children are wretched

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change is on the wind.

recently thehobbit filled a mess of bags with things i don't need anymore. in poking through them i discovered nearly every toy he owns. it broke my heart to see all he'd cast aside. this doesn't come as a total surprise; a few months back he gave me his pirate ship, castle, & collection of wooden swords to pack away for elfling. since, there has been a trickle of items added to the pile. but this latest, this was him telling us he is done with a part of his life.

often these days i see him slouching, wearing headphones, his mp3 player stuck in his pocket, a slight scowl on his face. to me that seems such a teen thing, & that is the very thing sucking the air from my lungs: teen. in just 5 short months my firstborn will be one of those walking bewilderments. wow.

lately, at gatherings, i've been watching thehobbit & his friends. their play has taken on a more hanging out feel to it, they are all nearing my height (or have passed it), & all of them only slightly resemble the kids i've known for so many years.

all of this proves what i have always said: children are wretched.

~peace.

the early morning sun

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 vintage insulator caps

we spent some time visiting manlyman's mother, in the high desert. wow, i can hear your shock from here: what?! you, in the desert? where it is hot?!? oh my dearest one & only reader, it was so hot there. i mean like walking on the face of the sun, barefoot, whilst eating hot peppers, hot. i just don't understand how people are able to live there. the only time we could spend out of doors, was the early morning, & the night. i will say that the early morning sun there was beautiful. i took photos for you!

my very own early morning sunshine.

~peace.

a give-away of gigantic proportions!

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head nope, you procrastinated again, & missed the deadline. how do you expect to ever win a prize? on over to soulemama for a chance to win one of three gift bundles, by the talented artisans of natural kids! don't tell the others, but i hope you win

as i mentioned yesterday, the pouch i created for this give-away was the victim of scatterbrainitis (real word), so did not get taken to the post office in time. that's it in the above photo. if you want it for your very own, it's in theshop. although, those dinky pencils are so swoony that i may keep it for myself!

the specials are still going on in my kid shop, with free shipping on orders over $40 being the most fabulous one! ok, so go enter the drawing, then pop over to my shop to see all my new pencil pouches & stuff. by the way, i have decided that i'll refund $2 to those who want pouches sent without the pencils. i recognize that some people don't want colored pencils, only pouches. weirdos.

oh, & one more thing: good luck! nope, no one more thing. shame really. i was hoping you'd win.
~peace.

in which pouches lead me astray

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unrelated photo of our pomegranate bush

i meant to finish the cabinet today; so i could share the photos with you; but i cannot. instead i'll be spending the day focusing on pencil pouches. well, in between all the focusing on sweet bébé toes, of course.

there are a few pouches that need to get photographed, & put in theshop, & still others in various states of puttogetherness (real word). there is even one square pouch, filled with 24 mini colored pencils (& embroidered with my sweet snail) that was meant to go to tomorrow's give-away on soulemama. you see, i've been so scatterbrained of late, that i forgot to take it to the post office. by the time i realized, it was too late to get it there in time. ah well, i shall pop it in theshop instead.

i found some fun vintage-looking images at a discount store last week. they will be perfect on pencil pouches for the older kids: old school phone, iron, typewriter, fan, etc. some i'll offer with colored pencils, others without. i do realize that not everyone wants colored pencils. by the way, if you ever want one of my pouches, but don't need the pencils, let me know, & i'll knock a few dollars off the pouch!

we are going to visit manlyman's mom for a few days, so i do need to get all these pouches completed & listed asap. it's hard to believe it is not-back-to-school back-to-school for all you in-schoolers time already. where did the summer go?

i also need to finish a pouch for a sweet girlie's birthday. oh & i am getting to make her birthday cake's bunting! yay! if you are local, & want me to make a cake topper (with proper height skewers) for you, let me know. i am not going to put them in myshop though, because the idea was not mine. oh! but the number mushroom in that photo shall be! more on that later.

that's all for today. i'm off to snuggle my napping boy a bit longer, then it's pouches, pouches, pouches.
~peace.

cabinet, act one

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i began revamping a fabulously shabby cabinet today! it was the most fun - i sported a goofy smile the entire time. here are the before photos:

elfling wanted in on the fun. don't you love his victorian swimsuit? it's not really one, but a girl can pretend.

