Double Gauze Hippo Top

Another Simplicity 2193 Double Gauze Top. Here is the 1st one. They both are getting lots of wear here in wonderful weather California:) If you've not felt Double Gauze before let me tell you, it's lovely. Super lightweight and soft. It's two pieces of gauze sewn together or something like that. Perfect for summer. I again lined only the bodice in batiste and no interfacing. It makes it perfectly stable. The hippo fabric is by Kokka.

This is the 1st thing I sewed the minute I could get in my sewing room and sew! 

Felt Woodland Mobile

 

In 2012 I was pregnant for a 3rd time...then wasn't. I miscarried very early in the pregnancy but not so early I didn't have time to make or buy stuff for the baby. This is one of the items I made and even though there will be no baby #3, I will keep this and hope one day my girls can use it for their babies.

 

The mobile use to be a pottery barn one that both girls used but I have no idea what I was thinking when I bought it because they have much cuter ones for sale or I could have made my own! Here is a photo where you can see the old one (sort of). I used animal/bird/mushroom/tree shapes from varies books and googling. All is wool felt and the tree has poly beads at the bottom of it and poly fill in the rest. It still plays the same music as the original.

Leaf art

Leaf art is soo cool! I love it. Here are our inspiration pins:

here, here and here are just a few.

The girls and I collected leaves and after showing them the inspiration pictures they painted them. I put them too close together to draw legs on Emily's so she made hers sea animals.

I glued the leaves down with hot glue and they painted with acrylic paint and sharpies.



How stinking cute are these? I want to frame them. I might take them someplace and have them scanned in then printed and framed. Those leaves are going to become brittle and fall off I'm sure.

Thorner Peg People

Let me start by saying: I am not an artist. I can't draw or paint to save my life (It's true Corinnea! I can hear you in my head right now!). My talents lie elsewhere..blah blah blah. But I really wanted to do these for my friend Steffi in Germany before I left. I should have finished them way before they packed up our stuff instead of the week before and I should have bought the bigger ones. These are tiny but I have since ordered and received the large 3.5" ones. Much better (these vary from about an inch to 2 inches)

Steffi has 4 kids and a big dog named Zoe. I am very proud of Steffi's outfit because she's German so she ALWAYS has a scarf around her neck and she has a tank top like this and cardigan. She wears her hair to one side a lot and loves flowers in her hair. 

Left to right: Zoe, Mia, David (twins) Hailey, Tara, Steffi and Josh.

The above picture is how I packaged it for her. Josh didn't have his pockets, button or fly drawn on yet.

These peg people were bought on Amazon (link here) but the new ones I got are from this etsy seller and they are nice and big. I used one doll to practice on a lot, trying different things. I also used a black fine tip marker when I needed to outline in black and a white pen for the white stuff.

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In other news, we survived our move from Germany to San Diego! Jon is in school in another state but other than that we are enjoying being home. Feels like a vacation though and I'm eating like I'm about to leave again:)  I'm staying with my parents for a while till my apartment is ready. The weather has been unbelievable. I left Germany mid January wearing a jacket to my knees, ugg boots, beanie and gloves. I get here and immediately put on shorts.

And one other little tiny thing. Ava turned 6!! We flew here on her actual birthday so we had a little party the following weekend and my sister flew in from Sacramento! Best gift ever (even though it wasn't my birthday).

Going back to Cali..

I really cannot believe I have not blogged once this December until now. I have a really good reason though. We are moving back to San Diego in about 3 weeks! Jon will go to Korea for a year while me and the girls will live in our hometown then after that year who knows? Germany again? D.C. area? Who knows! It has been the worst move ever for us and soooooooo draining emotionally and $$ and about to be physically when they come pack up our 16 thousand pounds of fabric household goods:) Never ever move during Christmas. We got our orders the day after Christmas and have to be out of here by mid January. Nice huh?  It's a long story but to sum it up, we have been trying to get our orders since before October.

*below is our Christmas Cards from this year*

What have we been doing? Visiting friends back in Stuttgart, 

Kelly from my old work. She's one of the last from the original group of girls still working there.

Below is our friends from Stuttgart also. Jayery and Andreas. Jayery babysat Emily from about 1 month to about 3 years and Ava a little bit. And Andreas was Jons roommate in the Barracks before I arrived in Germany. We will miss them.

A lot of embroidery that I need to photograph. This was the perfect craft project to take outside and do while hanging out with my friends. We put my swing in the garage and sit there every single day at 2 with coffee. It's awesome and I will really really miss them.

one day of snow

Just a cute photo of the girls titled "the unsuspecting bathers".

Sewing little stuff to keep me busy while we waited for orders and our house was already half in boxes. The movers are supposed to do this but I'm a little anxious to get this done so I started boxing stuff at the end of October. 

Got this knitter for Emily but really I enjoy it more. It just makes these tubes but I'm so anxious and uptight lately that it's nice to do this while watching t.v.

Got this super cool wolf-eating-granny at Ikea

And Mendocino Feathers! I made 3 large ones and 3 small ones.  I have made other things but all the motivation has left me for now. I just want to get this move over. Not anxious to leave Germany and all we've known for the last 10 years but anxious to get on with my life and get Jon back from Korea. I want to blog again and sew and all that good stuff. I might show up again with stuff I've done over the last couple of months or you might not see me again till I'm in California!