Finshed projects

Today dawned bright and lovely outside and so I decided to get some good pictures in of my finished projects. Last night I got it in my mind to make Ayla some dungarees. Dungarees are basically a type of overalls. Well it didn't work out as planned. I got one of those books for Christmas called Crafts for Baby by Alison Jenkins and basically all of the patterns are in the back of the book but they need to be scanned and enlarged to the proper size. I have problems with books like this because if you get the urge to start crafting in the middle of the night then you're kind of stuck with small patterns that you can't really do much with. Anyway, I got it in my head that I'd try to enlarge it on the computer and then work with it from there. Needless to say that I didn't get the sizing exactly right (surprise surprise) and so I had some major tweaking to do. Basically I had to cut away the pants part of the pattern because it was just too small and so I made it into a skirt.

I'm quite happy with the outcome. I had some buttons from I have no idea where but they went perfectly with the outfit. I decided to outline it in pink instead of using the same fabric as a bias because people always seem to think she's a boy when we're out in public. I just love bias tape it's such an easy way to finish projects if you're feeling too lazy and don't want to do any rolled hems or what not. Mind you I have a serger but I have yet to use it.

I also had an idea kicking around in my head about mounting some fabric on these stretched canvas boards I had bought at the dollar store way back when. Well it seems as if the cards were all lined up because I kept stumbling on blogs showing how to make silhouettes with fabric on canvas and I thought that would knock up my idea a notch.

I'm pleased as punch with how it turned out. I still have to add a finishing coat on top of it but it's so lovely. I just adore this fabric so much and I knew I wanted to do something special with it where I'd have to look at it everyday. I still have another canvas and I'm thinking of doing another one with the same fabric but this time make the silhouette be of the fabric and the background be black. We'll see, I'm not sure I want to paint that much over the fabric design since I like it so much.

And finally here are the finished products of the gift I'll be sending out to Alex's sister for her new baby, Lucas. I tried my hand at a quilt again and I have to say it's definitely a learning process. I'm thinking I should have quilted over the middle square because there's a rule out there about how far apart you should do quilting so it doesn't pucker the fabric. Well I disregarded that rule when making this quilt and of course my fabric puckered in the middle. I still like it and think it's still perfect for a gift. I had loads of fabric left so decided to make two bibs to go along with it and then because no baby gift is complete without a toy I decided to make another of my felt block squares. They're so easy to put together but this time I used colors that went with the theme of the gift.

If you had a look at my flickr page recently then you'll notice that I made one for Ayla some time ago that she doesn't really play with. She likes to pick at the felt then eat it. ;)

I bought some flowers (I think they're begonias) earlier in May in the hopes that with my limited amount of sunlight I could still have a balcony garden. I'm happy to say that they're blooming nicely and so I think I'll be buying some more the next time we're out.

Calling all Papas

The time ran away with me yesterday and so I'm not getting my post out till today. As I stated before usually when I have time to post about food I have little time to do any crafting. So today's post will feature last night's dinner. I made the Fritatte from Nonna's Italian Kitchen last night with a spinach salad and some of my crusty Italian bread. It was a lovely filling dinner and we'll most likely be having leftovers tonight. I feel bad that I'm not making a new meal for Father's day but you know, I have things to do and anyway I made cupcakes so that should make up for it! Sorry there are no pictures of the cupcakes, it was the Golden Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla butter cream frosting from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, another one of my staple cookbooks. I didn't have any shortening for the vanilla butter cream and so I just used Earth balance and well it's not very solid at room temperature so the butter cream is a little bit runny. Therefore, not very picture friendly.

I stumbled upon a new blog yesterday called Vintage Kids' Books My Kid Loves. I love the concept of this blog and have been having such a great time going back through her archives to look at all the vintage book titles and see what they were all about. As you know I have a penchant for all things vintage and books have not escaped that obsessive love. I haven't been thrifting very much these last few months but it's definitely something I want to get back to once summer is in full swing. And you can be sure I'll keep looking through the book bins. There are a couple of used bookstores around town that really I could spend hours in but you know Alex is not about spending hours in bookstores so we always left way before I was ready. I especially loved seeing Caps for Sale on her site. I loved this book as a child and so I'll look forward to finding a vintage copy.

Speaking of Alex, today as you might all know today is Father's day! Unfortunately the Papa of this house is working so we won't be doing anything special and I probably have a driving class right after he comes home until about 9pm. So our day is mostly shot but hopefully yours won't be. And if you've forgotten to call your father or brothers or uncles or whomever then hop to it because fathers are just as important as mothers in the equation of things!

