Sun and Luna

The sun is finally out and the kitties are taking full advantage of it. They’re indoor cats, but occasionally we take them outside into the fenced-in courtyard for a little adventure. They love it. Nola runs around sniffing everything while Quinn gets all scared and crouches low to the ground like something is after him.

I posted a new Luna in The Boutique.

Black corduroy and lined in green and cream.

For sale here.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Rainy days

This time of year, it’s not unusual for it to rain every afternoon here in Florida.

I don’t mind the rain as long as I’m not driving in it. I think it’s kind of cozy to be stuck inside with nothing to do while it pours out there.

I’ve finally gotten my creative sewing juices flowing again after a much-needed three-week break. I finished one of two items for a special order for Jox over at The Knitted Blog.

I swear, the fact that it’s a squirrel is a total coincidence — Jox ordered this long before my squirrel escapade. The pillowcase is for a little girl who has a naughty imaginary squirrel friend. I love that!

Unfortunately, because of the dreary weather, these photos aren’t ideal. But who knows when the sun will come out again!

I tried something a little different on the back of this pillowcase, and I’m excited about how it turned out.

I included a strip of ricrac along the edge of the binding. Just for fun.

 

 I hope the recipient and her naughty imaginary squirrel friend love it!

Our next project

I took a vacation day today so Alex and I could spend our second anniversary together. We slept in, had a late breakfast, and then took a leisurely walk around Old Hyde Park Village. His schedule is so crazy that we no longer take quiet, simple days like this for granted. 

While we were in Hyde Park, we decided to stop by one of my all-time favorite stores, Anthropologie, to get some new knobs for our hutch.

When I lived up in Fernandina, I searched every antique store for months to find the perfect (affordable) hutch. Then right before I moved to Tampa, my mom learned that her friend was getting rid of a bunch of furniture, including a hutch, and she wanted to know if I would like it. For free.

Um….YES!!!

So funny how things just fall into place sometimes.

The hutch is great. It’s huge and sturdy with three big glass doors and tons of storage space. But the dark wood and bronze hardware just isn’t our style.

We’ve had “redo the hutch” on our project list for ages, and we finally took the first step today by switching out the hardware. We replaced the top door knobs with these…

 

…and replaced the knobs on the bottom of the hutch with these…

 

Because the old hardware was larger than the new, our next step will be to fill in all those extra holes with putty. Then we’ll sand, prime and paint the whole piece. The hutch is so large and heavy with so much glass that it’s going to be a huge project. One we’ll likely need a whole uninterrupted weekend to complete.

I’m leaning toward painting it white with a contrasting color for the back wall of the inside, but I’ll probably change my mind a million times before we actually get around to painting it.

Sappiness. Bear with me.

This is a slightly different type of post for me to write, but it’s important enough to me to get these thoughts out, so here goes.

Two very special anniversaries have crept up on me. Anniversaries of two events that completely altered my life for the better.

Today is the one-year anniversary of this blog. A year ago today, I sat at my computer and wrote my very first post. No pictures. No frills. No readers! 

I had no idea that anyone other than my mother would ever visit. I had no idea that starting a blog would bring crafts and sewing – and even photography — back into my life in such a huge way. And I had no idea that having those things back in my life would affect me so much.

It’s hard to put into words what starting this blog has done for me. I’ve “met” an amazing community of fellow crafty bloggers who encourage each other to improve and push our creativity to the next level. A community of folks who give advice and shell out compliments without expecting anything in return. It’s a comfortable and comforting and simply wonderful place to be.

Because of the encouragement of some of my blogger pals (and very strong encouragement from Alex), I opened up an Etsy shop. Before starting this blog, I hadn’t really considered selling my stuff. I used to sell patchy purses made out of corduroy pants that I found in thrift stores in college. But the quality of those pieces never really mattered. Hell, I don’t even think I measured anything. Measuring was such a waste of time. I would just cut and then hope for the best.

Here I am selling my wares at a Phish show about 10 years ago. The girl behind me in the blue dress is modeling one of my bags.

It was a completely different game back then. You think anyone at the Phish show was worried about quality and straight seams? You think they even remembered buying the bag three hours later? Hardly. But the Etsy shop has pushed me to create better, more professional pieces that I never would have attempted 10 years ago. Or even one year ago.

This has been a wonderful journey and the perfect creative outlet and has brought a fulfillment to my life that I don’t think I even realized was missing.

And in another fit of pure sappiness…two years ago this upcoming Monday, I met the man of my dreams on a very hot, sticky night in Fernandina Beach. Alex and I talked all night at the Green Turtle over beers long after our other friends had left. What completely bowled me over about him (other than his gorgeous eyes) was how often he turned the conversation back around to me.

He asked me questions about myself, my friends, my job, my family, my likes, my dislikes. He did a fair share of talking, too, but he never dominated the conversation. Not once did I subtly roll my eyes or wish I were elsewhere. That night, we agreed to see each other again, and the rest is history.

There are about a million reasons why I love him dearly and why he’s the best thing to ever happen to me, but only one I’ll mention here: Alex has been my number one Fat Orange Cat supporter since day one. After working a 12-hour day on his feet, he comes home to find me sewing and immediately asks what I’ve been working on. He sees, touches, comments on everything I create. He offers suggestions. He tells me which fabric he likes better. He tells me to buy more fabric when I complain I’m running low. He moved his computer out of the bedroom so that I could set up a permanent cutting table. He takes pictures of me modeling my bags even though I’m completely obnoxious and controlling and usually tell him he’s doing it all wrong.

I know I’m lucky to have the most important person in my life wholly support me like that.

So, Alex, here’s to two amazing years and 100 more! I love you!

Camels and squirrels

I’m still in the process of photographing and posting all of my craft show items to The Boutique. My latest shop addition is the terra cotta camel tote bag, found here.

I’m still not exactly sure what to call that color, but I think terra cotta — with coral as a close second — works well.

Alex checked up on the squirrels yesterday, and they’re both doing well!! What a relief. We’ll probably call once more in a week or so to make sure they’re still doing okay, and then we’ll stop bothering Lisa with our pestering squirrel questions. But they’ll always be in our hearts…

Okay, that was a little dramatic.

Off to enjoy margaritas and talk about squirrels with some friends!