Chasing Bluebirds

my day

groceries clouds ikea visit 20 minutes on the trainer = 200 calories burned sewing projects the tutorial for these was found here and last the tree fabric from ikea i have been dying for...found at last! i saw the idea to make pillows by just cutting out the trees somewhere but cant remember!! there were examples that had embellishments like birds and critters in the tree that i really liked. i just dont have the time for that right now. getting ready to visit family in colorado and wanted to make some quick gifts. i havent mentioned here that i am in training for a half marathon in october, on my second week of serious training and so excited! i feel so good and am up to 6 miles (just run/walking) already! it is hotter than hell here right now so we are spending time in our little blow up pool and drinking gallons of water. really feels like summer! so my day off went well, back to work tomorrow and then off to vegas (for an ultrasound conference) then colorado (with a visit to mt. rushmore thrown in) i will try to post pictures of our trip!

mish mash

a few bags made for the preschool teachers

and a bag made for a future camp fire girl (lizzies group starts soon) a little something from the thrift store (my dad of course) breakfast at a favorite hang out love this hammock, it was just taken up to the cabin but i think we need another here at the beach! lots of tomatoes coming in, couldnt find the juliets this year so i planted some strange ones: pineapple, plum and two different kinds of roma hanging at the skate park, liz was fascinated by it. i see a skateboard in her future, she is such an interesting kid. you never know what your kid will be attracted to, just gotta go with the flow i guess. since i have been facebook obsessed, i thought a little update was in order, i think we are pretty caught up now. happy weekend!

kick ass dolls

these are the kickingness of ass dolls i have ever seen. oh man!!!!

damn it if these are the coolest, go check them out yourself and see.

new owls, new year

and one old owl from years gone by, thank you to my goofball supermodel, liz. (ps. dont mind the big black "thing" in her teeth, its temporary! yikes liz!)

handmade christmas, busy busy

happy present making!

handmade christmas

a new design, not quite right but good enough for a christmas gift, shhhhh dont tell!

day off part two

making blocks, your turn

ok guys, here goes... remember the only sewing i had was in home economics class about 25 years ago! start with 6 sides, make sure they are straight and square (i get sloppy sometimes and it makes the corners harder to match up) designate a "bottom" and sew 4 sides to it. add a "top" to one side sew up the sides to make a box, this is the trickiest part because your corners can get bunchy. i just make sure the edges line up and the corner match. when you sew you will sew across the corners like this: just run right to the end and even though it looks weird, the straight stitching will make a crisp corner when you turn it, oh did i mention in the beginning that we are sewing all right sides together? making a box that is inside out... see i am great at tutorials! geez... here is the box, just fold the top over and sew three sides down and then half of the fourth, leaving an opening to turn right side out and stuff. almost done the fun part is stuffing and finishing off i dont recommend using a pencil (i like chopsticks) and these dont really need anything, the hole you leave should be big enough to get your fingers into easily finished! sorry this is the last photo, i was on to something else and forgot to get a "smiling kid/block all done" photo... this is emily's personalized block and she wisked it off to play with. good luck! remember these blocks are homemade and all the imperfections make them unique and special, right?

shop

my poor little chasing bluebirds shop has been in quite the slump lately. its not that i dont love making my owls, i do. in fact, i have several waiting to be stuffed... but with baby gifts needed, i started making big blocks. i went a bit crazy and made a dozen, a friend said she has several babies who need some and could i make her a few? she said her little one carries the blocks i made her around the house (how nice!) so here are blocks ready to be delivered: these are so fun to make, once i got the hang of it, they arent perfect but oh well. i am starting to use some of my most favorite fabrics, trying to get brave with my crazy combos. i am avoiding pink because i like the way these can be for a boy or a girl... i do have some really wild pinks waiting to make blocks for the girly girls out there. so these will be in the shop soon, i plan on selling them at the artisan tour over labor day at green valley lake! love to be a part of that wonderful community, so fun! loving this, listening to this, just watched this, getting ready to watch this, just finished this (and cried my eyes out, loved it!) ready for a new book, hmmm... what next? oh and i made my first chocolate and zucchini cake, it is cooling as i write this. found here, which is a great cookbook by the way, gorgeous and has some very yummy looking treats... i have a few on the list to try out. hoping for some more ways to use up all this squash!

summer squash

here is a photo of our squash, i found one of the white ones poking out from under the plant and was surprised to see how big it was! yikes! glad to find a good recipe over here, will be trying it out asap. even though the light is still pretty crappy (overcast), i snapped a picture of my baby blocks, still not perfect but fun to make!