wildflower waiting

During the week before Harvey was born I got SUPER DUPER grouchy.  I swear everyone was asking me ridiculous questions that I didn't have the answer to (when's that baby going to come out? or my favorite, did you have your baby yet?  said to my face).   It was getting really hard for me to be patient and field these questions all day long.  So I decided that I was going to focus on something other then my still pregnant self.  I was going to draw one wildflower a day until I gave birth.

It turned out to be a really good idea.  And it helped me be just a little less snarky.

I'd been toying with the idea of doing a desert wildflower series, and this was the push I needed to get started.

Let me introduce you to:



Vetch

Desert Stickweed

Desert Paintbrush

 Globe Mallow.

And then I had a baby :)

Not sure when I'll start up again.  I sort of have a different project in mind, and we all know I can only focus on one thing at a time...

p.s. there are only 3 things you should say to a pregnant lady

for the bookworm

We just got back from a quick trip to visit family in Utah.  We just happened to be there for my mom's birthday, and so I whipped up this watercolored quote to bring with me (and when I say whipped up, I really mean that I snuck in some painting time over the course of a few naptimes...).

You see, my mom is a bookworm.  And a children's librarian.  So this quote was perfect for her.  And I have to agree, there's not much that can compare with a delicious novel :)

Snapshots

 

  

Oh hi!  I know I am totally neglecting this little blog, and I'm actually fine with it. There will be time for creating things soon enough, but for now there is a super cute baby here who likes to hang out with me all day.  It's pretty nice!  Here is a little peak into what's been going on around here.

Also, Gesso would like some attention please?

magic muffins

One Sunday when I was still pregnant, I made a list of my priorities.  Since I wasn't working and had all the time in the world, I was used to getting stuff done on my time schedule.  I knew this was about to change, and so I decided that I needed to get my priorities straight.  I listed a few things that needed to get done every day for me to feel like myself (things like going outside and having clean floors--have you seen my giant furball of a dog??), and things that weren't as important, and maybe never needed to get done (things like watching tv or doing my hair...I mean, I brush it, but you know, doing it is another story).  One of the things that made it on the important list was having good, nourishing food to eat, preferably baked by me.

Now, I was no expert on having babies, but I suspected that there wasn't always a lot of time for baking.

That's why these muffins are magic.  You mix up a big bowl of batter and it can live in the fridge for a month while you scoop out enough batter for a few muffins every day.  Magic!

These muffins have been my best friend the past few months and it's high time they made their debut on the blog.

30 Day Bran Muffins
       from Favorites by Grace Ivory Little & Jane Ivroy Metcalf

4 cups All-Bran cereal
2 cups boiling water
1 cup butter
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 quart buttermilk
5 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups flour
2 cups Bran Flakes cereal


Pour boiling water over All-Bran cereal and let it sit. Cream butter and sugar; add eggs then dry ingredients alternating with buttermilk. Mix in All-Bran and water mixture. Last of all, stir in Bran Flakes. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes in a greased or paper-lined muffin tins.

My favorite way to eat them is with blanched, slivered almonds piled on top before baking.  Makes them nice and crunchy!  You can also add chocolate chips, fruit, or anything else your heart desires.

felted treasures

My friend Sarah sent me some big bags of beautiful wool roving last summer.  I was so excited when they came, but then we moved and moved and moved and painted and painted and painted and unpacked (do you see where this is going?) and well, I didn't get much felting done.  But I am happy to report that I did find some time before the holidays to whip out some little goodies.

This little robin was sent back to Sarah as a thank-you and she turned it into a Christmas ornament!  How clever!

And this trio of little balls was made for baby Harvey (well, he shares them with Gesso...).  Fun fact: did you know that you can felt with your incredibly fluffy puppy fur?  It's true!  So the insides of these balls are made of Gesso hair (maybe that's why he likes them so much??).

