I’ve noticed the regular wild flowers blooming.  This one is colts foot I believe.

Trout Lily.  Lovely flower, less lovely name.

Went for a walk the other day with a girl on a horse.

This sign hung in a snack bar/bar that my family owned when I was a kid.  I worked at the lunch counter  and probably made a few thousand Kee burgers in my day.   I was so glad my mom kept it when she sold the place.  I salvaged it from my mom’s garage a few years ago.

It now hangs in a place of honour in my kitchen.

I’ve had this idea kicking around for years and finally got r done today.

If you can’t make it out, it’s a collection of ticket stubs from some of my favourite shows I’ve seen.  I’ve framed them and now I need to decide where to hang it.  Or maybe rest it.

I framed an old poster from the bar we owned as well.

Nice glare I know.  Tricky picture to take.   Anyways, it evokes fond memories for me.

I’ve also displayed old children’s books.  I have a set of Winnie the Pooh books that were my mothers.  They sit on my computer desk.  I have several Cat in the Hat books that I need to find a place for too.  I keep buying them when I find them at second hand stores even though my dd is well past the age where she wants them read to her at bedtime.   I can’t help myself.  If it’s one I already have I gift it to little kids in my life.  Spread the love I say.

My favourite art in the house right now is my records.  I bought these frames from Michaels  for cheap and I just love having the old albums on display.   I can change them up and display different ones later.  I have a pretty good selection to chose from.

One of the things that I did on the cheap that I’m most happy with is this dining buffet that I’ve used for my TV.  The cabinet on the wall above was suppose to sit on the bottom part.  I had some of the base cut off and we hung it above.

The pictures are of my granddad’s farm.  The record player was purchased from Canadian Tire.  I picked up the record holder from a local antique store for about $10 .  I went looking for the clock and found it at an antique store.  Some days you just put the thought out there and the objects find you.  Sweet.  I think it cost about $30.

I bought some old music sheets in Bala Ontario about 25 years ago and finally framed them this year.  What better place to hang them then over a piano?  Sometimes it takes years before a plan comes together.

Sorry for all the glare going on, but it’s the best I could seem to do for now.  No custom framing for me, I search until I find the right frames.  These are from Walmart for around $15 each I think.  Cheap people have to learn to be patient sometimes.

Thanks for coming on the mini tour.

Anyways. .. It’s done and I’ve even started working on March’s bags.  There are 6 in the set and I’ve completed one.  The second has been held up due to a lack of zippers.  I hate that I have to make a 45 minute journey to town to get zippers.  I’ll wait until someone else is going for other supplies and tag along.

Follow the challenge here.

In the meantime I made these little guys from One Yard Wonders.

I especially like the Zzz fabric.  It is actually called Goodnight Monday by Erin Michael for moda fabrics.  I embroidered the eyes and nose so they would be baby safe.  I love how kooky they look.

If the link doesn’t work here there is a badge on my sidebar that does.

I was cruising Flickr for inspiration on the new Cosmo Bag from Amy Butler’s Style Stitches when one link led me to another yada yada and I found this challenge.   I had already decided that this was my next project and what better way to stay inspired then to  make it with a bunch of other like minded sewers?  It really helps when people post their problems and ideas on the discussion pages of the Flickr group.

I’m not expecting that I will  make all 17 bags.  If I get five or six completed I’ll be delighted and I won’t need to feel guilty about the book purchase.

Here is the fabric.  I confiscated the chenille from my dh workroom.  It was in with his parents belongings and he thought since it was damaged I wouldn’t want it.  DOES HE KNOW ME AT ALL!!!

The bag wasn’t too difficult, but the “easy” rating in the book is a little off.  I had trouble with some of the instructions but somehow muddled through and figured it out.

It’s a big bag and pretty WOW.  I’ll have to see if I actually have the chutzpa to carry this thing.

I didn’t make the side pockets quite as deep as the instructions would have you.  Before I sewed the side panels on I stitched two lines about 7 1/2 inches down from the top of the pocket.  I looked around on flickr and found some great ideas for smaller interior pockets as well.  There are some good questions and answers in the discussion section of the bag challenge.  I would recommend doing some research before you start this project.

Here is the interior.

I added the little pocket for keys or a cell phone.  I think smaller things will just get lost in the giant pockets.

Next month is the Reversible Everyday Shopper.  I’m thinking denim and maybe just a little orange this time…umm

This is my Winnie.  She’s the 11 yo.  For a large breed dog this is considered a long life.  Each day is a gift and I appreciate her every day.  She started out on the walk just fine.

