Flickr Favorites - Party Time

1. birthday party hats, 2. Amandas Cakes, 3. That's a [map] wrap!, 4. birthday banner

The end of April/beginning of May brings with it a multitude of birthdays. Now I'm not complaining, because I love, love, loooooove celebrating birthdays, but the April/May onslaught always creeps up and catches me by surprise. This year, like every other year, was no different.

We have:
April 23 - my grandma
April 24 - the little brother

April 29 - the husband

April 29 - a delightful friend from across the pond

May 10 - my dad

And of course we always have a little celebration for Mother's Day thrown in there too!

Normally we celebrate one or two together at a time, but this year we're doing it all at once this weekend. My mom always gives us the choice as to what we want cake wise on our birthdays and I'm very interested to see what happens this year with us celebrating them all together. We are all quite predictable and I think there is a strong chance the table will be full of:

Carrot Cake (the dad)
Angel Food Cake (the brother)
Pie, any flavor (the husband)

And I could just keep on listing what we predictable people would eat:

White, White cake (me)
Toffee Chip Cheesecake (grandma 2)

Key Lime Pie (my pop)

Grasshopper Pie (my mom)

You can see out of everyone I really do request the most boring combination. I just love white cake with white frosting though. On my 16th birthday I convinced my mom to even style the 'white, white' cake like a mini wedding cake, making the top tier my sole slice. She has yet to do that again.

Either way, it will be a great weekend full of pies, cakes, and presents galore!
And after the May birthday all be quiet until August, when it will be time for my Pop and me to party on down :)

Flickr Favorites - A Spring Thing

1. So many pillows, 2. Mimi and Moe, 3. garden_hoop, 4. Stack of happy crochet

I love spring.

But with spring comes the inevitable desire to change the house. I always want to paint the walls some fresh new colors, plant as many flowers as our tiny garden will allow, create new artwork for the walls, and . . . and . . . (and, you get the idea!)

This spring was no different. I have found some new felt artwork, and accent pillows for the bedroom and living room. My hands have been crocheting as fast as I can to create some new throws for almost every space in the house. I'm so happy with the change though. Just the thing I need for this new, and wonderful, year!

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Just Can't Get Enough

It seems that I always have a blanket in progress these days. I started off crocheting circular hexagon afghans, and quickly moved on to full sized granny square afghans. Three granny square afghans later I was really ready for a change. (Two of these afghans were gifts, and therefor I made them more because I was asked to rather than because I wanted to)

I mentioned a while back that I joined a crochet-a-long on Ravelry, and was undecided as to what to do. The CAL is not for all of us to work on one particular pattern, but rather we are given motifs and we can decide what to make with them. It's lots of fun to see what everyone is doing, and if you interested check it out here!

----> You do need to be a member of Ravelry to look, but it's free and totally worth it! <----

What have I ended up doing with the motifs? Yep. . . . . .

. . . . . A blanket!

Here is the progress in all of its flowery goodness:

I have QUITE a ways to go, but I thought I'd give a little in progress shot since I am loving how it is growing each day. More pictures to come as soon as I start adding the other motifs to it!

Flickr Favorites - I.M.

1. Day 300, 2. morning lullabies, 3. 42/365 all for uke, 4. Pensante.... Integro, ouvinte, amistoso, ardente...

Music is a powerful thing.

It helps me feel creative when I'm working on my illustrations.

It can lift me up when I'm feeling down.

It reminds me that sometimes there is more to life than what I choose to see.

One artist that I tend to gravitate to quite a bit is Ingrid Michaelson. Her music inspires me, makes me smile, and causes me to spend many hours a day belting out her songs with windows wide open, not caring who hears. (it helps that I actually like my voice of course)

Perhaps her music will inspire you too?

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Whimsy

One of the things I've always enjoyed doing on Etsy is making treasuries. Normally I don't show them on here, but I am so in love with every item in my latest list I decided I wanted to share it with all of you:

Just a Touch of Whimsy

(Click the link to see all the lovely images larger)

Anyway from 1 - 12 we have:

1) Happy Linen Hang tags by Indo Bay Textiles

2) Baby Blue Floral Bouquet Ring by Jessica Sharrah

3) Mini Gift Cards by Gretchen Mist

4) Pale Yellow and White Polka dot Wren by Sea Pinks

5) Shabby Tea Time by Munieca

6) Pretty in Pink, Burano Buttons by Hodge Podge Arts

7) Romantic Wall Decor by Hare and Drum

8) Tea Dress in White with Carnation Border by SohoMode

9) Cherish(ed) Vintage Hair Pin Set by Oh Hello Friend

10) Organic Baby Quilted Blanket by Sewn Natural

11) Spring Zest Tote by Me Plus Molly

12) Frank Lg. Squirrel Plush by Pine Hill Forest

I basically want each and every item, so don't be surprised if a few (or a lot) of these items are sold sooner rather than later! *wink, wink*

Now I am off to enjoy this lovely sunshine while it lasts!

J is for:

Jaguar!

Originally a custom order, I loved the finished result of this cute Jaguar so much that I decided to make him a permanent animal in my shop. He is one of two letter J options (the other being the original 'J is for Jellyfish').

Enjoy!

Flickr Favorites - The Weekend

1. African Flower blanket, 2. indie chic wrist cuff, 3. Moe cosy, 4. mini golf... flickr style :)

Being that it was Easter Weekend, we headed north on Thursday evening for a nice visit with my family. The weather was beyond beautiful. It was bright and sunny, and I was able to wear skirts every single day (yay!)

I busted out the clubs and brushed up on my (not so fantastic) golf skills. When my arms no longer wanted to swing back and forth I headed to my mom's house for hours and hours of sewing. We made about half a dozen of these adorable wrist cuffs, as well as two tote bags, a couple zippered pouches, and lots of embroidered felt brooches to adorn said pouches and totes. She did the sewing, I did the embroidering and fabric picking!

I also spent some time working on a crocheted floral blanket which is part of a crochet-a-long on ravelry. Right now the look of the blanket is secret, but when it's time I will certainly share pictures. It is my favorite crocheted project to date!

And of course, Easter would not have been complete with a little Easter Egg hunt (even if my brother, husband, and I are well into our 20's) complete with candy and 3 gift cards to a coffee shop (of which I was the only person to not find a single card).

I had a wonderful weekend, and hope you did too!
Tomorrow you can be on the look out for a new animal in the shop :)

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