Monarch Post

humming along

 Happy first day of Spring to you. Finally. Yiippeee!

Yesterday, I saw the first real daffodils around the neighborhood, but it was snowing and they looked like they had been dusted with powder sugar (I was trying to see the beauty in more snow, it's getting harder ya know...)  It was so cold in the morning I started a big pot of white bean and ham soup for dinner.

Did you have a good weekend? It was a good weekend here. And yesterday was a good day too. I was wide awake (and felt great!?) at FIVE A.M., had a husband dropped off at the SLC airport, groceries bought on the way home, two loads of laundry done, the house cleaned up, dishes put away and dinner on the stove by ELEVEN A.M.  And then I worked the rest of the day until ELEVEN P.M... I have no idea where all the energy came from, but it was great to feel like a twenty-five year old for a day, haha!

There was no school yesterday, so with the kids home the kitchen was a humming place. I hauled my craft supplies downstairs, piled them on the kitchen table and worked on making more wooly Easter baskets to sell while Sophey baked treats for Jesse and his friends.

 

We can't eat everything she wants to make, so usually half gets donated to our neighbors who have five growing teenage boys- food does not linger long at that house.

Okay.... gotta go.... I'm back to basket making for the day.

XOK

baskets and ballet

I have nineteen Easter baskets to decorate and sell to All Tucked In this year.

And I have been workin like a factory robot this week...

little wooly yellow daffodils and pink roses.

I am pretty sure I'm insane to do this again.

They are time consuming, but they sell OUT.

and that is a good thing for my little cottage business :)

So there ya go.

**********************

I've been watching TED while I work on my iphone and I love it!

TED features over 1,000 20 minute talks from leaders in all sorts of fields.

Smart people who are progressive and visionary thinkers.

And no name calling... Wow. Imagine that.

It's been really good to watch something so positive.

And I feel like my brain gets a workout.

When I'm doing work like today that is just repetitive I feel braindead.

I like to watch tv so it's less tedious, but The View is old

and soap operas are the biggest waste of time ever invented.

what else is there? (Except working dogs on PBS- that was fun to watch this week too.)

So go check it out, if ya want : )

Nice shot of the superhero guy on the tv on my sideboard mirror.

Whoops.

But the baskets are looking sweet, don't you think.

They are thrift store finds for about $1.00 each.

I've been hunting for baskets whenever I hit the thrift stores since January to find the really nice ones, and then I paint them with semi-gloss spary paint

I sprayed them white and pink again this year- they sell the best. 

Mike bought Sophey a dozen pink roses for her ballet recital last recital.

He played around with my camera and took  photos.

Aren't they pretty?!

And so was the ballerina girl.

She was a bridesmaid for Cinderella's wedding.

This was an elaborate production... an hour and a half of dance segments.

Amazing costumes and creativity.

If you live near Bountiful Utah and need a dance studio, the Creative Arts Academy is wow.

This girl is a dancer... and a performer.

She is shy when she is around large groups of people, but not when she hits the stage.

She loves it.

Have a great weekend everyone!

And a happy St. Patrick's Day.

I forgot it was St Patrick's Day until just now.

Mike and I are going on a hot date to Red Lobster tomorrow night.

I don't think that's very Irish,

so maybe I'll just tell my lobster a nice Irish limmerick and call it good ; )

XOK!

daffodil shopping

I found bunches of daffodils in the grocery store the other day.... only $2.99 for a clump of yellow golden sunshine :D  I bought three. It's February (we all know what that means) and flowers/daffodils become my new necessity- not a luxury, in my mind anyway.  Oh, we need bread and milk to feed the children... nah,  just some daffodils for the kitchen table... that's what we really need ; )

They smelled HEAVENLY every time I walked past them for about three days...  I wish they lasted longer. They are just maybe my favorite smell in the whole wide world. Right up there with newborn babies  slathered in baby lotion... and my husband slathered in Ralph Lauren Polo cologne... (which would bring me right back to why I birthed those babies of ours in the first place, but then that would be a whole 'nother post, and that's just TMI).

