oeuf, pow!

farm fresh eggs... make for a happy morning.
yet another perk of living out here in the country -- these eggs were gathered yesterday morning, and i bought them yesterday afternoon. all different kinds of chickens = all different colors and sizes of eggs. wow, so pretty, and SO delicious.
i'm working on perfecting my omelette-making skills. with eggs this good, it is hard to tell if the finished dish is so delicious because i have cooked it that way, or because the eggs are just so amazing and fresh that they'd taste good no matter what i did to them.
what a way to start the day.

pat the bunny

i made these guys the other day. hot diggity, i LOVE working with this fabric. i don't know what i can get or use that will be as wonderful to work with as this. when i made the first bunny from this material, i explained that i had "made" this fabric by felting (throwing in the washer and dryer) a merino wool blanket that i had. it is so soft, and thick, and so... yowsers, just great -- i don't think that commercially available wool felt or fleece or anything else can be quite as dreamy. maybe i will have to start searching the thrift markets for old sweaters and blankets.
anyways, here are the new fuzzy bunnies.


they're gonna get packed up in a basket and carted up to renegade, where i hope each one of them gets scooped up and taken to a new home.

side note: yesterday i happened to look at the vendor list for renegade -- it was enough to put me into a panic. i had my first craft-fair anxiety dream last night, in which i forgot all of my cross-stitch pieces, my partner (christine, of wonting, with whom i am sharing a booth) didn't show up, and i sold maybe four things the whole time. ugh.

repose

jumping back to work after a refreshing, relaxing, invigorating (is that oxymoronic?) memorial day weekend. picnic in tinicum county park with five different cheeses, martinelli's sparking apple cider, and my faithful pal, jj = delightful. now i'm ready to rock my sewing machine all week long.

rabbit, run

in an attempt to get my butt in shape and to shake myself out of the never-ending-winter blues, i've been going on walks in the morning. morning walks in my new (old) town are pretty darn great. well this morning as i was walking down a quiet street, a bunny decided to run along with me. seriously, this little thing hopped RIGHT along side of me, maybe the closest a bunny has ever come to me in the wild, for about half a block. it made my morning.
and just yesterday, as i was sorting through fabric, i found pieces that i had already marked and cut to sew up a linen and cotton bunny just like the felt ones i did way back when. these seemed to be signs telling me, "sew that bunny!" so i did, and here he is:



i just dont like the way that poly-fill can look kinda lumpy under thin fabrics! other than that, i'd say he's pretty cute. my favorite part about him is his nose, which is made from a pink button that was handmade out of shell! (not by me -- i'm not that good...)

makes me feel like i'm somebody

hey lookie:


check out this link to foliohello, an art/craft/decorating/design blog kept by jackie in seattle.
jackie contacted me with some questions about my flickr photos of my cross-stitch collections and then wrote it all up into an article that she posted on her blog about tips for displaying a collection. my first interview, hooray! thanks, jackie!

kj and the paycock*

i'm back from my visit to nyc and i've finished the cross-stitch project that i was working on. here it is:


this is my first multi-colored cross-stitch piece (well, unless you count the one that i used as my learning piece, which i took over from what my mama had started years ago).
i got the pattern by taking a photo of a piece that i had seen in a book of german cross-stitch samplers.


then i just counted and copied the stitches. it is a lot of stitches.

as per my usual style, i completed one peacock and then i decided that i needed to do another and make some slight changes. the first one i did was the more brightly colored one, where i copied the pattern almost exactly. i did the second one because i was really interested in trying out the darker color scheme and because i wanted to play with and tweak the pattern a little bit. i actually think i like the first one best. maybe i'll try again... i still think there are improvements to be made. for the time being, however i'll leave it as is. i've got other projects to complete; i have to get my butt in gear to start preparing for renegade!

*title is a reference to a sean o'casey drama (which was made into a film by hitchcock). also, the tale of juno and the peacock is my favorite myth; if you don't know it, look it up -- it's a good one. (this is not the best version or retelling -- i prefer bulfinch's, but i can't find it anywhere on the web.)

break out

i'm taking a little break from the studio and spending a few days in brooklyn.
i brought with me my most ambitious cross stitch project to date:


and, just for fun, here is a photo of one of my all-time favorite pieces of street art.


it's on the side of the garden food-market in greenpoint. i love it.

now in stock

okay, peeps.
the first batch of cross-stitch kits are up in the shop. i'm sharing the love with my pattern for the squirrel silhouette. click on over and check out the listing and details in my etsy shop!

this is why i'm...

...crafty and curious


spent a few days at home (mom and pop's house will always be home) with the family and some friends that i had not seen in almost twenty years (eeeeks!). while at home i remembered to take a shot (poor as it may be) of mama's bookshelf. this is where i get it from -- these are the books, bought by the mom, that i grew up with. "back to basics" -- explains my desire to be a pioneer girl and make my own soap and cheese and rugs and everything else. "hundreds of things a girl can make" -- i brought that one home with me. and then there is the full spectrum of books on do-it-yourself home repair, every kind of needlecraft, quilting, sewing, antiquing, gardening, cooking... domestic bliss. i love that i grew up with this. thanks, mama! i love you.

awwwww yeah.

new product coming out of le chez:
do-it-yourself cross-stitch kits!


i'm ready to share the fun and spread the cross-stitch love.
each kit contains a hoop, needle, aida cloth (cross-stitch fabric) embroidery floss and a pattern -- all wrapped up in a cute little bag that i made with my very own hands.
i've got just a couple more details to iron out and then they're going into my etsy shop.
are people going to buy them? i don't know... we'll see!