Race to the finish

I feel I'm at that point in the summer when there are less vacation days ahead than behind, and we start scrambling to finish all those summer jobs and accomplish those summer goals we put on our list in June. Do you feel like that? I liken it to coasting down a steep hill with no brakes.

I'm trying not to regret anything left un-finished or not even started. We have been busy, doing fun and not fun stuff, and I think the fun stuff outweighs the "un-fun". Talk to the kids and it's a different story mind you....

We had a nice mini vacation in Montreal and Russel, ON. I got my French magazines and didn't cook for 5 days. I got to visit Merrickville, ON, which is an absolute gem of a town. It's got wonderful, old architecture and the lovely buildings are filled with shops. Did I think to take my camera? No.

When we came home I felt full of energy and promptly bought some canning jars and a canning pot, and painted my powder room a lovely blue. I even bought the paint for my shutters: next week's little project.

I decided I needed to do something crafty in between home improvement. While cleaning the basement and decluttering my cookie cutters (gasp!), I came up with an idea to use up some shadow boxes I've had forever and some baking things I don't want to get rid of, but that I don't use. The result:

...now hanging in my kitchen. I love them: too bad the picture is so crummy. I used one of my favorite fabrics for the back. It's a pale, bleached out looking blue with a strawberry print. Very vintage-y, and you know I love that!

The weather has turned incredibly hot and we are loving the sun and heat. I haven't even turned on the air conditioning. I'm deciding to take advantage of the heat for the next few days and try to relax a bit. No painting, no cleaning or de-cluttering. I hope to make some jam tomorrow, but that's not too much work :)

Before we left, I mentioned Our Favorite Girl was having a 7th birthday party. She's a Leo, so she got this stitched card this year.

We did a tea party theme, and the girls made flower arrangements in tea cups (all thrifted, of course, over the last couple of months) and jewelry. These are the before shots, and I'm kicking myself for not taking pictures of the girls finished arrangements. They were very colorful!

They had a tea in the dining room, with the lace tablecloth, china cups and silver tea pots. The girls were served small sandwiches, fruit and scones. It was all very lovely, maybe not so ladylike at times, but then again the oldest guest was 8!

Figuring my time to make a Barbie cake is getting seriously limited (I can't see the birthday girl wanting one for her 8th birthday or later), I did it this year. I'm really happy how it turned out, though the doll did start tilting toward the back quite a bit. Good thing the critics were all under 8, and didn't notice it looked like she had a bustle in front!

Loot bags were a little different this year. Since the guests would be taking home a flower arrangement as a party favor, I didn't make up extra bags of stuff as well. I had a four of these tea cup bags already sewn up from last year, and two more cut out, so I sewed up three more and thought the girls could put their jewelry in them. They also contained a candy bracelet and a 33 cent hair clip. I thought they were different, and I got my fill making them and got some old stock out of the house.

And that's it! That was my last two weeks. I'm off to enjoy the sun; you should too :)

Birthday Cake and a Cupcake Too

I did it! It's not the most professional looking cake in the world, but I made it and the recipient loved it. Oh, and it tasted great. That's the part I was really worried about. The marshmallow fondant was liked by kids and adults. I put enought buttercream between the layers and underneath the fondant, in case the fondant got picked off. I used a yellow cake recipe from 'The Cake Bible' and it stayed moist and was really buttery and old-fashioned cakey goodness-like.I wish the pictures were a bit more clear.

Here's the front:

Here's a side view:

It took me three hours to do the surface decoration. My hand was sore all day from squeezing a

piping bag. It was worth it though. I like to do it, but as a hobby only. There's no way I could do this all day, every day. I was absolutely exhausted after I dropped it off!

I also made this little cupcake change purse to go with the quilted bag. I filled it with chocolate coins and didn't include anything else with the gift. I feel good about that; it's hard to give something handmade (except to your mum!) and not feel like you're being cheap. It's hard to acknowledge/justify that your time is worth something.

