WIP::week3

it felt quite good to finish and send my Vintage Button Swap package. yesterday felt quite productive. i sent my package and changed our address then went drop off our unwanted things at Goodwill. of course since i was there i had to just stop in and see what they had. i was quite happy with my findings, photos will follow soon for that.

Miss. A was dropped off at the in-laws for the night so we were free to make a big mess at the new place once we got the keys. last night we ripped up the carpet in the livingroom, hall and bedrooms and were pleased with what we found. the bedrooms are in worse shape then the livingroom. now we are off to rip up the tack strips along the walls before Miss. A comes back this afternoon. the fun is just starting...

WIP::week2

the fun is continuing as the boxes get stacked higher. i am finding it hard to pack knowing that i will not have access to many of the items for some time. take note of the many suitcases in the top photo, they are filled with most of my fabric and i wonder when i will get into them again.


this evening i decided it was time to pack my shoes. those who know me well know the numbers of shoes i have accumulated over the years. daniel even took it upon himself to make me what he deemed the 'shoeport'. the port runs longer than the length of our bed and is not big enough to hold all of them. so this evening i packed almost all of them away only keeping out running shoes, soccer shoes, flip-flops and a few flats...thats funny i am still unable to pack away about ten pairs of shoes will i truly get around to using them? it is like packing for a plane trip i always pack about two or three more books then needed or take two knitting projects and find that i never get to more than one.

another part of WIP this weekend will be to pick out some paint colors. we are going to be painting all rooms sooner then later along with ripping up the carpets. i am thinking the kitchen will be all white with an accent wall, in the dinning area, painted a robin egg blue. the idea is still being milled around but the same shade of blue will be repeated on one wall in the bathroom.
we will see how much work actually gets done this weekend. they are forecasting 107F for Saturday so we may be seeking shelter in a nice air-conditioned place.

New House::9 more days

it is hard to believe that we only have a few more days until we get the keys to the new place. for the time being we are keeping ourselves busy packing boxes and trying to not feel overwhelmed by the lack of space. right now my work in progress (WIP) is purging and packing items. actually the amount of purging has been less then i would have thought. i think more will happen when we unpack, or at least that is my hope.

the other day i came to the sad realization that i would probably not get around to many of the projects i want to be doing and so i started packing things up. into boxes when all of my yarn, fabric, ribbons and more. i did keep my buttons out because i knew that i was participating in the Vintage Button Swap. i also kept a few bits of fabric and cut out lamb pieces in order to finish some baby gifts but we will see if i get to those.


the last time i posted i talked about a birthday gift i was in the process of making. the outcome was quite pleasing. i did some fabric applique on a shirt to match a pair of pants and then carried the pattern over into a book bag i stitched together. i also experimented with applying a freezer paper stencil on the front with the birthday girls initial. the next task i would like to make are few bags for Miss A to keep in the car, maybe hung over the front seats, in order to put books and toys in.

i am looking forward to having my very own sewing room where i can spread projects out and just close the door when done working on them. it is will be quite a change from the way it has been.

Work In Progress:: birthday:baby:big sister

it feels good to get back into some projects that have been on my list.
lambs all around::

this lamb has been a lot of fun to sew together. i am making them out of a felted wool blanket and hand sewing them together. it is so relaxing to hand-sew these days.

burp cloth::book bag

i made a few burp cloths a while back and now have reason to make a few more. the book bag is for a friend who is turing one and loves to carry books with her in the stroller.

findings purse::

a fun little purse for the new big sister. she is just two and loves to collect things. so i thought a little purse would be wonderful for putting found objects in.

i am also very excited to starting thinking about my latest swap. it is a swap of sorts but more a collaberation with like minds from all over the world. Marianne of applehead has put together a calendar swap. each individual designs one month page for a 2007 calendar and then we send a copy of our work to all other participants. in the end we will each have a calender designed from women all around the globe. my mind is racing but that project will be on going for quite some time.

