Hart 2 Heart

Thanksgiving Traditions

Been married for more than a couple decades, but it's taken a while for our little family to adopt many new traditions. But we've got one now! "The Wednesday night before Thanksgiving apple pie making tradition!"

The boys are in charge of apple peeling. Andy used to do this by hand with a paring knife, but since we got this amazing apple peeler from my mother in law last year for Christmas, Emmet can do it. Nothing boys (and men) like more than a cool gadget. He peeled 10 apples in like 5 minutes! Bring on the pie!

Andy was in charge of coring the apples, with another pretty cool device. It comes with a plunger, so after you've cored the apple, you can shoot the core across the room. Nice.

Look at those beauties! Andy says they look like skateboard wheels. One track mind.

In the mien time, I made the pie crust. Notice I'm wearing my cheater glasses? Seems I wear them all the time now. Used to just use them for tedious hand work. I'm in denial. Coming up on a very large birthday. Anyway. . . back to the pie.

After slicing the apples in the food processor, I added the spices and was ready to assemble. 

Some decorative leaves. . .

A little egg wash and some oven time . . .

. . . and voila! It was all we could do to keep from starting a new "Eating the pie before Thanksgiving tradition!" My family thinks this is the best pie ever. If you'd like the recipe, just leave a comment, and I will make it happen.

Falling Leaves

As usual, I started my holiday with cookies. A special customer requested Thanksgiving cookies, so this is what I came up with.

I have no classic fall leaves to look at here in so. Cal. so I had to use my imagination.

Now that the cookies are done and delivered, it's time to get Thanksgiving dinner moving. My turkey is brining in the fridge, and I'll be making my family's favorite apple pie tonight. It's nice to be doing something non-business related for a couple days. I may even make some Christmas presents over the long weekend.

Hope you have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving with those you love!

A Very Good Day!

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, although I'm quite fond of all of the meals. It's even better when breakfast is prepared by someone else, especially at The Omelette and Waffle Shop.  If you are ever in San Pedro, you must stop by.  

We've been coming here for 18 years, since we bought our first little house, a block away from the restaurant. It was probably our first outing with our baby Emmet, 12 years ago. It's a great family style diner with delicious food that's not at all "greasy spoonish". For years I would order the number 7 omelette--asparagus and avocado with cheese sauce and fruit on the side, and whole wheat toast. OMG I'm hungry, but I digress.  

Anyway this is how we started our Saturday. The day got even better when I returned home to find a special parcel on my doorstep!

I tore into it before I could take a picture of the lovely wrapping, but this is what I found inside:

. . . a beautiful selection of bark cloth fabrics from the very generous Susan of Vintage Susie! She had noticed my love of bark cloth on my blog, and we've been corresponding ever since. This one's my favorite:

I love pictorial bark cloth, especially landscapes with trees. She was even sweet enough to send along a special gift:

Thank you Susan! Check out her site. She does lovely work.

Well, that my friends, amounts to a very good day! 

So much to say, so little time.

I'm back from the desert, after yet another charity boutique. As I mentioned in the last post it was for Gilda's club. It was a great event with lots of nice people running the show and shopping. 

Since I've shown you many times what my finished booth space looks like, I thought I'd share photos of my poor van, after I've stuffed it full.

This is why I don't have the cute little Mini Cooper or Volkswagon of my dreams.

All the necessities were packed. . .

. . . especially my dear friend Chris, who came along to help with the show. I couldn't have done it without her! Besides all the grueling work, we did get to enjoy the spa and some wine on Thursday night, which appeared to be a mistake come 7 a.m. Friday morn.

We got to view a stunning sunset on the drive home, (it looked better in person) as well as 2 major car crashes. Fortunately we avoided a serious collision ourselves, and slugged through the horrible Friday night traffic. 

I always wonder where the heck all these people are going! After a long night's sleep, I had a wonderful Saturday, which I'll tell you about tomorrow!

Felt Hangover

I survived my first Felt Club! It was an exciting and inspiring experience for all involved. I met some great people and hope to do it again next year. I was a little lax on the photo taking, and those I got are a little, 'not so good', but you can see tons more on the Felt Club flicker site. 

