anchors away!

Still prepping for Henry's birthday ... Since he is obsessed with Jake and the Neverland Pirates (the latest take on Peter Pan), I have been adding some nautical themes to the decorations.  While he napped this afternoon, I made some hand painted anchors to go on each child's goody bag.  So fun!  Photos via Instagram. :)

the big four

Henry's fourth birthday is right around the corner, and I have been hard at work making handmade decorations and party favors.  We're having a pool party this year, so the theme is all fish and shades of blue.  I want it to feel special and very whimsical, so I have been hand-stamping cupcake toppers, learning to make paper pom poms to hang over the deck, and designing banners to string from the rails.  I also bought a ton of wind-up fish, dolphins, and sharks to fill the pool with.  The invitations (which, I have to say, I am quite proud of) are going out tomorrow, and I can't wait for his big day!
 

insta life

Like everyone else these days, I have been a little obsessed with Instagram.  I have been kind of private with the images (until now), only posting them to Instagram and not sharing them on facebook constantly.  But it seems to be the primary way I have been documenting my life and crafts lately, so it's time to share.

Recently ...

 I am obsessed with french braiding my hair ...

 My fascination with the ocean continues (this is a starfish) ...

 I created an under-the-stairs fort for H (more to come on this!) ...

 I made engagement cupcake toppers for my brother and his fiance ...

 I created this giant cork/chalk/magnetic board for the studio ...

 I have been playing around with colorblock manicures ...

 And I attended an amazing Memorial Day weekend wedding with Banks.

Look out for more insta-life in the near future. :)

living

Don't worry, we're still alive over here. Have you ever noticed that no matter how much money you make, you always seem to need more? I think time off works the same way. I cram a 40+ hour work week into three days, and I have four days off every week. But it's never enough to fit everything I need/want to do, which is one of the plethora of reasons that the blog is neglected.

Lately, I have been using my time off for a variety of things (besides just sitting around watching Grey's Anatomy on Netflix), like commissioned knits, a huge project to create a studio space, making sushi with Banks, and spending time with my sweet boy. Once again, I had plans to make spring knits for the store, but I have pretty much abandoned them for now. I do plan to update at some point, but working on the new studio and spending plenty of time with my family is more important right now.

I plan to start posting about this studio project in the very near future, and update the blog more often. We'll see how that goes. In the meantime, here are some pictures to tide you over.

inspiration post

Feeling inspired by the warm weather recently, and I felt like sharing the spring/summer-perfect supplies I just ordered ...

Turquoise nuggets from Pink Supply.

Hemp yarn from BodhiYarn.

real upholstery: round 1

During the summer of 2009, I started accumulating furniture that needed to be refinished or reupholstered. At the time, I was still sharing an apartment with my brother, and most of the furniture we were using was his. Two years later, I am finally living in a place where I want to use this furniture, and I recently got around to the chair below. I purchased it at an estate shop for $60, and the fabrics were super cheap remnants. About a month ago, Mom and I looked at some upholstery books and got to work. After 2 weeks and literally pouring our blood, sweat, and tears into it, I have a beautiful antique horsehair stuffed chair, remade to custom match my living room.

The chair before:

During (this is where we discovered the horsehair and quality cotton batting):

We removed the skirt and unnecessary cording, added larger buttons, made the tufts in the back/seat deeper, and ... after:

The chair is happily nestled in the corner between our two bookcases (one for books, one for games!), and you can see the beautiful print on the back right when you walk in the front door. I have a teeny tiny table that I want to paint and tuck in between the chair and the tall bookcase to make this reading corner complete, but that's another project. For now, I'm so happy and in love with this chair!

coasting by

Tomorrow will by my eleventh day off from work in a row. Other than a trip to Arkansas last weekend (which really turned into a trip to Chicago, but that's another story), I have been hanging out at home with my favorite boys and knitting a bunch. Getting back to the grind this weekend will be difficult, but at least I only have to endure a three day work week...

Today I finally got around to photographing these adorable coasters that I made about eight months ago. I crocheted them from re-purposed t-shirts that were spun into a sturdy cotton yarn (another purchase from my many trips to Asheville), and I love the way they turned out. They will be hitting the shop any second.



In other news, I just set the knitting machine up for the first time in six months. I still need to hang pictures and a shelf to keep the clutter off of the table, but I'm sooo happy to have a home for the machine in the new office/knitting room. New machine assisted knits will land in the store soon. Happy dance!

alpaca/silk/merino

These are the ingredients of the most luxurious blend I have worked with recently. Not surprisingly, this scarf is oh so soft. Look for it in the shop soon!




PS: I'm introducing a new face to the store ... Asher! Since Banks and I have opposite work schedules now, it's hard to catch daylight at the same time (especially in the winter), which means I have temporarily lost my usual male model. I'm sad, but working with my little brother is fun.

be mine

Valentine's Day is a week away, and I've been having fun with it this year. Henry has a Valentine party at preschool next week, and each child is required to bring a card for everyone in the class. Instead of purchasing a box of cards, we made multi-colored heart-shaped crayons for everyone. I hot glued them to foam cards, and voila! Cutest Valentines ever!

The supplies:

Peeling the wrappers off is tedious. Why do kids think it's fun?

Finished:

We had so much fun, and Henry can't wait to give them to his friends. :)

bamboo spins

Just having some fun with a new scarf that will hit the shop soon. My first knitting experience with bamboo, and I love the way it moves.

featured

So happy to see Henry in a treasury this morning. <3

diff'rent stitches for diff'rent ...

. . . I couldn't think of a word that rhymed with that title without sounding offensive. But I wanted to document the introduction of a new stitch to my knitting repertoire. I stumbled upon this tutorial for the Herringbone Knit Stitch about a month ago, and I've been dying to do it ever since. After catching up on orders, I finally had time to try it out. The second scarf pictured was created with a friend in mind, and is already in the shop. The first scarf will be popping up in a listing soon, but until then, be sure to check out these pictures:

henry's painting

Last week I decided that Henry needed to create a large painting for an empty frame that had been leaning against the wall for months, so I bought some 20x24 canvas boards and mixed colors with watered-down acrylic paints for him. Art circle is his favorite time at preschool, and his crayons and paint markers are always out on the table in his room. When I told him he could make a big painting that we would frame for the apartment, he was incredibly excited.

The painting took a few days and was so much fun to make. I tried giving him advice (which he didn't want or really need, apparently), but the painting was all done by him. I think it's amazing, and now it lives at the top of our stairs right when you walk in the door. Check it out: