Monday, June 20, 2011

Alpaca Galore!

Who knew that alpaca were this cute?








These little cutie pies generate a lot of fiber...








This is just a taste of the alpaca roving and yarn (felt too) that I am selling on behalf of a friend of a friend. See my Etsy site (bysarb.etsy.com) to purchase some of this beautiful yarn made from these lovely alpaca that spend their days roaming the mountains of northern New Mexico.

Happy knitting and please spread the word!


Thursday, June 9, 2011

Tea Party Hat

The St. James Tearoom is a fantastic place to get together with the gals and enjoy some great tea and spectacular food (you'll see what I mean in a minute). Several years in a row, the Society of Women Engineers - Central New Mexico Section has hosted it's annual banquet at St. James. I've been three times now and can't tell you how much fun it has and how delicious the food is!

For the last two years, we have had a hat decorating contest at the tea. Last year, my hat band (I always just decorate the hat band so I can use my floppy hat in the summer) was adorned with "green" patches I sewed together and a couple of flowers I cut out of a Coca-Cola can. Can you believe my "green" themed hat won the contest?!

2010 Hat Contest (I'm in the center)

This year I was pressed for time (a big deliverable going out the door at work the day of the banquet) so I made a last minute hat band to decorate my hat. I had so much fun making the felt flower pillow a few weeks ago so I made a small felt flower with the left over purple felt.


My goal was something that looked more like a dahlia because I absolutely adore them!

Source
How did I do?

I used small triangles instead of half circles and and pinched them slightly in the center before sewing them on. I could use some more practice, but it came out pretty cute. The center was a lavender button from my grandma's old collection.


The best way to get the flower to stay on my hat was by making a quick hat band. I had about 10 minutes to spare before needing to get out the door so I made a ruffled hat band out of green fabric and pinned on my flower.

Done!

I didnt' win the hat contest but think I came in a solid 2nd place!

Okay, I almost forgot to show some more photos of the food at St. James. This month's theme is "A Pirates Life for Me - Plundering the British East India Company".


Top tier savories!

Middle Tier Breads

Bottom Tier Desserts

You know that looks amazing, don't you!





Monday, June 6, 2011

New Laptop Cover

Like most ladies, I adore bags. Most of my bags have a purpose but there are definitely some that don't. I have been itching for a new laptop sleeve and had the perfect floral/skull fabric print in mind. This print has my name written all over it!


I wanted to make something that I would use daily because, as an anti fabric horder, I didn't buy that much of it. The item that I made is a simple laptop sleeve by Elizabeth Hartman of Oh, Fransson! Her tutorials are fantastic. 


The nice thing about this tutorial is that you just measure the dimensions of your laptop and create a sleeve that fits perfectly!




I went ahead and attached the exterior fabric to the fleece lining by machine stitching around the skulls. This gave it a little bit of a quilted look. 




I am still thinking about more Dia de los Muertos projects for the summer!


xoxo

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

The Stars are Here!

Not sure if this marks the beginning of summer, but my WAX PLANT finally bloomed! I wanted to document this day because I am constantly telling friends and family about my most favorite house plant and offer cuttings of it regularly. The botanical name for a wax plant is Hoya carnosa. It has very thick, waxy leaves and you literally can not kill it. My plant grew from a cutting off my mom's plant and has become pretty large over the last several years (see the last photo on the blog). The plant grows fairly slow, but it never loses leaves. The leaves grow on vines but they don't really "grab" on to anything, so I loop them through the woven plant holder. 

When the plant is ready to bloom (mine was 3+ years old before it bloomed for the first time) you will see little buds like this.


The next few photos will take you through the development of the clusters of 5 pointed stars. These flowers are gorgeous and you can smell them before you can see them. Sometimes the flowers are hidden within the plant, but you will know when to start looking for them if you walk by and catch the aroma.





Now the flowers are fully open! The white-ish pink stars have an adorable red center. I took a shot further back to give you an idea of how many blooms are on the plant. I am unsure why, but most of the flowers are concentrated on the side facing away from the sunroom windows.


Want to grow a wax plant of your own? I'd be happy to share a "sprig" with you! Hope you are enjoying the beginning of summer. 

xoxo