Handmade Home: It's clutch

It's gradually starting to feel like fall here in sunny California. There are subtle changes that tip you off, like it being a little darker in the morning time, or cooling off a little sooner in the evening; then out of nowhere it's 90 degrees and the sun is once again high in the sky.

To help cope with the small seasonal transitions, it helps to really embrace the change by changing what you embrace...

Book Report: The Witches

Roald Dahl's The Witches is one of my favorite books from childhood (and The BFG!). I love that his books are so imaginatively off-kilter; he manages to combine the fantastically impossible with the wise, the humorous, the tragic, and the grotesque. I mean, one of the children gets turned into a chicken, and then her family eats the eggs she lays. Um, that's super gross and demented, but it works in the story. (Other kids are turned into pheasants and killed and eaten by their neighbors. Dang, Roald Dahl.) Plus, this book teaches you how to identify witches, and we all know how important that is, especially at this time of year...

Insta-sista

Hey, I won this third place ribbon at the Washington State Fair. Third place in a category with three entries + a participant ribbon? Pride of the Nicolai sisters. Well. Now that we have an idea of the competition, we're going to bring it next year. 

Made and Found: Lisa Frank Art

You know you love it. Every 80's and 90's kid loves Lisa Frank. I've been re-fallen in love with Lisa Frank over the last couple of months. It happened when I moved and with all the packing and unpacking, I decided to dig through my sticker collection (I have so many leftover collections from my childhood).

Peanut & Purls and head colds...

I have a raging head cold. The kind of head cold that prohibits you from feeling like a normal person of completing everyday tasks like walking, moving, and breathing. I tried to get some knitting done while I lounged, but even that proved too much at times. These pictures were taken this weekend before I felt really gross.

Handmade Home: Rhododendron Embroidery

Progress Report: Rhododendron Embroidery

So I have been dragging my heels on some projects, maybe because of the time intensive nature, or because I have been trying to focus on the greater 'home' picture...