heylucy

pink & green

I don't want you to think I'm going to neglect Hey Lucy, just because I have another blog. I made a lot of things in December, so I'll tell you all about them this month. I decided to do a little quilting, and made a log cabin pillow with some of my favorite shades of pink & green.

It was part of my annual Christmas swap with Yvonne of Yvestown (I am a lucky duck, we've been doing this swap for four years now? or is it five?). Yvonne is a super good swapper, so I wanted to make sure I sent something worthy of her beautiful home. 

love

I hope you are all had a LOVEly Valentine's Day! We don't go to crazy around here, a bucket of KFC and maybe a card or some flowers is the norm, but Mr. HeyLucy was feeling virtuous yesterday and decided to forgo the usual fried chicken indulgence. We made prime rib instead, and it was delicious.

I have some happy gifts for you: a few fun little game links. Gatuno is a cute adventure game. You are a cat trying to find a sad little boy a Christmas present. Wrong holiday, but the sentiment is the same. If you find that one too frustrating (and there is a walk-through available here, in the comments), here's a super simple adventure created as a project by an animation student. The music and imagery are quite nice, even if it takes only about a minute to play the entire game. This isn't actually a game, but it's fun to watch (make sure you have your sound on!). Hema is a Dutch store that I loved when I lived there, sort of like a smaller version of Target. And the most imaginative of all, I've saved for last. Samorost is so original and lovely. It wasn't too hard to figure out, and the graphics and sounds are just so perfect. It's a nice little escape.

I've decided to do a small project or two towards the completion of my studio project each weekend, and use the rest of my free time for actually playing and enjoying the space. The projects for this weekend included putting up a shelf above my worktable:

 

I'll be using it to display art. I have a few things awaiting frames right now, and a tiny Amy Ruppel painting on the way, so I'll show more when things are nicely arranged and displayed. I also recently ordered some Black Apple paper dolls. I spent yesterday cutting and mounting them in Ikea frames, and I love they way they came out. I hung them right where I set up my ironing board when I need it, so I can enjoy them while I iron.

 

 

So far this weekend I've also finished knitting my latest scarf, made a couple more shot-cotton scarves for gifts, and started a new quilt. I'm planning on spending a good amount of time in my sewing machine chair, so I hope to have a quilt top to show you soon. The crocheted cushion is courtesy of one of my favorite internet people ever, Yvonne. It was part of our annual Christmas swap and I love it with the cushion I've got on there.

 

Now I just need to decide on a color to paint the chair. What do you think? Maybe it's time for an opinion poll.

Thanks for always bing so nice around here. A couple pictures from my home were recently featured on Apatment Therapy, which is incredibly flattering, but the commenters over there are awfully full of snark. I don't really understand why anyone would take time out of their day to criticize something as personal as another persons home, but I suppose it's their decision how they use their time.

mobile

I joined Elsie Marley's mobile swap and finished up my mobile this weekend. I have to say, mobiles are not easy to photograph, but you can sort of get the idea.

This is going to live in a little girl's room, so I decided on butterflies and hung them from blossom covered branches which you may remember from last Easter.

It was a bit tricky getting the butterflies to hang straight, but overall I like how it came out, although the photos don't really capture it very well. Now to find a box to ship it in...

resolve

Happy New Year! I know, we're already a week and a half in. I was lucky enough to ring in the new year with my sister and Mr. P, who we're in town last week. It's always fun to be a tourist in your home town once in a while. I'll have a seperate post with all the touristy things we did. There are lots of pictures of pandas and fish, since we went to the zoo and Sea World.

Now that I'm recovered from that little adventure, I've been busy, busy, busy. So, it's time for a little catch up I think. I have a few projects in the works, and lots has been happening. First of all, there was the Third Annual Christmas Swap with Yvonne, who made me the cutest apron. It was just meant for hook number two. I wore it the day we cooked a turkey while my sister was here. It's so very perfect, I love the little pleats on the bottom, and it's super long, it went below my knees, which is quite a feat for my 6 foot tall self.

