In Which We Throw A Party And Connor Is Not Amused

Connor and I slept in a bit this morning, and then we hopped in the car and drove off to the farmer's market for some fresh fruit, bread and cheese.  I was hosting a group of crafting friends today, and so I wanted something tasty for us to snack on while we worked on our various projects.  You can't go wrong with fruit, bread and cheese. 

After that I cleaned up the sadly neglected house a bit, and when my co-host arrived I put Connor down for his quiet time and she and I got to crafting while we waited for the rest of the ladies.  Everyone either brings their own project, makes something with what other people brought, or just hangs out and socializes depending on their mood.  I felt like doing something a little bit different than the sequin-filled stocking and the costuming I've been working on recently, so I got started on one of the stockings based on botanical prints that I'd drawn up a few weeks ago. 

I decided to start with the poppy stocking; it's the most complicated and was inspired by some poppies drawn by Alphonse Mucha.  I've got some hand dyed, mottled felt in various colors I've been dying to use, and this seemed like the perfect time.  It's fun trying to figure out how to use the variegation on the sheet of felt to suggest shading-- I've got to cut the piece out at just the right angle to give an illusion of depth (though some of the pieces are lightly stuffed for added effect).

Because this stocking has no sequins and will only be beaded around the center of the poppies, it's going really, really fast.  I might actually be able to finish the front piece of this one up tomorrow, depending on how the day goes.  I've got the first flower laid out but not sewn down yet, so we'll see how quickly the detail work goes.

So crafty day was a big success; there's nothing I like more than sitting around a table with a bunch of friends and working on fun projects!  Connor was not nearly as thrilled with the whole thing, though, once I got him up from quiet time.  This was because there was a baby on the premises; one of my friends brought her adorable five week old girl.  If there's one thing that Connor likes less than a baby, it's a baby invading his own personal house.  Horrors!  I didn't even hold her and he still declared that he was sad and that she needed to leave.  He refused to sit up at the table with me, and instead hung out on the floor, where he didn't have to look at the baby and could therefore pretend she didn't exist.  The second she left he suddenly was perfectly fine with sitting at the table and being part of the gathering.

Silly little guy.

~Jess