I had a little doll dancing in my head this week. She simply wouldn't let me go until she was made. She's not finished, but all of her parts are there. Finally, she's out! Once out however, I have to start thinking about her clothing. What do you see her wearing?
I'm starting to read a favorite book from my childhood to my munchkins this week. It's The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, by Margaret Sidney. Do you have books that you were crazy about as a child? I completely identified with Polly, the oldest girl in the Pepper story, as she takes care of her younger siblings with such heart. I had the same "brood" at my house growing up.
As you know, I love cooking (as long as it's creative). However, with cooking and a constantly revolving back door, comes flies. I know they are necessary to break down garbage, but I hate flies. The munchkins are hired assassins to keep them down around here. However, they don't get paid if I have to see the dead creatures laying around.
This one must have died of natural causes. He may have had a point about something stinking though. I found this on the bottom shelf, way in the back of the refrigerator this week.
I know it seems like we are always eating at our house. Photos of food grace this site as often as the art does. It's true, we like to eat good food, and with the number of mouths in this house, there's a lot of it that goes through these doors.
Presenting the life cycle of a tomato. Grow. Become
salsa. Presenting the life cycle of an apple. Grow. Become apple pie. You can use the Martha Stewart apple pie recipe to make this, like I did. I do use whole wheat pastry flour instead of the white. As a taste preference, I used brown sugar instead of white in the filling as well.
As I've heard back from almost all of you about your birthday surprises, I'm going to post pictures of them below. Here are some of the notes I've had from the readers who wished me a happy birthday this year:
Thanks for the fun present I received in the mail today. Such a thoughtful and generous notion. I'm looking forward to my cup of tea! -Eve
LOVE IT! Thanks So much! LOVE Tea, too, so it's perfect. The design/artwork is so precious and sweet and whimsical ! Thank YOU! -Heather
Thank you so much for the adorable purse, Angel! Now I don't worry about looking for a tea bag when I need a cup on a cool Autumn day! - Prisca
If you wish you had one of these, mark your calendar for August 14th, and send me "happy birthday" wishes next year.
I've started artwork in the first fabric book, and I really like it! I had actually been struggling with how to cut a canvas without having it being pulled apart by the tension required to keep it stretched. By creating a canvas book, it eliminates the whole issue of tension caused by canvas being pulled around the frame. So, look for some holes to be showing up in subsequent pages.
The theme of this first book is "traveling around the world and through time with art". I know that's pretty broad, but I'm choosing one city/state and time period per page. This first one is of Kansas in the 1930's - 40's. The artwork in the book will be moving around the world as though someone was taking a plane trip.
It's the end of the season for peaches and blackberries. I'd gone picking with my mother on the day after peaches were done, so once again we picked nectarines instead. However, the growers had a few boxes of my favorite variety (Canadian Harmony) in the cooler, so I paid the price and came home with a beautiful box. Mom and I also went up to
the cemetary where my brother is buried. I love the path up there, it leads to this tree, and a tranquil view over the countryside.
I was cajolled, as I am once a year, to sleep outside. We went camping at a friend's place, complete with roasting marshmellows over a campfire to create s'mores. More marshmellows than usual succumed to the flames. I think the age of the campers had increased just enough to make them brave roasting their own, but not old enough to know what they were doing.
Scampy has braved cancer surgery for a second time and is doing fine. My dad couldn't help but fund one more doctor's visit. She's such a sweet dog, and so full of life. I love her expressive eyes, greying muzzle, and gentle spirit.
My hands are burning. I have blisters on each palm. However, my heart is happy because we helped two friends this week. One has given me carte blanche with his bachelor pad, so you'll be seeing before and after photos at some point.
I'm really excited about a new class I'm teaching this fall. If you were here, I'm sure you would be excited too! I've just created blank canvas books that we will be filling with all sorts of things. The theme I gave them was "Art through time and geography". I haven't pinned down exactly how I'm going to do it, but I'm sure we will have fun. These are some of the books I have that we will be using as references for our projects. The Art of Fabric Books (by Jan Bode Smiley), Photocraft (Herter/frankel/Lovett), Fiberarts(magazine), Leonardo da Vinci for kids (by Janis Herbert), and Fabric Journey (by Ruth B. McDowell).
Naturally, as soon as I finished sewing one up, I came up with a hundred different book themes that would be fun to create in them. Fairy Tales, Nursery Rhymes, Short illustrated stories, photo collages, sample catalogues of techniques, and of course, children's play books.
It also doesn't hurt that I've just had a new quilt shop move into my backyard! It's called Aunt Tam's and it has the yummiest fabrics. I showed you a shot of their bolts last week, and here are some more of their interiors. She doesn't have a website up yet, but I'll let you know when it's online. They are sweet, helpful, and have a very cozy shop. If you go in the back, they have a darling little kitchen where you can help yourself to coffee or tea as you shop. (They baked chocolate chip cookies for the kids one Sunday, I heard.) Gezelig (Huzzelic) is the Dutch word for the feeling you get in such a place... They are located in Battleground Village 1207 Rasmussen Blvd, Battleground, Washington.
