Not on the walls...

That's the mantra around here these days!


I know you can't compare one child to the next. It isn't fair and it won't work. But in this case, I just can't help but do it. It's just so telling about life in this house. Belle has never colored on the walls...not once! And she has had pretty much unlimited access to crayons, markers, oil pastels, etc. since she could hold them. Bee...well it took about 30 seconds. She picked up that first crayon and before I could blink there were huge orange scribbles all over our kitchen wall.



So for now, we color only while strapped into the booster seat. But she does love this toy! It is made by Crayola and plays music at the same tempo as your coloring. Color faster and the music speeds up...pretty fun:) If you have little ones who like music and like to color, it's definitely great for rainy days.

Bottled Rainbows Quilt Along

I've been prepping to start my Bottled Rainbows ticker tape quilt for the quilt along. If you haven't heard about it, click on the button to the right to find out more...there's still time to join in!

I don't maintain much of a stash of solid fabrics (something I'd love to change in the near future), so I ordered a fat quarter set from Whipstitch just for this quilt. The set includes the 16 Kona shades recommended for this quilt....BEAUTIFUL!

So once it arrived, I started digging through my scraps. I laid each of the solids out on the table and starting pile my scraps where they matched. It was really a lot of fun playing with all those tiny pieces that I had been hanging on to for who knows how long.

I then dug into my regular fabric stash to suplement. I cut small scraps off of larger cuts and added them to the piles.

After pressing each scrap this was what I ended up with. Isn't it lovely???


Except that I have some MAJOR holes in my scrap stash:( So if you have scraps in any of the shades below that you are willing to share, PLEASE send them my way!!! PLEASE!!!! Scraps can be as small as 1"x2" or as large as about 5" square. Many, many thanks in advance!

plum
eggplant
indigo
ocean
cerise
raspberry
pumpkin
moss

We now interrupt your regularly scheduled programming...

for this very important announcement: Belle + Bee will be participating in Handmade Holiday 2010, the goal of which is to promote the giving of oneself through handmade gifts. And when necessary and/or appropriate supporting small businesses by purchasing their handmade products.


I'm going to have to be careful because most of my gift recipients read this blog on a regular basis. I'll try not to ruin any surprises and may even have to save a few projects for after gifts have been given. But, I'll do my best to share as much as possible as early as possible:)


As a teaser of what's to come, here are some supplies that I've purchased recently (and links to where you can buy them, of course!).

Natural Wool

Handmade Felt

Hand Painted Merino Wool