One day I will take a picture of myself while wearing it. Which brings me to the New Year's Resolutions section of this post. Historically, I'm not a huge fan of making resolutions. I did, however, make some progress last year on my plan to take better care of myself. I made a few changes to my diet, and without realizing it, lost a few pounds. So now I'm more motivated than ever to make even more healthy changes. I checked this book out of the library, and am finding it very helpful. It's not a 'diet' book, exactly, and there are no eating plans or suggested foods, it's more about changing the way you think about food and eating. So far it's helped me stay very motivated, and I've already lost nearly 4 pounds this week. There are several exercises you do, so of course I needed a special book for writing down and completing those exercises, so I made myself a couple pamphlets along with a special paper folder to protect them. I used more of that lovely Amy Butler paper. I love how they are all double sided and coordinate so nicely.

I also recently added to my bento box collection, and I've been filling this little box with vegetables to dip in hummus for an afternoon snack.


I love the quirky translations.

And the biggest news of all:

Sally laid her first egg yesterday. I'm not sure if we'll be brave enough to eat it.

mama's got a brand new (camera) bag

Santa came early, and I must have been really really good this year, because I got something I've been wanting for a very long time. Santa also said that I could start playing with my new toy right away, so I have been. So far, I've just been using the auto settings, but the results are pretty darn good. My little Olympus point-and-shoot has served me well the past four years, but this little baby is just amazing. I took some pictures last night, which I never would have attempted before, and then this morning, it was grey and drizzly, but I still couldn't stop myself from snapping away. I can't wait to try it in full daylight. Click on all the pictures to see them big!

This is a cross-stitch I did years ago, and always pull out for Christmas.

A light supper last night, under the Christmas tree. I got my swap package from Yvonne yesterday, and did I rip open the caramel-ly stroopwafels? The spicy-sweet speculaas cookies? Oh no sir-ree, it was the beautiful wedge of cheese that I had to dig into right away! When Yvonne asked if I had any special requests, I jokingly told her Leidsekaas, please! And she sent a nice big chunk of a similar cheese from her home town. It is so good! There was much more in that pretty pink box, but it will have to wait until I can take some daylight pictures to truly do it all justice. 

Today is our secret Santa gift exchange at work, and I was lucky enough to draw the name of a fellow knitter, so I made her a needle roll, the first one I've ever made. It came out pretty cute, I think. I hope she likes it. There's also a yarn store gift certificate, so even if she hates the needle roll, she should be pretty happy with the rest of the gift.

 
Last week I picked up a frame at Ikea for my poster from Victoria. I was going to hang it in my laundry room, because I could use a little reminder not to get all worked up when I have to spend my Saturday doing five loads of laundry, but it looked so good in the guest room, that I think I'll leave it in there. I do need to take it in and get the mat trimmed down a bit.

And one last picture. Every time it rains, the logs from the tree we cut down a couple months ago get all mossy and green. I love that color.

the best package ever in the history of packages

Yvonne and I now have an annual Christmas swap tradition. This is our second year, and I love that we do this. It started out just being about magazines, since I can supply her with her Martha fix, and she can send me beautiful European magazines that I can't get here, like this one.

But now we add all kinds of treats, and how amazing are all these good things? Sometimes it's spooky how much she gets my taste, and we've never even met in real life. First of all, egg cups! I didn't even think that I must have some egg cups ready for when the chickens start laying, but that is just brilliant, and of course they are the prettiest egg cups ever.

Then she made me all these nice things that I actually really need, like a needlebook. I've been wanting to make myself a needlebook forever, and just haven't gotten to it. I have all my packages of needles in a plastic bag. This is so much more efficient and elegant. And she also made a knitting needle roll, and I think that is even some very special Cath Kidston fabric, which I just love. Especially with those red knitting needles in there. There's even a matching drawstring bag full of treats like stroopwafels (oh how I love stropwafels!) and kruidnoten and some other sugary treats. She even included Cath Kidston tissues, not that I'll ever be able to blow my nose with them, they're so cute. Of course I just love the fuzzy pink stocking too! The little blueberries are just the cutest!

I can't thank Yvonne enough, and like she said to me in a recent e-mail, this is a damn fine tradition! :o) I look forward to many more years of Christmas goodiness!