Friday already! It has been a welcome blogging break for me, but I have enjoyed reading about everyone else's adventures (I haven't quite weaned myself off the computer yet). This week's recap:
- Iron & Wine and Calexico were fantastic! Surprise guests: M. Ward (I almost peed my pants) and James Mercer from the Shins. I felt a little guilty when we came home at 1 am and Miles was reading a book in the living room with the babysitter (thank you Michael!!), but I got over it. Such a great show.
- I didn't make all my projects from my list, but I did make myself the fall handbag.
- Halloween costumes are in the works. It took most of the week to just get M&M to make a final decision on their costumes. Miles wants to be a ghost, because, "that's a REAL Halloween costume." He didn't want anything to do with my interpretations of a ghost. He wants just a straight-up, old-school ghost costume. We're not doing a sheet with holes in it for eyes, but we're not far off from that. Mia would like to be a flower exactly like the ones in the Martha Stewart Kids magazine. Easy. I might even finish their costumes ahead of time which would be a big first.
- Highlight of the week: I met Maria from port2port and her husband. They were so warm and engaging and fun that I just wanted to pack them up, take them home and prop them up on my couch so I'd have them available to talk to all the time. Maria brought me these beautiful cards from her letterpress:
- We spent a great afternoon at the pumpkin patch despite the fact there was a traffic jam getting there and back and sort of slim pickings out in the patch (note to self: go earlier next year). We did enjoy corn on the cob, caramel apples, farm animals, hay rides, piggy-back rides and shopping cart rides:

- I bought some brussels sprouts on the stalk at the pumpkin patch, but when I cooked them, they were just enh. This week I'm salivating over roasted cauliflower.
- Still haven't found that perfect copy of The Borrowers. Mia is on a Frances kick this week anyway (she's trying to learn how to make her food come out even).
And my back-tack partner received her package! I was paired with Diana of Clementine's Shoes. I was totally thrilled, but intimidated as Diana makes the most beautiful bags. I really had a great time putting a kit together for her to learn needle and wet felting techniques.
I made her a tote bag (of my own design, but greatly influenced by ones I've seen in Japanese craft books), a lined pouch (sorry, no pattern either) for holding wool roving, and a pincushion in wool felt for felting needles. The leaf fabric I used came from a quilt shop in Healdsburg, CA and I do not know the manufacturer (my mom said it was Japanese). I paired it with some Kaffe Fassett stripe, and a scrap of polka-dots I received from my sister. The pouch has an upholstery-weight linen on the bottom. I lined everything in a solid apricot color. I also included a foam pad for needle felting, a variety of wool roving, felting needles, a wooden bowl that she can turn into a felted pincushion, the book Simply Felt, and some other felting info. and instructions. Diana just got engaged, so I added a copy of Martha Stewart Weddings.
So glad I decided to participate in this round of back-tack! I am excited to receive my package as well. My partner has outed herself to me, and I know she's going to come up with something that will knock my socks off!
On tap this week: Carving pumpkins, trick-or-treating, a day trip to Seattle to pick up my sister's artwork from Schmancy, start thinking about holiday and birthday gifts. I am not one to plan ahead. I make everything at the last minute (although I am giving myself props for getting that back-tack package to Australia on time). When I see people posting about Christmas projects and gifts, I'm amazed. I'm just getting into the Halloween mindset. We have two kids birthdays to celebrate and are traveling out of town for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, so I better get cracking.
Have a great week!