buzzville

Pink Lemonade it is!

First off, I'd like to extend my sincere thanks to all of you who left such supportive comments and fabulous recommendations to my last post - what a wonderful group of people you all are!!! With support like that, how can I even think that I might not be able to keep going with my jogging program?!?

Now on to more crafting! It's been such a hectic month for me that I doubted I'd be able to participate in Tie One On or the Month of Softies. Well, I'm happy to say I've had *some* success... A while back I purchased a big box of reproduction 30s fabric scraps on eBay. The scraps were remnants from fabric bundles this woman puts together, so the scraps were neatly cut and most were long strips or smaller rectangles. I love these sweet, retro fabrics, and I thought that the "Pink Lemonade" theme might lend itself perfectly to these scraps. So, I picked out pink and yellow fabrics from the scrap stash that I thought worked well together and pieced an improvised apron front. Since my quilt project for the Modern Quilt Along involves improvisational piecing, I figured this might give me some good practice. Here is the front:

I don't know if you can see the tiny pink rick-rack that is sewn to the yellow border...

I purchased a coordinating repro 30s fabric for the back and ties:

Here is a close-up of the front so that you can see some of the fun fabrics:

The apron is reversible, but of course I like the pieced front best!

As for the Month of Softies, I came close, but not quite close enough! This is Nell (named after my grandmother and also sporting my grandmother's beautiful, pale blue eyes):

But, I'm embarassed to show Nell naked... I had intended to make her a beautiful dress and submit her for the month of July, but alas, I have not had time to clothe her. So, I'll just share this with you so that you can all keep me on task to get her dressed!

PS - there's a funny little aside to this monkey... I hadn't planned on even attempting this month's theme because I've been so gosh-darn busy, but I stumbled across 4 pairs of Rockford Red Heel socks at my local thrift store for $1.29 a pair (score!). I figured this was the crafty gods mocking me for even considering not making a sock monkey. Of course I snatched up all 4 pairs (one can never have too many sock monkeys!) and got straight to work. If only I had discovered the socks a week sooner, Nell might not be introduced in her birthday suit!

Goals, etc.

Today is a special day for me, but not for any crafty related reasons...

I was raised an only child by a professional working mother. I was the ultimate latch-key kid and I learned to occupy myself while mom was at work. This generally meant burying myself in books, and this tendency toward thinking rather than doing is something that is still with me. Athletics were never a priority for my family, and because I wasn't raised in an environment where athleticism was considered important, I never took an interest. I've always been conscious of trying to "stay in shape", but if I lapsed, it was never a huge deal for me. After I had Brynne I found that I was almost never able to make it to the gym. Finally, after realizing how seldom I was able to make it to the gym, I let my membership lapse and hoped that I could find something else to do.

I had always avoided running because a) it always felt so miserable, and b) I have lousy knees; I have a relatively minor disease called Osgood Slaughter's disease which resulted in a slight deformation of my knees. You probably wouldn't notice it unless I pointed it out - they just have an extra lump on them. Anyway, because I was worried about my knees and because I didn't enjoy it anyway, I was never a runner. All of that changed this past spring. A magazine I subscribe to included a brief training regimen for taking a "couch potato" to a 5km run in 9 weeks. Although I wasn't a total couch potato, I was definitely not in running shape. So, I decided to give it a shot - after all, the only thing required was a pair of shoes... no gym membership, no fancy equipment.

The only time that seemed possible for me to do the program was to get up in the morning with Jerry and go jogging while he was getting ready to go to work. This meant getting up at 5:30 am (ugh!) 3 mornings a week to go jogging - this sounded like absolute hell to me - get up before dawn to go do something that I already knew I hated! Well, I was pretty determined to complete the program, and so I trudged on (or at least it felt like trudging!).

That was 9 weeks ago. This morning I completed the final workout of the program and jogged something around a 5K. This is something I never imagined I would (or could) do, and I know that others around me are just as amazed. Although getting up in the morning was hateful, and jogging still isn't fun, the feeling of accomplishment is truly wonderful. (Plus, nothing feels quite as good as a cool shower after a jog in this hot, muggy weather!) So, I share this with my new blog friends because I'm proud of myself for doing something that was really hard for me. I know that a 5K is nothing for many people, but I am no spring chicken and I am usually exhausted from chasing a crazy toddler around!

