What a Difference a Few Hours Makes.....

Donner Lake - Wednesday, July 13

Taken at 10:56 am

Taken at 1:42 pm. 

We left the beach shortly after this picture was taken because thunderstorms were blowing in and it was too windy and cold!!!!

High Altitude Training

Today was my first high altitude training run here in Tahoe Donner.

 It's ridiculous how beautiful the scenery is, but running is HARD. Too many big hills and not enough oxygen!

Hole in the Wall

AKA... the cupboard beneath the stairs (which the Harry-Potter-adoring children LOVE the idea of). We are finally moving forward on the plan to build cubbies under the stairs to house shoes, backpacks, Mama's purse, etc. It was very, very fun cutting the holes. Although once it was done, Darryl said, "I don't really know how to build cubbies..." To which I replied, "That's OK, we didn't know how to build bookshelves last summer!" Always by the seat of our pants.....

 

They're dying to get in there. 

A little perspective

Burlap Bags

A while ago, Jill and I saw the cutest bags in a coffee shop and I wanted one. They were made out of burlap coffee bags and lined with really pretty floral fabric. The price was pretty steep so I decided not to buy, but my brilliant sister suggested that I could make one easy peasy (and probably could find the burlap bags on the internet). Well she was right -- I could and I did. These two I made for the kids' teachers for an end-of-the-year thank you gift.

........The NEXT one I make will be for me!!!!!!!

Springtime Flower Girls

I bought this fabric awhile ago and couldn't wait to make something out of it (I still have a lot left - expect to see more of it eventually!). Apparently Madeline felt the same... she was really excited to have her own girly, flowery tote bag. She picked out all the coordinating fabrics and even help in the design of the bag. Although she was much too busy playing Lego Star Wars to help Mama sew it together, she was very pleased with the end result.

Hail and Patchwork

The last day of winter and we were treated to a crazy hail storm that lasted for about 10 minutes resulting in a not-very-springy, and not-very-Santa-Cruzy, look outside...

In spite of the frightful weather, I finally finished my patchwork pillow!

Mismatched buttons seemed to work with the crazy patchwork

(and besides, I didn't like any of my matchy-matchy ones).

It looks really pretty on our bed.

Another recent project that's turned into more of a collaboration with Angie is this bag:

I made it a few weekends ago, wasn't thrilled with the way it turned out, and gave it to Angie.
Now she has added the tassel and the buttons on the appliquéd heart and turned it into
something totally unique and really beautiful!

Beautiful springtime cards

Fabric scraps, card stock and my sewing machine . . . voilà! Lovely spring-y greeting cards that I love.

Looking for more ideas for the bins and bins of fabric I have. I checked out 6 sewing and quilting books from the library yesterday, so stay tuned!!!