Little farmer

Our friends are closing down their farm market stall (husband got a better job and wife is ready to take a much-needed break from the market after 10 years). Little Omi sure did enjoy coming every week and playing with her pal. I think they invigorated the place with their 3-year-old antics. This was the place where folks could buy my sunbonnets, so I think I'll be taking a break from bonnet-making for awhile, although I'm considering putting the rest on Etsy. Feel free to let me know if you're interested in one!

I'll deal with my procrastination problem later

This week I had a lot of chores to do, like taking all our income tax information to the accountant, making an appointment for a haircut, calling a tree trimmer to remove a branch left over from the ice storm, and packing for our upcoming trip to visit Aunt Sassy. So of course I decided it would be a good week to build Little Omi a cardboard kitchen. Needless to say, the kitchen was completed long before the chores (in fact right now I'm still not packed and we're leaving tomorrow).

I used these instructions, which cost a very reasonable $7, although I see the price has gone up to $8 recently. We were lucky enough to find a really huge double-walled box behind the new Circuit City and all of the pieces came from it. I had to make some minor adjustments so that we could fit Little Omi's new stove top on the stove side, but it worked out pretty well. I'm waiting to add the sink. Right now the counter space seems too valuable; Little Omi likes to make omelets and bake muffins and she needs room to crack eggs and fill muffin tins.

Of course no new kitchen would be complete without a nice oven mitt. This photo shows the sweet Amy Butler fabric that was also used for the curtain above. (Thanks so much to L for introducing me to Quiltworks, my new favorite local fabric shop!)

While we were at it, we may as well make some little napkins to go with the tea set. Grandma had the bright idea of fringing the edges, which gave them that little something extra, I think.

Wanty!

Oh, just look at these gorgeous letterpress cards, a joint effort from Kirin & Co. and Satsuma Press, and try not to reach for your wallet! They are just my cup of tea, and the type of card I might never, ever use because I wouldn't want to sully them with my dull handwriting. I have always been a super sucker for lovely stationery; my love of paper goes back even farther than my love for fabric. (When Big Omi and I were married, we made our own invitations and lined the envelopes with paper we had bought in Japan at a shop where I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I still have all the scraps!) I even worked at a papeterie for a few months during my "lost years" (between starting college in Oregon in 1993 and finishing in Colorado in 2000) and got a decent discount, so of course I used it to build up my now-dwindling stash. I do own a Gocco (purchased to make the aforementioned wedding invites), and I've been seeing lots of good Gocco work out there lately that it has inspired me to re-stock my supplies and perhaps try a little printing. Until then, I will have to make do with drooling over those letterpress cards while trying to think of a way to justify the expense....