Just a quick list of links to some beautiful things I love today:
That's all for now. Have a nice weekend!
Read MoreSpring is my favorite time of year. My birthday is in the Spring, my favorite flowers bloom in the Spring, things turn green, the sky is bluer, it's just the best. Tomorrow the pool opens after being closed for 3 months and my swimming stuff is already packed and ready to take along to work for a lunch hour swim.
Saturday I declared an official pajama day, and I spent the morning with the bedroom window open, and enjoyed the fresh Spring air along with a little breakfast in bed, followed by a little knitting and hulu.com watching (while still in bed). I would have just stayed in my pajamas all day, but around 1:30 I decided I had better get dressed and go to the feed store, or I was going to have to deal with some grumpy, hungry chickens.
I've worked some more on my skirt, although I have to finish off the yoke facing, and I may sew another row or maybe even two of ruffles. Two might be too much, but I think I really will do one more. I'm wearing my boots, obviously, but once it's a little warmer, I think these cute shoes will work well with this skirt.
The skirt is made of a cotton bamboo fabric I got at JoAnn, of all places, and the ruffle is bias-cut silk dupioni. I like the cotton bamboo a lot, it's very nice to sew with.
I was also working on the mushroom tutorial, as promised, and Sally came for her usual visit. I took some pictures and then played around with them in Photoshop, using some Pioneer Woman Actions.
I like this 70's action. The sunshine one is fun too:
And then I went out and tried to take photos of flowers without dogs or a goose in them. I am trying to teach them to respect my personal space, but it's not sinking in. Still, I got a few flower photos without any animals in the frames.
I love all the bulb flowers, but grape hyacinth are one of my most favorites:
And the lilacs are getting their big fat buds:
I hope you don't mind all the pictures! But did I mention that I love Spring?
P.S. Mushrooms winner will be posted by tomorrow, if not later tonight, and the tutorial will be up soon too! I'll also have a few mushrooms for the shop, if you don't feel like making your own. Now I'm going to go make some soup!
Read MoreI've been knitting away at my sweater and it's slowly growing:
I can sort of try it on, and I think it might just fit. I lengthened the body about an inch, so it should be long enough. I never mentioned that the last sweater I finished was a little too big, and the yarn was so bulky it just wasn't flattering, so I haven't had a lot of confidence in my sweater knitting abilities. I'm feeling better about it now, and I think I'll unravel that other one and make something else that will be flattering. There are a lot of sweaters that I want to knit, but I also love socks, and I have much better luck there, so it's hard not to just keep knitting socks. Also, I came across this picture on flickr the other day, and decided that I want my sock drawer to look like that someday.
Speaking of knitting, how did I miss this:
I really like Debbie Bliss yarns and patterns, and now a whole magazine full? I want to make a few things in here. That wrap on the cover is pretty, and I think it would be a good mindless knitting project, since it's mostly stockinette. I totally missed the premier issue, this is the second one. Obviously I need to read more knitting blogs.
And one last little bit of needle work, I am trying my hand at creating my own sampler of sorts:
There's not a whole lot to see yet, but how about that green linen? I like it!
I also am planning on doing that mushroom tutorial this weekend, if I can manage to pick up some more clay. I'll do my best to get it up here by Sunday night. Don't forget to leave a comment on this post if you want to have a chance to win a set of three mushrooms!
Read MoreA couple things I forgot to mention: my (still unfinished, but definitely cuter-than-it-was) studio has been featured on the Modish Blog and on The 6 o’clock Stitch. You may be thinking, “yeah, well, I’ve seen your studio, you’ve been blathering on about it for the past month, I don’t need to go somewhere else and see it again.” Well, I’m not sending you over there to look at my studio (which I’ve taken to calling The Little Housetm [okay, maybe I didn’t actually trademark it]), but to look at all the other great studios. I love seeing other creative spaces, it gives me ideas for my own and keeps me inspired.
Also, if you weren’t here for my daily weekend posts, you’re going to want to scroll down and read them, because there’s a toy surprise inside one. Er, sort of. You’ll see.
I don’t think I ever showed you the mermaid I stole from Mr. Heylucy for The Little Housetm I just didn’t want to have a post without a picture.
