Heather Ross Far Far Away III Linen outfit.

I recently whipped up a little outfit for Madeline using a beautiful linen fabric from Heather Ross.  I love how this fabric is sweet and natural but also durable.  It takes a quality fabric to handle the outside lifestyle of my busy two year old these days.  I made up the design using a simple bodice pattern and one of the boys shorts patterns.  I only had a yard so I just created what best fit the fabric cut.  Unfortunately this fabric is on the pricey side so I will be cutting this outfit up and using the fabric for a quilt when she out grows it.  I know it will be such a sweet treasure someday to have a quilt made of all the little outfits she wore during this fleeting time in life. 

When I say I whipped it up I mean I made it in less than an hour!  Impressive right???  That is was I thought until I was editing these photos and realized I sewed the bottom of the top on upside down.     

Here it is another hour later right side up and once again being put to the test of surviving toddler hood. 

Sewing Studio

I was working on some photo books with Heritage Makers and came across photos of the sewing studio.  It's not finished in these photos but it is clean and organized.  To be honest it's not finished now either!  I need to hang a few more shelves and do some decorating.  I tend to need "time outs" after these bid projects.  It's very time consuming and draining to do these room make-overs and once the organizing is done I have found that I just need some time to sit back and get to know my new space before I put all the final touches together.

We took out the one closet and this is the one that is left.  It's turned out to be a great storage space for both the kids and myself.  They have lots of extra craft supplies, paper, and the printer and are going up daily to find that perfect thing to make what ever they are making come together.  It's really quite cute!   

Now if I could just find the time and energy to sew.........

Better pics coming soon.

Fun House additions.

The season is starting to change and it looks like we are going to be under renovation again this Holiday season.  I had high hopes of finishing the family room but I'm stuck with some design issues.  We lived at the beach for 11 years together and every color I pick and design feature I add makes it look like we live in a beach house now.  I'm discovering that a traditional country cottage look is a lot harder to create than the beach cottage look.  In the meantime I've decided to move forward with some fun things that will hopefully help bring the look together and give our house the feeling of home.     

A fresh topiary always makes a kitchen feel cozier for me.  I also got this lamp I have been eyeing for some time. 

sprucing things up with fresh summer flowers while they are still around.

The kids and I used the little play house to make a chicken and duck cottage and added a fun water fountain for them to enjoy. 



And here is a picture from a few days ago, and ten fewer colors ago, of the wall paneling.  It turned out great and fixed a lot of the balance issues the room had.  Now I just have the challenge of turning it from cool and coastal to warm and country.  Any ideas?  I did get some fabulous small antlers at market!