Merry christmas & happy new year!

Merry christmas & happy new year from Mel & Erik! This year we are wishing for more unicorns, more sunny days, more spontaneity, and maybe a little good health for our economy. We are thankful for loving supportive friends, accepting family, our cute little apartment, beautiful plants, fat kitties, and most of all, each other. Even without the unicorns, it will be a good year :)

(Not that we're saying no to unicorns, of course)




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Bridesmaids!

I've been keeping busy the last few weeks with projects. this is one I've been dying to post about, and now that I've heard back from everyone, I can!

I've been working on my bridesmaid invitations since march. I wanted them to be something special, that people could keep. I chose poppies and ranunculus because they will hopefully be my wedding flowers! Each one has a pocket on the back, with a personalized letter. I totally cried while writing the letters, these lovely ladies mean so much to me.

I personalized each one, too. They are all a little different, for various reasons like fabric size, learning as I went, and who I was designing for.





This one is for my little sister Asha! She's not into my whites yellows and oranges at all. So I did some soft peachy pinky colors, and worked in some cool colors. Looking at it reminds me of her somehow.




This one is for my cousin Sam. We've been very close since she was little, and she's more like a sister. She loves bright colors, and so I love the fiery reds and oranges for her. And I HAD to put the unicorn on the back.





This one is for my good friend Rosei. It's not a "best friend" thing, I don't think I could say that I have a best friend, unless it was Erik. But I always know I can talk to her about anything, and I love how supportive of each other we've become (we've been friends since we were 13!). So, I figured she had to be a bridesmaid.

I was thinking classic, Modern, Mad Men-esque for hers. I love the dots, the bold yellow, the dusty rose color. And it was hers that gave me the idea for the little loops on each. She's so wonderful about putting up things that people make for her all over her house. It always makes me smile to see pictures of her place!



And, last but not least, they all agreed. I'm so excited!


<3 <3 <3

Wonderful friends

A couple of days ago I came home to a sweet little package on our front porch. My friend Rosei put it together, and she is a master of the care package. It's not the first time I have photographed the unwrapping of one of her gifts, they are always just so special and magical.

Holiday decorations

If you are one of those people who believes in taking all decorations down on the 26th, I would drive you nuts. I will keep the tree up until it's just a pile of needles on the floor, if I can. And we don't have x-mas trees or decor often, so I plan to be extra crazy about them this year.



I didn't have really any ornaments for the tree, so I decorated with whatever I could find. Most of the things that turned into ornaments well were from Rosei, so major thanks to her! That unicorn in the middle there is one of the few things that was meant to be an ornament, and it's hand made, super special, and also from Rosei.

This chain of cute little knit stockings and mittens came from a cute little import store in Haight. I totally adore it. The tiny little cone trees on the ledge were an x-mas gift from Jess - she hand made a gazillion of them! They are totally fabulous. The little bunny in the upper right was a going away gift from Jess's mom, Marylynn. It's supposed to be a pin-cushion, but I just couldn't impale him.

Happy birthday Rosei! (belatedly...)

Rosei is one of my best and oldest friends, and her birthday was 7/26. This is what I made her for her birthday. I've been picking away at them for the last couple of months. And now I've mailed them, so it's ok to post!

I guess I'm going through a pastel phase....

Paper wisteria

Lavender sugar

Rainbow pear pincushion


The heart headed man

Regular gifts from Daiso

I have developed the habit of buying things for people every time I got to Daiso (the Japanese dollar fifty store). Especially people whose tastes I know well, or who are especially appreciative (little Asha is on her way to being crossed off that second list...)

This blue glitter nail polish is for Asha, and the ginkgo leaf cookie cutter for Jess.

We're this redonk pretty much all the time around here

Weekend sewing : the heart headed man

Sometimes, I'm glad that not all of my friends read this blog! Because this little guy is a birthday gift, for a friend who loves hearts, and could use a little cheer. Erik doesn't think his head looked hearty enough, he said it was a bit more like a kidney bean, but I still like him. Little dolls are hard! and this was about as simple as it gets. I might stick to my apples and pears from here on out :)

The frog prince fabric on the front is by Heather Ross - and it's from her best and last series. I totally love the frogs, it was really hard for me to use some of the fabric! I wanted to hoard it :)

Rosario head preview

It's been a busy week, I've fallen behind on updating. But, I do have lots and lots of pictures for you! Here is a small preview of a series from rosario head, in deception pass state park, on Whidbey island, WA. I'm giving you all this info because if it's not already, it should be on your "to visit some day" list.

Also, if you click on them, you'll get the big version, and these are at least desktop size.

Birthday presents

I love birthday presents, and birthdays. The birthdays of my loved ones are some of my favorite holidays. One my favorite traditions, with a couple of my oldest friends - making a birthday card for each year of their life. Of course, it takes a while to make 27 cards. So I tend to find something that works, and do that for each card. This year, I've been sewing a lot, so I decided to sew the cards, and I think it turned out particularly well! Inside they read, at a rate of one word per card (mostly): Heyyyy, happy birthday ginkgo girl, you are the bee's teeth and all special sunshines. Here's wising you pears, radishes, amy butler, bees, cranes, wistera, and bunnies, in the following year. Love you! Melly.

Erik might have helped me write it :) And you can see where the radishes bees etc come in.... yeah, I guess I'm kind of literal :)

Happy birthyday Jessie!

We've been friends since we were 12, and we still talk every day. I think Jessie has shaped who I am, and only in positive ways. So I hope that we are friends for another 15 years, and another 15 after that.... and then prob another 15 after that... go ahead and sign me up for a lifetime membership!

Happy birthday babes, I hope your day is perfect <3

For Emmy

Sorry it took me so long

Birds for Jess

That's all.

Holiday present, made by the lovely Jess

Sorry about the lighting. They looked the best in the hallway, with a wall sized just for them, and the cream and deep brown. but the hallway can be dim, and awkwardly lit. perhaps I'll bring them down, for a special photo session, next sunny day I get :)

Thank you Jess <3 I love handmade gifts!