Open Zippered Pouch and a bunting

 I got to sew the other day. This is the second  Open Wide Zippered Pouch from Noodlehead that I made. 

The tutorial is very good indeed. I think I actually learned to sew a zipper with one of her tutorials. Once you sew your first zipper, there's no going back. The fabric is and Ikea tea towel. Nice weight to it.

And in other sewing news I did not create... My friends had a surprise good bye party for me before school ended. They made a bunting for my new house. I love buntings and imagine I will have tons of them throughout the woods and grounds of our house. So this is a good start.

 But it's kind of a sad bunting with all of it's "good bye", "we'll miss you" messages on it. But a treasure none the less. The blue pieces are what other people brought. There was no coordination of what colour to bring. Cool wha? And I'm loving the CN Tower.

 And this week, the nose to the ground packing starts. Well, maybe I'll have some breakfast first.

Have a good one,
Amanda

Bubble Gum Flower

My friends received a bouquet of gum ball flowers last week. We got to take one home.

It uses the sticks for holding balloons that can be readily found in dollar stores.

 Mini gum balls around the outside and a large one in the middle. 

 Then wrapped in cellophane to keep it all together.

To take one out without letting all the gum balls fall, we made a little hole. It lasted for about 2 gum ball removals, then it just fell apart. When you have a few of these together with varying colour combinations, it is quite effective. 

Our move is less than 2 weeks away. I have to get packing again next week.

I got some new photos of our new house from the agent. Here is one of my favorites. On the right hand bottom, you can see the little pond. We're hoping to add some fish and a water feature to keep the water moving. The little foot path on the left hand bottom is cute too. We can't wait to explore! There are some fruit trees and I want to add some berry bushes. I think we'll just buy up all the left overs at the garden centre. :}

Happy Canada Day!!!!

Ciao,
Amanda

Placemat Bag

Yep, you read it correctly. This bag was made from 2 placemats.

 I think it's from Pier One Imports. From a few years ago.

Note the side stitching. I use a double needle. It's so cool. Double the stitching for half the work and you don't have to worry about getting the lines straight. You do need 2 spools of top thread though and only 1 bobbin thread.

Instead of sewing right sides together and turning right side out, I overlapped the edges and sewed it that way.

Here is some beautiful embroidery on the side. 

 I couldn't find a nice handle, so I sewed some ribbon on cotton strapping. It's sturdy and I love how the flowers somewhat match the flower in the embroidery.

 I sewed a pocket and attached it to the top of the bag.

This will be a Teacher Gift for one of the kid's  and I'm finishing the other tomorrow. It's a lemon place mat. Same idea. Different logo. And you know, I will show it to you.

Have a good one,

Amanda

Cake Pop Maker

I splurged today, well, not monetary wise, but hey, I'm moving. Do I really need another gadget?

Here it is.... a cake pop maker! Canadian Tire.

 I made the recipe for Apple Cider Donut Hole.
This lot is too full!!!! It was pouring out the sides.

 And here is the last batch. Not bad.

 We dipped it in sugar and cinnamon. it's supposed to make about 36. I don't know how many it made. They kept eating them before I could count.

I'll try it again tomorrow with a (gasp) cake mix and try the toppings. If it works, I will maybe make some for the kids' last day of school.

Ciao,
Amanda

A new home and adventure

Within the past week and a bit, we sold our house, I sang 2 concerts, 2 church services, tended to children, arranged for a menagerie of childcare and hopped on a plane to find a new home. 

Here it is.... back in March. 

We looked at it then too. And decided to wait until we were closer to moving. Since then, most of the other properties in town had been bought up. There's a new load of people moving into town. New things are happening. new life in a small, historic fishing village in NS. Good things. Growing things. And we will be a part of it.
Dock Street Brewing Company

The house and the grounds are fabulous. I can't wait to add all the things that will make it our home. Our little bit of country in the town. It's only 2 houses away from an intersection, but boy, it feels and sounds like the country to me. The mosquitoes don't let you forget that. Oh, there are so many trees. So many varieties of trees. Shhhh, there's an oak tree outside the door. Acorns are growing already! How exciting.

I thought that when we moved, my blog would take on the form of renovating an old, magestic home. But that was not to be for us right now. Instead, we can move in in 3 weeks. WOW! Did I just say that? 3 weeks.

So, I'll be reporting of our new life. My new craft room!!!! No slanted roof. Tall bookshelves will be used!
I'm going to make a butterfly from Abby of While She Naps this week, if the humidity ever breaks. so I'll let you know.

Thanks for stopping by!
Amanda

sold

YAY!!

house tour

Welcome to my home.

Here's the front entrance.

 And to your left is the music room

 The living room taken from the kitchen, looking into the music room.

 Living room looking into the kitchen. it's an open concept plan.

 And the kitchen looking into the living room, We renovated this kitchen when we first moved in 10 years ago. Love that the stove is in the island, as when you're cooking, you can talk to guests instead of having your back to them.

Our 2nd floor.
And our spa-like bathroom! :} We had this done a few years after we moved in.

 The children's bedroom is a long, double room instead of 2 small rooms. It was this way when we moved in. So now they have a sleeping area with the bunk beds and a play area.

 Our master bedroom with a w/o to a balcony.

Here's the 3rd floor.
 Another picture of my sewing room.