& here is a sneaky peek at the painted version:

i have yet to distress it, which means there are no more photos today. you have to wait for cabinet, act two. 

have a lovely night - i'm off to dream about wild-haired victorian swimmers, in butter-hued cabinets.

~peace. 

in which we went to a wedding...

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... & though we knew a great many people there, i took mostly photographs of things.

my mind wanders easily, & i find myself pondering a neatly lined-up row of pews,

or wallowing in the beauty of a wilting bouquet.

instead of watching the events unfolding before me, i get lost in crumbling details.

but occasionally my eye is caught (as is my breath) by the people, & i am brought back to the moment.

oh what a moment...

~peace.

edited to add :: those beautiful men, looking for the bride, are mine.

blah ditty blah blah

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a random list of things to tell you:

* some have asked why i no longer send private replies to comments. i don't mean to be rude, i simply haven't the time right now. i do try to reply in the comments section, as i read them. that's quick & easy enough even for me to manage.

* i've moved all of the recipes to their own page. you can find it beneath the blog's header.

* um. there was more, truly there was. dratted swiss-cheese-brain.

~peace.

au revoir, plastic bins

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i scrubbed the cubby unit, & had people who could lift things heavier than a flea move it into my studio. it needs to be painted sooner than i'd planned, because i wasn't able to get most of the marks & stains off. still! clean is good enough for holding stacks of fabric!

that one cubby; with the dinky pile; now holds a large square basket of scraps. it's so much nicer than digging through bins to find them. i've more to do yet, but no time at the moment. that's ok, unlike other projects, this one makes me giddy enough to motivate me to get it done.

happily, i think i'll have enough room on the top two rows to house the remainder of my fabric. that leaves the whole bottom for bins of craft supplies. hoorah! oh! plus the top of the unit itself. hmm. perhaps my baskets of files, markers, glues, fabric paints...

~peace.

treasures galore!

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a lovely alternative school lost its lease, & needed to empty their storage. we went yesterday to help (truly manlyman did the brunt of the work), & were allowed to take what we liked, from the items that had yet to be claimed.

the giant blue unit is on industrial wheels, & has more shelves on the other side! i want to seal it & keep it out of doors; one side facing the bbq area, the other facing the brick patio; but manlyman claimed it for the garage. boringsville.

that tall cubby unit is actually short, & long; it is sitting on its side. this is to be painted & used in my studio - though, most likely, i'll need to skip the painting bit, for now.

do you see those pretty, old benches in the back? those were brought home as well! here is a closer look:

& here:

i don't yet know where to put the benches. one is older, & quite heavy, so it cannot be toted about, whenever the mood strikes. it will need a permanent home. thehobbit wants them back-to-back. um. no.

the green you see in that last photo is a stack of old school chairs. heavy plastic, with metal legs; they scream mid-century. no, you are correct, that's not my style. i liked the strange green, i suppose. they'll be used for parties & hogwarts classes.

we also took: a large metal shelving unit for the garage, an old fashioned folding step stool, & a basket. if you think all of this is fabulous, you should see what rubelin got! i'm not so secretly hoping she'll decide she does not need the tall skinny cabinet that i covet.

what about you? have you found any treasures?

~peace.

mini bunting madness

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here is the cake with bunting! i wish i could tell you that it was a breeze to make, but the one pictured was the third attempt. i have a new respect for crafters of mini bunting.

let me first say that i did not know we were out of long skewers, hence the short ones. on to the details: i used a fabric with a loose weave, so it would quickly fray. a wise choice if you want that look (which i did), but a pain to sew that dinky. by the way, paper (attempt, the second) did not have that ethereal feel i sought.

i wrote the letters (fuzzed to respect elfling's privacy) in permanent marker, with an ultra-fine tip. i thought about using stamps, but it seemed silly with so few letters, & so small a size.

the bunting was sewn together, on the machine, using white, & barn red threads. after tying it to the skewers, i secured the knots with tacky glue.

the topper was a huge hit - i definitely will do this again.  making sure to have the proper skewers first, of course. thanks for the inspiration, twirling betty!

~peace.

we partied,

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& the wee partied. now we (& the wee) are ever so sleepy. i have only this fuzzy picture of the second cake to share with you. of course i said second, one cake is nver enough. have a lovely one, do :)

~peace.