cherry tomato

i love autumn

I received this stunning package from Andrea a couple of weeks ago now, and I've neglected to post about it. If you aren't familiar with Andrea's blog, I highly recommend it. She writes beautifully.

Anyway, Andrea organized an Autumn-themed swap to celebrate her favorite season. While not my favorite season (that would be Spring), Autumn is a very close second. So when I saw that Andrea was organizing the swap, I signed on. It couldn't have come in a better year either. This Autumn has been amazing. A year ago, we were having record rainfall in Seattle, and Eric and I were dealing with a flooded basement. This year has been much drier, and I've been able to more fully embrace the season. We live in a lovely tree-lined neighborhood with a greenbelt behind our house, so we're surrounded by the changing leaves, foraging squirrels and plump birds.

Andrea's swap package arrived on a particularly horrible day, so coming home from work to her awaiting package made my day. As soon as I opened it, all the stress of the day melted away and was replaced by pure delight. I am so touched by all the treasures she included. Particularly these:

One of Andrea's gorgeous book frocks accompanied by one of her favorite reads. She also included some school-themed items like pencils, a small globe and a couple of notebooks, and, of course, some fabric and other crafty bits.

I've been so busy that I haven't even been able to fully enjoy the entire package but plan to go through each item slowly, so I can fully savor each little treasure.

Thank you, dear Andrea.

i'm melting....

I'm not going to lie. I've been complaining quite a bit about how cool the weather has been, wondering when it would finally feel like summer around here. When I awoke to sunshine on Saturday morning, I gleefully rose and immediately started working on the planned projects for the day. The big plan was to plant the annuals we had purchased earlier in the week. We're a little behind in getting our annuals planted this year, and I'm sure that has everything to do with buying the house. I feel like the last month has just fallen into a black hole of time, and now I'm realizing how much I have to do.

My immediate concern is Plush You II. Initially, our submissions were due in September, but now our due date is in less than a month, and I have nothing more than an idea. Additionally, Blair and I will be running a workshop during the show, and we've been trying to come up with a plan. At least we have a little more time to get that in order, but I have a feeling this summer is going to fly by, and October is already shaping up to be a crazy month. It's the month we'll be moving into our house, so I know all my concentration will be focused on that.

Anyway, I tried to sit down and work out a pattern for my Plush You submissions. I cut it out, sewed it up, realized it was smaller than I had envisioned, and threw it aside. It's not that I'm not motivated. I truly am. It's just that,

IT'S FRIGGIN' HOT HERE!!

Have I mentioned that? Oh yeah, I started to, but I got a bit sidetracked. See, it's been rather chilly around here. In fact, just last Friday I was complaining about how terribly wrong it was that I still had to wear a jacket to work in the morning. So when I awoke to the sun on Saturday, I was elated. I immediately set to work. I spray painted our flower boxes a nice light green color, then set to work planting the geraniums, petunias and begonias we had purchased at half price because they had all been woefully neglected. We felt very proud of ourselves for saving them and giving them a lovely new home.

I was enjoying our little task so much that I didn't really notice exactly how warm it was getting outside. It was so unexpected, that I didn't really even pay attention. Sure, the weather forecasters said it was going to be warm, but they're always so unreliable. Of course, in this situation they were unreliable as well - they failed to tell me it was going to be sweltering.

Despite the heat, and my subsequent sunburn, I had one of the finest days I've had in a long time. I took my old twin sized laura ashley comforter from college out to the lawn, sat down and worked on my mailorder project. I spent more time than I would like to admit trying to figure out the secret word, but felt so satisfied once I had, and I'm quite please with the reward.

There were butterflies all over the back yard. Eric and put out some melon for them hoping they would get just a little bit closer, but they never did. Nonetheless, they were thrilling to see. that evening we had good friends over for an impromptu BBQ and sipped mojitos as the sun went down. It simply could not have been a more perfect summer day.

But then there was yesterday: 90 degrees. And today: 92 degrees. We northwesterners simply aren't prepared for such heat in much the same way we aren't prepared for snow. Here, it's all about moderation: not too hot, not too cold. Even the sunworshippers are out of sorts, and it's difficult to get any sleep.

So, back to my Plush You project. I just had to give up for the night. I simply don't have the energy. I'm just too hot...

I'll leave you with a picture of Eric's cherished Valiant. It got a bath today because Eric is going to be selling it. I can't believe we never went to a single drive-in movie in that car...

