Kauai Photos!

I added a slideshow to the sidebar with some of our vacation photos. There are too many to add to the blog...if you'd like to see them all go here

San Francisco

Getting ready for our upcoming trip, I was reflecting on our last out-of-town getaway to San Francisco. We went for my birthday in December of last year (wow - 9 months since a vacation...I NEED to get out of town!!) and had a wonderful time. Since I was looking through our photos, I thought I'd share a bit of our trip to SFO.

One of the most fun things we did was take the ferry over to Sausalito to see the town and drive to Muir woods. We started out at the Ferry Marketplace, a beautiful re-done bulding with many local merchants selling food. We were there so early no one was open yet!

Most of the ferry activity was boats bringing people TO San Francisco, so our trip only had maybe 10 people on it.

The ride over gave many photo opportunities of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Muir Woods was so quiet and peaceful, I could have sat there for hours!!

Since we rented a car in Sausalito for the day, we ventured around to a great lookout over the Pacific.

And took the obligatory picture in front of the bridge.

We bought a trolley pass, so spent plenty of time going up and down the hills of the city.

A guide book had mentioned some off the beaten path stops not everyone knows about. One such place was Macondray Lane. Walking up to it, Jeff swore I was lost, but when we turned the corner and saw this little magical enclave of houses, he knew I was right. What a beautiful place. Wonder what the houses cost there??

We also walked down Lombard Street (easier than walking up!!)

Upon a friend's recommendation, we visited the Japanese garden at Golden Gate Park.

What a great trip! It was fun reliving it here for you.

Busy Weekend

Or, 2 Shirts, 2 Skirts and a headband!

With vacation coming up, I thought I'd see if I could sew a few things for my trip. After many hours of work, I'm mostly pleased

This is a pattern I've had for a while but been hesitant to try because it uses knits. Knits don't like me. I do fine with the seams, it is the finishing (hems, neckline, etc) that gives me the most problem. I had this really soft knit I got for like 2 bucks at Hancock's from the remmnant table I thought I'd try. It went together really fast and was fairly easy, but the neckline hem is wavy, like most of the knit projects I try.


I saw this shirt popping up on so many blogs I had to try it. I read that it ran big, and I didn't want it to look like a tent on me (not very flattering) so I cut it a size smaller than my usual. It is plenty snug, so it was a good thing I used some leftover fabric I had. I'll try reworking again. I think it will be very cute when I get it right.


This project started out being inspired by the fabric. I thought it was very Lilly Pulitzer-like print that would make a good skirt. I used a pattern from the book Sew What Skirts and made a wrap skirt. Very happy with how this one turned out.



My second skirt was again inspired by fabric. I saw this madras plaid at the store and thought it looked like a JCrew skirt I had seen. I also used the Sew What Skirts book on this one.


Since I had fabric leftover, I thought a headband would complete my preppy look. Heather Bailey has a free pattern on her website that makes really cute, easy headbands. A few minutes after cutting, viola...a headband.



I also had a great helper during my sewing marathon. Why do cats like fabric so much?!?!?

SWAP Package!!

I received my Favorite Things swap package from Karen in Scotland. She sent me some great stuff - Shower Gel in Show Fairy (Smells FANTASTIC!!) and Melting Marshmallow Moment (don't you love that name?) bath melt from a UK company called Lush, some divine chocolate from her favorite company Montezuma's, some very pretty post-it notes and the best thing of all, a softie she made herself. It is a building made of felt with windows and doors stitched onto it, and a poem on the back that says "A house is made of walls & beams, a home is built with love and dreams." Karen is an architect, making her "building" all the more special to me. Thanks Karen!!

We actually sent each other similar type things...I sent her some of my favorite bath products which like Lush are also from a company that doesn't do animal testing, and post-it notes. How funny! I really enjoyed my first SWAP experience and look forward to joining another. Thanks Kelly for setting this up.

Garden Pics

I love this time of year when my garden is in bloom. The peonies were done a while ago, here is a shot of them:

My irises did not do well this year, I think it is time to divide them. My hydrangeas (my FAVORITE flower) are doing well.

My first Swap!

I'm really excited about it. I've been lurking around in blogger-dom and came across a great blog from Kelly http://according-to-kelly.blogspot.com/ . She is hosting a Favorite Things swap and I signed up. If you'd like to join, hurry - sign ups end June 8th.

Easiest. Cookies. Ever.

Mmmmm. Peanut butter cookies! My mother-in-law gave me the best recipe for peanut butter cookies. I'm serious, it couldn't be simpler:


1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup Peanut Butter

1 Egg

1 tsp Vanilla

Mix ingredients until thoroughly combined. Scoop onto cookie sheet (love the scoop thingy!), use fork dipped in sugar to do criss-cross shape, bake at 325 degrees for 13 - 15 minutes. Cool and enjoy.

Catch up time!!

