happy birthday gill

happy 40th birthday gill. may you always look 21 (as you do now)! hope you have a fantastic day - we all wish we were there to celebrate with you. keep an eye peeled for the postman because he should be delivering these to you soon - i made one for each decade. love you to the moon and stars and back - so glad you are my sister and aunt to my kids.

happy birthday blue

from raleighmodern via etsy

18 years of being 'the boy'. 18 years of being your 'mommy'. my hopes and wishes for you are simple: that you are happy and healthy; that you find your place in the world and know that you always have a place with us; that you find your passion and achieve your goals. you have taught me so much - thank you. i love you to the moon and stars and back.

happy birthday mom

vintage by alex keller on etsy

happy birthday mom! it was great to talk with you tonight. i am so happy to hear you so happy. thank you for all you've taught me and done for me. i love you to the moon and stars and back. xo K

dumb, dumber, dumbest

argh. i just deleted 98% of my emails. i thought that deleting them from my web mail server would still leave them in my computer. i thought that with great conviction. so a ton of important messages deleted forever and never to be retrieved. i hope i had the forethought to print off receipts for online purchases... time for a hot bath and bed with a paperback. today is not my day for technology. hence, no picture for this post.

reunited : resolutions

 so it is quite apparent that my photography skills have not improved in the least. put that on the 2012 resolutions list... that along with more sewing. this bucket is directly from 1, 2 , 3 Sew by Ellen Luckett Baker. it could not have been more simple to make and is big enough to hold all the bits that float around. the fabric is from ikea and is just about the last of it after making big cushion covers for our living room. i highly recommend Ellen's book but if you're not inclined to sew yourself a storage bucket, head on over to Leslie's etsy shop, smidgebox. she is one talented lady.
resolutions: more organization. improve my skills. take more pictures.

i sewed and knitted my fingers to the bone for much of november and december in the lead up to christmas. it took me a bit to recover. in the past week i have made a long sleeved t-shirt and a pair of cords that i really love and actually wear. in public.
resolution: make stuff, lots of it.

vancouver has been hit with a bit of snow this week so we chose today to take a 'snow day' - it being friday and all. we are all still in pajamas. lovely. we are making stuff.
resolution: to have more fun with my kids every day.

reunited:
my mom brought me the sewing machine that had been my paternal grandmother's and had been in storage for over 20 years. my generous sister sent me some money for christmas so i was able to get the machine serviced and tuned up. the christmas i was 6 i received a holly hobby kid's sewing machine and quickly outgrew it. i played around with this machine (even sewing my finger at one point) until my maternal grandmother showed me how to sew properly on her singer featherweight. this beauty is a singer slant-o-matic 403 from 1958 and it is entirely made of metal. it has 9 cams to determine different stitch styles and my grandmother bought just about every attachment you can imagine. adjustable pintucker, ruffler, and even a foot that makes and applies bias strips at the same time! i can't wait to get sewing with it again. i really really still want a Bernina 440QE or 550QE but that will remain a dream for a long while yet.
resolution: learn more. use what i have. try new things.

2012