Rather Telling

Yup. I said I’d post each day for seven days, and I didn’t really do that, did I? I think this is indicative of my problem. Like my friend Beth says, “I never finish anyth”

I ran out of pictures I had on back log, and I haven’t done much pretty stuff this week. Kurtis is out of town and I’m acting single mom to our five cats. I need an extra hour in the day just to take up Kurtis’ half of the feeding, litter-box-scooping, scritching and kissing.

With any luck, I’ll have a little project finished this weekend that I can show you. We’ll see. Thanks for reading!

Oh! Here’s a picture I haven’t shared. This is the card I made for Mother’s Day. The “Threading Water” punch by Fiskars, the one that made that little scallop trim, is the darlingest punch I’ve ever seen.

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Memorial Parkway

This has nothing to do with crafts or finishing any projects, but it’s a tradition I think is incredibly sweet, and is beautifully designed.

We live along Victory Memorial Parkway in Minneapolis, a lush greenway designed to honor local soldiers and nurses who died in World War I.

Every Memorial Day, someone gets up before daylight to plant a flag at each stone marking the name of one soldier.

It’s incredible to look down the long path and see flags have sprouted up overnight. The people who planned this tribute timed it perfectly. In an area set aside for the Minnesota units who served in the Civil War, trees spread pink blossoms over the markers, as if in blessing.

Down to the tiniest detail, it’s a lovely tribute.

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Company

I’m working on Amy Butler’s layered skirt. Instead of using one of her (gorgeous) fabrics, I’m using a blue-grey calico I found at Crafty Planet. It has a very soft, old fashioned look I think will go nicely with the skirt’s frayed edges.

So, I’m sitting at the dining room table sewing, and I look up and realize I have a visitor. A very skittish, visitor who usually won’t come very close to me unless I’m going to feed her.

That’s Pippi, our kitten. She’s nearly ten months old, but she’s still a kitten to us. She and her mom came to us last fall. Her mom (who’s also part of the family now) was a stray in the neighborhood. It took us a while to find where her kittens were, so Pippi lived her first seven or so weeks without any human contact. She’s very affectionate with the other cats, especially her mommy, but she’s a bit more timid around Kurtis and I.

She’s awfully curious, though. So if I start doing something unusual, she’s likely to come check it out.

I was very flattered by the attention. It’s unusual to have close-range Pippi time. When I was a kid, I used to hang around my mom while she was sewing. I liked the rhythm of the sewing machine, the soft light and the fabric chugging under the needle. It would make me very sleepy, too.

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Lush

I planted this peony bush just after Kurtis and I returned from our honeymoon. For two summers, it’s been a nearly tropical mass of shiny green leaves, but no flowers. I started to worry. Did I plant it too deep? Not deep enough? But sometimes living things just need time to grow, to adjust to their surroundings.

This year, the plant must have felt pretty comfortable.

Aren’t the blossoms breathtaking? There’s something so opulent about a peony. The blooms are so big, so pink and frilly. It’s like having a garden of can-can dancers.

Thanks for reading. Over the week there will be more pink blooms, sewing, and a kitten.

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Projects and a Challenge

Oh, boy. I have so many pictures I need to share. I’ve actually done a lot of stuff lately! To be completely up front, though, I have to admit I’m not doing very well with my original goal of finishing things I’ve already started. I keep buying stuff. I really need to stop doing that, but it would help a lot if designers would stop coming up with such fabulous stuff. So give me a break, okay designers? Take a holiday, design some ugly stuff … just leave me alone for a while!

One of my favorite dens of temptation is The Scrapbook Shop of St. Paul. I love that store. I walk inside and feel all inspired and invigorated. The owner, Rhonda, came up with a terrific little minibook and I was so enamored by the design I had to take her class. Neat, huh? The book is made from die-cut envelopes – some glued at the sides for storage, and others left unglued for displaying pictures.

Here is what I made at the class, loaded with cat pictures printed in sepiatone.

I love the envelopes for storing extra pictures and doo-dads. Interactive scrapbooks are more fun – you get to make little discoveries, sort of like finding a secret drawer in your desk.

At home I made my own version. This one was a gift for my mom, who at this time of year gets lots of graduation pictures. She usually tucks them into the corners of picture frames, but this way she can store them more permanently and add notes, too.

Now, the challenge to myself. I’ve got tons of pictures to share and lots of stuff I’ve done lately. I’m daring myself to write a post each day for the next week. That would double the number of posts to this blog, and I’ve lots of good stuff to share, I promise. I hope you like peonies. Mine are in bloom and they’re dreamy.

Now I’m off to watch my kitten sleep.

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