thimbly things

Easter was a smashing success, though we never managed to take a family picture. For all three of us to be still, be clean, be dressed, and have someone else available to snap a picture while it’s nice and sunny… well, it is very difficult. Even with friends over, we couldn’t get our act together long enough for them to take the picture for us. Alas, maybe another Sunday.

Emily got some egg-shaped sidewalk chalk this year, though she wasn’t sure what to do with it. Anything remotely resembling a ball should be thrown, in her opinion. To be fair, she scribbled a little bit before she started picking at the little sticks and dead grass near her.

I refurbished the dress I showed you here for her to wear to church. Emily pranced around in it before we left–like she just knew she was sooo pretty. Feminine instinct, my friend.

Here’s a round-up of her Easter booty. One bunny, a chick, an extra set of bunny ears, 3 eggs, a tin bucket, and a sweet, store-bought lamb from family. I apologize for the not-so-artful picture. I snapped it just moments before Emily found her new friends.

Look at that serious face.

Soon after meeting and greeting all her new pals, Emily began the meticulous relocation of Every. Single. Thing. Evan says she gets this tendency from me.

The rest of our day was filled with yummy food, friends, games, and a relaxing good time. I hope yours was just as splendid!

We’re having quite the overcast (and now rainy) St. Paddy’s Day here in Tulsa, and I’m hard-pressed to find any green worth photographing. Except the neighbor’s yard. Just across the street, our very nice neighbor has a green lawn while everyone else’s is still blah blah brown. There is a flowering tree across the street as well, and I keep wondering if the neighbors (who all appear to be home for Spring Break) will think me insane if I hobble over there with my camera and toddler.

Yellow has been more of an inspiration as of late. I realized this when I read SouleMama’s post on bringing the sun into her house (via painting a room yellow). This may be surprising to friends who know that when we moved into our house, I painted over our yellow walls immediately. Green, in fact. Our living room was the color of a Granny Smith apple for almost a year. Until I convinced Evan that I would indeed lose my mind if I didn’t repaint it. He said, “Fine. But it’s your project.” He was gone for 2 weeks in January and came home to an almost-half-painted-living-room. Thankfully, he helped me finish. Thankfully.

Here’s a picture that shows just how vivid and overwhelming the walls could be (in certain light):

Insanely bright. Neon. And very little looked good on the walls. So there’s some green for the holiday!

I tried to do a round-up of green craftiness to share, but it was quickly disassembled by Em.

Thank you Brobee for being the awesome Little Green One today. As for my hang-up on yellow, it’s mostly centered around this hand-me-down dress someone gave us:

It’s very pretty–on a hanger. But the collar is too much pretty, I think. Too much frill. I cut it off this weekend and sewed on some fresh binding. What to do next? Hmm…

And for all my readers who don’t know, WIP stands for “Work in Progress.”  I got your back.

Around these parts, I’ve been focused on swelling, hormonal changes, an upcoming baby shower, and…

Easter!   It’s so much fun to have a little person to make cute little things for.  Emily might not even care all that much about getting a new toy, but one day she’ll be able to ask me to make something for her and give me all the specifics.  And it feels good knowing that I might help her carry out her very important vision.  I remember having those dreams as a kid.  I would draw out elaborate dollhouses or design clothing collections for my dolls.  The imagination of a child is such a fabulous thing.  The only problem is seeing those imaginative designs through to completion.  Well, this mama will be happy to step in and help out.

Here’s a peak at Emily’s Easter Bunny (pattern by Wee Wonderfuls, embellishments by me):

And here’s the start of a friend for Bunny:

I know, it doesn’t look like much yet, but just wait.

Remember my plan to make something every day?  Well, I sort of have.  I just haven’t posted every day.  Tuesday I got all caught up in making this little gal:

and only had disassembled body parts to photograph by midnight.  And no one wants to see those pictures.  Creepy.  Creepy the way animal skins are creepy at Build-A-Bear.  I feel confident saying that, even after working there for 2 summers during college.  She’s from Narumi Ogawa’s Super Crochet Wonderful, though a change in the face and a few mistakes made her look like her own little person.

I couldn’t stop with just a bunny.  I mean, she’s so dress-able!  Like a Barbie but much more innocent.  When I tried Narumi’s pattern for a dress, however, things didn’t quite work out.  Either my tension was off or it was the yarn… I don’t know, but it was my own fault and not the fault of the pattern.  So on Wednesday I got inventive.  Afterall, it was the day of Project Runway’s finale finale.  (Make it work!)

The funny thing is that I used the excuse of making Emily an Easter bunny for this particular project, but I fear I got carried away and made her inappropriate for a 17-month-old.  She has button eyes and a lacy flower sewn to her ear (which hides the wonkiness of said ear).  It just doesn’t seem safe–for Emily or the bunny.

