Brownie Landscape...

I do love baked goods. I have both cook books from the Magnolia Bakery. This is their brownie recipe. Six eggs and 2 sticks of butter... you bet it's good. Last time I was in New York we made an after-dinner cupcake run to Magnolia. The cupcakes were good, but the other desserts in the case looked way better. Every recipe that I have made from these books has been spectacular.



Here is Miss Elsie contemplating the brownie...

I have a problem...

I'm addicted to fabric.



I just can't pass up pretty things at the fabric store...



Now that I'm moving all my fabric to the studio, I realize just how much I have. I need to start sewing some of it up or it will not fit!

Mister Ewan's Room

The Little e's room is, for the most part, finished.



I recovered the seat of the rocking chair yesterday with a beautiful neutral linen. I am so pleased with the results. There is another piece in the house that I want to recover in linen, but I think I better pay someone to do that. It's a bit more complicated than a rocking chair cushion.



The casement windows look like they could be out of the nursery in Peter Pan. During the summer it is wonderful to have them all open. It's just like being outside.



We have a few more things to put on the walls... a clock, and some Tin Tin prints... I would also like to paint a large graphic on the blue wall. We are leaning toward a stylized thistle and lion... which is the tattoo the spouse would like to have done in honor of Mister Ewan. He already has an Elsie tattoo... but that's a post for another time.

Fixing Things

I made Miss Elsie a doll quilt for her vintage doll crib. In my effort to be thrifty and recycling-conscious, I put on this nasty lace trim.


The lace proceeded to pill and shrink eventually drawing in the edges and making the little quilt cup shaped. There is a fine line between thrifty and quality... and I crossed it. I cut off the offending lace and bound the quilt in some vintage seam binding from my stash.



Much better.... I have taken the remaining lace and put it in the yard sale bin. Someone else can have a go at it.

Little Leisure Suit

I made this suit for Ewan before we went to Hawaii. It is out of the softest tattersall plaid.



The pattern is from Ottobre Magazine. I have subscribed for almost 2 years and this is my first project.




Their designs are so cute and light years ahead of most pattern companies... Burda is excluded from that comment. The magazine comes with all the patterns all sizes printed on 3 sheets of paper stapled in the middle. It does require a bit of concentration to make sure you are tracing on the correct lines. I apparently selected the wrong hem line and the suit wound up with not much of an inseam and a lot of diaper showing.... so today I added some bands to the leg openings to create some length. This is my first little man sewing project, and I think it turned out pretty well.

Moving into the Basement... some more

I have most of my things in the basement space now.... and most of the spouse's things too..



but we have a lot of sorting and organizing to do yet...



I moved my desk down yesterday and got everything set up for my computer and assorted gadgets.



We still need to get shelves up and some type of storage cabinet for all my fabric. I really like these from IKEA, but I think they are too tall for the ceiling height. IKEA is supposed to open this summer here in Portland. I can hardly wait! Then I can just measure everything and see what fits.

Big E, Little e

It was not my intention to have two kids whose names start with the same letter, in this case, the letter "E". I'm not fond of theme naming one's offspring. We just happened to pick two names that we liked and they both, oddly enough, start with the same letter.



Elsie has been called Big E ever since she was a tiny thing... and the nickname has stuck. So she gets a big E for her door...



If the big sister is the Big E, then it's only fitting that the little brother is Little E...



.... so Ewan gets a little e for his door.



Their rooms are not finished yet and not ready for a grand unveiling, but hopefully this week I can finish them up. The pictures give you a sneak peak as to the colors, but both rooms still need pictures hung and drapes made... all the fun stuff. We are still trying to come up with a letter or letters for our bedroom. The spouse suggested "Mgmt.". It just doesn't have quite the same whimsy. Any suggestions?

Coming out of the fog...

I think I'm finally getting over this bug. I've had it for over a week! And it would figure... last night Mister Ewan decided to sleep through and I kept waking up with nightmares and stuffy nose problems. Tonight, I'm hoping for more rest.
I did run a few errands. One of which was a stop at Michael's to return some Christmas leftovers. They looked at me like I was insane returning stuff this late. But their return policy guarantees a merchandise credit with a receipt. So I took my merchandise credit and bought a few Easter goodies. I was so inspired by Mo's Easter chicks, that I picked up some myself. Although I couldn't find the white fluffy ones. I'm always behind on anything with white feathers (I missed the white feather trees at Christmas too).

I picked up these little pink chenille birds....



... and the last two plastic boxes of the glass eggs. They are so tiny and so dainty.



I had to hunt all around the yard for suitable branches. I did some yard cleaning last week and cleaned everything up. After several false starts, I decided on some weeping maple branches. They seem to be sturdy enough.



I need to get out some more of my Easter decorations, but I'm worn out for today. Maybe tomorrow.