picnic please!

This project has been on my list since last summer (oops!), and I finally finished it this morning.  I found this sheet at a thrift store and it was definitely love at first sight.  It is so soft and happy that I knew right away what to make with it--a picnic blanket!  Not that we go on too many picnics around here, but I'm pretty sure it's because we didn't have a proper picnic blanket.  Yep.

I didn't want to spend too much time or money making this blanket (it is for outdoor use, after all) so I used a thrifted bedspread for the backing (hello orange!), tied it with chunky green yarn, and made bias tape from my scrap stash.  Easy!  Done!

And the very best part of all?!?  Matching pj pants (or are they picnic pants?)!  I used the flat sheet for the quilt, which left the fitted sheet without a job.   So it's new job is to be my pants. They are so so soft and only mildly offensive (Evan is still warming up to them...).  

Oh yes, we love our new picnic blanket.

p.s. is there anything better than dappled sunlight?  or a puppy?

Lately, it seemed that whenever I would get a hankering for some sketchbook time, I would go look for my supplies and usually my sketchbook + pencils were buried under all my other 'works in progress' in the studio.  So I would get discouraged and grab a popsicle instead.  It was very inefficient.  

So in an effort to make sketching more accessible, I whipped up this little buddy.  Which keeps everything close by (why didn't I think to add a slot for chocolate?!), and safe from the black hole that is my desk.

I debated for way too long on whether to add a button/velcro/ribbon closure, and in the end I finally decided to keep it how it was, folder-style.  Which seems like the right decision.

Now I must get going--it's time to sketch!

lately (according to my memory card)

he brings me pictures

The only bright side to Evan being gone for work is the pretty pictures he brings home.

The Plan:

The other day Evan and I were engaging in a very serious conversation about what to do with our lives.  This may or may not be our #1 conversation topic lately.  Anyway, we have been conspiring for some time now to come up with a plan to move somewhere deep in the woods (or desert!) and not work at all.  Possible?  Oh yes. 

 Our latest plan includes sending this mug-shot of Gesso to hundreds of dog related companies (dog food, dog shampoo, doggy treats, and possibly even a dog house company or two) and have him be their poster child (dog).  Because it seems that every time we are out with Gesso, someone tells us that our dog is pretty.  And then they ask what her name is (boy dogs can be pretty too!!).  So if everything works out like we've planned, we will soon be living off royalty checks and fanning ourselves with hundred (or maybe thousand!) dollar bills.

Let me know if you want us to figure out your life plan too--we are quite good at it :)

Don't mind if I dew

Maybe one of the best parts of coming home from the mountains--a quick stop at the Dew Drop Inn for some french fries (to replenish all of the salt we lost) and shakes (to replenish all the...fat we lost?  Yeah.).  Yum yum.

p.s. Gesso now stays in the car for these visits because he absolutely cannot STAND the wiggly guy on the roof.  Bark bark bark.  Although admittedly, I kind of feel like barking at him too.

Weekend Report

Spent a few days in the Mountains with my boys.

It was almost too beautiful.  I think August is my favorite.

Flower Power

Spent a lovely afternoon pounding the pigment out of pretty flowers.

So crazy cool.

A pretty pillow and some other nice things.

I just finished this little pillow.  I embroidered around all of the flowers (my fingers hurt), and I think it really makes the pillow *pop*.  I hadn't made a new pillow in quite a while, probably because Evan brought up some really good points about there needing to be room to actually sit on the couch (and okay, there was a bit of a pillow explosion right after getting my sewing machine).  So making this was an absolute treat.

p.s. I got this super awesome chair in 6th grade when I told my mom that for my birthday I wanted a reading chair (nerd alert!).  I still love it so much and thank my 6th grade self every day for having the foresight to pick out a blue chair.

While I had my camera out and since my chores were done, I snapped some more photos of this room where we do our living.

I've had a couple of people ask about these little gems and so I thought it was high time they got an introduction.  These paintings were done many moons ago and celebrate my love of eating.  They were done in oil, and I know it's not fair to play favorites, but they are kind of my favorite.  A few years ago I had them hanging up in a bakery for sale, but decided that I missed them too much so I brought them back home with me.  And this is another example of why I could never be a real painter (read: easily attached).

This is where the colorful books live. The less exciting books live in the study and have serious low self-esteem.  oops.   

This delicious table is another example of inheriting rad furniture from Evan's parents.  It just keeps getting better I tell you!

I love this little house, especially in the morning when it's so very sunny.  And I know it's not full of designer furniture or fancy decor, but it is comfortable and full of good, happy things. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great day.

The hardest part about having a sheep dog in the house...

...is finding little nibbles on things that taste/smell like sheep.

 Oh dear.

Holly+Evan: Storm Chasers!!

We have been thoroughly entertained by the weather since moving here.  Lots of pretty clouds and lots of storms.  Evan and I have turned into storm chasers.  It usually goes something like this:

Storm clouds start gathering, sky is darkening...

...I look at Evan, he looks back at me.  We nod in unison.

He grabs the camera, I grab the dog, and we jump in the car and drive up to the rims overlooking the city.

We don't always make it in time, or come away with cool pictures, but when we do, we feel like real life storm chasers.  Gesso too, because if you look closely at our car (the one on the left), you can see him peaking out the back window.  He is so hard-core.

{this moment}

{this moment} - a single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' over at soulemama for all to find and see.

And sometimes I stitch.

And stitch and stitch.

p.s. I just put a couple loaves of Chocolate Chip Coconut Banana Bread in the oven.
Be jealous.