Back to it

So in the midst of our chaos, the holidays (we were both working like crazy) and the energy/motivation zapping effects of 40*below weather....I have actually been making a few things.

..though I'm telling you, that weather...is murder. I lose all ambition to do anything important after 4pm. April can't come fast enough, and that darn groundhog and I are gonna have words.

I've been searching for something to put up on our walls. And at the same time, I've had these canvases sitting on my shelf for probably a year now. Yeah, a year. What can I say, painting scares me. Notice I didn't really PAINT anything, aside from letters.

I wish I could paint. I'd still like to try, but at this point, I'm better at sticking things to other things...like above.

This fish was actually part of some dangly bit of nonsense on a pair of shorts I bought last summer. Ya know those things that don't make any sense, but they put on to look like some sort of accessory? (which means, yes, I save random tags if they're heavy, bits of cording, and charms/bits that are attached to clothes when you buy them.)

It took me 3 tries to get that yellow right. And I still can't get a picture that shows the true color. The yellow is brighter, and the blue isn't so blue. A bit more sea green. I would try to take a second set of pictures, but my camera is now broken. Mhmm....yeah. Not real happy about that.

But I am pretty happy about this. Even though I hated it all of yesterday afternoon after I'd finished it. Its not quite what I had envisioned when I started, and I'm not liking the brackets after all, and I'm pretty disgusted with my 'handwriting' after the first line. BUT...I still like it, go figure. Because its done. Because it has a some of my favorite fabric leftovers that got some use. Because of the little fish. and because I think this might be one of my favorite quotes ever.

and also because...I finally have something to put up on my wall. That's a bonus.

Hope its warm where you are! And just to be clear, anything over 35 counts as "warm" to me at this point! ;)

I'm back..

Ok so I've been thinking about this blog post for a good week, not really sure how much to put here, so we'll just start and see where it leads us. Let's throw in a little TMI warning for good measure.

The impromptu blog disappearance was because I was pregnant, and after a year and a half of trying, with a round of Clomid thrown in, I was apprehensive at best. I didn't want to blast it all over blog-land, but ya know how you spend 24/7 THINKING about it. It was hard to post without it working into play somehow, and combined with the fact that I just had a *feeling* that something was off.

So the first week of January we found out I was right, that I'd miscarried weeks before. Which in my gut, I knew, but that was not a fun experience. Then the fun really started....the next day I had a d&c because my body wasn't registering to do it on its own (what can I say, I'm stubborn to my core..) A week later we were back in the ER with me in pain that about sent me to the floor. I was admitted overnight, and given a drug to expel anything the d&c must have missed. The next day, I felt TERRIBLE. Just absolutely exhausted...to the point I planned my trips up the stairs. I just didn't feel 'right' so I called my dr the next day and went in only to find out I needed a SECOND d&c. (for those of you wondering, yes that's very rare to need THREE different attempts at this deal...go me!)

Luckily, after that I started feeling better. Which was good, because I was about one more needle stick away from losing my mind. Speaking of needle sticks, after 3 separate IV's, and 4+ blood draws, I can say there is a WIDE range of talent in the nursing/phlebotomist field. There are a few I'd like to award with a medal of expertise and skill...and a few others who should be forced to practice on themselves for a few more years. Srsly.

So...end result. I'm feeling better. Beyond that, I'm not sure yet. But I'm back to my blog, and even got back to some crafty-ness the last few days. So let's move onto the fun things shall we?

Sick of This Cold...

Title references both the weather (51 yesterday....34 today) and the viral version in my head. While I think a walk would benefit the head cold...the outside cold prevents me from doing so. (not so much ME, but the 4 year old I'd have to bundle beyond mobility...)

So here I sit, stuffy and coughing. Waiting for this thing to run its course. Since I'm not getting much accomplished today - though I did cut out some felt for ornaments - I thought I'd post a few pictures of the latest works:

Hand spun from the previous post.

MMMMmmmmmmmerino. How I love thee.

