croque-choux

Totebag add-on

I was still thinking about the bag I made yesterday when I stumbled onto this removable totebag organizer on the Martha Stewart website. This would probably work better for a bag made out of heavier fabric, but it's not a bad idea at all. I should probably stop thinking about bags, and concentrate on the little creature I should be working on for the Month of Softies though. "I'm late, I'm late" said the white rabbit...

Tote bag

I made one of Mariko's totebags! Her tutorial is really good, and this was the perfect quickie project to lift my spirits: instant cool bag! How cool is this? Well, let's put it this way: when my 15 yr old daughter saw the bag, she said "Wow, pretty... is this for me? No? Oh... will you make me one too?!". This bag passed the teen coolness test with flying colors. I used some French decorator fabric that I've had for who knows how long, and it worked really well. I think I might like to add a small inside pocket for my cell phone or something else, or maybe I'll do this on this next tote bag I make...

Staying put has its rewards

Wednesday morning we woke up to snow, so my first thought was: now we're REALLY stuck at home. What can I say, I was born and raised in L.A.- I didn't see a snowflake til I was 22! Well, at least daughter and doggie have a good positive attitude towards snow, as you can see by this picture I took from the upstairs window.
Staying in all day wasn't so bad: I baked lemon yogurt cake, and the kids made things out of Fimo clay while I worked on the bracelet I promised my daughter. It's finished! Many MANY thanks to Kim for this great idea and for the tutorial she posted on her blog on January 20th. I feel like making another bracelet now... It's supposed to snow some more and my son is still sick, so maybe I'll get a chance to start a second one.

Housebound

Since my son sleeps all the time because the flu is kicking his little butt, I had time to knit while watching watching over him or while watching tv with him. So I'm almost finished knitting that little scarf I started. It can no longer decently be called a quickie project however, because I must have unravelled this thing and started it over at least 3 times before finding a look I liked. Now why couldn't I have seen this scarflet sooner? What a neat idea! This would look cute with a felt flower or pretty vintage buttons too. Found via Daily Candy under the heading "Throat Culture". Anyway, I need to hurry up with the scarf- it's really cold outside and there are patches of snow here and there. Good thing we're housebound today...

Caring for a sick imp

My son Miles has the flu! Oh no... He had a marathon sleepfest yesterday but managed to stay awake long enough to watch this dvd. I thought it was really brilliant, and I'm fast becoming a Hayao Miyazaki fan.
To cheer my son up a little, I managed to finish this little Japanese creature for him. He's too sick to enjoy it right now, but at least he went to sleep with his new little imp. From what I gather, this little character is the trouble maker of the bunch, so he (she?) is a fitting companion. I also found out that ragdoll in Japanese is "nuigurumi".
I heard about Aronzi Aronzo's delightful quirky critters from one my favorite Japanese eBay sellers because I almost bought this book from her.
If you're feeling adventurous today, you can check out the site in Japanese here and see the other characters.

Virtual Tea Cup Reading n°2

Today's virtual tea leaf reading with its Shakespearian quote is really telling you that you should do something new and different today! I really like how this little 4.5 x 6.5 inch quiltlet turned out. It almost looks like someone else did this, because this is not the kind of thing I usually make... I'll keep it as a reminder that whenever I'm in a creative slump I should try something new. I tried out an idea that I found in the book "Surfaces for Stitch". At first I thought that cutting pieces out of plastic bags, fusing them together, and then stitching the results was a little far-fetched, but it worked as you can see by the tea cup here.
I've always liked quilts and artwork with writing or calligraphy for some reason. I guess it combines my love of reading with my love for art :o) Oh yes, and speaking of Shakespeare... you can find a fun timewaster here on the link below. What's YOUR flaw?? According to the test results, here's mine:
To be, or not to be?


What is Your Shakespearian Tragic Flaw?
brought to you by Quizilla

Daily Dose

When the kids are off to school and the house is quiet again I grab my 2nd cup of coffee (the 1st one is to jolt me awake but the 2nd one is pure enjoyment) and head for the computer to peruse my favorite blogs. This morning I realized that I would rather read a few good blogs than the newspaper. Not that I was much of a newspaper reader before! Reading the paper and having coffee makes for insomnia or nightmares. Or both. It's a good thing for me then that some blogs are creative AND informative.

MC idées in the house

The new "Marie Claire Idées" magazine is out, so I bought one the other day. I've been getting this magazine since Day 1. Is this magazine easy to find abroad? Anyway, the Spring 2005 issue is nice, and although not their best there's still a lot of eye candy and inspiration. In this issue there were some projects made out of the humble French "torchon" ie. dishtowel or tea towel. I believe they are traditionally made in Cholet here, and I think they're prettiest in red & white or blue & white. One of the projects that really caught my eye was this little wall treatment here - Gosh this is really cute... Now why can't my kitchen look like this? These towels also look pretty with redwork or bluework embroidery. Maybe they have more possibilities than meets the eye?

New Books

Cupid knew exactly what I wanted for Valentines day: some new textile/craft books and a sushi dinner! I'll have to sit down with this fabric origami book and make something when I'm in a more patient frame of mind though, but this is a lovely book. The book on the right reminds me a tiny bit of the last 2 Maggie Grey books I got, but there's an interesting project section in the last few pages and lots of other ideas for surface design. Also thanks to this book I am finally going to find out how to use all that Tyvek I bought from quiltzauberei

Happy Valentine's day!

Just wanted to send out Valentine's wishes and a little color at the same time. I'm not really a knitter, or rather I no longer knit on a regular basis like I did when I first arrived in France, but I couldn't resist buying a little of this chunky funky colorful yarn. I'm making a quickie scarf out of this.
These are colors that I would not normally buy or wear, but somehow this yarn jumped off the shelf at me. I think it's because at the moment I feel like doing something out of the ordinary. For example I've been toying with the idea of going here

Probably an oddball idea especially in Winter, but maybe not... Now this sounds irresistable to me: one of the tour packages for this place had this enticing title: On the Trace of the Elves