A Surprisingly Good Day!

It was a great day today. I voted on my lunch break and everything went smoothly. While at work I was surprised by fellow craft fanatic Deb

(She has surprised me before).
After work I went to the post and Mr. Jimmy's surprise was there. I also received my copy of the current Polymer Cafe with my nest and eggs on the cover!


This really is a great issue. It has some really beautiful and technically complex projects in it. I can't wait till tea time to cuddle up with it.



Here is the surprise Deb showed up with. How cute is this little guy? He makes me smile every time I look at him. It was designed and hand hooked by Ruth Emerson of Grimsby, Ontario. Thanks again Deb! This little guy is totally cheering me even in this rainy glum weather.

Here is Mr. Jimmy's surprise! I love it!
I got the plate and bowl from
ChilDish
It didn't take very long at all to get here especially when you consider the pieces were custom made.

Simplicity 5441 View Four.

I found some time today and some perfect fabric to make the retro simplicity 5441 blouse.

I got the fabric at Fabricland in a remnant bin for two dollars. I still have just enough fabric left to line a handbag or hem a pair of capris.

I decided to duplicate the original pattern pieces and use the duplicates instead of damaging the original pattern. This way I don't need to feel bad about cutting up a pattern that has made it whole through several decades. The original pattern pieces remain uncut and without pin marks in their original factory folds.

I marked my pattern pieces by sewing through them very loosely with contrasting embroidery floss right through the pattern and all the fabric pieces at the same time.

Then I cut the top loops of the floss.

Then separated the fabric pieces by snipping the threads in between the layers.

The pattern instructions are very easy to follow and I didn't have any problems with construction. Everything went as planned.

I really do love this fabric. It has just the right amount of glitter and it's light enough to wear on the most sweltering of summer days.

The finished shirt front. I didn't know if I was going to add the collar or not until the very end. I'm glad I did. The collar is my favorite part. The shirt is a little tight around my hips but I'm ok with that because I'm slowly shedding the extra plumpness. It should be long gone before vacation time. Mom suggested maybe making side slits on the next shirt.

The back buttons turned out much better than I expected. I did make them closer together than the pattern called for. I added two extra buttons. What do you guys think? Should I wear it with a skirt or capris?

No Icing Sugar Icing.

We made birthday cupcakes today!

Unfortunately I didn't notice we were out of icing sugar until it was too late to go back to the shop. I looked up no icing sugar icing on google and hit
this recipe.
I have never made anything other than icing that calls for powdered sugar so I was pretty worried about how this was going to turn out.

I shouldn't have worried. It's probably the best icing we've ever had.

The ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 1/3 cup milk
1 cup softened butter
1 tsp vanilla extract (I used scrapings of a vanilla bean)

Here's how we made it.

First I whisked together in a heavy bottom saucepan one cup of sugar and half a cup of flour with one and one third cups of milk.

I heated this over med high heat until it thickened. It burns REALLY FAST!!!! Keep stirring and don't answer the door or the phone. (because I would NEVER answer the door while cooking...... don't look at that irrevocably burned pan in the corner........)

I mixed in some blue paste food colouring and spread the mixture out on a plate to cool.

I whipped up some soft unsalted butter until it was fluffy.......
Black dots are vanilla bean seeds.

and beat the butter and the milk mixture together until it was light and icing like.

I made little angel food cupcakes.

They were delicious!
We added sprinkles and sparklers.
It was a good day.
:)

It's Curtains For Me.

Dear Mr. Curtains...... I need you to stop being so adorable so I can stop looking at you and go to sleep.

I worked my patootie off tonight and made two full sets of cafe curtains and one top flounce for the kitchen windows. They are DONE!!!! I just need the hardware to hang them.

Here is a bit of a detail shot. I couldn't get anymore of the eyeball looking turquoise and lime print so I just made a whole bunch of bias tape out of the half yard I did have. I have Loads of trim left over too for...... um.... tea towels? I added some rick rack trim in red to jazz things up and keep the colours matchy.

I'll take better shots as the kitchen progresses. I really do love these little curtains. I finished these three window covering sets in like four or five hours start to finish. Tomorrow I'll find all the mistakes I made because I rushed through the sewing but for tonight...... I'm proud!

Kitchen Colours and Some Curtain Choices.

