Wednesday, June 30, 2010

W.I.P. Wednesday

of Birds and Babies

It's baby season around here again.  So I've been creating with a lot of little ones on the mind.  The two most recent projects are bird inspired.  This one has been on the brain for awhile.  I first saw it in November somewhere (I tried to find it again but I think it's been discontinued) and was totally smitten with the idea of a natural kind of bird mobile.  I, then, dutifully forgot about it until recently, while blog hopping, I found a this pattern.  To be honest I would like to adjust the pattern a bit... but they're still stinking cute!


The second project that I've been working on is a diaper bag made of cord and recycled plastic (I'll post more details after it's all sewn together).  This project has been a WIP for months.  I'm really liking how it's turning out, but I'm at the place that I hate... sewing the liner to the outside.  This part has been frustrating on every bag that I've made.  Any tips?

Friday, June 25, 2010

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Long Days


Long days filled with hiking, ice cream making, swinging, running around half naked (at least for the littles), picking wild flowers, long summer naps, late nights, star gazing, sun soaking, water playing, pizza grilling, thrift storing, and creating are hard to beat.  We had a wonderful and simple solstice celebration (sadly without the camera) and a nice short summer slumber and are now starting it all again today. How did you spend the longest day of the year?

{photo by Danny}




Wednesday, June 16, 2010

W.I.P. Wednesday

Man Bag



For my guy, who's always on the go, a sling-it-over-your-shoulder-and-go kind of bag. So far it's carried everything from the lap-top to sliding gloves.  The goal was to make it small enough that he can take it anywhere, be it, in the car or on the long board... but large enough to fit the computer and its gear.  It has no zippers, no real buckles (just a few optional snaps for security), and only a couple pockets.  I wanted it to be very simple and versatile... successes! The burlap coffee bag ended up being just the right choice for the outside, having a great casual and unique look to it... and you can't forget about the *durability*, excellent for this active stud that I am so in love with.  He told me a couple weeks ago, "I really like my new bag, it's perfect". "Perfect?!" that man sure knows how to make my day! 


Friday, June 4, 2010

Fun Finds Friday

Five Finger Shoes  


These may be my favorite shoes ever.  It took awhile to convince myself to get them... but now there is no going back.  Vibram knew what they're doing with these puppies!

Seeing Beauty





Appreciating where we are in life. 

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

W.I.P. Wednesday

"Wedding Dresses"


Finally, I'm back.  I actually have a lot of WIPs to share, but I'm going to save most of them for next week.  This week I want to dedicate to one of my favorite recent projects (though, to be fair, I say that about almost all of my projects).  I made both girls flower girl dresses for my father-in-law's wedding.  Sati likes to refer to hers as her wedding dress... I love it.


When the girls were asked to be in the wedding I was thinking that they were going to want some specific dress that would end up costing a lot and would, in all likelihood, never be warn again.  But as it turns out the only requests they had were that the dresses be white and they come barefoot (I'm currently dreaming of being barefoot on that beach again).  How perfect is white for a beach wedding?  And to have a whole flock of kids, 10 in all, show up in beautiful white get ups I couldn't resist making a project out of it.

I didn't have a pattern with either of the girls dresses and they took longer than I anticipated (doesn't that always happen?).  The tops are crocheted using a shell stitch in front and a single crochet in back.  With Sati's I used a slightly larger hook (because she's bigger and I was running out of time).  The skirts are made with a linen over and a muslin liner.  When I got them all stitched together I decided that they could use just a little something to brake up all that white. That's were the sea shells come in.  I love how that added just the right amount of casual beachiness to our sandcastle princesses.

Here's a few pictures from the wedding: 






{W.I.P. (Work In Progress) Wednesday is a fun and stress-free opportunity for you to share whatever your crafty little self is working on with the rest of the blogging community. You are invited to showcase a project you’re beginning, working on, or maybe even finished with. There is no skill or talent-level requirement and you can share anything in any medium! ~ Musings from the Fish Bowl}