Jane and the ducks

Garden Days

I have been spending as much time in the garden as possible before it gets too cold. I have been planting some shrubs and other perennials. It should be mild again next week so I will plant some more;-) In fact, I am focusing on plants that flower in the fall because we are never here in the summer to enjoy the garden! I got the Lamb's ears for Manon after seeing her pet our neighbors plants here and there! By the way, Happy Halloween! I (the witch) am taking my two Flamenco dancers trick-or-treating tonight.

   

DC in Cookie

I was pleasantly surprised to see DC featured in the traveling section of Cookie (the November Issue). I especially liked the "polaroid-like" picture of the Washinton Monument. And some of my favorite places are in there including the Sullivan's Toy Store (an old-school store) and 2Amys Pizza which we visit weekly! Speaking of Instant Polaroid, I have not used one of these cameras in years and I was thinking of maybe getting one for Lily but is it still possible to find affordable film... On the other hand, can you get the same picture effect with a good digital camera?  

        

A perfect Fall weekend

           

The Homestead, Hot Springs, Virginia.

Pom-Pom Time

I have been admiring those pom-poms both in Martha Stewart and Marie-Claire Idees (seems to be as though they get ideas from each other...). I had ordered the blue kit from Martha Stewart Crafts but then decided to make them myself in other colors and it was really easy. The blue one is in Lily's room and the yellow in Manon's. I will add more soon! I used clear tape to hand them to the ceiling... are there better ways to do it? I wonder because I am not a big fan of tape even though I must be the only one seeing it;-)

 

Fall Necklace

I think this might be a good necklace for Halloween season. I bought the beads this summer at La Droguerie and how I wish we had a store like that here...

My Kitchen Friend

I love gathering recipes from magazines, newspapers, friends and TV shows. I put them all in this big binder. The first part is for sweets and the second part is for the salty things... that's it, just two sections. I find everything quickly in this seemingly messy binder because I flip through the pages so often. I recently covered it with vintage fabric that used to be kitchen curtains in William's grandfather's house and I like it even more now;-) 

   

Mini Quilt + Pillow

The girls are on vacation next week and we found a perfect activity. Lily came up with the idea, she wants a sewing lesson everyday. Of course, I am happy to do that and today, we made a small pillow and a tiny quilt for Manon's bunny. I find it really sweet that her first project was a gift for her little sister. 

 

The Cheat-it Quilt

Can you imagine how much time it would have taken me to finish this quilt without this amazing fabric by Denyse Schmidt. I purchased a yard and a half, used some nice cotton batting and grey linen for the backing. The linen gives it a great weight. I machine quilted the whole thing and that was especially fun because I did not want straight lines... and then, I finished the binding by hand. I took a picture of it on Lily's bed but I made it for our new "modernized" living room.

   

A Lovely Book

I am finishing up a small quilt and since I have no picture to show you yet, I wanted to share this book with you. It was given to the girls by a friend of mine who truly has great taste!!! The book is a classic with a twist and lots of great humor. And for all of you fabric lovers reading stories to the kids at night, the scenes with all those adorable little mattresses are such a treat!

   

MAC & Birds

For a friend's MAC makeup;-) I really like this print and I find this format (20x20cm) the perfect size to travel, and also good for those, like me, who don't have a zillion products to stuff in it!