I'm so sorry to those of you I haven't written back. I'm still getting caught up. Please be patient with me.

show and tell

criminy, i can't believe it's been a whole week since my last post. this whole house-buying thing can really take a lot out of a girl. the whole process had been cruising along just great until last friday when some issues came up that brought everything to a screeching hault, and left us scrambling to figure out how we were going to make this work. after a frustrating few days, everything has been resolved, and it looks like we may be signing the documents as early as tomorrow! once this is over, i'm going to let out one big sigh of relief.

needless to say, i haven't been extremely productive. Actually, that's not entirely true. I made a dress and skirt for myself a couple of weeks ago, but I don't have any photos to share right now.

I do have this:

and this:

this was a package of vintage fabric and vintage trim i received from my mom. she picked it up at a fantastic little thrift store called, appropriately enough, "nifty thrifty". there are great deals to be had there.

i suppose the big news of the day in crafty blogland is the much anticipated release of hillary's first booklet, "kitty, bunny and bear".

i had no doubt it would sell out quickly, and at 8:00 am i was all set to make my purchase. i was so worried i wouldn't get one, so i kept hitting refresh until it popped up for sale. i think the last time i waiting to buy something like that was when i bought tickets to see radiohead back in 2003. i suppose hillary is kind of the radiohead of cute softies. does that make sense to anyone but me?

it did sell out, but i know there will be another batch coming out.

anyway, thanks hillary for sharing a bit of your brilliance with us!

work is really interfering with my blogging time

Ok, I promised to share some of the generous gifts I received in the past couple of weeks. The first thing I received was from Tammie.

Tammie sent these lovely treats as a "thank you" for some fabric I sent her. I love the quilted card, and the little treats she sent are so perfect for me. I love the violet candy and, of course, I love all lip products. I received this package on a particularly bad day, and it just made my day when I got home and opened my package of goodies. Tammie recently got a print gocco, and the bird card is the adorable result. She has also organized a gocco card swap that I'm participating in. Hmm, that reminds me that I need to get busy on my design!

The next gift I received was from Dacia. She's such a sweetheart. A couple of weeks ago, she was engaging in a random act of kindness and offered to send out some gifts to those who left comments on her blog saying they were interested in the gifts. Well, she had this adorable cherry necklace I jumped to get my hands on. There was some sort of glitch. I thought I was the first person to claim the necklace when in fact it had already been claimed. That was perfectly fine with me, I mean it's not as if I had paid for it or anything. Dacia had no obligation to me whatsoever, but she's such a darling she sent me another necklace AND some gorgeous cards she made.

Oh, and I love that milk candy!

My final gift was from the very talented Justine. I had no clue she was sending this, so it was such a wonderful surprise when I returned from my trip to South Carolina. I immediately put it to use as a make-up holder and tote it around with me wherever I go.

Oh, I am so lucky to have such thoughtful, talented friends. There is nothing quite like receiving little goodies in the mail, and these ladies totally have my number. Everything is just perfect, even down to the candy!

I am always amazed at the generosity and support of those I've never even "met". Thank you so much, ladies, and thanks to all of you who leave comments. The encouragement and support mean so much to me. You are all such an inspiration to me in so many ways.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

spitty-spotty

I recently realized that I tend to talk about the weather a lot here. I think it's because the weather always seems to have a tremendous affect on my mood. Since that's the case, maybe the Pacific Northwest isn't the ideal place for me to live. I honestly like the rain, but sometimes I think I would prefer a good downpour now and again rather than a steady mist and drizzle of rain all the time. The good news is that as of this past weekend, I think I can officially pronounce that spring has arrived (at least in my mind). I awoke on Saturday with a terrible headache. The worst part of it was that I felt hung over, but I wasn't at all. As I told Eric, I got all of the pain of drinking too much and none of the joy. Tired of the gray and tired of being sick, I didn't let the headache get to me. I took a handful of vitamins and pills and figured one of them or the combination would HAVE to work because, dammit,  I was not going to have another unproductive day. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Perfect.

Armed with that determination, I set out to do some spring cleaning. I really don't like cleaning. I'm not one of those neat freaks who has to live in a spotless environment. However, once and awhile, I just become a bit crazed with the desire to get ever single spot in the house clean. And the strange thing is, I can never, ever get into one of those kinds of moods if it's gray and rainy outside. We had the ideal weekend for the big spring clean. Eric and I spent the entire weekend vaccuuming the cobwebs, dusting all the molding, shampooing the carpets (carpets are another thing I hate, but I rent, so I don't really have a choice about that right now), rearranging the furniture and organizing everything. Yesterday, Eric looked around and said, "wow, it just LOOKS lighter in here", and he was right. Getting rid of that fine layer of dust really does do wonders. It's sad, but by last night, I was completely wiped out. But it was so worth it.

I was able to spend a little time outside, and even bring a little bit spring inside.

