are we all merry-ed out?

Hope you all had a merry time! Our Christmas tree is deflating as I write. Yes, there are inflatable Christmas trees! We just couldn't gather the enthusiasm to unpack our great collection of ornaments and decorate the real thing. But I don't think we fell down on the present-making department.

My plan is always to do as much merry making as possible---for holiday gifts. What we can't bake or make, we shop for online away from the retail mob scene.

Though Christmas is over officially I'm still gift-making.
My favorite gift to make this year was/is a slipper pattern to knit and then felt from FrenchPressKnits. It's a quick knit, lots of sewing and more fun in the washing machine. And look how cute they look with buttonshow buttons! Soon yours (those of you who traced your feet know who you are) will arrive by post or personal delivery! I know, the surprise is blown for the most part---all but the color and the buttons...

I started a pair of socks the day before Christmas, never thinking I would finishthem in time to be wrapped and under the inflatable tree. One sock might be finished for New Years Day, but don't hold your breath, dear. Their destiny may be as the first-day-of-the-Spring-semester Socks. (For those of you not on the semester system, that would be sometime towards the end of January 2010!)

That wraps up my gift making ambitions for Christmas 2009! Is it better late than never? I think so.

post big snow

OK! As the official photographer of snow in our household I have these shots of the blizzard dump. I perhaps spent too much time in photoshop trying to figure out how to fill the empty spot, but the official photoshop user is busy shoveling my car out of the driveway.



Don't know what the news is saying but it looks like we got 20 inches or so easily. I like the big drifts coming off front gable---

big snow

I took before pictures of the pre-blizzard conditions here on Long Island at the 2:45 dog walk this afternoon. Things weren't looking bad at all, though the neighbors inflatable snowman was wavering in the wind.

But the 9:50pm dog walk was much different. Shivering dog under one arm and shovel under the other to create a pee path through the 10 inches of snow! That was fun.

We'll see what the conditions are tomorrow morning for the post blizzard pictures!

Is that better Sarah?

it needs pink bark, right?

All through with the oven drama, for the time being, but keep in mind that Christmas is just a few short weeks away and anything is likely with my tempermental appliances!



So this little 3-legged stool is now the object of my attention. Until a couple of days ago I was going to toss it. I changed my mind about it's potential and here it is being admired by my camera. I love how you can tell it was made by someone's hand, however crudely, to serve a purpose. A milking stool? To put a plant on or one foot. I'll never know what place it held in someone's house or barn or...





It has character. It's paint job has acquired that desirable crackly patina. And probably the maker of this stool would never have imagined it needed a pink bark slip cover, not in a million years. That's where I come in. I know it needs a pink bark slipcover.

The fabric that inspired pink bark, the Joel Dewberry wood grain fabric at the lower left hand corner of the first shot, is taking it's turn in the dryer after being pre-shrunk. It'll make a nice inner lining, though I'm not just sure how I will construct the slipcover yet, it might be visible. Or it might just have to be a secret thing that few will be aware of, like the intimate details of the little 3 legged stool once it too is obscured by shirred pink cotton.



It's now underway and it's definitely going to be a colorful addition to the natural palette of the other bark textile pieces in my etsy store, Sewfaux.