Link love

Not only do I absolutely love writing my own blog - heck, I already have two blogs with a third on the way! - but I also absolutely love reading blogs. With so many out there, how do I decide which ones to read on a regular basis? Well sit right down, and listen while I tell you...

Every few months I go on a blog hunt following links from one blog to the next, to the next and so on. The great thing about bloggers is that most kindly put some of their favorites in a nice little list in the sidebar (cast your eyes to the right for a prime example). It's the equivalent of the "Recommended Reading" list at the library: Someone has already taken the time to check out all of these blogs and has deemed them enjoyable so more than likely, I will too - and usually I do.

On these occasions, it's not unusual for me to have a ridiculous number of tabs open at a time reading through over a dozen new blogs in a single sitting. The ones that tickle my fancy get added to my "Following" list so I can stalk their every post on a daily basis.

If I kept every single blog on my "Follow" list forever, I'd never get any work done for all the blog reading I'd have to do, so every few months I cull through my list. Sometimes I leave it in this leaner, meaner state for a while. Other times, I'm right back at it hoarding blog links like they're going out of style.

I'm currently in a hoarding phase. Here are just a few of my most recent faves:

tollipop A talented, creative Canadian gal living in Vegas. Her storytelling skills are a treat to enjoy as are her adorable paintings. I would love to have one of her paintings in my little sewing space (hint, hint TDSH).

thimble A great source for tutorials and book recommendations. She also shares my obsession with fabrics so she's A-OK in my book!

sleep talkin' man And now for something completely different...this blog is SOOOO not about crafting or kids or about pretty much anything you might associate with my own blog...it's the blog of a woman who records her husband's nightly sleep talking and posts it to the web each morning. I am thisclose to ordering my very own Sleep Talkin' Man t-shirt! NOTE: If you are at all sensitive about foul language, you may want to skip this one.

owl and pussycat From her ABOUT page: "I dabble in sewing, knitting and other domestic arts while using my organizational skills to wreak havoc on my family and co-workers." Sound familiar? A woman after my own heart.

oh, fransson This woman quilts like nobody's business. I love looking at the amazing fabric combinations she puts together. Be sure to check out her "Small Projects" page for some cute project ideas.

giddy goat When I first visited her site she had a post up about Jamie Oliver...I knew this was a blog worth reading. [What? You didn't know I was mildly obsessed with Jamie Oliver? Well, now you know.]

fourth-place medal Sadly, this blog will end on Sunday after the Olympics are over, but if it were up to me, this would be how all major sporting events are covered. If you read nothing else on this blog, you have to at least check this post out. Oh, and maybe this one too.

Finishing the unfinished

Ok...some serious attention must be paid to one of those resolutions I posted about last month...finish the unfinished.

Here's the list of unfinished projects I'd like to complete this year. As I said in the previous post, I am just aiming to complete half of these (aim low, that's what I always say). In a lot of cases, I haven't even started these yet, but I have all the stuff so really there's no excuse.


> Lopi lace scarf found in Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick (it's the hardest thing I've ever knit [not that that's saying much]). All I can say is thank goodness for point protectors - I've toted this unfinished project to the four corners of our apartment and out to crafternoons so many times with the intention of picking it up again yet thankfully, haven't lost any of my precious work in all my travels.

> Hideous orange and pink acrylic scarf started three years ago in Ontario (one can't be choosy about yarn selection in small town Ontario). Why I would even want to finish it is beyond me...hideous, orange, pink and acrylic??? What was I thinking!?!?

> Green wool coat (previously posted about here). 'Tis gorgeous and I still love it...I just can't bring myself to finish it. At least I have an entire Spring and Summer until I might need to wear it now...plenty of time to get 'er done.

> Quilt for Abner (which has been assembled and then ripped apart once already). Happy to report that this project has already been resurrected. More to come on that later!

> Pile of infant dresses currently sitting on my sewing table...I just have buttons left to do. Stinkin' buttons. So close...yet so far.

> Make at least one of Amy Butler's gum drop pillow. In my defense, this one's going to be pricey...not only for the fabric, but for the insane amount of stuffing that is required. Hmmm, maybe I can sacrifice some of Abner's stuffies? No. That would be wrong wouldn't it? Bad mommy.

