painting: thistle and bee

thistle & bee 8″x8″

I’m still on a little bee kick. There are so many different kinds of bees–I don’t think I’ve painted the same kind twice. I especially like the fuzzy ones, but of course honey bees are special,, too. I don’t think I’ve painted a honey bee yet, though. I painted from a photo shared by Sue Tilleray. Available in my Etsy shop.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Chickens have such a singular body shape. Like a Zeppelin. Streamlined, yet entirely not.

The above hen is a Sapphire Gem. I think. See her fluffy feet? I expect her to make chocolate-brown eggs, and have my fingers crossed. None yet, but she’s only four months old.

Our chickens are mostly Aracunas, and Americunas.

I was calling the above chicken, “Judy,” until I took this photo. D’oh! He’s a boy! His name is Red, now.

painting: da kittehs

I’ve had a long-outstanding request to paint our kitties. So I did.

You might recognize the quilt they are sitting on. In reality the quilt is tan, but I didn’t want it blending too much with the cat. Maybe, though, it would have been better…?

The light coming through the pennants was glowing, but as is common, a camera didn’t quite capture how lovely it appeared. Still, pretty, though. 🙂

My gosh, is it Tuesday already? I hope you are getting lots of things done!

Hee hee, whenever I use the phrase, “Getting things done,” I can’t help but think of Delores Herbig. (Bad word alert if you are under 18!)

Oh, and just in case you are wondering, the cats’ names are Katniss and Prim.

Yes, I KNOW! 😉

sewing: romantic tote bag

More back-to-school sewing. A new tote bag, in pretty romantic florals. Let’s see, I used Tanya Whelan for the big roses, Lecien Flower/Sugar for the bright red roses with polka dots, and the border fabric is Walmart. The handles are also Tanya Whelan.

To create the semi-sturdy structure, I used Pelton foam interfacing. I wish I would have used two layers to make it even sturdier, but I only bought enough for one try. This is the first time I have used it.

It looks like a complicated bag, but it is really a simple construction–two sides, with boxed corners on the bottom. I pinched the foam core and sewed close to the edge from the bottom corners straight up, to create the box sides. I pinched along the bottom edge, too, to give the bag a stable base.

I meant to give it ties to close the top, but didn’t have the ironing board out and frankly, forgot. It closes with a button and hair tie, instead. 😉

So pretty!

sewing: pencil pouches

Time for some back-to-school sewing!

I’ve been saving my selvedge cuttings for a while, and haven’t settled on a project to incorporate them all. Pouches are quick, and the assortment of colors are perfect to jazz up something otherwise ordinary.

I think the cherry-blossom pouch is the best size to hold the most pencils, and was a requested fabric. I don’t like the tiny zipper pull, but I was using zippers from my thrifted collection (boy, does a big bag of zippers for $2 have endless possibilities!). The zipper pull itself has a tiny hole in the end, so small I can’t figure out what to feed through it to make it more graspable. Any ideas? I think would accept one of those ball-link keychains, but it might be even too small for that, and I don’t have one.

I finished all the bags with decorative hand-stitching, to stop the lining from riding up and catching in the zipper. How many garments and bags have you had that happen with? I hate that, because then the lining gets ripped.

So how about you? Are you ready for school?