Late night updates

I'm noticing that it's taking me a long time to actually get to posting these last few days. I'm usually busy doing around the house and Ayla stuff in the mornings and during the day so I never seem to have a down moment to actually blog. Well I do have time to quickly read the blogs that I frequent daily but never to update this one.

Anyway, I've going back through the CraftSanity and CraftyPod podcasts and listening to some really inspiring people while I work. It's really nice because I don't have time to just walk around listening to my Ipod all day so when I do get some time to myself to craft or sew it's like I have some company. While listening today I discovered a site that I'm extremely excited about called Burda Style (I added a neat little button on the right sidebar that also leads to the site). Basically it's an open source sewing site where patterns for clothing are posted for free online and you can go through and sew up whatever your heart desires. Another really great thing about it is that you can alter the patterns to suit your own needs and if you feel so inclined you can also sell your garments when you're done.

It's no secret that I got a dress form from Freecycle not that long ago and have been wanting to sew clothing for quite sometime. It's really been a passion of mine since Home Economics class back in highschool when I actually learned to sew. I remember everyone sewing the standard boxer briefs and me and one other girl saying that we'd rather sew a dress. It was a great learning experience and since then I've been completely hooked. I love to sew and although my garment sewing is very limited it was always in the back of my mind as something that I wanted to learn how to do properly. I remember one Christmas when we were living back in Drummondville I decided to make everyone's Christmas gifts by hand and that year I made a fleece hooded sweater for Alex. He still has it and even I like to wear it from time to time because it's so big and warm. It's great too because it's heading into summer and everytime I see those cute summer dresses in the store I can never buy them because they fit me all wrong and then I just think to myself 'I bet I could make this'. So maybe I will this year!

I also finished my softy that I'll be sending off for Softies for Mirabel. I came up with the design and just kind of went from there. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out but but I'm not sure what to call it. His arms were much longer but I had to cut them in half because I just thought it was too much.

I also got my package from Vegan Essentials today and boy was I ever happy. I ordered a bunch of vegan jerkies that we really love and a vegan version of Nutella. Alex was dismayed when he found out that Nutella sadly has dairy products in it. Luckily the vegan version, Chocoreale, is amazing and he'll have nothing to worry about now. I had a taste of it on my Italian crusty bread that I made today from Nonna's Italian Kitchen. We went out while it was rising and didn't come back till it should have already been in the second rising so I'm not sure if it turned out the way it should have but it sure was delicious!

Cooking woes and Softies for Mirabel

I'm trying to find a balance between cooking and crafting. Lately I only have time for one around these parts. So basically we haven't been eating any elaborate meals. Take tonight for instance, I had these grand plans to make an amazing Italian dinner and dessert but here I am at close to 11pm and well let's just say that won't be happening. Hence the new 'What's cooking' panel. Hopefully, with that staring me in the face everyday it will give me some incentive to get busy in the kitchen.

Since I'm not yet ready to reveal my gift set which is almost done I'll direct you over to a flickr group I just joined and am really excited about making softies for. It's called Softies for Mirabel, an initiative to help the Mirabel Foundation in Melbourne Australia. The foundation was established to help the children of families who have been affected by substance abuse. On July 27th an auction will be held on Ebay for all the softies made.

How cute are those!? If you click on the picture it will take you directly to the flickr pool. There are over 200 contributions already.

Rearranging and tweaking

So I'm trying ever so desperately to get my blog to look exactly as I want it. I've been wanting to do this ever since I decided to start blogging again but I just didn't have the know-how to do it properly. But after some niffty Google searches I came up with exactly what I wanted. But now comes the tedious part where I have to add every little bit and tweak here and there and blah blah. So bear with me as I get everything in order. I suspect that it will take a couple of days as I want to edit pretty much everything and make this look like a neat place to look around.

I'm currently working on some projects for my sister in law's newest addition to the family. I thought of posting pictures of the unfinished product but I think I'll wait till it's all done. I'll try to keep an update on my work in progresses on the right panel there. Sometimes they'll be linked to if I have images and sometimes not. I've also thought up some handbag designs and I would like to get them done in the next coming weeks but we'll see how that goes. I'm in quilt mode right now and all I can really think about is making and designing them. I ordered some Amy Butler fat quarters from Pink Post and I absolutely can't wait for them to arrive. It's right up my alley in terms of color scheme for the summer. I have no idea what I want to do with them as yet but I'm sure a quilt or 2 will come out of it and maybe the patchwork handbag from In Stitches if I'm lucky.