Do not fret.  I will just make another bunny.  I’m thinking of the simple wee bunny pattern by Wee Wonderfuls.  Oh how I adore Hillary Lang.  And maybe my wrist can get a break from my crochet addiction.

In the meantime, I’m working on a Brobee for Em.  It’s just too perfect.

Since it’s still February somewhere…

I made these for Evan this year in our effort to give heartfelt, frugal Valentines to one another.  The framed ninjas sit on his desk at work now.  I brought them home for a photo shoot because it’s just so dark in his office.

After a little morning drama yesterday whilst trying to make coffee and get productive, Emily received this sweet little package from her Great-Grands. It’s so pinkish and girly, and it allows us to continue the celebration of Valentine’s Day just a bit longer. Truly, with our anniversary just days after the holiday, we might as well make February an entire month of hearts and sweetness. Why not?

In fact, Evan took me on another (!) date last night. To see U23D. Therein lies the extra bit of night music. If you like U2, you will love this. If you don’t like U2, well, it’s a U2 concert, so…

I especially loved the supposed “cheesiness” of Bono singing in my face and almost hitting me with his guitar. Love, love, love. And I will tell you why going to a concert on film is much better than a real concert: first, it cost us $10 each. And we are People On A Budget. Second, no crowds, no traffic, no mosh pits, no crazy-high guy to curse at for pushing you. (At an Arcade Fire concert, I had to get all assertive on some skinny punk. Think me, turning around and yelling, “Get off of me! I’m pregnant, you idiot!” Then think many stunned college kids watching their elbows and inching away from me for the rest of the concert.) Third, Bono in all his awesomeness up close.

I’ll admit–there’s no substitute for the adrenaline rush one gets from “being there.” But this was still pretty great.

The message of the concert is obvious–it’s not just a string of fun sing-a-longs. It’s more of a sermon about humanity. Afterwards, I felt convicted about so many things, but I’ll spare you. Instead, here’s an excerpt from Beautiful Day:

See the world in green and blue
See China right in front of you
See the canyons broken by cloud
See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out
See the Bedouin fires at night
See the oil fields at first light
And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out

It was a beautiful day
Beautiful day
Don’t let it get away

Touch me, take me to that other place
Reach me, I know I’m not a hopeless case

What you don’t have you don’t need it now
What you don’t know you can feel it somehow
What you don’t have you don’t need it now
You don’t need it now, you don’t need it now

Beautiful day

EDIT: See Evan’s review of the film here.

These two little birds on a limb are appropriate today as Evan and I celebrate our 3 year anniversary. It was a long, hard road getting to our wedding day in 2005–it took a lot of work. We liked each other for years in college (and nearly drove all of our close friends crazy!), and then we finally dated for about a year. That year was miserable. We had “Define the Relationship” talks every few weeks, which inevitably resulted in me crying and knowing that Evan would break up with me in due time. Why did I hang in there? That’s a bit of a mystery. I was actually quite relieved when we did break up in the spring of 2003. I was about to graduate, and I could finally make some life decisions about where to go next. Maryland: with wonderful family, including my Grama who is responsible for the lovely bird embroidery.

For several months, Evan and I had no contact with one another. And that was a very good thing. Time and distance indeed made our love grow, and by the fall of 2004, we were engaged. That’s the simplest way to put it. If Evan wrote this entry, you would hear of great anxiety and struggles. But that didn’t happen on my end of the relationship (on the second time around), so I can’t speak to that. Alas, it’s a miracle that we did finally get together. I guess I just always loved him.

Having just made a Valentine for him (I’ll share a picture of that later), I’ll just have to express my love in another way. I’m thinking a nice, old-fashioned love letter is the way to go.

After a long hiatus from the blogging world (and a lot of lurking…sounds creepy, huh?), I decided to follow in Amanda Soule’s footsteps and list 10 things that make February lovely right now. So here goes.

1. Listening to the Across the Universe soundtrack again and again.
2. Emily “coloring” for the first time.
3. www.moviezeal.com
4. Preparing for the Oscars by watching lots of movies with Evan.
5. Emily running through the house with her heart-shaped Valentine’s Day “boon.”
6. Jane Austen on TV.
7. Handmade Valentines.
   
8. Quilting…or planning to quilt with beautiful Repro Depot fabric.
   
9. Evan’s homemade bread–especially the cinnamon raisin batch.
10. Three years of marriage to my college sweetheart.

For bonus points, I’m inspired right now by the idea of starting afresh with thimbly things. I’ve intended to do this for months now but was afraid that I wouldn’t fully commit. What a silly, paralyzing thought! So here I am, and I’m just gonna do it already!