As promised, it's time for the next birthday present here at Hey Lucy! Remember my blue scarf? Made with my new favorite fabric? Here's a little refresher:

 

It turns out that I have enough fabric left for another scarf, so that is today's giveaway gift. Apparently the top five albums thing was really hard, so this one will be a little easier. Since we just about all love fabric around here, tell me what fabric you are loving at the moment, with a link to it, if you can find one. Even if you're not a sew-er, you can probably find an article of clothing that you love because of the fabric. So share! I'm always up for finding pretty new prints and patterns.

Oh, and today is the actual birthday day, and I think I might have overdone it with the celebratory eating. We had some delicious Thai food tonight, but even my spicy-loving self had a little trouble with the spice levels. I think I can finally feel my gums again. When they give you a range of 1-5, don't you think spicy level 3 should be medium and not burn-a-layer-of-skin-off-the-roof-of-your-mouth?

Also, because I am the birthday girl, I get to make up giveaway rules as we go along. Here's what I've got so far: 1. You can win more than one gift, so enter every day. 2. You can win if you are family or a real-life friend, but I truly am going to draw random winners, so your chances are not increased just because I know you. 3. I think those are the only rules so far, but I reserve the right to change them at any time. 

Read More

I wasn't kidding about more daffodils. I love the ethereal quality of this pale apricot variety. They are nearly always two to a stem, and have a lovely, light fragrance. After a cursory internet search, I still don't know the name of this particular variety. I should keep better gardening records.

I am very lucky to have a lot of thinking time. I spend a lot of time in my car every day, and when I'm driving I come up with a lot of really brilliant ideas. If only I could write them down to remember later. I also think a lot while I am swimming, but swimming-thinking is usually about the things I need to do. I plan elaborate to-do lists for the evening when I get home. Seldom is more than one to-do completed when I actually do get home, but still, it doesn't hurt to be ambitious. Anyway, the point of all this is that this morning while driving to work, I thought that since this is Birthday Week at Hey Lucy, there should be some presents, don't you think? Only these presents will be from me to you. So I also thought up a list of some of my favorite things, which also happen to be quite small (I don't want to break the bank here, after all), and I'll do my best to have a post each day with a little giveaway. I might make you work a little for these giveaways, and I'm sorry I can't send a present to everyone, but I think we can have some fun! Are you in? Spread the word, if you have a blog.

Now, on to the first giveaway. I love music, and I love my family, one member of which happens to be a very talented musician. I know I make you watch his videos and download his music, but it's all so good, I wouldn't want anyone to miss out. Today I have an autographed copy of his brand new, very excellent CD, Goodnight Human. Big things are in the works, and you will probably start hearing his music on the radio soon and he will likely be appearing in a city near you this Summer. Despite the fact that Cary likes to tell everyone the story of how I laughed at him when he first told me he was going to be the lead singer in a band, I've always genuinely liked his music, but this album is really something special. I know he's poured his whole heart and soul into it, and it shows. Don't ask me what my favorite song is, because I love every single one.


So, here's what you have to do if you'd like this CD: just share your top five most favorite albums ever. I know it's probably hard to narrow it down, but if you could only listen to five for the rest of your life, which five would you choose?

My brothers tagged me on facebook to do a list of 25 albums, and that was hard, I already want to add a few more. If it helps, here are my 25:

In no particular order:

1. The Cars – The Cars
2. U2 – War
3. Lucinda Williams – Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
4. Dar Williams – Mortal City
5. G. Love & Special Sauce – Philadelphonic
6. Cowboy Junkies – Pale Sun Crescent Moon
7. 10,000 Maniacs – In My Tribe
8. They Might Be Giants – Flood
9. Andrew Bird – The Mysterious Production of Eggs
10. Gillian Welch – Time (The Revelator)
11. Annie Lennox – Diva
12. REM – Out of Time
13. The White Stripes – White Blood Cells
14. Barenaked Ladies – Maybe You Should Drive
15. Tom Petty – Full Moon Fever
16. Billy Joel – Glass Houses
17. Yann Tiersen – Les Retrouvailles
18. Toni Childs – Union
19. The Sundays – Reading Writing & Arithmetic
20. Sufjan Stevens – Illinoise
21. Styx – Paradise Theater
22. Rogue Wave – Asleep at Heaven's Gate
23. Richard Thompson – Rumor and Sigh
24. Matthew Sweet – Girlfriend
25. Indigo Girls – Indigo Girls

I think I'll leave comments open for a couple days for each giveaway, so you'll have until Thursday night to enter this one. And don't forget to come back tomorrow for another birthday present!