Thanks to Jenni (Felt Club master mind), I was set up back to back with my friend Carrie, of Sommer Designs.

I had my baby bunny to keep me company, AND. . .

. . . the Valencia's ventured up from San Pedro!! And they bought the cute hat that I showed you in my last post, for Suvan!  He's my next star model! Thanks for your support!

Now that I've recovered, I'm off on a little road trip with my friend Chris! We are headed to Palm Springs tomorrow for an very exciting charity event. I'll be selling my wares at the Gilda's Club Gift of Sharing Boutique and Luncheon on Friday night and Saturday. 

 The mission of Gilda's Club is to create welcoming communities of free support for everyone living with cancer - men, women, teens and children - along with their families and friends. They provide networking and support groups, workshops, education and social activities. What a great group, and I always admired Gilda Radner. Her husband Gene Wilder started the charity after she died from cancer in 1989.

This time I'll remember to take lots of pictures.  I'll report back soon. . . I promise.

Felt Club is Here!

I'm so excited! I'm getting all packed up and ready for my first Felt Club! I'm pretty much ready, though I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep. I just finished these bunny hats. . .

Here's a better photo. . .

I have some cute boy hats ready to go too. Like this one. . .

And of course I'll have tons of outfits, dresses, hoodies, etc, etc, for boys and girls! 

If you're in the L.A. area, come on down to Felt Club. It's at the Shrine Auditorium Expo Center, Sunday, November 16, from 11 am to 7 pm. There will be so much to see and do. Start your holiday shopping by supporting local crafters. 

Why I love what I do. . .

In some ways I have a very scheduled life.  Up at 6:30 (week days), serve breakfast, send the boy off to school with dad doing the carpool. Other than that, things are pretty flexible. Some days Paloma (my studio assistant) comes, but her schedule varies with the seasons. Tuesdays I head off to my Leads Club meeting by 6:45. This involves the crazy wake up time of 5:45--not in my nature. I've been doing this for five years because it is a fabulous group and has helped to grow my business tremendously, otherwise there is no godly reason to be up at that hour! 

I'm not an every day, same schedule kind of person.  I taught Jr. High band and orchestra for eight years. It was the most rewarding job I've ever had, but every minute was scheduled; starting, ending, eating, peeing. A little tedious to say the least. I quit that job when I had the opportunity to go on the road with a saxophone band (my dream job at the time, believe it or not). 

Then we had Emmet, our one and only boy child. He had this crazy idea that he needed to be fed every two hours, on the second. If he didn't have a nipple, real or otherwise, in his mouth at that exact moment, the whole neighborhood heard about it. He still eats this way (he's 12), minus the screaming, usually. Other than the feeding, having a consistent schedule at that time in my life was not easily accomplished. On Mondays I'd fly to San Jose (one hour north, by plane) to practice with the band, dad would stay home with the boy, I'd be home by midnight. There were play groups and mommy and me classes, assorted doctor's appointment, oh, and that job I had teaching saxophone at San Diego State once a week (two hours south). The most "fun" part of that era was pulling over at a truck stop to pump for milk, on my commute. That job lasted 5 years. It too was rewarding, but a horrible car crash, the cost of gas etc. finally lead me to resign. Which brings me to my current life.

I had started my little line of baby clothes while Emmet was wee, to supplement my other jobs, and for fun mostly. When it started to grow and I saw potential, I was able to quit teaching and be at home with the boy. I've never regretted it for a moment. 

Some days are exhausting and jam packed. Like yesterday when I had a trunk show at my friend's house. We decided to bring my entire inventory. Set up was a killer. And I didn't even take any pictures. I'm taking today off for the most part. After writing this I have a bit of sewing to do. Which leads me back to Tuesday. . .

That was a great day. After my early wake up, and Leads meeting, I came home to pick up Emmet and his two neighbor friends. They had the day off (Veteran's day). Our plan was to hit the Van's Skate park in the City of Orange. It is the coolest park in our general area-yet still an hour away. It's a fully enclosed, highly supervised skate park, attached to the Van's store, at The Block, an outdoor shopping mall. Do you see where I'm going with this? One evening my husband and I dropped the kids off, had a delightful dinner, and picked them up two hours later. There's also a movie theater at the Block! Skate sessions are 2 hours long. Emmet is up for two sessions now and loves every minute of it.