Anyway... 

WOW on the daffodil smell.  

(Good job, God. Thank you.  ; )

I worked in my craft room most of the day- between doorbells and running ibuprofen to the school for a kid headache. (The life of the mom.)  I finally came up with a very sweet butterfly fabric pattern with black polka dots and appliqued floral fabric wings. I haven't taken a photo yet- I think I'll  need to make a few more first.

I also art journalled and that was good.

Sometimes I feel constrained by sewing, and it was very freeing to just doodle around with pens and fabric and paint... haven't done anything like that in so long. I'm always telling myself I'm too busy to just doodle for no reason, but it really does help the creative process along. It's like exercise- I'm too busy for that too I think, but when I exercise I know it helps me in so many ways.

Today, I'm off to  hit the thrift stores looking for yellow wool sweaters to make into daffodils for my annual Easter basket-making marathon. I can't find any anywhere. Last week I found these three pinky ones and that was all I could find.

And I am also going to exercise in the mall...  yes, the mall... because  wiggling,  jumping up and down, and sucking in my gut qualifies as exercise ( in my mind) while trying on  jeans in a tight dressing room. Right?  Of course it does... yuck.

But I need a pair of straight leg jeans for the weekend. Mike and I are going away to San Diego for a three whole days (alone). 

And I am so excited.

Have a happy weekend yourself!  K.

 

 

random monday

My kids and I are home sick with colds...

I layed around all day yesterday.

I couldn't do it again today.

So I sniffled and puttered around the house and made cookies...

I made oatmeal mini-chocolate chip cookies.

They are really good, and really simple.

Last night while we were laying around sick,

we watched 19 kids and counting.

 

Hooooly Mooooly.

 

They are having another baby... soon to be 20 kids and counting.

I am in awe... and just fascinated by how they manage.

It's not for me (or us) but it is amazing to see how they do it all.

So I went to their website today and decided to make their cookies.

Not sure why I went to their blog... voyeurism, I guess.

Anyway, their cookie recipe is great.

And I added a little vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon. And mini-chocolate chips.

I think the recipe makes about seventy... be warned!

Saturday morning we woke up to snow. Our second snowfall already.

(So not ready ).

Today the back yard looks like this.

And the deck looks like this.

So much for all those fall leaves I said were still on the trees... geez.

The leaves falling always made my Mom upset...

I think she thought grass was carpet too ;)

And she would have vacuumed it if she could.

(I wonder if you could use a shop vac on the deck?)

I don't mind the leaves scattered all over,

and they aren't getting raked until they ALL fall...

 

So there... leaves...

 

 

Last week I went to Tai Pan home store looking for an apothecary jar for the wedding flowers.

I found the red frame there. LOVE IT.

It's in the dining room.  LOVE IT.

 

I left the wedding flowers to dry in their vases.

They looked so pretty even dried; I haven't had the heart to take them apart.

But I finally decided I needed to....

I saved the best blooms and arranged them in the jar.

The rest went in the trash.

Definately the most expensive trash bags I've ever taken out.

OOOOOOOiiiye.

It's sitting in the dining room at the moment.

The flower colors are great in there with the green walls.

I'm going to add more color to the room.

I started making more tea towels too on Saturday.

(Say that three times fast. )

To sell for Christmas at All Tucked In.

I like 'em.

 

****************************

And  I liked the way the garland and the ornaments turned out too for the shop.

All twelve heart ornaments sold last week.

I'm making more.

Yay!

I made the ornament loops from an old pillowcase.

I serged both edges of the fabric.

Sergers are AWEsome. Seriously.

Serging makes me weirdly happy.

It's like slicing hot pie when it slices perfectly.

**********************

I think that's it for me today.

What's up with you?!

XOK

enjoying...

Today I am enjoying:

My new thrift and fabric store finds.

A child's tea set in a red basket.

Just like the one I had when I was a kid.

(I don't know what happened to it).

