Can This Mean I Am Truly An Artist?

The signs of a great mind? Well, at least I console myself with that thought.



It's everywhere. Mess everywhere. The results of a creative weekend --

And I will not be cleaning it up. I will be creating some more for the Etsy shop and our local Craft Fair in December.

At least I have some kind of validation for the way my house looks. I made this and gave it to Hunk O Man the first year we were married --

I definitely need another cup of coffee.

xox

Projects

A project update --

Dress for Rose, which doesn't fit great but it's in all the colours she liked. This pattern is just not a good one.

Sally Rabbit (JB's) now has ears, arms and one leg securely sewn on. If you've ever read "Oliver Pig" books to your kids, you know who Sally Rabbit is.

(that's the real Sally Rabbit on the right, with Amanda Pig)

A vintage apron given to me by Bug's best friend's mom, Gayle.

Tomorrow, a giveaway!

xox

No Blogging Allowed

Oh! The sewing to be done!

Angry Frog is not amused. I'd better get going. That will be me you see, chained to the sewing machine, at the mercy of my children, let go only to make pizza tonight.

:)

xoxox

It's Contagious

The craft virus is catching around here.

Thank God

Today is the first day of school. And Babydoll is babysitting for someone else this morning.

Deep, cleansing breath in, and blow it out. Aaaahhhh.

I got up and made pancakes for them, and some of them even ate them. I have done laundry and partially completed yesterday's crossword. And now I am having my morning time. It is time that is mine, all mine.

Aaahhhhh.

This is only a half day of school, so it will all end shortly. Good thing I got up early.

On another note, Hunk O Man and I have decided that for the twins, this is the Year of Freedom. That means since they are now 17, almost 18 years old, and they will no longer have any real rules. No curfew, just the regular expectations of any adult. They have to show up for work and school on time, get decent grades, do their chores at home. But checking in and out with mom and dad is optional (although encouraged and preferred), and the spending of money they earn and that which allotted to them is up to them.

The basic idea here is give them enough rope to hang themselves, and have them do it while they still live at home and are safe.

We'll see how it goes. Also included in this is a monthly conversation with mom and dad to talk abut the pros and cons of how they're doing. Hunk O Man and I are definitely taking notes.

Washer's done. Dryer's done. Duty calls. In my nice, quiet house with the messy kitchen and sleeping dog.

Aaaahhhhh.

More photos of spoils

I just finished doing taxes today. I am surprisingly in a relatively good mood because God is good! I started out thinking we owed and then fixed something and all of a sudden we get a refund!

I hate money. It comes, it goes. Life is about people and beautiful things. Enough about money!

I know you're all dying to see my photos of the fabulous fabrics I got at Hobby Lobby. Since that one of the messy table was so -- well, messy.

Anyway, I have to tell you that I think I alarmed the woman who showed up to cut everything. After all, these were all on bolts, and the bolts are big, and I had about 400 bolts stacked up . . .

I looked at her, smiled, held out my hand, and said this: "I know, but let me just say first of all that I LIVE IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. The closest fabric store is at least an hour away."

I'm not sure that really helped, but she was a little happier when I said "If there's less than a yard left on the bolt, I'll take that too." (since she offered it at half off!)

Then we started talking, and I found out she previously lived in southern CA like I did, and we reminisced about how it's changed over the years.

So on to the fabric. I got things in threes if I could, in order to make bags, aprons, etc. Here we go:

Pink, Green and Black:

Pink and Black:

Pink and Brown:

Black and White:

Blue and Chocolate brown:

Japanese prints I knew Bug would love:

Couldn't resist this, now, could I?

A couple of remnants I loved, and the blue and white china print -- loved that --

Chiffon for a skirt for Bunny, who was helping choose:

And her skirt will be kind of like Bug's, here which is just a couple of squares sewn on top of each other and hemmed, and an elastic waistband attached:

Bug actually wanted two skirts like this, and we already had the purple print. So I got some solid purple to go with it.

And now that all the money stuff is done, I will be able to endlessly create at will!

(just as soon as I get the laundry done)

deep breath.

sigh.

I'm walking away now.

Maybe a game of Zuma . . .

The Spoils of Vacation

I have decided that this thing's too hard to read, and the print should be larger. I hope that's ok with everyone.

And I just had to crow a little about the treasures I found while on vacation.

The fabrics I found at Hobby Lobby:

Goodwill! Oh, the dresses!

(the hot pink one was actually the $12 find from Talbot's Outlet)

The incredible bag -- I think this was one of those "Gift with Purchase" things from Estee Lauder --

And the bag I got in order to copy the design --

Sheets -- which are essentially more fabric --

$5 shoes from WalMart to go with my cute new Goodwill skirt

Let me also say that all of these things are all Ann Taylor, Liz Claiborne, The Limited, Gap, Eddie Bauer, etc. I may shop cheap but I don't scrimp on the quality. I really don't care about labels but I do care about the way things are made, and the way they fit.

I also hit Ikea, the new one just north of Cincinnati, and got more drinking glasses. I'm not sure what happens to ours, but they do seem to disappear.

Then Chari gave me some more.

And getting it all home was a challenge. But we managed.

I am raising green/use-it-again/recycle shoppers; the consumer index people would be proud.

: )