HELLO SPRING

 Holy moly! Was Thanksgiving really the last time since I have posted???  Honestly, I could come up with all kinds of excuses where I have been.  But, I won't bore you with that.  I just have been living life. All is well and busy.
I love this time of the year when the flowering trees bloom, the grass turns green and I can plant pansies & radishes.  It is a time for fresh starts and new beginnings. 
Summer is right around the corner.  The kids will be home and we head to the beach for a week. Can't wait for that! 
The week before Easter I travel with Abby to Quebec, Canada for her French class.  What a trip that will be!  I will definitely share photos after we are home. 
Luckily, I will have this project to work on while riding in a bus for 14 hours. Yikes! 

 For me, this is the perfect blanket to be crocheting this time of the year.  I love daisies.  They are so happy & hold very special meaning to me.  I have finished 12 granny squares so far, with roughly 300ish more to go. HA HA!!  My goal is to have it finished & ready to curl up in when the air turns cool again next Fall.

just wanted you to know, in case you haven't noticed, I have added  links on my side bar if you would like to follow me on Pinterest and Instagram.  I'm in love with both, but they are very dangerous in the fact that I lose all track of time some days.  They are wonderful sources of inspiration.

Well, until next time....
Wishing you all a beautiful Spring.  Breathe in the beauty!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

May you all have a beautiful day with your families.

AN AUTUMN GLIMPSE

Autumn is by far my favorite season of all. I cannot get enough of the cool crisp days full of glorious , brilliant color.
Unfortunately, it does not last long enough for me. It is just a glimpse---quick fleeting moments before the icy winter weather takes over.
This year we were so lucky to spend a beautiful week in New York with my mom & dad. We were able to share in all the stories they had of where they grew up. I think it was important for the kids to be able to learn more about their grandparents.
It was a true gift that I will treasure forever.

We also discovered a beautiful place to enjoy the outdoors, right here in our own "backyard".

We will definitely be taking advantage of this for years to come.

I know I have not been a very good blogger lately. I have been trying to get back into the swing of things since Summer. But, it has been slow going. I'm pretty sure I have had a bad case of blogger"s block.

I do believe my block has been cleared.

THE PEACHIEST MAIL INDEED

I srtolled down to my mailbox today, just like any other ordinary day, thinking about what will await me inside that black, metal box. Bills, junk mail, various catalogs--nothing too exciting.
But, look what I found inside, on this fine September day, among the bills and pizza flyers! I was giddy with delight!
My very own copy of Dottie Angel's new book, the second in the Suitcase Series from Uppercase.
I couldn't get inside my door fast enough, to see and touch it in person---I have been anticipating it's arrival for the longest time.

The cover and the back are very tactile with thread and fabric. LOVE!

And look at the goodies that were included if you pre-ordered the book. Vintage buttons, thread, a beautiful fabric scrap, a doily bit and the sweetest little postcard.

LOVE LOVE!

And then....I opened it. The smell---that wonderful book smell---do you know what I'm talking about?

Then, I flipped through the pages ever so briefly just to take a tiny peek.

LOVE LOVE LOVE...

and LOVE some more.

I cannot wait to sit down in my favorite chair with a cup of tea and savor each and every page, for Dottie Angel has been a true inspiration to me for a long long time.

It truly is a beautiful book, one to cherish forever. A perfect souvenir for Kelli to keep in a special spot in her studio.

Congrats to Uppercase and to Tif Fussel for creating such a Peachy Book!

I will be back very soon to share photos of my various Summer projects.

SUMMER SCENES

Wow! Our Summer flew by so quickly. It has been a lovely one, full of memories to last a lifetime.

The kids go back to school on Wednesday--already! For me, it's bittersweet. I'll miss them, but it will be good to get back to a regular routine, with much more time to get things done around the house as well as much needed time to work in my poor neglected studio.

I have many photos to share with you. But, instead of long, in depth detail of each, I'll let the photos tell the story.

Goodbye Summer---see you next year.

A Very Kelli Journal

Thought I would share the latest finished project from my studio, on this very hot humid Monday.
I received a sketchbook from Chloe, for Mother's Day, full of glorious thick, textured, watercolor paper. I decided it needed a cover, that has "Me" written all over it!
The book is small enough that I can fit into my tote along with my favorite markers and pencils. I love that I can take something to doodle in, wherever I go.
Sketching or doodling is one of the things I wanted to get back into this year. I have fallen out of practice, and have forgotten how much I love to do it. I have never considered myself very good at drawing. I just find it fun and relaxing---it's right up there with stitching!

For the cover, I used a mix of vintage and new fabric that I had in my stash. The bird pieces you see on the front and back are from my good friend, Hope. She knows I like birds. They worked perfectly for this project.
I didn't have a plan at all, when I started, I just added bits and pieces that I loved. I even added a pocket on the back!

The photo below is of the inside front flap.

And here is the back flap. I'm still practicing my free motion embroidery on my sewing machine.

I thought I would also share the few pages I have started on, inside. The photo below is of a page I had a lot of fun with. Not a whole lot of doodling, but I think that is OK too. I have a thing for pretty paper and love to use it whenever I can. I started the page with a rose cut from fabric, and sewed it to paper. I then added other bits of paper that I like. I left room for writing---which I will fill in---someday.

Here, I added an old book page that I had doodled on.

The page below, was inspired by this quote from Mark Twain. Love the quote so much, I'm adding it to my quilt as well.

Last, but not least, are my doodled elephants. On one beautiful day, a couple weeks ago, my girls and I sat outside at the patio table and doodled together. We had all our markers, crayons and pencils spread about, filling up the whole table....
And I was loving every minute of it!