In the neighborhood

Now that I have a hands-free leash system
for walking my best buddy Alice,
I can also bring along my camera!
Look at the beautiful homes
within a few blocks of my house.
Can't wait to share more local neighborhoods.

Flowers with bird names

Here's my second daisy chain scarf.

The first one was robin's-egg blue and lilac.
This one is in one of my favorite color combos --
robin's-egg blue and cardinal red.

Birdie hoop dream

Got some embroidery hoops you don't know what to do with?

Fill them with fabric and you have instant wall art.

I found these four round metal hoops,

as well as four more oval ones I haven't finished yet,
at the New Year's Day thrift sale we went to.

Wanting to use more of the bird fabric I have amassed,

I knew this was the perfect project (there are 8 panels total).

The only embellishment is colorful rick rack trim

glued around the outside of the metal hoops.

I didn't even add hooks to the back

knowing they can just hang on nails.

To make the backs neater, I motified these instructions slightly

and then wrote down what kinds of birds they are.

Stay tuned for the remaining four birdies
and share with me the art you have hung in hoops.

Playing in the snow

The day after a big snowstorm is probably not

the best time to drive around and take pictures

in municipal places like parks and cemeteries.

I kept getting in the way of the snowplows

and nearly got stuck in a snowbank once.

Worth it for the pictures though!

Sweet-smelling baby booties

Ever wonder what to do with

those sweet baby booties

you have saved all these years?

I turned some into lavender sachets

and it was so easy to do.

First, cut a small circle out of any

lightweight white material,

like a sheet, hankie or scrap fabric.

I sewed a basting stitch around the circle,

filled it with a few teaspoons of dried lavender

and then pulled the thread tight to close it up.

If you aren't handy with a needle and thread,

just tie off the top with string or thread

to hold the lavender inside.

Next, I placed the little packet inside the booty

and filled it the rest of the way with fiberfill.

The booty tops were sewn closed by hand
then I added bits of lace, vintage buttons
and, as the finishing touch, a sprig of lavender.

Pure as the driven snow

Beginning to love having snow as the backdrop to my photos.

Here are some of the shots I've taken over the last few days.

Snow angels

I drive by this cemetery a few times a week

while bringing my kids to the mountain to ski.

These two ladies catch my attention every time,

especially now that they are partially covered in snow.

On Saturday, I convinced my son, with a coffee drink bribe,

to snowshoe me a path so I could get closer to them.

Here are the resulting photos.

I have my favorites, which ones do you like best?

Little visitors in the snow

Probably because the kids have been outside a lot,

but I haven't seen any birds at our feeder

since our big snow started on Tuesday night.

They have been around apparently.

There are cute, tiny birdie footprints

all over our snow-covered back porch now.

Improving product shots

Still playing with the photo cube and lights

in hopes of getting better Etsy products shots.

I am liking the clean backgrounds

but find I still have to manipulate the photos

in Photoshop Elements just as much as before.

The lights are set to lighten up the back wall

and the cube faces a bright window.

(Still need to work on getting the wrinkles out.)

This will work very well for non-shiny surfaces

not so for all these pieces of metal.

Can you spot me in any of these? LOL

I wasn't totally satisfied with the results,

even after manipulation and thought to try B&W.

These look like they are right out of mid-century

(and earlier) houseware catalogs.

Their Etsy listings will still have full-color views

but I will see how these are as the main photographs.

Has anyone else tried it before?