Read More

Thanks for commiserating with my blahs, I’m feeling a little better. It helps that it was sunny this weekend, although not very warm. I did go swimming a couple times this week, and walked on my lunch hour a couple times too. I’m sure that helped. I snapped out of my funk enough to sew my skirt this weekend, although I think I look decidedly fluffy in it, which is fine, it’s that much more motivation to keep up with the swimming this week.

I also framed some art, as you can see, and picked still more daffodils. I think we have a week or two left. One of my favorites is blooming right now, a small cream one with an apricot center. You might be sick of seeing daffodils, but I may have to get some close-up pictures of those anyway.

Lest you think it’s all as peaceful and pretty as the photo above around here, I though I’d share a behind-the-scenes reality shot as well:

Half the pictures I took look like this one. There’s no such thing as personal space around here. As I type there is a cat licking my arm. I do not know why.

Sally didn’t visit me in the studio this weekend, but I have to share a story, which is just about the saddest ever. When I painted my studio I removed a big, cheap, ugly mirror, and just had it leaning against the wall outside while I decided what to do with it. I tried putting it in my car to take to Goodwill, but it didn’t fit, so I thought I’d just take it out and leave it on the curb. Meanwhile, I moved it to the front of the yard, by the trash cans, next to the gate. When I went outside later that day, there was Sally, sitting down next to the mirror, talking to her reflection. Poor, lonely Sally! She had to find herself a buddy in a mirror! I don’t know quite what to do for her. Shortly after all this, the wind picked up and blew the mirror over and broke it, so now she really doesn’t have a friend. Luckily, the glass was glued to a backing, so it held together, but it was still badly cracked, and I put it out with the trash the next day. Mr. HeyLucy said he saw a big grey goose hanging around early one morning this week, so maybe she has a suitor. I think I will look for a plastic mirror for her, in case things don’t work out with the grey gentleman.

Read More

I think I have the blahs tonight, so this might be a really boring blog post, but apparently I'm not letting that stop me from jabbering away anyhow. I took some pictures of things I've been making, but they are all so boring and uninspiring. Here are the pickles I made, I'm not sure how we'll be able to wait another seven weeks (at the very least) for them to cure.

I have a stack of fabric for some fun Spring projects, and I'm too blah to work on any of it.

 

Left to right: a light, Spring-y top, grey linen for a skirt with rickrack around the bottom, and some birds for a quilt for a baby girl on the way. I have no idea what sort of quilt yet, once these blahs go away, I'm sure I'll think of something.

Maybe Winston can perk me up, what do you think?

Read More

I've been going on and on about me, me, me, but I am also finding so much inspiration out there in the world at the moment. I just thought I'd acknowledge and share some of my favorite things lately. My favorite album at the moment (other than Good Night Human, of course), is Lisa Hannigen's Sea Sew. I'm loving this song so much: 

I also love the cover she hand-stitched herself: 

 

And for a little more handmade goodness, be sure to watch the video for Lille, the video director also made the pop-up books, which are so great!

I know this is everywhere in blogland, but if you haven't had a chance to look at Weekend Sewing, I would suggest you head to the bookstore this week and take a peek.

 

I'm pretty particular about the craft books I bring home, because 1) I only have so much shelf space, and there's not much left, and 2) I already know how to sew, so how-to books not really necessary. I love this one the inspiration and the fact that Heather Ross so creative and such a great writer on top of it all. Her blog is so much fun to read, just for the stories she tells. I am also really hankering for some of her new fabric after seeing this little project (scroll down to see the finished quilted kimono and dress). 

And one last bit of inspiration is this sweater. I'm not sure if it would be flattering on my busty self, but I sure do love it, and may have to make it regardless.

Okay, now I'm off to do some sewing myself. See how inspired I am!

Read More

I got this purple-y cotton cardigan at Old Navy (of course!) a few weeks ago. It's comfy and basic and cozy, but it was lacking a little something something. So I cut a bias strip of cotton calico and gussied it up.

I cut the strip about 2 3/4" wide, and slightly longer than the neckline. I cut one of the short side straight across and turned it under. I ran a gathering stitch in the fold and then stitched it down, even with the center edge of the sweater. From there, each section is sewn individually, about 2" apart. I just stitched around the calico strip a couple times and then knotted it off on the wrong side.

It took just minutes, and I think my sweater isn't so basic any more!

Thank goodness for Photoshop, I used it to make several cat hairs magically disappear! If only I could use it on my sofa. Note to self: use a lint roller before taking photos of your clothes.

I also have to point out my cute earrings, purchased recently from SpoolDesign on etsy! I especially like them since getting my hair trimmed on Friday so they could dangle down below the edges of my bob.

Read More

I pretended to be a pioneer this weekend, except for the electricity and indoor plumbing, oh, and the washer and dryer and gas stove, but other than those little conveniences, it was just like being a pioneer.

