Happy Anniversary to Us.

It's our anniversary today. I went downstairs today to start the coffee, and there was a beautiful bouquet of flowers waiting to greet me. Oh, how I love My Mister!

The past three years have truly been the happiest time of my life. Do you ever feel that warm sigh of contentment rush through you- like when you're all warm and happy in bed and you've just had a great meal and you don't have to work in the morning and you can sleep as long as you want? That's how my life has felt since I've found my match.

Happy Anniversary, my little muffin.

Our life together just keeps getting better, doesn't it?

XOXOXO  

Wedding plans, and taking a break.

Hi all!  I wanted to let you know that I'm going to take a small break from Blogland.  I have so much to do in terms of wedding plans, that I feel like I'm being pulled in so many different directions and I can't concentrate on one single thing at a time!

I'm at a point where we have a date and a ceremony site right here.  Now it's crunch time and we need to find a place for a reception and we need to book the photographer.  I feel like I've found a photographer- she's amazing!  Take a look at her work!  We are looking at a reception site in a couple of days at the Kismet Inn.  I'm really excited to meet the innkeeper and to talk about our options.

This last photo is of the yoga studio. I'm thinking about what I would want to use this space for? Dancing maybe? Although I bet the acoustics are terrible in there...

So there's my wedding at this point!  I'm sorry I haven't shared it with all of you up until now, but I've just been so stressed out about it!  I feel so much better now that I've come out and said "Hey!  This is stressful!  We need to make some decisions!"  I'll be back in a few days to let you know how things are going.  Wish me luck!

FO: Potholders!

I'm going to come clean about something I realized the other day. I was baking something in the oven, a casserole of some kind. I reached in the oven to take out the dish, and I burned myself for the third time that week. I'm constantly burning myself. I've been blaming my clumsy old self for my mishaps, but the epiphany came and now I know what the problem is. I'm twenty-seven years old, and I don't own a potholder.

I've been on my own for 8 years now, and cooking passionatly for about four of them.  Why did it take me so long to realize that there could, quite possibly, be a correlation between a lack of hand protection and hand injury?  Triple folded dishtowels just don't seem to be doing it for me anymore.

Using the fabric scraps from my mini patchwork bag, I decided to whip up two super cute, super protective potholders. I sewed the strips directly onto the batting, sewed on a backing, and presto-chango! a new addition to the kitchen is born!

I have another project in the works right now, using the same fabric. I don't think I've ever found so many uses for such little material! A week ago I bought less than a yard of fabric, and I'm on my third project! I'll tell you more about it tomorrow, but right now the apartment needs a thorough cleaning!  Hi-ho hi-ho!

Excuse this little rant...

I clean houses for a couple of clients year round, and work the most in the summertime for seasonal people.  So today I went to the grocery store to pick up some paper towels before I went to one of my house cleaning jobs.  I approached the register and the young man seemed really pleasant.  Here's an account of our conversation:

Boy:  Hi!  I hope you're doing something great today to enjoy this weather!

Me:  Nope.  I'm going to go scrub toilets.

Boy.  Oh.  What do you do?

Me:  I clean houses.

Boy: (Very Sympathetic Tone)  Oh.  That's ok.  A lot of people have to do that.

I don't know why that little interchange got me so fired up, but it did.  I think it was the tone, like he felt sorry for me and thought I was going to clean the toilet with my personal toothbrush in my bare hands.  I'm just so tired of there being an implied class issue out of house cleaning.  House cleaners on the coast of Maine get paid really well- $25 an hour.  A lot of the cleaners that I know have a college degree, including myself,  and clean because this is the best money they can make in the area.

And I don't have to do anything.  I choose to clean houses for other people.  I choose to work my butt off to make money to pay my bills.  I do work a regular retail job, but I like to make a little extra.  I don't mind cleaning, and if I did, I just wouldn't do it.

All of my clients are really nice people who don't talk down to me, pay christmas bonuses and allow me to create my own schedule, and allow me to work as many hours as I want.  Most of them are elderly people who just can't do the work themselves.  I know that the kid didn't mean anything by it, but I think that I've just seen this attitude a lot.  It made me pissy all day, and I hate it when something like that gets under my skin.  I feel like I work hard and get compensated accordingly, don't feel ashamed for the work that I do, and people should consider my occupation just as little as they consider any other manual labor job.

Ugh!  Thanks for letting me vent here!  It's just such a sore subject for me!
I hope you have a great weekend!

Ask me anything!

