You are currently browsing the monthly archive for October, 2007.
It seems to have been many moons since the owl swap has ended but I have seen owls everywhere! They seem to be hot on kids clothing and some to die for fabrics all have the owl theme! I am ashamed to say that I have been sucked in the cute little creepy birds! I went to the fabric store today as a last resort since a fabric I ordered didn’t get here in time for a project that I am supposed to have done by Thursday and walked out with some cute owl fabric instead. The little princess was with me and gave me her approval on the cutesy owl print fabric! An hour later the fabric was cut and sewn and the result are these cute lounge pants. (Yes, I know that this is what I made in my last blog entry too. It was worth repeating!) Here is the princess Alaina in her new owl jammie pants!
Above is her “owl face”!
Another update on the Home Challenge Front is that I have tackled my junk drawer. I decided that it would only be fair if I showed you a before and after picture. My junk drawer was a disaster. It had no rhyme or reason as to what I stuck in there. I had actually written down everything that I had taken out with the intention of sharing it here but the list would probably be pages long. The biggest reason it was so junky is that it was a quick hideaway. Almost everything that was in there had place that it should have ever gone in there to begin with. It is amazing how quick it all adds up. Lesson learned to put it away in the first place! How are the rest of you doing?
Before
After
Any home challenge updates, girls?
Ok, so in all honesty today started out pretty miserably. Last night the hubby and I got in a little tiff and even though it was silly I didn’t like falling asleep knowing that he was upset with me. So, I wake up today and hubby has already gone to work and the little one is waking up. I drag myself out of bed and bring the princess in her pj’s over to the next door neighbors to take care of their cat. Why you ask? Because I have an inability to say No. I am the favor queen. I will fill in for just about anyone without blinking an eye and today is the 9th day in a row that I have trounced over to my neighbors give an insulin shot to my neighbors diabetic cat. First of all the cat is part Lion or at least its growl would lead me to believe. Yet, that is the cat that is supposed to be nice. The other one hisses like a snake. Rewind to this morning I finish giving the cat a shot and as I go to put the insulin away the cat I refer to as “Hiss” attacks my foot and I drop the insulin. Broken glass and insulin all over their kitchen. Well, there is no back up supply of insulin so I call the vet and they call in a prescription and they call back telling me it is there and it is $83! Ouch! Not a good start. Note to self, never ever try and start the day without at least one sip of Diet Coke. The results are never good.
But, then my luck turned. I decided to give a lounge set a try. I have had this flannel for months and it has sat in my stash and although I had already invisioned what it would someday become I had not had the courage to try because I had a fear of making it. I had not yet tried to make pants and given the mornings earlier events I had a feeling anything I tried to make probably would not turn out. But, alas I tried anyway and much to my surprise I winged a pair of lounge pants and they turned out perfect. Added a little initial applique to a shirt that had once succombed to an orange juice stain and we were in business!
Coming off of the high of a project in my head actually working out with little to no issues I check the mail to find my patchwork swap package! It is like Christmas when I get a swap package! Partners were a surprise so I was thrilled to get a package from Veronica. She did an amazing job with some new and vintage pieces and a lovely patchwork clutch! Thanks so much, Veronica! I love it all!
Weather wise we have had a very strange year. Warm sunny days in March only to have it snow with freezing temperatures in May. We had a hot dry summer that didn’t want to end and this past week the temps have finally fallen and the rain has been pouring here for a week. The leaves are finally changing and we can wear our fall clothes and start our fall activities! We went to a very disappointing pumkin patch that was very picked over. It was pretty pitiful for the lovely pictures that I was dreaming of! So, instead we went to the local farmers market to pick out pumpkins. Alaina’s main requirement for her pumpkin was that it had to be small enough for her to carry. Unfortunately, her eyes are bigger than her little arms because she dropped a few pumpkins! Thankfully we didn’t have any pumpkin smashing charges brought upon us!
Secondly, how are my home challenge girls doing? I have the kitchen, living room and craft room completed! I am getting excited about decoratorating for the holidays and have all sorts of crafty ideas that I can finally do because it is all organzied and I can find the tools and mediums I want to use! I am sharing a picture of my progress and I wish you this could be a scratch and sniff picture because my home is bursting with the yummy scent of Spiced Pumpkin! By far my favorite fall scent! (Yes, I linked the biggest candle they have. Get it and you can thank me later! You be glad you splurged!)
(Yep, I really have bright green walls and I love them!)
So operation get the house organized is in full swing. I made myself clean and organize my craft (read: former crap room) before I got my crafting on again. I have a swap to finish and we had an event at church tonight that I wanted to make a custom top for Alaina so the furious cleaning was on! I was thrilled to get it all organized in time to get everything I wanted to make done today!
The first was for the patchwork swap. We had to make a patchwork item and to send off 30-40 scraps. Here is a picture of my swap package! I hope she likes it! I included some of my favorite yummy scraps from old projects, some fat quarters that didn’t get used, remainders of charm packs and even a little yardage of the super popular euro mermaid fabric!