And new bags..."Kelsey"

"Mariah"

"Celeste"

And now, back to an action packed afternoon of cutting felt shapes on the couch with an enormous glass of water and 100 kleenex.

Don't forget, giveaway entries until Sunday, I'll draw a winner bright'n'early Monday morning!

Ok, ok...mid-morning. :)

What? You mean you're NOT mindreaders?

Well, dear friends....I was just re-reading my previous blog posts, and just felt that SOMETHING was missing. That certain something, that extra touch, that....uh....date of the blog give-away drawing!!! DUH Sarah!

So, for all of my non-clairvoyant readers....Sunday, November 23rd. Midnite Illinois time. (and if you sneak a comment in at 1:00am, I won't tell.)

Just thought that bit of information MIGHT be relevant. ;)

Why it takes me an hour to make one card...

Alternate title: Crafter OCD

I'm in lockdown mode, trying to get things made for a craftshow I'm doing on the 23rd. I haven't done a craft show in almost two years and I'm in a slight panic. The whole "how much do I need to bring?"

"what if its too much?"

"what if its not enough?"

and of course "what if I don't sell one stinking thing..."

I'll be glad for the 24th to come. ...hopefully with a few dollars in my pocket. We'll see.

So my goal is to make an item or two each day ...to avoid the ever famous 'up till 2am trying to crank out anything and everything'. Its not good. Its not fun. There's not enough coffee the next morning to compensate.

So, this morning I sat down to make a card. Over an hour later (shut up...I know) this is what I have:

Ok, NOW....the issue of the yellow flower. Do I need it? Should I leave it off? Or should I put it here?

or here....

or maybe here....

what about here....

or....leave it the heck alone, set it in the done pile, and call it a day. For the record, I will be mulling this over while I'm at work tonite. It will bother me until I come to a decision. (and for the heck of it, tell me if you have a preference, because at this point, I've looked at it too long and can't 'see' it anymore, thus why I'm setting it aside for now)

In more constructive efforts, we have:

Another card (not thrilled with it either...too much white on the front...not sure what to do about that)

Quilt top, while not my style, I am awfully darn happy with how it turned out. It measures about 30"x40"...now to quilt the darn thing.

This one is still drying, so I haven't done a WPI count or official yardage, but its around 190 I'm guessing after its bath. The colors are SOOO pretty if I do say so myself (and nicer IRL of course) Its 100% merino, which pretty much makes me want to eat it for lunch.

Still a WIP -

Eddie's fingerless gloves/foldover mittens. Yeah, not for the craft show. But of utmost importance since its been a tad chilly in the mornings when he's doing his papers. I think he'd rather not wait until the end of november for these suckers.

And my latest 'only a crafter would understand' project:

A hundred and fifty-some yards of laceweight shetland wool. There are 3 more balls to be skeined/washed/dried, so I'm thinking I'll have about 600ish yards of this when I'm done.

Oh, where'd it come from? Here...

For those of you who aren't following....I bought the vest for $2 at the salvation army, cut the top off above the armpits (as I was taking it apart I realized the armholes are cut and sewn, which makes the top useless for unraveling, but still good for felting) and unravelled the bottom half.

Why do that? Well...because I wanted to? I wish I had a more logical answer than that, but that's all I've got. What can I say? :)

Andd Zach's 'new' rainboots. Which he loves. And wears constantly. Works for me.

(the fabric beside him is paired up for new cosmetic bags...I'm almost positive anyway)

Has anyone seen October?

I swear I'd just set it down here on my desk, went into the other room, and now its gone.

So in the spirit of NoBloPoMo (national blog posting month) I'm trying to post twice a week all November. I know, its supposed to be EVERY day of November, but I was already out of the game when I thought of it on Sunday and realized it was already the 2nd. oops.

BUT...we're aiming to get back on track! I miss my blog. And all the people that go with it.

