Fresh Bundle

I stopped in at Vogue Fabrics in Evanston to see what that store was like. I was loving the shelves chock full of ribbons. The very yummy cake ribbon is by artist Laura Foster Nicholson.

Sanrio in downtown Chicago (Shops at Northbridge) was a must stop for Em. The Hello Kitty egg sitting in my pile of ribbons has a rubber stamp inside. :-)

Chinatown, Chicago

Last week when we visited Chicago for a couple of lovely sunny days we stopped at Chinatown just south of the main downtown and here are a couple of photos taken there. The Nine Dragon Wall is like one in Bejing and the ceramic tile were very cool.

We went into a bakery, while in Chinatown and bought a couple of cookies, some juice and a cake--which I forget the name of. I kinda knew I wasn't going to dig the cake---I am downright picky--but I love the impressed top and had to get it just for that reason alone. It looks like a coin on top doesn't it? Well.....guess what we found when we opened it?

A beancurd, seafood mixture--which to some would be a delightful yummy thing. Not my thing however so, I threw it away....sorry. We did all have a very good time---even if I didn't like the food. The street was busy with shoppers going into the local groceries, bakeries :-), and seafood markets. We went into a little store fairly busting with paper lanterns and umbrellas, silk slippers, and all kinds of nic-nacs from China. (no photos please) The small woman running the store spent the whole time convincing my husband that everything would bring him prosperity and good luck. She was just right and it makes me smile to remember her--a good memory. :-)

Doll Bed

In all the hubbub of packing we have worked on a few painting projects. This is a sweet little one. Em wanted her doll's bed painted and decorated so, she sat right down and drew up a picture of what she wanted for the painted end. I drew it on the bed and painted it up for her. All this time Em has had a plain unpainted pine bed for her dolls when they could have enjoyed a splendid blue bed like this. I have been meaning to paint it for some time now--sometimes my procrastinating habits serve no purpose. Arrgh! Anyway, it is quite a success--Em loves it. By the way the quilt on the bed was made a while back by Em and me. She likes hearts like I do. :-)

Isn't this a sweet design that she wanted.

Museum Fun

We are making some progress on the packing thing and also the having fun on spring break thing. We visited Chicago for two days and had a whooping good time. Now, while most of the time we seemed to be going from one ethnic enclave to the next, we visited the Oriental Institute on the Univ. of Chicago campus first. Chock full of artwork from Babylon, Persia, etc., it was just perfect for us. Loved all of it.

Don't cha love the blurry pictures from museums? Anyway, the two little objects on the left here are "coptic dolls". They can still find similar items today with rag doll bodies attached to the head-neck piece shown here. Doll, dolls, everywhere dolls for me. :-)

Just a Pretty Face

As you can see I have gotten a little further on the babushkas. On the first babushka doll back in January, I put round cheeks of pink felt and this time I've opted for a small amount of blush rubbed into the fabric. Does this stay on very long--does anyone know?
We've been busy, busy, busy around here, trying to box some stuff up in preparation for a move we have been planning. I might not be on here to update--not that I am that good at posting regularly anyway, but I will try and keep things going on here.
We have a lovely break from school this coming week. I am trying to come up with small, fun things to do with Em--she is not very excited about packing up boxes--go figure. A while back she asked where we were going for spring break and the light just dimmed in her eyes when she heard we were going to have fun packing up boxes. I don't blame her one iota--doesn't sound all that fun to me either. :-)
Take Care!

*W*I*P*

Working on a couple more babushka dollies for my girls. Ever since I put one together in Jan. they have wanted one for themselves. I'm glad for such appreciation around here!

Hats

Forgot to show the hats I made for two dollies around here. It was fun and pretty fast. I followed a pattern by Jessica that I found on her blog Zakka Life and zip,zip,zip I made two of them. One out of blue wool and one of red. The only difference from the pattern was a larger needle size. I think she calls for a size six and I only have tiny sizes and a size 8 so I went with that size 8. I have a tight gauge usually so I measured what I had knit after a few rows and measured the dolls head. It seemed that I was knitting about the right size and it worked out. Viola!

Looking at the photo, I guess dolls get redeye, too. :-) Isn't that weird?

A Favorite Scrap

A beauty of a fabric don't you think? I have this teeny tiny scrap of it and I just love it to death. Love the people, flowers, birdies and HEARTS. One of my favorite scraps right now, what are yours?