La Dolce Vita

Ten years. Yikes! And a busy ten it has been. Couldn't have planned them better.....life is good.
(Cheesy photo, I know)

I mentioned yesterday that I had a big surprise planned for the hubby for our 10 year anniversary, and last night at dinner I sprung it on him! We are going to Italy!!! And that is not all.....I have booked us for a 5 day Porsche tour- essentially we (he) gets to drive us around the Italian Riviera in a Porsche, taking in the sites, staying at a fancy-schmancy hotel....la dolce vita, my friends! Considering how he pours over his monthly Car and Driver magazine (while he continues to drive our 17 year old Volvo), you could say he was a bit excited:

And mostly surprised at my mastery in deception, I think (hmmm, this may come in handy in the future). I have been sneaking around booking tours and flights for months now, in cahoots with his staff at work to book him off, and overall just spending a tremendous amount of energy keeping my big mouth shut. It's going to be great! And a far cry from our last trip to Europe, incidentally 10 years ago, where we stayed in hostels and rode the night trains! Not that we didn't have a fabulous time then, too :-) We don't go until the fall, so we get to spend some delicious time dreaming and planning all the details!

Back in reality, it is another rainy weekend here, and I am so done with it. We have a string of birthday parties and fun planned, and as promised, I have some pictures of the crayon purse I made for Lauren and Serah, to coordinate with their dresses I posted here.

This is my first time making this in quilting cotton weight, so I used a fleecy interfacing and it turned out great! So sweet and girly. Inside, there is a pad of paper (covered with paper and sparkly flowers!), little puckered pockets to hold markers or crayons, and a pocket to stash stickers or their art.

Just the perfect size for little girls to tote around town!

Sweet Summer Dresses

I get all nostalgic when I see smocked summer dresses- it makes me think of tubes tops from the '80s, jelly sandals and orange Popsicles! And shirring makes the cutest summer dresses.

I decided to make a set for the upcoming joint birthday bash for my goddaughter. Lauren, and her little sister, Serah. I chose Lila Tueller Santorini fabrics in purples, as that is their mom's favorite color. I more or less followed Heather Ross' tutorial on Martha Stewart found here. I made some modifications- I didn't backstitch for the shirring, and instead pulled on the elastic thread when done to make it bunch up even more. I also made my own version of straps, using some of the crochet trim I had picked up at my thrift store adventure. I then bound it, quilt style, along one edge. I was really happy with the end result! It just gives it a little "something something." It looks even cuter on...enter my daughter as a model......Next up- a crayon purse in matching colors! Stay tuned!