Mr. Jimmy and I have made a bunch of headway in the Kitchen. We are almost done the paint part of the retrovation. Here are some progress shots and how we are making out with accessories and dressing.

This is a shot of the dining room wall and some of the colours we have in there. It also is following the teal, lime and red colour palette. It wasn't planned. We realized after we picked the kitchen colours that we already had them in many other rooms. I guess you should go with what you like.

The painting is almost done and the doors are almost all back on now. We are trying to figure out curtains.
I got this Amy Butler fabric from Simply Sew quite a few months ago. I hope they have more. I am planning on cafe curtains. I think the body of the curtains will be white with a thick trim of this Amy Butler fabric and maybe some red rick rack to separate the two.



The new door knobs installed. I love the old look of the porcelain mixed with the shiny new chrome.

Here is a better shot of the Amy Butler fabric we chose.

A matchy cookie jar we found up in the cupboard while the doors are off. Glad she didn't get given up at a yard sale.

A giant lilly opened up today in the living room. It smells so sweet. Must remember not to get my nose too close or I'll be wearing that pollen.

Happy Easter!

Nammy's Easter Tulips. Or the Merrits of Flower Arranging With a Frog

This is a glass frog.

It's used to hold up flowers in a low container. We find them in thrift shops for teeny amounts of money and scoop up the pretty ones. Mom says Nammy used to use them for arrangements like this one.

It's funny how a couple little tulips can lift your spirits and remind you of somebody you wish were still here. Nammy was pretty awesome, always wore an apron while in the kitchen and always had a doily on the back of the chairs. Such soft cheeks and hands and an even softer manner. I miss her the most on spring days.


These little mallard ducks showed up this week too. Right on schedule. The husband always watches out while the wife finds tidbits to eat in the roadside. He only gets some after she's safely off the road. So gallant. I look forward to them coming back every year. It's a sure sign of warmer weather.

Easter Nails.

Picked up some new polish a while back at the drug store. Here are more polka dot nails for Easter.

They are Sally Hansen hard as nails Xtreme wear,
colours are from left to right:
Fuchsia flower
Marine scene
Mellow yellow
Sun kissed
Green with envy

The base coat is the pink and I made dots with the rest of the colours using a stylus tool or dotter. You could use a sharpened pencil for the dots if you don't have a fancy tool. I finished everything off with two top coats of Ez Flow fast finish top coat.


Polka dots are probably the best design for those of us who have a hard time painting both hands evenly. Dots are way more fun when they're irregular anyway.

Fast, fun and festive!

Hope you get a few days off this weekend to relax and enjoy.

Mail Call.

Some exciting things arrived in the mail this week.

I ordered some things from my favorite online fabric shop
Hoot Couture

It always comes wrapped in a pretty ribbon...... like a present to myself.
The green and white is destined for a walkaway dress for summer vacationing.

I also ordered some pretty neat retro patterns from
mbchills.etsy.com

The patterns all arrived exactly as indicated in the etsy shop pages.
Each came with it's own little inventory sheet and business card.

I ordered this one for the pants. I hope to make some Capri's for the vacation.


I pretty much fell in love with this little top. I think the pink collared view is my favorite.

This will be nice for walks on the beach with a little blouse and sunhat.
I'll have to make big pockets for shell collecting.

and because I haven't posted nail art in ages. Here is my current nail design. Dragonflies on purple sparkles. They're short almond shaped gel nails. Great for renovating the kitchen.
(Yup I'm still pluggin away in there too.)

Here is a pretty springtime night sky. It looked like it was on fire.

PolymerCafe Magazine Cover!

This is me being very confused yet happy because somebody fabulous said I could have this amazing sparklie red bouncy ball. I think I had pretty much the same look on my face the other day when I discovered...........

I had gotten my work on another
Polymer Cafe Magazine
cover!

(you can order the magazine by following the links)

I LOVE this project!
The nest is made of little wood looking clay twigs. There are LOADS of step by step pictures and many fabulous artists in this issue (as usual).
It's pretty much my favorite magazine!

:D
(Giant cheesy grin!)

GIRLIE DAY!!!!!!

Mags and I did our nails and bought some sparklie rings.....

then we went to the hairdresser and got our hair done.....

when we came home Mom was all prettied up too so we took a girlie shot.

Then this happened!

:D

Hope you get to have a girlie day too.