First up - THE GIVEAWAY! Uh...I'm extending that ;) If you posted on the last post, you're still entered :) There are 2 'prizes'. They may or may not contain bits of fabric, yarn, buttons, paper items, and any other trinkets I feel so inclined to throw in. Heck at this point they may very well be stuffed with leftover halloween candy!! (We limit the boy to one piece a day....we do not hold ourselves to that same standard. You'll see me at the gym much more frequently the next few weeks...that's all I have to say)

You know the drill, enter in the comments section, be sure I have a way to get a hold of you. Wrangle one of your friends to leave a comment and you'll get entered twice.

And now a few quick things we overlooked at our last meeting:

Hat Attack II -

For you non-knitting nerds who have things like "a social life" (pshh! whatever..) Hat Attack is a kill or be killed, last man standing, death match....with yarn. Ok so that was anti-climactic. At any rate, the idea is the pattern is released, and you have to knit and send off a hat to your 'target' before you get a finished hat in the mail. Once you get a finished hat, you're dead. Warm and cozy, perhaps, but dead none-the-less. The idea being to knit like you've had 3 pots of coffee, and send off finished hats in rapid succession to beat out the other players.

Well....I hated the pattern. And to no fault of the pattern writer, she did great. Its just not my kind of pattern. So while I knit at a good pace, I wasn't at any risk of a speed related injury. And I was thrilled to be killed with an AMAZING hat. Its plenty big enough (I'm a bit obsessive about hats that actually function as hats, not cute little tams that sit atop your skull.) its in the perfect colors (gray and white) AND...its knit from hand spun yarn, ...from her own sheep.

Folks, we have a winner! I. love. it. Could not be more thrilled! (Ignore the fact that I don't look 'thrilled' so much as 'washed out and exhausted' ....I was trying to do this first thing after I woke up before Zach got up. I know, not my best look.)

I admit, I was a little nervous as to what I'd get back, but decided the fun was worth the possibility of an ugly, small hat. There was a suggested yarn, which a few days into the game, was getting less than rave reviews, and I wasn't looking forward to getting a raspberry and citron hat... I may have even danced a little when I opened the envelope. Maybe.

Now the delightful part....I can't find the card she sent with the hat that lists her website. ...but I will!! And I'll post it here. I have a feeling a certain 4 year old made off with it to put in his Lightning McQueen wallet....

But its awesome, I love it, and its already been worn a few times.

Oh, and just for kicks, here's part of the hat I sent on:



I did get farther than that, but not by much.


And another 'better late than never' - my "new" (coughcoughbackinaugustcoughcough) pendant from homestudio
Eddie got it for me for my birthday. ...sort of. I gave him a list of about 10, he picked one, and then in classic Sarah style, I decided I liked a different one BETTER and changed the order. heh. I was pretty bummed, they used to have a great buy 2/get 1 free, buy 4/get 2 free....deal, that we missed by about 2 days. BUT...I still love my pendant.

I tried to get a picture of me wearing it -

mmmnope.

well, sort of...

when all else fails, put it on the floor and snap a picture!

And in other news, its supposed to be SEVENTY-FOUR today. (yes, Illinois, November, after we've already had a frost, and snow flurries...) so I'm getting ready to WALK up to my polling place and get my vote on. ...I'm also taking a 4 year old with me....let's hope this goes quickly!

100 ways to say you care...

or...hey, I've done this blogging thing 100 times now. No. NOW. As in this very post. Can you feel the excitement?? ...ok, maybe that's just the second cup of coffee going down too fast.

Alright ladies and gents, its 8:40am in the grand ole land of Lincoln. I've got a 4 year old's birthday party at 4:00, 2 toilets to clean, 2 cakes to frost (don't ask, I'll explain below), 2 beds to make, and 2 people to get cleaned up and make presentable. (Eddie's on his own.) Plus all that last minute cleaning you do when people are coming over, that in the end is never noticed. ...like I spent 15 minutes on Thursday scrubbing the textured areas of the fridge & dishwasher?

Because that desperately needed to be done? I guess. But hey, its done and it looks good. No one will notice but me, but man am I impressed!

