In The Blue House

A Good Day

Today Lee had a friend over, Bee took M.E. to her soccer game and I stayed home doing some leisurely cleaning. After M.'s game she went to her grandmother's house while Bee and I went to Target. I am ashamed to admit I bought a bag there.  It's not handmade or a great thrift score, but it is a really cute hobo bag that matches the clothes I bought myself at the Lame Giant. I love those orange and yellow blossoms.

Know why I took a picture of my boring clothes and $10.00 bag? Because my wonderful MIL gave me a new camera for my birthday! Look! You can see the roving M.E. and I dyed with leftover Easter egg dye:

Popcicle colors                                                                        

Pink!    
                                                                                        

summer colors

I've got a busy week ahead of me, but I want to try spinning some of that up and see what I get. Though M.'s having so much fun playing with it that I might just give it to her and look around for some on sale Easter egg dye.

First I was taking a couple weeks to adjust to some new medication that left me tired all the time and kind of depressed. Then my kid got sick and after taking care of him for a week I got sick too. We both had some respiratory thing that seemed to take forever to go away. At one point in there I turned 44 and went to the mountains with a friend for a weekend away. So anyway, that's why I haven't posted in so long.

Other than dyeing some roving with easter egg dye (brilliant colors!), I haven't been making much. Feeling like crap for so long made me lose interest in everything. It was pretty awful. I think disinterest is an even worse feeling than sad or angry all the time. It's hard to make yourself face the day when there's nothing at all that interests you. Even after I felt physically better, getting through the day felt like too much for me. I was beginning to worry about myself, but then last night M.E. was talking to me about plans for her Halloween costume (planning her costume is a year round activity for M.) and we decided to draw it. She wants to be a squirrel. I imagined her as a brown squirrel wearing a  pinafore made from a nice fall print (we have gray squirrels around here, but M. looks so much better in brown) and a big acorn shaped bag for candy (I could make it from felt). I think the tail would be especially fun to make. I could spin some extra fat yarn to make it super bushy. I spent a lot of time wondering how to get that tail to stay up and then thinking how it might be to make a little doll with a squirrel costume and I realized I was excited about something again.

We're off to the Richmond Zine fest.

I Love Etsy

What's the point of a craft blog if your camera's broke? I finished one of Hillary's Stitchette's for M.E., but I can't take a pic. I felted a little something for M.E. too, but I can't show you that either. I had my mother-in-law's camera the other day, before I'd finished my projects and when M.E. wasn't here (so I couldn't get a picture of her in her birthday apron) and was feeling very frustrated until the mail came. Look what the mailman brought me:

This is a tote I bought from the etsy shop Momonmo. The pattern on it is called The Moon Tree. If I took better photos, you could see that not only is it made with lovely fabric, but the craftmanship is also amazing. Emi Shimosato  (Momonmo's proprietress) is not only a good designer, but very skilled as well. I've been wanting to buy a purse from etsy for the longest time, but couldn't really afford it. Lucky for me, her totes are in my price range. I had planned to use it as the purse I carry out with me, but after receiving it, I've decided to use it as my WIP bag.  I leave that bag all over the house and this one looks good in my home!

See, here it is on my couch

Lovely on my mantle   

   

Prettying up my dining room table                                                  

It even looks good hanging out with Allie!               

I'm being silly, but  I really do  love the colors of this bag. I carried my embroidery in it to homeschool co-op last week, where it got many compliments. When I'm not using it, I hang it on the front door or the bottom of the stair rail -right where I can see it. It's a pretty reminder not to let another project lay forgotten.