christmas folk art

Soo much fun making this ornament. It's all hand sewing, so I was able to make it while my kids were happily playing at my feet. I love how folksy it looks, especially the buttons on the back, holding the ribbon in place.

The pictures are really dark, sorry. Our living room is dark, and the Christmas lights were confusing the camera.

sick kids suck.

getting ready for skiing

rubber ducky you're the one

redrum. redrummmmm (no, it's not blood. It's bathtub markers)

You can't tell they are related, right?

before/after

BEFORE:

So there are a few things you may or may know know about me:

1. I like trying to take pictures of myself, and me with others. The long Pleak arms do come in handy! This is a very tricky thing, though. Especially with tricky lighting. But I've always liked a challenge!

2. I LOVE LOVE LOVE thrift store shopping. Again, it's a challenge. But I'll admit the Aspen thrift shop has a leg up on some others.

3. I'm addicted to cashmere.... if it's possib;e to be addicted to a kind of cloth. But especially if the cashmere is from the thrift store! That's about as good as it gets in my world.

4. I have a million cartigan swaters, and ther is always room on my shelf for more.

SO, when I fould this cashmere cartigan at the thrift store, even with a small hole, I knew my luck was turning around.

AFTER:

I took in the sides to make it more fitted. No more 80's boxyness... boxiness?

And added a little flair with an old t-shirt fabric scraps

I also changes the buttons to all different pink ones.

I love my new favorite sweater!

book making.. a puzzle for you

you may have noticed that since we all went tech-y and use our digi-cams for everything and post all our best and favorite pictures on facebook and flikr and where ever else, your "albums" are pretty much all on the computer. Only.

I miss looking through photo albums, you know, the old fashioned kind with real tangible pictures.

I wanted to make some picture books for my darlings, and though this was a great way also to use some of the millions of cardboard baby books we have laying around.


Here's how to do it, if you want to try it your self:

1. Sand the pages to roughen them up a bit.

2. Paint the pages with gesso, or some other white paint. I did 2 layers, and the pictures still are showing through a little. So If you are a perfectionist, you may want to use a thicker paint. Maybe old white wall paint? Be sure to fan out the pages to let them dry completely between coats.

3. Find a bunch of your favorite photos

4. Glue them in

5. Voila!

Here's the puzzle part... I can't figure out how to arrange my pictures in the right order. So you have to figure out the correct order.

the bear in our yard

I know this isn't a very clear picture, but it's the best I could do with two freaking kids and I couldn't find the camera right away. Right after I took the picture, the bear climbed that little tree and hung out up there for an hour or two.

Harvest / saying godbye to summer

Every day now feels like the end. We wake up early and have to wear slippers and throw in a sweatshirt. But the sun is strong in the mountains, and by mid-morning it's almost warm enough for shorts. Today is a perfect Sunday. We really should have gone food shopping, but I couldn't stand to spend the day running around. (sorry kids, graham crackers and carrots again for lunch this week.) Poppie and Cody helped me harvest our pathetic veggies and plant some lupine seeds we collected on a hike. Cody ate a bunch of seeds. He'll be OK, right? It was a long, cold, rainy spring. We didn't see the sun until July, and then it didn't rain all summer. Also there was an explosion in the ground squirrel population. I was surprised to see oven out toothpick sized carrots.

Twin Lakes camping trip

welcoming a new baby

Baby booties! Soo cute! I found this free pattern here. These were very quick and easy. I made them from choosing fabric to taking pictures of finished product in less than an hour - and with my 3 year ond "helper"
(ok, I must have typed the pattern link wrong - but if you want the pattern, look down on the right side bar until you see "free baby kimono shoe pattern")

Aren't these little birds just the cutest things! I had a blast making them, and Poppie was a great helper. Especially when she was supposed to be napping. (she's the sweetest when she knows she is getting away with something) Balancing the birds and getting them to stay put on the slippery bamboo dowels was another story. Very frustrating. The beads were added last to try to get them to sit upright. Notice how some look like they are about to take off?