she’s a walker…

                       

Well, she really is walking now. She has been taking a few steps here and there for a few weeks, but now the real fun begins. She has also become emotionally attached to this blanket and calls it “baba”. She likes to bury her face in it, bite it, and shake her head around like she is a puppy. Not really sure where that came from, but it is really cute. When we get her out of bed, she always picks it up and wants to bring it with her. She also likes to hide under it. Too bad it is white. I do not foresee a pretty future for baba.

                      

its a keeper

I made this little dress out of a thrifted skirt on the bottom and some vintage fabric on the top and there is no way I can sell this one. She is sitting in a lawn chair that my husband brought home for me one day randomly as a present and I do love it so. Stella does too apparently. I can tell already she has good taste!

Night all….more projects to show tommorrow. I promise.

Ames

breathe

For a few moments today the sky was breathtaking. I love outside.

funny lunch

She is just so much fun, that girl of mine.

autumn manifesto

 

 This autumn I will wake early and drink my coffee on the porch, breathing in the crispness that is September.

 This autumn I will experience the falling leaves from my daughter’s point of view and with her wonder.

This autumn I will drink deep of colour, texture, smell and sound, storing up the memories to tide me through the grey of winter.

This autumn I will go outside, even when work is calling.

This autumn will be one of apple crisps, cozy mugs of tea and candles at supper.

This autumn I will take more photographs, catching the small details that build my days.

This autumn I will pursue order, calm and beauty in my soul and home.

This autumn will be full of dancing with my baby girl to vintage records, soaking up her joy and contentment.

This autumn I will breathe more deeply and laugh more often, creating more space in my life for those I love.

This is my autumn manifesto.

***Inspired by this*** 

mmmm…cozy.

Our recent holiday trip meant lots of thrift shopping which means lots of sweater pants. It is the perfect time of year for them too and I think that they just look so snug and cozy wearing them. I don’t have many pictures since they are mostly for kids bigger than my live in model Stella. Here are some that I have been working on…

These went home with my little model, since she didn’t want to take them off!

 

These ones are from a few months ago and they went home with the model too now that I think about it.

One of these days I will get a little tutorial together, I promise. For now, all I am doing is sewing, (and sewing and sewing) trying to get caught up. And so, I am off to do just that…..later people.

Amy

ain’t no party…

I really believe it would be in your best interest to watch this . And this. And this.

Who’s the mother flipper?

I’m the mother flipper.

skirty bags

I have been experimenting lately with using thrifted mini skirts to make handbags and I am having a lot of fun with it. The skirts often have great pocket details which are handy for bags. (translate: I don’t have to make the pockets!)

For example this was I think a size 5 or 6 mini skirt.  It is this great soft corduroy, with that slightly wrinkled look which I love. I lined it with some great japanese fabric, but couldn’t get a bright enough picture of it with my lame digi cam. (I am so coveting a digital SLR)

This skirt was a pleated skirt which ended up in these fun bubbly looking folds on the bottom. Again, no picture of the lining because my camera is lame-o. The tie is a nice detail although it ends up being not at all functional.

It has been a busy sewing week for me since I emptied out the shop to take with me on holidays. I sold a fair bit with my “traveling roadshow” (as our friend Kelsey called it), which actually was just selling things out of plastic bins because I’m classy like that. However…it did fund a few good thrifting excursions which I thoroughly enjoyed. So now the little shop is all stocked up again, but in the rush to refill it I didn’t have much time to document anything more than these few bags.

