I just finished this custom fabric piece for the Canadian singing duo Bobs and Lolo. They are pretty adorable, if you have kids you should check them out. They have a lovely message.
sunshine sweater
(photo taken by Sosi)
Summer is still being a bit elusive in these parts. So I’m very happy to have my “Swinging Stipes Cardigan” sweater finally finished. Not only is it super warm and cozy (I don’t ever want to take it off) but it is impossible to be grumpy about freezing cold weather at the end of May while wearing this colour. I love it.
(photo also taken by Sosi with my phone, during a super fun afternoon spent on the town with her this weekend.)
Oh, and french fries help with grumpiness too.
Little Green
I’m not a great sewer. I’m a much better knitter, I understand knitting with everything right there in straight lines, and numbers… it’s straight forward. With sewing everything is inside out and backwards, so abstract. So when I find something I can make, I stick with it. That how I feel about the Lazy Days skirt (free pattern is here for downloading). I made a bunch last summer for Sosi and she lived in them all summer. I can’t imagine anything being easier to sew.
This weekend I found some time to bang out a whole bunch of these skirts for both Sosi and Ila (definitely inspired by the much warmer weather). This green one is my favourite by far. The fabric was thrifted and the ribbon was in a stash that was handed down to me from a friend many years ago. They look like they belong together, and on her.
camping…
This week’s theme over at the Small Fancy is “Camping”. I had fun with this one. I miss my camping days. They ended when I met my husband. He generally does not enjoy the outdoors… bugs.. getting dirty. Not the makings of a good camper. He makes up for it by being awesome in many other ways.
Happy long weekend!
a week of dinners
I love dinnertime. Sitting down to eat is my favourite time of day, but getting to that point can be stressful. I’m tired and hungry, the girls are tired and hungry. It seems to be the time of day they seem to need my attention the most. I feel torn between being there for them and trying to make them something heathy and tasty for dinner. That usually makes me grumpy.
To try and make this time of day more fun I decided to try an experiment. I wanted to take photos of dinnertime for a week. I was surprised by how something so small changed things. It made everyone feel like dinnertime was that much more special. It forced me to slow down and not be so frazzled. It made it more fun.
I managed to photograph Sunday through Friday, then Paul made dinner on Saturday and I got so excited that I forgot about the whole thing (it was that good). All flowers were picked and arranged by Sosi.
Sunday: Homemade pizza
Monday: Roast chicken, spinach, mashed potatoes with chives, tiny pastas with butter.
Tuesday: Annie’s Mac and Cheese, salad, BBQed sausages.
Wednesday: BBQed hamburgers, corn on the cob, salad
Thursday: Spaghetti with tomato sauce, kale.
Friday: Canton Café… chinese food. (Paul was away… us girls decided to go out)
summer, where are you?
It is freezing here. It is sunny and green… but cold. I’m using that as my excuse for my lack of sewing anything for the kids’ summer sewing challenge. (I can’t imagine wearing anything summer-like, I spend most of the day wrapped in a blanket.) I’ve also been busy with a couple of exciting jobs which are eating up any free time I have. I hope to get the sewing kick-started soon though.
I sewed the patch on those pants, does that count? I didn’t think so…
turning off the t.v.
A few weeks ago we decided to put away our T.V. I had been thinking about it for a while. Espeically after reading this post over at Sharilyn’s lovely blog.
I was becoming lazy as a parent. Putting Sosi in front of the T.V to get things done (not that she minded). Then I noticed she was automatically turning it on first thing in the morning and as soon as she got home. She always wanted to watch it. We were arguing more and more. It was a battle to get her to do anything, from brushing her hair to getting dressed.
One day I had enough. We had an awful morning of nonstop bickering, as soon as she was off to school I took the T.V. and put it in the closet. When she came home from school I told her that it was broken. She cried and cried. She was inconsolable, saying things like “the T.V was my best friend”. I held her and told her it was going to be O.K. I was expecting her to not be happy, but I was surprised by just how upset she was.
She is still asking for it, and I have moments where I feel a little bad. I loved watching T.V as a kid, and we have movies that we love to watch together. But she is so much more agreeable and we have such a better quality of time together. She seems like herself again, sweet and fun.
Yesterday while I was scrambling to get supper ready I noticed it was much too quiet. I tip toed and peeked into Ila’s room and this is what I found. I don’t think this moment would have happened if we had a T.V.
happy mother’s day
Happy Mothers’ Day to my mom, my mother-in-law, and all my mama friends… I have learned so much from all of you and am so thankful to have you all in my life.
the winner is…
The winner for the card give away is comment #8, Carrie S. If you read this before I have a chance to email you Carrie, please send me your address and I will send you your cards!
Thank you all for your comments. Reading through them was such a treat. It was nice to see who is visiting my site, I wanted to give you all a set of cards! I will have to do another give away sometime soon.
This week’s theme over at Small Fancy is “Me in 50 years”, Mia’s is awesome!
a card giveaway
I’ve made some barn face greeting cards for my shop. You can see them here. To celebrate, I’m giving away a set. Please leave a comment, and in the next few days I’ll choose a winner.
Good-bye April…yay for May!
April has to be my least favourite month here on P.E.I. It is always so cold, just when your body seems to need sunshine and warmth the most.
To celebrate its end, we took to the beach. Much fun was had by all. Yay for May!!
current obsessions
We have decided in these parts that there is nothing cuter than Ila eating nacho chips (look what a bowl hog she is!). When she dips them in the guacamole she says “dip, dip, dip”. It makes me so happy to see my children eating.
Other than feeding my children, I am currently obsessed with:
Elsie Marley… I really want to do her kids clothing challenge…
Heather Ross. In my dreams I would sew everything for my kids out of this fabric.
(Can you tell I have the sewing bug?)
On another note… Stephanie over at The Cross blogged about my paintings. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve the kindness I receive from these women… they are amazing. If you are even in Vancouver please visit their store, it is really something.
feeling better
She’s feeling better. Her smile has returned, her cheeks are getting chubbier by the day and we have started heading out into the world again. Life is good.
reincarnated as…
This week’s theme over at The Small Fancy is “reincarnated as”.
Is there really any other animal to be reincarnated as other than a cat? You would always be warm and cozy, you would get lots of sleep, cuddles whenever you want and no one expects too much from you. Man, the cats have it good.
To see the full image and to see Mia’s take on the theme, visit our Small Fancy site.
Happy weekend!
back into the swing of things
We’re slowly get back into the swing of things here.
Poor Ila is taking the longest to recover. She’s sure had a rough month, being hit by 1 thing after another.
I’m sure I’ve said this before, but getting your world turned upside down by sickness sure makes you really appreciate the boring normal-ness of life. So that’s what I’m doing right now, enjoying the boring-ness… and trying to catch up on lost sleep .
“things in my kitchen”
This week’s Small Fancy theme is “Things in my kitchen”. There hasn’t been much activity in my kitchen this week… we have all been sick with the stomach flu. Nothing to make you feel alive again like a future sweater, all balled up, the colour of sunshine. Can’t wait to get knitting!
Lori Joy Smith 
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