WIP::or why i had not blogged in so long

::party favors::

having a birthday is a lot of fun. i was very excited to plan and make things for the event and yet it required so much of my attention. i don't believe i looked at others blogs much in the past weeks, though it was hard at times to stay away. as more and more things were made i longed to document them but would forget and move on to the next thing.
::garland::

since the party was in a park i thought it would be fun to make a garland that hung from the trees over the eating area. it was quite fun cutting out the triangles and then sewing them together. i think i will modify them a bit now and sew them closer so that they can hang in Miss A's room.
::centerpieces::

the pinwheels we a lot of fun to make as well. with a bit of finagling on Daniels part we were able to construct them so that they were both baby proof and able to spin. not an easy task at first but in the end they worked.

happy birthday little one

it is so hard to believe that a year ago today Miss A was born. the first day was filled with sleeplessness and joy but we were ready to take on the world. each minute and hour was fresh in our mind we could recall how many diapers she had used and how often she ate even a week later.

some how we made it through the sleepless nights. we no longer keep track of how many diapers she uses but instead try to remember to write down the milestones as she reaches them. once so helpless she is now already showing us how independent she thinks she is. for her birthday she recieved a little push bike and she has already learned to get both on and off all by herself.

it is hard for me to immagine what she will be doing next year.

along with planning for her party these past weeks we have found ourselves in the middle of buying a house. i might start by saying that we were only just getting into the market when this all took place. we met with the realtor for the first time on a thursday and by tuesday we were not only looking at our first house but putting an offer down. by wednesday afternoon we had our offer accepted and friday we had the inspection. so now we are just going down the list of to-dos. it is hard to believe that by the end of this month we will be moving into our new place. i am happy to say that this new place includes a sewing room with built in shelving and sewing table. it has true 1950's charm and has not changed much since the owner moved in the early 60's. so from now until the end of the month we have our hands full but i am hoping to be a bit better about bloging and working on projects.

as for today we are enjoying a quite day at home with the birthday girl.

gocco initiation

well we used our new gocco machine over the weekend for the first time.

it was quite the adventure but a lot of fun. working with the inks reminded me of the many hours spent in the letterpress lab during colledge. working with Daniel on this project brought back memories of working well into the night on our wedding invitations, setting type, mixing inks and finagling with type no end. i find it hard to believe that we are going on five years this August. it always takes a bit of time familiarize ones self with a new product. we had a lot of fun working on this together and are now moving on to fabrics. there are just so many fun things you can do with the Gocco.

but for now i guess i should keep my focus on the party planning for now. my biggest hang up is not the decorations but the food. if any of you have suggestions as to food for a one year birthday i would love to hear them.

on a more random photo fit in of the girl who love to swing.

::color week::red

a basket of road side diner fries never tasted so good as when they are presented to you on red and white checkered paper. i love fries, they are my weaknesses, yet the amount of time they are good are far few and in between. why is that? it is like fish-n-chips. i would order them all the time when going to pubs and bars and they were never as good as they sounded. now we had a pact if i want to buy fish-n-chips Daniel will remind me that i only like them at select places and that i should not set myself up for disappointment. why has it taken me so long to realize this?

::color week::blue

army of men on the horizon or at least that is what it always looks like to me. this was taken on our road trip to visit family in Montana this past April.

::color week::black/gray

a photo montage compiled of photos of New York::Portland::Eugene. adhered to sections of steal tubing.

our old Royal that saw more use in years past but still makes a wonderful object to look at.

the old Monophone purchased five years ago on our honeymoon. no longer used because we are a cell phone only family now. gone are the days of sitting down and having a conversation on the phone. being made to just enjoy the moment of talking with another person without doing anything else. maybe we will revert back to this one day we also have a vintage Bell wall phone in the basement somewhere just waiting to be unearthed.

cornstarch/water entertainment

one of our new favorite pastimes is to play with a bowl of cornstarch and water. Ms. A had quite a bit of fun with this one the other day. i got this idea from Such Small Hands and we are going to be playing with this a lot more.

she was very excited not only to play with the stuff but i guess she thought it tasted good as well. i am thinking that there is little harm in a bit of the old starch and water getting into the system.

she was quite content until she got distracted by the other things around the house but the good news is that it is easy to clean up.