A fresh start

So many new things have been happening in my life that I don't even know where to start. It's almost time to go back to work and I'm not looking forward to that. So in the meantime I'm trying to immerse myself in all things crafty. I finally finished Ayla's quilt today and I also made her a smock type dress the other day as well. I just love the way they both turned out. I'm also in knitting mode and have been trying to finish up another dish cloth that I started a few days ago. I have quilt on the brain lately and have been dreaming of making a quilt from a book I got for Christmas for Alex's sister who's having her baby today of all days. I haven't really been crafting at all since Christmas, I think I posted this in my last post back in February but I just don't know how I had the time back then to make all the things I ended up making. Ayla doesn't give me a moment's break and so I can't seem to get much done before she's demanding my attention.

I should mention I got a new camera! The Canon Rebel XTi. It's a lovely camera and I'll definitely be experimenting this summer with it. I've taken dozens of photos of Ayla already but I haven't really been experimenting with it as yet. We also plan on going camping and so I suspect I'll be getting some really nice shots.

Here are some pictures of what's been keeping me busy these last few days:

We got a new bunny but she didn't last very long. I felt as if I had had another child and it was just too much! I still want a pet but maybe when Ayla is a little bit older. We named her Sara for the short time that she was with us.

Ayla's quilt all washed and folded up. I love the way it got all crinkled after being washed. Sorry about the first photo, it's kind of dark I'll have to take another picture of it properly one day. I have to say quilting wasn't very easy and as you can see from the first picture that it's all puckery in all the wrong places. I'm thinking my tension was off while sewing but I didn't notice till it was all pieced together. So I'll have to figure that out for my next one.

Ayla's smock type dress after just coming out of the wash. I contemplated ironing it before the photo op but I kinda like the crinkled look. I like the flower detail but I'm thinking of making it more elaborate, maybe. I added the button because I wasn't into dealing with the whole zipper thing.

And my princess with a pout and a tear for the camera. Mwahh!

Perhaps this is the look of being sorry for ransacking the house. Evidence in background ;)

Long overdue

I know I should have posted way before this but I just haven't been in the mood. I've just been reading many books and websites on stuff related to veganism, the meat industry and what not. And basically plaguing my mom with a bunch of facts and statistics. I almost felt vindicated when the U.S. beef recall happened except it was so bittersweet. It's just so terrible to see animals treated that way and all because of our own gluttonous appetite for their flesh. People actually think that that's an isolated incident and that it doesn't happen that exact way each and every time a cow goes down. I just wish that half the people that ate meat would actually look into what's going on their plate and not adopt the 'I don't want to know' attitude. The whole meat industry is corrupted and white washed and I'm almost 99.9% sure that a lot of the meat that people are eating these days are infected with mad cow. I just really hope that I stopped eating it in time because unlike those people that say 'well we have to die from something someday' I really don't want to go out that way. To make matters even more scary just this past December another cow was found in Alberta to have mad cow. Scientists say that the occurrence of BSE ( bovine spongiform encephalopathy) also known as mad cow, occurs naturally in cattle one in a million times per year. Canada kills 3 million cattle every year. Yet they, like the U.S. are still standing by their claim that they have no mad cow in any of their herds. If you do the math then really 3 cows should have BSE every year in Canada. The fact that they haven't found that many is really scary. According to Wikipedia:

"It is believed, but not proven, that the disease [BSE] may be transmitted to human beings who eat infected carcasses. In humans, it is known as new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD or nvCJD), and by June 2007, it had killed 165 people in Britain, and six elsewhere with the number expected to rise because of the disease's long incubation period."

Well, I hope I'm not preaching to the choir but if I can get at least one meat eating person to look into what's really going on their plate then I'll be happy. I think it's very irresponsible for someone to just say 'I don't want to know' when it comes to their food. I for one want to know exactly where my food is coming from, I want to know that it's been grown in healthy soil and and hasn't been sprayed with a crap load of pesticides and insecticides and that I'll be getting the best nutrient rich produce that my money can buy. In the words of Howard Lyman "If you don't want to know where your food is coming from then maybe you shouldn't be putting it in your mouth." On that note, I'll leave you with pics of some of the great foods I've been cooking up these last few weeks.


And Ayla, sleeping not so peacefully. Note the knitted brows. I wonder what she's dreaming about.