birthdays and bear cubs

I've just had one of those weeks where I look back and marvel at how differently my life has turned out than I might have expected (warning: contemplative birthday post to follow). For instance, would I ever imagine the following things come out of my mouth, and even more surprisingly, directed at my children:

"Stop licking the piano."
"Stop licking the TV!"
"Stop licking the window!!"

only to be followed by:

"Don't eat your book."
"Don't eat the dog kibble!"
"Don't eat that pencil eraser!!!"

I celebrated not only my birthday this past week, but also my 9th wedding anniversary--a little bit strange as I still see myself as a youngster right out of college. And speaking of which, I never would have expected that my current job would be: mom of two bear cubs and independent designer. Especially considering my favorite subject in high school was biology and even my parents expected that I would go on to study zoology or something similar (I ended up majoring in psychology, then worked in publishing in NYC, and went on to a graduate program in speech pathology, so in retrospect, I suppose it was the natural order of things to do something else completely different).

But, I love it. I get to be at home to nuture my two young cubs (see? I am studying animals after all!) and nurturing myself with creative endeavors (and possibly a little extra-curricular reading).

So, necessity is the mother of invention, as they say, or was it something about idle hands....? Instead of continuing with my "No, no, no" one-sided conversation about which household items are appropriate for mouths, I ran to my sewing table, cut out some fabric and whipped up some candy for Bear Cub No. 1 to chew on. It was pretty brave of me, too, as I used no pattern (which I never, ever do) and I even cut into one of my favorite fabrics for the occasion instead of practicing with muslin.

and...? Success!

It's the closest I've ever gotten him to a real lollipop (you think I'm lucky, but I assure you I'm not... he also won't touch anything containing nutritive value. Thank goodness they put vitamins in cereal!

He thinks the corduroy is the tastiest part.

It's back to real life for me now, and you know, I think I prefer it to the one I had imagined for myself as a young'un.

Take care,
Kim

pears aplenty

It's a fortunate thing that pears are my favorite fruit because I've been making a lot of them lately. Thanks to all of you who love these pincushions as much as I do!

A stack of pear pieces, ready for sewing

A few leaves, freshly hand embroidered

(This is where I would insert a picture of a finished bushel of pears if I didn't have to wrap them up and ship them out as fast as I can sew each one. One of these days I'll catch my breath and actually get ahead for once. Maybe. But I also sort of hope not to.)

Kim

Where O Where

You may have been wondering what the heck I've been up to, and, well, let me tell you. I just moved across the country from Georgia to Wisconsin (adding that to the list of states I've lived in brings the total to 10--just 40 to go, woo!). It was a big move, though not the furthest. That distinction goes to the time we moved from New York City to Portland, OR. We did that one in the middle of winter, apparently because we enjoy a challenge. So this time, we loaded up the troops in the minivan (2 kiddos, 4 dogs, 1 fish and 2 houseplants, one of which--my poor African Violet--became a casualty of the road) and drove for 2 days to get here. Let me tell you, if it weren't for this guy, I would still be looking for bits of my sanity strewn alongside the interstate.

I am still searching for some of my things, however, many of which are still in boxes, due to the fact that the movers used all manner of creative thinking in arranging our items on the truck in such a way as to break almost every single piece of storage furniture that we own. So until my shelves are replaced, I'll have a small warehouse of boxes in my basement.

Found, however, was my fabric and sewing gear, mostly because I convinced Paul that it absolutely imperative that I lug it all with us in the car. I needed a lot of it with me because I have been working feverishly on a top secret project that I dearly wish I could tell you about, thus explaining further the dearth of project pics and commentary from my corner of the internet.

Anyhoo

I can share with you my latest obsession

I've been wanting to make some cute toys for my little boys, and the image of this fun guy popped into my head.

Of course I couldn't sleep until I was holding him and thinking that it's almost 3am, so perhaps a little shut-eye would be a good idea. Red is made from prints in my favorite retro color combination (his back is comprised of 45 patchwork squares, what was I thinking? Oh yeah, it was, "I'm having so much fun I think I'll make another one!")

and Phoebe is just so sweet in blush Ginger Blossom prints

These two owls will be for sale in my etsy shop soon, meanwhile, I'll be making up a batch of these guys to perch on a shelf in the boys' rooms.

Did I mention that our new house came with a swing set in the yard? Heavenly. I think perhaps I'll take the boys out to play, and maybe work on some owls later tonight, fittingly, when everyone else is asleep.

Be good!
Kim