Now comes the hard part - keeping up with the routine. I've reached the goal I set out to reach, but I would really like to continue with this and get better at it. Plus, I hear that it does become enjoyable at some point! I'm just worried that I'll give up on this now that I've proven I can do it... I could set time goals, but I'm not really a competitive person, and I don't think this would be important to me. I could set weight loss goals, but all I've done is *gain* weight since I started this program. (Yes, I know it's probably muscle weight, but it's hard to set a weight loss goal when the pounds keep going up!) Due to our schedules in the morning, I can't really increase the amount of time alotted for jogging... So, does anyone out there have any suggestions for a strategy to keep me going? I'd especially love to hear from any runners out there (Mariko?) who actually enjoy doing this!

Well, enough of that... thanks for bearing with me in this self-centered post!

Finished!

Thanks to everyone for your sweet comments about Brynne's teething. She seems to be much better today (no fever!), and we may be out of the woods for now (fingers crossed!). In fact, she was feeling good enough to model this finished project:

This dress was based on a pattern from Candy Tots using Paton's Grace yarn and a size G (4mm) hook. The skirt took *forever* as it was all done with a modified single crochet stitch... I thought it would never be long enough! My main complaint with the pattern is that the bodice is a much stretchier stitch than the skirt, and the skirt is quite heavy, so the bodice ends up sagging a bit from the weight. The edging around the neck and armholes helped stabilize this to some extent, but the sagging is definitely still there. Even so, I'm happy with the colors (ginger for bodice front, viola for bodice back & edging, and spearmint for skirt), and I think she looks pretty cute in it!

Molars suck...

... or at least that's what Brynne seems to be telling me. We've had a long night and day of fever, runny nose, and cough as Brynne is cutting her final tooth - the dreaded second molar. These upper second molars have been the worst by far, with more secondary symptoms than Advil and Pediacare can tackle. So, I've gotten very little "real" work done today and no crafting at all... Understandably, my little girl just wants to be snuggled and held all day. I'm happy to oblige, but this would be so much more comfortable in winter weather - who wants to hold a 102 degree toddler in this heat?!? Ugh.

Wish us luck and quick tooth eruption so that we can all return to our normal schedules - this is no fun at all!

I've been back-tack'd!

Fair warning: this post has plenty of exclamation points and photos, but I bet you'll agree they're well deserved...

You may remember a while back that Theresa teased us with yet another of her outstanding creations, Bernard. Had I known at the time that Bernard would eventually come to reside with me, I probably would have keeled over and died from the excitement. Luckily for me, I survived to see Bernard arrive at my doorstep, together with unimaginable goodies and loot, this past weekend. Yes, my back-tack partner is Theresa, aka Snowbear!!!

The squealing and jitters began when I saw the box; not only did the box reveal the sender via the return address, but the box was personalized!

(you can see that Brynne can't keep her hands off the box!)

 

Needless to say, I'm trying to figure out how to preserve these fantastic drawings - any ideas?

Inside the box resulted in a near fainting experience... I wrestled with the packing materials to heft out a heavy rectangular object wrapped in tissue. Lo and behold this sewing box was inside:

This handmade box is fully covered in beautiful fabrics, trims, and buttons in the coolest color scheme: browns/tans, orange, and pale blue! The box was stuffed to the brim with a bevy of crafty goodies:

crochet patterns, vintage costume pattern, giant crochet hook, transfer patterns, a slew of buttons, and a set of beautiful, woodsy fat quarters. Then there were the non-crafty, but really fun goodies:

A Shag card, Girls Kick A** sticker, Theresa's own card designs, green tea, a beautiful silk scarf, a sweet, vintage apron, a tiny little pom pom chick, and adorable soaps and puzzle blocks for Brynne!

Then there is Bernard. I know you are already familiar with him, but let's just say that he cannot be fully appreciated in a picture on the web. Yes, this means you're all invited to come to see and touch him in person so that you can appreciate Theresa's talent and handiwork:

Needless to say, I could not have dreamed of a more amazing and perfect back-tack package. Theresa has truly outdone herself, especially given that she is in the throes of recovery... My sincere thanks to Theresa for all of her hard work and creativity - I'm so thrilled to have this new friend, especially one who doesn't live all that far away! Many thanks also to Alison and Nicole for spawning this incredible brain-child (uh, is that metaphor a little too graphic?!?) - it's been a total blast and I can't wait for the next one!

The cupcakes are coming!

