croque-choux

Camera shy

Yep, that'd be me. Whenever I see a photo of myself these days I get this big urge to run screaming to my old Mac and open up PhotoShop... but I don't of course 'cause that would be cheating :o) So here's just a bit of me sporting my new haircut. I went and pampered myself chez le coiffeur this weekend. I only go to Sylvie's place now (one of the best kept secrets in Paris?) because everyone that works there is an artist and super nice! I love the decor - it's so nice to sit there and have an expresso in a delicate little porcelain demi-tasse before getting my hair done. It's a bit pricey but hey gals, once you hit 40 it takes a lot more to get yourself all gussied up LOL!

Ooops...

I'm so brain dead from the new job and commuting in sucky conditions that I forgot that Thursday was:

• my husband's birthday
• Thanksgiving

Now I ask you, how lame is that?? Pretty damn lame, that's what. This is a sign, for sure. To make amends somewhat, here is a photo of the afore mentioned monsieur taken back in the day, and the crazy patchwork frame I made for a that Polaroid when I was into making little frames à la Judith Baker Montano :o)  I especially like the little wheat stalks (see detail) as they came out nice and were fun to embroider.   

   

Just wanted to share...

Some of my feelings after my first day at the new temp job today...

       

 

Now you are 8.

This weekend we celebrated my little guy's 8th birthday. He asked me to make him this cake (the sweet potato version).
Happy Birthday my little croque-choux !

Misio!

A charming little website... My Misio. C'est trés frais et super mignon! Check out the photo blog and read about Misio's adventures, watch the cute stop motion animated film, see the computer wallpaper- and I guarantee that you'll want to adopt a Misio too!
Found via mymisio.com's Flickr photos.

(note to self: How neat! Now why can't I think of anything this cute??)

Special occasion

This fabric card was made as a keepsake for my little friend Matthew who is 2 and a half (we went to his baptism today). I actually put the finishing touches on his card this morning before leaving! Last night at 11 p.m. I still had no clear idea of what I wanted this to look like, but a little pressure really helped I can tell you :o) After midnight I didn't think twice about cutting into the antique lace trim , but I had to hunt through all my stuff to find just the right buttons. I finally quit looking and went to bed with a headache (uh-oh!) around 2 a.m. I think.
I found the last vintage mother of pearl button this morning, just sitting on the desk right next to my bed (very odd, that). The bird is from this image pool on Flickr , and is one of my favorites as you can see here. I thought it would be cute if he had a little charm dangling from his beak by a golden thread this time. Anyway, thank heaven (indeed) that everything came together and that my idea worked out. On ne sait jamais... My good friend Mandy, Matthew's mum, loved it and wants to frame it! I'm so glad. The above slightly cropped photo isn't that great because I was trying  to take pictures of the card on my lap in the car (no, I wasn't driving!), before giving it away. Did I mention that "last minute" is my middle name btw? That's me alright.

The trouble with flowers...

By this time of the year north of the Loire valley there aren't many flowers left to admire, except for the last roses of the season and maybe a few dahlias, so I thought I'd try my hand at making some flowers of my own. I'm so pleased with how this pink flower turned out, and I can think of a dozen things to do with these little things! They are so easy to make, too. I will post the link to the tutorial, as soon as I find it again. After that I thought I'd try to make a kanazashi flower, but unfortunately that went terribly wrong as you can see by the photos. 

I think that I cut the starter squares a bit too big and that the fabric I used was way too stiff. No matter  how much I fumbled with it I could not get it to look any better than this :o( Maybe I can fix it. Oh well, back to the drawing board as they say, or better still- back to the tutorials over at Spangle! And speaking of flowers gone wrong- oh my god I'm such a sucker for anything violet flavored that I bought these little violet dessert thingies at the supermarket the other day, against my better judgement. They're really weird, halfway between a yogurt and a pudding, and the color is purplish gray-  eeeeyew! 
To end this on a more positive note though: If you'd like to see some really beautiful kanazashi, follow the link from Cuteable. I really enjoy this blog by the way, so I am definitely adding Cuteable to the links on my sidebar!

girly pin cushion

Here is the pin cushion I made for an exchange I found over at Swapbot, the first swap I've done throught this website. Nothing like an exchange to get one sewing again! The cushion came out soft and feminine looking, in spite of the grey pin striped suit flannel. I love grey, pink, and ecru together. The "A" is for Autumn, the name of the person who will receive this. I added a tiny hint of lavender too, snuggled inside the stuffing. Had to let go of it quick, because it was giving me the warm fuzzies every time I handled it and I was starting to want to keep it- even though my name doesn't start with A :o)

amigurumi wabbit

   
Just finished a small amigurumi rabbit, made from a pattern in one of the books I got for my birthday. Okay, he isn't very Halloweenish, but he was fun and easy to make during the odd moments when I had just a few minutes here and there . Lately it's much simpler for me to whip out a crochet hook than it is to set up my sewing machine and paw through my fabrics and embellishments as I am temporarily lacking craft space. The last thing I "sewed" was the tiny silk chirimen scarf this bunny is wearing! That, and his ears :o)