A Little Blossom

I am in the land of summer and blue sky right now, and it is lovely.  I found this giant dandi-head on a hike yesterday and fell in love with the whispery feathers of its seed pods, just getting ready to fly away.  This shape and color brought to mind a project that I worked on just recently for a customer.  She chose these fabrics specifically, and I thought she did a great job; it's a good combination, don't you think? 

Baby Time

Here at home, the Rufous hummingbirds (shown left) arrived yesterday, back from their winter vacation. It was so fun to see them at the feeder. They are so pretty! Of course we still have the Anna's hummer, too (below). We're so lucky!

 

And lots of new projects are swirling! I just finished a sweet messenger for my friend and fellow Etsian, Angela of Rhymes With Luck. She's going to be having a baby later this year and so this will be her diaper bag when the time comes to use it this way. Nothing like new babies to bring out my desire to create new accessories!

This bag was made from a lovely linen/cotton blend fabric that is imported from Japan. It is designed by Etsuko Furuya for Kokka. The line is called echino ni-co. Isn't it so fun? It makes me want to go out and get a Vespa scooter! Even though this fabric is super expensive, I still think that the joy of working with it makes it worthwhile.

 

 The Inside of the bag and the front panel are made from fabric designed by Joel Dewberry (his Ginseng line). 

Happy Friday, Friends!

Stray Projects

No school for Bronwyn today means less time for sewing and more time for playing with my girl.  Today's post is just a quickie to show you these custom belts that I made for a friend.  The fabric on the first is Heather Ross' lovely and whimsical banana seat bicycles and the second fabric is from Joel Dewberry's "Deer Valley" line.  Incidentally, Heather Ross also designed the gnomes featured on my receiving blanket in yesterday's post.

Moving Along

Just a quick post this morning to give you a peek of what I've been working on. My sweet girl has been sick with a bug, so I haven't gotten much time to sew, but I had a little bag commissioned, and I just finished it. It's made from my newest fabric obsession, "Deer Valley" by Joel Dewberry. I have almost all of the colorways, and I love that it translates nicely in both small and large formats. Here is the simplicity bag that I made. It's small; just big enough to keep you streamlined to the basics (wallets, cell phone, keys, lip balm) but it's big on style. At least I think so!

Resting Time

It has been unseasonably cold here for a long stretch. We still have hummingbirds (the Anna's is a year 'round resident) and we had taken to bringing a fresh feeder of food out every morning and bringing the previous day's food in (it was a solid block of ice after being out all night). The little guys would hover and chirp in anticipation of their breakfast. Here is a picture that our friend, Dick Logan, took of a male staying warm. I took one of our little guy, but my camera is a wimp compared to Dick's! Now it is warm and raining, and the hummers are happy again.

I have been very busy with BCharmer, sewing and packaging and shipping for the holiday season. I feel so grateful for all of my wonderful customers, who have kept me busy all year. I have now closed both of my shops so that I can pay attention to my poor neglected family. I will re-open in 2010! I hope to have fresh inventory and a couple of new designs to show off. I recently purchased some new fabric from Joel Dewberry's "Deer Valley" line, and I'm smitten. Here are a couple of examples of items that I've made with it so far:

I wish you all a happy, safe, and healthy holiday. I'll see you in 2010!

Wrap Me Up

Happy Birthday to my Sweet Husband! Yesterday was his actual birthday, but we're celebrating tonight because we have childcare. I plan to wear a simple linen sheath dress, which is perfect considering the blazing temperatures outside!

A simple linen dress is elegant, but needs a little *POW* to make it fabulous, don't you agree? I've been working on some new designs this summer that I will be selling this fall in my shops. Namely neck chokers. I just love these! I've got several different styles that I'm playing with, and I decided to make one for myself to try it out (this is how I know what to tweak). I really like the way it came out, and plan to wear it with my dress tonight. I paired Joel Dewberry's arctic buds with a celedon geometric pattern from the same line. YUMMY!

Fabric Fun

Today the sun is shining and it is such a welcome respite from the rain, snow, and gale force winds! I went and took a brisk walk around the lake today, and it felt so good to move my body. I'm finding that my back really starts to bother me if I spend too many hours at the sewing machine and computer!

I am enjoying playing with the new fabric that I recently bought. I'm going to make some large messanger/diaper bags with the grey and yellow... and probably with some of the other, too! It's so delicious and makes me excited to create new designs to show off how beautiful it is. I wish I had more time (the artist's lament).

I'm excited to tell you about this great spotlight on Boxie Britches' blog. Check it out, it was really fun to be "interviewed." Every Friday, Melissa features a different artist, and I was asked to participate; of course I said "YES!" Thanks Melissa!