SHIM + SONS

saying goodbye to summer

 

:: enjoying the final days of summer :: preparing myself for Big J's first day of preschool :: celebrating Appah's birthday with a big group of friends :: working on projects at a leisurely pace :: meeting up with old friends :: eating good food :: spending less time on the computer [as a result of a crashed laptop + really slow old laptop] :: accepting the fact that I just can't respond to every email I receive, even though I really want to :: or keep up with blog reading :: envisioning a bit of a lifestyle change for this fall :: looking forward to a new pace :: see you next week [I'll be updating the shoppe in a week or two] ::

framed

Last weekend felt like one long, but really fun party. It included a dinner at our friend's house, a BBQ at our house, a birthday party + BBQ, a brunch at our house and another dinner at our friend's house. Lots of good food and fellowship. The boys actually slept in on Monday morning, which doesn't happen often in our house. You may have noticed that not a whole lot of crafting is getting accomplished around here lately, but I did manage to work on one project that has been on my "spiffying-up-our-house to do list" for awhile now--framing some artwork! I've been collecting prints here and there and up until last week they were propped up on a floating shelf in our dining room. But thanks to a quick trip to Ikea I was able to frame all the prints during nap time last week.

For some reason I'm fine with using photo mats for photographs, but I don't prefer them for artwork. So I took the photo mats out of the frames and backed the prints with archival paper or linen. I like the texture of the linen behind the letterpressed leaf. And I love the raw edges on the prints, something you wouldn't be able to see if I had used photo mats.

Can I tell you how thrilled I am to have discovered Yu-I's work? I have four of her prints [I still have to hang one of her canvas prints] and love them all so very much. The meticulous detail of her work is amazing and the colors she uses are always so calm and soothing. Oh, and her packaging is perfection.

So now our newly framed artwork is sitting pretty on the living room mantle. I'll eventually get around to hanging them up on the wall, but for now I'm just happy they are all framed. Details on the prints can be found here.

one in ten

[image from one in ten]

The one in ten auction is currently underway. You can bid on wall + pocket 28 right here and other fine crafted goods here. Thanks for your support!

s l o w i n g down

Gee, I didn't mean to take a blog break, but I guess I needed a little time away. Thank you for all the well wishes and kind words about the new sling. Big J's cast doesn't seem to be slowing him down at all. In fact he was teaching Baby J how to "fly" from the staircase this morning. Oh yes, there is never a dull moment around our house.

I've recovered from my nagging cough [thanks for all the home remedies!], but managed to pinch a nerve in my neck which I suppose was my body's way of telling me to "slow down". Being a go-go-go type of person, I usually only slow down if my body forces me to, which sometimes is a blessing in disguise. So instead of late-night crafting [which is when I do the majority of my work], I went to bed at a decent hour every night this week.

Of course taking time off means I'm behind on a few projects, but I'll worry about playing catch-up next week. This weekend I'm still on s l o w mode--we're hosting a BBQ, celebrating a friend's 4th birthday, eating more pizzelles and homemade ice cream and enjoying what feels like are the last days of summer.

Have a fantastic weekend! [And don't forget to check out the one in ten auction on Sunday morning. You can find wall + pocket 28 up for grabs as well as loads of beautiful artwork and handmade goods. More details here.]

"hey, is that an etsuko furuya sling?"

This week has been filled with a series of doctor's appointments. I went to the doctor on Monday to have my cough checked out. Nothing serious. The doctor recommended two or three medications I could take to relieve my symptoms, but after telling him that I'm still nursing, he said, "Well, then I would recommend cough drops". Just what I thought. On Tuesday morning Big J woke up with a swollen elbow. Which meant a trip to the pediatrician's office, another set of xrays and news that he had a fractured elbow [he had only complained about his wrist on Sunday, so they didn't take full xrays of his arm]. Then back to the pediatrician's office for a full arm splint and Snoopy sling [have I mentioned how much I dislike theme prints? So you know where this is going, right?] [side note: Big J calls him "Snoofy", he has no idea who Snoopy is.]

The next day we went to see an orthopedic specialist and thankfully he said the fracture was small and should heal within a month. So now Big J is sporting a big ol' red arm cast. But the Snoopy sling had to go. I asked Big J to pick out some fabric from a pile on my desk and he chose a simple Etsuko Furuya print. I used the old sling as my guide and cut two pieces of fabric, sewed on some black bias tape, made a strap and some loops for d-rings and voila, a brand new sling!

I think Big J is happy with the new and improved sling.

What do you think?

Oh, and did I mention that this is Big J's SECOND fracture? He fractured his wrist two years ago.

Thanks to everyone who bought goodies over at the tag sale. I'm sorry I wasn't able to update the site for a few hours since we were at the doctor's office. Your packages will be sent out tomorrow morning.

japanese goodness

:: Japanese craft books + fabric :: on sale here ::

just thinking about crafting

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. It is SO good to have Appah back home. We spent most of the weekend relaxing, playing at the park and hanging out with friends. We had a bit of a scare yesterday after Big J fell off a play structure. After spending a few hours at urgent care we left with just a splint. Phew! Now if only I could shake this cold/cough that has been plaguing my body for the past week. Yuck.

Although I didn't do any sewing or crafting over the weekend, I spent a lot of time thinking about my crafting for our house to-do list, which seems to be growing every day. I picked up some fabric at Ikea last week but I haven't decided what I'll be using it for quite yet. Maybe floor pillows covers?

 

Can you believe it is already August? [Yes, I know I say that at the beginning of every month.] I've been thinking about what I want to accomplish this month, what needs to be done and some fun family activities before Big J starts preschool next month. I have a few deadlines this week so things might be a bit quiet around here, but I'm hoping to do some sewing over the weekend and have a small shoppe update next week.

the tag sale 02

I'll be selling some craft books + fabric Appah sent from Japan. Check back tomorrow morning for the link to the site.

"ooh....pretty buttons"

:: that's what Baby J was saying while I was taking pictures of him ::

:: he's such a little ham :: actually both boys are ::

:: THANK YOU for all the shoppe love :: all orders placed + paid for on Tuesday were shipped out Wednesday morning :: a tray of my labels + mini cards + freebie samples ::

 

:: sweet treats for my lovely shoppe supporters ::

:: 15 days of hearing "I miss Appah" and "Me, too" is finally coming to a close :: we're picking him up at the airport in a few hours :: hooray!!! ::