kennedy & friends

a playhousewarming party...

yeah i know i have abandoned my poor little blog. just hang in there my faithful readers, 6 more weeks and i will have more time to create and post. how about this little house? last year's christmas gift is all finished and have been played in and loved much. i invited some of my friends and k's friends for a little housewarming party of sorts.

for a party to start off on a good note, we need sweet invitations, and i found the perfect ones for this day.

and here is a view of the little house. i can't tell you how many times i hit my head on this front beam. k's friends were so kind and gave her the sweetest doll first aid kit, a fun rug for the front door, cool cups, and the delicious cupcakes below.

they played and played and played. the girls get along so well. oh and i did invite boys, just just could not make it to the party. k's friends can't be any prettier. not possible!! and each with such sweet personalities.

some vintage and wooden toys (from the playroom). just the perfect little cozy place to hide, play, and have her own little world.

a long while ago i snatched this vintage iron crib, is it perfect for this tiny house or what? i will post other pictures soon. the house is not that big, so it is hard to get a good shot sometimes.

there's even a mail box to send letters to friends!

i hope you enjoyed the tour of k's little place! we have to thank mr. handyman for the craftsmanship in building this fun place. i still need to make some little curtains and a add few more details. but that can wait a little while longer.

also thanks to melissa for such kind words! i never thought of myself as brilliant...but i gladly accept the compliments!

one a not so related note: i went to see brightstar, excellent movie! after the movie i bought a john keats poem book and am trying to read it and comprehend his words. my favorite movie quote is: "My stitching has more merit and admirers than two of your scribbles put together...and I can make money from it." perfect quote for a seamstress. 

Happy weekend!!!

have a seat and stay a while...

this is my newly reporposed living room. i have been meaning to photograph it for several weeks and finally found the time to do so. before i take you on our little tour, let's have a cup of tea. the menu today is mint orange tea. ahhh, so refreshing.

the sofa belonged to my husband's grandparents. they gave it to us and i got it recovered to suit the style of our home. when i found this perfect fabric my heart skipped a tiny beat. i immediately thought of how i could use it on this piece. and wow, i love the results! the ottoman was a gift from my mother-in-law. she snatched it for very cheap and i sent her the fabric to get it recovered. it makes the perfect coffee table. are you loving my crazy fabric combination?

the view from the back is even more amazing. the two chairs you see in the background also belonged to the grandparents. they are gorgeous ethan allen chairs i put my touch on. again, different fabrics. as you can see i'm not that much into super matchy matchy stuff. i did like matching once upon a time. i think i remember a pair of pink jeans i loved to match with my pink converse. i looked like a walking bottle of pepto-bismol. needless to say i no longer care for the color pink. oh the things we do!

the headdress on the mantel came from brazil. i got it in one of our expeditions down south. it was made by natives from my state. can't remember the tribe. it is made with macaw feathers. this is the typical ceremony headdress they wear. i had it perfectly framed in brazil. by far, one of the favorite pieces of art in the home. if you have been reading my blog for a while you will remember that i have several native brazilian art work around. most of them are paintings.

and now the resulting pillows of last weekend sew-a-thon (not the two big ones in the back, those are from pier 1). and you might get to receive one next week. this is where i seat at the moment, nice and cozy with sweet little pillows.

i did the embroidery while i was in dc. they turned out exactly how i had imagine. as much as i'm crazy about anthropologie, this beats paying $98+ for a pillow.

and if you leave a comment, you might be a lucky one to win this little guy (below). he is my favorite, but i will part with him. hopefully he will make a great addition to your living room. i will close comments 9.18.09 at 7PM CST. and one last thing, if you read my last post you know the rules. i like rules.

now that we had our tea and you had a little tour. i best get back to my lovely books. stay tuned because there is something very cute i made for two lucky little girls, one is staying here for my lucky one, and one i will give away. i'm sure you will like it! tchau for now!

still here...

hello there neglected blog!  i'm still here...just too busy to sit down.  my to-do list is a mile long and i'm tackling one check mark at the time.  bags are not packed yet, but i will pack soon.  leaving for D.C. on saturday.  no tears yet, but they will come with time.  on a cheerful note, i must admit i was giddy to watch the new moon trailer.  i know, i know, i had harsh words for twilight, but they deserved it.  i have a littel faith this will be a better movie.  so here is a sewing project for the spring (it was done many weeks back and just now in use), a new table cloth thingy.  it was a sew as you go project and i used a ruffler foot to make the ruffles.  humm i like that, ruffler to make the ruffles.  oh do you see the china cabinet? my mother's day gift.  very antique and beautifully refinished.  ok, i do have the best husband!  and how about my thrifted mirror?  came painted already.  well, the plates from anthropologie where gifts from my bff amber! yellow birdie on the tray was a sweet birdie package surprise from kellie.  i love them all girl!  well, that's all i got.  i will try to make one last post before i leave.  i have no idea how blogging will be when i get there.  if i can just get there and find where i will live will be awesome.  my dream these days is that i got there and could not find the place and i was late for the first day at work.  can you say, A-N-X-I-E-T-Y?!