I know, it has been a while since I've posted. About 2 months to be exact. But that doesn't mean I haven't been busy working. Here are a few pictures of some finished projects:


This bag is the "Chelsea" from Amy Butler. I made it up in some of Amy's new fabrics from her Lotus line. http://amybutlerdesign.com I love her fabrics and patterns. This bag is supposed to be reversible, but I liked the blue fabric so much, I decided I probably wouldn't ever turn it inside out so I added some pockets and a fabric loop to clip my key ring on to.

I also worked on some projects from Amy's book, In Stitches. I actually got to meet Amy last summer, she was here for an event at my local fabric store. She was very nice, autographing copies of her book and posing for pictures. Here is a picture of Amy and I. Now, I'm tall (about 5'10) and you can see Amy is several inches taller than I am!!

Here are some projects from her book:

This is the CD Holder, but it is really the perfect size to hold patterns!!

Here is the Short Pleated Apron
I gave this as a gift to my sister. She had us over for Easter dinner, her first dinner party so I made her an apron for the occassion.

I also used up some more Amy Butler fabric on this tote bag pattern from Burda 8112.

The tote is actually much bigger than I expected. Guess I should have looked at the finished measurements! It will be nice to take to the farmer's market this summer. My kitty, Samantha, sure does like it! I also finished the knitting needle holder from McCalls 4728.

Of course, I have several more projects in the works....stay tuned!!

It's COLD outside

I wish this cold weather would let up. I'm tired of it!! Here's a picture from a snow we had about 2 weeks ago. It hasn't been warm enough to melt it all away yet. The plus side to staying in is I've finished some projects. The knitting needle holder, apron and pajama pants are done. I even finished knitting a scarf I started 2 years ago! I'll post picures soon, when my photographer's assistant is available to help me :)!

Project Inventory

I think I am becoming an "accumulator". I have many more projects/fabric than I have time. A quick tour of my list of to-do's include:

Valentine's Day cards to be made. Yes, I learned my lesson from Christmas cards. I am (A) starting early and (B) making fewer - only immediate family members will get cards.














My local fabric store just got in the new Heather Bailey line of fabrics for Free Spirit named "Freshcut". I got a gift certificate for Christmas and promptly used most of it up buying fabric for:


This great stripe/pattern combination to be made into pajama/lounge type pants. I'll use the stripe for the main part, and the pattern for the cuffs and possibly some detail around the waistband.









Apron - love the retro colors and bubble paisley. I plan on using the pattern for an apron in Amy Butler's In Stitches book.










I really liked this patterned fabric, so I picked it up with no particular project in mind. When I got home I remembered I had a pattern to make a knitting needle holder I wanted to try so I could get my knitting stash organized (a whole other project list there!!






Those are just some of my recent acquisitions. Older projects languishing include:

A dress for an event I have in February. I picked up Vogue 8313, thought it would be a perfect "little black dress". We'll see... So far most of my sewing has been simple bags, home dec projects, etc. This will be my first garment I'll wear in public. I picked out a black crepe for the body, and black georgette for the contrast top. I've never sewn with a sheer before, but I've been reading up on sewing the seams/hem so we'll see.

I also have a stack of beautiful wool fabrics I'd like to try making a Chanel-style jacket out of. The January issue of Threads magazine has inspired me to try it out.

Christmas Dinner

I had meant to post this earlier, but things got crazy at work last week and I had to cut my vacation short to go in and deal with some issues. But, I'm off (hopefully) for the weekend and have some catching up to do.

Christmas Day my mom, stepdad, sister and her fiancee came over for dinner with my husband and I. We had a great time and everyone loved the food. The table settings were pretty simple, it looks plain in the photograps, but the placemats were a real pretty ruby red sheer fabric over a shiny satin. I got them on clearance at Pier 1 last year.

I tried to keep the cooking simple. Got a ham from the Honeybaked Ham company, so all I had to do was make sides.

Menu

Honeybaked Ham
Twice-Baked Potato Boats
Green Beans with caramelized shallots
Rolls
Chocolate Ganache Tart



Dessert was by far the best part. I got the recipe out of Every Day Food by Martha Stewart, November 2005 issue. Here's a shot of the finished product:

All in all, a good day was had!

The best thing a girl can find under the tree...

Is a blue Tiffany box... My sweetie gave me a beautiful heart necklace for Christmas, what a surprise!!

Christmas Kitty

Had to share this too-cute picture of my cat Katie. She loves sitting under the Christmas tree.

Christmas Cards

This year I had the bright idea of making my own holiday cards. Last summer I was down at Paper Source http://www.paper-source.com and picked up a card making kit. I sent a few out and everyone loved them. I decided to keep up the creativity and made a few cards here and there and thought "Hey - why not do this for Christmas". Well, making one or two of a card is fine, but 30? Whew, I'm glad I'm done. They were pretty simple, just time consuming, I cut out large circles, used my sewing machine and some silver thread to sew a design on, then used an eyelet to make it look like an ornament. On the inside I stamped a sentiment in silver, and I tried to emboss it, but I could not get the embossing powder to raise. It just kept brushing off. So, I cancelled the embossing and went with it. It's a little faint on the inside, but still readable. Got them mailed off on Saturday. If I make cards again next year, perhaps I should get an earlier start.