A Minnie Mouse dancing figurine to add to the Disney collection.

A needlepoint granny purse.

New fabrics in colors and patterns I LOVE!

Fat quarters with FIVE great patterns... That never happens.

The amazing Indian summer we've had in Utah.

The leaves have stayed on the trees so long this fall...

And the "nesting in" that happens for me in the fall.

The cool weather always renews my creative energy.

I'm enjoying:

Sewing and working with wools again.

And making headbands and pins for the shop I sell to.

Lots of 'em :D

I'm enjoying:

the kids creativity too.

The creative "leftovers" on the kitchen table this morning.

The roses given to me by Mike last night... 

he worked long hours for us this week.

And turning old things into something new and different.

I think this will might be a child's purse for my shop when it's finished...

I'm enjoying stitching again,

and dreaming up new ideas to make and sell.

It's been a dry, uncreative year for me.

I am so glad that is all changing...

 

I think the tide has to go out

so that it can come back in.

 

I think the well has to be drained dry sometimes

before it can be filled with new water again....

 

And if you're the last five people left reading this old blog

that struggles sometimes to be real

and authentic,

and me,

then thanks for hanging out.

And in with me.

 

This  c r e a t i v e  life is my journey,

full of twists and turns,

valleys and mountains,

deserts and lush green gardens.

 

All I know for sure at this point in my life is

that life truly is a journey,

and it's made just by going on,

one foot in front of the other,

EVERY. DAY.

In fear and joy.

**********

 

(And all I really hope for this old blog is that it 

inspires you to live true and authentic too!)

(You are who you are for a reason and you are enough!)

 

Wishing you a lovely Friday and a happy weekend,

XOK

 

what's new?

 
In between all the end-of-the-school-year busyness-- programs, fieldtrips, dance recitals and keeping up with a constantly rescheduled rained out baseball schedule; I've been in and out of my studio....

 
playing around with lots of ideas...

 

 
and actually having a few turn out ;)

I've decided summer will be a great time to finally do something with my long neglected Etsy shop. I've had plans for a long time now to turn it into a child and mom shop, but until just lately the vision thing for it wasn't happening... it took a few lightbulb moments, but slowly the ideas came along...  all gardeny, summery, and finally with lots of RED-- that favorite color of mine.

So in the next few weeks I'll be making and stocking my Monarch shop... I'm excited.

What's new in your world?

XO

Kelly

 

 

lots of flowers and words... catching up.

 
Anybody still out there? It's the long lost blogger here again. After the last long ago post, Jesse and I caught the flu. Influenza B and two weeks of everyday feeling just like the previous pitiful day. It was awful. Poor Jess has never been so sick, and I haven't had the flu since high school. Kinda like the movie Groundhog Day-- where everything is the same eveeerry day.

Having taken it's cue from us, our computer decided a serious virus would be just the thing to catch so it could laze about the house and complain. It was in the shop for nearly two weeks getting de-bugged.... I think I finally feel caught up now. Wow. My advice is don't catch anything for two weeks-- unless it's a wave in Maui :)

So I've been flower-making here for the last while. I just finished up making piles and piles of flowers for two very charmingly designed children's room. (It was  good to at least see spring somewhere, even if only in fabric flowers on the table, because apparently, Utah doesn't know how to do a nice spring anymore. It snowed most of the days I worked on flowers.) The photo above shows a few of the hundred or so (I'm serious!) flowers I made. Kanzashi flowers are my current new love affair-- otherwise known as Asian flower folding. (If you really dig folding fabric napkins; making these babies will just send you over the moon. I weirdly happen to like folding fabric napkins: It brings back memories of my high school and college waitressing days. I'm pretty sure that even stranger than liking to fold fabric napkins is liking waitressing. Who knew? It must have been the big bucks, and the thrill of the odd five-dollar tip ;) I wonder how many fabric napkins I've folded in a lifetime.... I'll bet thousands. Wow, this is an interesting post... hey, it's what happens when you haven't written forever and you think you need to compensate. If you've got something better to do right now, I totally understand :) 

One last item: Amazon has a great book I've been using: Kanzashi in Bloom.

