Fabric Giveaway From Me to You

I don't do a whole lot of giveaways here on The Cottage Home. So, today I'm changing it up a bit and I've got a little giveaway from me to you.  It's not much, but just a little token of my appreciation to all of The Cottage Home loyal readers.  I love your emails, your comments, and you seriously make blogging such an amazing experience for me.

So, enough with the touchy-feely stuff and onto the giveaway.  Today you have a choice of two 5 yard fabric bundles.  You can choose from these two fabric lines Art Gallery "Sugar" or David Walker "Robots".  If you are the winner, I will be sending you 1 yard cuts of each of the 5 prints from whatever line you choose - that's 5 yards total!

Here are your two bundle choices:

Pat Bravo for Art Gallery Fabrics "Sugar":

David Walker for Free Spirit Fabrics "Robots":

So you can enter this giveaway three times (three chances to win), here's how:

1. Leave a comment (with your email address) and let me know which bundle you would like and what you might make.

2. Become a follower and let me know you're following.  If you are already a follower (thank you), comment and simply let me know.

3. "Like" The Cottage Mama" on facebook.  Click here to become a fan.  Come back and leave a comment to let me know you're a fan.

This giveaway will be open for the next week and will close next Tuesday, September 7th at midnight (US Central Standard Time).  I will use random.org to select the winner.

Again, I want to thank you all so, so much for reading my little blog.  It hasn't even been a year yet that I started The Cottage Home, but I feel like I've known some of you for much longer. 

Have a great day!

go jump in the lake

over the weekend billy and i headed over to historic grant park to the 8th annual summer shade festival.  it was a gorgeous day and we were loving the slightly cooler weather.  the highlight of my day was getting to see the booth belonging to the local art company “go jump in the lake.” 

i’ve used their rustic signs in the past and have always loved them.  most recently i used one of their “lake” signs in a model home’s nursery.

{images – charm home}

all of their signs are hand crafted and made to look like they’ve been exposed to the elements for years. 

their signs with quotes on them are my fave.

         

i loved the wall of local atlanta neighborhood signs too.  it really reminded me how many great historic neighborhoods atlanta has.

if you get a chance check out their website or purchase a sign from their etsy shop.

LiveJournal Tags: go jump in the lake,historic grant park,summer shade festival,atlanta,etsy

LA MER

Love from Southend... HD from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

I remember as a little kid going to beaches like this on the New Jersey shore. Well, maybe not quite like this.

Fabulously honest camera work, sly editing, set to the tune La Mer by the great chanteur Charles Trénet.

 

Here's Charles Trénet singing his song himself later in his career. Apparently he wrote the song in 10 minutes in 1943 on toilet paper aboard a train running along the Mediterranean coast.

Bobby Darin did an English-language cover called Beyond the Sea in 1959. Totally different song.

The evolution continued with this video set to Beyond the Sea, sung by Robbie Williams.
 

Not the same song, except in name. A hypnotic beauty by Nine Inch Nails.

La Mer. from Sinpiggyhead on Vimeo.

An even more hypnotic stop-motion video of the NIN song.

Before there were talkies, Louis Lumière produced this 1895 silent film called La Mer.

La mer, she inspires us.

(Photo of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, from here.)

Tomatoes!

We enjoyed our first cherry tomato harvest over the weekend! It was a notable moment as the tomatoes got off to a rather slow start due our cool, rainy June.

Most of the heirloom varieties are still quite green. We're hoping that before the fall temperatures settle in, we'll get some more late hot summer days to help them ripen.

As you can see, I'm ripening as well. I'm a little over 23 weeks pregnant now and the babies are growing fast. I'm so excited to say that we've begun working on the nursery. Hubby finished all of the painting in the dining room (photos to soon follow) and has officially begun the painting projects for the nursery.

Once the painting is finished, everything should come together quite quickly as all the furniture and design plans are pretty much complete! Can't wait to share it with you!

dining table envy

over the weekend i picked up one of my old house beautifuls.

i had forgotten how much i loved windsor smith’s home that was featured in september ‘09, especially the extra large dining table in the kitchen. 

i love how it functions as a dining table and as an island.  i wish my dining area was just a smidge bigger.  i love large, farmhouse-style dining tables, but my dining area is not large enough to hold one.  totally envious of windsor’s dining space though.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i’ve been working little by little on my condo all this year.  i haven’t gotten much completed due to a lack of time, but it’s slowly coming together.  i’m looking forward to picking out something to add to my place from csn stores.  i’ll be reviewing a product soon for them and i’m really excited to pick out something fun.

**all images – house beautiful

LiveJournal Tags: windsor smith,dining room,house beautiful

Link Love No.21

Hi all! Shcool started for my two boys last week. This week my baby, the youngest will start kindergarten. Wow, all I can say is, "Really?!" I feel like she was born yesterday, now she is so eagar to put her backpack on and go out the door.

