Portabellopixie

Just plain Gorgeous

I've mentioned that Dustin and I are planning on relocating to Oregon and that we stayed after market for a little site seeing.  Here is one of the reasons we are so enamored with the state.  This was driving down a random road.  Stuff just growing there.  Not because anyone planted it-just because it's growing there!  (We don't get a lot of that around here.  ;)

And this-oh how beautiful.  I took this right out of the car window LOL.  It reminds me of the opening scenes in The Princess Bride.  I always said that I would find a place that looked like that to live when I grew up.  Well, I think I'm grown and guess I need to find that place!

Strawberries

My memory is particularly sensitive to smell.  And when it comes to strawberries, I don't think there is another smell that brings back more to me.  (Maybe Old Spice but that's a different story.)  I remember picking strawberries in my Grandma's backyard patch for years and years.  Hundreds and hundreds of bright red juicy tasteful nuggets.  So I knew that when we planted our garden, there would have to be a strawberry patch.

Every morning, my kiddos run out and search out the berries that have turned red enough to be picked.  I used to try and ward them off so we would be able to actually pick enough to make shortcake or something, but not anymore.  They love it-and I remember how happy I was being given free reign in my Grandma's strawberry patch so I let them at it.  They run back in every morning with their little squishy hands full of berries and we wash them off and they eat them for breakfast with some toast or cereal.  Some really good new memories in the making.  :)

On other notes, I just received an email from the crew at Better Homes and Gardens telling me that they have started a new blog - Better Blog.  They were writing to tell me that they were linking my blog-how flattering!  I adore their magazine and know thier blog will be chock full of inspiring posts so I thought I would pass it along to you guys.  :)

They Just Don't Last Long Enough.

The left side of our long driveway is graced by a beautiful long raised flower bed.   It has a bounty of flora that was already here when we got here, and is also home to my Mother's Day plants.  It's a happy place.  :)

Sandi

The Before

I know, more unnecessary teasing.  No after picture yet.  Well, I am in just as much suspense as you are on this project.  Anyone out there ever recovered something?  I think I'm going for the slip method, not the real recovering thing.  See, we have two kids and the idea of throwing a slip cover in the washer appeals to me for some reason.  I've never actually done this though, should be interesting!

I'm happy you guys are excited about the flannel!  What fun will be had, there are so many projects that can be done with flannel.  We're working on getting a few more project ideas together and eventually a website will be up and running.  No TBA date on that one yet.  It's coming though.

Several people have emailed and said the Hancock's of Paducah has Ginger Blossom up for pre-order.  I'm not sure what the shipping date is for them, but it appears that they are the first to have it up.  The colors are a little bit lighter in real life, the pictures in the Ginger Blossom photo album are pretty darn close.  At least on my screen. 

Speaking of those pictures-you guys are welcome to them.  Share them on your blog, use them for a store newsletter, website or print them out and stick them on your refrigerator!  They are there to  help inspire and be useful for those selling the fabric.  Help yourself, so they say.  If you need one in a bigger size for printing, feel free to shoot us an email!  I'm happy to help, or to at least put Dustin on the job.  :)  He's my helper.

Wish me luck on that chair, I actually have two to play with.

Sandi

Corn

I must admit that when I planted those tiny 4 rows a few months ago, I didn't think we would actually be eating corn come fall.  But look what's on the menu for dinner tonight!  Right from our backyard.  Actually, the kids are munching on them right now, I didn't even get the chance to cook them.  Which is actually very nostalgic to me.  The one memory I have of a family garden is that it was a big flop (sorry mom and dad) but that for some reason the corn grew and my dad and I sat in the yard eating raw corn one fall evening.  Ahh memories..

A bit of This..A bit of That

Sorry for the lack of writing lately.  You see, I've been busy!  My in-box (and mailbox) is overflowing with mail begging to be returned, and I just have to say I'm sorry.  You are not being ignored-and you are not alone.  I promise!  My re-strikes are here, and looking more smashing by the day.  One more round and we should be good to go.  So that's where I've been-pouring over colors for the last 3 days.  Then are on their way back out the door today.

I did make a quick trip to the craft store yesterday (in search of good color-so it was legitimate.)  Look what I came home with.  (Up there..)  You probably thought there were from the garden, huh?  Nope.  These are fakies.  But the best fakes I've ever seen.  These are the kind that actually feel like real flowers and go for about $9 a pop.  These were on clearance for $1.  They have some fuchsia ones that I may go back for..hmmmm.

I've signed on for a few other projects that will take up some of my time over the next week, so I may be a tad silent.  We'll see how the week shapes up.  But, I will share my newfound blogging love with you all.  Well-you guys are so smart I'm sure you all have it figured out by now, but I'm kinda slow on techy stuff.  Bloglines.  This is my new best friend.  I actually signed up for it a long time ago but didn't figure it out until just recently. 

Go on, click on it!  It works, and will take you to bloglines so you can sign up for a feed to my blog.  And any other you fancy.  Then you just hop to the website and click on the "Feed" tab and it will show you which of your favorite blogs have been updated.  Pretty cool huh?  I like to actually read on the blog (prettier) so I click to it from there.  I can't even begin to tell you how much time this saves me in a day.

Let's see.. what else is new?  I've ignored the garden the last week and went out this morning to see how it was faring and ended up with enough produce to last a week.  Fresh spaghetti sauce is on the menu tonight and I'll provide pictures and recipe tomorrow probably.

