Bliss Beyond Naptime

Why Do I Even Blarter?

I found a pretty nifty blog; Blarter Blog. It's blog and barter all mixed up! I'm on the verge of doing a major purge in my sewing space so the wiley Universerse convieniently presented me the perfect venue to display my wares (is that being self-centred?I can't tell anymore). I just emailed the host my offering last night so I'm not sure how long it will take for it to be posted. If you're interested in the meantime I'm requesting some vintage fabric sheets, Ottobre magazines, or Japanese sewing books in exchange for this teepee pattern.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the teepee pattern it's just that I'm too busy with other sewing projects, gardening and, well, we have two teepees out back right now so we're a little teepeed out I guess.

 We've had a glorious weekend working in the garden. Talk about the ulitmate classroom! Edie got over her reluctance to pick up worms, Kale learned chickens like to eat kale the vegetable but not Kale the boy,  and Craig and I embraced a lot of team building skills including putting a smile in your voice when talking to each other. I learned that trick directing on-hold commercials back in my suit days.

The kids were helping out very sweetly for a surprisingly long time but after a while Kale was showing signs of believing the garden bed we were building was the beginning of a brand new sandbox for him and Edie. Poor little guy was so dissappointed. He's quickly outgrowing his little plastic turtle sandbox.

And then a fabulous idea landed in my head. When this happens I hear this loud gong go off in between my ears. GONG! Let's build a sandbox for the kids in the big teepee! That way they can stay happily playing while I can keep a gong ear out for their happiness factor. When the sun starts to get spicey I can clothespin a sheet to the side of the teepee to keep my marshmallow-skinned ones safe from getting too toasted. And the way Craig and I work together now with our new found relationship tool box it'll even be a romantic endevour! Bonus gong.

Mid-Summer Dream Stuff

It was Mid-Summer's Eve and I told Edie if we make the fairies a present they might leave her one in exchange. She thought that sounded like a pretty cool transaction so when I asked her what she thinks a fairy might like she said a dress (of course, because she's part fairy and I know she would love get a dress as a present any day). I told her to make a sketch of a dress a fairy might like and we'll try to make one just like it. So she got to work on a card with a picture of a fairy (who looks like a lot like Mama if I do say so myself!) wearing a purple dress. Together we whipped up a pint sized dress/finger puppet from felt and sewed it together. Edie's getting really good at threading needles these days.

 

And the best place to leave prezzies for fairies? In the fairy house of course! Just pass the chicken coop, around the corner is the front door to Edie and Kale's special secret hangout spot (well, I guess not so secret anymore).

Oooo... it's kind of psychedelic and techno-coloured in here like the Land of Oz! A lot of time is spent in here hugging trees, sitting on stumps giving each other google-y eyes and finding surprise gifts from fairies and brownies alike.

 

Edie dictated to me the message to write and she drew the heart on all by herself. Check out the mutton chops on that fairy!  She keeps insisting it's not me though. The next morning Edie was super excited to discover the fairies left her a set of face painting crayons. She can't stop talking about how funny it is they're called face paints because you are not limited to painting on just the face. You can paint on your arm, your leg, your hand, your foot, your neck, your tummy, your back, the back of your arm, back of your leg... Thanks fairies and happy summer to you!

Gnome Buddy Loves Me

Kale's teething. And a side effect includes being velcro-ed to mama, but dada, with lots of tickles and tossings into the air,  will do in a pinch. Bummer I can't hire Craig on to be my full-time manny. Could you imagine how many gnomes I can crank out every day? This was a good day though. One of the kids' babysitters just got back from being stuck in Europe due to strong chance of volcano and, I don't know if it's chemistry or what but, she was able to keep the little tooth grower off my hands (and boobs) for three glorious hours. I got tonnes done!

 

Super priority was my end of a swap with a lovely, lovely lady who heard I was in search of a kinderharp. She has a little boy close to the same age as Kale who loves reds and yellows, animals and gnomes. Sounds like quite the cutie. I'm partial to sweet little boys these days.

