Best DADA Ever

Today T and I spent the morning making pancakes, singing, and dancing waiting for R to get up. After making the yummy pancakes we thought it would be wonderful to make a little cake for dada. We had seen this idea on martha stewarts website and thought it would be fun to make the top of the cake to look like the 16th hole from the masters (its a theme for our lives really). I whipped up the ingredients for a carrot cake only to find out to late that we are all out of carrots! Being in to much a rush to actually go get some, I just used coconut flakes that I had. It turned out to be pretty good, I also added in butterscotch chips and walnuts. The blue icing is obviously the pond, the green and tee are dyed coconut, the little sand traps are grahmcraker, and a little toothpick flag for the hole. We ate that for a late breakfast and headed out to enjoy the sum what sunny day. When we got home we grilled up some wonderful steak, baked some potatoes, and caramelized some onions. It was a fabulous meal only to be topped off by a fabulous desert, raspberries and strawberries in marionberry ice cream (brought to us by our lovely neighbors). I believe he had a delightful first fathers day.

Thank you R, you are the best father I have ever known!

*I also made him a bathing suit which I will have to post later. We didn't have time for pictures.

pie makin' apron

After looking over my long list deciding what I should do next, I thought it would be fun to do a quick project something that isn't on my list. So I took a thrifted pillow case and turned it into an apron. I have been reading this blog recently and decided to participate in it's latest theme Pie Makin' Apron. I made this pie twice already and the one I ate was amazing! I was out picking more rhubarb to make another, but it started to rain on me so I will have to get more later. The apron was simple, I serged the edges, added a long tie, and used some of the left over ruffle for a pocket. It is pretty long, so I like that it can tie either above the waist or above the bust. It sure is great for makin' some strawberry rhubarb pie:

preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

place in the pie shell: 4 cups diced pink rhubarb. (it's really a
recipe for rhubarb pie. i think i probably used maybe half rhubarb, half strawberry, totalling 4 cups.)

combine and beat:
1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks (save the whites for later)
0.5 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons milk
optional 3/4 tablespoon nutmeg

spread these ingredients over the rhubarb.
bake 20 minutes at 400
degrees, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and
bake another 5-10 minutes.

MEANWHILE, while the pie is baking, make the meringue...
whip until frothy: 2 egg whites
add: 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
whip them until they are stiff, but not dry;
until they stand in peaks
that lean over slightly when the beater is removed.
beat in, 1 tablespoon at a time:
3 tablespoons sugar or 4 tablespoons confectioners sugar
do not overbeat. beat in: 0.5 teaspoons vanilla

AT THIS POINT, the pie should have been at
350 degrees for 5-10 minutes.
it still has 10-15 minutes to cook,
but you want the meringue to cook
for 10-15 minutes. so take out the pie,
spread the meringue on it, and
stick it back in the oven for 10-15 more minutes

All in a days work

I managed to accomplish quite a bit today. I started early and had the whole day to sew. I finished up the Sewn Giveaway prize for Linda and put it in the mail today. I made a hemp clutch with a design on it for her and a little dino (made from eco friendly felt) for her baby on the way. Thanks for playing Linda, I hope you enjoy your gifts.

I also finished a smock dress (obviously didn't iron it) and a surprise project that you can take just a peek at. I'm finishing a lot of things for etsy and hope that I can post all the things shortly. I am having a lot of fun creating everything, and hope I can keep up the momentum.

We have been having just a bit of bad luck today....not really bad luck but just frustration with things that should only take 15 mins but instead take about 5 hours!! Like the itunes not installing correctly and day 2 of R figuring it out he had to call apple support. You know something has gone wrong when he calls for support, seriously the man knows everything about computers...or almost as much as one of my fav. cousins in law does. The other thing was threading a drawsting (part of that secret project) through the waist... it is still sitting there. I have had to seam rip areas to get the safety pin through, and it's just annoying.

Anyhoo... I had a fun day, and I hope you did too.

also I believe it is my friend KJ's birthday, Happy Birthday!!

Distractions

I made my list last night. It is still being added to at this very moment with things that pop in my head when I look at something random like the camera case that is black that reminded me I wanted to write down to fix R's bag strap. Some things are mending, some are refashions, and others are from scratch. Right now there are 22 things on that list, 12 have to be completed this month! I work well with time lines so I know that I can make it happen. I got some things cut out today but then was distracted with a bbq party and fun photo shoot with baby T. We had a wonderful day soaking up the sun and smelling all the roses. Tomorrow I plan on an inside day and hopefully baby T will help me mark some things off my list.