Of course the highlight of the weekend had to be this lovely package I received from Didine. She sent me a bunch of pink things because she knows I love pink. The generosity of people I've never met will never cease to amaze me, and Didine has got to be one of the sweetest people on the planet.

She send some lovely cards  embossed with flowers, a  beaded necklace,  a  gorgeous pincusion, a  Fafi notepad  and a handpainted and decorated tissue  box cover.  Sweetest, girl  I tell ya.

focus, focus

I have been neglecting my blog a bit the past few days, but I have been busy producing, so I have some things to show you today.

Last Thursday, Eric and I came home to three packages at the front door. Eric exclaimed, "It looks like your birthday!" It felt like it too. I received a package of screens for my print gocco, a package of fabric I'd ordered from reprodepot.com, and the very best of them all was a lovely package from Lisa. She is an absolute dear, and sent the most gorgeous, colorful fabrics, most of which are vintage.

I am also the happy recipient of one of her mini tissue holders and a little package of buttons and ephemera. I can't wait to use my goodies, and the tissue holder is already in my handbag.

Since I finally received some new screens, I was able to try out the gocco this weekend, and was so please with the results. Eric came up with the design, and I did the printing. I think we'll be doing some more joint screenprinting and goccoing projects together. Eric has a fantastic collection of images and ephemera he has picked up over the years, and we had great fun going through his box of goodies yesterday. Here is an example of some of the cards we made.

Yes, it's a simple design, but I wanted to start simple and work up to more complex designs with multiple colors.

Finally, I used some of my new fabric (and some old) to make this patchwork cafe apron for my etsy shop. I just love the color combination, and I really tried to capture that Japanese aesthetic. The pocket is my favorite part.

I'm experiencing a creative burst right now, and it's almost overwhelming me. I keep having to make lists for myself so I can prioritize everything I want to do. It's a great to feel so inspired, but it shouldn't be stressful!! I really don't have any pressure from anywhere but myself, I just have so many ideas in my head and not nearly enough time to execute the projects.  I just have to keep focusing on one thing at a time.

can you believe i have more to say?

a couple of weeks ago I wrote about my attempts to find a print gocco here in seattle. blair emailed me and told me she thought she'd bought the very last one in seattle and ended up returning it. of course, by the time i posted my email, the gocco was long gone. armed with this information, i began scouring ebay for a deal. I ended up getting one for a great deal from a lovely calligraphy artist. i received it last week, but i haven't had a chance to play around with it because i need some bulbs. fortunately, there are places in seattle to get the supplies, so i just need to get my bum out there and get some. i was hoping to make some valentine cards for my first project, but time is running out.

i also just received word from alicia that my cagelet is ready! i can't wait to get it, and i hope by the time i do, my usb port will be all better, and i'll be able to share it with you.

now, i'm off to make some more goodies for my etsy store.

a new best friend

eric was quite pleased to see that i finally finished Optimus Square today. he wanted him to have floppy arms, so i attached them at the shoulder for good floppage. eric has been running around shaking his arms Kermit-style and giggling like a little kid. it appears he has a new best friend.

and i'm not feeling left out at all because i received a nice little package today.

a shout out to amy for introducing me to jen corace. these are both screenprinted and sold through if'n books and marks. the pink elephant journal is for eric, and the day planner/analog PDA is for me. i used this as my planner last year, and it has served me well. However, it's a new year and time for a new planner. I like the big full pages for each date. i usually have a lot to write down for each day, so this should prove to be quite helpful. plus, it doesn't hurt that it's simply gorgeous.

treats in the mail

I received this lovely postcard from Mav at port2port . It is so nice to receive a card with such high-quality work. I love the bird, and there is nothing quite like the impressions from letterpressing. I also love that she uses antique wooden letters. My mother bought me a letter M several years ago, and she has collected several over the years. My grandfather worked a printing press for many years when he was younger. I have always been drawn to those antique letters, and I am so happy to see someone putting them to excellent use.

I received this from Alicia today:

A few weeks ago Alicia stated on her blog that she had some extra wool felt she would like to get rid of. I was one of the lucky first to ask for some, and this is the lovely package I received today. She could have simply put the felt into a box and mailed it, but that wouldn't really be Alicia's style. It was so nice to open the box to see such a wonderfully wrapped treat.

I cannot get over the generosity of this woman. She gives away the felt, pays the shipping and handling costs AND takes the time to beautifully wrap the felt and include some adorable felt flowers! Not only that, but the colors of the felt are fantastic. I can't wait to put it to use.

It's just so wonderful to receive these lovely things from such generous, talented women. much thanks to mav and alicia.