Pom Poms Piss Off My Sewing Machine November 8, 2008

On Sunday I felt that I hadn’t crafted anything for myself in a long time, so I put together this little cutie. I had a too-small block from my Halloween quilt and knew that it was meant to be a pillow someday. A little linen for the backing, some vintage pom pom trim, and a surprising amount of stuffing…then done! Those poms were a booger to fit under the sewing machine foot but I managed to push them around until it worked. That was after breaking a needle and getting hit in the cheek with it…Next time I will just start out with the larger size. Quick and easy, definitely not perfect, but cute and satisfying.

For now, it’s nap time.

G.A.S.H. 2008 November 5, 2008

I decided that my big project for this winter will be to make the quilt for the Great Alaska Shop Hop. It’s been fun calling all the different places; kind of like a mini trip there. I think it’ll feel neat to have all these little pieces of Alaska in my quilt too. The finishing kit is so pretty! The shop that’s making it doesn’t have any kits ready yet, but I can’t wait!

These show all the different blocks you have to find. When I get one of the finishing pieces I’ll add it.

Thanks, I Have Enough Change October 14, 2008

It’s an overdone saying, but it’s crazy how your life can change so fast. You wake up in the morning thinking you have your day planned out to perfection and maximum efficiency. Then life happens.

Last week we went in to get information on being foster parents, and basically left with the realization that a child could be moving into my house by the end of the month. That’s a lot to take in and a lot to prepare for. We will be doing medical foster for special needs so I have to get my house totally prepared for someone who is going to need me 24/7. I have a bedroom to clean out, a garage to turn into a media/workout room, endless papers to decipher and fill out, and two cats that need to realize that they both live here. Whether they like it or not. So it’s a little hectic and overwhelming. It doesn’t really hit me until I’m trying to fall asleep and there’s nothing to distract me. I know that it will be a good thing in the long run. I just need to survive the next few weeks!

Mellow September 13, 2008

So far, the chore binder has been going rather well. All the checking off of tasks has me feeling rather accomplished…In it’s own sad little way. The days that I get nothing done glare at me with a row of unchecked columns and I feel like I am the laziest person in the world. I need to figure out how to add a chore free day each week so I can have some guilt-free craft time.

The husband and I went out to lunch at the MiddleWay cafe the other day and had the tastiest of food. He had an avocado melt with the best blue corn chips ever, I had black bean soup with crusty sour dough bread, and we shared some carrot and ginger juice. Heaven! If you are ever in Anchorage I recommend going there. The walls are covered with art from (I think) local artists and is so inspiring to walk around and look at. The neon colored musk ox painting was really cute but the person sitting in front of it looked creeped out by my taking pictures. This flower is made out of hand dyed and hand quilted fabrics; the texture and colors were amazing. The flower part comes out of the background and is sort of 3d.  I’d love to be able to make something this beautiful.

When we got home I pulled out some fabric to start a new project. Because that’s what inspiration is all about, right?

Pet of the day: Pantera! She had to get her rabies updated. Not very pleased to be at the vet, but looking fierce in her pink carrier.

Can I Do It? September 5, 2008

I’ve been on an organizing kick this week, which all started with finding some cool printable chore charts. I LOVE lists and filing and all that kind of thing so this appealed to the nerd in me. Immediately I bought a binder and now need to make dividers with tabs for all the categories. Sick, I know. But fun.

Anyways, the organizing began with my craft stuff. I have a lot of supplies that I have and most likely never will use and am weeding it all out. It’s bad once you get going though because you get re-inspired by things and then can’t let it leave. Still, I managed to remove a rather large amount and donate it. Doing all this has made me realize that if I had my supplies more accessible I might actually use them. (sheer genius, I know.) Now I am in the process of finding some sort of a cool shelf to hold all my craft canisters I’ve been collecting to store small items like thread and buttons. On Etsy I found this set and can’t wait to fill them up. More nerd coming out there….

I have come to the conclusion that I need to give my pets more blog time, and have made a goal to post a picture of at least one in every post. There just isn’t enough blogs with pets, right?

Tongue Tude

Duck Hunt August 30, 2008

But without the hunting. Near our house is a pond with about 30 ducks or so that the dogs love to watch. After going to the store we stopped and watched them for a bit.

Jezebel

The pugs are hard to take good pictures of. Their dark fur tends to not show a lot of detail in pictures, but I’m happy with how these came out. I think they look cute.

Worf & Jezebel

The ducks quickly grew tired of us staring at them and swam into the grass, which caused a lot of whining and attempts to escape from the car.

Aftermath August 18, 2008

Today is such a weird day after all the emotions yesterday. Family ‘meetings’ that are made up of people whom you don’t consider family and that turn into a whirlwind of accusations and denials are hard. It feels good to get it all out there and said, but it leaves you feeling dissatisfied that you could have/should have said more. That all leaves you feeling like you’ve survived something but are unsure about the future. Where are the new team lines? Who do we trust and with what?

I spent the morning mood-eating and looking at vintage Tupperware on eBay. Therapeutic. I have some beautiful yarn coming that I ordered earlier in the week as I knew this situation was coming. Can’t wait for it to get here and help me move on. I’m going to go squeeze my dogs and be thankful for the true family I have.

Duck Watching

Sorting August 4, 2008

I have been cleaning all throughout my house. Deep cleaning. The reason for this will be shared in the near future, but for now I have been trying to separate our junk into usable, useful rooms. I have even kicked the yarn out of the clothes closet. It’s THAT serious around here.

A lot of life has happened since my last post. I never lost interest in blogging, but have wondered if anything I say deserves space on the internet. Do my pictures of pets and projects hold any interest to others? Whatever the facts are I miss typing and posting so am going to start again.

I have also finished a few projects and have pics coming to prove it. We have a new animal addition, fresh today. A friend came from far away and visited. I am pondering a new and truly life changing job. Several friends are starting new adventures in life. We will see where this all takes us.

2008 January 10, 2008

It’s crazy that it’s a new year already. I can’t believe that a year ago I was signing up for college classes and still had dreadlocks. There has to be more that has changed besides the hair, but I’m in the mood to look forward instead. Rather than making unrealistic goals all at once, Ive decided to set a small one for each month. There are things that I’ve needed to change for awhile so I have the first few months set already; but after that I’m going to see where it leads me.

January is about getting organized. I’ve been making my way through the rooms in the house and purging junk. It’s hard because just having things makes me happy, but as I go it gets easier. I even was able to make myself weed through Christmas decorations; a true test for me!

Christmas Is Coming… November 26, 2007

And I’m not ready. The situation isn’t as dire as last year, so there is some hope that I may get things done in time. The knitted baby blanket of doom is coming along nicely and my sister’s quilt still needs to be quilted and bound.

Hopefully there will be a camera in my future so I can share these things!