And because I was pregnant, I forgot to take a photo of the best one of all.  I felted a tiny green vw bus to send off in an xmas package, and shoot, it was cool.  But it got wrapped up and sent away before I remembered to take a picture of it.  Ah well.

snapshots

Greetings from the hibernation cave!  Things here are busy and good.  Here are some snapshots from lately:

The paperwhites bloomed.  It was real pretty.

My mom came for ten days and made pots of soup, spicy salsa, and homemade icecream.  Oh, and nobigdeal, she knit up these colorful balls for baby Harvey (he has almost mastered juggling with them! JOKING you guys!  he's just a baby).

Our 2012 yearbook is here.  

This little sweetie turned one month old!  Goodness.

Still trying to come to terms with it being 'winter'.  It is green and always feels like march.

Busted out the valentine garland I made last year.

This is my favorite fence post.  Ya know, if I have to pick just one....

And then the paperwhites died.  Oh sad.

dear mom,

thanks for the socks! we love them!

I get asked quite often if I knit, and my answer is that I don't knit, I get knitted for.  It works out great that counting stitches doesn't sound like my idea of a good time, but that I have a mom who has knitting needles for hands.  Seriously, this little mister has been royally spoiled with knitted goods, which I need to get around to sharing (once I figure out this whole typing with one hand skill...).

Happy February! 

sweet home :: a baby room

psst--thanks for all the sweet comments about our newest addition!  You guys are great.

I snapped all these pictures a few weeks before baby Harvey arrived and it looks so clean and empty in these photos!  This is my very very favorite room in our house.  It gets wonderful light and it's full of all the happiest things I had. We spent very little money 'decorating' this room, most of the things I already had on hand (I even combined leftover paint from our bedroom and the dinning room to paint the walls).  Is that alarming to anyone else?  That I have enough stuff to, well, stuff our four bedroom house??

  Anyhoo, on with the tour!

I've posted about those painted lanterns already, and the amazing 1930's classroom map was a generous gift from a friend (I know!).  If Harvey doesn't win the geography bee I'm going to be a little disappointed....

Instead of a changing table, we picked up a bookcase from ikea, turned it on it's side, and installed some drawer inserts (side note story: I am super bad at obeying instructions (too lazy? or, ahem, creative?) and while Evan was assembling all the furniture he begged me not to help, but I insisted, claiming I could build a simple set of drawers!  And then he went to screw them in and wouldn't ya know it, I built them upside down.... haha ).  I'm thinking this will be more functional then a changing table or dresser, as we have lots of storage for clothes in the closet, and this can be where the toys live.

I purchased these three Story People prints with my hard earned pocket money when I was working as a maid in Jackson Hole one summer.  I love love love them.

and a shot of the puppet corner.

So I guess that pretty much covers it!

welcome, welcome

Harvey Evan

born Wednesday, January 9th (right on his due date, what a champ!)
7 lb. 13 oz.
21 inches long

He is perfect and sweet and we are completely in love with all of this.  Oh my stars, what a wonderful few days it's been!

hello 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

my 2013 new years resolution is to have a baby.

and soon please.

fabric buckets

Umm... nesting is kind of insane.  Our house has never been so clean and organized, I mean, I even scrubbed the not-very-dirty-to-begin-with baseboards.  That has never happened before!  But aside from all the deep cleaning and closet re-organizing that's been taking place,  there has also a bit of a sewing frenzy going on. 

 Enter the fabric bucket:

Or three fabric buckets (because if one is good, three is better?).  

I made these buckets based loosely on this tutorial (I added some height and then figured out an easier way to sew in the lining).  I tried three different types of interfacing:  from the left I used a SUPER heavy pellon one, which I thought was too stiff.  For the middle one I used a medium-weight fusible interfacing that was just perfect (it wasn't too stiff to fold the top edge over, which I liked), and the last one had no interfacing at all.  And it's a little slouchy for my taste.  So long story short, I would recommend using a medium-weight interfacing.

I used up fabric from my stash for the outside and some old curtains from our Billings house for the linings (Maria von Trapp, anyone?).  Can I get a hooray for free projects?

Hooray!

merry christmas!

wishing you all things merry and bright!
xoxo

decembering