Writing on fabric

In case you've ever wondered the same thing, I did a little experiment this week and thought I'd share the results... I've always wondered which pens can mark on fabric and stay through the wash/dry cycles. Some fabric pens request heat-setting (which is really boring and can be time consuming). These tests were all done with no heat-setting. The Bic Mark-it pen bled even before i put it int the wash, but all the others looked great. I was especially wondering about the Sharpie writing pen, but it might actually look the best of all.

Anyhow, I'm glad I did this. My faith and fetish with Sharpie products still stands.

Know of others that mark well on fabric that gets washed and dried? Leave it in the comments.

Mod Podged Table

Last night I got a little bee in my bonnet and set to work in the kitchen instead of at the sewing machine. Our kitchen booth is cute but SO drab. The rest of the house is super colorful (still thinking and working on the bathroom)
... But the kitchen is drab, old and very boring colorwise.
So last night, the tabletop met some Amy Butler scrapbook paper, Mod Podge and some sealer, (though i ran out of sealer and had to order more at 11pm)...

Finished project = happy.
Z came in our room this morning to tell us, "come here! You have to see what happened to the table!"

Courtney's skirt travels

Special thanks to blog reader, Courtney for taking these pics while she was on a vacation this summer! It was on my to-do list to get some pics of the non-polka dotted side of the Original skirt.
now you can see it!

Nesting

I haven't been posting much lately. We are kind in full swing of summer, lots of outings and playdates... But as we are also mentally and emotionally preparing for welcoming another baby into the home, there is also lots to do to get the house back in order.
I've been sewing, too, lots of projects for my bee, a few more dresses from the springy swing top pattern that I modified, a few scrappy quilttops, and lots of furniture building and painting as I am nesting...
This morning we also discovered someone else had been nesting - in the lattice over our window (that we installed to overgrow the memories of men crawling through it to rob us a few years ago...) I thought the bird had been merely scoping out my fruit tree, turns out she had different plans... Plans that hatched this week.
It feels very sweet that as I've been telling friends that "I'm nesting" this week, that I'd get this visual. And then to see new life where there was only pain is also quite dear. 

Quoted

I was just informed tonight by an acquaintance (a neighborhood mom I know from a playgroup) that I'd been quoted in this magazine (which has been on my coffee table for a month). "Cloth Paper Scissors" is a really inspirational mag for me - it's all about collage and textile arts... So of course i love it. But though I'd read much of this and carried it around with me for weeks, I'd had no idea that my little quip was included in print. Funny.
The quote was just an emailed answer to the question: what art supplies do you travel with? ... But it still is fun to see your name all glossy...

Giant yoyos

Months ago (I can't find it now) I posted a pic of an amazing Anthropologie quilt made of giant yoyos. Here is my own humble beginning... Shown with my toesies for scale.

Just some afternoon painting

I bought some canvases for the kids and I to paint ... And today we got to work... Z made the tree and hedgehog (with a small amount of help from momma), Mimi did the "doggie in the forest" and I made the mushroom.

Going to camp

The kids are having a great time with a week of day-camp at our local park. (ok, it's not walking distance to the hood where we live, but it's close enough that it's part of our daily life... And my bet is that this park is one of the best in the entire Los Angeles park district.)
Today is "under the sea" dress up day for Z... (he chose a penguin)... And Mimi has sports dress up day tomorrow.
I, for one, have enjoyed my first ever week where both kids had an activity for 5 hours together that left me with free time. I've spent the week doing work on the house, getting new big kid furniture and desks setup, setting up organizational things and "spring-cleaning" in summer.
I now see what things could look like in a few years when I actually will have chunks of time free... But that may be a little further off than it looks... We are praying and preparing to attempt another go at foster care again in a few weeks. (pray for us!)

Fruit Cocktail Tree

Today we went out and picked the last of the summer's treats from the fruit cocktail tree. It was a battle with the birds for yummy territory, and they got away with a lot, but I believe this bowl proves we won.
(I realize i haven't been posting as regularly lately... Chalk it up to the fact that I'm "doing the summer thing" - driving the kids all over and in my off time, I'm doing small organizational house projects. We are getting ready to step back into foster care *PRAY FOR US!* and I believe I might be nesting a little)

Quilt - Made for baby Cade

My pal, Christy, gets lots of love here for being a fun and talented creative pal to me... This week was the baby shower for her long-awaited precious little "snowflake" baby. 

Since Christy is one of my sewing pals who has recently taken on quilting, like me, she had to be the recipient of a special baby quilt, right? 

I had a lot of fun making this for her...