As promised, I have crocheted night and day to offer my crocheted cupcake bags for sale on Etsy. Thanks to all of your suggestions, each bag is now fully lined with this fabric:

and I've also added sprinkles in various colors to coordinate with the cupcakes themselves. If you are interested in seeing the bags for yourself, visit the buzzville shop!

Thanks to everyone for all of your wonderful comments and support!

Great things come unexpectedly...

I sent Hannah a little surprise birthday gift a while back, and apparently she felt she needed to reciprocate (silly girl!)! Yesterday I received this completely unexpected surprise package, filled to the brim with goodies for Brynne and me! Behold the goodness!

Polka dot tea towel, vintage tea towel ("Lunch is Ready"!!!), stickers for Brynne, cute stamped scooter cards that Hannah made herself (!), tin of vintage buttons & goodies, vintage pattern, vintage Dick & Jane style book (really cute illustrations!), fabric, trim, a gorgeous die-cut bird decoration, a letterpress journal from Hammerpress, personalized Kelly stickers, and an adorable little address book that Hannah bound herself!!! There was also an elephant paper lantern and a rubber monster finger puppet, but Brynne won't let me get close enough to those to photograph... Wow Hannah! I feel as if I was at the winning end of this one, and yours was supposed to be a gift! I really don't know what to say, except thanks!

I found a little time to begin taking photos of my vintage fabric collection for the Flickr group, and I should have some of mine posted by this evening. (If you think I collect Japanese craft books, just wait 'til I get my vintage fabric up!!!) There are some beautiful fabrics there - check them out! As an aside, I can't help but thinking that we're doing textile designers a huge favor by putting these images together - what a great resource for them when they get a little stuck for new ideas!

It's here! It's here!

I just received my pre-order copy of Denyse Schmidt Quilts! The book is very dense, filled with 20 smaller projects and 10 quilts. The instructions look very detailed and include good illustrations to follow along with. If you're still on the fence and aren't sure whether or not you want to buy it, here is some eye candy for you:

Vinyl bag (the book also includes a matching vinyl pouch)

Cute apron with pom poms!

Cats!

"Pie in the Sky" quilt

"Ice Pops" quilt

I know the quality of these photos isn't great (snapped quickly with less than wonderful light!), but hopefully you can get an idea of the projects. At first glance, it looks like a really fun book!

In other quilting news, my life is quickly becoming a sea of greys for the Modern Quilt-Along as I prepare to get started on "Unfinished Business". I'm a wee bit apprehensive about this project, but also foolishly optimistic - great combination, huh?!?

Wee Mail!

Oh yes, today was a good mail day!

Japanese Crafting Again!

Yesterday I had to make the drive down to LA for a business meeting that I didn't really want to attend. So, I had to reward myself for the experience by making a quick stop at the Asahiya bookstore in West LA to once again peruse their Japanese crafting book selection. I came away with the following new additions to the collection (these have also been updated in the Japanese Craft Books gallery):

Lotta's Swatch Book (ISBN 4-07-242602-4) is a gorgeous little collection of detachable postcards of Lotta Jansdotter's screenprinted textile designs. I'm thinking these will be fun little additions in swap packages...

Crochet Motif Applique (ISBN 4-579-11019-6) includes crochet patterns for small designs that can be attached to larger pieces. Some fun project ideas in here for crocheters...

 

No idea what the title of this one is (email the translation if you know and I'll update!) (ISBN 4-579-11022-6), but it's a book of crochet patterns that are organized by season (summer, fall, winter, spring) - from slippers to softies to pillows to bags... fun stuff!

And lastly, this gem has been calling my name for quite some time: Les tabliers sont arrives de Paris (The aprons have arrived from Paris) (ISBN 4-579-10972-4 ). Of course, this will be perfect for inspiration for Tie One On because it's full of apron patterns! Fun ideas - beautiful and stylish photographs - all meant to suggest that simple yet stylish French aesthetic:

I also wanted to thank everyone for all of the wonderful comments on my little cupcake purses. Thanks to your support and interest, I've decided to offer them for sale through Etsy. I'll post here once I've gotten everything set up and listed. In the meantime, if you are interested in a cupcake purse, feel free to email "flavor" requests - I'm happy to make them up to your preferences. I've also been considering adding sprinkles and a cupcake-themed fabric lining - I'd love to hear if you think this should be standard for all of them...