::color week::brown

::brown::
Originally uploaded by devinemom. our remnants of dinner, Cajun rubbed stakes with something else on the side. this was such a wonderful sight of the coagulating fat as water was running over it. we just had to grab the camera with Lensebaby and document it.

the invitations are coming along. last night Daniel worked on the images being used and we may be doing a bit of the Gocco this evening if all goes as planned.

::color week:: white

this week i will be participating in Little Birds color week challenge. i am looking forward to it because it give me subject matter for my blog and it keeps my eyes open for new things. this weekend we were out quite a bit and were able to take some wonderful photos. this image of 'white' is from a wonderful coffee shop in Hood River, OR. we traveled there on Sunday for the day. this chair is from our favorite little coffee shop there that has some amazing modern design furniture.

monday :: white
tuesday :: brown
wednesday :: black/gray (a color, not a black & white photo)
thursday :: blue
friday :: red

i know it has been quite some time since i last wrote and i am sorry for that. things around here have been quite busy with guests, projects and little Ms. A. we are busy trying to plan her birthday and make her invitations. it is always quite a production when there is a graphic designer in the house, nothing is ever simple. i know they are going to look wonderful but it is just all the steps that go into designing them. i am quite excited to use my Gocco machine for the first time it will be quite a change from letterpress which we have used in the past.

for this week i am going to focus on posting my color week photos and working on my many projects around the house. i will try to post more often these next few weeks.

month 11

11 months
Originally uploaded by devinemom.

It is amazing for me to think that Ms. A was born eleven months ago. Life has changes so much for us this past year and it is all for the better. She started out so small and needy and has grown into quite the independent child already. Now being mobile she is ready to get out on her own and discover all there is. Her keen sense of observation makes us wonder what it is she is truly planning in that little mind of hers. Since the day she was born she has had a furrowed brow, something inherited from Daniel. Many say she looks worried but we believe that it is her pensive observation of the world. We can only imagine what the following eleven months will bring.

across the world and around the corner

This week has been filled with many packages coming and going around the world. It is quite fun both to go to the post office to send packages and also to receive them. I guess once you start participating in swaps the mail just starts to come in at the end of the month. Yesterday a package showed up from Australia, Marianne sent me a wonderful little package filled not only with a smock pattern but also a few goodies. There were some of her award-winning crocheted flowers, some hand-made felt, buttons and chocolate along with a postcard she made. Thank you Marianne, a package is in the mail for you and the girls.



I also was able to ship my trim swap package yesterday, nothing like waiting till the day of the deadline to send something. It was a lot of fun putting this gift together I am looking forward to Wendy receiving it. Here is a sneak peek of what was sent.



And then today I received a package from my swap partner. It just happens that she lives within thirty blocks of me, quite funny I would say. Stephanie gave me quite a generous lot of trim and also added one of her amazing pinecone pincushion. I have admired her blog for some time now and it is just so much fun to receive some of her work, to think that we are practically neighbors. We may run into one another at the market some day soon.



On top of all the swapping of packages I have been quite productive in the knitting world. Friday evening I finished two projects one was the Zebra that I wrote about a while back and another was a bird (looks a bit like a pig) for Ms. A. Both projects had been 99% done but I just needed a rainy evening to finish things off. I also picked up and worked on a pair of socks that have been almost done since February, when I intended to give them to my sister for her birthday. Well they are getting there.

