Sailboat Update!

I finished the stitching on my sailboat panels and I can't wait to share them with you! I love the way they turned out. Right now they are in simple dollar store frames because I just couldn't wait to see them behind glass, but the plan is to properly frame them next week.

Let's take a sneak peak, shall we?

They are very similar but not identical and I'm thinking that a third panel might be nice, perhaps one with just clouds and maybe a seagull...along with a sailboat of course. Or maybe one with a pirate flag!

Anyway, now it's time to decide on the framing. I'm thinking a nice wooden frame stained in a honey color and a plain white mat. Another option would be a aged gold or brass frame to mimic the hardware that is often seen on boats. My husband suggested a frame made of rope from the rigging of a sail, but I thought that would be too literal.

Any ideas?

Sailboats!

I recently decided that my bathroom needed some handmade help. It needed art. So, after some thought, I decided that I'd make two felt panels to frame and hang on the wall over the towel rod.

My idea was to make the panels into landscapes of sailboats in the water. The Mister loves the ocean so I knew he'd be thrilled with them which is key since he's a mega critic of home decor. In order to make them blend in with the current decor in there, I went with a color scheme of blue and browns and cream. The shapes of the boats are simple, very geometric, and they are embroidered on to the felt. I decided on two complementary panels as opposed to two identical panels.

I took the above shot as I was working on the layout of the first panel. I'm still working on the design of the second, but this one is almost done!

Now...what kind of frame should I use?

Rainy Day Inspiration

I love gardens in the rain. The greens are greener, the smells are fresher, and the leaves and petals shine with the droplets of water.

My garden looked particularly lovely today, which impressive because it's been abandoned for many years. The Mister is working hard to restore it to it's glory days when it was tended by my master gardener grandmother but it's a long haul and my black thumbs are no help. Even so, it managed to show beauty on this rainy day:

Lovely little purple blossoms.

The Mister is laying stones for a path through the garden.

 And of course, Boo had a wonderful time splashing in the puddles. Nothing makes a two year old happier...

His shoes are still drying...

 What do you love about the rain?

Worktable Wednesday

I spent today spinning up a few ounces of Three Irish Girls Springvale Superwash Merino Roving. The colorway is called Rainforest and I love it. It's such a lovely mix of greys, blues, and greens.

It's so squishy!!!

It's spinning up into a muted blend that looks like a thunderstorm. My single is gorgeous.

I plan on spinning up two bobbins and plying them together for a simple DK weight sock yarn. The best part? I still have no idea what it will really look like. That's what I adore about spinning.

Mother's Day Crafting Fun

This year I hosted a Mother's Day Brunch to celebrate my mother and my grandmother. I had grand plans of capturing gorgeous photographs of the glorious spread I created and of the amazing decorations that I crafted. Then things exploded, as the best laid plans always do. Oy.

Did I have a glorious spread? You bet! I made a smoked salmon, caramelized onion, and dill frittata. I made a spinach and strawberry salad with a chardonnay vinegar dressing. I made corn muffins, blueberry muffins, biscuits, crescent rolls, and cinnamon toast. I had sausage pinwheels, apricot and strawberry jams, butters, teas, and marshmallows. Dessert included a melon salad and my grandmother's amazing lemon poppy seed cake with coffee and cream.

And my amazing decorations? They looked better than any I had yet created. I had pinwheels for the walls and a bunting on my window. My table was layered with cloths and pretty paper table settings. I found the prettiest baskets in my collection and laid out everything in my best Martha imitation. I was thrilled with the result. I might be exaggerating how amazing they were but I was quite happy with the results. I definitely know they needed to improvement but I plan to take what I learned from this party and apply it to the next.

But I digress. There was an incident. It caused me to forget to take pictures. So it's all as if it never happened. LeSigh. But I swear it did. Sadly, you'll just have to take my word for it. I swear that I have a good reason.

The Mister and Boo had a small car accident in town while trying to get me a Mother's Day card. Shenanigans ensued. They wound up walking a mile home from the center of town, showing up 10 minutes before the first guest was supposed to arrive. My sister and I had to help rescue The Mister's car from the tow lot while my mom and grandmother watched Boo and waited for the rest of the guests to arrive. The party started over an hour late, everyone was famished, and we just dug into the spread.

