Wednesday, October 27, 2010

I've been working! Really!

I set a snap! Hooray!!!! Thanks to some lovely advice from this fabulous lady, I bought the right setting tool and can't wait to get the back logs of ideas out of my head and onto leather! ( do go visit, she has a sale and a contest going on right now!)
 This baby is the tester, I think she looks a bit like a sea horse, don't you think?




 This cuff will be finished soon, I have to sew the flower on, cut it out, and set the snap! YAY SNAPS!
And here's a little fox, the photo is crappy, I know, but I'm very excited about him! And his brother, he got a daytime scene!  I'll take better photos this weekend and pop them into the shop!


Hope you're having a wonderful evening! It's raining right now, I love the sound of raindrops on leaves, but I do hope the wind doesn't get too crazy!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Jack O Lanterns!









Finally having a porch to put carved up pumpkins on... excellent.

(the eyeball is mine...)

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Fall is drifting in

I finally had our chimney cleaned this week! The house smells of campfire, and I couldn't be happier.  I am now tempted to make tons of huge pillows to throw on the floor and lay in front of the fire and sip tea and cocoa.



I love this crisp season. It's one of the reasons I've not been posting, I'm too distracted by trees, sweaters and fireplaces.


Sorry for the crappy photos, I'm just excited about our first fireplace fire!!!

Blankets in the sky
















Taken on Independence Blvd. on the way home.

Monday, October 11, 2010

A good weekend

Our best weekends always seem to happen by surprise.  Take this one for example...


Yesterday we got up, I rode my bike to the leather store and gathered new supplies (yippeee! another belt to come!)  Then we went to the ReStore and thrift stores in search of various furniture (a bust)and moseying for good clothing finds (new dress & shirt!).  Then we wandered over to the chili cookoff, where we sampled some of the best chili I've ever had the pleasure of eating! I mean, WOW good! While we were there, plans were made to have dinner with some friends we haven't seen in a while, so I made pie and we spent the evening eating and marveling over their boy, who is now TWO! Two is too old already!!! We finished off the kid's movie that had been playing in the background an went home and went to bed.


Sunday we got up, went to a favorite brunch dive and headed out to the niieghboring county for more thriftin (yes, our weekends do revolve around thrift stores... why do you ask? teehee) and good old Sunday driving in the country.  there was a giant "small" banana split involved as well.  Topped off that night with a few drinks with friends and a whole lot of silly nonsense.  It was a delishious weekend.

A hat was finished, a bunch of photos taken and a vest was started out of the nummiest oatmeal colored wool I spun up last winter.  Can't wait for it to be done! The back is finished already!



I highly recommend not planning out your days off.

And now, some gratuitous hat shots. Except for the blue one, all the hats, especially the Who-ville hats are all up for grabs, let me know if one speaks to you and I'll pop it up in the shop with your name all over it!

xoxox




teehee! More to come!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Busy Busy

I've made two new cuffs... They're for you. I've finally rounded out this style and it is time to present it properly!  The Guitar Strap collection, if you will. I've cut each one out individually, and tooled them carefully and with much thought.

The first is a brilliant dark brown, honeyed in the center, and it simply shines.





This second one is my favorite saddle brown caramel color.  I adore this color, and am on a quest to find boots to match.  It's the same color as my Fall Flower belt.






Here are the first available to you, on the dear Etsy Shop.  Because these are so special to me, I'm going to offer free shipping to you, my blog readers!  Just mention that you're following the blog in the "notes to seller" and I'll refund the shipping charge via PayPal when your payment is received!  Easy as pie, that is!

Speaking of pie, I made the first apple pie of the fall season, mmmmm good!  Sadly, it was torn into before I could take a photo and it's just not presentable now.  My "secret" ingredient is freshly ground ginger root, about a thumb-sized piece.  And lemon, brown sugar, honey, cinnamon and a dash of vanilla.  All tucked into a homemade crust, you can't go wrong! I can't wait to make another, though I do try to wait for events and dinner visits to make pie, or else I'd be eating nothing but for months!

Monday, October 4, 2010

thank goodness for crisp air

Fall may have finally settled in around here. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, in case the heat re-surges. But the air is crisp and cool. The windows are open, light and freshness are soaking into The Bungalow. Contentment is oozing through me. I wonder if it's too soon to pull out my sweaters from the tub they've slept in all summer.

Water is put on to boil, I'm drinking the next to last bag of a hibiscus tea sent by a dear friend out in the midwest. I taste the difference between two local honeys, and am pleased the new jar tastes even more delicious than the last. I love my local honey. My trusty aqua mug awaits it's fill.

There's a chipmunk on a rock in my neighbor's driveway. I wonder if it is one that lives under the house, I've always loved those little creatures. They seem part sparrow, part squirrel. I hope it has enough acorns stored up for winter. I hope the leaves start changing soon. I need to clean the gutters out so they can be refilled by this season's leaves. I will have the fireplace checked out and wood ordered this year. There will be pillows and blankets in front of crackling fires this year.




How I relish this season.



This photo is from last year. yes, I did wear a skirt whilst cleaning gutters atop the Bungalow. You should try it!

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Fall flower








Here she is dear folk, my first belt. A labor of love for sure, but also determination. Mostly against the fact that I don't have the right tools to set snaps myself right now, which nearly put a damper on a small section of excitement. But luckily I got through that, and if I may say so myself, quite cleverly too!



She's a peachy thing, a delicate strength. I kept the imperfections in the leather when I was planning this belt out (if you'd call pretty holes and tears that). I kept them because they presented a bit of a design challenge, and tons of interest.


I said I planned this belt out.


That may be an overstatement. I redrew the flower over and over, but that's where it stopped. And that only happened because I got a lucky, sudden wind of perfectionism. I kept trying on the leather as I cut it. I probably
should've made a template. I probably should have practiced painting the flower on scrap leather first. Probably should've is boring.
I like -no- absolutely adore to the tippy top that I can work so intuitively with leather. Knitting takes a lot of planning some days. There's gauge, fit, stitches, patterns, cables... Lots has to be planned out. I prefer to fly by the seat of my pants. Leather kindly allows this raucous behavior.

There will be a second belt soon, and more cuffs, all with the same guitar strap woven closures. I adore this solution, and am happy that it has come to satisfaction so quickly. Happy October to you all, may your pumpkins be orange and your beer pumpkin flavored.