home again!

We made it home safely, and had a wonderful time!  My first vacation with TWO teenagers (how did I get old enough to have 2 teens??) wasn't without it's quirks though.  Namely...teenagers can get crabby suddenly and then just as quickly be having a ball. Sheesh.

And I bring photos!  Probably too many, so forgive me.  But there was so much to see in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons!  This is a mostly photo post... Enjoy!

 

"Morman Row"

 

 We were stopped a few times by bison!

 

My favorite part was touring the geyser basins.  I could have walked around taking pictures of them the entire time!

G-man, by one of his favorite geyser pools "Sapphire Pool".  I used a little retro coloring on parts of the photo.  Although...there is no coloring effect on the pool itself!  It really is that color!

 

 

Old Faithful!

The kids enjoyed animal watching the most.  And I'll admit, it was pretty exciting to see our first bear!

I thought of Dawn when we saw this big fella!!

Grizzly!

And we have some bison in Oklahoma, but I still love them.

My pretty Lu, hiking at Jenny Lake.

 

Hidden Falls at Jenny Lake in the Tetons

Isn't that a lovely photo?  I was standing at the top of a "butte", taking this picture when unbeknownst to me...my flight was taking off at the Jackson airport.  All flights out of Denver were cancelled on what was to be our last day in Wyoming (due to bad weather), so we were *rescheduled* on a much earlier flight.  Too bad nobody told us!!  We were stranded for a day & night in a downtown Jackson hotel, and then spent most of the next day (more than 12 hours!) in an airport or on a plane.  I have never been so glad to be home in my life!

Home again now though...and just about recuperated enough to get back to normal.  Now I have lots of blog catching up to do!

Between Games!

What's been keeping me running (& occupied NOT sewing) the past couple of weeks...


Some of you blogger girls remember my Lu is a softball fanatic and we spend most of April through June at the fields. She was smoking hot last night!

And here's my nephew on the left (he's 11) and an opposing player (ALSO 11!!!!) Would you LOOK at the size of that kid? He looks like a grown man! In fact, he's almost as big as the 6' grown man standing next to him. Wow.


Also a big birthday shoutout to my BFF Buffy! A visit across the Okie state was in order this weekend so I could bring Texas Sheet Cake and gift cards. Oh, and smooch the heck out of this:

Doll Baby

Two more games this week then a bit of a breather next week before things pick up again, so maybe I'll get some sewing time!

Fairy Stuff

You just have to love Nelona. It's gossamer sheer and has a pretty sheen; reminds me of fairy wings. This little top has turned into one of my favorite projects in a long time. I'm almost glad I got sick & had to change my plan!

Here's the finished top, in all its pink & lacy glory.


I added a French lace fancy band at the hem, made up of 3 different lace insertions and a lace edging. I tried to take it outside for pictures so you could see just how yummy the colors really are, but it was so windy! I love how pretty it looks backlit on my porch though!



A close up of the finished embroidery:


The back closes with mother of pearl buttons, and the straps are buttoned onto the back as well.


Now it's on to the skirt!

Spring, please!

Breaking from my normal flailing around from project to project (& in general avoiding my Wardrobe Plan) for the time honored Easter Sewing. I'll admit I've missed a year or two along the way, but by and large, most of Lu's Easter finery has been handmade by me since she was 18 months old. Bless her for letting me continue the tradition one more year.

We flipflopped with indecision for a few days, both of us preferring something dressy and smocked (one last time!) but the reality is that I don't have enough time for that kind of labor intensive project. So I chose this sweet spring suit for "big girls" from OOP Simplicity 4104:


I will be making View D, the long sleeve jacket and View B, the flippy skirt. I was thrilled to find my local quilt shop (now under new owners) is carrying some WONDERFUL new fabrics, including Lecien Durham quilt fabrics! For those of you unfamiliar with Durham prints, they are beautiful, shabby rose prints (Lecien is a Japanese company I think.) They are a little pricier than your average quilt fabric, but hey...it's a holiday!

Here are the 3 prints I chose:


I'm using the aqua rose as the body of the jacket, which I will be underlining with white batiste. The tiny rose print will be the collar and the main portion of the skirt. The rose stripe will be the skirt ruffle. I also want to crop the sleeves of the jacket so that they are 3/4 length, and add a striped ruffle here too. Here's a preview:


I have oodles of lace trims (some vintage) and antique mother of pearl buttons too, so I will probably further embellish where I can with little touches of lace and possibly some embroidery. Since the jacket is raglan sleeve, and the skirt is just rectangles, construction should be a breeze and I can spend a little more time on "special".

