Crafting Envy

    I managed to complete at least one project since the last post. Little Elleanore, the one in the picture above that is being attacked by the duckie, is starting to pull up on the co-sleeper so it won't be long before she can take a header straight out of it so it's time to put her in the big play-pen. It has a very hard uncomfortable pad in it and it needed something more suitable for sleeping on but I just can't buy one of those horrible poly-vinyl covered toxic mattresses, I know they are waterproof but....ick! And anyway, who could sleep on that with the crinkling and stuff? Natural mattresses cost an arm and a leg and the play-pen isn't a regular crib size so we'd have to special order one of those.




    So, instead of all that I made one for it. I found some foam that was mostly chemical free and some Warm & Natural batting. I sewed two layers of batting to two different pieces of material and sewed it together on three sides like a pillowcase. On the fourth side I put some velcro closures on it so it can be washed like a duvet cover. She seems to like it okay. Haven't tried putting her down to sleep in it yet, keep your fingers crossed. Her dollies like it too...







    I'm sewing together a dress for my mom and have some plotting to do for various other projects.

    We are attending a wedding this weekend and I'm actually getting my haircut tomorrow!!!! I haven't had a haircut since before the baby was born! I'll be sure to post some before/after photos so you can ooooh and ahhh or some junk. See ya.

Teething baby, piles of fabric, messy house...husband returning in 4 days or so.


Vengeful Crafting Gods: 4
Little Ol' Me: 0

   Did I mention I'm a momma? Well, I am....and everything that goes with that...especially screaming baby's (she cried for half an hour even though she was super tired and should have gone to sleep).





   Yep, this is me on Day 10 of the husbands out of state training.... Glorious isn't it? Day 10 of doing all of this by myself with no help. Only 10 more to go......sigh.




   Enough self-pity. I have been managing to get a few crafty things done but no good pics right now. I have many many works in progress but little done.
   I find that I despise sewing patterns. It's not so much that they are horribly fiddly, easy to rip, impossible to fold back up or NEVER in my size, no I resent the authority they represent (sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?)
Here is the convo in my head: "But why do I have to put the notch there? It would be better over here." "Who said I need 3 yds of fabric, I can do it in 2" "This piece doesn't need interfacing, I'm sure it will be fine without it." "Why doesn't this f*&$ing thing fit after I spent so much damn time on it??"
   So, I've decided to cast off patterns and just sew without. I won't be sewing garments for myself this way, just the children. I won't be sewing garments for myself at all because I find it utterly depressing that my hip size requires 4 yards of super-stretch fabric to accommodate it. Thus there will be no sewing until those numbers shrink a little bit, oh say fifty pounds worth.
   Anyhow, hope the rest of you are having a lovely Friday and Father's Day weekend and all that stuff. I'll be here thwarting those sewing patterns by eating more chocolate (that'll teach you not to come in my size, hmph!)

There are some things growing round our house these days...

Herbs...



Tiny tomatoes...




and Children!






Have a good weekend.

   Blogger has been out of commission for me so I haven't gotten to post. Oh Noes!
   Anyway, some stuff to catch up on. I got some birthday gifts ordered and I love them all!


  These smell like summer in a bottle, very lovely.


   Still working my way through these, the Art + Quilt is coming in handy already.




   We went to the zoo and saw... Dinosaurs!





   Much to the insane terror of Elliott...



   We did manage to get through them but he was ready to leave after that.

   Crafting seems to be at a standstill as does exercise, cleaning and leg-shaving (tmi?)
  The Husband is out of town for most of the month so I'm sure my crafting disease will flare up again here soon. Must run, see yous later.

   Ack! Today is the day...Today is the day I turn (cough cough wheeeeze) Okay, I said my age. Whew, glad that's over with. What? You didn't hear it? Well I'm not saying it again, so there.
   I've extracted promises of a breakfast made for me and a wine tasting and dinner I don't have to make so I guess I'll call this birthday a net gain.
   My beautiful and lovely sister B gave me the gift of smelling good with a gift certificate to this wonderful purveyor of perfume and seller of soap. My husband added his own to that and I'm holding out for another one from his mom. My mom bought me a new outfit I picked out so I can look nice at the wine festival. I also got a new game for my Wii (yay!) and the husband is going to make me cupcakes :).
    A lot of bloggers post lists from the past year, or things they are thankful for and those are nice (I suppose) but a tad boring and totally not me so instead I'm posting a link to other people's failures so If you're laughing on my birthday you're not laughing at me....see ya.

   So, my birthday is coming up this week and I'm about to start my period so you must pardon me if this post jumps around a bit.

   To start with, I won't be sharing the tutorial I mentioned last post...at least not yet. I just got my camera back so I need to remake and shoot it right this time, god only knows how long that will be.

   Second, I confess freely that I am a horrible garment maker. I find it really hard to grasp the basics of it and I'm always trying to correct a pattern that has nothing wrong with it ( "There is no way that it needs to be cut like that, what were these well-paid professional pattern drafters thinking, ha ha. I'll just fix it..") And heartache and wasted fabric generally ensues, sigh.

   Third, I know summer hasn't even really kicked off yet but I'm already scoping out Martha Stewart's halloween pages. It's a sickness really. (p.s. Has anyone read the manga "Wallflower"? I would be like a grown up Sunako-chan. Except I wear pink, occasionally.)

   Fourth, my husband just found it necessary to purchase a motorcycle...yes, ladies a motorcycle. Why, in god's name, would anyone with even the tiniest bit of brains think that such a vehicle is a good idea? I am frustrated that he finds it so easy to take such huge chances with his life when it is completely unnecessary. Funny, I don't think my sewing machine will ever crash at high speeds and kill the sole provider of the family. I do realize that most idiot men go through this ridiculous phase and survive it so I'm crossing my fingers and keeping mostly quiet about it. Oh, yeah and he looks utterly stupid on it too.   Whoooo..Hormone spike.... deep breath in, let it out...okay feeling a little better after venting. He does read this blog from time to time but I don't think he has any illusions about how I feel about this, at least he shouldn't if he's paying attention.

   Last is My Big Wanty List. It's a list of all things great and small that I desire to have, get rid of, change or do. Some are selfish, some are transient, some are constant.
Here they are in no particular order:

• Bias Tape Maker-I hate making bias tape so this would be a lovely splurge
• A Maid- Does anyone like housework?
• New Stove- This one to be precise. In black, naturally.
  
• Screen printing machine-Those look so cool
• Painting stuff-Always need more
• High chair-Tired of feeding the baby in her exer-saucer
• Bigger house-Need more space for my fabric
• My own Crafting Room-Never need to clean it and the kids are barred from entering
• Dress Form-May help with my horrible garment making...maybe
• Better Skills-Practice makes perfect, but I want it Now!
• Patio furniture- A hammock would be nice, so would some ocean breezes...sigh
• No neighbors- I'm not good at being polite to people who let their dogs crap on my lawn
• Godiva Chocolate-All day, every day.
  
• To be a size 8- Yeah, like that will ever happen ( see item above)
• Regular exercise-Need to, baby is in the stranger freak out stage
• Baby to sleep through the night- I don't remember what 8 solid hours feels like..
• World peace-Gotta throw in somethin' for the rest of you
• Realistic space travel-Man, I'd love to see Mars and still make it back to earth within a year or less. Ray Bradbury, you cruel man.
• Mouse traps to work as advertised-Damn, I hate those little buggers, If they get into my fabric stash it's going to be WW3 up in this motha-fu&%$!

Okay, I think that about covers it for now. This is likely to be a reoccurring feature so I'm sure things will be added or subtracted in the near future. Peace out.