{ hoops }

I've been looking for some ideas on how to decorate my sewing/crafting shed (thank goodness for Houzz and Pinterest!). I came across this little gem of an idea for how to make some use of some scrap fabrics:

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Now to find myself some wooden embroidery hoops!

{ under construction }

It's been a while since I've written but we've been busy working on our shed.

We spent a few weeks pouring over the design and drawing multiple iterations of plans. We also met with a few contractors and settled on a recommendation from our neighbours. Two weekends ago, D and some of his friends tore down the old shed, dug out the foundation area, built the frame for the concrete and during the week the concrete was poured. 

Two days ago, our contractor built the shed frame. 

Yesterday, they put up the remaining OSB walls.

Today, they're working on the roof and wrapping the structure with a vapour barrier.

We've selected a double solid door for the left side of the shed and for the single door on the right, we've selected a door with a glass insert in an Oak Park-inspired design. Not the door below but the same design of glass.

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For the siding, we've selected a cedar shake style in khaki.

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{ mother's day }

Yesterday was my first mother's day and D and E had some lovely surprises up their sleeves for me, including:

Finger painted artwork by E (with a little help from D). I'm going to put these on display on this shelf we have along the staircase to the basement.

Gluten free belgian waffles which D picked up as take-out from Starving Artist and we added our own toppings to them. A little peaches and whipped cream and a little bacon, whipped cream and maple syrup.

We spent the day picking up some groceries, buying a deck box to store outdoor cushions in and watching Howl's Moving Castle while E napped.

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For dessert, D picked up a Louis XIV from Patisserie la cigogne. It was beyond delicious and almost too beautiful to eat...almost.

While I didn't get to see my own mom, I will see her next weekend as we say farewell to our family cottage which just sold 4 days ago and will belong to someone else in less than 2 weeks :( I'll have to start saving my pennies (or nickels since the penny will soon be extinct) so that we can buy our own family cottage some day.

Back to the topic of Mother's Day, it was a wonderful day and a relaxing weekend. I am loving this motherhood thing and all the time I get to spend with my little E while I'm off work.

{ drop me a line }

Each time I login, I see the traffic increasing on this blog - it's very exciting. I'd love for you, dear reader, to drop me a line in the comments section of my posts. 

I never know if the page views are by robots or people but I'm hoping it's the latter. I'd love to hear from you!

{ must have }

I just discovered some fabrics that are amazing and I had to share because: 

a) they're cool; and 

b) my maiden name is the same as the designer's last name. 

Jorja Wilkinson designs some amazing retro-inspired fabrics featuring flora, fauna and animals.

Source: Jorja Wilkinson Design

Here are some of my faves:

All sourced from Jorja Wilkinson Design

She also has a collection of pillows, notice boards, lampshades, reusable shopping bags, stationary, tea towels and aprons.

Jorja is based in the UK so I'm going to have to figure out if I can get my hands on these on this side of the pond.

{ steven & chris }

A couple weeks ago, the group of moms I've been hanging out with had a morning out while the grandparents or friends babysat our little ones. We went down to CBC for a taping of Steven and Chris and it was SO much fun. 

Source: CBC

We were seated front row centre so were excited to see the show air this afternoon and catch a glimpse of ourselves on screen. 

( I tried to take a screen shot but the video on CBC's site is a bit jumbled )

My favourite segment was the gorgeous backyard seating area that Suzanne Dimma, Editor in Chief for House & Home, designed. One lucky winner went home with the pergola!

While I didn't win the pergola, I didn't walk away empty handed. I won a Style at Home bathmat, and a basket filled with some towels, bath products and an amazing bathrobe. And everyone in the audience went home with a Decantus wine aerator!

{ sew lovely : baby pants }

I don't know what happened to the post I wrote last week about this, it seems to have disappeared from my blog. What I wrote about originally was how I had accidentally shrunk one of D's sweaters and was hoping to turn it into some pants for E using this tutorial with some modifications.

Yesterday, I tore myself away from the massive pile of laundry while E napped and got started! I used a pair of his 18 month pants as a template because I want him to be able to wear these next fall/winter.

Once I had cut the leg pieces out, I, turned one right side out and placed it inside the other, that was inside out, to stitch up the seam that sits between the legs.

Then I folded down the waist about a 1/4 inch and sewed it down before folding the waist band down entirely and sewing it, leaving an opening at the front to feed the elastic band through.

After feeding the elastic band through, I secured the two ends together.

Then I sewed the waist band shut and made a non-functional tie at the front to give the illusion of a drawstring pant. I used some Liberty bias binding for this - it has a cute print of blue cars on it.

One of these days, I'll get around to unpacking my camera cable and get to take some really nice photos with my camera. These were taken with my phone - sorry about the quality!