Lists

We are back from our trip. Made it home safe and sound, and its good to be home! I have a list a mile long to do but have just been bumming around all day. I think the problem is that my list is all in my head. I can see what has to be done around the house so I have been doing that little by little. The sewing list is what is so long, and I don't even know what is on that list! I will see something online or at home and think "I should write that down, I want to get that done soon" but I don't write it so I lose it until it comes back to me. It's like comedian Mitch Hedberg once said "I sit at my hotel at night, I think of something that's funny, then I go get a pen and I write it down. Or if the pen is too far away, I have to convince myself that what I thought of ain't funny". So I will go write my long list, and start the projects because it is just to much fun not to!
One thing I know will be on my list is joining in the Presserfoot sew along! I had so much fun sewing the bow tie for the burda style sew along that I have been looking for another one, and bonus this one is for me to keep.

Sewn is up... and I have a winner!

Random.org generated the number 19...and the winner is...Linda T who said "Count me in - and I do have a baby. One on the way; I don't know if it's a boy or girl yet. That surprise is the most fun of all!"

SO Linda T I have a plan for what you will get, and as soon as I get home this Thursday I will whip it up and put it in the mail to you. I am sending you an email to get your address now=)

Thank you to all who participated! It is fun sharing craftyness... I will post what I send Linda when I get home from this trip.

One more thing SEWN is up and running now so go play around!!

Have a fun day!

Sewn - a fun new australian fashion site

SEWN is being launched tomorrow or should I say today since on the east coast and several other places it is already June 8th! I'm way late to the party, but better late than never, right? They're having a lot of giveaways, on their site as well as tons of bloggers which end tonight. But since I'm late my giveaway will stay open until midnight Monday PST. I'll post the winner on Tuesday! I'm not even really sure what I'm giving away but I promise it will be good... Think eco friendly fun!! (you can let me know if you have a baby...I will do something extra for the little one)

SEWN will "have just about everything you can think of that you would want online as a sewer. There are forums, online advice from industry experts, conversion charts, colour wheels, free patterns and class listings.

There will be interviews with all your favourite designers, quilters, patterns makers and authors. There will be tutorials with me and with other sewers from here and overseas, podcasts and coverage from shows and articles about all manner of exciting things.

Best of all, there are great unique gadgets - Fabricmatcher, which is an online tool which lets you match patterns to fabrics and see what your project will look like without sewing a stitch, and Find Fabric, which is the niftiest thing that will find the fabric you are looking for without you having to search for it for hours on the internet. It's so clever it even searches shops in your vacinity first to save you on international postage. How cool is that?

Plus there will be an online buy and sell area called SEWiNg, which is where you can sell the stuff you sew to the people out there who don't sew - and some of the ones who do :)"

To enter my giveaway, just leave a comment. (you have until midnight June 8th PST)

Sewing Day

It was a successful sewing day. I think I completed everything I had planned to. I am starting up an etsy store, getting all the things done that need to be photographed. I won't show you all the tricks I have up my sleeve, but here is a little something I am particularly proud of. I drafted the pattern for these baby pants, great for crawling which baby T has been doing now for a week! I need to tweak one thing when I sew them but for the first pair they turned out GREAT! What do you think? I love the bottom of these pants--it makes it easier to turn them up and get more use out of them as baby gets longer. After a great sewing day R, baby T, and I went to go downtown for a scavanger hunt fittness challange. When we got on the tram it was a nice day out--but when we got off the tram at the base it was crazy windy and looked like rain was going to pour down on us any second. So we headed back home watching the porta pottys and long fences blow over as people stood by taking pictures and trying not to get too much pollen blown in their eyes. All I can say is thank goodness we had the rain cover for the stroller! We made it home right before the rain came but boy was it windy!!

WWW/T

I had every intention on posting last night for WWW, uploaded all my pics and had everything ready. But instead of writing I sat outside with R and talked the night away. So here it is a day late, I wore my hemp pleated skirt that I made a while ago. It's one of my fav. skirts and I made it without a pattern... which I regret now because I would like to make another one. It couldn't have been that difficult so when I find the time I will have to copy it. I would put a pic of what I am wearing today but really its a tank top and stretch pants, and I can't think of anyone who would want to look at that sight! Today is my sewing day. R takes care of baby T all day! They are outside watering the garden right now. I have a few patterns to make and hopefully will have time to create them. Maybe I will have stuff finished and ready to post again tonight... I will make that my goal! Until then...