Wee Wonderfuls

ummm butter rum

A while back I sent Giao a kitty in a dress. Miss kitty needed a good home and none could be better than the home of this cool, sweet, inspiring, generous girl! Not only did she adopt my funny flat kitty but she sent me a box of goodies in return. Yummy homemade products including butter rum soy lip balm (how'd she know I was addicted to balm?!), beautiful fabric quarters for my stash and the funniest bunny stuff including Oscar's new favorite cup! I received this package the same day as a belated birthday present for Oscar arrived. He was tearing at the box as I was opening it, sure that the contents were for the birthday boy. He was so excited when he saw this cup with the removable bunny ears top. He kept taking off and replacing the lid and then putting the cup to his mouth, fake drinking and saying "yummmm". Oscar had never done anything like that before. He's pulling out all sorts of "I'm a toddler now" tricks these days.

If all that goodness wasn't enough, she also made me this AWESOME collage'd box out of images from my weblog. Check out Oscar on the snowman body...too funny!

Thank you Giao!! (I'm sending you a little little something along with your Christmas card - no touchbacks!)

Thank you Mim!

Not only did I get this soft beautiful pink knit flower to pin on my coat in Pinku's flowerswap, but I also got materials and handrawn instructions to make a waldorf doll all of my own! I admired the ones Mim had made for her kids and now I get to make a "zonnekindpoppen" (sun-child-dolls) for Oscar!

Thanks Mim!! I sure lucked out getting you as swap partner!

Holiday Hang-Up

Still feeling sentimental about Oscar's 1st birthday I made this little polar bear ornament out of his Christmas sleeper from last year. (yes, it's for you Grandma) Seems an appropriate submission for Loobylu's December Month of Softies.

Check!

Christkindlmarket Chicago

We went down to Daley plaza this weekend to check out their Christkindlmarket. Our first Christmas outing and Oscar's first trip on the El. After a little worrying he decided the train was ok and we had no problems there. We did have problems with none of the train stations having elevators. Had to take Oscar out of the stroller, break it down, climb up/down stairs. Next time we'll know which stations to go to. And bring an umbrella!

The market had tents set up with shops inside. We only made it into 3 tents because of course Oscar was a wiggly worm and we had to take him outside so he could push the stroller around (and into people). We finally calmed him down with a bottle and a potato pancake. So, ornament shopping - bad, greasy fried potatoes - good! We also hit Marshall Fields to check out the window displays. They were not worth the trip across the street. No trains, no toys, boring!

The best shop at the market was the first one we went into (and the one where Oscar fussed the most!), Kathe Wohlfahrt. They had all the great wooden ornaments I've been drooling over online. And their tent was all dark and had Christmas lights hung up along the ceiling to look like stars. Tim snapped some photos before they nixed him.

This is where we bought the one ornament we got (such restraint). A little elf girl on a puff! so cute!!

We have her hanging on the fake tabletop tree we bought for our bedroom so we could hang at least some of our ornaments out of Oscar's reach. More pictures of the faker here...

Desk Day

Here's my sewing table today...

It's a Marshmallow World

The halls are decked! Snowflakes hanging from the ceiling, "merry christmas" sign out of wrapping paper, waxed paper stars on the windows, cotton ball garlands, paper chains around the perimeter. It's sufficiently "elf" in here for me now. You could do this forever (and I'm sure we'll add more) but I'm calling it. Time finished 10:45 pm last night. Now it's time to get some Christmas presents made!

the internet is my bitch!

Finally!! After years of working for the internet she is now working for me. If it wasn't for her, Red (990000) wouldn't have found my site and emailed me asking after a stuffed and I wouldn't have been able to arrange this amazing trade. One stuffed kitty for his friends' new baby in exchange for these beautiful (and large and frameable!) prints of his amazing photographs that I love. My photo of his photos is awful (sorry).. but here they are in all their glory...

** Red went and changed all his links so these no longer apply

We're going to hang this series of people in the musuem in the living room... here, here, here, here.

And I LOVE this one so much, I think I'll hang it in my craft room to inspire me.

And then there's this awesome shot in the rain. Maybe for Oscar's room? Never too young to start on the good stuff.

Thanks Red!!

I swear my husband and I are not related

Although we do have so many things in common you'd think we were blood relatives. For example, we share the same brain. This has been proven by the fact that if it is in use by one of us, the other is out of luck. We also share the same immune system and memory. Just a coincidence? And then there's the fact that the baby looks exactly like both Tim and I. How is that possible?! But probably our biggest shared trait is our propensity towards taking on overambitious craft/hobby projects that make our peers think we're insane. This is his brainchild, spurred on by a lifesized vintage wooden cutout santa we passed on at an antique store once. He copied the Santa from a gift tag and drew some little penguin fellows to match. They're made out of plywood which we cut on my father's jigsaw. Then we brought them home and Tim painted them, came up with a way to attach them to the porch and then set up spotlights to shine on them.

Aren't they the coolest?! Take that, lighted wreath next door!

Here it is at night...

The Eagle Has Landed!

Thanks to Mariko and her sweet mother & aunt a package of beautiful fabric from Japan arrived on my doorstep this week! Mariko graciously agreed to be my accomplice after hearing of my desperate quest for Japanese fabric. I think she could tell how truly obsessed I was, and being the kind heart that she is, offered to get me a fix. She hatched a brilliant scheme full of international intrigue and suspense... and somehow convincing her mother to bring us back fabric from her trip to Japan. Here are my new treasures.

thanks Mariko for the little notebook! I've consolidated all my lists into this little guy so I'll be organized this holiday!

squirrels!

and look how amazing up close...

The first thing I plan to do when it's 2005 and the tree is away is start in on projects using all these beautiful fabrics. I've got so many things in mind for these beauties and the ones Jennifer sent. Pillows and wallhangings, bags and stuffeds. Maybe I can make some things to sell or trade - spread the cuteness! I have to dig in to this fabric before it becomes sainted and can no longer be used. And of course, the rule is you can't get more until you use it up. ahhh more.... sigh.

One Year Old!

Oscar eats his cake with a spoon...who knew!

If I was more of a writer I'd compose a nice long clever newsletter  to Oscar for his one year birthday. But I'm not so... I'll just fess up about how I totally punked out on all my ambitious birthday celebration plans. How I ordered a cake at the bakery (after trying and failing to make the pretty martha stewart one). And how I didn't invite everyone over to my house (because then I'd have to clean) and instead had a small get together at my parents' house. And how I bought a party platter at Quiznos, paper plates at Kmart and shabbily hung a few streamers. I guess that's the kind of Mom I'm shaking out to be. It's just too hard so close to Christmas. I'm already terrified of all the invite-the-whole-class birthday spectaculars I'm going to be throwing smack dab in the middle of holiday craziness for the next dozen years (13 he's a man right?). I think maybe he needs a new birthday. A nice Spring birthday! He'll be none the wiser...

Here's my sweet pea petunia face pumpkin butt one year ago today. This reminiscing and the visit to the pediatrician today - where they not only gave him shots but took blood! - have left me weepy. Time to retire to my soft socks and paper Christmas decorating.