Friday, November 7, 2008

meme meme!

saw this one word meme on allsorts; one of my favorite crafty blogs

Where is your mobile phone? purse
Where is your significant other? floor
Your hair colour? brown
Your mother? missed
Your father? dear
Your favourite thing? mommy-ing
Your dream last night? forgotten
Your dream goal? published
The room you're in? cozy
Your hobby? creating
Your fear? embarrassment
Where do you want to be in 6 years? solvent
Where were you last night? here
What you're not? boring
One of your wish-list items? iphone
Where you grew up? Georgia
The last thing you did? eat
What are you wearing? clothes
Your TV? on
Your pets? small
Your computer? mac
Your mood? unsure
Missing someone? Mom
Your car? small
Something you're not wearing? socks
Favourite shop? target
Your summer? ordinary
Love someone? absolutely
Your favourite colour? green
When is the last time you laughed? afternoon
When is the last time you cried? yesterday

join in if you like!

Monday, September 29, 2008

Handmade Holiday!

I made it into the Richmond Craft Mafia's Handmade Holiday show!  They had twice as many applicants as they had space YEAH! So, mark your calendars for December 13 from 10-5! It will be at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond.  OK, so now I need to crank out the goods!!!! Lots of work to do!


Monday, August 4, 2008

too much?

so i haven't blogged in awhile! too busy i guess. don't have anything to write? no. too much to write. 


i really dislike mondays. the weekend is an excuse to nap, read, relax, etc. since you worked so hard all week. but monday, that's another story. its the beginning. everything you need to do looms in front of you. it feel like you have to do everything right now. 

my house is a disaster. the laundry pile is massive, the dishes need doing, miriam's room is a mess from unpacking after going out of town, we need milk and diapers, i need to wash/iron the curtains for our bedroom since we painted it 2 weeks ago, i have things to make for customers and for the farmer's market in september (more news about that later), unfinished projects. some marketing for another little job i have, and on top of all of that i have a job that pays actual money that i have to do during miriam's naps! 

when i didn't have a child somehow this list would have been a piece of cake, and even then i had a full time job out of the house. why is it that even though i stay at home i feel like i have no time!? i say yes too much, i commit myself to too much. but it always seems that there is a really good reason why i should commit myself to it. money seems to be the big reason. always is i guess. 

ok, no more complaining. today's schedule is: clean kitchen and do laundry while miriam naps this morn and then go to target for milk and diapers and other errands (oh, and i need gas) then home for lunch and nap. during her afternoon nap i have a bunch of work for my little job. more laundry and cleaning. then my respite is dinner with a good friend at 7! 

i think i should fill my day with music, it really motivates me. my new favorite is ADELE

Monday, July 21, 2008

win this quilt!


check this out! go enter to win this quilt...although i want to WIN! this would be PERECT on miriam's eventual "big girl bed" I WANT I WANT!!



Wednesday, July 9, 2008

they just find me...


I don't know what is going on but I just keep finding these awesome vintage sewing machines! This is #3 in the last 3 months the first one was found in a ditch, the second one a woman gave to me, and this one we saved from going to goodwill. We were in Augusta, Ga last week and my husband and his sister were on their way to Starbucks, so on the way out of his mom's neighborhood he saw a man carrying this cool machine to his car. Mike, knowing I would love it, stopped and asked him what he was planning on doing with it. The man said he was taking it to Goodwill but he would be willing to sell it to us for $15 and it worked great (he wanted the tax credit). So Mike drove back to the house, picked me up and when I showed up I was in love! Plus, the woman who lived at this house used to teach at the same school with me. So she was super happy for me to have it! I just have the best luck...


for more pictures click here

Monday, June 16, 2008

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

an hour well well worth your time!

starting may 14 you will be able to watch "A Walk to Beautiful" online at PBS. i invite you i implore you to watch this amazing film about Ethiopian women with fistulas. a quick explanation of a fistula is a hole between the bladder and vagina and/or rectum made during a long labor. it causes constant incontinence and these women are completely ostracized and made to live alone in a hut outside of their village. no hospital will treat them. there is one hospital that is dedicated to fistulas only and the treatments are completely free. its amazing and heartbreaking and enlightening and completely uplifting. spend 50 minutes and watch this film online here and get involved. i am already planning a showing of the film to my friends and my goal is to raise $450 which is the amount it costs for one woman's complete treatment. 



