My new favorite salad

My friend Jenny was talking about how much she loves this one kale salad that she makes... She said that she makes an entire bowl of it and secretly hopes her hubby won't want any so that she can eat the whole thing.
I've never been a kale fan, but that sounded pretty much like the best endorsement I could hear, so I asked for the recipe and made it myself.

Only problem was that I didn't have time for a gourmet grocery store run, so I looked it up and you can substitute the ricotta salata cheese with feta... (something I'm also not usually a fan of if it's too strong) - so I bought a flavored feta (lemon, garlic oregano!) and this salad is so amazing that I have already made it for myself 4 times in 2 weeks. YUP.
And I'm not sharing.
(make your own!)

Here's the link:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Lacinato-Kale-and-Ricotta-Salata-Salad-236940

Anyone know what this fabric is?

Anyone know what this fabric is?, a photo by libby dibby on Flickr.

If you know me, you'll know why I'm sad about being at the end of my precious stash of it....

End of collage class

It's the end of the semester for my art class. Wow, it has been memorable... We've continued to meet, even without our beloved professor, and this week is the final class. I'm walking around my house, trying to collect my 2012 collages after feeling bad because I felt like I hadn't accomplished much this semester.
Turns out, I've done a lot more than I realized and have even given away some without remembering to take pics of them. (argh)
Here are the five I've finished this week.

A date with momma for Mimi

Today was a special date for Mimi and Momma. We went to counseling, then to a donut shop and then to Barnsdall Art Park. There I had fun observing her while she did typical, adorable Mimi stuff like watching a squirrel and taking notes on his behavior, collecting and naming pill bugs and building some art inspired by Andy Goldsworthy.

Every day I'm doodling

As J and I lounge around coffee and breakfast, z is running around like a tetherball... Basketball outside, piano and singing inside, drawing, finding worms in the yard... But we are enjoying our morning together... J reading out loud while I draw.
My morning doodles continue.

kitchen remodel

Apparently I never showed you my kitchen remodel... I think we finished the kitchen the week that the little princess came to live with us. Then I had four kids for a few months and was too tired to write about it. And after that when we went back to two kids I was too sad to write about it.
So here you go:
This kitchen remodel took us only about six weeks all said and done. We bought everything at IKEA and are really happy with how it turned out. The only thing I'm sad about now is that we will be leaving it so soon... The entire reason we remodeled it was to get the house ready for someone else to live in and now we're moving.... Which is really great news and we're really excited...
This kitchen remodel was so affordable that we get to consider doing the same thing in the next place. (which does want for a new kitchen)
I'll keep you posted on our move - in the meantime enjoy these happy pictures.

Cutting mat bag

This bag is my solution to a lot of questions...
- How do I store and carry my amazing massive cutting mats to sewing events without them getting scratched or warped? (FYI - there is a removable piece of foam core in the bag with the mats to keep them rigid)
- what do I do with my orphaned hexagon squares? (I made these as practice for a bee square about a year ago and I won't make them again because they were so frustrating, but I love how they look - perfect bag center pieces, I'm thinking)
- What do I make from this one yard of Echino that I won at Sew Modern over a year ago? It has to be something I use and enjoy!
- How can I use a cheater print? Especially in a way that doesn't look like a cop-out?

And so, I conceived of this bag. Worked on it an hour at a time over a few weeks. Finished it today in a rare daytime sewing session at home. The kids were sick (and thus taken down a notch!) so we put on music and they colored while I finally finished this up.
(after the pics, I added some ribbons at the top to keep it closed)

Bag fever and kid fevers

Three out of four of us around here are sick. Mommy is knocking on wood and taking lots of vitamins.
I also keep getting more and more bag ideas and I have to say, I love cutting fabric and laying out ideas, and using up stray blocks or random fabric I have hoarded too long.

Hmmm. Will I trade these? Give these to friends? Not sure yet....

libbydibby shared an Instagram photo with you

Hi there,

libbydibby just shared an Instagram photo with you:

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"She's now figured out if she hadn't watched tv today she could have sewn more bags."

Thanks,
The Instagram Team

Finished. And in use.

Just got these pics texted to me. This is why we make quilts and give them away... To see them being loved on, drooled on, and used!