Read MoreI was so involved with my injury and my mushrooms yesterday that I only gave you one crappy picture of the finished terrarium. I thought you might like to see a little more. Or maybe you're over the whole terrarium thing already, and wish I would move on to something else. If that's the case, then come back next time and I promise I won't even say 'terrarium' once.
Looking down from the top, and here's a more clear side view:
I don't have any helpful hints for you, really. I got that jar at Ikea for $5, and bought a bag of pebbles at Michael's for $2.29. I used about a third of the pebbles in the bottom, then threw a handful of potting soil on top of that and just piled the moss in there. It broke apart a little as I handled it, it's fragile stuff, but I think it still looks okay, and maybe it will grow and cover any bare spots. As for finding moss, I'm also not sure what to tell you. I've always liked moss, so I tend to notice it when I go on walks. This was growing in the shade, mostly near rocks, and I just picked it right up. I had enough of everything left that I made myself another one, which I think I will take to work and keep on my desk.
This one is in a Weck canning jar that I found at a thrift store. I found two, actually. The other one has some of my favorite buttons and buckles in it, but this one was just waiting for a special use. Don't their jars make you want to can everything? I would love to get some and just can all Summer long. I have plenty of mason jars, though, so I'll just have to be happy with those for now.
I also did more than make terrariums this weekend, I also started a skirt for myself. I really hope it comes out as I envisioned. I think it just might. Here's a little sneak peak:
That's right, I am reporting the very first recorded terrarium-related injury. I headed out with the dogs this afternoon on a quest for moss. It's very hard to walk through our gate and down the street and leave the dogs behind, because the pitiful barks make the neighbors think we're dog abusers. So I hooked them up to the dual leash, and we set out. And we walked by the Next Door Neighbor's house, when their dog (the same dog that runs along the fence line in tandem with Winston every, single, day) started barking and my dogs freaked out, tangled themselves up and tripped me, even though I was, at that point, standing still. I'm still not sure how they did it. But because I know you all are as excited about terrariums as I am, I couldn't let a little bloody hand wound and a couple scraped knees stop me. Oh no, we got ourselves up and untangled, and continued on the Moss Quest. I just tried really hard not to bleed on it, the leash, or the dogs.
Oh, but I have to back up a little bit. Last night I went searching for some cute mushrooms, also for the terrarium, and I couldn't find anything. So in desperation, I picked up some red and some white polymer clay, despite the fact that I've never used the stuff before, and have never considered sculpting anything in my life, least of all tiny mushrooms. I had to have some mushrooms, you see. A plain moss terrarium just would not do.
Here they are in progress. Those are their spots, waiting to be added. This picture kind of makes me laugh. I figured I'd just use up all the clay and make as many mushrooms as I could, while I was at it. The clay was easy to work with. I'd say the hardest thing about the whole project was the fact that the red smudges really badly, so that was kind of a pain. I had to scrub really hard to get it all off my hands, and you can't even think about touching the white unless your hands are perfectly clean. If there's any interest, I could maybe, one day, post a little mushroom making tutorial. It usually takes me a long time to get around to these things, so don't get too excited.
I'm quite pleased with how they came out. I'm almost tempted to just leave this little fairy ring in my studio forever.
Obviously, I can't put all of them in my terrarium, so I'm going to list a couple sets of three in my shop, and I'm going to give away a set of three right now! Surprise! Well, not right this minute, but just leave a comment if you want to make a terrarium and need a set of mushrooms. I'll leave the comments open this week, until Friday or so, and then choose a winner next weekend.
And now, for the big reveal:
I'll keep you updated on its survival. I hope it does okay. Mr. HeyLucy was concerned that it might start to smell. I have to say, that thought never crossed my mind, so I will report on that as well.
And here is a hopefully sympathy-inducing shot of part of my injury (small, so you don't get too grossed out):
You can click to see it bigger, if you're into that kind of thing. The saddest part about my injuries? I actually fell off my back step a few weeks ago, and scraped up my hands and knees in the same places, and it was FINALLY nearly healed. I can't blame the dogs for that one, however. I'm not very coordinated, I think my center of gravity is all wacky because I'm tall.