Okay, sweet little girls are awfully darn cute in their own special girly way of course especially when they're dolled up in sweet spring frocks! Therefore, I decided to participate in a week long challenge put on by Elsie Marie. I've been promising Edie a spring dress since winter so when I read the premise of devoting only one hour a day to sew your your spawn an outfit I thought that sounds reasonable and realistic (I'm sure Craig will beg to differ). Maybe Kale's teeth spurt will magically be put on pause for the next ten days. Must get the courage to acclimatize him to the lulling whir of the sewing machine while he's sleeping. Damn open floor plan! Seriously, there are only two doors in here. Oh well, keeps us creative. Want to play along with the kid sewing thing?

The Poncho is Gone-cho

Tracey is a sweet, sweet woman who runs a hopping coffee shop/restaurant here in town. She is very  supportive of local artists always adorning herself and her restaurant's walls with local works. Last year she even bought a vest literally off my back. I was sitting there with my Sunday morning knitting posse and she walks up to me and says "I want it" and stripped it of me. She's smooth like that.

 

She approached me right before the holidays to spin and knit her a hooded poncho. I got started after Christmas and then, I won't get into details, but it was like the knitting Gods did not want me to finish this project or something. It's done now and I delivered it to her yesterday.

Just at the beginning of knitting this was when I discovered the magic of audible for the first time.  I have a membership now and basically for like $7 a month you get to download any book and so I've been knitting and listening to books which is just heavenly. It's like knitting and watching a movie but without that annoying having to look up from your work every once in a while. So there are three long books and a couple of Q podcasts that creep back into my subconscious every time I look close into that poncho's eyes. And speaking of finished projects...

The artishtically-enhanced Artish contacted me to show how she worked her magic on some yarn that was swapped for legwarmers. Have I mentioned how much I love those legwarmers? I have to be careful when I wear them though because Craig really loves them and I really love having only two kids. And just in time for gardening season:

Ack! Isn't this cute!! Isn't she awesome? Love seeing finished projects from my yarn. Thanks Tish!!! Now what to knit next? A sweater for my guru. Another swap: handknit/handspun sweater in exchange for Edie's Lazure painted room.  I'll be picking up the roving for that next week. Whee! Love the start of new projects. Any audible book suggestions for this one?

Leave me a Gnome With My New Legwarmers

The little gnomes have finally showed up on the nature table. If you build them a lair, they will come. Or at least if you place decoy gnomes under a silk draped piece of bark then the really gnomes will sneak into your home at night and leave a crystal. It's a little crowded in there for Edie had to spruce up the bark some (pun intended) with old man's beard for bark to bark carpeting and some flower shaped shrubbery for the little guys to use as wall hangings to their lichen (ha, ha).

 

And our little Acorn Fairy is so sweet but sooooo last season. Took us a while to get her up high suspended over the autumn table in all her glory ; we acutally had to recruit Craig's engineering skills to figure out the mobile logistics, looks beautiful! But, alas I already replaced her with an advent themed mobile (Edie has yet to see it!). If Mr Sun ever decides to make an appearance again I'll be sure to snap a shot of it. Pretty cute!

And speaking of cute: check out my swap score from Artish! Remember her; she was featured a while back when I use to do Etsy Friday interviews? I still might again, we'll see. But anyway, can I tell you how much I love these? Craig and I are in this grove where we're able to finally get both kids conked out around 7:00, I throw on my nightie, legwarmers and castor oil pack and we curl up on the couch, I knit, watch the Tudors and call each other 'your Majesty'! Wedded, non-beheading, bliss...

And check out my stylist at work. God, I can eat her up in one bite sometimes!

I Sulu You

Me and Susan did a swap a while back, felted slippers for earrings. The Sulu Design-er went beyond the call of duty and sent me a follow-up gift which is crazy because I was more pleased than a piggy in a hand-knitted, non-acrylic blanket with the original delivery. Oh those crazy artistic types. Thank you, Sweetie! You're too generous.

Swap and then Some

Some deliciously sweet packages arrived this week! Some of it's gone already, couldn't resist. The remainder of the organic dark choco bar is facing a meltdown tonight to be infused with some juicy organic strawberries. There were once upon a time three pairs of original Sulu earrings but I birthday gifted my friend Peggy one already. They're so gorgeous her earrings. Check out her site to witness her photography coupled up with an ear-bangle-y creation. So inspiring! This, of course, was part of the swap we brought together. What fun, thank you Susan!

And then, out of nowhere, a "was just cleaning out my stash and thought of you" gift pack from the ever-talented crafting Diva herself, Leya. Oh, yeah. Fabrics, buttons and owls. Everything to build me up a cozy nest to squeeze out some crafty eggs. Thank you, Miss Fee-yonce.