On another note, Stella has been such a dream lately and I am so enjoying this stage. It is a welcome change from her readjustment period after our holiday which involved a lot of screaming, kicking and clinging.  She has had this explosion of chatty-ness and it is thoroughly entertaining. She also is discovering her own strength and has started rearranging the furniture whenever possible. She spent the day with her dad today while I worked and was “helping” him fix the cupboard. I guess he was sitting on the floor working on it and she was all over it, climbing on him, crawling in the cupboard and wanting to get right in there. She also has started answering questions we ask her with a very definite “YEAH!” which is much nicer than the alternative.  She also has started saying “Hi” with this cute little head tilting thing that makes my heart absolutely melt. I definitely get it now …. that there really aren’t the proper words to describe what it is to have her look up at me quizzically the way she does, or to feel her pulling on my pant leg to stand up, or see her bringing me a story to read to her, or hearing her giggle so hard she can’t stop. She is this amazing little complete person and even though I take care of her every day, her being here and mine is still something to get my head around sometimes. It is really a wondrous thing, this parenting gig, even on the days its not so easy.

holiday thrifting

Thrifting was good to me while we are on holidays. We found some cute little antiquey places along the way and it was a nice way to give Stella a break from driving and so needless to say we came home with a bit more than we left with.

This picnic tin will now be doing duty as Stella’s diaper bag.

 

Some knick knacky things that we liked. The cocktail shaker set has got me itching to have a martini party now. I love that the glasses are short without stems. It means it is that much harder for me to knock them over.

That’s all I have for now ..the vintage print fabrics I scored are all in the wash so no photos of those tonight.

On the subject of thrifting, my in-laws are here this week and it has made me realize how much of what we own is second-hand. My MIL is always commenting on things we have and asks where we got them and I am constantly responding either “thrift store” or “garage sale”. I like that the things we have and enjoy are things that aren’t the same as everyone else around us, that they didn’t cost a lot, that I am potentially saving something from being thrown out. I enjoy shopping this way more too because it is more of a creative challenge and forces me to find new ways of using things or changing them. I am really seeing how destructive materialism and consumerism is to people (especially their finances) and to me thrifting is my way of resisting that pressure to buy more, more, more all the time. Of course, it is just as easy to spend more than is necessary in a thrift store as in a regular store and I know that is a weakness of mine too, but overall I just feel better in my soul about reducing the amount of new things we buy whenever its practical. It seems like a lot of people around me are in this frame of mind lately too and it has been nice to see.

So, I guess if the spirit moves you….happy thrifting!

holidays

                                 

We had a little family holiday this past week – our first real one as a family of three. Stella travels really well and we had a lovely time thanks to the hospitality of some dear friends in Kamloops and Kelowna. It was a holiday full of my favorite things - Will, good conversation, sunshine, beachyness, thrifting and laughing with my baby girl. The only thing missing was some crafting, since I forgot to pack anything with me, but I did do lots of crafty planning.

It was definitely time to “get outta Dodge” (as Will would say)…leading up to our little trip it was fairly chaotic…nothing too bad, but lots of little annoying things happening. Will and I both planned some major work things that week, to get them out of the way before we left, I had a migraine on Wednesday, shot a wedding on Saturday, the car had a flat tire, the septic backed up….yadda yadda yadda. We did manage to make it out on Sunday but then that night Stella ran her first high fever all night which made for a long night with a cranky girl and a worried mama. She bounced back the next day though, and handled the rest of the holiday fine which I was really grateful for.

Just as we were leaving I was trying to upload some audio books onto my ipod to listen to in the car, and of course it wasn’t working (just like the rest of the week) so I quit fighting with it and we left. I told Will as I was getting in the car that it didn’t work and that it just meant he would have more time to talk to me about his feelings – haha. From the back seat, with impeccable timing we hear a little babbling voice say “STHIT”!  Will says she read his mind. That little girl made us laugh so much this week. She also became “daddy’s girl” this week – wanting him over me for the first time. I have to say that it was actually nice to have that little break, and see her bonding with her dad so well.

So…now it is back to work. I have lots of fun thrifted finds to show and tell, and I can’t wait to do some more making and crafting.  I was really inspired on this trip and have some new designs percolating on the back burner.

For now…some more pictures from our trip. Actually…mostly just pictures of Stella. (but are you surprised?)

Feet must. not. touch. grass.

sitting pretty