croque-choux

Unthought-of stuff that's true

"Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it."
-Ellen Goodman
Profound!

A hot bath, coffee, and thou

My QUILTING ARTS subscription is running again! I missed a magazine, but the latest issue came in the mail today and I'm so thrilled. Off to wallow in all the creative goodness in the tub with some coffee :o) A perfect ending to a so-so day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all, even if you don't celebrate this holiday in your country. In France it's just another day unless you're an ex-pat maybe, so we had cheese fondue for dinner instead of turkey :o) Still it's a good day to think about all the things we have to be thankful for, which is how I explained the holiday to my 7 year old. (I didn't wanna get into the whole pilgrim story!)

I'm thankful:
- for my beautiful kids (the best thing that's ever happened to me)
- for my brother, my closest living relative and the coolest guy I know
- for my house (it's messy, but it's home and it's warm and I'm lucky)
- for my friends (waving to Jolanta, Lisa, Mandy, Sophia, Simone, Teri..)
- because I've never been alone & 'cause I have a husband who puts up with my all my shit
- because I have a job (unemployment in the over-40 crowd is high here)
- for silly/fun things like: my iMac, my sewing machine, hot baths, chocolate & coffee, summer vacations, my digital camera, my funky little car, sunflowers, and internet friends. To name a few!

Appliqué inspiration

I'm crazy about the appliqué designs on the covers of these 2 Japanese books. I would just love to have a closer look...

How cute is this?

This cute book
on felting really
looks like a
must-have too,
so I'm adding it
to my wishlist of
Japanese books
right now!
Hmmm... I think I'll have a go at making a hedgehog without the book. Looks pretty easy, and I have brown wool!

...fantastisk!

No that's not a typographical error, read on and you'll find out why!
I love it when someone leaves a nice comment on my blog which in turn leads me to theirs, especially when I discover a new fun blog. Thanks Laila for doing this! I just bookmarked your blog and couldn't resist adding it to my sidebar. Have a look at Laila's blog All My Own, and see what she's crafting up in Norway!

Splurging a little

Could not resist putting this in the shopping cart after work. Neither were on my list, of course. The purple labels made me do it!! Those lavender labels, and the promise of having a yummy cookie later, and tasting this new sparkly violet drink. I love violet- flavored anything. Luckily they make violet bonbons, tea, and jam in France. It's like eating fairy food :o)
The Lorina lemonade website is great fun too. (Check both the English and the French versions, they're different!). For more violet stuff, check this out, and here's a recipe for violet granita but you'll need violet syrup for this. Make your own candied violets by following the instructions here. Violets are said to "comfort and strengthen the heart", and this little cocktail sounds like it might do just the trick... Oh, and yeah- it is just like me to get carried away by all this when Violets are out of season! But there's no reason you can't dream about having a Victorian violet Tea party next Spring... (yah- whatever, Sandra!)

Amigurumi sneak-peek

...almost done!

Weekend inspiration

...Gorgeous vintage luggage labels from the golden age of travel.

...Softies from Germany, from the ever-adorable Sigikid company.

...Swedish textiles by Ljungbergs.

Happy Birthday to...

My little hero.

My little monster.

My little croque-choux.

Happy 7th, honeybun!