I will continue to be busy so, don't have time to be so sentimental. Although I felt a little sting in my heart, as I was packing their lunches. I thought about the day when they would be much older, independant, and not needing me anymore like they do now. (I know that is a good thing, but it is still hard.)

Will I be sad? Lonely? Maybe so, but I picture myself taking lots of classes, sewing more and who knows, I might be traveling more.

While I am going through this journey of mommyhood, taking the time to sew and doing blogging gives me the chance to be ME. And I know so many of you are that way too. It is great to see all of your creations at my link party. Thank you all for sharing a part of you!

There are many wonderful talents in this week's link party too, it wasn't easy to pick only a few posts, but here they are.

Creative Minde shared her Paper quilling. I always wanted to try this, and she made it look so easy and simple. Beautiful work!


Look at this adorable horse! It is made out of a sock, and Kleines Fräulein shares an easy to follow tutorial. This will make a nice gift for a little boy, or awesome party favor for birthday parties!


I loove those baby booties! Leafy Treetop Spot made very fashionable and cute booties. My favorite are the brown ones.


I have seen so many fabric flowers in the past, but I have never seen a fabric flower this pretty! Our daily chocolate created this beautiful flower and she is thinking about a tutorial in the future... please do so!


I wish I had this when my kids were younger, The Planner and the Procrastinator made this portable fabric high chair (with help of This Mama Makes Stuff). I bet this will make so many mothers' lives easier.


Thank you all for linking up. I sure appreciate them. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

SUNDAY POETRY: "SONG"

(Photo from here.)

SONG

by Thomas James Merton

 

The bottom of the sea has come   

And builded in my noiseless room   

The fishes’ and the mermaids’ home,

Whose it is most, most hell to be   

Out of the heavy-hanging sea

And in the thin, thin changeable air

Or unroom sleep some other where;   

But play their coral violins   

Where waters most lock music in:

The bottom of my room, the sea.

Full of voiceless curtaindeep

There mermaid somnambules come sleep   

Where fluted half-lights show the way,

And there, there lost orchestras play   

And down the many quarterlights come   

To the dim mirth of my aquadrome:   

The bottom of my sea, the room.

Tutorial ~Swaddle Blanket with Self Binding Method~

A while ago, I mentioned that I was doing a tutorial for a blanket using the self binding method. I have made so many blankets in the past. I think this is one of the most easiest ways to make baby blankets. It might be a little confusing at first, folding the corner, but once you get used to it, you can finish a blanket in no time!

{You will need}


1- 43" X 43" flannel (It was 44" wide flannel, I cut off the sides to get rid of the writings and thickness. This fabric will be the outer border.)

1- 36" X 36" flannel

Matching thread

{How to}

1. Mark the middle for all sides for both fabrics. Lay them together with right sides together. First, pin the middle of the four sides. Then pin the edges starting in the middle make your way outwards to the corners.


2. Start sewing using 1/4" seam allowance. Remember to leave a 5" opening for you to turn the fabric inside out later.



3. Fold the corner. Draw a line to help you to know where to sew. Use the picture as a guide.



4. Cut the excess off. Repeat the process for the other corners.



5. Press the seam towards the outside with an iron.



6. Turn the fabric inside out. Iron. Pin the opening and top stitch all around the blanket.



7. Ta-da. That's it!


Wasn't that fun? I have been going through my stash and made some in the past few weeks. They always come in handy for baby showers and such. I hope you enjoyed the tutorial!

Change Up Bag Lunches with Tortilla Roll-ups

My Mom always did a great job packing our lunches while we were in school.  And yes, I was one of those kids whose Mom packed their lunch up until their very last day of high school - thanks Mom!

As most kids do, I went through phases of liking certain things more than others.  Only wanting turkey sandwiches with nothing but turkey and bread (how boring!) and loving peanut butter and jelly (minus the jelly).  But I always got excited when my Mom would change it up a bit with something new and Tortilla Roll-ups were definitely a pleasant surprise.

Now while I don't have school aged children yet, we had a playdate this week with a good friend and her little ones, so I decided to whip up some of these roll-ups for the occasion.

This is my grown up version of Tortilla Roll-ups (with lots of yummy things inside), but my girls love them, so your kiddos probably will too!

Tortilla Roll-ups

Serves 3 (big kids) - 6 (little kids)

Ingredients:
1 block cream cheese
1 can diced green chiles
1 small can sliced black olives
1 tablespoon fresh chives (or one green onion, sliced)
6 slices of ham
6 flour tortillas

Directions:
Set cream cheese out on kitchen counter for 30 mins. or so to allow it to soften.  Meanwhile, drain black olives and give them a rough chop.  Slice green onions or chop chives (both are tasty so use what you like best).  Place green onions (or chives), roughly chopped black olives, and canned green chiles into a large mixing bowl.  Stir to combine.