Monday, May 12, 2008

50th purchase! who will it be??

i am up to 49 purchases so far at my etsy shop. so i figured that the 50th customer should get a prize! so here's the deal...free shipping! just kidding, that would be super lame if that's all you got. no, the 50th customer will get a free item from the shop (equal or lesser value, please) and free shipping (i will refund this after your purchase)! so buy that 50th item and in the comments section tell me what other item you would like! nothing like free stuff, right!? so shop away, shop shop away.... 


just for kicks...this is a photo of my grandmother from when my grandparents were dating. i think she is about 18 or 19 in this pic. isn't it awesome! (on the texas a&m campus)

Monday, May 5, 2008

the wren's pet bed!

hey check it out! the wren made a suitcase pet bed! how cool is she! check it out


she makes the coolest handbags, and i think its super neat that she lives in cape town, south africa. my idea is traveling the world...

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

100 things about me

i have some friends who have listed 100 things about them...so i figured i'd join in! sounds like fun to come up with 100 things to write down.  maybe we will all learn something about me (including myself)


1. i was born in new england (new hampshire to be exact) but i was raised in the south
2. i have one brother
3. growing up i had had a rabbit, a couple of hamsters, a fish or two, a cat, and a dog as pets. now i have a cat and a dog
4. the cat was killed by the neighbors dogs, he was only 6 months old
5. the dog lived to be 16 years old
6. my parents have been married for almost 35 years
7. i am kinda a geek
8. i enjoy reading theology and social science books
9. i gravitate to non-fiction more than fiction
10. i usually write in all lower case letters, i don't know why, lazy i guess
11. my first boyfriend was named mike and my last boyfriend now my husband is named mike
12. i had mono my senior year of high school, apparently it was the worst case my dr. had ever seen.
13. princess diana and mother teresa died while i was sick in bed with mono, i watched every single bit of tv coverage including diana's funeral in the middle of the night
14. i love going on vacation but i find it hard to spend the money to go
15. there was a giant flood on my 11th birthday in my town and they shut down school, it was awesome
16. i was a "water girl" for my middle school football team in 7th and 8th grade
17. i never played sports growing up
18. i was in girl scouts for 6 years
19. i played the flute for 6 years
20. played the flute and the piccolo in the marching band
21. i drove from augusta to toronto two times in one month
22. i've known my husband since 9th grade
23. he once dated my best friend
24. i have lived in portsmouth, new hampshire
25. new orleans
26. olympia, washington
27. augusta, ga
28. milledgeville, ga
29, new york city
30. richmond, va
32. i have a ba in art from there
34. i have an associates in accessory design from there
35. i got the associates after i got my bachelors
36. i taught art to homeschoolers
37. i taught art to 6-12 graders
38. i worked at old navy
39. also worked at the gap
40. i was a nanny one summer
41. i designed a tag for a tie/belt that amici accessories sold to wet seal, i did this while i lived in nyc and then found the tag i drew in a wet seal in augusta, ga. i squealed when i saw it.
42. i stole the tag!
43. i was a visual specialist at macy's 
44. i dressed mannequins
45. i was not as fun and glamorous as it looks
46. i learned to sew when i was 12, my mom taught me
47. i used to paint anything that didn't move
48. i have painted bricks, hammer handles, floors, random boxes, tons of chairs
49. i have only flown 1st class once and it was because i was flying standby
50. i have been to two foreign countries...canada and thailand
51. i have been to the seoul, south korea airport
52. my husband and i have stayed at the same hotel and ate at the same restaurants in chiang mai, thailand two years apart. we were with groups of people and we were not in charge of where we went or what we did, so it was a huge coincidence
53. i have never had surgery
54. the only time i have stayed at a hospital was when i had miriam
55. i read all 7 of the chronicles of narnia at least 12 times 
56. i love history
57. i used to want to be an archeologist
58. until i realized that meant crawling around in dark holes with snakes and spiders
59. my favorite colors have always been blue and green
60. i dress my daughter in non-pink colors as often as i can
61. i hate buying clothes that aren't on sale
62. i have never spent money on a cell phone
63. i have never mowed grass, i would but have just never had to
64. i have never been on a cruise
65. i graduated in radio city music hall
66. my key note speaker was anna wintour
67. calvin klein received his honorary doctorate
68. i was once a hair model
69. my hair was dyed ronald mcdonald red against my will
70. i worked at my girlfriend's kitchen for a couple months
71. most of my furniture and furnishings were free (gifts or found)
72. i have a one year old daughter
73. i never exercised until i joined stroller strides (yoga doesn't count)
74. i find the story of amelia earhart fascinating, i wrote a paper on her when i was little and airplane bore me, go figure
75. i hate writing
76. i go through crafty phases
78. it started with ceramics then to weaving, then fabric design, then accessories namely purses, then painting, then bookmaking, then sewing
79. i've been in my sewing phase for a good 3 years or so
80. i got married outside
81. i wore ballet shoes in my wedding (i only took ballet in kindergarten, so i was no ballerina, they were just comfy)
82. i saw my husband in my dress before we got married, we took all our pictures before the ceremony, i loved it that way, highly recommend it!
83. i have been married 4 wonderful years
84. i used to hate running, now its not so bad.
85. i actually ran the entire 6.2 miles of a 10k
86. i had a horrendous time, but hey i ran the whole way...in the rain
87. my brother and i went to the same place for our respective honeymoons
88. it was the same place that the truman show was filmed
89. my favorite food is chef boyardee ravioli 
90. my favorite drink is diet coke
91. i never look at a menu at a mexican restaurant
92. i always order cheese dip and 1, 2, or 3 beef enchiladas (depends how hungry i am)
93. mexican is my favorite type of restaurant
94. i ate mexican the night before i was induced
95. i taught my husband to drive a stick shift
96. i still drive a stick shift
97. i put my child to sleep on her stomach at about 2 weeks
98. i am addicted to buying fabric
99. it has taken me 45 minutes to write 100 thing about me
100. i am a Christian and i love Jesus 

