color week: brown

browns & blues together are a favorite combination. there is so much brown right now in the dying season. my mother always wore a lot of brown in my childhood. as now so do i. baby clothes in browns are oh so pleasing. brown eyes. brown hair.



one could go on and on with brown. the dirt the leaves. so much that adorns our household. brown rice. wood floors. wood furniture. walking sticks. trunks of the beloved trees.







ceramic insulator. shells of what once. pieces of a stem.







brown earth.

* thanks tifanie, for bringing the week into focus *

color week: blue

life has been oh so busy, leaving me little time for blogland. this morning i found a moment to peek in on tifanie and discovered some * amazing * photos! she's declared color week, and while i missed white, yellow & purple, i thought i'd try to jump in on blue and brown. so here are some photos in blue from around the house today. looking at them now, i see there is plenty of brown as well!

work wednesday

::before::


::during::


::after::


(from last week. antiqued.)

self portrait: thursday

because i didn't manage a post on tuesday. . .



we have guests & their stringed instruments. here i am captured, admiring.

thing thursday: what begins with s

this sweater is the thing, knitted by yia yia. isn't it lovely? it's soft, fits perfectly, is easy to pull on, has stripes, and arrived just in time for some dreadful weather. thanks mom! oh and, have ever you seen a more handsome baby?



sitting in the high chair is also the thing, as is a bamboo spoon full of applesauce.







sister in a sling is the thing, even if a bit long. it is what i used to carry her in!



and i must admit, sitting is the thing. or almost sitting.



and finally, the surround is the thing. isn't it always?







sniffles have also been the thing, but it seems to be only sniffles, and nothing worse, for which we are grateful.

what sorts of things do you have on your plate?

self portrait: tuesday

for lack of anything else, a photo booth shot.

i made the applique on the t-shirt. it was a birthday present for dan. tristan was a month old and i had no money. it is really hard to come up with handmade things for men, especially when you are not really much of a knitter. so i found some little bird and star templates online, pulled out some vintage fabric and constructed the whole thing with tristan in the sling. it's been almost six months and dan has worn it once. so i reclaimed it, because really, i think it's rather charming, especially infused with the memory of a newborn in a sling while sitting at the sewing machine.

homemade monday: patchwork not so pretty

as i was making this, i thought it was my first time constructing patchwork.

but i was wrong.

there was the patchwork sewing basket and the patchwork cat.

so i really don't have an excuse for how awful it looks. i will mention that i really don't have much fabric to choose from, especially when making something for a boy. i'm really not pleased with the color combinations of it. but it is what i have to show for homemade monday (tuesday).

the concept is in sweet booties, but i didn't have the bib template photocopied. so i used the template from bend the rules sewing, the one i always use. i was also supposed to use half inch double bias tape, but what i had on hand was more like a quarter inch.

anyhow, the next one will be beautiful, i'm certain. now onto making soft blocks, and the beginning of the holiday projects.

work wednesday

no before or after photos today. just during, during and during.

makey!

yesterday i wasn't feeling very well and needed to nourish my soul with a simple sewing project. i decided to try my hand at the fringe playmat from amanda soule's handmade home.



i wanted to use a particular vintage fabric and a chenille backing, but the fabric piece was a bit too small and not exactly soft. i was about to give up when i spotted a receiving blanket our doula gave to us. i thought it would be a nice way to keep our doula's love close, while using what i had on hand.



i did not have cotton batting on hand, so i just used two more pieces of flannel. it is more of a blanket than a mat, i think.



i think it is pretty fun, and i think tristan does too!

self portrait: tuesday

i have a similar photo from the cupcake shop below. but i fancied this one up a bit on picnik. just a little something for today. . .

handmade monday: not by me

one of the biggest rewards of blogging is making virtual friends in the blogosphere. one of those friends is maria muscarella of dirt under my nails. maria gave birth to her adorable little boy a short while before i gave birth to mine. we shared with each other a little bit of handmade love to celebrate our offspring. pictured below, maria sent the super cool dragon hat to tristan. she also sent a lovely knitted hat to tashi, which we can't locate at the moment, but i will show it off as soon as we do.

oh my, there's a dragon on your head!


big boy fears not


examining the beast


hat doubles as teething cloth!


thanks maria, your gifts are lovely!

sunday round up

the camellias are blooming



our neighbor horse (nickname: sparky) was moved to the closest pasture along our road. we like this because it is almost as if we have a horse pet. the grass is so good in that pasture that he ignored me when i came by with a bag full of apple slices .



autumn. yes autumn. i love it. yet it is so bittersweet.



yesterday i went to a nice baby shower. great food, friendly people, and an awesome mama to be.



also yesterday, tristan had his first meal of solid food. he has recently attempted to intercept our food and drink before it reaches our mouths. that, combined with the looks of extreme longing and envy he gives us when we eat, convinced me it was time to give him some tastes. i mooshed up a wee bit of banana and mixed a little breastmilk in. i think he was pleased, what do you think?



today i am feeling a little blue. i'm not sure why. could it be the seasonal change? talks of escalating war in afghanistan? too much flu, too many ticks? sadness for those who have lost babies? fatigue? the weekend concluding too soon? miserable dreams? my own babies growing too fast?

i can't quite pin point it. thus, i will bake. when feeling sad, make a coffee cake i say. onward. . .