the great outdoors!

Ohhh boy was this weekend gorgeous! And so busy!

I kicked it off with a mini-hang out with my crafty friend Tara. We paid a visit to Mr. Bob McDougal who advised me that no, my sewing machine is not a piece of crap, I just don't know how to use it. (Fair enough) Bob-visit followed by a trip to High Fashion Fabrics where we spent almost 2 hours (easy to do..) and found 3 great new fabrics and a few do-dads.

Had a delicious dinner with Lindsey at Oporto, a tapas cafe and wine bar. Ohmygodtheclams. The food here is fantastic and easily one of my new favorites.

Later that night, I walked down to Mango's and had a few beers with some pals I hadn't seen in a while. By then, I was pretty tuckered so I called it a (pretty action packed) day.

Saturday afternoon I went down to the Bayou City Arts Fest with Nora! Was my first time and will definitely attend the one downtown in October. It was almost 80 so it was pretty warm, but the park was shaded by lots of trees and there was no shortage of beverages to enjoy. There was so much to see!

I made only one small purchase but I'm very happy with it. One of the first booths we stumbled on featured some great paper craft, paintings and handmade journals. The artists name is Lisa Norris, a Chattanooga resident and graduate of Parsons School of Design. She works with old photographs, vintage fabrics and papers, buttons and other found objects. I purchased one of her "Love Notes", a little note card made from an old map of Europe and folded into a heart. I'll have to scan it, it's so cute. I bought it with a specific person in mind, but I have to admit I'll have a hard time parting with it. (what's the opposite of buyer's remorse?? That "Damn! I should have bought more!" feeling.

You can see and learn more at her site Made By One Girl.

Here are a few more (quite random) photos of sights from Saturday!

Pretty woodcut birds- I really liked this artist: Dolan Geiman, from Chicago.

RAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!

(Oh haiiii dixieeeeeee!)

I love everyday objects-turned-faces!

pretty enamel blossoms wide shot of a booth

above: this was a person. on stilts....mildly creepy.

above: this is paper!

So that was Art Fest! After the day at the park, we enjoyed a few pounds of crawfish, potatoes and corn. After all that sodium, I was craving dark chocolate espresso brownies (specific..), so I nommed those while watching episodes of The Ricky Gervais Show (true love).

I didn't have much slated for Sunday afternoon so after cleaning up a bit, I was getting hungry. It was a breezy 72 degrees and I wanted lunch, but I also wanted to sit outside... I need a grill. After a little visit to Target and the grocery, I was grilling in no time. Actually that's not true. It took about an hour to assemble the damn thing, another hour to get a fire going, and then an hour and a half later when my shrimp-jalapeno-goat cheese en brochette still weren't cooked because of my weak, weak fire I gave up and stuck 'em in the broiler. Oh well- I'm not entering any BBQ contests any time soon. I'll just have to practice more! I'm thinking veggie kabobs sometime this week!

They wanted to cook... they really tried.

Post grilling- fail, I went up to my little work station and got busy on a new little envelope clutch, using some new fabric I bought on Friday.

I like the little frog closure, although it was a pain to sew on.

Whew! That was a lot. I really should get to work... I hope your weekend was filled with sun, tasty things and good people!