Birthdays

Project for me

Not sure if this is exactly the blog for this but wanted to share anyway. I am super excited. Today I finally decided to start on a project that I have been wanting to tackle now for about two years. I haven't really had a reason not to start it but I just wasn't up to it (I know, I know, I never finished the quilt either!). So today I found some old chicken wire and started .....
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but you'll have to wait to see what it is ...

Knitting Loom

My kids want to knit, so I have bought them knitting bee's and knitting looms. Unfortunately for them I really love it! It is so simple Anna, aged, 2.5, can do it with me, we each take one side.

Both girls thought that they too should have a cowl like the one mommy made.

Seriously, go buy one of these things, they come in so many sizes and are so much fun.

Fun stuff

This fall, was it this fall? Oh my mommy brain, maybe it was even after Christmas. Correct seasons aside, the kids and I went to a local rummage/bake sale/fundraiser. They each picked out a few old toys, Emily picked out the tackiest of porcelain figurine as always, and I spied a nice big bag of knitting needles. Thrown in with the needles were a good selection of embroidery hoops.

I have never used them before. I once tried to do cross stitch, and trust me when I tell you that it didn't turn out well. It started out with me trying to make some ultra domestic apron for my friend's birthday ( I am so sorry I am over a month late, I promise I'll finish it someday...). So it didn't take long for the kids to want to try too, and soon request other things.

Emily was the first to ask, she wanted to make her own rainbow pillow, she gave up after a few hours of frustration from the tangles. So I decided to surprise her. To no big surprise, Anna wanted a pillow too.

And finally my James. I love that is is not afraid to try anything. This master piece of a walking bomb was done by him, I then turned it into a pillow for him. I love his creativity.

Robbie's sweater

Meet Robbie. One day James decided he wanted to make some earmuffs for Robbie. And of course he was soon sporting a shirt as well. I helped with the shirt but the earmuffs were all his creation!

Busy little bee!

After a super busy summer, and my first born starting school in the fall, I somehow forgot all about updating. Not that I haven't been ultra busy doing things .... let's see what we have here that I can share with you.


First off, in September, we had a birthday party for Emily. It was a very exciting tea party where five little girls each got their own cake, and drank out of real china. They all took great care in dressing up and using perfect princess manners.

Soon following in the fall, I was commissioned to come up with a larger painting that would cover two canvases. I was quite happy with the results.

Of course there were still plenty of Sweatersaurs making their appearance!


And this is only the beginning ...

Catch up!

So I have been slack... I think I have said this before. I really haven't been working on too much. I started doing a bit of part-time freelance video editing in my spare time, and planning for summer :) I have made a few cakes though through this family birthday season. Enjoy!!

This is a burger & fries cake that I made for a fundraiser to be auctioned off!

This was James' birthday cake. He told us which characters he wanted us to make using gum paste and modeling chocolate. Then last minute, literally, he told us what he wanted the cake to look like. That brown blob is supposed to be a volcano ... but the characters did rock!

These 2 were for a little girls' first birthday, inspired by a favorite toy tea set.
We even made a matching mini cake just for the birthday girl.

And this here was Anna`s birthday cake! Her favorite stuffed toy is a frog she calls Bob.

So this was her Bob the Frog cake, he is made out of Rice Crispy Treats.

Getting Better Every Day

So tiling the bathroom took two days of my quilting time so last night it was back to work! I think this is one of my favorite quilt blocks to date :) I have only 3 more "pictures" to do and then it is on to the opposite blocks, another 10! Not sure if those will still be just patterns or not, so far I have spent about 18 -20 hours. I am also a bit undecided on those last three blocks. They were supposed to two skyish ones and then a worm at the bottom. I am considering changing the worm to a frog, but may just save the frog for another quilt ;)

Crazy Bird

This is the crazy bird. I say crazy bird, because as you may have noticed you can see both eyes and a full smile on one side of his head. I think it's cute, it is the first thing my mom noticed though, assuming it was a mistake. It is not. It is the same as in Anna's mural, inspired by a baby book. I love that freaky smile!

Moving on next to the owl I believe, which will be similar to the owl on the bag I made earlier...

It keeps getting greater

I am still going. The snail needs a bit more work because I bought some small glass beads that I want to put across the bottom of her, imitation snail slime?

These little mushrooms are complete and I am almost finished a funky bird (like the one in Anna's mural), his nest just needs to be jazzed up. That only leaves me with 4 more left to do ... and then the opposite blocks!!!!!

But now ... I have ideas for 3 other quilts! I think this is going to be an expensive hobby!

Still going...

So I must say, I rock. I have completed #3 and am half done #4. I have decided however that in order to fit a twin sized bed I will need another complete row, which means 20 instead of 16 ... 10 of those being "pictures".

I am having a great time though, my stitches are getting better too which is cool to see as I go along, and all the better for when it becomes time to actually quilt it once it is assembled. I bought some more material today and started totaling it in my head with what I have at home to use and I am astonished at the price of making a quilt in material alone. I was thinking of going to show the pieces to my mother and grandmother on our weekly visit this morning but I am not too sure ... my grandmother is a good quilter, a real quilter who gets horridly underpaid to finish peoples' quilts, not sure if the whole picture would be that visible yet :)

So here we go, this time I am only giving a peek at this block.

Block #2

Decided to keep with the momentum and do a second block for the quilt. So far that's 2/16. I did some scrounging and managed to come up with pretty much most of the fabric I'll need, enough to keep me going for the weekend at least. To be fair, only 8 of the 16 are going to have "pictures" or at least that's what I am planning for now. The other 8 blocks will be patterns I believe.

New Project

I had the itch to make a quilt, not that I have made one before. So I got started today on my first square, okay it isn't a square! So here it is, the beginning - let's see if I can stick with it for at LEAST 15 more squares!

Pokey Me

So I have been anything but "active" lately. I can't help it I get distracted, my mind wanders and I get swept up into other things, or my computer gets hijacked by my husband. Anyway, I did make another cake which turned out FANTASTIC! Well I will upload that fast before this first snowstorm takes out my Internet. Satellite internet doesn't do well with any precipitation, degrading cloud, solar flares ...

So this was a "Princess" cake done in November for a 6 year old. Apparently it was a big success. All edible except the tiara at the top. (Marshmallow fondant, marzipam, and homemade hard candy, with silver dregees).

Thanksgiving cake

Poundcake with buttercream and marshmallow fondant.
Leaves, acorns, and twigs made with gumpaste.