Notes of a Middle Child

Etsy softies

As long as Sophie doesn't do her business on my small stump, she can stay.

I've been fulfilling my love of sewing and crafting vicariously through some Etsy buys.  Sophie is the sweet creation of Mirkah.  The Ciancosi family down the street from my childhood home had a Dachshund and, between you and me, I never liked her.  To my knowledge she never bit anyone, but you always felt like she might.  Or she at least wanted to.  But Sophie has been perfectly behaved since her arrival. 

My small stump (made by, who else, Small Stump) reminds me of a stump that was halfway between my childhood home and that of my best friend, Margie.  No matter which direction we were headed, we always met at the stump at the appointed time - after ensuring the clocks on our microwaves were in sync of course (it was, after all, 1.5 blocks away).

And I'm one day late wishing you a Happy October!  It's always been my favorite month - the month of my birth, but also the month of sweaters, pumkins, falling leaves, and cider.  Have a happy one!

Stitchado

A few years ago my sister bought me one of the Sublime Stitching kits and, as with most new endeavors, I embroidered with prodigious enthusiasm for about two weeks and then kind of forgot about it.  I was actually decent, but find I don't have the patience.  I discovered Stitchado at, where else, Etsy and was happy to buy a few things from Claudia and am hoping she might inspire me to take embroidery up again.  Because really, how cute is this stuff?  Claudia tells me she'll be updating her shop soon so keep an eye out for it if you are also a short attention span embroider.

Handmade, just not by me

Hi!  Remember me?  My membership in the "Infrequent Bloggers Club" must have kicked in.  Never fear, all is well on this end.  I have several freelance projects going on at once so I've just had my hands full.  I haven't sewn anything in weeks, but that hasn't stoppped me from buying handmade things.  Here are a few Etsy beauties that became part of a birthday extravaganza package for my younger sister.

Allyson Hill makes these fabulous car litter bags.  Almost makes me want to buy a car.  The design is really clever and is decidedly more elegant that just using a plastic bag.  Or, if you're my dad, throwing used apple cores into your backseat.
                                  

These leaf notecards were made by Abbie of Damsel Designs.  I'm glad I gave them away as a gift because they are just the kind of card I find too pretty to actually use and I would most likely hoard them for the next fifty years and then my grandchildren would use them to thank people for coming to my funeral.  Abbie has closed up shop for the summer as she awaits the arrival of her baby!

                              

Speaking of hoarding, I bought these super sweet potholders from Squaresville at least six months ago with my sister in mind.  Aren't they just the friendliest potholders you've ever seen?

                                                

            

And, finally, I want to make a recommendation for www.picnik.com.  It's an online photo editing site which I have come to use all the time.  I have Photoshop on our workhorse desktop, but when I'm on my laptop and need to crop or re-size images, this is my savior.  And I'm in love with the auto-fix button.

Tagging along

My wrapping paper stash and accoutrements (ribbon, bows, tags, etc.) is disproportionate to a) the size of our apartment 2) the size of our budget 3) the number of gifts I give.   But I can't help myself!   A contributing factor is that I accumulate a lot of this stuff because I can't bear to part with it - not very generous of me.  I did better with this recent purchase as they are gift tags to be given as gifts - the trees to my sister, the deck of cards to my bridge-playing mother.  Both are from Every Jot & Tittle who has lots of pretties in her shop. 

In other gift tag news, I finally got around to printing and cutting these free tags courtesy of the gifted Ashley.  (Get yours here).  I have a few baby showers coming up and these lovelies will make a perfect decoration.

Topography of a Bird

Throwing out some love to Robot Candy, makers of great tile coasters, magnets and switch plates.  When I saw the Topography of a Bird below, I knew I had to have it for my younger sister who studied birds in graduate school.  And one for myself, of course.  Since they come in mix-n-match sets of four, I brought home the owl and crows, too.  Check out the Robot Candy Etsy Shop as well as their website for lots of birdy goodness.

Pearl & Marmalade

Another moment of Etsy happiness courtesy of Pearl & Marmalade.  I collect stationary and love sending out real mail to friends and family.  I can never muster any ire when the post office raises the cost of stamps because it seems like a tiny miracle that my missive can travel from Brooklyn to, say, Bonanza, Oregon for a mere .39 cents!  (Not that I know anyone in Bonanza.)  Pearl & Marmalade are two friends living in Chicago making beautiful letterpress cards and stationary (and custom invitations and stationary via their own website) and everything they make is special.  Here's my latest order:

My imaginary children

Do you shop for your imaginary children, too?  I've always known I wanted to be a mother.  Now it's a question of when.  My friends are beginning to have children and I'm determined to beat my younger sister who is currently distracted by the building of her house (and by building I mean with her own two hands and those of her husband).   My husband and I would like to have a few more of our financial and career ducks in a row before going down the pregnancy path, but that doesn't mean a gal can't be prepared, right?  I bought this beautiful alpaca baby sweater from Llamajama last March because it so perfectly embodied the promise of a child to me.  Since then I've started my own baby hope chest and have been filling it with clothes and books for my imaginary children, nieces and nephews.

Little Donn

Little Donn has arrived from Woollenteddies of Poland (via Etsy).  I couldn't be happier to have him around.  He came carefully packaged with a gift bag, adorable postcard and this super-sweet bear pin.  I'm in love.