happy stuff.

i need to clear out the backlog of unwritten posts floating around in my head, so here are some of the pics i recently downloaded from my phone: a friend invited me to come pick raspberries at her house.  i used some of the berries to make freezer jam.  gorgeous berries.  delicious jam.  so glad [...]

who says girls get all the cute clothes?  check out these rompers i made for the happy baby (using a few alterations on the 90-minute shirt tutorial): i especially love the back on the striped one where i added a freezer paper stencil of a design i sketched (to cover up a stain from the [...]

okay, you caught me.  this is another baby-related post, but it’s also a furniture makeover and i am soooo excited about it, i just had to share it with you.  a little back story:  when we started to decorate the nursery, one of the pieces of furniture i knew i wanted to have in there [...]

it seems to be all i want to do these days–make stuff for the happy baby!  maybe if you’re lucky my next post will be about food or flowers or something.  :) this installment of crafting-for-baby includes binky leashes made with purchased clips i found at a local scandinavian imports store and japanese linen tapes [...]

i finally got my hands on a library copy of lotta jansdotter‘s book, simple sewing for baby and it is so inspiring!  in fact, despite my pile of things to do (top of the list:  take care of baby who is developing a shorter nap habit, yikes!) i dropped everything to make two projects right [...]

i finally finished sewing curtains for the baby room!  i decided to use the six-minute circle technique and just make one really big circle out of the same inspiration fabric i’ve used all over the room.  i originally had these elaborate curtain hanging plans that had to do with swing arms, but in the end, [...]

Gabriel says Mama from carissaabc on Vimeo. p.s. not sure why there’s a discrepancy between the video and audio tracks–very distracting, i know. and no, the baby isn’t a ventriloquist. yet. i’m still on a steep video-editing learning curve here, so thanks for your patience. maybe next time i’ll remember to add music! is anyone [...]

my sister and nephew were visiting last week and while they were here, he fell down (as toddlers tend to do frequently) and scraped up his hands a little bit.  we brought him inside and my sister asked if i had any ice we could put on his hands and i realized that i had [...]

songs i find myself singing all the time: who’s my pretty baby by elizabeth mitchell and/or woody guthrie–this one lends itself to all sorts of improvisation like “who’s my stinky baby?” and “who’s my funny baby?” etc. and is a wonderful all-purpose song the big ship sails on the alley alley oh by kate rusby [...]

canvas buckets to hold diapering supplies and mini burp rags (see below) in the baby’s room.  glad i finally found a good use for that awesome ribbon trim!  the buckets in the first picture are still a little floppier than what i’d like–even with some plastic needlepoint “canvas” tucked into them to make the sides [...]