Crafting Envy

   Looky what I found a couple of weeks ago at Target. I hit the motherload of clearances.








  And no, I'm not opening a hotel. This is pure Stasheesh, ladies. I have visions of Christmas tree skirts, pajama pants, quilt backs...sigh

  Doncha wish your Stash was hot like mine?lol




   Its finally raining a bit here...I like rainy days. They feel restful to the soul.




   My plants are thirsty too.


   I'm whittling down the to-do list before the Thanksgiving Fest at my house but it seems to keep growing somehow though. It's back to the grind for me with some sewing thrown in for fun.

   Well, I did actually get my rear in gear and manage a few things around the house. We repainted the kitchen and re-trimmed the windows and re-did the baseboards and cleaned and cleaned and cleaned and bottled beer and cleaned....
Here's a before and after.












Much better, no?




   I'm still cleaning. In cleaning our children's bedroom I ran across a tote of my old journals...every time I run across these in the midst of cleaning I always look, it's too tempting. It's so interesting to see what you were thinking at 15 or 16 and then at 20 and 24. Interesting and utterly embarrassing....I mean, wow. EMBARRASSING. I hope one day I can read those incredibly naive "poems" and not shudder and look over my shoulder as I stuff them back into the black hole they came out of hoping no one else saw them. Maybe someday I can laugh a little more at them or think them sweet in their innocence.
   Also in the tote was a post card from an old friend. Funny how reading something in some one's own handwriting can conjure up the image and sound of them so perfectly. The mind is an incredible thing.
   Enough of this little jaunt down memory lane. I have much more cleaning to do....Oy.

   Not too much has changed since I posted last. No news on the deployment front so far.
   We decided to paint the kitchen and redo the trim on the windows in there but we haven't really started on it yet so no progress to show you. I have managed to get some necessary cleaning done and almost caught up on laundry so it hasn't been completely unproductive.
    We'll be visiting my Sister in a little bit which will be fun. I need to get my rear in gear and get some stuff done for Thanksgiving and the holidays.... 0_0 I'll let you know if I'm successful in that endeavor....

   I've been away for a bit. Not away from home, just away from my blog here. My evil husband signed us up again for Everquest 2. For those of you who aren't hopelessly nerdy, that would be an online mmorpg. It's a place where thousands of nerds gather and fight dragons and orcs and talk with other nerds.   Anyhow, I will try to divide my time between all my craftiness, blogging and questing, oh and raising children, keeping house etc...
   Speaking of my evil husband though, he got a notification to be ready for being notified of a possible deployment in January of 2012. Don't you love the bureaucracy of the military? So it's not a done deal and the last two units who got this notice never ended up going anywhere but it's enough to make me feel sick to my stomach. This would be number 3 since we've been married and the 4th of his career. I can tell he's excited about the possibility of going. I know he loves his family and likes being home but I can tell he is happy he might go again. I'm trying not to be to upset about that, that's just him. I'm trying to not let myself think about the whole thing too much so I don't get too crazy. It does seem to be an effective appetite suppressant so that's a plus, eh? Nothing like the thought of your husband being away in a warzone for a year to make you put down that chocolate. Anyway, I'm sure if things develop along those lines I'll be posting about it.
   I have managed to finish some outstanding projects and some new ones too. There have been 4 plushies, 2 blankets, and one pair of pajamas (with another soon to follow). Not too bad for a Questing Mama... So long for now :)

   The first soccer game is today and it rained yesterday and some today. Wet grass+11 month old baby = dirt ball.
   So I made a little waterproof blanket to romp on, or if it starts raining again we can use it as a poncho. It took about 15 minutes or so, pretty good for a Saturday morning last minute project :)
   I thought it might as well be my first mini-tutorial. Here it is then....









   I used the remainder of a flat sheet for the blue part and a vinyl tablecloth for the waterproof part. Here is a little mini-tutorial for those who didn't already know how to do one of these.

• Pin right sides together.
  
• Sew all around making sure to leave a gap in one of the short sides.
• Trim the edges up and flip inside out.
  
• Stitch around again closing the gap this time and Voila, you have a Quick and Dirty to Keep Clean Blanket.

  Hope that made enough sense. Have a great Saturday :)

   Yesterday was the first soccer practice for the little man. Last year he played in the 3yr old league and he spent more time crying on the side of the field than playing. Boy, have things changed! He didn't stop running or kicking the whole 45 minutes he was out there. He slept soooo good last night :). It was worth the sign up fee for that alone.

   Little Ellie was practicing her model look on the sidelines. I wonder what sports she'll want to do. She's getting better at Peek-A-Boo and she's a champ at destroying things already.




   I'm working on some pajama pants on the sewing front, I have plans to make some for gifts and I need to test out my skills so I just *had* to make some for me first :).
  On the first try I used a vintage sheet that was not my style of print or color at all but I didn't want to sacrifice any of the good stash. I'm glad I didn't cut into a favorite, cause the first pair was a disaster. I put outside pockets on them, I hate jammies with no pockets. Other than a horrible color they were too short in the crotch and too long in the leg. Hello scrap pile here's your new addition.




   I cut the second pair out of some kona cotton so they are a bit stiff but I think they will wear well. I made some owl pockets for these. Something a little Halloweenish without being too much. I'm not sure I like the placement of them too much. May need to move them down a bit. I sewed them on before I did the elastic casing in the top. Live and learn, eh?


The Owls before they were sewn onto the pockets











   I did one other thing too......Hello Scarlet hair color! Now I'm ready for fall!

   Hello September, I'm so glad to see you! This summer has been brutal and I'm looking forward to the cooler weather you bring. Changing weather means changing blog design in my mind so I switched my palette for a more appropriate one.
   How do you like the new look? It feels all fall and dark clouds and storms and soothing rain.
   I admit I do revel in Fall. Gloom comes more naturally to me than cheer. I'm even listening to some Cure right now and it feels perfect!
   Something about darkness just speaks to me. I watched Labyrinth more times than I can count when I was a girl, maybe that's why these pictures make me squeal like a teenager..






  Maybe that's why Alan Rickman as Severus Snape just turns me on..





   Hmmm...maybe that's why I like to imagine my husband in leather pants and eyeliner too.... TMI, sorry.. See what Fall does to me?!
   I'm in need of a hair color change too, I think. I need to erase the highlights the sun has put in. A deep dark chestnut or maybe a nice dark scarlet.
   I can see myself standing by the gates of the cemetery, knee boots, awesome black wool coat, black tights, dark grey skirt, jewel tone shirt, scarlet hair blowing in the cold breeze, brown leaves scuttling down the sidewalk....
   Wow! Someone read Jane Eyre and similar books waay too often growing up. Speaking of Jane Eyre, Does anyone else think that Johnny Depp would be absolutely freaking amazing as Mr. Rochester??? No? Just me? oh..okay then.

   Anyway, weird imaginings aside...I'm hopefully going to be posting some tutorials here soon. I've never done them before so I'm sure the first ones will be awful. Please critique as needed, I'll try not to take it personally and actually correct problems you mention. Until then I'll be reveling in the cloudy day we're having...