sheppard girls

Shade tolerant groundcovers, you will not defeat me

Our backyard is mostly shaded.  We removed a bunch of scrubby little trees and bushes when we moved in five years ago and over time have planted grass and built some stone retaining walls.  The previous owner "Helen Larson" told us at the closing that nothing would grow back there.  We've since come to realize that nothing they told us about the house was very true "there has never been water in the basement" comes to mind, so why believe her about the garden. 

Lots of things have grown, very well.  Several things have alluded me, including a groundcover.  So far I have tried and killed lamium, spurge, epimedium, creeping phlox and most of the adjuga.  This year I am trying soapwort.

And look how pretty the columbine is too!

Pin one on

   

I did manage to get a little embroidery done on the clothes pin bag before I gave it to my mother.  "that's supposed to be a clothes pin right?"

Happy Mother's Day

My grandma sewed a ton of crazy things.  My bib and potholder patterns came from her, and my mother brought up another one of the pattern earlier this spring, along with a pile of fabric and feed sack cloths.  The old clothespin holder that my mom has been using was getting threadbare and she was hoping I could make a new one from my grandma's pattern.  And by pattern, I mean two piece of paper bag from Ehlert's Clothing and two piece of the Fairmont Sentinel. 

 

Here are the results.  It turned out so sweet, although the feedsack was a little discolored.  I might try to bleach it a little, or add a little big more design.  I think a little embroidered clothes pin would be adorable.

I am ever so sad that my little one is five

 

The little one is five today.  These are birthday treats for her preschool classmates.  She also specially requested brownie bites from Costo as the classroom treat.  Classy.  Most of the birthday items have been slightly Charlie and Lola themed, including the treat bag hearts and the fun font Trust This One, which according to a Google search can be made to look pretty Charlie and Lola-like, if mixed with Brittanica Bold. 

I also ordered a few treat bag items from this British website and even brought a Charlie and Lola book to the bakery and left it there, so they could make the cute hearts on the cupcakes.  I don't have high hopes. 

The t-shirt company Charlie and Sarah, which makes t-shirts with proper British words on them, has been near me at a few recent craft shows and I love their stuff.  The big one has the wellies t-shirt and I was hoping they had one that said "biscuits".  Once this winter, when I was baking actual baking powder biscuits for supper, I told the little one and she said "biscuits, like on Charlie and Lola?"  No, those are cookies.  Sarah, of Charlie and Sarah said that in England they call cupcakes, fairy cakes.  We are totally using that at the birthday party.

Burger King, you are totally my BFF

   

This cup makes a statement about you.  It says "Hey, look at me.  I'm an ambitious yet responsible person."  You could have gone larger, but you didn't.  You could have gone smaller, but again, you deferred.  No, you know exactly what you want in life, nothing more, nothing less.  It's good when you have things you way.

People are awesome

Last weekend I did two more shows.  Each was lots of fun, although I am pretty sure Sunday mid-afternoon I fell asleep for just a tiny little bit at my booth.  On Sunday, there was an adorable woman shopping, who I am pretty sure, if I saw her on regular basis, would become one of my style icons.  (When I was working, there was one volunteer who was so darn stylish, I got inspiration from her every time we ran into each other.)  The woman on Sunday was carrying the Orla Kiely bag that I have been wanting for soooo long.

When I complimented her on her bag, she said it was from Anthropologie, where she works, but yeah, it was sold out.  Monday I got an email from her saying a few more came in the store and if I wanted one, she would put it aside for me.  How nice is that?  She remembered me, tracked me down, and sent me an email, just so I could look cute too.

On to the backyard

After nearly five years of complaining about it, I would like to introduce, our new deck table.

It is old and chipped and the legs collapse!  From Hunt and Gather.  The dad and the grandpa are almost finished with the new deck, although the fact that the wood has to "cure" for several months and I am stuck with a plywood colored rectangle off the back of my house will probably be the bane of my summer, I think it looks great.  I am moving on to other things, since Weft and Warp has not gotten back to me about my very favorite umbrella ever.  And I have a new love with these chairs for around the firepit. 

 

The entire family agrees that they are sick of carrying old folding chairs out each time we have a fire, and I think these are the perfect blend of traditional and modern, plus they are recycled and local, who could ask for more!

Craftstravaganza recap

 

Thanks to everyone who came by and who came to buy!  Can you see that there are practically icicles forming on those bibs?  Can you see the dad in the corner huddled over his cup of coffee?  The building at the Fairgrounds isn't heated, and the morning of the show was freezing.  Some of the people near the front door said they had snow on their booths. 

 

Needless to say, I didn't sell out of headbands this year, so I will list a few of my new patterns on Etsy right away.  But I had a lot of fun visiting with shoppers, and the vendors near me were very sweet too.  I am glad to have a few days to get things back to normal around here before next weekend with two sales.  Then show season wraps up for me, just as soccer, tennis and birthday party season begins. 

Crafts

I hope some of you are able to come see me at the Craftstravaganza, this coming Saturday, April 26, or at Crafted Together on May 3, or Spring Fling on May 4.  You get the idea.  Craftstravaganza marks my first full year doing local indie craft fairs.  I spent most of the coming week a year ago, not sleeping, rushing around and crying.  And it ended up being be so fun.   This year promises to be even better, craft show wise - not the crying.

If you stop by my booth, please say hi.  Here's a little incentive:

Last year I reconnected with Gretchen, and I think Becca, is stopping by too, so at least I will have a few friendly faces.  See you then! 

Nine

 

The big one will be turning nine in June.  She doesn't need much for presents, but I really want to give her something that is thoughtful, even though I am pretty sure she would be equally excited about an iTunes giftcard.  Someday I hope she will look back and think, man that was an awesome present.  She is "passionate" (her word) about design, specifically interior design and architecture, so I would like to get her some gifts that show her that I support her interests.  I recognize that it is pretty easy to be excited when you kid loves the same stuff you do.  I might not be as keen if she was passionate about say - volleyball or Guitar Hero.  I had the good sense to email Martha, who is an architect and had some great ideas, and Holly at decor8.  Holly was nice enough to share my question with her readers.  Look at how many amazing ideas I got!  I am so gonna rock birthday number 9.