Rinsed and Ready

1/2 bushel of the most gorgeous roma tomatoes.


:-)

Bunting

Recently, I endeavored to make a string of triangle-shaped flags. Dave joked that all he could think of was a used car lot as I was describing the project, hehe. Well, I found out that these flags are often called "bunting." Henceforth, I have not been able to think about the marvelous craft without thinking of this little fellow:

(Indigo Bunting)

Materials:
Card stock + pencil for pattern
Assortment of fabrics (from your stash or cut up clothes in your Goodwill pile)
Pinking shears
Bias tape or ribbon (I used 4 spools of 1/2", 18' long ribbon)

Method:
The pattern is a no-brainer. But here are the dimensions I used: 9 1/2" x 8".


I used scrap fabric that I had in my stash in addition to cutting up some clothes that were destined for the Goodwill. The result was a wonderful variety of fabrics with lots of character. (Some triangles ended up with lace or buttons, etc). I enjoy looking at the bunting and remembering the memories I made while wearing this skirt or that shirt. Cutting them up enabled me to form even more memories with those garments. :)

Cut tons of triangles with your pinking shears. Hopefully you'll have nicer ones than those I used... They dulled before the project was finished. A new pair is definitely on my shopping list for the near future.

I used 25 triangles for each 18' ribbon. (25 x 8" = 200"; 18' = 216") The additional 16" were used for triangle spacing as well as to form a loop both ends of each strand for ease of hanging. I triple enforced this loop because I used the bunting while camping 4 days at a music festival, so I did not want wind, rain, or wandering drunks to knock it down...


Iron the ribbon such that it is folded in half. Lay out your triangles to get a random placement. Then just stack the triangles and sandwich them into the ribbon as you sew. I did not pin at all. Super, super easy & lazy.


Couple of pictures of the bunting hanging in our campsite. They really made our site easy to find among the others. And sometimes such a small thing as this can really add a lot of cheer to a space...




Cheers.

I like to buy "stuff"

My new shirt from Gap + Alpaca, Silk, Angora Yarn spun by hand in Crozet, Va in a nice little ball awaiting transformation... :-D

Independence Day

Just thought I'd show off some of Dave's photography. These are all from July 4 in Roanoke, VA.

We started off the day downtown, on the market.

Then we watched some of the ID3 bike races downtown.

And we ended the day at Rivers Edge, listening to the bands and watching fireworks.




Cheers!

The Lovers

I have started several posts lately and just haven't finished them to post. Sorry about the silence!

Today I ran across some drawings by Raymond Peynet that I adore and had to post (see Pip's post over at Meet Me at Mike's). Raymond Peynet is a French artist born in 1908. Throughout his career as an artist, he developed two characters that have made him famous - 'Les Amoureux' or 'The Lovers.' Apparently he drew/painted over 6000 different images of this couple!! Very incredible. Here are a few I found on various web pages:

This first one is how I feel with My Lover Boy. This next one is pretty funny:




This last one is rather whimsical. I wish I could be floating gorgeous rivers like this every day. :-)

While searching for The Lovers online, I ran across another artist who drew a series of images for a wedding magazine using Raymond Peynet for inspiration. Her name is Heather Moore; she has a blog which I am getting ready to check out! Enjoy:

One more!

Planting.

Before my backpacking trip with Dave, I planted my Grandma's garden because my Grandpa isn't around this year to do it. I really felt quite honored to take on the planting of a small garden in his place.



Tomatoes:



Peppers:



Yellow Squash:



I was very proud to get some dirt on my hands and under my nails - very reminiscent of the way Grandpa's hands always looked.



Can't wait to eat a tomato fresh out of that small garden, sliced with salt. :)

Cheers.

Simple Spring Scarf

I have been wanting to start incorporating scarfs into my outfits moreso than just knitted and crocheted winter scarfs... So, today I was cleaning out a closet and found an entire bolt of the most perfect fabric hanging out. These are the qualities that make it perfect: $1/yard, loosely knit cotton with no wrong side. It literally only took me 15 minutes to cut it into a 36 inch square and fringe the perimeter.



I'm super-excited to make more....



I think the next one needs to be a bit bigger...



So I can start taking more liberties with wrapping/wearing techniques!



'Twas perfect for today's chilly weather. :-)



Cheers!

Did I turn into a rainbow?

