Hello friends!
I missed you last week. I didn’t check in like I usually do on Fridays, but instead I took advantage of the holiday to finish writing my book! After 1 1/2 years of work, the manuscript is with our very capable proofreader before it goes to layout and production. I still have a few samples to sew before the last big photo shoot, and then this long project is off to the printer. I’m really, really excited to reveal all the details to you in a few months, and I think you are going to be extremely excited about it when you learn what the book is about.
In the meantime, however, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We didn’t really have much time to celebrate, but we had a lovely time in Paris the week before so it all worked out just fine. We ate really well, did a little fabric and trim shopping (La Droguerie, Lil Weasel, France Duval-Stalla, and a few others) and saw as much of the city as we could in 2 1/2 days. We even managed to catch a Gregorian mass at Notre Dame just before we left for the airport, which was quite a treat. And S took her usual portrait of Bear at the Louvre, which may have been my highlight of the trip. I love watching her live her childhood.
Last week marked our third month of living in Spain! I was quite proud of myself for semi-gracefully managing a complicated request in Spanish this week, so I can see that I’m making slow but steady progress toward learning the language. S is working very hard and making great progress as well.
Pinterest Picks
I loved Marsala, Pantone’s 2015 color of the year, since I’ve always been a fan of burgundy. What do you think about the new colors for 2016: Rose Quartz and Serenity?
We’ll be making these for sure this weekend!
Here’s a cute, simple way to package hand-made candies for gift giving.
Wouldn’t it be fun to hand quilt a Lullaby Layette jacket with a running stitch and purl cotton? I think it would make a really special gift, and it’s small enough that the quilting wouldn’t take too long.
Here’s another cute idea for gift packaging, especially if you’re going the gift card route. (We’ll be giving S a gift card this year so she can buy books for her Kindle; it’s the best way for us to get books in English right now.)
Weekend Reading (and Watching)
- S’s school here in Madrid is quite famous because every year on December 22 the children from her school sing the winning numbers for “El Gordo,” the big, annual Christmas lottery that has been going on for over 200 years. This lottery is quite different from lotteries in the States; the prizes are smaller and more plentiful, rather than having one single winner. And there is a long tradition of buying tickets together with work colleagues and family members. I didn’t really understand it at first, but it’s quite a fun tradition. But they also have the cutest little animated film to advertise it this year! S won’t be singing the numbers, but some of her friends will, so we’ll be tuning in for sure. Lottery ticket in hand, of course.
- We watch a lot of old films on movie nights, and S has become quite the Audrey Hepburn and Katherine Hepburn fan. I thought this little video explaining why film stars in the 30’s and 40’s spoke with an accent was really interesting. (Incidentally, we’re also big fans of Elf, which we’ll be watching again tonight. It’s become part of our holiday tradition.)
- Between Fitbit challenges and a little friendly competition between sisters on DuoLingo, publicly recording my progress has become very motivating to help me improve my fitness and my Spanish skills. Have you tried this? I think it really works!
- Thanksgiving is over, but do you practice being thankful/grateful on a regular basis? It’s been proven to increase our feelings of satisfaction and overall happiness.
- I haven’t been watching it, but judging from the costumes, Game of Thrones appears to be quite an eyeful! Lots of inspiration here.
- And one extra link, for good measure. I had an art teacher in college who used to tell us to watch Bob Ross, with the sound turned off, to learn painting techniques. But I’d say half the pleasure of watching Mr. Ross is listening to his soothing banter. Glad to see he still has many fans!
Have a wonderful weekend. And sewing projects in the works?
I LOVE Bob Ross and Sister Wendy too, however dated they may seem. My kid and I watch Bob Ross together and afterward I can always see her employing something she learned, “I’m going to just carve this a little bit” as she scrapes with the handle of her brush — in a six year old’s voice, so adorable.
I’m very curious to go check out the link about film star accents, I’ve always wondered about that!
See if you can find a copy of ‘Bringing up Baby’ starring Katherine Hepburn, it was one of my Twins favourite
Running stitch is one of my favourites too. In India it it is called Kantha stitch and is used to create quite complex embroideries. I believe it is pearl cotton you are referring to. Is it called purl cotton in the US then ?