Tuesday, I had a plan. . .

First on my "schedule" was a short car nap. I can sleep anywhere at any time, probably due to my time on the road, that or it's a genetic disorder picked up from my dad. I always have my cell phone at the ready in these situations, and the boys have one too. Next, I gathered my bag of necessities, and headed to Border's Book Store.

I browsed leisurely, eventually ordered a Gingerbread non-fat Latte, and finally settled into a quite corner in the arts and crafts section. They have REALLY comfortable chairs at Borders. It's almost like they WANT you to have such a plan. 

I love my little tin box. Don't know what it was originally intended for, but it fits my crochet hooks just perfectly.

The lighting and temperature at Borders is ideal for relaxing and crocheting. Two hours just went by. They played a lovely Christmas recording that I hadn't heard before. I know what you're thinking. . . Christmas music already?! Well I LOVE it! Christmas is my favorite time of year. Hey, if you don't start getting ready now, chaos will surely ensue later! I KNOW you feel me! 

Alas, it was time to pick up the skaters. There are lots of viewing areas for parents to hang out and watch--or crochet. A little loud and stinky though.

That's mine on the right . . . I'm thinking he needs a haircut. I'll try to get that on my schedule.

ETSY shop update!

I finally got those three dresses that I showed yesterday up on my ETSY shop. So much to do, so little coffee. If you check the photos out carefully, you'll note the reflection of my Halloween bats still hanging on my porch. I'll be getting to that. . . real soon. I always leave my decor up a little longer than everyone else in the neighborhood. Why not enjoy it for a while? It really gets me when people take their Christmas decorations down the day after Christmas! What's that about? It's only after all the prep and hoopla that you can really enjoy it all. Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Tomorrow (I hope) I'll be adding these jackets to the shop. They are made from three different vintage bark cloths (two in the front and one on the back). The sleeves are cotton velveteen.

The one above is a size 2, and will fit from 1 to 3 year olds. It's drop shouldered and is cute with the sleeves rolled up, so it can be worn for a while.

This one is a size 4.

Check out the little dudes pouring water off the pedestal.

This one is also a size 4. I made it with brown velveteen sleeves instead of black, like the first 2.

That's the story for now. I need to join my family for a little mind numbing t.v.  No more prime time CNN for a while. Let's pretend that all is well in the world for a moment, shall we?

Three Little Dresses

The Kelley Hart workshop has been buzzing lately, burning the midnight oil. I wanted to design a dress for little ones, that could be worn throughout the holidays, that wasn't too fancy, and didn't scream CHRISTMAS. This is what I came up with. It's all cotton, with a tee shirt bodice, a homespun plaid skirt and a vintage hanky apron. Not to mention bitty brown ball fringe! This one's a size 12-18 months.

I love this hanky, because of the pink and brown oak leaves, and acorns! This is the closest I get to fall leaves here in so. cal. 

This one's 18-24 months. . . 

. . . and finally, this little dress is a size 2. I think I'll stick with the little sizes (I'm making 3-6, and 6-12 month too). These dresses would be so cute dressed up or down, with socks and little chucks, or tights and fancy mary janes.

These dresses, and my entire collection, will be on display at the Jr. League of Los Angeles Harvest Boutique and Tea, this Sunday, November 9th, from 11 to 4, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. I'll be doing an Etsy update on Monday! If these dresses don't sell, they'll be on it!  

Heavy Lifting

I could be talking about all the shows I'm doing, and all the hard labor involved in setting up a booth, but I thought I'd share this little tidbit instead.

My sweet neighbor Adeo is not only strong. . . he is fast, so it's a little difficult to catch him in action. Last week he enjoyed coming over and rearranging our Halloween decor.

Job well done. If you don't recall, Adeo is one of my star models . . . remember this. . .

Look at those beautiful locks! I must express publicly, my sadness over the cropping of his hair! I so, SO love long hair on little boys. Perhaps it will grow back before the next photo session! In any case, he is still the cutest boy on the block (uh, next to my 12 year old, but that's different).