*side note: if you haven't yet purchased your own set of microfiber cleaning cloths, minimize this window and go grab a pack. Its cool, I'll wait. They're awesome, I cleaned my house with one Thursday. Use 'em dry for dusting, use it DAMP for glass/sinks/stove/everything else that can't run away.

So before I start the flurry of neurotic cleaning and errand running, let's do a quick catch up on the blog, shall we? There's a lot to pack in to #100.

First, part of my absence has been due to opening a new esty shop: http://www.helenasophia.etsy.com/

I've been wanting to 're-vamp' my store and my...efforts, in a sense. I finally got some new inspiration for new things, ideas for new 'old' things, and a new shop name! Helena & Sophia are both family names (my great-grandmothers? i think...) I heard them on our trip out East, and they stuck with me until I decided they were the new shop name.

The newest addition to the shop are cosmetic bags and flannel wipers. With more to come in the next couple of weeks! I've already got 2 custom orders in the works, with pictures to follow soon.

Also, way back when I was 25, Marianna tagged me for a brillante award:

Sorry Marianna! I didn't mean to take so long to get to this, but THANK YOU! Part of the delay is picking my 7 to tag. But here goes!

Crazy Mom Quilts - that she does! She's got some great tutorials for your Christmas gift giving, as well as some awesome quilts, so grab a pile of fabric and get going!

Its a Colourful World - Sandy's blog. For one, her cards are amazing. More importantly, she's a major part of Cardsforheroes.org. They send blank greeting cards to soldiers overseas (because, to the best of my knowledge, there is no hallmark store in Iraq...) as well as letters and cards to the soldiers themselves. If you'd like to donate cards, mail to a soldier, or sponsor a shipment, you can find all the information in that link. And check out Sandy's blog for ideas.

Crafty Daisies - lots and lots and lots of great ideas. As an added bonus, they're doing a 'book club' where a group reviews a crafting book, each choosing a different project out of said book. So you get the opinions of a group, and see the finished projects, which I always enjoy because sometimes people go in a direction I wouldn't have thought of on my own.

Sweet Jessie - Because of her I've got a date with a few blank tshirts later this week. A project I've been putting off for over a year for fear I'll ruin it. We'll see.

Feeling Stitchy - I just spend way too much time browsing. Great time sucker, but well worth it.

Primrose Design - Once you spend an afternoon at feeling stitchy, and decide you're going to make something *now* ...pull this one up. She's got a great set of 'stitch school' posts that go over a myriad of stitches with great instructions and pictures. Way better than those black and white diagrams that do nothing but confuse you.

This Vintage Chica - I just love her blog, and I can't quite articulate why. Its a mix of everything, and it all just seems very natural.

So...what else? Oh RIGHT. The blog give-away. (you knew it was coming...)

Here's the tricky part...my camera batteries are dead. (yes, batteries, plural. I let two batteries totally drain. Yes, the idea of having TWO is so you always have a charged reserve, I'm aware.) So you'll have to take my word on this. ;) There will be a drawing for TWO winners. Why two? Because its my blog and I said so. ...I really have no reason, just decided on two.

Leave a comment here. Making sure of course that you leave me SOME sort of contact info. I can't send imaginary packages to imaginary people :) I'll draw names on Sunday, October 26th.

So what's the prize? ...I'm not tellin! I will be posting some photographic hints in the coming days though, so stay tuned!

Oh, and the two cakes? Because at 8:30 last night, as I was mixing cake batter, and went to reach for my 9x13 pans - planning to make two cakes, a half sheet when paired together....I was suddenly aware of the fact that my husband - the ever generous soul - has given away all of my 9x13 pans. ah. right. forgot. (ya know, friend has a baby, you send over a lasagna....only when I do it, I send it in foil. They don't have to do dishes and we don't have to track pyrex?) Bless his soul, he loaned them out. ...a long time ago.

But...I do have ONE left. The same one that was soaking a batch of roving to be dyed for an order. huh. So I made them both in 8" round pans, and now I have two double layer cakes to frost. The best part? I work in a bakery. With cake. That I could have just brought home and been done with it. ...lesson learned.