Spring Craft fair

Last weekend, there was a craft fair at the fire hall.

I'm really liking my new-ish wire burlap baskets and chalk paint labels.

I decided to try some new items for summer.

 Cashmere socks!

And of course, I must have lovies for the littles.

The following items are now available at  

Studio 138, Shelburne

Bear friend in a tin

 bunny in a basket. Actually, they are sold separately.

The ever fabulous, Hand Puppets

Socks, dollies, glass plates

 And trinket tray

 This past weekend, we also celebrated Neve's 1st Communion.

T'was a lovely day for a lovely occasion with some family visiting too.

Have a good one.

Amanda

chickens, owls and who-ville hair

Aahh, A warm day in the middle of snow season. 

Where you can hear everything melting, birds singing and chickens making an awful racket. 

They want to get out and play too.

(oh, did I not say that they don't like to put their delicate feet on the snow? Spoiled chickens.)

So I put some straw down outside the coop area. They were as happy as could be.

 And in kid news: Crazy Hair day was indeed, crazy.

 Can't get enough of these owls.

 I think I will adjust the eyes a bit. This guy does seem extremely sad or worried.

Makes you want to love him more.

 And at the moment, I am working on a decor kind of owl. Denim, shiny thread and metal button eyes.

Our two days of warm weather was delightful. 

Just gets you through enough to gather strength for the snow storm we're expected to get on Sunday.

Yay.

Hello March Break.

Have a good one.

Amanda

Owl pattern from here.

Remote Control Owl...holder

Did I ever tell you that I love custom orders? 

Well, I had just that and what I love even more is a day to play with a new pattern.

The request was to take this pattern and make this:

 An owl to hold remote controls!

the original pattern had the owl at 20 inches high and 15 inches wide!! 

Dasalotta pillow!

I reduced the pattern to 65%

 I liked the boxed bottom.

 And I love looking at a clean stitch on felt. Ahhhh. this is a stress reliever to me.

I hope to make another one in denim. oh yes.

And here is a bird photo from a new feeder on the other side of the house.

Just cause.

Well, after 4.5 snow days=no school days in the past 2 weeks, this mama is ready to go out for an evening of adult conversation. Yay for the new local watering hole with live entertainment.

Now if he would just get me some orange pop. Ha.

Have a good one,

Amanda

String puzzle

So this.....

 became this.....

 Just a little mind bender.

 there it is solved.

 If you want to know the solution, you can go here...

Cassette Puzzle

I hope this weekend was a sign of a good summer to come.

Biking, yard sailing and farmer's market on Saturday. Even found a new bike for Miss Neve. Yeah.

Kids spent time with friends on Sunday, apart from each other. whew.

It's been a little intense around here lately. Mood swings. Wow.

And to end the weekend, dinner guests, nice enough to eat outside

 and a little of this.

 I'd like to say they were so fast, the camera couldn't keep up, but I think it was more operator error.

England vs. Portugal. England took it 10-9.

Hope you had a good one.

Amanda

Sorry Rod!

Sorry Rod Stewart, Cory Hart, Chicago and various Christmas Carol renditions. 

 In the name of crafting and repurposing, I must take out your innards and silence your crooning.

I wish my kids were here to help me in this liberating, pulling out of millions of miles of cassette tape.

Then again, they probably wouldn't get the satisfaction of doing it so freely, after growing up in fear of the dreaded.. "the tape broke! " The obligatory cutting, taping and splicing of said tape, so you could listen to your music again, but this time with a big skip in the verse where the tape was cut and the scotch tape covered it over.

If you want to know what I'm doing with all this mess, 

come visit me at the Shelburne Farmer's Market tomorrow 9-1, Guild Hall.

It is a cute gift for Dad's day.

Amanda

Happenings

G'day.

How is it where you are?

This is what we woke up to.

Nice isn't it?

This kind of snow is what I call "movie snow".

It means it's warm enough to play in.

This year, the spirit of Christmas is being sponsored by my 7 year old daughter, Neve.

 She created this little display. Cute.

The kids are wearing their fuzzy Santa hats everywhere. She is singing Christmas carols constantly and is learning a few on the piano.

 Secrets are being whispered to the elves. The kids were disappointed one day when the elves were suspended from a disco ball in the living room. They couldn't touch them and the elves were too high to talk to.

 I got some socks made to donate to the kids' school for a raffle.

 

Sadly, there weren't enough ugly Christmas sweaters in my travels this year. 

Guess they've caught on for all those "Ugly Christmas Sweater" parties.

If you're local or in town, pop over to the Gallery 138 shop on Water street, next to the Bistro 138.

Some nice stuff there for someone on your shopping list.

And one of my favourite small town moments..

 Mail for the kids without any address on it. 

It was a thank you for them playing the bells, tictoc blocks and whip in the Hand bell Choir selections at a concert. I don't think I have a picture. hmm, just a video. It was our 2nd year participating and it was lovely.

Today, there is no school, Parent-teacher interviews. 

There is fresh snow, sunshine, kids who are self entertained- at the moment- and a sewing list that has to be addressed. 

Looking forward to a slower paced day.

Cheers,

Amanda

Owl lovey

I've talked before about making things from the amazing Abby Glassenberg.

Here is the bear beastie bag, duck bag, caterpillar and butterfly and chick and egg reversible toys that I've made before. I even adapted the chick and egg pattern to make this angry bird.

This time, I tried the Lovey Dovey.

 In the softest of fabrics evah. 

Once again, Abby's patterns are very clear, precise and lots of pictures. It was the first time I used a gusset. It's not scary at all. 

I'm keeping my eye out for other soft fabrics to make a different animal next. There are four different animals in this pattern set. Great deal!

We're all a little under the weather here. Not enough to put you in bed to rest, but enough to not want to do anything, just relax, but the guilt factor gets you up to do something. I highly recommend Riccola throat thingys. Cured me a few times today and it's tasty too!

Have a good one,

Amanda

The Mermaid and the Pirate- a little tale.

Once... there was a Pirate, sailing on the seas. Looking for someone, something to share his treasure with. Arrggggg.

He often heard singing and felt comforted by the creatures of the ocean. 

A mermaid, who had been following in his travels came out of the water, just as the pirate looked down.

He invited her to be his companion to explore unknown lands and caves on a never ending quest for treasure.

She was quite excited by this and swam to the bottom of the ocean to collect some of her possessions.

And together, they spent their days sailing, looking and singing to the land, the air and the sea.

Have a good one,

Amanda

Also glad to be a part of The Magic Onions for Friday's Nature Table.
And Creative Friday at natural Suburbia

Hot Water Bottle Cozy

Oo, I've been having fun! And I still have more ideas in my head.

Moving right along in the "let's be really productive" area....

Peek a-boo

Pretty flower! (I got some new die cuts from Michael's thanks to a GC from my inlaws. THANKS!)

 Toadstool

This one is fleece. I couldn't pass up the fun print.

And to fulfill my argyle obsession. I LOVE the pocket!

The sweater already had the stringy design. It and the flower are a lovely muted lilac.

And my squealy bear. I have a few more animal ideas for these. AND I found a smaller hot water bottle for the next ones. Adorable.

I think all of these will be going to Dots and Loops

Cheers,

Amanda