sweet slumber...

you saw the bookshelf and now you can see the rest of the room.  it is finally done, everything in its place and i'm so happy about it. 

now you can see where k sleeps.  sooo sweet.  her bedding as i said before was designed by lori marie and it is from pottery barn kids.  the pink owlie is also another one of lori's creations.  you can also see where the chandelier is.  still pretty yummy!

this is a place for slumber and very sweet dreams.  it came out exactly how i wanted.

abby has her own bed to sleep in.  and she also has a nice little wardrobe.  for sure i get to have all of the fun decorating!

these little outfits where all handmade, not all by me.  i only made the little knot dress.  such a cute collection.

i tried so hard to photograph these curtains.  there are two sets.  the set on the back that you can't see is so charming.

how about a double duty dress, serves as something to pretty up a pretty girl (if that is possible), and also a decorating piece when it is not in use.  the dress is from one of my fave clothing lines, lemon loves lime.  

a magical room such as this had to have a magical branch with owls, birds, and butterflies.

k's little cloth dollie emilia.  i confess kennedy could care less for emilia.  so she only sits as a decoration piece.  she would much rather play with her babies.

anna and kaya again.  they have to share a bed.  abby gets a bed of her own.  not by my determinations though.  i don't make the rules in the room.  i only clean up after. 

whimsical print from vanessa.  you can find her lovely work here.  it adds so much charm to the room. 

this mirror is another of my spray painting jobs.  we have had it for a long time and i did not like the color anymore.  give me a can of spray paint and i make anything new.  the glass apothecary jar holds k's bows and hair clips.  the little garland was made out of my huge pile of fabric scraps.  i had to put them to good use.

another bird cage.  this one we have had for a while now.  again.....spray paint.  it was only $3 and i put the nest and birdie inside.  see the things you can use to decorate and not have to spend a ton of $$$ them?  my biggest thing is to make something look great without looking cheap or crafty.  you know what i mean?  well, i hope this room will inspire you.  i know i'm always inspired by children especially my little k. 

sweet dreams little one...

neverending shelf arrangement...

i have arranged and rearranged this shelf about 1000 times.  i don't know.  i keep moving a thing here and a thing there.  i think i have it looking just how i wanted now.  the shelf is from target it was a gift to kennedy from her grandparents. 

the little girl reading print is from sarah jane.  i adore all of her work.  the little mushroom was a gift from mette.  the clog shoes was a gift from my husband when he traveled to the republic of georgia.  the books i picked up a few weeks ago.  i found a used bookstore close to our house several weeks back.  i got all three books there for $5. 

this little matryoshka print is from tsk tsk.  the birdcage was a flea market find for $3.  it was a really ugly color so i spray painted it. 

this adorable owl was a gift from thalita dol.  this pretty owl came flying all of the way from RIO!  as you can see we love her thalita!  thank you for your kindness. 

the adorable owl crown was a birthday gift from cakies.  the suitcases are from paper source.

this little pull-toy was a lucky winning giveaway from katie at matsutake.  this is such a unique item and made by such talented mama.  katie was on the martha stewart show not so long ago. 

this is a small part of kennedy's book collection.  she loves to pick up a book to "read" in her own kennedy language. 

well, that's all i got for today.  i hope you all have a wonderful Easter.  i'm trying to finish up k's basket gifts from the easter bunny.  she will have a big easter egg hunt tomorrow at school and we plan on having a nice easter lunch at home.  planning to work on a playhouse this weekend.  we have had such nasty weather that we could not work on it anymore.  hopefully we will finish it up soon.  i can't remember and am too lazy to look at my older posts, but i think i have told you it is a bit more finished than it was the first time i posted about it.  the house has singles on the roof, and it all walled in.  it even had a porch.  you will see it all soon.  i plan on having a spring house warming party/ tea party for kennedy and her girl friends.  i want to do it before i leave for d.c. 

how do you like my new banner?  i'm so proud of myself for having drawn this little k drawing and actually finishing up the embroidery too.  hope you like it because it will stay up for a looong time!

coming up for air...