Oh well. It will make a great story for years to come. No one was hurt. The car was fine. The food was just as good, even when served an hour late. Boo thought the whole thing was a great adventure. All's well that ends well, right?

At least I have a photo of the decor. Or some of the decor. What's left of the decor.

I'm quite pleased with my linen choices. I found the whole lot of them in Savers while on a thrifting mission with my grandmother. The tablecloth is a field of orange, yellow, and red flowers with green stems on a white background. It's a lightweight, summer weight, gauzy cloth and fits the table perfectly. I love the watercolor look of it. I was lucky enough to find coordinating orange runners the add a pop of color and texture to the look. They are a woven Ikea find. Lastly is a pretty yellow gingham handkerchief that I laid on top as a focal point.

The paper fans and bunting were created from scrapbook paper and worked well with the colors of the tablecloth. I found some great paper goods too!

Hopefully I'll be able to take some photos of the Father's Day Picnic I'm planning for This Mister. I'm having so much fun with this craftiness - I'd love for there to be some evidence!

Goodies Box - May 2013

My May Goodies Box arrived today! Luckily it arrived while Boo was napping so I could open it right away. The box was the same size as last month but it weighed a ton!!

The box, begging me to open it.

 I was super excited to find out what was inside.

The first peek...

Ta da! Look at all those goodies!

 I was really happy when I opened the tissue paper. The box was chock full of things to try. First up was Numi Organic Tea in Moroccan Mint. I have been a fan of Numi teas for a while but I've never tried this flavor...probably because I'm not a very big fan of mint tea. The Mister happens to love mint tea though, so I plan to offer him the chance to sample this flavor. I bet he'll be a big fan.  

They included a coupon too!

 The next item in the box was candy. I love candy. I love sour candy. I'm really interested in these Sour Power Straws. I worked in a candy store in high school and I became addicted to sour candies. I used to collect the sour sugar that built up in the bottoms of the sour candies bins at the store and use it to sweeten iced teas at work. It was so good that I got some of my co-workers hooked too. To this day I still groove on Sour Patch Kids and hoard them every Halloween.

I got Blue Raspberry and Pink Lemonade.

 I also think that these Sour Straws would be handy when decorating cakes and cupcakes. They'd be really pretty as swirls and spirals on a cupcake with a modern feel.

Chipotle BBQ Beanitos came out of the box next. I'm not sure about this flavor. The idea of a black bean chip sounds fantastic to me but I really don't like BBQ flavored chips. On the other hand, I adore chipotles. Maybe the combination will work for me? I don't know but I'm looking forward to trying them tomorrow night. It's BBQ night at our house so I'll give them a whirl with our burgers. I also like that they have 4 grams of protein per serving...I won't feel so bad if I share them with my toddler!
 

Bronco Bob's Roasted Mango Chipotle Sauce is sure to be a mega hit for me. I plan on using it when I grill tomorrow too. I'm thinking chicken breasts brushed with the sauce and served with a side of grilled onions. Yum, yum, yum!

The website suggests pouring it over vanilla ice cream as a sweet and spicy desert. I love my ice cream, I eat ice cream every night, and the idea of spicy ice cream is fantastic. The Mister and I made Jalepeno ice cream on one of our first dates and it was really darn good so I think I might try this out on dessert one night too.

Sea Salt Super Seedz are a salted pumpkin seed snack. They taste pretty good but I think I'll be using them in my granola bar experiments instead of just snacking on them. It's a great way to add a bit more healthy fat to my post-workout refuel.

Two tiny little pouches of California Olive Ranch Extra Virgin Olive Oil were also in the box. The Mister loves olive oil drizzled on a salad and I love it tossed with roasted veggies so these were very exciting to find. I might actually tuck these into a picnic lunch over the weekend as a treat for The Mister.

The item that had added all the extra weight to the box was Zico Pure Premium Coconut Water. My mother has been raving about the health benefits of coconut water for months so I'm looking forward to trying this. The website suggests using it in a smoothie which is an interesting idea. I think Boo and I might make one for snack over the weekend.

A coupon for Wholly Guacamole and a branded chip clip were at the bottom of the box. I might use this, but I prefer to make my own guac...it will probably wind up being given to my mother. She's a guacamole fiend.

It was a pretty great box this month. I enjoyed look at and looking up all of the various goodies and I can't wait to start sampling.