JCasa *handmade

a few good things

her sense of style

her sense of humor

their bond

daddy's influence on proper supergirl flying moves

other good (and great) things ::
all the neighborly love these past few weeks, my space being featured on modish, and my work featured on sewmamasew twice in the past week, and a few new + very exciting opportunities (and that's all i'll say about that).

also loving this scarf, all things tortillagirl, la fuji mama's nutella cookies, stefanie japel making t-shirt yarn, lucy and her gorgeous new design, gretelie's oh so pretty wool wristwarmers, wisecraft's brilliant removable quilt design wall, and halloween candy.  oh yes, let's share a piece with mama, please.

what's making you happy on this gorgeous first day of november?  xoxo

i love you, Fall.

crisp air.  endless skies.  blazing hues.  pumpkin goop.  hay-filled playgrounds.  corn mazes.  apple everything.  horse-drawn wagons.

togetherness.  xoxo

tidy

i couldn't help myself, everything looked so pretty.

reframing and arranging favorite prints, photos, textiles and ceramics. and placing much needed tools at my fingertips.

a new configuration of inspiration boards in the form of ikea cutting boards + a shimandsons pinstrip.  inspired by rachel to use something non-traditional.

removing completed projects from my bulletin board, in turn creating space for what is yet to come.  me thinks cleaning out a creative space is a good thing.

:

i have a few things to wrap up this month - that quilt up there tops the list - so i'll be popping in and out with photos of our days along the way. and of course, a good recipe or two. and maybe a craft project here and there. and some very cool news. wait a minute, how is that stepping back from blogging for a short while?
enjoy your days!  xoxo

hello, Fall.

oh, Autumn.  you are my favorite and my best.  singing songs about the colors turning at every corner, telling tales and endless giggles under piles of quilts, falling in love with puzzles again and again, the baking for baking's sake, and the wool.

i hope you are finding special ways to welcome the turn of the season into your world.  xoxo

super + soup

wednesday nights are a bit tricky : the challenge is feeding the whole family a nourishing meal that can be as tasty + fresh + the right temperature/texture when some of us dine at 5 (before soccer) while the rest of us don't dig in until several hours later.  last week we enjoyed foil-parcels-of-yum (so much so that we had them again earlier this week - salmon this time, oh yum!).  this week's fare was inspired by the cool breeze and sunshine on this almost-Fall day... soup.  and not just any soup, it was a day for what is now officially termed supersoup ::

into the roasting pan went onions, leeks, zucchini, parsnips, carrots, celery, garlic, tomatoes, potato and an acorn squash.  that's 10 vegetables, people - super, indeed.  toss with a hearty drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, salt + pepper and into the oven for 45 minutes on 400.  out it came and into the soup pot with about 4 cups of chicken stock (vegetable stock would have been wonderful, as well). it simmered for about 1/2 hour, gave it a quick whiz with the immersion blender and dinner was served!  we ate it topped with a sizeable round of chevre (yum!) and a hunk of fresh baguette.

one of the girls licked the bowl of roasted vegetable goodness clean and subsequently tore up the soccer field.  and then there's her sister, who - despite being little miss veggie lover - only ate a few spoonfuls.  and reluctantly, at that.  the goat cheese + bread disappeared of course, but a bowlful of soup remained on the table as we headed out to practice.  and manno, was she dragging the entire time.  and she knew it, informing me afterwards that next week she'll eat up her whole bowl of super + soup so she can keep up with the team.

all in all, i declare yet another meal challenge met.  now to ponder what next wednesday will bring... and who will eat it.  xoxo

good morning.

as the littles trickled in next to me this morning, one of the first requests was for fresh strawberries.  and blueberry pancakes.
oh, all right.

i had thought the local strawberries were all gone, but that resourceful corn fairy gifted us a pint from the Amish farm market earlier in the week.  into a small saucepan went a handful each of blueberries + strawberries plus a splash of water and it all simmered over low heat while the batter was mixed with more blueberries and the remaining strawberries were nibbled.  fast forward about 10 minutes and wishes are granted.

a good morning - and day - to you.  xoxo

a better picnic

the picnic tunic completed its kiddo-testing and performed quite well... except for one detail.  back to the drawing board, as they say.

it was funny, the hub did one of those, "you made that?  wow!  that's pretty good!" coming off as genuinely impressed while simultaneously trying not to sound surprised.  so when i asked for his feedback, he said precisely what i was thinking... the neckline was too high.  it began as a boatneck, but when i gathered it with the elastic thread - well, even though it felt loose to wear, it looked tight.  or maybe a better word is "uptight".  no bother.

i find that i am able to think through sewing while knitting.  sounds funny, but the time it takes to knit is very meditative and well, it works for me.  enter one ball of malabrigo and i figure out a new approach to the neckline.  girly has a new hat - i thoroughly enjoyed knitting a mini version of anemoon by {a black pepper} - i have made a few simple mods to the pattern so it fits a child.  details in my ravelry notebook. 

oh, how i enjoy the creative process.  and how cool that my littles enjoy their mamamade goodies.  more on the tunic tomorrow.  xoxo

a picnic

i decided to take the plunge and give elastic thread a try.

i like it.  a.  lot.

i love when clothes for little ones are not so much cute as they are stylish while still maintaining an age appropriateness to them.  this little number came together this morning, and while it is still in the prototype phase, i am quite happy with the direction we're headed.  after a few hiccups, it seems to be working - the concept, the shape, the fit - oh how i love when one piece can fit for years and evolve with the wearer.  but the challenge is to make it work for a range of ages without looking ill-fitting.  i'm still trying to get a good grasp on that, but with practice i seem to slowly be wrapping my head around things.  i do think this one is on the right track here, and i'm especially smitten with how gathering the waist so simply makes the vertical lines of the gingham pop.  she'll try it out at a picnic tomorrow and see how it fares when put to the kiddo-test.  bon weekend, everyone!  xoxo

mind over matter

the girls both used to love potatoes, something which they inherited from mama's German + Welsh family, i assume.  and then, one of them up and decided that she no longer liked potatoes - in any form - just like that.  and frankly, it was hard not to take it as an insult.

well, after a good year of putting up with this nonsense, i finally decided that i'd approach the situation from a different angle, namely that of her favorite color.  and it seems i've found her kryptonite, thanks once again to the farmer's market because somebody ate up all of her organic oven roasted purple potatoes last night.  she left the pink ones and the yukon golds, but i do declare we have made progress.  (but let's keep that between us.)  xoxo

on a grey morning

early-morning cardio + mid-morning popcorn + late-morning sock knitting + an unopened box of fabric on the counter + two happy girlys working on some kind of production in the basement that involves dancing and all of the smallish musical instruments.  (and all of the couch cushions.)  i need to reserve my seat.

no complaints here.  happy monday to you!  xoxo