I'm totally stealing this idea from Alli at One Pearl Button- but they say that imitation is the greatest form of flattery, so I hope she takes it as such! I thought it would be a great idea to give you a place to ask questions you might feel weird about asking, or to offer ideas for posts. You could really write anything in that little box above! I would love to write a post on the questions or comments that I receive! Ask away, people! I'm an open book!

Also, it's supposed to be around 60 degrees tomorrow, and I have the day off. I'm so excited about the weather tomorrow I'm having a hard time deciding what to do! I think I'll eat breakfast outside, take a little walk and then throw a blanket out in the backyard and read a book for the rest of the day! I'm looking forward to a great day! Do you have any plans for the weekend?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

My mister and I went out for lunch and a couple of pints of Guinness.  We'll have a quiet night in, lights out early tonight.  We both have to work tomorrow, and decided to be responsible and not have too many drinks.  Oh, how grown up I feel!  Hope your day was as great as ours!

(We joked that the three beaded necklaces made him peerless at the 

Olympic drinking podium.  Oh, how I love him!)

YUM!

I've rediscovered one of my favorite snacks ever.  Plain organic yogurt with lots of honey.  I'm pretty sure that the vast amount of honey I put on the top cancels out any sort of health benefits that the yogurt may have had- but it just tastes so good!

What are your favorite little treats- healthy or otherwise?  

(Also, thanks so much for your kind words about my little bag!  

The comments mean so much and I'm just so thrilled that 

I actually sewed something that didn't suck!)

FO: Mini Bag.

I can't believe how quickly I finished this bag!  I feel like I've been sewing for three straight days- but it was so worth it!  Behold- too many pictures of my new mini bag.
 



Sorry about how fuzzy the last picture is- I had to use a built in isight camera because I wanted to show how the bag looks in proportion to my short body.  I made a couple of fabric handles, but they all felt a little bulky. I wanted the bag to be little and sweet, and I think that the tiny little leather strap is perfect for the look I wanted.

I think, for the first time in my life, followed the pattern all the way through.  No modifications.  Really, that's a big deal because I swear I always find something nit-picky to change-whether it's the way the binding is made, to adding inside pockets or changing the number of different fabrics used.

As for other happenings around the home, I drove a pin up under my fingernail while sewing the binding on today, and I burned the back of my hand taking a pizza out of the oven.  Needless to say, I have used a number of profanities today that would shock the saltiest of sailors.

We're having dinner tonight at the in laws, which is awesome because a) I don't have to cook and b) My Mister's mother is such an amazing cook that whatever she makes, I know it will be wonderful.

How was your weekend?  

Did anything fun or painful (or both!) happen?  

Progress!

Today was wonderful!  The day was spent cutting, sewing, ripping, sewing and maybe a bit more cutting and sewing!  I'm having so much fun making this little bag!  The photo is a mid-day progress shot- I'm actually at a point right now where all that is left is to sew the handle and the binding!  I like this sewing thing more and more as I go along.  I think that it helps that I know my machine much better than I did a few months ago.  The smallest things would go wrong, and I had a very limited amount of information to use when troubleshooting.  Now I have a better idea of how to solve problems, when something inevitably goes wrong.

So I have a question for you!  Do you think it's ugly when the fabric from the main part of the bag is used as the handle?  I'm supposed to use a piece of leather, but I'm just not into that!  Do you think it would look tacky if I used the blue fabric for a shoulder strap?  Not a super long piece, but enough so that the bag would sit a few inches under my armpit.  Let me know what you think-  if there's anything else you would suggest for a strap or a way to manipulate the strap to make it more interesting, such as quilting or padding or anything.

I hope you have a great weekend!
Do you have any special plans?  Do tell!

Stash enhancement!

I've just been shopping at my favorite local fabric store, Alewives Fabrics. They have such an amazing selection and friendly and helpful staff that I really have a hard time leaving! I choose a pattern before I left home today, since I usually get really overwhelmed once there, and just buy a bunch of random pieces of fabric. Today I had a plan: I would buy the supplies to make the mini bag from Patchwork Style.

The two fabrics below will be the lining of the bag(green) and the sides and binding of the bag(blue). I'm really happy with my choices!

The rest of the fabric shown below are for the patchwork parts of the bag. I don't have a very good fabric stash, so I just bought 1/16 yard sections of fabric. The total cost of for my project, including thread? $18.29! I was so happy that I could make this sweet little bag for less than $20! Hurray for thrifty projects- and wonderful fabric shops!

Wishing you a wonderful hump-day!

Conquering fear.