Moving on...

I think I made around fifty flowers for garlands for the second little girls's room.

 
Here's one of the finished garlands.

 

 

I took my flower cues from the amazing wool rug.
 

How darling is this room-- pretty chic for a three-year old. Love love love it.

 
Here's the wall just above the chair in the previous picture. (Isn't this cool?!) Noelle Wright of Noelle Wirght Interiors is the designer of the rooms, and as you can she, she is incredibly talented... And such a joy to work with... It was great. You shoulda seen the rest of the house-- Utah Homes magazine material for sure.

 
Fun stuff. I don't have photos of the nursery room yet, but I'm hoping I'll have some soon to pass along. It was quite different from this room, but reall equally fabulous.

 

 

In other crafting news...

    Last week I finished loads of pink and white Easter baskets again this year for All Tucked In. A few zillion more flowers cut, stitched, glued... if only our real garden outside looked so good.

 
Sweet though, huh?

 
And aren't these butterlies the sweetest things? I found laser-cut wood butterflies at Michaels in the spring decor aisle. Tied with ribbons and hung ornament-style from budding branches (also Michaels) made for a quick new Easter decoration this year. (I try and usually resist the ready-made from China stuff, but I just couldn't pass up the those lacey butterflies!)

 

And last but not least in the long catch up post... The kids. I love it when they slip upstairs to my studio for a couple of  hours.

 It's great to see the smiles and creations that come out of the studio.

 
Here's the shoebox diarama book report Jesse made for the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Trojans are in the red helmets... this kills me. Sculpey clay, you are awesome.

And lately when Sophey has a girlfriend over, she's giving them a sewing class. Her girlfriends think my studio is awesome :)

 
Dance class tote bag classes were what the instructor offered last time.

 
It's great to see all my ex bits and pieces of cast-off projects put to new use.

 

The kid craft projects reminded me of a new Somerset magazine coming out this summer. A friend of mine told me it's a complete magazine devoted to crafting with kids, Create With Me. Can't wait to see it.

And on that note, I'll love you and leave you. Thanks for hanging through all my show and tells ;)

Do you have special plans for Easter weekend?

XOKelly

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

 
Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Here's what was made for sale at All Tucked In this February. I bought one yard of plain creme canvas to make all the hanging hearts. One felted sweater, vintage necklace beads and buttons, and the same paisley stamp from the last post were used to make a dozen hanging hearts (two more were made after these.)

 
 
 
 
 
This heart was a new experiment with embroidery thread layed on top of the canvas and then free-form zigzagged over with the sewing machine.

 

 
I also used the same sort of stitching for a dozen lapel pins, and stitched paper tags with hearts to make a better display for the simple heart design.

And then I pulled out the stamps again; stamps are fun- I had forgotten this :)

 
Same leftover wool from the canvas hearts, makes me feel efficient when I use up all the scraps.

 
And since I was already feeling frugal and efficient, I used more scraps and made rose pins.

So there ya go, that's about all my Valentine merriment for today. We went out Saturday night to a special Valentine sweetheart dinner, just Mike and I, and it was so nice and relaxing. We left the youngest two on their own for the first time and everyone was even still alive when we came home, so it was all good.

Tonight I'm making pink heart-shaped pancakes with fresh strawberries for dinner topped with squirted whipped cream from a can of Rediwhip. I think the kids will have a ball with a can of Rediwhip to  decorate their pancakes with, since I never ever buy the chemically toxic stuff.

It should be very exciting ;)

Do you have any special plans for today?

Love you guys!

XoKelly

 

 

 

seeing spots and dots

 
I really meant to be here Friday with my felty trees, but I wound up dog sitting Ainsleys' puppy Frank, Thursday through Saturday.