> Create seat cushions for the kitchen chairs. Yes, it would be one more thing that needs cleaning, but it would hide just a wee bit more of the dreadful 90's pine furniture that I'm sick of.

> Perfect pie shawl from Weekend Knitting. Yeah...this one might be ambitious of me. I'm not a great knitter at the best of times. This one may just have to fall into the half of the list I'm not aiming to complete this year.

Somewhat related to this general to-do list are my goals for creating things to sell. Here's what I have on that list:


> T-shirt skirts and pants
> Tea towel aprons
> Pillowcase dresses
> Felt headbands
> Stuffed owls
> Felt rocks
> Felt rock mats
> Felt beer cozies

With a list like this, what the heck am I doing blogging?!?! See you later, I have to get cracking now!

Carving out space

I read a lot of crafty blogs in my spare time (ha!). I love seeing what everyone's creating and finding inspiration to try my hand at a new project ('cause you can never have too many projects on the go). One of my favorite topics that craft bloggers seem to love to write about is their studios.

Now, I realize that some of these women make a living doing what they do and are therefore entitled to something more than a corner of the dinner table, but I can't help but envy their space.

My personal fave is lovelydesign. Sharilyn simply oozes good taste in everything she does. What I wouldn't give for a room like hers. I'm also very fond of the cozy space used by Amanda over at SouleMama. Hers is a room that looks as though it has seen many decades of crafting, though she herself is a young mother to four kids! Her very modern laptop and sewing machine look perfectly at home next to vintage fabrics, containers of thrifted bit and bobs and walls adorned with children's artwork. Seeing how others have carved out a little space for themselves by utilizing otherwise useless space as Mary Beth has done over at Salt and Chocolate is also inspiring. If she could find space, why can't I?

After months of drooling over everyone else's creative space and using my own lack of space as the primary reason I am an under-productive crafter, I finally carved out a place of my own.

It's not much, but it's perfect for me.

Since we aren't moving any time soon and I can't exactly take over the kitchen table on a permanent basis, I had to get creative in finding a space to call my own.

What I managed to find was the 1.25 metres beside my bed. I had to give up my bedside table, but in it's place I now have a beautiful vintage sewing table (bought on Craigslist) and brand new, super-comfy chair (from the as-is section of IKEA). I keep the sewing table open all of the time and have nestled my fabric storage bins underneath (previously they'd been stored in the middle of the living room...did I mention space is at a premium in our apartment?).

The artwork is not what I'd like it to be. For now, I am making due with some paintings TDSH brought home from Suriname (which I quite like) and a framed poster from IKEA (circa 1998). I'll have to keep my eyes open on Etsy for something better to replace it.

To improve the storage situation a little bit, I also picked up a $20 set of metal shelves from IKEA. I can't believe how perfectly they fit into an odd little corner next to my closet. I wasn't so sure about the metal shelves at first (most of our other furniture is wood), but I've fallen in love with these things. They are perfect to store my craft books, various notions, patterns and a small sampling of my fabric stash.

I actually set my space up a few weeks ago, but not a day has gone by that I don't look at what I've created and smile.

Whole Lotta cuteness came in the mail!

Every evening for the last two weeks I've been eagerly awaiting my opportunity to see what came in the day's mail. It's been such disappointment each time my quest to the mail box turns up nothing more exciting than bills and junk mail.

Finally, after much patience and restrain, I got what I was waiting for, Lotta Jansdotter's book, "Simple Sewing for Baby."

It's even signed! [That loopy thing and her name are written in felt marker]

The best part is that it came with enough fabric to complete what I think is just about the cutest project in the book...the "Simple dress". Miranda made one for Abner a few months ago and it was heartbreaking to see Abner wear it only a few times before outgrowing it. Now I can make many, many more! Love it!

I must go drool over the cuteness some more.

That's one way to do it!

Abner has a rather unique way of getting down the stairs.



Embarrasingly, the snort you hear is, indeed, me.

Vegetarian? I think not!

Abner and TDSH stopped to check out a chicken coop on our walk in Steveston last weekend. Here's a transcript of their rather short discussion about chickens:

TDSH: "What do chickens say?"
Abner: "Yum."