It seems as though I have done it again.  Have you ever been at a point with a project where it's time to apply a technique that you've never done before, and you drag your feet?  Has something ever seemed like it was so out of your league that you didn't even try?  Well, today I realized that I have done this to an extreme.  You see, I started a quilt out of some fat quarters last May.  Yes, nearly a year ago.  I progress fairly quickly, completing the top in two days, and then making the "quilt sandwich" within the next week.

See how pretty it is?  I love the colors, the pale border and the aquatic theme in orange and green.  I love the mermaids and big ole octopus.  When it came time to make a binding and then sew said binding onto the quilt sandwich, I got scared.  Instead of just going for it and hoping for the best, I worried myself into paralysis.  There sat my binding-less quilt for almost a year.

Why is it that I can be so intimidated by something like a quilt binding?  There are so many other things to be frightened of- public speaking, bear attacks, lightning strikes- but surely not crafts!   I remember when I first started knitting, I was terrified of making a yarn over.  I went months avoiding patterns with yarn overs,  because that sounded like such a complicated stitch.  Now I know that a yo is even easier than knit or purl!

Well, as you can guess, today I decided to just suck it up and stop being a sissy!  I was so surprised to find that cutting, sewing together the strips of binding and then ironing the strip in half took almost no time at all! Seriously, less than a half an hour.  Why did it take me so long to just take the bull by the horns and do it?!  I really need to learn my lesson and just do something that I think might be challenging insteading of avoiding it.  After all, what's the worst that could happen?  Some poorly cut fabric?  Stitches that need to be ripped out?  I mean really, what's the worst that could happen?!

The sewing of the binding is already taking place.  I'm going slow, making sure that my edges meet up and aren't all wonky.  I'm so happy that I just decided to go for it and forget about my fears!

Have you ever been paralyzed by a crafty fear that you've had?  

Do tell!  I'd love to know that I'm not the only silly one!

Good morning!

What a lovely morning! The sky is blue, the air is warm and sun is shining! I feel like I hadn't felt the warmth of the sun on my face for months, and that's probably about right! I'm such a happy little camper today! I'm been such a Crabby McBitchface for weeks now- and today the blue sky has cheered me up!

I had my favorite breakfast (Wheat Chex, I'm boring) outside on the steps. Jammies and no shoes! Hallelujah god, no shoes!  I love eating outside- no matter what it feels like a picnic!  Bowl of cereal, sandwich even a handful of chips feels like a wonderful blessing eaten outside.

Later I went on a little walk with little shoes- no boots! I found green stuff growing all around! There really is spring in the air, even though I'm bracing myself for a little more cold weather.  I don't want my hopes to get too inflated!

I even spent some time outside reading a new book! It's The Road by Cormac McCarthy, and holy moly is it dark! Beautifully written, very emotional, unique and with purpose, but very dark. To be honest, I wouldn't be reading it if we were in the middle of winter. But springtime is upon us, so dark literature it will be!

What are you reading?

 Is the sun shining in your neck of the woods? 

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend! 

A sinful spin.

Although today was gray and cold, I just told myself to suck it up and have a great time! I've been really excited to spin up my new fiber, and I did just that. I started spinning up the beautiful targhee fiber from Spunky Eclectic. Yummy!

(I've found that there's no way to spin gracefully or "like a lady".  Well, maybe there is and I'm just a farmer.  Notice the knees apart, feet ready for action?) 

It spun up like a dream! I'm so happy with how it's coming together. I still feel a little new at spinning, I've only been at this for a couple of years, and I'm still learning. I think that's one of the things that I love about the fiber arts- however advanced you are, there is always something to learn.

I love the way the colors are working up!  There are mostly shades of blue, but when the green comes through it's in the prettiest shades of peasoup green- my favorite!  I've split the fiber for this to be a two ply- I can't wait to see how the colors meet up- and then how the colors knit up into whatever this yarn is meant to be!

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I'm usually not in touch with what's going on in Blogland, but I thought I'd share with you the Blog and Business Workshop that m.writes is putting on- for free!  This has been a really interesting couple of days.  I've been reading her thoughts on what it is to blog, and her ideas are really helpful and thought provoking.  She's also offering worksheets  to help you think about how to make your blog better.  I've finished the first worksheet, and can honestly say that it's made me consider just a little more deeply about why I blog.   This is only day three, so you haven't missed out on much!  Go on, take a look!

Gray.

Just popping by to say Hello! I'm so very tired, after a long and overwhelming day of work. I thought I'd share a couple of photos exhibiting what the sky has been like the past few days. There was a bit of sun today, but I had to look after it longingly from the shop windows.  How I've been dreaming of warm sunny sunshine on my eyelids!  Oh, well. Maybe tomorrow!

For what have you been longing?  I hope you've had a wonderful day!