penny carnival

Grrr ... Typepad

Please pardon the downright ugliness of my blog right now. I have a major redesign in the works, and was tinkering with some minor changes tonight to hold me over until then. The result is a patchwork of grody colors and odd-sized photos and me saying four-letter words about Typepad.

Thanks for your patience.

In the meantime, enjoy the look (and content) of these lovely blogs:

Inchmark

Going Home to Roost

Ahhh ... Design

Elsie Marley

Katie Did

Sew Liberated (check out the examples from Meg's forthcoming book while you're there. Squeal!!!)

Penny's facelift

If you're a regular here, you no doubt have noticed that I'm tinkering with the look of the blog. I love the wooden cupcake photo and am mourning it a bit tonight, but the whole color scheme of the blog was looking quite drab to me so I'm trying to freshen things up.

Obviously I need to get the words Penny Carnival in the banner somewhere. Any other suggestions?

Here are some other photos I'm having fun remembering tonight (and some I'm considering for the banner instead of what you see above).

Fabric wall silhouette how to--

 

Rainbow party hat--

Reverse applique--

Wooden cupcake out take--

Our living room at Christmastime--

Dyno Mighty, the super hero we invented who eats all her vegetables--

A romper I sewed for Magpie with Amy Butler fabric--

Bo making alphabet art with glue, Cheerios and black pepper--

Ah, the memories. Must be the end of the year or something.

Ta ta, cupcake banner. You've served us well. 

Hit explosion

Is there something in the water? The number of people visiting Penny Carnival has just exploded in the last few days. A lot of you are visiting from here and here. (Thanks, Amber! What a fun surprise to see a link to my crafty corner of the world in your newsletter this week.)

However you got here, welcome!

I just wanted to encourage everyone to leave comments, if you'd like. I really want to make this a place where we can exchange ideas and inspire one another. Hope to hear from you.

In the meantime, here's a shot from this morning. I'm in Mommy Heaven. The local parks and rec department just opened this water park two minutes from our house. It's full of spray areas and slides and a lazy river, where all that's missing is a margarita bar I can float in and out of.
I'm not sure who's more full of glee--Bo in this photo or me right now, as the silence of two sleeping kiddos fills the house.

Almost famous (but really not. at all)

Penny Carnival has had some big moments during its brief little life. The first time someone left a comment. The first time someone left a comment who hasn't known me since kindergarten. The day I switched the color scheme from abracadabra orange to a much softer palette. Good times, good times.

And then, there's the e-mail I just received from the Typepad folks saying they're going to feature my blog on their main page next week.

If Bo had any idea what a blog was, this is what she'd say: If you're happy and you know it, shout hooray. Hooray!

After getting the e-mail, I checked out what their featured blogs were this week. None other than Martha Stewart. And an amazing food photographer/graphic designer. Eek. I feel so itsy bitsy. Like the spider trying to climb its way up a water spout.

Anyhow, Typepad is supposed to put Penny Carnival up on June 18. It could mean more folks checking out the site (yea!), but I don't know if that's 5 folks or 500. Closer to 5, I'm sure, but even that would be fantastico.

Thanks for reading, friends.

Might as well jump (jump!)

I'm not sure what made me take the plunge today and finally start this blog. It was sort of a perfect storm, really. Both girls were sleeping at the same time for more than 10 minutes. My wallet was nearby. And the latest dress I sewed for Bo made me smile when I took it out of the dryer. Now, if doing laundry can make you smile, you've gotta make the most of it.
Plus, I finally settled on a name for my little home on the Web.
Penny Carnival.
Duh. I should have thought of it long ago. I've always largely attributed my creativity to the babysitter who used to watch my sister and me when we were itty. My parents obviously played a big role in our creativity, too. I remember them helping us grow a small garden in the side yard--sunflowers, radishes, carrots. And we were outside a ton, playing "school" at St. Claire Park and playing "house" in Tammy Kale's backyard shed next door.
When Amy was in charge, though, she always had some project for us.
Among the many clever adventures we embarked upon were the Penny Carnivals she'd hold in our garage. She'd set up nine or ten little booths--bean bag tosses, hopscotch, craft making, etc.--then invite all the neighbor kids to ride on over on their Big Wheels to take part. Each activity cost--what else?--a penny. Amy would wear one of my mom's disco scarves on her head and read fortunes from a magic eight ball. What I would give to go back in time and listen, as an adult, to the fortunes she must have told my friends and me.
So, thanks, Amy. You could have easily plopped us in front of Sesame Street, but you didn't. You gave my sister and me a precious gift.