Saturday, November 21, 2009

Oh Mamma!!!


Mia and I spent the most lovely mother daughter evening last night...we went to my dear friend Licia's house for a demonstration of Thanksgiving side dishes prepared in her authentic Italian style. Licia is starting a new business giving cooking classes in her beautiful, warm and inviting kitchen. Wow, what a great teacher Licia is. I pride myself on being a pretty good cook...I am familiar with sauteeing, braising, making a bechamel sauce...things like that...so i thought I would just have fun and a glass of wine and hang out with my daughter...but I learned A LOT. Licia takes cooking to a whole new level and I really think mine will improve from seeing her at work. Check out Licia's website and do yourself a favor and sign up for a class...a class would be a very lovely and different Christmas gift for someone you love (what a nice date night it would make too!) you will be very happy that you did!


Thursday, November 19, 2009

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my day today....some Christmas present making and lots of playing with the little girl with the red sneakers....I just love these little feet! Hope you had a happy day :)

Monday, November 16, 2009

Change of plans


You may have noticed that I changed the look of my blog...it's actually just a temporary picture...when I get some time and my son can squeeze some Photoshop lessons into his busy schedule I hope to make it better...but it will do for now :) There have been lots of changes and new starts around here lately. My kick ass husband just took his GREs so he can start graduate school, my son is getting all his ducks in a row for college applications and my Minkie has turned from a child to a young woman right before my eyes...it's like waking up to a new person, and she rocks! Now, I am making the decision to stop sewing clothes for sale and concentrate on my sewing instruction and creating patterns.

When I started this blog it was to be one marketing part of my new business making children's clothing. At the same time I decided to start giving sewing classes as a kind of side thing, still believing that the actual sewing of garments was what i would do. As time went on and my classes were all filling up and I had to actually add classes to meet the demand it began to dawn on me that this sewing class thing was pretty good...great, in fact. Sewing to sell is difficult. Price, your time, the monotony of sewing the same or similar items over and over again...these are all considerations that don't always work out in your favor. Selling information though...that's brilliant! And, I LOVE teaching. I derive such satisfaction from seeing my students complete a project...actually making something beautiful and useful...and surprising themselves with their ability in the process. I feel as if I am doing something very useful as well...so many woman want to learn to sew! It is something of a lost art that many women crave...There really is nothing like the satisfaction of making something yourself...not having to go out and buy an item, making it to your exact wants and needs...it appeals to a sense of power,an "I can do it myself!" kind of feeling and self sufficiency and the lovely notion of making things with your own two hands for the people you love.

Somewhere down the line I will also create some patterns to sell, in PDF form, on my Etsy shop. The wallet at the beginning of this post will probably be the first pattern I get out there...look for it around January or so :)

I'm not exactly sure why I am doing this blog now...except that I like it..I love how I've met so many wonderful people all over the world through blogland....the ideas that they share and the beautiful glimpses into their lives make me happy, every day, and I still want to be part of that....and share a bit myself. So, thank you to all of my blog friends and I guess I'll just carry on :)

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Happy Halloween my pretties!!!

trick or treating with the kids...dance party at the Common and then drinks and snacks and more candy with our friends at home...what a perfect Halloween!!!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Kitty


This is what I have made for Lily for Christmas, so far...Pointy Kitty from WeeWonderfuls (I got the idea from the wonderful blog Annas Dagar) and a felted ball...I have A LOT more work to do...I'd love to make her one of these little Gnome Houses and some little dolls and a stuffed elephant, little hedgehogs, stuff like that.I always have such high hopes for what I can accomplish for Christmas, but this year, since I do have more time at home and Lily can entertain herself a little bit, I would be very happy if I could make most of the presents. Being able to stay home and be the one to care for Lily is such a gift for me and I am always trying to find ways to save money and make money...it occured to me this weekend that by making gifts I am making money by not spending money. So frugal, I know, but hey, this is my way to "live the dream" as my friend Melissa says :) Whatever works!

Saturday, October 24, 2009

slow day



Felted acorn garland...thank you bluebirdbaby for the inspiration











Lilykins was a sick little girl yesterday...just a fever and a cold. Isn't it kind of nice when they are sick but not too sick? Lily gets so snuggly and quiet, it's the only time she's not in constant motion. So we stayed home all day in our jammies and watched a lot of tv. I finished up a few things...got a lovely package in the mail and ended the day with a kick ass dinner that Mike and I got to enjoy all by our lonesomes...a nice day overall!

Morning
Too little of this....I'm trying to
get some Christmas gifts made ... A lot of this :(
but today was not the day


















Noon

Shoes!!!!! Finally came in the mail :) Aren't these little red boots adorable??? Sarah Jane Down the Lane, I think you will have to add them to the list of red love :)





Night

Scallops, broccoli, Jasmine rice with a white wine and cream sauce...seriously good...with a glass of Vinho Verde...aaaaahhhh it's the weekend.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Bittersweet

Finally got the window boxes and the front steps dressed for autumn this morning...and I would just like to say to my handsome husband..."see honey, bittersweet vine is NOT a weed...you just have to be patient and wait a long while till it shows its true beauty <3"