two straight lines

Happy Birthday, Friend.

A birthday gift with a theme--  The Secret Garden, my favorite musical (yes, musical!).  I guess this qualifies me for my first Tie One On as well.  I may be the only one who saw and loved this musical, it had a short run on Broadway...the set was so amazing, inspired by the shadowboxes of Joseph Cornell. 

This gift ensemble includes a linen tackboard embroidered with a bird-- a modern cross-stitch.  I loved the mindlessness of this activity.  I never NEVER thought I would say that I loved cross-stitch, but I have tons of ideas for more designs in the future.  I used a clothing quality linen rather than cross-stitch fabric, and I like the simplicity of it.   It probably is a little more difficult because you have to concentrate enough to count the threads, but I am a beginner and managed just fine.

Next, some home-made tacks, similar to my others, but this time I used some scrap-booking paper that was printed with flowers, berries, and vintage seed ads.  I love the way this reinforces the collage-y feel of a Cornell piece.

And here is a craft apron similar in cut to my patchwork apron, but simplified with a single piece of fabric for the pocket, divided into four smaller pockets.  The print is a Japanese fabric similar to the one I sent Stephanie of Little Birds.

Finally, a tin of 18 vintage bird prints, 9 different designs.  I love these so much I got them for myself too.  These are made by Cavallini, and I wouldn't be surprised if they make it in a calendar next year. (Yup, looks like they have one on their website)

All these things for a special person.  By the time this posts, Elliot and I will have arrived in Ohio to deliver the goods.  Happy Birthday Friend.

Resolutions and Discoveries

Thanks again to all of you a while back for being so kind and supportive when I mentioned our potential relocation and downsizing.  Somehow it made any outcome, whatever it was, a little easier to bear.  That very day information was received which made the picture a little clearer, the decision a little easier.  Turns out it was not the right job at the right time.  WE ARE NOT MOVING.  There, that feels good. 

Alas, there will be changes coming, actually there already have been.  We are reorganizing things and mindsets to suit us.  We are resolving to move forward in our own direction, no matter how much momentum tries to take us another.  Some changes I can share now, some will remain a secret for a while longer.  This room will soon be my studio.  Others will be repurposed too, so that they are actually useful.

Some things will be discarded, and we will be more careful in the future of what we allow in.  Things that enrich our time together, not take it away.  Like these books...thank you to Blair for the heads up on these treasures.  Turns out my husband had them growing up.  I picked up a set on ebay after Blair showed us hers.  I paid a little more for mine but they are surely worth it.  A perfect set of rainbow-spined 50th anniversary edition Childcraft- The How and Why Library.  We've already started learning more about fire trucks and police cars.

So that's that.  Here we are, actually feeling resolved, settling in.  We are home for now.

Tune in tomorrow afternoon for some fun crafting revealed.

WIP and Non-nappers

It would seem that there is very little crafting going on around here, but in reality, it is just super secret crafting for my aforementioned best friend's belated birthday.  That, and my little assistant is not napping today, making it difficult to get anything finished.  In the back are some fabrics pinned and ready for sewing...in the front are supplies for a new craft that I never thought I'd be enjoying so much.  More next week after the goods are delivered, hopefully by hand to the recipient at her beautiful new home in Ohio.

The Offender, with bedhead.

Another Little Kitty

OK, I'm so excited to post this kitty from the Wee Wonderfuls Put Together Book #1- made by my best friend Alicia.  She doesn't have a blog yet, but I thought if all of you stood up and clapped she might just start one.  She just received her pattern book on Monday, and mailed this off on Wednesday to her daughter's friend for her birthday.  Alicia is crazy for linen (as am I)- hence the body fabric choice-  and she didn't know when she made this kitty that the dress fabric is one of my favorites (otherwise surely it would have been for me).  I love the way the robin's egg blue accessories set off the dress fabric, and her top-stitching of the collar and the mary janes is a stroke of brilliance.  Great job Alicia!

Good Mail

Recently I was lucky enough to get my hands on Danny Seo's new book, Simply Green Parties, and I wanted to share a few of my favorite projects with you all.  For those of you who haven't heard of Danny, he is an environmental activist and interior designer who is also an Editor-at-Large for Country Home Magazine.  At the ripe old age of 29, he has already published five books.  Wow...I'm way behind.  His Pennsylvania home was recently featured in Country Home, and I posted a picture of it a while back.  Still love that patchwork wall.

This book has ideas ranging from party decor and themes to favors, and I love the way they emphasize using thrifted and found objects.  I belong to an online parenting group, and we recently had an extensive discussion about kids birthday parties and the glut of gifts that many kids receive.  Danny's book has a suggestion for having a housewarming party where each guest brings an "unwanted (yet stylish)" houseware item to exchange.  I think this would be a fabulous idea for a kids birthday party, so each child would leave with something, guests would not have the burden of buying a gift, and the party givers would not be left with dozens of toys. 

Here are a few of my favorite projects--

The Baby Shower chapter features this project involving covering a premade birdhouse with a vintage children's book.  This would make an adorable nursery decoration, but could also be adapted to other themes.  How about covering one with sheet music or botanical prints for a grown-up version.  I've already been looking for a kid's book to use for this one.

