Merry Christmas

So the girls have their handmades complete and ready for festivities. I would show you the dress without the sweater but its really cold out on the patio. It was Isabela's bright idea to turn the buttons to the front because it wouldn't be comfortable to sit in church with the buttons at their backs.



The fabrics are two colorways of the "Small Gathering" print from Good Folks, which should be available next month. Can't wait to show the rest, but for now I have some large gatherings to prepare for!

I wish for you everything your heart needs to have peace of soul and happiness this Christmas. And whether your Holidays are handmade or storebought or the same as last year and the year before, the blessings of the Nativity are unchanging! So celebrate, rest and enjoy!

With love and hugs from Tennessee, be back after a while, xoxo, Anna & family

Could a little birdie tell me....

...where I might find another sweet little chirper like this? I bought 5 of them last year, thinking of our little flock, and now, well, you can imagine I would be so glad if I could find another. The shop where I got them had them displayed with all the pretty glittery snow villages and such, but this year, no birdies. Sigh. It's glittery and sweet and has little wire feet to hold a branch nice and snug.



And it's big brothers and sisters are waiting for it here. So if you should know...? I would be so grateful. (Oh and that artwork in back, in case anyone asks, is from one of my favorite modern artists, Brian Kershisnik. Its called "father and son dancing" and I love it so much.)



Didn't Juliana do a beautiful job with these pictures? Think I might make it my wintry banner.

Hope you're warm, xo,Anna

Today's craving on last week's bargains

What? Don't you eat peanut butter and pineapple sandwiches? Never mind that, look at this cute plowl (kind plate / kinda bowl thing which I can no longer find a link for, guess they're gone)! I was here shopping about for anything that would fit, which mostly were rugs and dishes. Didn't need any rugs, and all my soup/cereal bowls are chipped up (kids and microwaves, kids and anything, really) so I decided to take advantage of the sale. I'm also hosting lots of family for soup and salad for Christmas Eve lunch, and I thought these would be pretty under a green salad sprinkled with pomegranate seeds. So I took 12 to the counter, then remembered the kids+anything thing, and went back for the remaining 4. A'course, I passed a few other things on the way, hang on let me get 'em.......

(takes sandwich and walks off)

(the cupboard is a full 8 feet away, and she might get hungry on the way)



(continues with mouth full)

...look! First, how darling are the new salad/plate things with my existing not so chipped striped dinner plates? I know! Anyway, I passed these print-y little petite bowls (for which I already have a few matching serving size versions) and I only then recalled that I had wanted to purchase them a while back specifically for grapefruit, bc they are the perfect size and shape. So I got those too. On sale? Nope. Twice as expensive as the plowls thrice their size? Yup. Where is the justice, I ask you. I of course used the sale of the one to justify the purchase of the other. Thats what we do.

(polishes off sandwich, puts another slice of bread in the toaster)



Oh wait, I thought to myself, if the plowls will play the part of plates (say that ten times fast), then who, praytell, will be acting as the soup bowls since the chipped numbers are getting booted out of the Christmas Eve play? Why twelve new latte bowls of course (center top)! Microwave safe.

The above picture shouldn't make me so happy. Yet it does, all the same. Chipped bowls included.

xo,Anna

ps, we can thank the almost constant dimlight & rain/ice sitch for the weird colors of the photos
pss, who knew it took so many words and parantheses to say I'm hungry and I bought dishes?

December Friday ~ home visit

~in my sketchbook~ Eleni and I recently shared some pencil time, and I was given strict orders to not cross the middle line. I wouldn't dream of disturbing the beauty on her side. She quickly looked away and got busy coloring again every time I caught her gazing at what I was doing. So sweet. She already has a little artistic pride.



~on my sewing shelves~ All along the back of my long sewing table, I have this 1"x6" plank of wood held up off the table by a few fabric-covered bricks. Works out great. Know what else works out great? These gallon-size clear jars for thread and such. Much better than bags spilling on the floor and getting dusty. Not that I would know anything about that.



~recently unhooked~ This sweater for Eleni that will go over her Christmas dress (which will be made from that fabric there which is part of Good Folks, which I will show you completely very soon. I'm going to make a dress length version of the Prairie Blouse pattern from my book.) For the sweet sweater, I got the pattern download from here, and it was very quick and simple to work up. It's still waiting for 4 covered buttons for the back loops. I manage to forget to buy the button kit every stinkin time I go the the sewing shop. Of course I already have every other size that I don't need in the studio.



~on my hook~ Same as above, but for Isabela. Its been moving a bit slower, because each night I settle into my nest I nod off, just about 10 trebles in. Every time.



~touching the ceiling~ I don't know why I always want it to touch the ceiling, it just makes me happy. Now that Juliana has gotten too big to be lifted by Jeff to put the star on we just let him do it while Juliana and I fuss opposite commands of which way to tweak it. There are considerably less candy canes on the tree than there were 5 days ago.



~on our branches~ This is amazing. We have a snowday today. We usually have to wait all through the winter to get some snow around here. Snowplay began at 6am this morning, and we now have movies and popcorn with one set of neighbors going in one room, oversleeping (read teenage) slumberers with another set of friends in another room, some still snowbooted children having cocoa on the back porch, and I've got one on the computer next to me. Last count, 9 kids in the house. Oh, ten. Sorry baby.



