and they are making their way into many of my projects and the shop including a new Fall scarf;

and 6 new dolls. Let me introduce you to Yeva, Nesha & Fayina;

Olenka;

Anya;

and Inessa;

Thank you for the words and photos!! i hope your little ones enjoy their new loves.

Today is;

but the sun beckoned us to the beach anyhow. We bundled ourselves and i still nearly blew away;

Before mamahood i would spend many cool and windy Autumn days & evenings cozying myself up with my crafts and my wine. i still like to do these things but cooping up with a toddler is a ridiculous feat. i insist that we breathe in fresh air every day and i actually prefer the beaches now that we have them mostly to ourselves. We also get first dibs on all the cool beach treasures;

The seagulls however are not so thrilled to have less picnics to raid. This guy was doing some close fly bys, anticipating crumbs from our croissants;

O Wild West Wind

Thou from whose unseen presence the leaves dead

Are driven like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing,

Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,

Pestilence-stricken multitudes! O thou

Who chariotest to their dark wintry bead…. Shelley’s Ode

Never have i forgotten these first lines which come to mind promptly this time of year. i was lucky to have had a most passionate English Literature teacher in high school who had us bundle ourselves the first windy day of Fall to go out and yell these lines into the wind. She was awesome!

With the wind has also come the seasonal sniffles. It seems that everyone around us has been hit, myself included.

We’re laying low.

The morning is damp and mild. We are enjoying.

ritual;

spelt pastry pie;

gardens;

found treasure;

play;

Are you also enjoying?

evening update; the sun came out and we enjoyed Go Fish with Auntie&Uncle.

I scrambled a little this morning to put together a gender neutral gift for a friend’s baby shower. i came up with a moopy variation (meow), a giraffe onesie and an ever favorite felt ball. i thought i’d never been to a shower before but that isn’t entirely true; there was my sister in laws about 20 years ago and more recently Kathe’s ‘about to pop party’ and i had a birth blessingway which isn’t really like a shower… Anyhow, my friend’s party was lovely, well organized and with ample food and treats. Color wise i did alright. She’s having a boy!

Time is fast and there are lapses in my recollection of the newbie stage. i remember feeling pretty overwhelmed and fatigued…has much changed? ha! No really, a lot of the early months are a blur and i’m grateful for all the “documentation” to tweak my memory. So to my friend expecting her first babe, my blessing is this; Aside from having the most beautiful birth you imagine and dream of, i wish you all the time in the world to just take it all in and enjoy.

Of all the softies i’ve made Little A loves baby bear the best. i can’t remember who he’s from even. Is that horrible of me? Baby bear arrived amidst many newborn gifts from relatives on papa’s side in Scotland who i have never met. Too many new family names to keep track of at the time when all i wanted was to adore my sweet bean.

He is pretty sweet isn’t he?

Happy day to have met up with my beautiful and lovely friend Lisa for coffee yesterday AM. It has been far too long and i hope with fingers crossed that she moves here soon!!

i must share with you all what a talented artist she is. Some of my favorites;

and i love the little peeks into her sketchbooks;

i’m so proud of my little munchkin! He’s really surprised me with his ease and comfort in these most recent swim classes. I don’t know how many of you read my woes back in the summer but it was not so smooth or fun. The kids and parents are great this time around and look; goggles!

i have been stashing this small bit of Heather Ross fabric for some time and finally put it to good use along with this hemp corduroy. The beach side has your typical sunbathers and some sweet little scenes of kids building sandcastles and burying each other in sand. The swim side is my favorite with a little guy being tossed into the water, a happy turtle and other buoyant folk. Little A’s new swim tote;

Hanging out with a favorite neighbor and friend, rockin’ out for all the neighborhood to hear;

…these are themes i love to play with. i have been working on various projects and many at the same time. i had plans, organized ones, to complete sets of scarves, crowns, more dolls and then post a ‘heads up’ but i realize that is not going to happen quite like so. The shop has been updated with what is complete and photographed. There is more to come without eta. Sorry to be unorganized. i invite you to check back frequently if you’re interested in updates. Keeping a blog and shop takes quite a lot of time away from actual crafting. Don’t get me wrong, i like all aspects of this playland i’ve immersed myself into. it’s easy to wander in blog land, inspired by many great writers, photographers, artists. i just wish i had more time to see, read and do it all. Time is precious, especially with a toddler. i’ve been fortunate enough that Little A has been taking afternoon naps and i’ve also been so lucky to have had some free childcare last week - a couple hours here and there to putter, play, sew & complete those WIPs and voila! fun things that make me smile;

i read an article last evening; “Balance, Posture, and Movement” which took me back to a thought i had years ago; that whole food and healing should be a course offered in high school and yoga should be a mandatory course beginning in grade school. Eurythmy is a new concept to me since beginning Waldorf with Little A but the more i learn the more adamant i feel that this should be practiced in all schools. Little A slouches, always has and perhaps he’s learned it from me as much as he may have imitated a slumped over bear friend from babyhood. i’m curious to see how eurythmy will influence his posture and sense of self.

The city of Vancouver is still on strike, the library is still closed, we are still perusing thrift stores in search of book finds and the other day we found this;

i wasn’t sure what Little A would think of it but after an afternoon in the yard of being a pine tree, sparrow, cat, cobra, alligator, lion and so on…he’s hooked and it pleases me to hear him say, “let’s do some yoga!”

i made Little A a mushroom tote and he wants nothing to do with it. “it doesn’t have enough blue on it”, ” i just like my apple tote“, ” i don’t want it, give it to someone else”. Ungrateful! oh well. Such is the mood of my snotty nosed boy with a cold. I’ll see how he likes it when he’s feeling better. It just might be gifted to someone else who is hopefully in a better mood.

Simple tote with slightly different measurements from Lotta’s Simple Sewing. This is a pretty fantastic book and should i find the time there are a number of things on the ‘to make’ list;

On the topic of craft books, Amy Karol’s is another new favorite full of great ideas and patterns. i have seen numerous clutch purses and i have been wanting to come up with a puppet theater pattern for a long time. Now i have no excuse and hope to have one made for Little A for Christmas. Lots of time right? oh but it will creep up quickly. Already we’re half way into September and i have not yet thought about a Halloween costume. This will be Little A’s first year to dress up and he wants to be many things. He’s enjoyed handing out stickers and honey sticks to the many costumed kids in our neighborhood in previous years and while i doubt he’ll want to knock on stranger’s doors i think he’ll get a kick out of dressing up and knocking on a few friend’s doors. We’ll see, i imagine i’ll have dress up too…. So what are all your thoughts and plans for Halloween and costumes?I’d love to hear some ideas.

Today is crisp and i just want to cozy up and drink coffee all day;