Oodles of Inspiration

This was the perfect weekend to bridge the gap between vacation and work. The weather was perfect. The garden veggies were abundant. The kids were content.

On Saturday I took Xander with me to Craftin' Outlaws, one of the larger hipster craft shows in town. There was so much inspiration there, I just had to start on some new projects that afternoon. A day and a half later, I have three new projects started, and one completed. Boy did I miss my sewing machine while I was out of town! (I've come to terms with the fact that makes me a bit pathetic).

Here's some of the cards and chatchkies Xander and I picked up while we were there. Lot's of people had business cards with monsters on them, and Xander grabbed every one of them.


I think I stunned Erica by spending only three dollars at the show. These cute patches were just too hard to pass by. If only Quinn would let me make a dress for her. One of these would be great on the front of an A line dress.


Before we headed out for the show, we had lunch made from veggies fresh from my garden. I love this time of year, when you pick your lunch right before lunch.


Then today, I started cutting up my latest haul from Sew to speak, and thanks to Quinn, who decided that spending two hours in the sewing room with me sounded like fun, I was able to finish this handbag up before dinner.


I put in a pleat on the outside of the bag, and then struggled a bit to figure out how to work out the dimensions on the inside of the bag. In the end, I put the pleat in, and then sewed it up so small items wouldn't get lost in there. If only I had paid more attention during geometry in high school! Oh well. In any case, it looks good. And it has a small cell phone pocket, and a magnetic snap closure.


Quinn, who feels she contributed greatly to this project, insisted that she model for a photo. If you ask me, she looks great with blue and brown.


Since I made this handbag with no particular reason in mind, I guess I have officially started making bags for Pattyfair. One down, 49 or so to go.

First Day of School

Well, first day of preschool anyhow. Still, Quinn was terribly excited. She had been carrying around her backpack all day Sunday and was ready and standing at the door five minutes before me this morning.

I feel bad about all the kids starting 'real' school next week as we are having terrible weather this week -- the last week of vacation. We've had thunderstorms every day and lots of rain. We got outside after work and school for a few minutes when there was a short break in the rain.

:: Xander climbs our only 'tree' - an overgrown burning bush ::


:: Quinn helps mom make a zucchini quiche ::


:: I had to throw some bacon in the mix in order to get the boys in the family to eat it ::

Busy Week

It's been a busy (and fun) week so far. We had a great time at the tree farm and the stars put on a pretty good show -- even though we had to wake up at 3:30 am to get the best viewing time. The kids managed to spend all night in their own tent leaving Kevin and I to the big tent by ourselves. Nice.

On the way home I picked up a bunch of fresh locally grown veggies and have been cooking something new up every night. It's made me think I should really try cooking more often.

:: Whole wheat pasta with fresh veggies and feta ::

:: Asparagus tart with fresh eggs ::

:: New apron from Anthropologie ::


Some other stuff going on this week:

:: Checking out Marrietta Brewing Company with Mike and Erica ::

:: Sketching up a logo for their new brewing company ::

:: Watching Alisa perform ::


And, of course, some sewing. I have two small elephant clutch bags completed and am working on a new bag design. Hopefully I'll be posting the finished product in a couple of days.