 30 stitches
knit 1 row
*slip 1 purlwise, purl one, knit to the end*
continue * to * until desired length
bind off.

slipping the 1st stitch and purling the 2nd stitch on each row makes the rows neater and give the scarf a nice edge.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Our day through my eyes


Lena, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

Some days it's a challenge to document the unique things I see each day in my children. There is so much I see, but there are times the camera isn't within arms reach, or I miss the right moment (some have experienced this problem with digital!) It's so much fun when I succeed at capturing what I feel exposes a part of what I see. Today, I thought I would share photos of what our day was like through my eyes . . .

. . . day through my eyes


, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

. . . day through my eyes


wearing her feet, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

. . . day through my eyes


wearing her feet, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

. . . day through my eyes


Lena's hair, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Playing by the river


Playing by the river, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

With the summer's end getting nearer and nearer, our children are still enjoying the last days . . . wherever we may end up that day.

Friday, August 22, 2008

children's play


Doll Play, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

If I could go back and choose any major in college I wanted to, it would be "children's play". There is no such a thing, but its so fascinating to me right now what goes on with their play no matter where we are. Just this week we discovered acorns that had fallen on our walking path (fall is quickly approaching), spent time in the loose dirt by the picnic tables where we eat by the river occasionally. Everywhere play is in full bloom, and I just love sitting back and watching, taking note how quickly they get lost in their moment of play.

This morning I was gathering up all the ba-ba's, and blankets that got left on our bed during the night/morning wake up routine and there this doll was lying on the floor next to the girl's dresser, nothing on but this handy sock for a cap, it made me chuckle, that at some moment one of them thought that their sock would make a nice cap for their doll!

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Introducing . . .


Introducing . . ., originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

a new pattern in the works! This will most likely be the cover for my latest (and first!) pattern I've designed. It's a vintage style shirt smock. This simple shirt smock looks great on, has a fantastic a-line to it and is so playful and quite easy to sew!!! There's lots still to do, draw up a final draft and send them out to testers . . .

Friday, August 15, 2008

for a birthday present


for a birthday present, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

Meet Dalton, the spaceboy. He's a birthday gift for a party we're going to this weekend. Hillary has designed a fantastic pattern, it was easy to follow and I love the end result!!! What a sweet face on that spaceboy!

In the mail . . .


In the mail . . ., originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

More gnomes . . .
it's getting harder and harder to find these little guys, so when I saw that Crafty Planet had them, I ordered 3 yards and Meg's bag pattern to go with it.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Linen pleated handbag


Linen pleated handbag, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

This was the end result. Lonely thrifted pants, made into something usable and beautiful for me!

Thrifted linen pants . . .

This is the before picture of those linen pants. Because of the style of pant, I got a lot of usable linen for my bag.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Something old turns into something new


Picture 293, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

I got quite a bit of linen out of that $7 spent on these size 12 pilazzo linen (Spiegel) pants I found at a thrift store Monday night. What a find!!! I have been seam ripping to save every square inch of that precious fabric. Project in mind . . . Amy Karol's Pleated Beauty Handbag from Bend the Rules Sewing. More details (and pictures) to come!!

Yellow Gnomes


Yellow Gnomes, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

Oh I love these gnomes, all 77 of them, yes I counted them!!! I have been inspired for months now to find these. As luck would have it, something I have wanted so badly was discontinued before I even knew it existed!! The chase was on and these friendly 77 folk have now found their home. I have to give a shout out to Majajane on Etsy for being soooo generous in giving me this sought after piece of material. This is something I wrote the day this transaction took place and want to share it with you:
"I have found the handmade community to be so very kind. I have been looking for whatever I can get of Heather Ross’ Yellow Gnome fabric for quite awhile now since it has long been discontinued. I found the sweetest lady, Majajane, on Etsy who gave me her last little bit of this yellow sweet goodness. People like her are what makes being in this community of sewers/knitters/crafters so special. We are willing to help each other unselfishly, rooting one another on toward success, however each one of us defines it. Thank you MJ, for your generosity!! You’re truly a blessing and you made my day!! " - Leslie

Friday, August 1, 2008

Rock painting


Rock painting, originally uploaded by homebirthmama.

We decided that today we would paint our rocks for a rock garden. I was so surprised at how well Elise was able to concentrate on painting these small rocks that we have gathered from our backyard since last Fall. Both my girls love to play with rocks and collect them wherever we go. There is always a small pile of them somewhere in our minivan . . .