Oh and local bloggies and friends-come on over for some cucumbers-we have lots to share.  ;)

Speaking of local bloggies-I had the fun opportunity to go thrift shopping with Jessica and Melissa the other day.  Oh it was so much fun!  They have the same taste as me-and it was refreshing to go shopping and not have people look at me like I'm crazy as I was reaching for "old" things.  These girls are super talented-both etsy girls.  And Melissa amazes me-she just ran a marathon months after having a baby.  Wow.

A little more...

Turquoise.  Remember how I said I was looking for the perfect bed to complete the scavenger hunt for bedroom pieces that started way back here?  Well, the quest has been conquered, the battle is over, the victory is mine.  I finally found a bed!  There have been no shortage of beds that I loved, mind you-they were just all the wrong size.  But the other day at our local thrift and gather, I found a wood, 4 poster bed, Queen sized, for 20 bucks.  Woohoo!  So Dustin and I set off stripping, sanding and refinishing the pieces I had found.  All in all-the bed, night table, dresser and chair only set me back $65.  Over a year of course.  ;)  I just had no desire to go to a furniture gallery and buy pieces that would hold no meaning to me.

Anyway, you only get to see the end table.  I love it.  Like-if it were a man, Dustin would have some serious competition for my affections.  :)  I love that it was the first piece I found that started the quest, I love the color, I love that I bought the little knob at my first trip here, on a fun trip with this one and this one.  Each time I look at it I think about them.  :)

So where is the rest of the furniture?  Sadly I'm holding back on them.  I have a quilt planned out of the fabric that is going to bring the whole thing together.  There is a website in the works, and I'll be sharing it all then.  I can't spoil everything right now can I?  But I couldn't resist sharing this little piece and it's story.

Oh, and I was having a hard time creating the look I was after, so I eventually came to this trick-it worked wonders!  Take 1 part paint, 1 part water, 1 part crackle medium and mix it together.  Rub it on over your base layer of paint (this would be the turquoise) and let it slightly dry.  Rub it off in the opposite direction you painted it on.  The crackle medium is what ends up coming off because it's kind of rubbery-you can make this as drastic or as subtle as you want.  My contrast color for this is brown, and putting it right on the turquoise was just too drastic.  This works perfectly..and then I sanded the whole thing down a bit more.

:)

Sandi

Working Gardens

I have come to the conclusion that there are two types of gardeners.  Social and working.  Last year, our first gardening year, we were social gardeners.  "Oh look at the pretty garden, we grew that!"  Hmm..but do we dare eat it?  Nah..it's too cool to eat.  :)  Or maybe a little too scary?  Actually eating something you plucked from your yard?  It's a concept that takes some time to get used to. 

Well, this year we are big, bad working gardeners.  We eat what's in our garden.  I haven't bought a single tomato, carrot, cucumber or pea this summer.  It's totally awesome!  And we have massive rows of onions to tide us through the winter.  I also have some acorn squash getting nice round and fat.  The kids can't go outside without snacking on strawberries or raspberries.  It's great-a little piece of do it yourself right in the backyard.

Who else gardens out there?  What should I try next year?  This year we have carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, acorn squash, corn (which is getting totally huge and we joke about making our own crop sign), strawberries, peppers, and beets.  I think that's it..

Thank you for all the interest in the fabric for sale!  You guys will either hate or love me, but I realized I forgot to add about 8 lots to that link.  Here is a new updated one.  I took off everything that sold yesterday as well. 

http://www.practiceboard.com/?6787044

:)

Sandi

Garden Wonder

OK, first off I need to clarify something about last post.  I think I've made an impression that I won't be posting on my blog anymore!  That's not happening-when I said I was ending Portabellopixie, I just meant that I would be ending my selling of custom clothing on ebay.  The blog will still be here!  And the brand Portabellopixie will still exist.  I am thought processing a national line of children's clothing out of my own fabrics..Hmmm..but if it happens it won't be for a long time, probably a year or two.  My hands are quite full right now and I can't handle it yet!  But you will be able to purchase Portabellopixie kiddo digs again.  Fret Not!

Also on the topic of that last post-I'll do the drawing on Thursday just to give those once a weekers a chance at the apple!

Sooo...I love my garden.  I have been raging war on the life sucking weeds like there is no tomorrow.  As I am out there in the sun-I am mentally writing posts about Morning Glory that strips my flowers of their virtue and crawler weeds that eat my strawberries.  (If you are laughing at my de-flowering reference,  you would have loved how I accidentally declared myself a lesbian in church last week.)  But it's all worth it-Gardens are great. 

I don't know if it's my inexperienced hand, but there is an abnormality growing in my flower beds.  Can anyone tell me what on earth this pumpkin shaped protrusion is doing growing where there is supposed to be an Iris?  I am half tempted to whack the thing open to see what it really is, but more interested in seeing what it does!  Has anyone seen this before?!

Sneaky Character

Here is a little more character for you.  I found these vintage apple bowls on ebay.  They are the perfect shade of pale green.  Just enough yellow in them to not be Crayola.  I have been SO in to color lately.  Studying it-playing with it, really experimenting with "designer" color.  In designing fabric, I try really hard to come up with colors that are not ordinary, but you will still be able to go to the store and find ric rac and thread to go with it for your project.  When I would pick a color, I would literally go around to different craft stores, fabric stores etc..and see if there were things it could go with.  Paints, buttons, yarn etc..  I love color.  White walls don't stand a chance in my home. 

On other news-I have an interview up on Boutique Cafe!  It's a podcast, so you can actually listen to me talk.  :)  It was so exciting to chat with Daria again (we met at the Girl's Getaway weekend.)  I yacked her ear off about going to market, my design process, my patterns, meeting fabric celebrities, how to go about getting started in the business and on and on.  Daria is awesome, she has the most adorable voice and is so genuinely interested in the people she interviews.