 And a dull guest room. I love sleeping up here when it's raining. I can hear the rain on the roof.

 This foyer on the 3rd floor is my most favorite room. A feeling of calm.

 And this is why my house looks so clean and staged! Yep, we're moving!! Middle of July.

Come back later and I'll tell you more about it. We're accepting offers on Tuesday evening, so hopefully we'll have a sold sign on it by Thursday.

This house has watched is grow from a new couple, to newly weds, new parents and a young family. Many fun times and firsts in this house. We shall treasure it forever.

Thanks for stopping by!
Amanda

Hello everyone...

Well it's been a long 6-7 weeks, but I'm almost done! Just a few more days in a few more rooms and we can breathe a sigh of relief. This de-cluttering is big work. Here is a snap of my craft room. Void of personality. And colour. Just opportunities to form what I want.

 

 Yes, there is water on the third floor. How great is that?!!

 And here is the foyer outside the room. I love it! I always wanted a little sitting room up there. I carried my tea up there today while the kids played happily downstairs.  A little oasis.

Next week, I'm looking forward to getting my feet some attention and then an afternoon of sewing!!!! Oh Janice, (Janome) I've missed you so!

So stay tuned for some sewing. I need to make something special for a baby shower. And I have just the thing in mind. I may even have to go to a fabric store. It's been a while for that too.

Have a good one!
Amanda

Flower Bracelet

Hello again.

I got nuthin' fer ya. Exceptin' this purdy bracelet that one of the kid's friends made after school last week.

 A nice mixture of braiding some greens

 And intertwining flowers in it.

 Yes, 'tis nice indeed.

The weather has turned to lovely here. Sunny, warm, clear. The kids have actually played outside for more than one day. 2 huge boxes from a neighbour's new patio furniture helped a lot. It is calling for the possibility of rain and the kids keep asking if their boxes will dry out. We'll see.

Hope you're enjoying some good weather too!

Cheers,
Amanda

a bit of looming...

Howdy! 

You're still coming back? thanks. Sorry it's only once a week and not much crafting going on. I'm still de-cluttering. Here a good tip: If you bring a box of donation to Goodwill, don't go in the store and bring more stuff home!!

But how could I pass up this baby!?

 A fashion weaving loom at that.

 Love the comb. I also made a shuttle you can see in the 1st picture. It came with a long plastic needle, but how do you have a ton of yarn behind that every time you pass it through without getting it all tangled? Neve is loving it. She may only do 2 lines at a time, but she goes to it a few times a day.

 Here's a question for you gardeners...
What are the spiderwebby things on these plants? Is it indeed some kind of web or egg covering thing? Sorry, my gardening language is not very elaborate. Your knowledge is most appreciated.

That's it for now.
Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Yarn Along

WOW! It's been only a week since I last posted, but my blogger dashboard does not look the same. Has it changed I am unaware of it? Or is it just one of those days? I seem to be figuring it out. But whoa. 

Anyhow, the pictures are all backwards for the way I imagined to compose this post. So I'll start at the end.

I'm playing along with Ginny over at Small Things for this weeks Yarn Along.

here are the books that are getting my interest this week. Stitched Whimsy and Super Cute Felt. I'm enjoying the eye candy and wishing I would just get out the felt, thread and needles to do a little late night stitching. Lovely things in those. I'm also catching glimpses of the East Coast magazine my mom sent DH for his birthday. It's from the East coast of Canada, featuring articles from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. Places close to my heart.

And now for the knitting.. Finally, my self striping sock. This is a merino with a cashmere blend. It is so soft and lovely. Everything i wanted in a sock. 

The heel is much better on this one.  After I turned the heel, I picked up 16 stitches on the side rather than the 19 they suggested. I think It may have done the trick.

As you can see from the sock below, the 19 stitches makes it a little too saggy and big. The sock below was the 1st one i knit in real sock wool. Small needles. I used needles that were .25 bigger than the pattern called for. That may have something to do with it I'm sure.

I decided to keep knitting it after I found the merino/cashmere wool. But after awhile, I realized that I probably would not be wearing this sock. it is kind of itchy. I have a very particular foot. Fussy it is. So I stopped and started the one above. Much happier.

Anyone get callouses on their finger tips when they pick up their knitting after having stopped for awhile? Or is that a silly question because you always have some sort of knitting with you!? I'm just an occasional knitter.

Thanks for looking,

Amanda

P.S. Geesh, With the new format, I don't even know where to click to publish. Oh, see it at the top.

unknown Hook rug

My, I've been quite slack in the creating and reporting department. For good reason. Spring cleaning, clearing, gutting, decluttering has swept over my house. Slowly, oh so slowly, am I doing it. But it does feel good to have it done.
Wanna see my sweater collection?

The 4 bags to the left, the large bag on the right are all sweaters. The large on e in the middle is large fabric pieces, like sheet size or a bit smaller. These vacuum bags are awesome. They really do take up less space, but the bags are HEAVY.
So for a little show and tell, I present a horse and barn hook rug.

It was my uncles. I think he said he got it at pottery Barn or Anthropologie? I don't know if that's correct. If you do, please advise.

Whomever hooked it was a good hooker. This is the front.

And this is the back. Yes, really. Isn't it lovely and consistent? I aim to hook like that one day. Then I will be a good hooker too!


Off to clean some more...
Cheers,
Amanda