Birthday Week Recap

I feel like last week was a total whirlwind. School wrapped up. I had final meetings with the students and critiques. Also, it was my 36th birthday on Thursday. This is the closest to 40 I've ever been! eek! :) 

I'm only kidding, age doesn't scare me that much. I had a really fun birthday bash at home, complete with disco ball, dancing, lots of delicious food, and fun times with friends. It was more than a girl could even hope for. I was particularly excited about sporting my new red tights that night too. ha! My friend Tonya captured just a few fun seconds of the dance party here.  

Red tights=tons of fun

On Monday of last week, I was able to stop by the Old Capitol Quilters Guild meeting in Iowa City to see Vanessa Chrsitenson's talk. She was fabulous. She's so charming, funny, and talented, that it is always a good time to be in her company. I've had the chance to get to know Vanessa more over the last year, and really just admire her perseverance, dedication, and mad skills in the quilting and design world. 

Now that things have slowed down a bit for a while, I also feel like I can relax and do more of my favorite things---drawing, sewing, and crafting. Here are a couple of pics from last weeks doodling sessions, and the little bird ornament I finished last night. My great friend, Marie, came to town to visit and we each made one. It was so fun! 

And, finally-----the oh-so-lovely Jenny Gordy is due soon, and I really wanted to come up with the perfect gift for her. Jenny's style is simplistic, modern, clean, and just beautiful. So, I tried to keep that in mind when I came up with this bib pattern. I just fell in love with them. I had so much fun doing the piecing and the tiny bits of embroidery. I think there will be more of these in the future...maybe even a pattern or something to share.  They're just so fun to make, and it's nice to have a little simple elegance added to something so functional.  At least, it seems like that's a good way to look at making something like this, which will just be puked on by an adorable little one! ha! :) 

Scotties skiing

Next week's Spoonflower contest is Vintage Skiing. I have never actually been skiing, so I had to "Google" my way through a couple of things. Although, in the end, I just used skis and nothing too technical. :) At some point, the idea of scottie dogs popped into my head. When I was growing up, I just loved scottie dog prints. I used to draw scottie silhouettes over and over again.  I would have totally worn this sweater..... with pride.....and probably made some kind of wooden or sculpey earrings to go with it. I had awesome fashion sense....for the 80's. ha! 

I sketched out a few ideas, drew them, and scanned them in. I thought adding a bit of texture and grunge added a kind of worn, er, possibly vintage feel to the whole thing. The contest had a palette restriction too. I have to admit that as a designer with a heap of choices in every department when designing, being limited in some way is actually helpful. 

This is my final design---Scotties Ski Ski Skiing Away!