wow...what a crazy week already.  it has been a roller coaster.  but here is something that calms me down.  another pillow in the making.  now back to studying.  i'm counting the days until the end of this semester.  i hate wishing my life away, but it has been very stressful to say the least!  i do have some very good news though.  i have been accepted as a summer intern at the national institutes of health and will be in washington dc this summer for several weeks.  this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and i will be working with the best in the world of biomolecular research.  to be more precise i will be in the neurological and stroke section of nih.  yes i have a lot of planning and organizing to do.  i don't have a ton of details yet, but i know everything will fall into place.  anyone living in the d.c metro area? 

don't you think i need a few more skeins of embroidery floss? papa could not believe this jar when he saw it.  he said....geez how many millions of dollars do you have in there?  i told him to relax, they are only $.33/skein and I usually get them on sale.

candied chandelier...

so i told you i'd show k's valentine's day present.  now we all know she can't quite appreciate this gift.  but i can......lol!  she did look at it and said "that pretty!"  so maybe she can apprecite it.  i saw one  here forever ago and i thought one day i'd like to have a pretty candied chandelier somewhere in the house. k's room was just the perfect room for it.  i will show you the rest of her room when i'm finished putting it together.  we painted it and things sort of never got back where they belong.

this chandelier is from pottery barn teen.  i got it on sale and i think this is a really good price for such pretty chandelier.  the beads are a mixture of glass and plastic beads from hobby lobby.  i also put some buttons and some crochet and wood beads.  the crochet and wood beads and from a necklace i bought at target.  ultra super talented zee gave me the idea of buying it and taking it apart.  so i did and i love every bit of how it turned out.  the flower details are two satin ribbon hair clips also from target.  i just clipped them onto the chain. 

i can't stop staring at it.  it looks like something i could eat...yummmmm!

things for a girl...

another one of my 2008 projects finished.  the pile is getting smaller by the week.  i have had this pillow cover sitting around for a while now.  i was inspired by this.  i got tired of looking at it in my pile and decided to go ahead and sew it up.  and this is the finished work. 

while i was at it i also finished this quilt for k.  i used a nice quilting flannel on the back to provide more warmth.  per instructions of a friend i used warm and natural batting and i will never use anything else.  it worked like a charm. 

and this is the back of the pillow.  i serged the inside and even put a zipper on it.  what do you think???  not bad , huh? 

this weekend we went to kansas city.  i gotta tell ya that i love that town.  i think umkc is calling me name!  no, really, this is  great town.  especially now that they have one of these .  it is the closest to us and we love eating there.  i stopped at anthro for a little while but left with two plates only.  i'm really scared about this country's economic future.  i know i know, positive thoughts, but come on, feet on the ground too.  i can't pretend i don't hear the news or i live under a rock.  i just hope smart people will do smart things.  we need it, bad.  the world needs it.  sorry i don't mean to bring bad news.  so, i wish you a wonderful week.  and yes the problem isn't going away overnight but perhaps we can begin to prepare ourselves for what is to come.  i have today stopped buying any fabric or craft stuff.  i have enough things to make stuff for us for the rest of the year.  so from now on, anything you see won't be a result of things i have just purchased.  i will make do with what i have already.  later my friends!

k and her friends...

talk about a labor of love.  it took me a while, but little by little i finished this project.  some things were from a japanese embroidery book, some things i drew myself.  you can see sonya playing with a butterfly.  look at my little k...isn't her dress so cute?  i will admit that i'm obsessed with hand embroidery.  do you know of any treatment for this condition?? i know, more embroidery!

i did a few things with the linen after i embroidered it.  i stapled it onto a canvas and put a coat of modge podge glue on it to seal.  modge podge glue applies white, but dries clear.  i'm ANTI things that collect dust and i can't clean.  so, this way i can wipe the picture down if it ever became dusty.  it also helps to keep it safe from someone's little fingers trying to pull the embroidery out.  i'm debating on framing it or not.  i hung it in k's bedroom and i will show you the rest of the wall when i'm finished.  it has a few other things hanging.  soon, my friends, soon. 

i will work on a couple of other sceneries.  one for the playhouse....which is not done yet.  it does have a roof with shingles and it is all walled off.  we just need to work on the trim, door, and paint.  it has been just too cold to be outside anyway.  i hope we can finish it all by the spring so we can enjoy playing in it until it gets cold again.  well i'm glad this week is over!  i hope you have a beautiful weekend!

call it pretty, wip...

this is my little work in progress.  i'm waiting for the most important piece to arrive in the mail.  these colors make me giggle.  especially after seeing white for so many days.  i can't wait to finish it off. 

as i'm here trying to balance things and planning for what is to come.  everything i think of is always so big and some might even say, out of reach.  however, they are not out of reach.  a little quote from paulo coelho's book, the alchemyst, "when you want something, the whole universe conspires in your favor."  i love it!  may your week be as cheerful and bright as the colors on this picture!