Happy Friday! It can’t possibly less than two weeks until school starts for K. I have no recollection of the last month, and more to the point, I don’t know if I can sew up a new backpack/school bag for K for third grade in the remaining time. When I sat her down and told her that we might have to go BUY one, she was crushed. “But what about last year’s??” she asked. Apparently, the Oliver + S messenger bag I made last year was a huge hit amongst her classmates, and she loved telling everyone that it was handmade. It got pretty beat up and the shape didn’t hold up as well as I’d hoped. And really, that bag was a serious commitment, and I’m not sure I have it in me to make it again.
But never say never, perhaps I’ll surprise myself.
*****************************************************
K on profanity:
“Mama, I love saying the word ‘fox’. It sounds like a bad word, but it’s perfectly okay to say it.”*
*I recently discovered that she knows way more curse words than I thought. Then again, she thinks “darn” is a horrifyingly taboo word, so it’s very endearing.
*****************************************************
Have a lovely, lovely weekend, friends! My haiku is embedded in the illustration above, so instead here’s an illustration of autumnal fruits [shaking my head that summer vacation’s practically over].
your illustration is beautiful and so charming. how sweet that k wants another handmade bag–i hope that my daughters want handmade things for a while longer. also ‘darn’ being taboo is seriously cute!
Thank you, Sarah! I completely dialed it in with the backpack and went the store-bought route. In the end, I think she’s happier…;-)
oh, your illustrations are always so beautiful. i really love your work. i guess I’ll have to have your kid’s book shipped to germany once it’s out…
Oh I’d be so honored if you got my book, Annika! I’m the worst at marketing and sales, so I need to figure out how to do that better…apparently publishers don’t do a whole lot of marketing for the books, which surprised me.
The next time I get mad, I’m yelling FOX!
Ha, when K told me that, I wanted to say “What the fox??” 😉
a bag really is a commitment! you could always make one later in the year, right? i’ve been trying to tell myself that everything doesn’t need to be done before labor day. i had dreams of making a backpack for kindergarten, but then i found one at the Gap and it’s pretty darn great for the $13 i paid. i’m pretty relieved not to be making one now! enjoy these final weeks of summer 🙂 xo
We got one from the Gap this weekend too! We looked at several stores in the mall and she liked the one there the best. Whew, it lifted a huge load off of me — last year it took me forever to make the Oliver + S bag, and I just don’t know where I can find that kind of time this go around and knowing me, I’d spend just as long researching patterns and trying prototypes even if I didn’t go down the Oliver + S path…hope you’re having fun too 🙂 xo!
love your sweet illustration and haiku:) Ah, the sweet, sweet days of summer pass by oh-so-quickly! I love it that K still wants a handmade bag for school. My Lilah was quite explicit about wanting a “real” (i.e. store bought) one this year. boo-hoo:( Definitely easier though:)
Oh, that’s funny – K kept insisting that I make her one until she saw the offerings at the mall and immediately decided store-bought is way better! A little over a week left of summer…I’m at once wistful and thoroughly excited 😉
backpacks do seem to take foreeeever to make! my in-laws took Em to Target last year and this and bought her whichever one she wanted. Last year’s princess backpack was so cheap it basically fell apart by the end of the school year, and this year’s is a light up “Sofia the First” so we’ll see how long that lasts. The strawberry Rae backpack I made her for Pre-K is still going strong though! 😉
anyway i can’t believe it’s schooltime already! third grade, wow.
Oooh, a Sofia backpack sounds quite fancy! I remember your strawberry backpack, which was so freaking adorable!
I can’t believe K is a third grader either!! Man, I’m feeling old.