new creation

Eric's mom (my ex-mother-in-law) is a quilter/seamstress, so whenever I see her or talk to her on the phone, she asks about what I'm working on. I shared with her the pictures of the bag I'd made for Julie and she LOVED it, especially that the fabric I used had the "nature" theme, with butterflies, birds, mushrooms etc. She asked me to make one for her, only in her colors; meaning purples, lavenders, fuchsias. Now, as you know I LOVE fabric; I spend a lot of time looking at fabric porn. I wracked my brain for anything I'd seen that might fit that criteria and was not feeling hopeful at all; nothing "nature themed" in those colors at Buttercuppity or anywhere online. And then the other day, in JoAnn's of all places, Anna and I found this most lovely fabric, all Nana's colors, covered in birds. Nana loves birds. I snatched it up and couldn't wait to get started. Here is the result:

Front:
(the pocket was very plain, so I appliqued a bird and tree on to it)

Back of the bag:

This is it "inside out"; as it is fully reversible:

And I made this little zipper pouch for an extra surprise:

I can't wait to give it to her; I think she's going to love it!

I'm making one just like it to list in my etsy shop (see left sidebar for a link directly there)

AAAAAAAAA

***

AAAAAA

Also, I have to share this. This winter has been especially bad for mice in the house; most winters it snows and freezes and that helps control the mouse population, but we haven't had that kind of winter. We see signs of them in the kitchen corners, but for some reason (happy pills? I do not know...) it hasn't bothered me as much this year. And so I've kind of adopted a "live and let live" policy. Except, I told David, if I see signs of them in our silverware drawer or on my dishes. Then I'm going to go all Rambo on their little asses. BUT that hasn't happened, and so I clean and disinfect like crazy and wait for them to notice that it's LOVELY outside and it's time to return to the great outdoors. Go! Be free!

AAAAA

And then our daughter decided that we just weren't doing enough to make them feel at home.

So she put a little box in the corner (for privacy??) and a container full of dog hair (ok, that's kind of embarrassing, but we hadn't vacuumed yet that day) and some bread. So that, you know, they have a place to rest after they gorge themselves on our pistachios. I told her this morning the only thing missing is a tiny little keg and a hot tub. I swear I could see the wheels starting to turn in that strange little brain of hers. Never a dull moment with this kid. Sigh.