Stay tuned! :)

Etsy Fever

I'm joining the ebay strike this week! I'm actually very excited about making a go of Etsy as a selling venue. I've had an etsy shop for almost 2 years, but to be honest I haven't made a big effort there. That's about to change! I like the set up, I like the nominal fee, I like the indie designer feel there.

So...here ya go! A peek at two pretties I stocked my etsy store with today!

Sunny Days

It was absolutely beautiful outside today so Lu & I headed out with the camera and the new custom set for a few pictures. This child is gorgeous. Can I say that even if she's mine? :P


We were just practicing, but I might actually use a couple of these because they're beautiful. I wish it had been warmer and we could have really gotten cooking! No other sewing news today I'm afraid. Too much interesting (read: mind numbing) tv viewing to do.

Mary, did you know?

The reason for the season...

Lu as Mary (and I didn't have to make the costume!)

The video is priceless, I wish you were all on high speed so I could upload it. (Because I'm sure you want to see it!) Lu was a beautiful Mary, and the 60 year old gym floors & gaggle of velvet clad preschoolers disappeared in the face of her amazing performance.

Refundable.

We saw this last night...


It was OK. It didn't give me that cheerful holiday spirit kind of feeling at the end, and there was no cheering and clapping when the credits rolled (like there was at the end of Christmas with the Kranks). Spoilers follow, so stop reading if you don't want to know.

My biggest problem with this movie? A main storyline revolves around Santa's brother (Fred) and his girlfriend and why he won't commit to living together.

ISN'T THIS A FAMILY MOVIE????

I realize this wasn't a religious film, or even a sweet, soon-to-be classic (it is Vince Vaughn, after all). I was also pretty sure at the get-go that we would be watching a secular, "gift-giving is King" kinda film.

That being said, I was very uncomfortable with this message of immorality being broadcast to a room full of families with their children who thought they were there to see a holiday film for families.

The worst part? The big payoff in the final scene is that he DOES commit to moving in with his girlfriend. THAT'S the happy ending to this Christmas movie?

How much more difficult would it really have been to write this character with his inability to commit to marrying his girlfriend? Absolutely no more difficult. At all.

It's a sign of our times. And I don't like it.

Stop! FBI!

Or a reasonable 10 & 12 y/o facsimile thereof...


Oh, those lazy, crazy days of summer. We downloaded the blank FBI badge off an X-Files fansite, LOL!! I added the kids picture, printed, cut out & laminated them...

and they've been out of my hair ever since.

Now maybe I can get something done around here. :o)

Edit: Wow, this post gets a LOT of traffic from Google Images. I've updated the pic to remove faces.

Kaffe & Kaziah

Well, aside from being sidelined by a migraine most of this week, I did find time to whip out this cute little set...


Note flashy Kaffe Fassett prints! There's a sash too, it's just not pictured. I dedicate this one to Shannon and her cuter than cute little outfit she made out of KF a couple weeks ago on her blog. The twirly skirt is actually cuter than it appears. Oh, just lookie for yourself:



This is a short one girls. I gotta have a brownie & lie down. Before I do tho, I wanted to direct you to the most amazing story I heard all week. If you haven't heard of Kaziah Hancock, then you need to read her story here.


And if you can look through the portraits she paints for the families of fallen soldiers without grabbing the nearest kleenex, you're made of stronger stuff than I. Nothing will drive home the true cost of this war more than scrolling down-- a long, long way down-- that gallery page of soldiers she has painted.

I missed the 4th of July on the blog...but I thank God that I'm American every day. And God bless the soldiers who protect our freedoms. Sometimes with their lives.

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My Girl

Happiest of birthdays to my little Lu, who turns 10 today.

She's the happiest child I've ever known, and I thank God every day

for letting me be her mama.

Speaking of sewing (wha? Weren't we?) I was perusing YesAsia this morning and fell in love with this book:


I'm seriously coveting this dotty skirt on the cover! And look at this lovely top on the left...


It comes from this book:


Too many lovely books to choose from. Summer budgeting stinks.

a.

EeeeaAAAhhhhh!!!

You know the tarantula in the kitty food bag story? You know, the one where I was JUST OVERREACTING??

Well take a look at what just crawled onto my drive!!!


Creeping...

Crawling...

Making Lu's face do this...


Apparently you have a WAY quick recovery time when you're 9:


Less than 5 minutes later, it's just another beautiful summer evening...


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