Now I know why three dogs in one house requires a kennel license... A few accidents, someone threw up twice, (not me) but hey, we all survived. My dogs were exhausted and so was Frank by the end of his stay. It was a very quiet weekend around here after Franks went home Saturday afternoon-- my dogs just laaaayed around the house all day, looking at me like geeez, I couldn't have chased Franks around the house one more time-- my paws are killing me.

Anyway,

 
The trees turned out simple. Very simple. I'm thinking of calling them vintage minimalist holiday cone decorations? Ya think?

 
(Terrible photos, I don't know what my problem was.)

I had so many ideas for my trees... they started out with ruffles, that wasn't working, so then I tried varigated shades of creme strips of wool. That was better. Then I fiddled and fiddled with ribbons and holly-- that wasn't happening either.

 
So the trees wound up with only floaty white berry dot sprays.  

I'm wondering if it had anything to do with what I saw on my Friday morning walk before I started working... (whoever you are that took the time to paint polka dots on the fire hydrant-- thumbs up.)

 

Or maybe it had something to do with babysitting Frank.

 
This is one crazy little weiner dog, btw.

 

*****

So if you happen to have a strange desire to make yourself some vintage minimalist holiday decorations, here's how:

Tacky glue five inch square pieces of creme flannel to cover the Styrofoam cones. While the glue is drying, cut up long strips of about 1 1/2" wide pieces of felted sweater wools. Don't worry about the length, just cut the strips as long as you can. If you have pinking scissors, use them for cutting the strips. (It looks cool.) Hot glue the strips to the flannel-covered bases, cutting the strips to fit. Don't worry about making a seam anywhere on the tree with the wool edges, just randomly join seams for a randomly joined seam look :) (Don't you love my directions?) Then hot glue assorted white berries and... Ta da!

(Always say, "Ta Da!" when you're finished. Howey Mandel taught me this on Ellen after doing magic tricks. He said always say, "Ta Da!" at the end of anything-- people are then more impressed with what you've done. I thought it was good advice.)

******

Okay, off to make more seasonal holiday decorations to fill gift shops with assorted seasonal holiday decorations and provide you with further lame-o blog posts :)

Happy Monday to you! XOKelly 

 

just for grins

 
I just finished a few things for a my friend Brenda's gift shop this week. And for the life of me, I can't find the pattern pdf I used to make the pumpkins. I was sewing late at night, so no photos of pumpkins in progress. The cat pillow was a big experiment, and I didn't know until it was finished if it was going to work out at all. The cat head is a big circle with a V cut out at the top. I also cut out the holes for the eyes and mouth and then stitched white wool into the eye and mouth area. The teeth are just backstitching with embroidery floss. And that's about all the kitty instructions for the moment... I am lame this week.

But I did find lots of great fabric pumpkin tutorials online if you're interested in making fabric or wool pumpkins. (If you Google "fabric pumpkin tutorial" you will come up with a dozen different ideas easily.) I made my pumpkins by combining two tutorials. The closest pattern I could find is here. I sewed six panels instead of eight. But otherwise, the pattern shown is very similiar to the one I used and can't locate. I didn't use the stem pattern piece. Instead, I cut a rectangle of wool and rolled it up lengthwise; hand-sewed the seam edge, then hand-sewed the stem onto the top of the pumpkin. 

Anyway,

The other tutorial is from the thompson family blog. I used their string idea to create the deep pumpkin sections. (You'll see what I mean if you go there.) I also filled the bottoms of the pumpkins with about 1 1/2 cups of plastic pellets you can find in craft stores to give the pumpkins some weight. I finished filling them with polyester fiberfill. As usual, I used recycled felted wool sweaters for the pumpkins and cat.

And that should just about cover how to write a vague, generalizing, and tutorial avoiding post for now...

 
I think I just figured out my story for this Cheshire grinning guy. 

*So Ches, Timmy the hamster is missing. Really?

And the new loaf of sandwich bread is gone. Huh?

And the expensive Gouda cheese has disappeared. No waaay?

Dude, I have no (burp) idea what you are talking about*

What are you thinking? Gotta cat tale to tell? :)  xoKelly