Sunday, January 23, 2011

Snow Days

Just last week, we had two snow days in a row, which is uncommon in this part of Michigan. And to make the surprise even more exciting, those two snow days added to a 3 day weekend...so five days at home with the fam. Clearly, I couldn't sit and read the entire time, as much as I would have loved to. So, I decided to finish up some projects I'd been thinking of.


It had all started the weekend before when we had a child's birthday party and a baby shower on the same day. Because I waited till the last minute instead of being a smart gift-giver, I had to run out to our favorite toy store the night before the parties. I dropped over $45 on four books. Four books!


Guilt plagued me the entire (slushy) way home. I loved my recipients dearly, but I couldn't do it. Not for just four little books. (And you know how much I love books, right? But still: $45)


So I got out the card stock and watercolor paper, and I sketched and painted two promises: a skirt for Jared's friend and a Katy Kitty for the baby shower (you can follow the link to check out the designer's blog--and order the pattern--very fun to make!) (Arrgghh: I should've taken a picture of the cards! Ah well). I was a little worried about the copping-outedness of the gifts, but both were received with anticipation. (And I returned the books.)


Seemed a productive choice, then, to use the blessed days off to make good on those promises. So, here's the Kitty. Don't you love her shoes?


And a close up shot of her sweet face.

And this is the skirt. I had seen some Matilda Jane skirts at the Art Fair in Plymouth a few summers ago and loved the design and the mix of fabrics. So, I googled pics of Matilda Jane skirts and played around with some of the fabric remnants I had.

I knew I wanted to use the butterfly and flowers print that I used for the "apron" as it just screams little girl. The others were scraps from other projects...and I think the teal at the top is part of the kitty's skirt too.
Jared was kind enough to model the skirt for me, but for posterity's sake, he's headless. Wouldn't want to cause too much trauma. Not that he'd be the first little boy in this family to wear girls' clothes. That's another story, though.