And Happy Mother's Day to those who are. This shot, I probably shared with you before but because it's my favourite from that crazy weekend, was just about an hour before I was. We're so blessed.

Swap It Already

Thank you, thank you, Patricia! I received this gorgeous package as part of a swap for slippers and I'm just so blown away. I was gifted with some retro goodness, vintage fabrics, art yarn, fancy teas and a slipper kit for Edie! Wow. Thank you, Sweetie.

I'm going to get on your slippers, Sweetie, as soon as I'm done with this issue; getting the garden established with raised beds and deer fencing before the season's over. I'm getting help with the fence from my buddy, Peggy, so shouldn't take much longer this part. I have an itch to felt again something fierce! You should have seen this mess before. Well, it was the same I guess but just arranged differently.

I have been able, in between gardening attempts and Do Be Cleaning, to get out Sulu Design's slippers based on her Original Intent series; her gorgeous jewelry being lovingly spooned by wicked photos, all created by Susan herself. What an artist. Her blog is such a source for daily inject of eye candy.

So, asking for her favourite tootsie colour (oh my gawd, I totally shoulda caught her feet depiction for you. It's too cute. An outline of her feet all dolled up with psychedillia font inscribed inside. I'd run now to take a pic but I hear the munchkin stirring.) she sent me this graffitti photo she took and I tried to capture the illegal urban angst essence embodied in the piece (I'm saying this in my head of course with my best Thurstan Howard from Gilligan's Island voice if you're old enough to catch my drift).

Good Hobbits are Hard to Break

Little munchkin at the Sinixt Nation barter fair thanksgiving weekend. Beautiful time with beautiful locals. Had my backpack loaded with soap and spent all my loot on food. That's how it goes these days. Eat, eat, eat. But I did get me a beautiful necklace, do I have a picture of it yet? No. I was trying to swing a deal with this cute little Hobbit top. Both me and Craig have a similiar one so I'd thought it be cute if Edie had one but the girl wouldn't take all soap (What's wrong? Why don't you want twelve bars of soap all at the same time?). It's a little tight around the middle anyway. Apparently the little Tangerine's an apple-shape like her Old Lady. This girl will make more soon she says.

SO bad with the posting lately you guys! I have to admit my technique. I usually base my post on pictures I have available on my camera. Lately I've been luckly to leave the house... at all! Let alone with a camera. First of all littlest Monkeysita fell ill this weekend. Woke up puking (sorry for tmi (too much info)) then wicked fever THEN hallucinating!

We were in bed (we have a family bed, y'all) and she was feverish, crying non-stop then she's crying and lifting up the bed sheet going "Here, pup, pup, come'on". Those are alot of words for our little Munchkin. And she wouldn't stop saying that. And she was making the sign (oh, yes, she signs, she's pretty much perfect) for dog so it looked like she was calling over a dog from under the sheets. Freaky. Especially since she's kind of scared of dogs.

Anyhow, she's doing all better now, except with dark circles under her eyes but she's back to her cute, coherent self. So that's another reason for lack of posts. That and I'm busy with Do Be! Lots of orders. My sweet Megan's on her way over with Edie's boyfriend Noooo-aaahhhh for a play/chat date while I slap on a lot of lables on a lot of soap to keep this neck of the world smelling goo.

Not Mushroom Around Here

True story! I went to town yesterday to get some sewing and crafting supplies for my shirt and some prezzies for some sweet friends and upon returning home there's this *awwwwww* -type note from Craigy saying how much he loves/worships me, blah, blah, blah and he just quickly cruised over to the Horniman to take care of some business.

So I went ahead with a fun little needle-felting project, just allowing the wool to talk to me and guide me to what it wants to become. It said it wanted to become a mushroom box. So, there.

So, anyhow, Craig gets back, I'm making dinner and he puts on this slide show on the laptop of all these cool mushroom shots he took while on the land. Weird, huh? We're definately soul mates and the mushrooms are alien lifeforms talking to us from inside our heads.

Needing feedback time from my knitting buds (Dana, Karen?). Craig's so enchanted with my felted mushroom, he wants one now on the back of the "Finally, A Sweater for Craig" sweater. Would you make an applique of a felted mushroom then stitch it on or would it be a better idea to simply intarsia one on there?