I haven't been cooking much more than dinner lately, so I decided to spend a little more time in the kitchen this weekend. When the Angry Chicken mentioned making butter, and 70-some comment-ors shared their enthusiasm, I had to jump on the bandwagon and try it too. I did it in a more pioneer-like way, and shook a pint of cream in a quart-sized mason jar. It was fascinating how the texture changed. First it just got all thick and frothy, and I was worried my jar was too small. Then I could hear it sort of thunk-ing around, and then suddenly it was a solid mass and finally, it turned pale yellow and there was a chunk of butter sitting in a pool of milk. This would be a great home-school science lesson! I recently scored a bunch of mini jello molds, which will soon be turned into pincushions, so I pressed the butter into one of them and let it harden in the fridge for a while and then turned it out on a plate.

The pint of cream made that-which I would estimate is 3/4 to 1 cup, plus another half a stick. I salted it very lightly, really just a couple shakes of kosher salt, and when I tasted it right after it was finished I was worried that I put way too much in, but today it's much better. And I have been eating a lot of slices of bread and butter.

So that was my weekend to-do list up there, and I didn't get it completely finished, but I did make quite a lot of progress. Make Butter: check!

Next up was Make Pickles. I will not be able to tell you how successful that venture was for two or three months, however. Here's a little more pickle backstory: Mr. HeyLucy loves a good antipasto salad, and the last time we had pizza the salad was a little disappointing. We are also trying to be more thrifty and not eating out, so this will be a good thing to try and make ourselves at home. Summer garden plans are in the works, so if the homemade pickling thing works out, we'll plant lots of pickle-friendly vegetables. Also, I was talking to a couple Persian friends at work who told me all about torshi, Persian pickles. One of found this recipe and sent it to me. I modified it a little, and made it a bit more Italian style (because I'm such an Italian cuisine expert). Here are all my vegetables, ready to be mixed and put in jars. The bowl is full of herbs and vinegar, and it smelled delicious, although now I need a break from the smell of vinegar for at least a couple days.

 

Vegetables are pretty! Clockwise, from the top left we have green pepper, cucumbers (the little persian ones), herb-y vinegar, cauliflower, carrots, cooked eggplant (not too much of that, I wasn't sure if we would like it), whole garlic cloves, and celery. I ended up with five quarts and one pint. Now it has to sit for a couple months and then we can enjoy it! Make Pickles: check!

Next up, Sew Skirt. Didn't happen. I have some pretty grey linen for a Summer skirt, and I want to sew lots of rick-rack around the bottom, but the fabric store I went to on Friday only had purple, so I will have to go on a rick-rack hunt next week. Sew Skirt will move to the top of the list for next weekend.

Gather Moss. I don't think I'm ready to take the dogs out again, my hand should be healed by next weekend, however, so that stays on the list. The dogs each got a little brushing, and therefore quality one-on-one time with me instead, and it's not like there was a moss emergency. My terrarium in the little house studio is doing quite well, I will have to take a progress picture so you can see how pretty and green it is.

Sew Blouse. Well, it's cut out, so that one gets a partial check. I hope to work on it this week, so expect to hear more about this later.

Sweep Driveway. We have a big driveway. Between dogs digging and chickens scratching, and wind blowing, it gets messy. I got a lot swept, so I'm giving myself a check mark, but there is one more corner to do, so it will be back on the list next week too.

Do laundry. Done! Although not yet put away, at least it's all folded. Maybe tomorrow I will finish putting it away, and then I will get my check mark.

Make Pincushions. Well, I tried, but more experimenting is needed. I did make a strawberry with emory sand, so I'm kind of excited about that. I made one attempt with the aforementioned mini jello molds, but I have to try again. No check mark, back on the list.

 

I'm excited to make some new little sets, with wool-stuffed pincushions and emory-filled strawberries, and maybe even matching needlebooks.

Bake a Cake. Specifically, Nigella's Clementine Cake. I've been wanting to make this forever, or at least for the last three months. So forever might be an exageration, but I finally did it today. And it's good, but not quite as outstanding as I was expecting. She does say that she prefers it the next day, so maybe my opinion will change tomorrow. I think I might like it more with a simple orange glaze. It's flourless, so it might be a good recipe to add to your reportoire if you need a gluten-free cake. Also, it's not all that exciting to look at:

 

So that was my weekend to-do list. I should have included Pick Flowers, because that would have earned me another check mark.

 

I hope you won't mind just a few more pictures of daffodils and grape hyacinth, but we have to enjoy them while we can!

 

I love that bright orange center, and how about that extreme bokeh, eh? 

 

I just love these tiny things. That photo is worth looking at full-sized. This version is straight out of the camera, but I played with some Photoshop actions and added those versions to flickr.

Read More