My cup runneth over

So, my last sale in Regina has come and gone. As some of you know already, our Prairie adventure is drawing to a close and we'll be heading back to BC at the end of June. While I'm looking forward to reconnecting with my BC buddies, the move means I'll likely have to scale back on the amount of sewing I've been doing. For now, the plan is to continue to work on custom orders in my spare time and gradually put the items I have already made into the shop.

This town/province have been so supportive of my little crafting endeavour, so I'm quite sad that I won't have the chance to do another craft fair here. I just want to send a big ol' thank you to everyone here who has come out to say 'hi', stood at my booth with me getting chilled to the bone, kept me company during the lulls in the crowds, had a nice thing to say about my stuff, or decided to buy one of my items. It all means a lot to me. As the title of this post says - my cup does indeed runneth over.

And speaking of cups, [how's that for a segue?] the cute little one in the picture above was made by Carole Epp (one of the members of the Flock and Gather Arts Collective up in Saskatoon). Some of the f&g group made it down to this weekend's Cathedral street fair, so I popped over to their booth to pick up this nerdy little cup for Abner. She's obsessed with getting her own drink of water from the bathroom sink these days. Not surprisingly, she's been a little extra hydrated since getting this cup.

Cathedral Village Street Fair today!

Poster by Caitlin Mullan of Articulate Ink

The Cathedral Arts Festival street fair is on from 10 am  - 5 pm today. Stop by and see me at my booth on 13th Ave between Athol and Garnet. The first person to bring me a large double double will get a free thumbprint greeting card!

Just for me - a new skirt!

It has been nearly two years since I last sewed up something for myself. Thankfully this new skirt didn't take me quite as long as that last project. [Four years was a bit much for a coat - don't you think?] This cute little skirt only took an hour and didn't require a pattern - my kind of sewing! The skirt and sash are completely separate and make for one comfy skirt! Personally, I love the ruffle detail at the back. It turned out so cute!
I'm hoping to wear it to the Cathedral Arts Festival street fair tomorrow, but the weather is looking a bit dodgy. With tights and boots perhaps?

Would anyone be interested in sewing a similar skirt for themselves? I could do a tutorial if anyone is interested. Let me know in the comments!

Vintage children's books

My great shopping weakness has got to be used children's books. I simply can't walk past a used bookstore without checking out the children's section. Part of the allure is the campy illustrations and storylines. They just don't write/illustrate children's books the way they used to. Here are a few we picked up recently at the stellar Buy the Book bookstore in Regina's Cathedral neighbourhood.

Out of the blue, Abner has become enamoured with pets. We took our first trip to a pet store a few weeks ago and other than commenting on the smell, she seemed to like it. This book about pets was an obvious choice for Abner. We haven't read it yet, but I'm dying to know why that parakeet is talking into the phone. I'm also wondering if Abner will ask me what that cord coming out of the phone is.

Since she is also so keen on learning to read these days, I picked up a beginner dictionary for her. Nothing like learning to read from The Cat in the Hat! Personally, I find it odd that the first word in the book is a proper noun. Since when do names go in the dictionary?

There's some debate around who this next book is for - me or Abner. It was published in 1958 by the Singer Sewing Machine company. As a resource tool, it's still pretty relevant, but get a load of some of these projects - the ribbon bow belt is actually kind of cute, but I think I'll pass on that frilly lampshade.

A handmade birthday

Call me crazy, but I let a group of preschoolers colour on the pillows today. Don't worry - I haven't completely gone off my rocker. The scribbling was part of the craft/party favour we did for Abner's birthday party today. I wisely prepared the pillows in advance with the initial for each little guest and left one side open to pop in the pillow form and sew them closed during the party. (Yes, I actually planned to sew during a party - I'm that hardcore about handmade.) I taped each girl's empty pillow case to the floor in our basement and let them loose with a couple of packs of fabric markers. They were beyond cute with all the polite sharing and 'ohhhs' and 'ahhhhs' over each other's work. The girls seemed to love their pillows and I'm sure ours will be a treasured item for years to come.

The other little item each guest received was a little lunch bag with a few goodies inside. I couldn't resist giving a few store-bought items along with the handmade. It's all about balance after all. The idea for the packaging came from Pinterest (though it seems I never actually pinned the link). The girls looked super cute heading home with their little bags and pillows. Another handmade birthday success!

Oh, and the fabric is Clifford's Puppy Days in ecru by Quilting Treasures in case you're wondering.

four!

happy birthday to the sweetest little goofball I know!

All hands on deck...

Things have gotten rather busy around here lately (hence my unplanned absence from the blog). The success of the Flock & Gather sale a few weekends ago has translated into hours and hours of sewing in order to get ready for this weekend's True Knit craft sale. Suddenly my little hobby has become a full-time gig with me putting in 30-40 hours a week! Even the youngest in our little family has been recruited to help mommy stuff bunnies. On top of that, one of us is turning four tomorrow so there are parties to plan, cakes to bake, gifts to buy, goody bags to assemble and countless other errands to run.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I must step away from the computer and go sew up six more reversible baby dresses and then I will be done!