This photo from the Winter Warm-up chapter incorporates two great projects--  the garden urn dining table, and the dining chairs upholstered with thrifted sweaters.  I have dozens of wool sweaters in my basement, and love the textured look of these chairs.  It would look great with my family room rug which looks like a cable-knit sweater. (See this one-- upper left)  Maybe I'll work on that this fall.

To find out more about Danny Seo, check out his blog- Simply Green.

I also received my Magazine Swap package a little while back from Cate who lives in Canada.  She was kind of enough to send a really great home interiors magazine called Style at Home which has a cottage I'm drooling over, a quilting magazine featuring some very Gee's Bend-y quilts by a Hopi artist, and a parenting magazine.  She also included some vintage buttons from her grandmother's stash, and some cute vintage trim.  Thanks so much Cate!

A Year of Color: White

Here's my "white" picture for A Year of Color-- a day late because we were busy installing our cabinet hardware yesterday.  We only bought it a year ago, so we thought it was about time.  As you can see, white is not a difficult thing to find in my kitchen. 

Happythings is hosting this yearlong celebration of color.  Check out the flickr group here.

Aaaaahhhhhh Summer........

Great Summer Day...farmer's market for veggies and fresh flowers (all those snapdragons for $5!) lunch at Zingerman's...hit a few local shops...back to the thrift store for the third daisy pillowcase...stop by the Shadow art fair and discover a few indie crafters...farm fresh dinner with chicken, pattypan squash, corn and homemade vanilla bean ice cream...husband opens this wine...hmmmm...life is good.

Can't See the Forest For the Trees

As I drove home from the thrift store yesterday, I found myself looking at my good's in the passenger's seat (anyone else do this?? take out your wares and survey them while you drive?), and daydreaming about the possibilities for the navy daisy print pillow cases.  Hmmmm, let's see-- tote bag, headband, part of a Japanese style patchwork, what could it's future hold?  Well, today I had a marvelous epiphany-- how about a pillow case?  Sometimes a girl can think too much.

How's that for a quick summer update?  And I guess it was time to take the flannel sheets off-- it is July after all.

A Little Thrifting

I'm going to send individual emails to all of those who commented on my previous post, but here's a little public thank you to all of the support regarding the decisions that lie ahead.  It somehow made it all easier, even if we aren't able to make the changes we've dreamed up.  We have a few more bits of info that will help in our final decision, but we are waiting to meet with a realtor on Friday regarding our home.

Elliot and I had a great day out starting with a little thrifting.  I found a few fun fabrics, but after leaving the incredibly bad lighting of the shop, I realized that two of the three items were a little brighter than I would normally be attracted to.  I then remembered the article in the June MSL about bleaching fabrics.  So, I am going to bleach these two, but I thought I'd give you some "before" shots.  I hoped my washing machine would do this for me tonight during Project Runway, but in true Martha style, it is not that simple.  So the "afters" will be in few days.

This one is sweet, but I think I would like it a little softened (in fact I like the back better).

I love the dandelion in this print, and I think if I could get this more to a leafy green, I would be happy.

And here's one that I loved just as-is.  They are pillow cases, but each one is made of one piece of fabric and the pattern sort of becomes less dense as you move from one end to the other (anyone know the technical term for that?).  And for some reason, I'm really getting into navy right now.

Do you ever get the feeling when you are shopping at a thrift store that maybe they're selling this stuff around the corner at JCPenney, where you wouldn't even be interested in it?

Momentum

It seems that our family is about to embark on adventure, and it is funny that I find it so scary, as many times as we have moved about the country.  You'd think that I would be an old pro.  But, it has never involved more than risking the comfort of my husband, me and our three pets.  It all seems much more serious with a child.

In America there seems to be a notion that your life has a certain momentum, and that you sort of go along with it, growing in size- your family, your home, and your cars- as you become more financially successful.  Often, it seemingly happens to you, although really, you do it to yourself.

So this is where we find ourselves-- it a big house in suburbia with loads of stuff thinking-- "What the heck are we doing here?"  This is not at all what we planned.

I grew up in the country, only moving to a small city (Indianapolis) during high school, but all of my life dreamed of living in a city.  After college my husband and I met in Chicago, and soaked up city life.  It was stressful sure, because we couldn't really afford it, but we loved it.  Since then, we have moved around and little by little become more suburban.  But, we are beginning to realize that we are spending more time maintaining our things than actually enjoying them. 

So, that is where this bold experiment comes in.  We are going to change paths.  We are going to design our lives so that we can spend more time doing the things we love and cutting out the things we don't.  We are going to decide what things we need and what things are simply trappings of someone else's life.

We think (notice that firm commitment) we have decided to move to Evanston, Illinois.  For those of you who aren't familiar, it is the first suburb North of Chicago, right on Lake Michigan.  It is urban, diverse, and beautiful, a mix of homes, vintage condos and newer condos and a great school system, parks and beaches.  We are thinking of buying a vintage condo, and sometime in the next few years getting a shack in Harbor Country in Michigan.

So, what tips and tricks do you people have for living in a smaller space with a family?  Do you miss not having a yard for your kids?   Any good books you can share on paring down to the essentials?  Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

But first, we must sell our home (that we just built!) in the abysmal real estate market that the Detroit area is enjoying right now.  Although the market has suffered around the country, it has tanked here because of the lay-offs of the auto makers.  Hopefully we won't get terrible news from a realtor on that front.   Anyone want to buy a house?

Gotta go freecycle some stuff!