wow, that was harder than i thought. yet now i am thinking of more stuff! 

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Rombutan See-Chompoo


from my hotel breakfast buffet in Chiang Mai, Thailand. it was like a crunchy grape inside, we just called them hairy strawberries! they weren't so good, but really fun to look at.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Monday, April 14, 2008

better late than never!

i am late joining the 30 day macro challenge, but here i am!



disclaimer: some of these were taken by my former art students from 2 years ago. i can't remember who took what. but i think this was taken by sara curtis.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

check this out!

huh! they mentioned me on this video! cooool!



Tuesday, April 1, 2008

tea towel


just thought i would show the tea towel i embroidered with elsa mora's little doodle. elsa is so neat, you should keep us with her blog, she's amazing. i wish i had just an ounce of her creativity and craftsmanship. and she has fun stories about meeting celebrities! 

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

You will NOT believe this!

I am the queen of finding stuff! I was driving to go get Miriam some Zyrtex (her father passed on his allergies, yeah.) and saw a sewing cabinet chunked in the ditch. I didn't think much of it since the cabinet looked trashed. So on the way back I got a different angle of it and could see sewing machine inside. It was seafoam green and I just about slammed on the brakes! I pulled over as quick as I could and then ran across traffic and checked it out. Well it looked AWESOME! I couldn't get it out of the cabinet without some tools and luckily it was only 2 blocks from the house. So I ran home and ran in the front door yelling for my husband (freaked him out!). We grabbed some tools and ran back and put the whole nasty cabinet in the trunk. We threw the cabinet away it was in horrible shape, disgusting. But here it is...

The tension knob is gone and it would be way too much work and money to get it working again but I just want to display it. I cleaned it up already and its SO pretty! I need to take a cleaned up picture but its in the shed still waiting for the bottom to be cleaned better. Ooooh it was like Christmas finding that thing!!!

Monday, March 24, 2008

You must try this!


I have discovered a new recipe that I must share with the world! Pumpkin is not my super favorite ingredient. I do love a good Pumpkin Pie but pumpkin cakes were never my fav. Well pumpkin cake has captured my heart after trying at a friend's house. I guess anything with chocolate chips helps. That always helps! This recipe makes two loaf pans but I made one of them in a vintage jello mold and it worked. I had to bake it an extra 10 minutes or so and cut off the "mound" off the bottom to make it flat. Oh, and I added some simple milk/powdered sugar glaze. We were having some good friends over for dinner and I figured I would make it 
fancy. So here it is...enjoy! Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

photo from Cooking Light

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

WOW!!

Well I am speechless! I don't know what to say!? I guess thank you is a good thing to say. Thank you to all who voted for the pet bed! I have never won anything EVER! This is so cool!


Saturday, March 15, 2008

Is it done yet?

Well as a participant in March of the Tools I figure I should post one of my favorite tools. I cannot cook without this...



Its my cooking thermometer! This handy $20 gadget that I purchased at Target is the best thing since sliced bread, seriously. I was sick and tired of not knowing when the meat I was cooking was done. I didn't like slicing into the middle of everything looking for pink. This little probe goes into the thickest part of the meat and it will tell you the temperature on the screen. It works in the oven or on the stovetop. You can "set it and forget it!" Instead of waiting a certain amount of time till you think something is done, you set the temperature and the alarm goes off when its done. No more over done or under done meat again! It also has a timer in case you need it. The other fancy feature is that it is a magnet so it will stick to your oven or refrigerator.  But don't try to use it for frying and attach the screen to your range hood over the hot oil. Because it will fall in the oil and it won't work anymore! And that's how my first one died. 

