I’m nearly finished with the pink sweater, but since pictures of random knitted pieces are boring, I’ll spare you until it’s completely done and sewn together. Instead, I’m just breezing in and out today, and leaving you with a picture of my kitchen wall:

A philosophy to live by.

There was a little bit of buzz last month about eraser carving. I’m a little slow here, but thought I’d share some carvings done in the past:

That thingie at the top of the first picture is an Indian wood block. I’d like to carve that in lino or eraser for easy stamping. With this month’s tie one on theme, I’m thinking I should do some more carvings and make myself another apron with a hand stamped pattern…hmm…the possibilities.

In other news, I made a blog for my mom. I don’t think she knows what kind of blog it’s going to be yet. Quilting? Politics? Books? We shall see!

And if you want to pictures of people in my family, a couple of them had some big photo shoots recently (you may need a myspace account to view the first link).

Summer vacation is well over now, so hi! I’m back! I have some catching up to do. For the past few months there has been very little creative time, but I just had a 3-day weekend, and could do whatever I wanted. So I did. I knitted and sewed and cleaned the kitchen and made couscous with vegetables and played computer games and sat in the rocking chair on the porch with a cold drink and a good book, I caught up on TV viewing and cleaned up the Tivo, we ordered a pizza and there was a nap in there too, somewhere. It was so nice.

I’ve gotten some nice mail over the past few weeks. My snail mail buddy sends great packages:

Beautiful fabric postcards, beads, ribbon and a stack of fabric. I especially love the pink polka dots. The postcards are up on my inspiration wall. I just got another one from her, but I’m saving that picture for another day.

I also was surprised to receive this:

From the super talented Amy, just for leaving a comment on her blog to help her find a book. Wow, people are so nice! She also sent a big pack of her cards, which I’ve already started sending to a lucky few.

This last picture I’m a little embarrassed to share for a few reasons. Number one: this is the final bit of my backtack project and is just being mailed today. I have a lot of lame excuses, it’s been a rough few months since my father-in-law passed away suddenly, with a lot of weekends spent making the 3 hour drive to the in-laws house to either visit and help out or pick up and bring my mother-in-law to our house for the weekend. I managed to send a small package a few weeks ago, and even though I let the recipient know that I was late, and she was very understanding, I still have been feeling just awful about this. So. Now it’s done and sent, and will hopefully be used and enjoyed. Number two reason for my embarrassment: what a crappy picture! I took it early this morning and it was way too dark for picture taking. Number three: I mostly like how it turned out, but there is still something just a little bit off. Maybe it’s too busy or something? I like the shape, though and I think I’m going to make some more little bucket bags like this, but plain, using only one or two fabrics and interfaced instead of quilted.

Tune in tomorrow for better pictures of knitting projects (I hope). Oh, and Hi to all the people visiting from Pink Champagne High! Leave a comment and tell me hello! I love it when people do that! I’ve now used my exclamation point quota for the week.

One of my favorite crafts ever would have to be bookbinding. I haven’t made any books for awhile, and my little sister asked me to make the guestbook for her wedding, so I thought I’d better practice before I do that. So I made a little book:

It’s 4.5×3 inches, and I used a handmade paper for the front and back cover and French printmaking paper for the pages. I did a four needle Japanese binding, which is my absolute favorite binding, it’s loose enough that you can really fill the book with all sorts of ephemera, it lays flat when you open it, and it’s strong and pretty.

I think this is going to go out in the mail to a secret recipient. I hope she will like it!

I had one of those relaxing yet fun and productive but not long enough weekends. First I met a friend for breakfast and we went to a card making party. We were a little early, so we stopped at an estate sale where I scored this for fifty cents:

A real Brownie camera. It needs some cleaning up, and the film and developing will probably be outrageously expensive, but I think I’ll have fun with it.

I also made some more earrings:

I don’t think I’ll be going into the jewelry business soon, my wire-wrapping skills are pretty dismal, but who’s going to notice that when they’re looking at those pretty vintage beads?

And I started on my back-tack project, sort of.

I made a little strawberry pincushion. I think I’ve finally nailed down just what I’m going to make and what I’m going to use. My first back-tack buddy very generously sent 3 different fabrics, but they don’t coordinate with each other, so I’ll be getting creative. I think I’ll be able to use two of the three, one of which is a lovely hand-dyed chartreuse green. I’ll throw in fabrics from my stash and go with a patchwork look. My recipient likes to quilt, so hopefully she’ll appreciate that.

I received a pretty package this past weekend:

Are you jealous? You should be. I was quick on the draw and scored a pack of Kathleen‘s silkscreened cards. They’re just as lovely in real life as you would imagine. Thanks Kathleen! I love them!

My sewing machine is home all safe and sound, so I finished my apron:

It’s fairly simple, which is what I like about it. That and the chickens, of course. And it’s reversible, so if one side gets dirty, I can just turn it around. I got the fabric in Frankfurt years and years ago, and it was just waiting for the perfect project. I think I may be making aprons for gifts this year, this was a quick and satisfying project. Don’t forget to check out Tie One On for more fabulous aprons!