Today has been fabulous. I took a final exam + a final practical. I performed well on both! So, when I left school, I decided to head to Gander Mtn for a bit of shopping... I was looking at water shoes for walking in creeks, etc. The ones I wanted were $99. I was prepared to spend that much, until I saw some kid's shoes on a rack. Basically the same thing, just way cheaper. I got these size 6, Keen sandals for $39!! ($60 cheaper than the adult counterparts):



Also, I have FINALLY decided to post pictures of the Patchwork Quilted Purse I made several weeks ago:



There are two pleats on each side to achieve the tapered look.



Here are a couple pictures of the inside. I made pockets for my cell phone and for lotion or whatever else. I also sectioned off a space for my water bottle. The clasp is magnetic.




AND here is a picture of me with the purse and new shoes. Maybe I went for the rainbow look because it is still so rainy out? Lots of optimism and happiness today!



Cheers!

Caught Red Handed.

If any of you out there happen to be reading my blog on Google Reader *ahem, Sarah*, you will notice that a couple repeat or random blogs have shown up over the past few days. As I mentioned, I have been playing around with Flickr as well as with other Blogger features. This is definitely a trial and error process. Tonight I finally figured out how to receive notifications via email when people post comments on my blog. :-D Unfortunately, Google Reader does not purge itself of the posts I delete, so I am not able to be quite as sly as I would like!

But I highly recommend Google Reader for the management and ease of reading the blogs you consistently follow. It is so much easier than checking each one individually each day, plus you can star posts that you want to refer back to later, which is quite handy! :-) It is really easy to figure out, but if anyone needs help feel free to ask.

Shopping List

Dave and I are planning on going on our first real backpacking trip around May 13. Since it is our first time, we are starting out with just 2 days and about 17 miles. Despite what you may think, backpacking is relatively expensive initially. We already have most of the things we need: backpacks, sleeping bags, tent.. all light-weight of course! But here is the proposed spending over the next 2 weeks in preparation:



Also, Dave's brother is getting married on Saturday, May 23. It is going to be pretty fancy, I believe. So I am going to make a dress for the occasion. Of course, I have never made an evening gown / cocktail dress + I am not using a pattern. SO, I am at least going to give it my best try and see how it goes. Here is my inspiration: it is the Neiman Marcus "Sweetheart Silk Crepe Gown" and sells for $510. Imagine if I am successful at this?!?!!


I love the twisted cap sleeves.



I am planning on making the V in the back deeper so as to avoid putting in a long, concealed zipper. And I will make it just below knee-length. I am excited/nervous to undertake this with no previous experience. Any suggestions are definitely welcome!

Drippy Day

It has been rainy all day long; it has drizzled, down-poured, rained cats and dogs, etc. Despite the soppy-ness of the situation, I decided to venture out for a walk. I wore my completely waterproof rain jacket, but I didn't put the hood up. I wanted my hair to get all wet with the cool misty rain that was coming down at the time. The greens of the land were so much greener with the fresh coating of water. Ah, so nice. Along my walk, I passed this lovely older woman who was carrying a clear umbrella (cute, cute, cute). She says to me, "I'm so glad to see I'm not the only one out walking." And I felt my insides soar. Such a small bit of common ground, yet so hard to come-by as there really was no one else out walking. :-D My wet head (haha, yes I took a picture):



I figured I would also use this rainy day to post a few pictures of the make-up bag I made a few weeks ago. I made it with an adorable turtle print that I couldn't pass by at the local fabric store! The inside is lined with rip-stop nylon, so that I can just wipe the inside clean at any time if need be. It is my first attempt at anything of the kind, and I am quite delighted with how it turned out. My inspiration was derived from Pink Penguin's "Stylish Pen Case."

While I did not use her tutorial, I feel that it would be quite appropriate for someone who is not comfortable with making their own patterns. :-) It can be found by clicking the link above. Below are a few pictures of my creation!




If there is any interest, perhaps I could be easily talked into making a tutorial for this make-up case as it is different than Pink Penguin's. I plan to make another (smaller) one soon for my friend, Marina, who has requested that I do so.

More pictures can be found at the flickr site I created this weekend. I made it in an attempt to post bigger picture over here on blogger without losing the clarity of the photos. Dave explained to me that if the pictures are saved/hosted by a different website, it is less info that blogger has to save; therefore, the higher resolution can be preserved. Even if that is not correct reasoning/understanding on my part, I know that it worked! So I am happy. :-D

Just to draw this out a bit more: I have had a couple questions regarding my camera. It is definitely nothing fancy. I use a Canon PowerShot A590. It was cheap (right at $100). But for a "point and shoot" camera, it actually has manyof the typical manual settings. I hope to get a much nicer camera at some point - perhaps when I dig myself out of this college debt? hehe.

Cheers,
Terisa