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Vote for me, oh please vote for me!

I entered the Design Sponge DIY contest and I made the top 20! Are you kidding me?! Wow! There were over 500 entries too! So head on over to Design Sponge and vote. There are some seriously awesome projects over there so vote for them if you like their stuff. I have some stiff competition, seriously. So check out the entries and vote!


Sunday, February 24, 2008

Easter Dress and my first Japanese

I think this is going to be miss Miriam's Easter dress. The one pictured is the one I'm hoping to make. Its just so sweet! I also love the yellow one, its very Annie don't you think? Please God let it be warm on Easter or I'm going to have to scramble for a little jacket for her. 


I bought my first Japanese fabric the other day! Sorry superbuzzy.com I borrowed this picture, I was too lazy to take a pic of mine I'm watching the Oscars hoping to see Elsa in the background. I was in my local quilt store the other day and I heard one of the older ladies working in the store mentioning how they got 3 bolts of fabric from Japan awhile ago and they hadn't sold very well. I was starting to silently freak out! I ran over there and casually asked where they were and there it was! The cutest fabric! Hello! Why didn't I know about this!? I informed the sales lady that Japanese fabric was all the rage and I had NO idea why it wasn't selling!? I got 1/2 a yard in the light blue background. SO CUTE! 

THEN...I was at the Richmond Home Show yesterday where I met the local Bernina Shop lady. I didn't catch her name but she was really sweet. I walked up and said, "Sell me on a Bernina, please!" I could tell she wanted to be my friend! Yeah, my dream machine is like 3 grand. Dream on. Is the automatic thread cutter worth it?  Seams like it to me. Anyways, Bernina lady told me that there is shop in town called The Quilt Man and he is known for carrying Japanese fabric! Why did no one tell me this either!!?? Well, guess where I am going this week? The Bernina store and The Quilt Man! Sorry Joyce, if your reading this don't worry I still love Quilting Adventures more (I just want a Bernina and more Japanese fabric)! In fact Bernina lady said that there is no way she could compete with Quilting Adventures in fabric so she doesn't even try. 

Monday, February 11, 2008

well, it fits the dog?!



i recently made the elf hat from "
Bend-the-Rules Sewing" and I thought that my 9 month olds head would be smaller than was called for the pattern and lets just say its apparently not! so it fits the dog. but i also found out that it fits newborns! so i gave it to my friend sher who is about to have her first baby girl any day now. 


thank you to everyone who visited my blog after craft magazine mentioned my suitcase dog bed!! i usually average about 10 visits to my blog each day but this weekend i had 500 in one day!! that's amazing! so thank you thank you for visiting!! 

a couple of you had some questions about the bed. the strap i installed to keep the lid from closing, while your sweet pet is sleeping soundly inside, is removable. i installed a snap to the top and the bottom of the suitcase and then made a canvas strap that attaches and is tight enough to keep the lid from closing. i really should take a picture, that would make it clearer. i'll get on that. promise! 

so, i am training for my very first 10K. now, i have never run any sort of race...ever! so this is getting really hard. i started exercising about 6 months ago and felt very encouraged by my friends and really felt i could do this. so i am working out monday, wednesday, and friday and then running tuesday, thursday, and saturday. which only leaves sunday for my much needed rest! i have never pushed my body this hard and everyone is telling me that its 70% mental. well, its definitely becoming a mental battle!! i have never been a physically tough person, its not that i give up i just don't like to do things that don't come somewhat easily. i never did any sports growing up, just wasn't my thing. makes me sound like a wimp! but, i've just never done something this physically taxing and mentally "pushing through" when my body wants to stop is something new to me. 

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

fuzzy bunny




today i read miriam one of my favorite childhood books, fuzzy bunny. i always loved this story of a well loved handmade bunny who finds himself feeling threatened by his girl's new toys. he ends up being knocked to the floor and rolls under the bed where he feels he will never be found. his little girl finds him and realizes how worn he is and decides to fix him up. she gives him an "operation" where she re-stuffs him and even "put another stitch in his lips so that he could smile again."

these days "old worn out" aka "well loved" toys are relegated to the trash in leu of new brightly colored factory made toys. how sad! so i just love that this book is about a well loved handmade toy (made by the little girl's mother) being refurbished by the little girl no-less and then given a place of honor among her new toys at a tea party. she even "gave Fuzzy the biggest piece [of cake] because he'd been so brave."