~at my feet~ Always. And even more so these days. Did any of you other expectant or already delivered mommy/doggie mommies out there notice a change in your pup while you were pregnant? Leo seems to think he's needed in the incubation process. If I move just 6 inches away, he'll come with me. He's already a doting motherbear. Good boy.

More tea? thanks for coming. xo,Anna

While the lights were strung, and restrung....

...a holiday story was playing itself out on the living room floor in which a very bossy, glittery angel was encouraging the others to gather snowflakes much faster to save.....something. Not sure what. I missed that part. Prolly cause 2 strands of lights stopped working once they were each 95% strung. I'm so glad Juliana is still in the newly licensed driver I'll-drive-anywhere-for-you stage.

good monday. xoxo. Anna

Technically Speaking

Well, it appears that very often here, I'm sharing what I am only momentarily working on, or that thing which I relished in only for a bit, but not what really is taking up the most time. So I thought I would share what is taking ALL my time these days. Technical drawings. I know. It's glamorous. And easy to put off here in the studio. There are services that I can hire to do this. But. Well. Part of me really enjoys it once I get going. Of course, I had to stop in the middle of my work this morning because, I really wanted to make a cute little layout of them. I don't know why, I just really started enjoying looking at them. Something about technical drawings of almost anything somehow is really satisfying. Maybe this will be our family Christmas card this year, since its the only thing I've been doing. (Actually that gives me lots of ideas....) Anyway, the above drawings are some excerpts from the Socialite Dress sewing pattern which is one of four that I am introducing here very soon. The goal is to get them off to the printer by year's end, and hope for some late January shipping on them. Thought it would be fun to share each of them one by one.



So here's the glamour part. Sweet Juliana smiling right through the savoury band of downtown Nashville characters who were across the street enjoying our photoshoot, and, well, verbalizing such. It was a quick shoot obviously when I finally had to free her from the funny street corner we found ourselves on. But isn't that wall pretty? Think I already blathered bout it here. Anyhoo, the dress. I've made about 4 of them for myself, 2fer Juliana, s'got pockets, easy going fit through the middle (which is working out just fine right now), a pretty structured neckline with yoke and gathers front and back. She throws a huge dark leather belt on her's and wears a cardy over it and it looks so cool. I'll have to show you that. Oh and this is it here too.

So that's the real work these past few and upcoming weeks. I'll show another soon!

Thanks again for more baby-news congrats, its funny how everyone catches it at a different time, since I've managed to mention and announce several times but never in a very obvious way. So in case you missed it last time too: I'M PREGNANT. And feeling great!

have a good weekend! xo,Anna

3 for me, 3 for you

Oh man. What a great weekend. I am in complete and utter denial that its all over, as sitting, eating, crocheting, playing, talking, laughing, watching and reading seem to be just exactly my pace right now. If I had to narrow the long weekend down into 3 best things, they'd be this:

*Toughest decision made: Do I crochet some more or let Juliana give me a manicure?
*Most thankful moments: Those spent watching my husband build the world's greatest treehouse for a mess of excited children. Particularly the morning we both awoke at 5am, unable to sleep so we got up, had quiet coffee and drew up more detailed plans for the treehouse and headed to Home Depot before anyone was awake.
*Most blissful interlude: Getting back in my warm bed in the middle of a cold night after (yet another) bathroom trip, only to snuggle into some seriously flippy and motorboat like motions dancing around in my belly. "Oh, hi", I said.



Now here's 3 for you:

*I finally have the new kitchen goods on the way which means its time to announce our winning Contributing Soup Editor! Here we go:

STEPHANIE, come on down! Stephanie of Loft Creations shared a yummy sounding Tomato White Bean Soup and will be soon showing off her cooking skills in a new apron and cleaning up her mess with some lovely dishtowels. Send me an email with your address, to claim your goods!

*If you'd like a chance to win Seams To Me or some fabric, Jennifer at Craftsanity, has just posted our 2nd interview podcast, so go leave a comment to enter your chance to win before Dec.15th. Listening to the podcast is not a requirement, 'less of course you just want to.

*Also, the fabulous folks at SewMamaSew have offered a chance to win my book as well, so go throw your name in the hat here. I think perhaps they will draw a name Dec. 3rd, so ya might wanna hurry!

That was all very linky.

Now, LOTS of you are wondering when you will hear about the MOTHER of all giveaways, and I am pretty certain that the winners will be getting contacted starting today. I should make clear that I am not in charge of this giveaway, just a happy and (mostly) innocent bystander, who is just as excited as you to see who's gonna win all this stuff! But I did also get it confirmed that the winners will be posted at the sweepstakes site next week for clarification. Exciting!

Photos above: images that I worked on for my new linens (available now) as well as some holiday home goods (rugs, stockings, etc.) that won't be available for another year. Sheesh, that's quite a wait. At least it wasn't too much of a stretch for my model to play with popcorn and cranberries this time of year. We'll be doing that for reals this weekend!

xoxo,AM