confessions of a blueberry bandit

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

I have been admiring misako mimoko's amazing creations for a long time, and my heart skipped a beat when I managed to nab one of her sweet little handmade kite valentines.  (Mine looks like the one on the left.)

(Photo courtesy of misako mimoko)

I felt very special when my little kite arrived in the mail yesterday.  It is even sweeter in person, and I can't wait to hang it on my wall.  I'd say it's the best sort of Valentine to give to oneself!  Sometimes we all need a little reminder to relax and take it easy ourselves, right?

Everything in her shop is charming beyond belief, but I am absolutely In Love with her dolls.  I think I actually cried when this one sold...

"Doli Lettuce"  (Photo courtesy of misako mimoko)

Sigh...

Speaking of Valentine's Day... I wanted to share a recent secret project.  I decided to make some speaker covers for my hubby.  (Andy would scold me here... They're called monitors...  But I call them speakers.  Whatever.)

These speakers monitors are among his most prized possessions, and I just couldn't bear to walk in the studio and see rumpled bed sheets thrown over them.  I bought some top-grade imitation pleather... and then broke my sewing machine and had to borrow my neighbor's.  But I think they turned out pretty cute.  I tried to make them as masculine as I could.  They're better than bed sheets, at any rate.  Andy was very pleased!

My sewing machine is now happily repaired... Hooray! 

So I've listed another foxy pouch in my shop.

The weather is GORGEOUS here in Athens, GA, so I think I'll spend some time outdoors with my beloved feline and my furry beastlet of a pup. 

Maybe we'll even go fly a kite...

♥

Books make the world go 'round...

I am a lover of books, but I very rarely buy them for myself.  I think it has something to do with living in small spaces and working in a library for years.  Oh, and being poor...  So I was beside myself when I received a mysterious package a couple days ago and found three books from my wishlist.  Someone very special and sneaky (my mother-in-law) sent them just because.

Among them was this monograph by Loretta Lux that I have coveted for several years.  It is really not so expensive but, as I mentioned, I have a stubborn Depression-Era-thrifty mentality when it comes to books.  Now I can hold it in my hands and call it my own.  Loretta Lux's portraits of children are pleasantly and irresistibly creepy, and I absolutely love her color palette.

 

The Rose Garden by Loretta Lux

Study of a Girl 1 by Loretta Lux

Also in my special surprise package was Drop Dead Cute, another book I've had on my list for a few years but never chanced to buy.  It is a collection of works by female Japanese artists and includes such gems as this:

Baby Elephant Underpants by Chinatsu Ban

It just doesn't get better than an elephant wearing undies decorated with undies.  Period.

 My best friend recently managed to get her hands on a copy of this new Benjamin Lacombe pop-up book, Il Était Une Fois.  It looks absolutely amazing...

 

I'm hoping it will become available in the US.  Pretty please?

 

I broke my sewing machine for real yesterday and had to take it to the repair shop.  I was attempting a top-secret and time-sensitive project which will now have to be postponed.  (And I also have some more pouches in the works.)  Sigh...  It's probably a good idea to change the needle once in a while... not to mention cleaning & oiling the machine.  Which I have never done.  Not one single time.  Shame on me!

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend! 

♥

I Made Something!

Actually, I made three somethings.  Pouches, to be precise.  And they are now listed in my shop!

It feels very good to be able to share these...

 

Mousy Little Pouch

 

Bunny Zipper Pouch

 

Foxy Little Pouch

 

Junebug is doing really well today and asked me to thank everyone for all the love and kind words!  If she could, she would nuzzle each and every one of you, purring all the while...

♥

Brave Little Kitten...

 

It has been quite a (crummy, emotional, expensive) week...

 

 

Especially for Junebug, who prefers to wear her collar-of-shame Victorian-style rather than the traditional Elizabethan...  The poor thing was struggling so much, crashing around and knocking things over. Somehow she spirited herself out of both collar and semi-confinement around 4:30 this morning.  Not good.  So in a delirious, desperate state, I decided to try turning it around.  And it worked.  It just keeps her from licking where she should not lick, and now she can get around without having to walk backwards.  And it's just more flattering, if you ask me...

 

 

  Poor Junebug has been through a lot this week.  She disappeared for a couple of days and returned trembling, completely traumatized and mysteriously injured.  There were no obvious wounds, but she was walking strangely and refused to eat.  I was worried she may have been hit by a car or crushed by some large object and sent myself into hysterics thinking she was going to die...

Our (very kind) vet did some x-rays and gave her fluids and eventually determined that she was (quite brutally) attacked by another cat.  And, incidentally, discovered a gun pellet in one of Junebug's back legs... Wait, what?  Someone shot my poor baby? When did this happen? Why would someone do that to a tiny, helpless cat???  Fortunately the pellet caused no damage, but the bites were really nasty.  Yesterday we had to go back to the vet to have three abscesses drained and get more antibiotics.  And the dreaded collar...

 

 

A large portion of Junebug's lower back is shaved, and it looks absolutely ghastly.  But I think she's going to be ok.  I'm giving her antibiotics twice a day and applying warm compresses as often as she will let me.  And thanking my lucky stars that I found her when I did.  There is a chance she'll have permanent nerve damage because the bites were near her spine, but I can't think about that right now.  Instead I'm spoiling her with fancy food and treats and giving her as much love as I can. 

Junebug is enduring the stress, pain and boredom with amazing patience.  She truly is a brave little soul, and, cheesy as it may sound, she means the world to me.

Here's hoping for a speedy recovery for my dear, sweet little gal...

 

♥