Here is the patchwork item I made! It is a fabric covered journal using Moda’s Summer in the City fabric line. I saved enough scraps of this for me to make one for myself as well!
Lastly we had a church event tonight that had a 50’s theme. Well, we have no poodle skirts and I didn’t have enough time to get that ball rolling today so a pettiskirt and a custom initial top had to do the trick. She was a hit at church this evening and I was a proud mama as she must have thanked me a dozen times for her “A” shirt. Everyone else could have hated it (thankfully they didn’t) but to have her appreciate it is always a stellar mommy moment!
It is second week in October and I sit with my diet coke with the sounds of Dora the Explorer in the background, looking at a mound of laundry waiting to be folded and put away and my mind is already fast forwarding to decorating and holiday get-togethers. The mere thought of inviting people into my home in its current state is enough to make my head spin and give me a quick spat of nausea. To those who know me best they know that my gift is not organization. It never has been. I have a messy wrap sheet that dates back to my childhood room, my desks in school and even my car is embarrassed to be driven by such a slob.
I have been mocked at my lack of cleanliness skills in the past and although I have shrugged it off in the past as “just who I am” with a bit of laughter but the truth as always stung. I am the woman who had a room strictly to throw things in when company came over. I am the wife who left the dishes in the sink and left the laundry in the washer so long it soured. I am the mother whose toddler doesn’t want to make her bed because her mommy doesn’t. My mother in law once told another family member that she cried at night because I was not a good enough wife to my husband because of my lack of homemaking skills. (You can insert knife through heart icon here.)
Now, before you send someone to commit me you must also realize that I want to be different. I wish my home reflected my heart and my love for my family. I am the woman who handcrafts her friends’ presents because I want them to know that they are worth the time and expense of a one of a kind gift. I am the wife who buys or bakes my husband’s favorite treats to surprise him after a rough work day. I am the mom who takes my daughter our in the leaves to explore and find a craft to make together. However, my house does not reflect that love and creativity. The truth is I own a house but I have never made it my home.
I have often referred to my house as having the “lived in” look but today I am admitting what I am lacking and committing myself into a plan to have a home in time for the holidays. I want a home that people feel comfortable in that I don’t have to spend a week getting ready for it. I want to find whatever utensil I need right away without having to search through several drawers because it has been put away in the correct spot.
Join me, mock me or support me. I know there will be a few of you who can feel where I am coming from and several of you who can’t believe that there is someone who has a home in such disarray. At any rate by the holidays I will have turned my house into a home. Not by decorating but my taking pride in my possessions and my family enough to make our home as enjoyable as our time together is.
Home in time for the holidays personal challenge begins….now!
Thank you for still coming to visit during my little blogging absence! It has been a rough few weeks trying to make time to take care of my dad and still work and keep the family running but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I took my dad to the doctor this morning and he was impressed with the improvement and after two long weeks for him he is able to get around the house enough to be alone. Praise God! It was hard to see him out of commission for so long and I know it was stressful for my mom as well as she had to return to work. My brother flew in from Boston for the week to take care of my Dad and the week flew by too quickly and I was hardly able to spend any time with him but hopefully time will go by quickly again so that I see him again.
I didn’t get a lot of crafting done but I am full of inspiration! So, when I get some energy I will be doing non stop crafting to prepare for the holidays! Today is our first day where it feels like fall and fall is my favorite time of the year to craft! All of the holidays are still ahead and you don’t feel guilty missing out on sunshine when you cozy up with a cup of cocoa and start quilting when their is a chill in the air.
I admit to not being very crafty lately so I will share what I did this weekend when I was inpired by some Target clearance items! I found an ugly pillow for cheaper than a pillowform and two lovely placemats…
and turned it into this
It is not like me to go a week without posting, but alas it has happened! This has been a crazy week for my family with my Dad’s surgery and his recovery. Recovery has been slow and painful for him thus far and it has been really hard to watch him in pain. I never grew up watching my dad cry and it breaks my heart to watch him suffer. His quad muscle has frozen and it ends up in very painful muscle spasms in which he says is the worst pain he has ever felt. I am thankful that this pain will be temporary and I have a new respect who are caretakers for their parents or other loved ones. It is so hard to watch the ones you love be in pain. The family has also had some other health scares this week which has been a hard pill to swallow. I can’t talk about them now, but please remember to get your checkups. You never know what is going on inside even if you feel fine. Off my soap box….
And on to deep apologies to my swap partner who seems to have gotten the short end of my crappy week stick! I had mailed her package but it wasn’t in the flat rate box just a priority box so it got returned for insuffcient postage (insert an embarrassed smilie here) and coupled with the issues going on with my family even though it has been completed for weeks it just got sent today. I overnighted it so hopefully she will be enjoying it soon.
Crafting will continue when life eases up a little.
