Bella Dia

I'll be back...

We had a nice little get-away to southern California to take the kids to Disneyland and the beach and to take me to the Japanese bookstore and Ikea.  It was a great trip but now I need some time to get back into our routine, clean house, and take pictures of some of the things I got to share with you.  I also have several tutorials that I've been meaning to write and photograph.  I'll be back next week with lots to post about :)

Oh My!!

I am so excited!!  My tea cozy won in the Cozy category of the Softie Awards! I think this is the first time I have ever won anything!  Thank you so much to everyone who voted for me - gosh, makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over!  Thanks to Terry to for all her hard work in organizing it.  You must visit her blog Softie's Central to keep up on everything happening in the softie world- she is definitely the go-to-gal when it comes to softies :)

*The picture above is a new "Sew Happy" pincushion series I am working on but it expresses exactly how I feel today!*

Nature Walk

The kids and I went on a walk down by the river this weekend.  We are having an unusually early spring and the temperature was just perfect for being outdoors.  The kids had told me about this "heart rock tree" so I was eager to get a look.  Last year people started leaving heart-shaped rocks all around, and wedged into, this tree - apparently with thoughts of a loved one.   I'm very sentimental so I love stuff like this.

There's not much green to be seen.

Seed pod fluff stuck in the tree branches.

The river.

We stacked rocks into towers and the boys made a boat out of some driftwood that they launched into the current before we left.

A very enjoyable afternoon.  Something I need to do more often. 

*There are more pictures at Flickr .

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

The Softie Awards  are up and ready to be voted on !  I am thrilled to be included in the Cozy category with my teapot cozy !  Please take the time and look at all the talent - absolutely mind boggling - voting closes March 30.

I am so flattered to be included in this book put together by Anna Torborg.  So far it has just been available in the U.K.  but as of April 1 you'll be able to buy it here in the U.S. !  I know you'll love it as much as I do.

No picture yet, but
Therese Laskey has a new book coming out September 1 from Chronicle Books called Softies: Simple Instructions for 25 Plush Pals .  I am so pleased that one of my pincushions and the pattern are included in the book.  It's available for pre-order now and I know it will be a big hit!

The pincushions went really fast in my shop - there's some quick clickers out there ;)  The next update will include more pincushions and some little houses.  I also have some special items planned for Mother's Day gifts. 

Thanks everyone - it's really exciting to me that you support and appreciate my work!

Winter Blues

I've created a Flickr group for the Vintage Vertical Stripe Blanket. If you are making the blanket, like the blanket, like stripes, or crochet, or knit, or yarn, or any combination of the above please join! I'd love to see finished blankets with stripes and works-in-progress and any examples of blankets with stripes for inspiration. So please post away! For more inspiration take a look at Jane's lovely wavy striped blanket, and she completed it in 4 weeks no less.

My blanket is still a WIP but I don't have much further to go. I've been working on several scarves which will come in handy for this bitter cold we've been having lately; when I got to work the other morning it was 1˚F. The high is supposed to be 11˚F and the low -11˚F, yikes!

Everything is white everywhere you look.

I never tire of watching it snow, it always seems magical and it is incredibly quiet. But, I do get tired of the snow on the ground and the ice and four-wheel drive.

Yellowstone

We had a wonderful long weekend getaway in Yellowstone National Park last week but it's taken me this long to go through the more than 400 pictures that I took. I put some more up on Flickr, but don't worry I just uploaded my favorites ;) This is a picture of my favorite geyser - Grotto Geyser - I love how it's all slightly out of focus. It looks great in black and white too.

A close-up of the edge of one of the mineral pools.

We are walking up to Grand Geyser here.

As I approached Grand Geyser, this formation on the edge of the vent reminded me of The Thinker by Rodin; what do you think?

Castle Geyser

We saw bison everywhere. Here's everyone, except my daughter and I, taking pictures.

This gorgeous canyon has the Yellowstone River at the bottom. This area is called Artists' Point and we arrived just before sunset.

A lovely blue haze along the edge of a hot spring.

We saw lots of wildlife including bugling elk, a coyote, deer, bison, and a grizzly bear! This was the best shot I could get at dusk with a 48x zoom but we were thrilled we got to see a bear at all.

Monday Morning Greetings

One chilly morning before soccer,
I got to enjoy a whole flock of these little girls preening themselves in the sun on the boughs of a blue spruce.

On my bedside table:
Mind of the Raven by Bernd Heinrich
The China Study by T.Colin Campbell
To See Every Bird on Earth by Dan Koeppel
Stikky Trees: Learning to Recognize at a Glance the 15 Most Common Trees in the United States
Superfoods Rx: Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life

On board from Netflix:
Pollyanna
Spellbound
All the President's Men

Latest interests:
birding
a raw food diet
creating the perfect breakfast smoothie

On my mind:
a Halloween birthday party for my youngest
things I want to make for Christmas gifts

Learning:
Excel
Quickbooks for Construction
how to use my new camera

Making:
pincushions
purse organizers
something new!

Looking forward to:
weekend trip to Yellowstone
going to the World Center for Birds of Prey
receiving my first installment of Amy's Mailorder
(I can't wait to make the earflap hat!)

Enjoying:
watching the leaves change colors
cheering for my boys at their soccer games
seeing my daughter advance so quickly in karate
the new season of CSI

My New Studio

I'm finally sharing some pictures of my new studio. It took a long time until I was happy with the paint color. I actually painted it 4 different times! I ended up having a color matched from a dress of my daughter's that I thought was perfect and it was. I used a semi-gloss finish so it would clean up easy and reflect more light. The curtains are temporary but I imagine they will be there for awhile. This picture is what it looks like when you enter. The window faces onto the street.

Looking to the left is my wall-of-fabric :) I like my fabric sorted by color and as you can see it needs some work. Things got a bit out of sort from moving everything around but it is so nice to have it all in one place.

Now, looking to the right, my sewing table and a dresser that holds interfacing and patterns. I really like standing up to sew and working at counter height so I was thrilled when my father found this wonderful work table in the paper for free! Click here to see what it looked like when we got it. A little paint and a pretty skirt and she's set to go. Underneath the sewing table I have bags of felt stored in those giant baggies that you can buy now (love those things!).

Here's looking back towards the door. Click here to see inside the closet where I have lots of little plastic drawers for all the miscellaneous what-nots that crafters have: glues, tools, grommets, little pattern pieces, etc. The "tablecloth" is really just a piece of fabric covered with a layer of clear vinyl. It's a great way to enjoy your fabric and at the same time keep it clean. It also works well for using your vintage tablecloths.

This is a close-up of the dresser. I found those hankies at the flea market and they were a big inspiration in the colors that I chose. The yellow pot is filled with zippers.

My bulletin board: extra pompoms, sample colors of all the felt I have, correspondence, and inspiration. I have more things I want to put up on the wall but I just haven't gotten to it yet.

The bookshelf under the window holds my craft books and assorted samples of stuff. I keep my buttons sorted by color in jars.

Another view of my fabric wall and the fabric display I did above it. I hope you like it!