Happy Saturday, dear Readers, and welcome to October (My favourite month!) How was your week? I’ve got a quick little post for today because I wanted to share a couple of links with you all.
The first is this calligraphy course I’ve signed up for! I’ve always wanted to learn calligraphy, so when I learned about this modern brush calligraphy course, by Becca of The Happy Ever Crafter, I was so excited to join! I’ve got my supplies ready, and can’t wait to learn a new skill. The class starts on Monday, so there is still time to join if you too want to learn calligraphy!
And the other link is to this article from Verily about the recent Persuasion Netflix film. I didn’t watch the movie, and had no intention of doing so, but I did really enjoy this examination of why this “modernized” version of one of my favourite Austen stories was such a miss, and how Hollywood fails at presenting different kinds of heroines.
Well, that’s all I have to say today. I hope you have a lovely weekend, whatever you’re up to!
Happy Saturday Dear Readers! Here are a few things I’ve been up to in the past few weeks.
Thankful For- Tea parties with friends! We served Earl Grey Tea and Vanilla Cheesecakes with sugared pansies on top (this recipe, but with an almond crust). So pretty!
Reading– Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas. I recently read a different book about WWII and was interested in reading more about Bonhoeffer. And then when I visited a second hand book shop a couple of weeks ago, I found this one.
Loving– This adorable tiny little “fairy egg” or “fart egg” one of our hens laid. It was so small, yet was perfectly formed with a little yolk and everything! (Read more about fairy eggs here.)
Watching– So many home decorating channels on Youtube. I’ve been especially enjoying XO MaCenna renovating a 1910 fixer upper and Lone Fox working on a 1929 Spanish Revival home. Do you know of any other good home decor channels?
Making– Refinishing an antique dresser! It’s taking a lot longer than I first anticipated, but I think I’m going to love it once I’m done. If I ever finish it, that is…
Eating– Veggies from the garden; tomatoes, peas, cucumbers, potatoes, carrots…home grown produce is so delicious and flavourful!
Hope you have a great weekend, however you spend it!
Happy Saturday Dear Reader! It’s been a crazy week for me. I’ve had a lot of projects on the go, and a deadline to finish them for, because I am away at my friend’s wedding today. (I’m writing this post a few days before.)
I finally, with the amazing help of my mom, committed to making a bodice block/sloper. I tried doing this years ago through a Craftsy class, but it didn’t turn out well and I couldn’t figure out how to fix it. But, I found an excellent new tutorial on Youtube here, and it was a pretty straightforward process.
With a few fitting muslins, which we were able to do with the help of this tutorial, I now have a sloper that fits me pretty well. Once that was complete…I was then able to finally do some sewing for myself! That’s a sneak peek (at the top of the post) of what I’ll be wearing to the wedding this weekend. I’ll share some outfit photos soon.
When I haven’t been sewing, I’ve also been doing some woodworking projects…well my dad built this one, and I stained it. I’ll share it in a future post too. Next week I want to start on a refinishing project that’s been taunting me for a while. I had to get the sewing projects for the wedding out of the way, but once I get back, it will be time to get out the sandpaper and work on something a bit different!
Speaking of the wedding, here’s how I wrapped the gift. I wanted to try Japanese furoshiki, but the tea towel wasn’t soft enough, so I just folded it and tied with some twine. I included some of these recipe cards by Jenni Haikonen in the gift- they are so pretty!
I also sewed some more baby clothes a while ago and tried out a new style of dress and felted shoes, so of course I have to share them here. The dress turned out OK, but I’m not sure the bodice is the right size, so I decided to buy this pattern that I can customize in different ways. Baby clothes are the absolute cutest!
Well, that’s what has been keeping me busy lately. I can’t believe it’s already the middle of August. It doesn’t feel like summer should be almost over, and I’ve still got so many projects I want to work on while the weather is warm! I’d best get busy!
How has your summer been? Does it feel like the summer has gone by fast or slow for you? I hope you all have a lovely weekend, whatever you’re doing. ❤︎
And some more flowers today…the garden is in gorgeous colour right now. This is the first year that the plants are really starting to fill in and my mom has done a lovely job of staggered bloom times, so we’ve got even more flowers coming soon. We’ve also had a lovely summer so far with rain and sun, but not too hot, so the plants (and me!) are very happy.
And… that’s all I have to share for today, I hope you have a lovely weekend!
Hello and happy Saturday Dear Readers! How was your week?
Here is a round up of some of things I’ve been enjoying lately, paired with some photos I’ve take over the past month. I love all the tiny leaves and cheerful flowers at this time of the year, don’t you? It’s been lovely watching all the flowers and leaves slowly open, the birdsong floating through the air, rain showers and the quiet and busy hum of the bumblebees as they go from bloom to bloom…
What I’ve been working on: a sewing project that I’ve had in the works for several years… I finished it and will be sharing it next week. It’s nice to finally be able to check that one off the “to do” list!
As I’ve been sewing in the evenings, I have been listening to the audiobook of “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens. It’s one of my favourite books- I listened to a recording of it a few years ago, and decided it was time for a re-read/listen: I’m about 2/3 of the way through now. I don’t particularly love reading Dickens, but I absolutely love listening to his stories! If you decide to read or listen to it, just make sure you don’t start the final 1/4 of the book in the evening, otherwise you’ll have to stay up until 3 AM to find out the ending! (That’s what I did the first time I listened to it- I was very tired the next day, but it was worth it!)
I’ve also just finished reading “Facepaint: The History of Makeup” by Lisa Eldridge. It was such an interesting and in depth look at the history of makeup from ancient times to the present day. I enjoyed not only the text but also the photography, and the photos of all her vintage makeup collection. Why don’t more makeup brands today make pretty packaging? There’s so much boring plastic out there…
I have also been borrowing some more decorating books from the library, and “For the Love of White” by Chrissie Rucker was another good one. Most of the homes in the book are too modern for my own taste, but I think it can be inspiring to look at decorating styles that fall outside of our niches. Sometimes we can get in a rut, with home decor, fashion… anything really, if we focus too narrowly on what we already know we like. Curated Instagram feeds and Pinterest boards with suggestions of photos “you might like” can, over time, stifle creativity, whereas seeing new things, styled in ways different than we normally would, can be extremely inspiring. I’ve always grown up in homes full of colour, and it’s taken me a while to realize that I actually really like White as a colour, not just a neutral, so this book (full of homes from England) was particularly calming and lovely!
Of course I loved this article from Evie Magazine all about the lost art of fine china, and why we should all have a set.I wholeheartedly agree!
This blog post, from Farmhouse on Boone, taught me something new. Before the days of refrigeration people had so many ingenious methods of food preservation, and water glassing eggs is one of them. My mom has chickens, so maybe we’ll try this in the future? I love discovering new-old ways of preserving food!
Well, that’s all for this week. I hope you have a wonderful weekend, whatever you have planned!
