Wall decor

Awhile ago I received another painting from The Black Apple in the mail but I didn't get around to writing about it. I mentioned before about how much I love the way her paintings look. When I went to Ikea on Sunday I picked up some red frames to decorate my sewing room with and decided that I'd use them to put her paintings in. I bought three frames and I only have two paintings, so you know what that means! They're really not expensive and they're so lovely I can't help myself. I'm sure this will not be the last time that I'll be buying from her. Currently she's moving locations to Portland, OR (it seems that lately everyone in my blog world is either moving or visiting Portland).

A new beach

It's been a week since I posted last. Very unusual for me. But with going back to work and everything, I find myself with less time to just sit and write. I took out some books from the library that I wanted to finish and I've been trying to organize my sewing room whenever I get a spare moment. Before I go running off for the day and while Ayla is still sleeping I figured I'd try my best to give a little glimpse of what we've been up to.

First up we went to a new beach yesterday. It was at Gull Lake and it was perfect! Exactly how I imagined a beach trip would be. I'll definitely be going back again this summer. Lots of sand and lots of people. Ayla was not too keen on being in the water. She pretty much cried the whole time. We'll have to try again next time. We don't want her hating the water.

Earlier that morning, I went to the Salvation Army to see if I could be like one of those people that finds really amazing stuff there and lucky for me I did find some great things! One of which was a great lamp for only $2.65 that I want to redo for Ayla's room. I know Ayla doesn't have a room right now but one day she will and she'll have an amazingly cute lamp to go with it. I'm thinking of getting some either Amy Butler or Anna Maria Horner fabric to redo the shade in. Then I want to take off that elephant and buy a really nice handmade wooden ornament to put there. I'm debating on paining the white. I think I'll leave it since it's very clean looking and just do those changes.

And my last bit of news, I finally finished those shorts I've been working on for ages. Well really, I think I mentioned last time that they only needed the hem. But I was just too lazy to do it. I wanted to wear them yesterday so I hauled them off my ironing board and finished them up. I love them so much and I really want to make another pair. It turns out that pattern is not really for me. I have an awkward waist to hip ratio and so it doesn't fit me well around the waist. To solve that problem I inserted an elastic band between my top stitching at the back instead of doing another two darts like I did on my Bermudas. It actually turned out really well so I think I'll be doing that again with the next pair that I make. This picture was taken after wearing them out for the day so they're a tad wrinkly but I still love 'em that way!

PS. Yes that is my bathing suit sticking out the back. I'm not growing a tail.

Summer fun part deux

Yesterday was a day jam packed with activities for us. We woke up fairly early (well Ayla and I did anyway) to get a move on with everything that needed to be prepared for. I should mention that I wasn't really keen on waking up so early but miss Ayla wouldn't have it any other way. We headed to Sylvan Lake with the girls who it turns out we haven't seen since Christmas! I hadn't realized that it's been so long! We definitely need to get together more often. I mean really, we only live an hour and a half drive away from each other. No excuses! Well except for the fact that our schedules consistently seem to clash. But yes it was so amazing to see them, everyone looked so wonderful and we just had the best time ever. Lounging in the sun and chit chatting. I loved the fact that when we arrived we got great parking without having to strain ourselves one bit. Even Ayla enjoyed herself and got a little dip in the lake. She wasn't liking that one bit because the water was freezing cold. Hopefully, we'll go back again sometime this summer and she'll get a full dunking!

After Sylvan Lake we had to drop Ayla off at a friend's house and then head to my company's golf game and bbq they had organized for the employees. It was my very first time golfing and I had a blast! I knew I would love it because you know I just love watching golf on t.v. Not that that prepares you for playing the game at all! In fact I was a horrible player but I did get in some good shots here and there. Beginner's luck as they call it I'm sure. Alex and I were teamed up with Nicole and her husband Doug. I'm really happy that my boss's wife thought to pair us up together because really she's the only one at my company that I'm closest to and would actually ask to watch Ayla for me if I needed to. Anyway, she was on the same skill level as me but funnily enough she managed to save our team so many times when all of our balls went completely wide or short of our intended aim.

The company bbq was held after the golfing game so we headed back into Red Deer to pick up Ayla. I knew there wouldn't be anything for us to eat but everyone wanted to see her again and it was the perfect opportunity since almost everyone from work showed up. When we got back I asked about the food situation and it turns out the only thing suitable for us to eat was a baked potato and we couldn't put anything on it. Not my idea of a meal after a very long day without much to eat. So instead, we ordered take-out from our favorite Thai restaurant in town. I would have to say it is the best restaurant we've eaten at here actually. They have many tofu options and so far what we've ordered has been cooked to perfection. I especially love their pad thai, yum yum!