Here she is following her fool brother, Bingo.  That’s not what we call him.  I can read the looks on her face.  She really does think he is a fool.  I’ve tried talking to her about this but…

We passed the barnyard and said hello to mama cow.

and abbey the goat.

Now I’ve lost one dog (Winnie) and the other has taken off on me.

I’m not letting it bother me.  I’m stopping to enjoy the beautiful winter colours.

Someone just noticed we’ve become a walk for two.

I love how these bird houses we put up years ago have survived and aged.  What a lovely summer home.

He is sure he hears something under the snow.  Probably a mole or mouse?

I can’t seem to get enough of this and take some 30 pictures.

Okay, this is the last one.  I’m sure pleased he’s getting a bit of a bath this way.

I love this close up of a cedar rail fence.

An enchanted forest.

The ultimate in a climbing tree.

A perfect maple which makes a home and lunch bar for…

a woodpecker.  Which I took another 20 or so pictures of.

Oh look,

someone has decided it’s time to go home.  Thanks!  Yes, the speck in the distance is the dog I’ve taken for a walk.

I love this elm.  Not many healthy ones left around here.  Elm trees remind me of the party tree in Go Dog Go.

Looks like a long walk home.  ugh. Who’s idea was this?

I suspect I must walk like a duck to make tracks like this. ??

“hey mom, what’s taken you so long?”

I’ve been pursuing   Spoonflower recently and was finally enticed to buy  some awesome tea towels.  This site has totally unique stuff.  I ordered this one and this one.   They arrived rather quickly and now I’m in the process of edging them for  Christmas gifts.  The online support  was super helpful with a couple of questions I had as to size and fabric type.   For just $1 I ordered a fabric sample pack which will come in handy next time I order, and I will.  I even received a very nice email from the designer, thanking me for my purchase.  I ordered the linen cotton canvas for my tea towels.  They haven’t been washed yet but, I’ll report back as to how they work for absorbency.  These towels are so cute though, I wonder if the gift receivers will even want to use them.

Here’s a peek before hemming.

And here they are  finished.

I did a 1/4 inch double hem along all sides. Simple.

I highly recommend  Spoonflower. There are many more prints on my wish list for the new year.

The Cure has those following complete 20 minute home projects to help make our homes a little more lovelier.  Yesterday involved a 20 minute clean of one room.  I was already cleaning yesterday, but took some solice in the fact that I wasn’t alone in my chores.

Here’s one more picture of the lanterns.

These aprons are reversible. I made them using the emmeline apron pattern from Sew Liberated.  I added pockets to the second one.

I made the one on the left by copying a bag my DD already owns and the messenger bag from directions from Sew What! Bags. 

I’ve been very busy sewing lately.  I just love it when my daughter is on her summer break and life seems to slow just a little.  Enough to sleep a little later and not fret about getting to bed in time for an early morning to get her off to school.  I’m most productive with my sewing late at night, provided I’m not exhausted anyways.  During the day there are so many more distractions. Phone calls, questions, pick this up, take this here, we need more of this, DD needs a ride here….

This is our second summer with air-conditioning.  LOVE IT!  I’m still very appreciative of it and don’t take it for granted. Having the geothermal installed has been our best reno so far.  I try not to blast it though.  It is summer after-all and I kind of don’t mind being a little on the warm side.

I

The weather wasn’t great as it has been in previous years, but the rain held out and a few people walked around the gardens and to the gazebo.  I wasn’t at the house during the tour though.  I was manning our (my daughter and mine) booth at the local farmer’s market.  Considering it was the first day of the market ever and the weather, all went really well.  My daughter’s jewellery outsold my few sewn goods and she was very pleased.

The crowds through the house loved my store-bought Costco cake. (shh our secret)  I never actually said I made it but I did take the compliments.  I knew when I spotted it across the baking department that it would look good in my kitchen.  Tasted nice too.

Yes, a new counter top is in the planning stage.

( As you can see in this picture I have already primed, painted and starting drawing my design on it.)

I then primed it with Fresh Start ( a high adhesion latex primer from BM).  Next I used some white flat latex (cause that’s what I had on hand  and I knew I would be coating the whole thing in latex urethane so it didn’t matter what finish I used at this point).

I  made my shapes using my mouse pad as a guide.

I made this stencil from bristle board and drew around it with a pencil on to the floorcloth.  I measured to keep things fairly even.

I then used black latex paint that I already had to paint my design.

Everyone got involved.

The cat hair adds texture.

Next I painted red in some of the centres.  I chose every other square in every other line.  I then put about four coats of Stays Clear (BM latex urethane in Low Lustre) on it..

I’m very happy with how it turned out.  I’ve been weighing down the edges with heavy books and it’s made a big difference to the waviness.