Family tree

When I finally got that frame for Justin's print the other day, it reminded me of the portraits I drew for him and his wife Abby. And that reminded me how I've been wanting to re-do the ones I did of me and Art a few years ago. And how I wanted to do some of the kids as well and have us all on a wall together. So I did. And here they are. 

Art. This one is my favorite--like I literally laugh every time I see it. For those of you who don't know, Art is not a very expressive person normally. Which makes this funny and slightly scary.

Me. My face is fatter than this in real life. But hey, it's an approximation, not a photo, right? Right. 

Ilya. He's still mad at me for giving him a pink shirt. It was supposed to be a washed out red, I swear!

Sashka. Very serious. 

Mal-mal. This is his full-of-mischief face.

I'm glad I finally go around to doing these. I'm really terrible about taking pictures and we have hardly any recent pics of the kids around the house (and NONE of me or Art) so this is a nice addition. 

Especially that one of Art. Ha ha ha.

Waste not want not

All the other halves of the triangles I cut up yesterday were just sitting there, looking at me with that sad, "You're just going to toss us out, aren't you" look. I couldn't in good conscious let them suffer the ignominy of such a prodigal end, so they became another pillow. I had just enough medium-dark gray to finish it, too, which gave me a double-dose of satisfied frugality.

This wasn't one of my original designs but I figure hey, better than what I had. Next week I'll get to some of the other designs I planned on.

Cheers.

Operation: Spruce Up {a challenge}

I don't know about you, but I tend to get bogged down with projects. Most of those projects end up being for other people, whether for charity, baby showers, birthdays, etc. Every once in awhile I might make myself a dress or something, but for the most part I don't sew for myself or my house. I guess a part of me feels like it's too selfish.

But lately I realized that it's just plain weird to not sew the occasional pretty thing for my house. Or to take the time to fix up some stuff and make it look more appealing. So I've started a little project I'm calling Spruce Up.

As I said last week, I started with the mantle over my fireplace. Here it is before.

Mismatched frames. Random doodads. A painting that my husband detests. I decided to simplify and make everything white, and to clear most of the clutter. Here it is after:

I decided to gather up all my weird bottles (I have an obsession with saving all kinds of glass objects. I didn't even notice till my husband pointed it out) and put them on display. 

I spray painted that weird ceramic thing with horns and all my frames white so it would all go together, and used all the chunks of old candles I had in a ziploc and turned that bowl with legs into a new candle.

It makes me happy anyway.

I also started working on some new pillows for my couch. My old ones were hideous, drab, solid piece of fabric affairs. I decided to do a sort of medley of different designs I like in greens, blues, oranges and yellows, with shades of gray binding it all together. So far I've made these two:

I've got plans for at least two more on my to-do list.

So here's where you come in: I challenge you to fix or create on easy thing for your house this week. It doesn't have to be anything spectacular as long as it makes you happy. Post about it on your blog, and put a link to your post in the comments section. Next week I'll pick some of my favorites to feature on here. Sound good? Good. Now get to it!!!

Mixtape Mini {finito}

Done. 

Yesterday I embroidered the title, quilted it, and machine-sewed the front of the binding on. Today I put on my Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire DVD and hand-sewed the back of the binding.

I just love the name of the "mix". It was an idea from Pinkbrain and Mr. Chicken, and I fell instantly in love with it. 

Anyhoo, now that it's finished I should probably get cracking on my do.Good Stitches quilt. I'm the quilter this month and I chose orange, blue, and white equilateral triangles, inspired by this quilt from Lynne of Lily's Quilts. I just got my fabric yesterday (who knew I had exactly ZERO true blues in my stash? Kinda weird) so I'll be gettin' started on that soon. Today. Maybe.

Hope your week is going well!!

cross that one off...

...of my never-ending "to do" list. 

Today I checked a couple things off my list, and boy it feels good. Especially some things that have been on my to do list for like, a year. Like getting a big frame for this print by Justin Nelson I traded portraits for last year:

I also got some stain for Mal's bed so I can get that thing done and put it to use. I bought some chicks on impulse at the feed store. And I finished my Pacman mini quilt, which may or may not be for my recalcitrant 80's swap partner :

Now I'm in the process of "remodeling" my mantle, getting rid of mismatched picture frames and random chotchkies, possibly putting some of the funky bottles I've been accumulating on display or something. I would love to be re-doing my bathroom or kitchen, but since that's not in my budget...well...at least doing SOMETHING will make me feel better. :)

How about you? Any plans for finishing something up this weekend?

The Zoo

Say hello to Henrietta. The newest addition to our growing family.

I admit this week has been sort of overwhelming. My whole life we had dogs and the occasional cat, and now suddenly I'm doing crash courses on bunny and chicken care. I like it, but it's sort of exhausting. 

Of course, that could also be the lack of sleep due to feverish baby. Did I mention the overwhelming week?

On a side note, my five year old pointed out that "Henrietta" has the word "Hen" in it, which he found absolutely hysterical. He started calling her "Chickenrietta" and then laughing even harder. He's so weird. I have no idea where he gets it from.

bunnies and chickens and singing, oh my!

I've had a lot of non-sewing things going on lately. Not the least of which is this newest addition to our household:

Meet Guinevere. You can read more about her at my family blog, The Grigoryevs.

Tomorrow I'm getting a chicken or possibly two from my friend's neighbor. Our little wanna-be farm is getting bigger every day it seems!

Tonight I'm leading worship at a women's night at church, which I'm looking forward to and also slightly nervous about. But I know God will bless our time--I just don't want to get in the way. And my poor unpracticed fingers are protesting at their lack of proper callouses. Ha.

Hope you're having a great Tuesday!