I have seen similar pouches at Mastermind. Very cute, and only $6; but where's the fun in that? You don't get to pore over your stash and decide what to use; you don't get to sew colorful glass beads onto little -girl -pink satin. You don't get to master sewing in a zipper or figure out how to finally sew in a lining properly. I made my own pattern. I only had to make one mock-up. I'm so full of sewing confidence right now: I might just make something else today :)

Much Better!

I spent a good hour at Toys R Us yesterday trying to find something for our little neighbors birthday. I didn't like the crafts; she's got lots of toys; all I could think of was that I should try again at sewing something. So I came home, got out my Butterfly Fling charm pack and set to work making up a bag. It's a smaller version of the Charm Party Tote I made for myself in April. This is my absolute favorite fabric pack; I wish I had lots more of this fabric. It's all my favorite colors and it's just a delight to work with. I had much better luck this time and am very happy with the finished result. My own daughter asked for one for her birthday, as I knew she would! I tried to keep the quilting simple, because I didn't have too much time to work on it, but I think it's enough. I was able to use up some fabric I originally bought to make a dress for My Favorite Girl (but it was too thin) as the lining, and it goes quite well I think.

The bag measures 11x7x3 inches, so not terribly huge, but big enough to hold a small doll and accessories or some books. I'm still undecided as to whether I'm going to put something inside of it. I think it's big enough to give on it's own, but I might stick a Sparkle magazine in it.

This morning I have been working on the cake. So far so good. My bottom layer, and the biggest one, is baked and it looks great. It's perfectly even all around and smells delicious. The top tier is in the oven as I speak, and the marshmallow fondant is resting on the counter. I'm hoping to get the buttercream made this afternoon, and the fondant put on when we come home from the school picnic tonight. That leaves me tomorrow morning to do the brush embroidery.

Wish me luck!

I can't see straight...

and therefore I can't sew straight! I find few things more frustrating than spending oodles of time sewing and having a crummy finished product. I decided to sew another portfolio for our little neighbor, who's having a birthday party on Saturday. I love the fabric, love the ribbon, love how the princess stationary coordinates with said fabric and ribbon... What I don't love are all the crooked lines and seams. It's so bad there's no way I can give it away. Now to a six year old, it's not a big deal. In fact, I'm pretty sure she won't even notice. It's all the parents who look at it (and they will look, because a home sewn gift is a true rarity around here) and see the crooked lines and seams, who wonder who this cheap, non-talented neighbor is. Ay-yah! So it's off to the toy store this morning to get something else. I really should have known better than to sew when I wasn't feeling good. Problem is, I love to sew, and when I don't feel good it really helps me out. Maybe I should just sew sacks or something when I feel like that. Except they require straight lines too...

Onto other things. I finished replacing the skirts on the ballerina quilt sham. To be honest I didn't think I would do it, because I kind of prefer not to have a sham on My Favorite Girl's bed. It hides all the pretty pillowcases I have for her room. Anyway, I had the sham and the dresses and finished it in a few nights. Until I get a pillow for it it's housing her winter quilt. Here it is on her bed (beside her messy dresser) with the Hello Kitty pillow she made on my sewing machine. I'm now glad I finished it off, because they do look good together.

While we're on the ballerina theme, here is the card I made for My Favorite Girl to go with the carousel horse she received for her year end dance recital. I stitched the ballerina about three or four years ago and it's been sitting in my jewelry box. The pattern is a Bette Davis design that came as a freebie on one of those UK cross stitch magazines. I figured this was the right time to put it to use, so I mounted it on a card I made and added the little resin ballerina slippers to the bottom. I'm very happy with it, and I plan on making sure she keeps it!

Tomorrow I'm in full cake decorating mode. I am making the cake for our little neighbor's birthday party, and it's a two tier job with fondant icing and brush embroidery decoration. I'm really hoping it goes better than the portfolio did! I haven't made a cake that size in quite a while, so I have to get my notes out. If it goes well I'll post a picture. If it doesn't you'll hear me crying on my blog :o