Pinterest giggle...

The English teacher in me just LOVES this one. I couldn't help but chuckle, and then jump right over here to share it with you. Maybe you'll giggle, too!

Camera Strap

I made a camera strap for both my sister and Jackpot's birthdays, and they came out so cute! I loved that the tutorial I followed included a pocket for the lens cap. Unfortunately, my sister's lens cap did not fit in the pocket, so hers was a bust.

Since my sister's lens cap was too big, I decided to tweak the original tutorial a bit in order to eliminate the pocket altogether because I didn't want the strap to be any wider than it already was. My version came up a bit short (literally) but I think I know what to do for the next one. I decided to keep my "guinea pig" version, so now I feel ready to try my hand at yet one more for my sister.

Walters Art Museum

MMC took me to an art museum today to play with my new camera. I was literally giddy with glee. She caught me giggling when I took the one below. Look at the cab in the center of the circle!

I got a cam-ra,

I got a cam-ra, I got a cam-ra, hey, hey, hey, HEY! (*sung to the tune of "I got a dollar" from the Little Rascals movie that came out a million years ago).

Here are some of my first pics, which I took during a walk around my neighborhood yesterday. I was so excited!

That poor bird nest is sideways and hanging on by a thread!

The contrast of colors just 'makes' this photo. It wouldn't have been the same without the blue sky.

This photographer's first self-portrait.

Texture, texture, texture!

I took a picture of this same branch from two different directions. The lighting in this one was so much prettier.

I just love all the little white butts in the lake. You can tell they were completely UN-interested in me.

The way the light was coming through the grass was just lovely.

Something green! Lines! Shadow!

Does anyone know what kind of bird this is?

Hubby really liked this one, so I included it here.

Like, totally, frickin' amazing. I love my new camera!

Neat.

Such warmth. The monotone color is fun, too.

I was having fun with this arrow on the street. Can you tell?

I was really taken with the colors on this bark.

If you made it this far in my post, I hope you enjoyed. I had so much fun on my walk yesterday! 

A Thank-you Quilt

Several months ago, one of my mother's friends generously offered to refinish a table that she was giving to B and me. Since then, I had been planning on making something for him as a thank you. I finally decided upon a strip quilt, which I thought he would be able to use since he has two, very young granddaughters. In order to get it together a little faster than normal, I decided to sew around the edges inside-out and then flip the quilt right-side out through a small opening that I left. I ironed around the edges and then top-stitched to give it an edge. This was certainly much faster than bias tape, but it really complicated the quilting process because it didn't allow me to stretch and baste the pieces of the sandwich together. As a result, many of my quilted lines puckered near the edge where I had top-stitched. Of course, these were really just minor imperfections that disappeared after the first washing/drying.

All of the fabric that I used came from my cousin who donated so many beautiful prints. I enjoyed going through them and figuring out the order for the strips. For the back I ended up using a perky green print with bold flowers. The colors were perfect with the citrus colors on the front.

In the end, the recipient was so pleased with the quilt and used it just a few days later to tuck his granddaughter in for a nap. Great success!

This Year's Tree Ornament

I got this bullfinch (birdie) pattern here and decided to use whatever scraps I had lying about. So instead of black, white, and red, mine are... well, you can see for yourself! I used them to decorate the wine bottles I was giving to some of my family members.

I've been working on other sewing projects, too... but I have to keep those under wraps (pun IN-tended) until after Christmas.

Stuffed Elephant (cute!)

Today I got inspired to sew something for a friend's up-coming baby shower. After a little nudging from MMC (thanks for sharing the pattern) I embarked upon the stuffed elephant from Retro Mama on Etsy. I made the elephant out of soft flannel and embroidered its eyes--my first time doing a satin stitch. The elephant alone didn't quite seem like a complete gift, so I added some coordinating burp rags. I'm happy with the finished product, and I hope the mommy-to-be is, too.

Crunch, crunch, crunch!

Yeah, I went out of my way to walk through a pile of particularly crunchy leaves today. Hehe!

Grandpa's Craft

Yesterday I drove home to visit my mom, Grandma, and Grandpa. They were together at a Christmas Bazaar selling Grandpa's wooden wares (bowls are his specialty). I came home with a set of gorgeous napkin rings Grandpa turned. I love that although they're all made of walnut, none of them match. They make me want to start using fabric napkins with every meal!

Since I had my camera with me, I couldn't help but stop along the way to snap a picture of the fiery Autumn trees lining the street. Stunning!

Jackpot is Famous

Remember this serious sewer?

Well let me just show you how awesome she is. She's being featured on a blog as this week's "self-taught sewer." Check out her interview at One Eleven. I'm so proud of her!!!

Hakuna Matata

We're back from seeing The Lion King on Broadway. AMAZING! We had such a great trip.

We took a bus to NYC and checked into our 4-star hotel, The Kitano, right on Park Avenue.

We had just enough time to freshen up before heading out for our dinner reservation at Joe Allen's. We started with fried calimari and a yummy Malbec. Bruno ordered a steak, and I had shrimp-pesto pasta. Delicious! After dinner we wandered around Times Square a bit before heading to the theater.

For the show, we sat in row K, 11 rows from the stage and just two seats from the aisle, which was perfect since animals walked down the aisle multiple times throughout the show. One of the coolest things was a life-sized elephant (I think there were four people working the puppet: one in each leg), but my favorite were the giraffes! Bruno loved the rippling sun that looked like it was really rising over the African savannah. There were bird kites that flew above our heads and a stampede of animals that rushed down the stage. The singing and music was so moving, they nearly brought me to tears several times. The show was truly everything I had hoped for.

The Good Stuff

1. National Writing Day was a blast! I loved sharing with my kiddies
2. Getting re-inspired to record "things that speak to me" in my Olmert notebook
3. Shopping for fabric. Jackpot and I bought the makings for 2 quilts that our sewing club will donate
4. Hearing that little N wondered where "Auntie C" was today after school
5. A good work-out at the gym
6. A long, hot shower (no need to rush because of work)
7. Planning my NYC outfits: dresses everyday!
8. Looking forward to seeing The Lion King on Broadway... check that off the bucket list
9. The house to myself for a while
10. Papa John's for dinner with hubby

Wordless Wednesday

My hitchhiker

More Weekend Pictures

I just got some more pics from L's camera (I'll take credit for the first two, which I took when my camera's battery had died). But the rest are all L's handiwork. Loved the scenic views!