earth day birthday

happy birthday, three, originally uploaded by varenia.

My firstborn daughter. My apple-girl. My earth day baby. Three years old today.

Please, don't let her grow up so fast, seems like just YESTERDAY I was holding her, newborn, all pink (ok, red) and round and rosy and so overwhelmingly feminine, even at birth.

We did all the sweet girls favorites, decorated for her party, hit the beach (balloons in tow, of course), finished the cake (pink raspberry with strawberries on top, yum), read lots of stories, colored, colored, colored, and partied. Quite a fiesta.

This mama is all tuckered out, but I'll post the post-beach party pics tomorrow, when I come down off my sugar high/crash and burn. What a great day.

the grass is always greener...

The Halter Dress in Grass, originally uploaded by varenia.

Finally, after a few mock-ups, I've finished my retro-inspired baby halter dress for Spring/Summer. I LOVE this bright green (grass, I call it) and the turquoise and gray. So lovely and fun for the sunny weather. The best part is the reversibility, as any mama of little ones knows! Dirt on your dress? Stuff on your shirt? Just flip it around! I have other fabric choices in the works...

Simple Crafting

The Simple Bib in Mums , originally uploaded by varenia.

Today was a low point in my world of sewing and crafting. I worked so hard drafting a pattern for a summer dress, and nothing was coming together. UGGHHH. I was getting so frustrated I just had to step away from the project for a little bit, and decided to switch gears and do something totally different for awhile, so I whipped up this bib for the shop. Turned out pretty cute, especially for an everyday simple bib, the type of thing I like to throw on Piper casually as she decimates whatever I place in front of her. I'm pondering creating a second type of bib for the shop, something nicer, more of the going out to dinner or having a birthday variety, with chenille backing instead of flannel... Feels good to be productive even in the midst of a complete pattern-drafting-sewing-coordinating disaster.

the birthday post

Happy Birthday to Me!, originally uploaded by varenia.

Celebrating birthdays always makes me feel so blessed, by family and love and abundance. The aquarians took over the household this weekend, and we had such a blast partying hard like a 5 year old. Or a 1 year old. Or a 3-in-two-months kid. Yes, we had to sing to dear Apple, too, who just couldn't quite grasp why both of her sibs got candle blowing time, and singing to, and she didn't. So we sang away. So sweet.

I can't quite grasp that my dear, handsome first-born is FIVE! That seems huge to me, full-fledged little boy-ness for sure. And of course, the little babe, precious Piper. Cheery and smiley and toddling around like a little duckling of a one-year-old. Divine.

In a way this is more of a New Year for me than January 1st, I feel like this young, growing family is shifting gears now, moving and morphing into something even more magical every day. I also have my new shop up and running, on Etsy, and I am sure that will prove a challenge and a creative outlet for me as well, something I am really embracing right now.

the birthday pinafore

the piper pinafore, originally uploaded by varenia.

i finally finished this darling (if i do say so myself... sorry, i'm so hard on myself when it comes to my sewing, but this one really makes me smile) dress-slash-pinafore for piper's first birthday. i love just about everything about it, including the fact that it's completely reversible to red and cream colored polka dots on the other side. you know how i am about polka dots.

and almost as exciting, the completion of this dress has prompted me to go ahead and open the etsy shop i've been pondering for quite some time. i've already set it up (there's a link in the sidebar directly to the shop), but am still working on getting my listings together. yay! to start it'll be primarily blankets and select pieces (like the pinafore) for babies and toddlers.

belated post

owl-dog in simple tote, originally uploaded by varenia.

i've been meaning to post a photo of the tote and owl-dog i crafted for a young friend's birthday, so here they are. they were a lot of fun to make, i got so attached to the softie i almost didn't want to let it go... :). luckily, my little friend will probably let me visit whenever i want.

placemats

placemats in the works by mama and apple, originally uploaded by varenia.

apple and i have been working on placemats. they've been one of the most enjoyable projects so far, very free-form, and simple, and such cute results. i think i'm going to stretch out of my comfort zone and quilt and bind them. we'll see how it goes. i'd like to have them done before rye's birthday, on friday.
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i really, really heart heather ross

i just caught a sneak of the new fabrics coming out in may. good thing my birthday is in may, i know what i will be asking for! the mermaids are my absolute favorite, and i am seeing some new curtains for the living room, maybe in the seahorses, in a blue and brown colorway. yum yum.