Summer Vacation Has Begun!

As of today Max's summer vacation has begun! This past Friday was his last day of 2nd grade, it's amazing how time flies........ On his last day his class hiked (about 45mins) to Roy's Redwoods near his school. This grove of Redwoods is very special to his class. During the school year every Friday - rain or shine - the entire class would hike to the grove to explore. This was called their Nature Day. Considering how sacred this place had become their teacher though it fitting that they perform their end of the year play there.

All of us parents gathered outside of the redwoods. The call of the childrens flutes beckoned us in and announced the start of the performance. Walking into the grove with the sweet sound of their flutes was truly magical.

The play was written by their teacher and was based on a Native American story.

This was the perfect way to end an amazing school year. I am so very pround of my little Max and can't wait to see what he does next year!

Time Off......

Greetings from Santa Cruz, CA. Just sitting here outside of Coffeetopia on my wireless connection, drinking my latte, with my son and two dogs.

Last night we decided to be spontaneous and take a drive south to SC. During the summer we often come down here to play. Lucky for us a friend has a studio apt that we rent for a song during the warm season!

Today we will be garage saleing and heading to the beach (once the fog clears)

More crafty news tomorrow......

In gratitude for what mother nature has given us.

A

Something Old and Something New......

I have been doing a LOT of machine sewing lately and a few weeks ago I finally came to terms with the fact that my "old Singer" was on its last legs. In truth it is not my "old Singer" but rather my husbands "old Singer". Many many years ago my husband and I friend started a clothing company. Instead of having someone else make their samples my husband made them himself. I am very proud to say that my husband is a very good sewer and initially taught me how to use his machine. It was an old machine when he bought it and it's even older now!

Anyhow, after many months of the machine shaking shuddering and violently stabbing mybeautiful fabrics I realized that it was time for "old Singer" to retire. The only problem was that 1: I didn't know what to buy and 2: I didn't really have the $$ to spend (especially with the threat of having to move looming). Number 1 was easy to handle, Judy at my favourite fabric shop (which is sadly closing its doors next week) informed me that I should invest in a Bernina. I was warned that unless you buy new, they can be very hard to find and expensive. Tackling 2 was harder - I held a mini garage sale (8 am - 11am) and raised just over $200.

Every day I trawled Craigslist crossing my fingers that something would come up. Many machines were put up for sale but only a few were Berninas and they were at least $400 and ancient!!

Last Friday morning I typed "Bernina" in the search box and lo and behold "For Sale: Bernina 1020, $125" appeared. This was it, this was my chance! I researched the machine and quickly sent an email to the seller telling her of my great need for a new machine and what a wonderful home it would have with me. Thirty minutes later my telephone rang and the machine was offered to me, she even bargained down to $100. One hour later I was on my way to sewing machine bliss. After 2.5 hours of driving I returned home elated with my treasure.

She is beautiful, with many additional feet, bobbins, a cover and all the bells and whistles I could want.

Here she is! My Bernina 1020

It has been a week and I am definitely intimidated by my new toy. Every day I read through the manual and try out a few new stitches. To help me get her mastered, yesterday I visited our local Bernina dealer and inquired about classes that they offer. I think that I may take some in the near future. While at the store I was pleased to find a very similar model (maybe 1008? I can't remember) with a few less stitches and features on SALE for $849.99 reg. $1200. Woo Hoo! What a deal I got on my 1020!

They say that money can't buy you happiness - and I fully agree. But I will say that after screeching in frustration at my old Singer while it knotted up/shredded my projects/vibrated and jumped up and down on my sewing table and then moving to my new machine that whizzes through projects with barely and sound and no fabric shredding - it puts a huge smile on my face. I cannot wait to tackle new projects that were previously impossible to try on the old machine.

In gratitude....

A

I'm Back!

I took some time off of blogging to put all of my energies into this crazy life I lead.... and some quilting. We have had lots of changes in our home recently and expect more to come. Just yesterday our landlord informed us that he has decided to sell the home that we are currently leasing! Needless to say I am disappointed and more than a little irritated by the thought of having to move, but that's life.

On a much more positive note, Max's Waldorf School recently celebrated May Day with a picnic, Maypole dancing and lots of fun. Here are some pics......

Dancing around the Maypole

Max in his May Crown

Dancing in celebration!

I havelots to share and will be doing so all week! I look forward to catching up on all of my favourite blogs.....

Another To Do - DONE!

Last week I decided to take a break from the computer, tackle a new project and finish another. During a trip to my local fabric shop I was admiring the quilts on display and resolved to make on of my own. Using tutorials from other blogs here and here I actually finished my very first quilt. It's a doll quilt, it's small, but I MADE IT! I was so pleased with my little quilt that I made another! The second one was larger with 12 squares and it turned out well too!

I did all of the quilting by hand and stitched in the ditch of the seams. My hope is that after a few more small practice quilts I will make one for our friends who are expecting a baby later this year. They don't know the sex yet but as soon as they do I'll get started.

I can't tell you how excited I was to complete my first quilt. I know that mine was a simple first try but I never though that I'd be able to tackle one at all. Yippee!

This is the other project that I finished in the past week. Her name is Ella and she's wonderful. She sat naked for a week and I finally worked up the courage to make her a dress. We love Ella very much and Max can't wait to introduce her to her new Waldorf Doll family.

Our Crayons..................

Yesterday as part of celebrating Earth Day, Max and I recycled some broken up crayons. I had seen this done on other people's blogs and after I found some silicone ice cube trays at the charity shop it was a must-do project!

After melting down the crayons we drizzled the wax into the tray, put the tray into the freezer (to help the wax harden) and VOILA!

New heart shaped crayons!

We are really pleased with how they turned out and can't wait to make more once we track down some more broken crayons. I thought that these would make a great gift or some fun items for a goodie bag. The brown heart shaped crayons look like chocolate!

Happy Earth Day

Hooray for Mother Earth! Max and I celebrated Earth Day by planting some flowers, turning off/unplugging all of our appliances (except for the major ones that had to stay on!), keeping the lights off, walking to the market and recycling some broken crayons into new heart shaped ones!

In gratitude for the earth and all that she gives us,