Ravenhill

Starting school

It seemed a bit more stressful than summer vacation... Having to get up on time, make lunches and a regular schedule to follow... School in Norway starts early. August 17th my big boy went back to school, starting in what is known as 4th grade in Norway, but is comprable to 3rd in the US.

 

Here he is intent on getting ready to go off.

 

He barely had time to smile for me to take his first day of school photo.

 

There he goes rushing off to meet his friends. He'll have the same teacher this year as last year. We are so pleased about that as she has been wonderful at motivating him. Before leaving he asked me if I thought this year would be really hard at school. I'm not really sure, but I think he is up for the challenge if it is.

 

I am used to Sebastian being gone a large part of the day at school, but Lilly and I have spent nearly every week day together the entire day since her birth. So I have been feeling rather odd about her now going off to nursery school for a whole 4 hours a day 4 days a week! I feel an incredible sense of freedom to finally have so many hours uninterrupted time. I aslo feel disbelief that she should be so big! Her nursery school is just a 5 minute walk from home, that is if I am walking alone. Lilly and I take about 20 minutes to do the little walk though, hand in hand, sometimes skipping, nearly always chattering.

  

She really seems ready to go too. I might not be though. The great thing is she is a born story teller and tells me each and everything that hapens while she was away.

While they are gone I hope to have some time to do something with these bright and cheery fabrics! I have decided to definitely have my shop closed until mid-September, but I will likely miss you all to much to stop blogging until then. Wishing you a fantastic week.

DIY bangs and a custom order

Lilly and her friends are already into Do It Yourself. Yes, her little friend who is actually starting 2nd grade tomorrow decided Lilly's bangs needed a trim.

It turned out kinda cute! This touristy photo was acatually taken by my dear brother while he was visiting and he took Lilly off for an outing just the two of them.

 

I made this drawstring bag as a custom order for a very sweet buyer in my shop.

 

I liked how these appliqué flowers looked decorting the bag.

 

Here's the mama and baby she ordered to go with the bag. Custom orders are fun yet challenging. I want to make sure I interpret the customer's wishes just right.

Hoping your week is staring off well. My little one and I are heading downtown this morning to do some fabric shopping for another custom order! The sun is shining brightly and I expect we will have a delightful time.

My dolls on Heather Bailey!

It really was hard keeping a secret for so long! I knew for quite awhile and was waiting and waiting because I didn't know WHEN! I told you a bit about it earlier and finally it really happened!

My dolls were featured on Heather Bailey's blog, right here!

 

She has a new feature there called Feature Friday where she highlights one artist. When her assistant contacted me to ask if I would like to be featured there I was so excited! Would I!? It is actually really nice to know that the one who put all the effort and creativity (and whom I have enourmous admiration for) into these beautiful fabrics also appreciates what a craftsperson very far away does with them.

I have learned so much from Heather, her sense of color is such an inspiration to me. Her color drenched and frolicy fabrics just seem to beg to be made into something fabulous.

One of the things I have learned too is what colors people seem to like best and least. Would you like to wager a guess?

Sometimes I really doubt that anyone will actually buy a doll in a specific color, ahem, like Fru Tvedt above, which is now in my shop along with many others made with Heather Bailey fabrics. I don't think many have orange as their favorite color or use it much in decorating. When I was little though I recall quite well having pink and orange as my faves, so I couldn't resist making one in these colors. Perhaps there is a girl, young or old who loves these colors too? 

I just wanted to let you know that I decided to have a little break from my shop and blog pretty soon so that I can get a chance to catch my breath before the busy fall and holiday season. I will be open for a couple more weeks and then close my shop and stop blogging for a week or two or maybe three. I found out last week that I get much more done when I am not at the computer. So if you need something I will be open until August 22nd and reopening my shop and starting to blog again sometime in September.

Finds

I'm so sorry to have been gone for so long. First one of our hard drives crashed leaving us computer-less. Then we had to wait for the new one to arrive in the mail. My husband tinkered and laboured into the wee hours of the night but something still wasn't right. A few trips downtown to the computer shop and many kroner lighter, we now have nearly a brand new computer and I am finally back again...

With photos of my new gorgeous vintage laces.

When mom was here recently I was so busy with her I didn't even have time to show you the wonderful flea market we went to and where I bought these. Mom and I sorted through a large basket of laces, vintage and every one unique.

 

The market was bustling that pretty day.

 

This fleamarket is open Saturday's in Oslo during the summer and offers many fine vintage and antique items.

 

This seller had a wonderful collection of textiles and small dolls.

 

I bought these too.

While our computer was down I had a bit of extra time to make things. So I kept myself happily busy sewing some new things for my shop.

Have a great rest of the weekend!