Add your cream cheese to the green onion, olive and green chile mixture.  Work the cream cheese into the mixture with a wooden spoon.  Mix until the cream cheese is completely combined.

Now for the roll-ups.  Using a spatula, spread 1/6th of the mixture evenly on top of a flour tortilla and place a piece of ham on top.  Roll up your tortilla.

Pack two tortilla roll-ups (or one for an elementary age student) for lunch by wrapping them in plastic wrap.

If your little ones (or bigger teen ones) prefer little finger foods, slice tortillas and pack in a small tupperware container. 

The sliced version make a wonderful appetizer or a finger food dish to bring to a party.

And hey, grown-ups love these things to, so even if you don't have kids, make some of these for yourself for lunch - you will love them - deeeelish!

Cottage Mama's Note:  If your children prefer are more simplistic recipe, just make these with plain cream cheese and ham.  It will still be something different than their regular sandwich.

giveaway update

last month i did a little giveaway from csn and jan from the life of a future domestic goddess won.  i thought i would share her entry/stairway project with you all because she used the credit that she won from csn to complete it. 

here is what her entry looked like before

during…

and the awesome after…

she painted her stairs black and added a rug and light fixture from csn.  if you want to hear more about her entry/stairway update you can visit her blog here.

thanks for sharing your makeover

with us jan. it looks great!

LiveJournal Tags: giveaway,the life of a future domestic goddess,csn

BIRTHRIGHT

BIRTHRIGHT from Sean Mullens on Vimeo.

Transcendence.

AUGUST WITH MONK SEALS

August / Agosto from Rafa Herrero on Vimeo.

This lovely short film is an example of what I like about the new world we're living in. A filmmaker gets to make his or her own film. That's all. There's no one telling him or her what should go into it or be left out of it. 

Consequently, the ecosystem of online videos is slowly evolving to include these uniquely quiet and powerful voices. 

Which turns out to be a perfect compliment for this film's subject: monk seals. In particular, Mediterranean monk seals, Monachus monachus (Greek monachos: solitary; Latin monachus: monk). The Mediterranean monk seals in this film live far from the Mediterranean on the Atlantic coast of Mauritania, in the region around Cap Blanc, known in Arabic as Ras Nouadhibou. They've survived here against all odds thanks to nearly inaccessible caves—some have entrances only underwater—in inaccessible cliffs on unpeopled coastlines.

This range map from Wikimedia Commons shows the surviving colonies of Mediterranean monk seals, including Cap Blanc in the lower left.

This species was well known to the people of the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean. In his Historia Animālium, Aristotle wrote extensively about wildlife. But he struggled to understand what seals were all about:

The seal is a kind of imperfect or crippled quadruped; for just behind the shoulder-blade its front feet are placed, resembling hands, like the front paws of the bear; for they are furnished with five toes, and each of the toes has three flexions and a nail of inconsiderable size. The hind feet are also furnished with five toes; in their flexions and nails they resemble the front feet, and in shape they resemble a fish's tail.

Aristotle, btw, thought women were deformed men.

The Sierra Club Handbook of Seals and Sirenians says that even in recent times in Athos—a self-governed monastic state in Greece accessible only by boat—monks used the skins of monk seals to make belts.

Today the Mediterranean monk seal is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List. It's one of the rarest mammals on Earth with less than 500 living individuals. The largest surviving colony had been found, though not easily, in the citadel of the Mauritanian caves. But these holdouts from monks and men were hard hit by a die-off in 1997 that killed 200 of 300 seals. No one's sure why. Maybe a virus. Maybe a toxic algal bloom. They've slowly recovered to about 130 today. Yet the die-off may have reduced their genetic diversity by some 12 percent, to a point where they can't reproduce fast enough to overcome random events that effect survival. The IUCN notes impressive efforts to save the Mediterranean monk seal:

However, all of the actions have been insufficient to change the overall declining trend of this species. Most conservation initiatives occur only on paper and do not translate into real and effective conservation action in the field. As a consequence, most of the small subpopulations that survived three decades ago, when conservation of the species was already identified as being a priority, are now extinct. Today, human encroachment of haul-out habitat, adverse interactions with fisheries and impoverished genetic variability are the main threats affecting the species. Unless there is urgent action, the extinction risk of the species is high.

(Photo from Arkive.)

The soundtrack of the film is fascinating. Surely these seals were the Sirens who tried to lure sailors to wreck and ruin? Jason and the Argonauts would have died if Orpheus had not been along on the voyage. Hearing the Sirens' songs, Orpheus drew his lyre, played his own exquisite music, and prevented the Argonauts from jumping overboard and drowning. Maybe that's where we get the phrase drowned out.

The Siren, by John William Waterhouse, circa 1900, courtesy Wikimedia Commons.