is color a food group?

It may not be the most nutritionally balanced meal but it sure is pretty!
Yes, it's come down to blogging about Estella's dinner...clearly I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel for inspiration.

And all the while, my starving daughter gazed up at me wondering why I'm taking pictures of her food.

So, Estella is better...some lingering marks on her face, but otherwise all good. She had rosolea, which is apparently extremely common and contagious. But, since it's a once in a lifetime kind of thing, we shouldn't have to go through it again. Thank goodness!

You'd recognize me...

Before I left I said that hopefully I'd be so tan and relaxed you wouldn't even recognize me...trust me, you'd recognize me.
I don't mean to sound ungrateful for the break or the vacation because I most certainly am. I'm just not very tan or relaxed. I was able to fry myself in the sun like ol'times, but only for a short time while Walter took Estella for a walk.

And as far as the relaxation goes...absolutely didn't happen. The day we left for Maine, Estella broke out in some sort of hive/allergic reaction horrible looking polka dot effect and it only worsened over the next couple of days, finally resulting in an adolescent acne type complexion all over her body. Needless to say, she has a doctor's appointment tomorrow. The skin part is getting better but she has traded the skin for a nasty sounding cough. Any of you who know me well will understand that relaxation was not possible when there was anything medical going on...especially skin problems.

Then today, just before heading out for the trip home, Walter dove into the ocean...with his glasses on. They are now sleeping with the fishes, and in he's in Burlington getting an eye exam and new glasses. And, since he's blind as a bat, his prescription is about a million dollars...now don't I sound relaxed?!

On a different note....I tried to find some inspiration while away. I've been feeling a little on the stranded side and was in search of something new and different that I may use as a jumping off point...
Sand trees as I will call them...nature is very cool!

And park benches are cool, too...

As are carousels...

And of course my little beach baby! She really had a great time in the sand and surf and only managed to eat a small amount of sand...check out some more pics of our vacation and a couple of Walter's graduation. And thanks for listening to my whining...I'm sure all of you parents have some vacation horror stories that make mine look like a day at the spa...

hello and goodbye

I figured that I better catch up before I left for the week...

And, I figured I should tell you all the good news...I'm in LOVE...with Spoonflower!
I received my fabric last week and I absolutely love it. It came out so well and I can't wait to do some more fabric related drawing.

My naked baby! Warm weather means naked babies...at least in this house. Estella has started to enjoy a good naked romp through the house after bath time...so silly.

My batch of Juans is complete!

They were well received, and I was able to start on some of my new ideas. The first one I tried did not turn out quite how I wanted it to. Oh well, I'll keep working on it and hopefully my vision will shine through at some point. I think that this week was a bad week to start something new anyways.

It's been a busy week...my big bro was up the beginning of the week and we spent a good portion of his visit in the car visiting family. Today Walter graduated the first half of the program! He graduated with High Honors and gave a great speech as the "student speaker". I've also been busy packing for our vacation! I can't wait to get away for a couple of days, and we've decided to leave the laptop at home and ignore all of the work that should be getting done. It's probably the best thing to do...if it's at home I don't have to feel guilty about not doing any work.

So, we're off to the Orchard...so you won't be hearing from me for a week or so. Hopefully when I return I'll be so relaxed and tan that you wouldn't even recognize me if ya saw me!

Dirty dirty dirt dirt

We are the proud new owners of a mountain of dirt! We're that much closer to a lawn!
Let me just tell you, this picture was taken at the beginning of Estella's introduction to the dirt pile. By the time she was done, she was so caked in dirt that I had to change the bath water halfway through her bath! She was having so much fun in the pile that I put aside my anal-retentive-control-freak tendencies and let her really go to town. Peanut also spent some quality time rolling in the dirt. They both were so happy, and had so much fun that I feel they'll be extremely disappointed to go outside and find that the pile's been spread out to make a lawn. A ginormous pile of dirt is way more fun than a lawn, right?

I've been moving forward on the Juans...it's time to sew them together and turn 'em inside out. All that's left after that are the shirts...which I'm dreading, but they've turned out well so far.

I'm making myself get them done before I let myself start on my new ideas. I feel like if I get started on my ideas, I'll get all excited and ignore the Juans.

So, we're actually taking a little vacation! We went back and forth about not doing it because we really don't have the money but we both really need to get away at least for a couple of days to unwind before the next round of stressful scheduling starts up.

We're going to Maine, to Old Orchard Beach. I figure maybe the boardwalk there will make us feel like we're in San Fransisco...at least we'll get to play some mini golf! We also managed to find a hotel with two bedroom suites...which means we may actually get some sleep while we're away. Estella sleeps so poorly when we sleep in the same room, and I'd like to come home from vacation more rested than when I left! I mean, that's the whole point... isn't it?

Another rainy day today! Is it ever going to be summer?

Oh well, inside time means crafting time...I haven't been able to start on any of the ideas that I had tumbling around my brain but soon enough. I've been working on my batch of Juans, and they're coming along quite nicely. I've also taken a break to work on a little drawing/design work.

I signed up to be able to test Spoonflower, and finally got my invitation to place an order. I'm going to have two fabrics printed to start with since it's a bit pricey. I'm not sure if having this fabric done interferes with my compacting or not. Craft and art supplies are exempt, as are services, but this may be pushing it a bit. What do you think? Am I cheating?

Really, if I am, I don't care. Any of you readers out there that sew and design, know that this is impossible to pass up. To be able to have something I've drawn be put on a piece of fabric that I can then sew with is like Christmas to my crafting heart!

I've decided to do one "grown up" more serious one...

and then of course a fun Fritter fabric...

I'm excited to see how they turn out! The image that you see is a 5x7 design which will then be tiled when printed. I will of course post pictures as soon as I get the fabric in.

There really isn't much else today to catch up on. Operation de-ghetto-fication has been put on hold...no more painting has been done and we still don't have dirt for the lawn... I got some salvaged wood for a project I plan to attempt so hopefully I'll be able to start that soon. Lately it seems to be a lot of big planning without a lot of big doing. Hopefully things will get done as soon as Walter's done with school...only two more weeks!

And of course, an Estella pic for good measure...at what point does laughing at your child for their lack of eating skills become cruel? At least for now she thinks I'm laughing with her not at her :)