practically sewing

I have been doing lots of practical sewing lately.  I love making functional things--it makes me feel really thrifty (even if it would cost less to just buy it!) and old fashioned.  I didn't anticipate how much I'd love sewing for my little baby.  I am pretty sentimental/emotional anyway, but pregnant me is kind of over-the-top sappy.  While I'm sewing I like to think about this little soul I will be meeting soon and my mind wanders all over the place, from wondering if he'll have hair, to if he'll love the mountains, to if he'll be a smarty-pants like his papa.  It's been very therapeutic, especially when I'm not feeling that great, to quietly sew and think about these things.



First I made a small tower of chenille burp cloths using Dana's tutorial (very soft!).  

And this is baby's lumberjack blanket.  I love flannel--so soft and homey!  And the fuzzy side feels just like Gesso's ears.

I have been quietly collecting baby flannel for a few years, knowing that it would eventually get made into a pile of receiving blankets--and it finally did!  I had already planned on keeping things gender neutral (no sense in having to start from scratch after each baby!), so I stuck to my favorites--lots of blue and green.

I thought these quick change diaper kits were such a swell idea that I whipped up a few (tutorial).  They contain a homemade changing pad, some wipes, a onesie, and some *tiny* diapers.  I plan on throwing one in my purse, one in the car, and maybe even one in the ski bag (wishful thinking??).

And I know that baby boy isn't really going to care what his toys look like, but I will.  And using the pattern in Handmade Beginnings, I made my own Henny Penny.  She was a labor of love (those baby birds were such a pain!), but I think she was worth it.

If you lift up her wing her babies are stuck with their velcro wings.  Can you even stand how cute that is??

 

 And some more weird little toys.  This sun ray toy (stuffed with that crinkly envelope-window stuff) made from this tutorial, and some ribbon-triangle-bells things (I lost the link to the tutorial--oops!).

 I also made a little bear out of some wool scraps (using this tutorial), and I even made him some corduroy pants with suspenders and a bow tie......and he turned out kind of creepy.  I still can't decide if it's good creepy or just creepy creepy.  So I didn't take his picture.

Whew.  Who's ready for a nap?

Monday Things

 

 

Monday things:

:: Gesso likes the new rug (me too).

::  We have grapes!  Thinking of starting a small grape juice company.

::  We live by the very best park ever.

::  The wildflowers are out of the box!  

Happy Monday to you!

weekending

After witnessing last weekend eaten up by home projects (again), I decided that it was time to make some changes.  Because you see, all work and no play not only makes Holly dull, but also pretty cranky.  So now there are some pretty serious rules in place that every other weekend is to be spent doing fun things.

So this weekend I tore my irrigation engineer away from the sprinkler system, and goshdarnit, we had ourselves some FUN.

 

 We went to dinner at a friends house and came home with an alarming amount of produce.  My favorite part would have to be all those juicy raspberries.  Don't worry, I sent that bucket back full of cookies--I'm secretly hoping to establish a symbiotic relationship.  

We also played in the mountains.  

And then there were milkshakes.

*burp*

the september scene

It's been a rough couple of weeks as I've been dealing with some kidney issues (is it hydronephrosis or kidney stones?? it seems no one can decide...).  I spent several days whimpering on the sofa, but that got old pretty fast.  So I came to the conclusion that as long as I was going to be uncomfortable anyway, I might as well be getting stuff done.  And wouldn't ya know, I'm starting to feel a little better.  As it turns out, sulking isn't good for anybody.  Plus I get to be pregnant, which is pretty cool.

I feel like I'm behind on a lot of things as I've been moving at a much s-l-o-w-e-r pace these days, but don't worry, I've been taking a few pictures.

I took this picture from a helicopter!  Just kidding.  It's a picture of a mini car show I spotted last Saturday while walking around downtown.  I can seriously see myself getting into model trains once I'm old enough.  I love miniature anything!

I'm so glad to finally have my full kitchen back.  It was a weird few months of making do with just a little bit unpacked, but now that everything is finally out, I am very very happy.  And I can't stop baking--oops!

Here is a grainy picture of me in front of my new blue wall!  I blend right in.  I can't wait to show you more photos, but we are still getting everything settled.  Soon enough.

We have averaged a watermelon per week this summer.  I can't get enough of them!  We found these little yellow melons at the farmers market and they are fantastic.  

This picture makes me laugh so hard.  I had been up early sorting books (by color, of course), and Evan had to squeeze in to eat his cereal.  He looks annoyed, but in actuality, that's the face he make's whenever he's super impressed with my sorting skills.  haha.

Hope you are having a nice September!

sweet home :: a family room

Green!
Believe me, I was just as surprised as you are.  When we were neck-deep in the house hunting process, I came across a listing that had pictures of the living area painted a nice avacado green.  I pursed my lips, furrowed my brown, tilted my head, and then decided that I liked it.  Really really liked it.  So after a little bit of Evan-convincing, we set out to find the perfect green.  I had a hard time trying to capture it's true essence in photos, so just picture a very delicious bowl of guacamole (there's no chunks of tomato or bits of cilantro in it, mind you), and that's pretty much what it looks like in real life.  Finger-lickin' good.

And because Evan had had it up to here (hand raised to eye-brows) with our last 'rug' (okay okay, he did have a point, most rugs aren't made of recycled plastic bottles), when we were moving things in, he kept on walking with the rolled up 'rug' right past the family room and put it out on the patio.  

So.  New rug time.  I really did some extensive research and finally settled on a nice neutral one (that wouldn't compete with those crazy walls) that feels like a real rug.  Oh man, it's pretty nice to have a soft, squishy rug!  Evan was super right.  Gesso likes it too (and we think he's mature enough to not chew it up this time around.  ahem.)

When we were painting the walls we had a few "ooooohhhh man, what are we doing?!"  moments, but I am really pleased with how it turned out.  It's bold and happy.

Dear Evan,

Geez, we've really missed you this week!  Here's what we've been up to:

Lots of morning/evening walks around the neighborhood.  This is our neighbors backyard and I keep thinking that if I walk by enough times, they'll invite me to pick all those ripe berries off the bushes.

I got one of those GIANT calzones from Sweet Basil that we've been wondering about.  Cheese on the inside and on top??  Diagnosis: delicious.  This was what I ate after having to fast all dang day (okay, it was really only half a day, but still!) for my kidney ultrasound--it's really the only thing that kept me going.  I mean, I still got super grouchy and irrational (hello!  it's me!), but because I knew there was a greasy calzone waiting for me on the other side it made it just a little bit easier.

 

 And I painted the ceiling in the stoffice/offio (it's our shared studio/office, and we really can't agree on the best name for it...), and good news!  My neck didn't snap off!

aaaaaaaannnd then I painted it blue.  Like really blue. (ladies: I've learned the best time of day to discuss paint colors is early in the morning when your husband is still mostly asleep.  That's right, Evan agreed to let me go BOTTOM OF THE PAINT SWATCH!).  It looks spectacular.

Oh!  And I got another puppy!

Joking!
This is Gesso's new girlfriend named Pepper.  She likes to come over and make out with Gesso in the bushes.  It's pretty gross.

Okay, that about covers it!  See you really soon!

xo,
Holly and Gesso