::trim run::

Well yesterday afternoon I stopped by a fabric store that I rarely frequent and picked up some wonderful trims and ribbons. I am very excited for the Trim Swap, this is my first official swap and as Applehead said "its like when you were a kid and sending stuff off to penpals you had never met". This says it so well, it is wonderful to know that you are making and sending things for others to enjoy. I think everyone loves getting special packages of goodies and fun. My next task is to pick from these trims along with my stock pile in order to compile the package in time for its sending date.

crewel intentions

this weekend none of my intended projects got worked on and I was quite unproductive as far as crafts are concerned. instead we were busy with soccer games and BBQs with friends but I did attempt a bit of crewel. on Thursday afternoon I picked up a wonderful book of inspiration at the library. so in the very little free time there was I attempted crewel for the first time and loved it.

for now I will keep playing around with this sample but hope to pursue it on some level. it is quite relaxing for me and there are so many great ideas in this book.

life revisited:or the weeks in reverse

For the past few weeks it feels as if so much has happened that I don't want to attempt a new entry. So my solution is to submit photo montages for the first few weeks of May. How else and I going to have time to describe all that has take place?

Derby Day was quite a wonderful event that we happened to squeeze into a weekend of hosting a baby shower, work deadlines and visits from my sister and her family. Today we are off to enjoy viewing the Preakness Stakes race with a few friends.

derby day mosaic

Throughout the past few weeks I have been working on too many projects. I have been so inspired and motivated by different things that it is hard to keep all the ideas straight. There have been freezer paper projects, whip lash challenges, knitting, tie one on smock, sewing shirts for Ms. A, and then my mothers day gift of a Gocco machine showed up. The motivation to keep going is endless but the time to do it all is minimal. I am always bemused by the lack of time there is when you have a little one running around underfoot. I have to remember to take the time I have and use it wisely but also to write ideas and inspiration down so I don't forget them before they are realized.

progress of projects

And here is a quick snippet of life. We have been enjoying the days of wonderful sun and warm weather. They have lent themselves to many walks, dinners out and afternoons at the park. Mothers day was even a sunny one and it made for a perfect day to attempt my first half marathon. I had decided back in January that it would be my gift to myself, inspiration to get back into shape after having Ms. A. To my supurse it went well and I reached all of the goals that I set out for myself.

happenings of life

This weekend I hope to finish a project or two. One being the smock for Tie One On and another being an oilcloth mat to go under the high chair. We will see what the weekend produces.

yarn interrupted

This weekend I decided to challenge myself to make a project for Whiplash. The assignment was yarn and at once my mind was racing. I love to knit and there are many an unfinished project sitting around the house but I knew that I would not have the time to start/finish a knitting project in four days. My next challenge was to think of something quick and fun to do and then I remembered a few wool sweaters I had sitting around ready to go to Goodwill. I decided to try and transform one of them seeing that the sweaters are made of wool/yarn. This is the result.

First I started with a 100% wool pull over and felted it in the washer and dryer.


I then cut the neck and front open to make a cardigan and embellished it with a bit of leftover fabric.


It was a lot of fun and I truly enjoy the end result.

weekend inspiration

weekend inspiration
Originally uploaded by devinemom.

this morning i found a bit of inspiration for projects this weekend. we will see what comes of it but i have been working a bit with embroidery lately and love some of these ideas.
my big project is to work on a design for whip-lash whose theme is yarn. i can't wait to see what the weekend reveals.

mammal reincarnate

mammal tee day
Originally uploaded by devinemom.

It is just so easy. I have been experimenting with freezer paper stencils and found instant gratification from it. The process is quite easy once settled on a design and I have been able to finish a shirt during one of A's naps. This is quite nice seeing that many of the other projects I pick up during her nap time are quite often set aside unfinished. Todays inspiration came from her Mammal, an over stuffed toy that she enjoys playing on at times. After her nap this morning we enjoyed some time 'riding' the mammal in the sun.

Pastime:Buy Time

As little A gets bigger nap times are getting shorter and I am getting very little done. The nice part is that she is finding herself being entertained with the little things in life. Most recently I have introduced her to the plastic drawer and it has bought me some time. This afternoon when A woke up I was in the middle of washing dishes and decided to test out the drawer trick. So for the next twenty minutes she was fully absorbed while I attempted to finished my many tasks. It is a bit of a tight squeeze considering our kitchen is smaller than that of a Brooklyn Brownstone's but for now it is working well for both of us.