It turns out that even after all this we both won prizes from our golf game earlier in the day. We had left before any prizes were handed out so Nicole chose a couple of camping chairs for us. We already have a set of our own but I think these ones are of a better quality. I might keep ours or donate them. I'm not sure we have room for any more. Storage in this house is beginning to become an issue. Actually I want to have a yard sale and then get rid of half the stuff we have buried underneath the stairs. But that's a whole other issue that needs a blog post of it's own! So all in all we had a great day yesterday and hopefully we still have many more fun days like that coming up for the rest of the summer!

Bibs and washcloths

I realized today after taking a good look at Ayla's ratty (and stained) bibs and washcloths that I should probably treat her to some new ones. I thought about running to the store to pick up a pack then I said to myself "Hey! Why don't I just sew them myself?" And so that's exactly what I did. Here is the first set that I sewed up.

It took me less than half and hour to do all of it. I've got loads of flannelette fabric just begging to be made into something. I think I'll continue doing some sets with what I have in my stash. I pretty much got all of my flannelette stash from a friend's mom who was trying to get rid of hers. Lucky for me my friend thought of me when her mom was proposing to throw it out! I really enjoyed this project because it's fast and easy and just about all I've had time for lately.

To win a quilt

So I was happily perusing some blogs out there this evening when I came across a quilt giveaway at Old Red Barn Co. Can I just say here that I'm constantly entering for these free giveaways but never winning? Well despite my unfortunate luck I decided to still give this one a try because really have you seen that quilt?! It's gorgeous! The colors are so fabulous! It makes me think of bright happy summer days. I can just picture myself embraced in its wonderfulness (is that a word I just invented?) this winter and thinking back to what a lovely summer it was indeed. So I'll keep envisioning that happening and hopefully I'll envision this beauty right into my hands.

I guess at this point I should mention that you can also go over there to win this quilt for yourself and to see some even more amazing pictures of it. But really, I don't want anyone to win but myself. Such is the nature of these things. Ha!

Common words

I was over at Twiddletails earlier today and I saw that she used a program to see the common words she uses in her blog. I decided to give it a try to see what would come up for me. It's called a Wordle and basically what it does is it makes the words you use the most turn up larger in the word scramble.

It would seem that I use the word 'sewing' and 'just' very frequently. Maybe I should rename the blog to 'Just Sewing' because that's about all I've been doing lately. Actually, I am taking a small break this week but I realize it's not only because of work but also because I took out so many books from the library that I really need to finish reading.

Today after giving Ayla a bath I noticed how curly her hair has gotten so I decided to snap a few pictures. Let's just say it was easier said than done. Boy that child loves to move!

I wanted to be sure that they would come out without me having to do much fiddling so I used the flash. I must say, she seemed to be enjoying having the flash in her face.

I'm loving the blue tone this last one came out with. I really need to start practicing more with my camera. I've got some ideas on the brain about it. I was thinking that I'm gonna do what I've seen around blogland for awhile now where people have been taking random pictures with a theme and then posting it on their blogs. My favorite blog, Soulemama, has been doing one on summer as her theme. I think that I'm going to do one on fall when the time comes around. I love the colors of autumn so I think it will be fun to try out while giving me a chance to really enjoy what my camera can do. Speaking of autumn, we're probably going to be making a trip to Montreal at the end of September instead of Christmas. There's a seat sale going on right now and we're thinking of saving money by taking advantage of it. Alex has already gotten the vacation approval so I think it's pretty much in the bag that we'll be going.

A slow week

I'm officially back to work and it's definitely been an interesting experience. I haven't been doing much sewing or cooking hence the lack of posting. I started on a pair of shorts using the same pattern as my Bermuda shorts. I just have to finish the hem and I'll post a picture. I think this week is going to be fairly quiet in the sewing room while I get my scheduling in order.

I forgot to mention that last week Thursday we went to a play date with my coworkers who both have babies. Ayla was due for a nap by the time we got there and so she wasn't in a very receptive mood for playing. Berkley, Treena's little boy who's 13 months now, kept banging her over the head with various objects. Let's just say they got off to a very rocky start. I love play dates. It was nice to get out of the house and hang out with the girls.